Raugasse 4 (laid in 2010)

The Bauer Family

Irma Bauer did not live to see the Stolpersteine commemorating her family.

Dr. Leopold Bauer, born May 6, 1879, in Schwarzau, lawyer,
Emma Bauer, née Gewing, born May 14, 1897, in Böhmisch-Leipa,
Irma Bauer, born December 4, 1921, in Wiener Neustadt, student,
Ernst Bauer, born September 14, 1923, in Wiener Neustadt, student,
Susanne Bauer, born July 14, 1927, in Wiener Neustadt, student,
The family was deported on April 27, 1942, to Wlodawa and subsequently to Sobibor. Son Ernst was sent to Majdanek and was murdered there. Irma Bauer survived in exile in Palestine.

Immediately after the Anschluss in March 1938, the law office was confiscated. Sixteen-year-old Irma was present in her father’s office when the Nazis compiled a detailed inventory and forced her father to sign it. Dr. Bauer was no longer permitted to practice his profession but continued to advocate for his fellow citizens with the authorities. When no one else could assume the position of head of the Jewish community, Dr. Bauer took on this role despite the imminent danger. This allowed him to continue representing the destroyed Jewish community’s affairs with the authorities.

The eldest daughter Irma managed to leave the country on a youth transport to then-Palestine.

The parents and the two younger children were expelled to Vienna in November 1938 and deported to Wlodawa on April 27, 1942. From there, they were forced into the Sobibor extermination camp located about 10 kilometers away and were murdered there. According to new information from the DÖW (Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance), son Ernst was transferred from Wlodawa to Majdanek concentration camp and is listed in its victim database.

Irma Bauer was the only member of her family to survive and lived in Palestine. There she married Yosef Netzer, had two children, and resided until her death at Kibbutz Shaar Hagolan south of the Sea of Galilee.

Several years ago, Irma Bauer visited Wiener Neustadt with her husband. She was enthusiastic about the Stolpersteine initiative in Wiener Neustadt but sadly passed away unexpectedly in May 2010 before she could see the Stolpersteine dedicated to her family. This honor now belongs to her children and grandchildren.

Helmuth Eiwen based on diary entries by Batya Netzer (Irma Bauer), „The Jewish Wiener Neustadt“ by Werner Sulzgruber, Wikipedia