Martinsgasse 8 (laid 2011)

Heinrich Gerstl

Died of Typhus Shortly Before Freedom

Heinrich Gerstl, born July 24, 1880, in Neufeld an der Leitha, merchant.
On September 4, 1940, illegal departure to Palestine; Haifa, contracted typhus, died on December 10, 1940, in the British internment camp in Atlit.
His wife Paula and their four daughters, Ella, Gertrude, Herta, and Gisela, survived in exile in Palestine.

Our father, Heinrich (Aron) Gerstl, was born on July 24, 1880. His parents, Jacob and Marie, were from Neufeld an der Leitha. After Heinrich, two more sisters were born, who unfortunately perished with their families in the Shoah. Our father attended elementary school in Neufeld and then went to commercial school in Vienna. After graduating, he returned to Neufeld to work with his parents in their business, a haberdashery shop.

In 1912 or 1913, Father married Pauline Winkler from Hochwolkersdorf, and in 1914, our older sister Elli was born.

In the same year, Father was drafted into the military (World War I) and worked in an ammunition factory in Wöllersdorf until the end of the war.

Our father then opened a business in Wiener Neustadt selling piece goods such as bed linen, ready-made clothing, and much more. In 1933, he bought the house at Martinsgasse 8, as the family had grown in the meantime. We two, Gertrude (born 1927) and Herta (born 1929), were added. The apartment in Bahngasse (in the Bürgerhof) had only two rooms, so it was necessary to move to a larger apartment.

Then came the Nazi era, which changed everything. In 1936, the Nazis smashed the windows in our house one night. It was the son of a good customer who owed us money. The large stone almost killed my sister. Nothing happened to the perpetrator. A year later, a bomb was thrown into our garden, which shattered all the windows in the house.

Shortly thereafter, SS men came and wanted to confiscate the dining room. When no one opened the door immediately, they broke down the door, and our father was arrested. He was first held in solitary confinement in the town hall and then transferred to the district court. When he came out after four weeks, he was barely recognizable. Then the relatives from the province were also expelled, whereupon we took in two families.

On November 10, 1938, the Nazis came and took us from the house. Without being allowed to take anything with us, the women and children were locked up in the temple, and the men in the district court. There we had to sleep on straw and were left without food or drink. Any of the women who owned houses were called to the Gestapo to transfer ownership of their property to the Gestapo – houses, businesses, or other possessions. Those who did not do so were beaten half to death. After a week, all the Jewish residents of Wiener Neustadt were transferred to Vienna. We found shelter in Vienna with the Jaul family. There, we three families lived in an apartment with three rooms until 1940.

On September 4, 1940, we all embarked on the illegal journey to Palestine. We traveled for three months under terrible conditions. When we arrived in Haifa, our father was already ill with typhus. After a week, he was taken to Atlit, a British internment camp, where he succumbed to his illness and died on December 10, 1940.

The first commander of the Nazis moved into our house at Martinsgasse 8. After the Nazis left, the communists came, and again it was the first commander who moved into our house.

We both live married in Israel to this day.

Yehudit Winkler and Miriam Yaron (daughters of Heinrich Gerstl)