Wiener Straße 13 (laid 2011)

Julius Duhl

His In-Laws Demanded the Return of the Wedding Gift, the Apartment

Julius Duhl, born on July 26, 1885, in Monasterzyska (Poland), widowed;
Wife Irma, née Gewing, born on November 23, 1895, in Böhmisch-Leipa, died on September 12, 1921;
Son Willi, born 1918, and daughter Gertrude (“Trude”), born 1921, both in Wiener Neustadt.
Deported on August 31, 1942, to Minsk. Killed on September 4, 1942, in the Maly Trostinec extermination site near Minsk. Both children, Willi and Trude, managed to survive (transported to Palestine and then exiled to the USA).

Julius Duhl was born in 1885 in Poland. His father owned two brick factories and was able to provide his son with a good education. At the age of 14, Julius went to Vienna to begin an apprenticeship as a printer. For a short time, he worked for a newspaper. He fought for Austria in World War I and was stationed in the munitions department in Wiener Neustadt.

In 1918, he married Irma Gewing and lived in Wiener Straße in an apartment that he had received as a wedding gift from Irma’s parents. The apartment also included a shoe shop. Although the couple got along well, they struggled financially and there was much tension between Julius and his in-laws.

Julius and Irma had two children, William (born 1918) and Trudy (born 1921). Three months after Trudy’s birth, Irma died unexpectedly. Eight years later, Irma’s parents, who had fallen into financial difficulties, demanded the return of their wedding gift and left the Duhls homeless. Julius moved to Vienna and struggled for years with various jobs, hoping to create a home for his children.

On March 12, 1938, Hitler marched into Vienna. Trudy remembers the cheering crowd while her family hid behind the windows. Willy married Susie Leisner in May 1938, and the two managed to escape on a ship to Palestine. After World War II, Susie and Willy Duhl emigrated to the USA.

Julius Duhl and his 17-year-old daughter Trudy took turns standing in line at the consulate for six months, along with thousands of other Jews, waiting for their visas. In December 1938, Trudy received her visa and was able to emigrate to America, where she lived with her uncle.

In July 1939, Julius was sent to a small labor camp in Hölingen near Bremen, which was “dissolved” in 1941, and Duhl returned to Vienna. He remained undisturbed for several years until he was rounded up with the last Viennese Jews. At the end of August 1942, they were deported in a cattle car to Minsk and were either gassed on the way to Maly Trostinec or killed in a mass shooting in the forest near Minsk.

Trudy married Fred Faust, and they had three children: Irma, Henry, and Judy. Trudy lived near her daughter in Hudson, Massachusetts, until her death.

Judy Faust (granddaughter of Julius Duhl), translated from English