Bahngasse 38 (laid in 2022)
Friedrich Breuer
Master Watchmaker Friedrich Breuer – “Deregistered to Poland”
Friedrich Breuer, born on 7 November 1890 in Mattersdorf,
Wife Sabine Breuer, née Rost, born 12 August 1896 in Rzeszów, Galicia,
Sons Ernst (*1922) and Kurt (*1924), both born in Wiener Neustadt.
On 20 October 1939, Friedrich Breuer was transported to Nisko, driven across the Russian border and died at an unknown place there. His wife and son Kurt also fell victim to the Shoah, while Ernst managed to emigrate and survived.
In the 19th century, with renewed permission for settlement, major Jewish family associations moved to the economically attractive city of Steinfeld, including the Breuer family from western Hungary. Friedrich Breuer was among those who left Hungary during World War I and sought their fortune in the Austrian part of the empire, first in Vienna and Wöllersdorf. Until 1918, he worked like tens of thousands from across the monarchy in the munitions factory in Wöllersdorf, living in Wiener Neustadt from 1917.
After the war, he stayed in the city, married Sabine Rost in 1922, and lived permanently with their two children, Ernst and Kurt, in a rented apartment at Bahngasse 38/3/15. Friedrich, now a master watchmaker, also ran his watch, gold and silver goods store at this address, situated on a then important business street. He was also a committee member of the IKG Wiener Neustadt.
After the “Anschluss” in March 1938, the family quickly lost their longtime apartment, which was claimed by “Aryan” applicants. Briefly, a fellow believer gave them shelter until the November pogrom forced them to Vienna. There, they lived at Obere Donaustraße 49/1/9 and then at Krummbaumgasse 1/3/29.
While son Ernst succeeded in emigrating, the parents and younger son Kurt went through the infamous “deregistration to Poland.” This meant their transport to Nisko on 20 October 1939 and, at least for Friedrich, further deportation in 1942/43 to formerly Soviet-occupied territories. The exact location of his death is unknown; the fate of Sabine and Kurt remains unclear.
Werner Sulzgruber