Wassergasse 24 (laid 2015)
Josefine Streusler
One of the Jewish Victims from Wiener Neustadt in Riga
Josefine Streusler was born on August 8, 1892, in Wiener Neustadt. She remained unmarried and had no children. She was deported from Vienna to Riga on January 26, 1942, where she was murdered.
Josefine was the daughter of Hermann Streusler, a tailor cutter born in 1863 in Wradist, Hungary, and Katharina Frankl, a housewife born in 1864 in Vienna. She was one of three children; her older brother Gustav had already died in 1919. Their father, Hermann, earned the family’s living by preparing leather for shoes (Oberteilherrichter) and later as a leather merchant. After Hermann’s death in 1927, the younger brother Heinrich (born 1894) took over the family business.
Josefine lived her entire life unmarried, mostly residing with her brother Heinrich’s family. They lived first in Ungargasse and later in Wassergasse 24. The house at Wassergasse 24 was owned by their mother Katharina until her death in 1936, after which ownership passed to Josefine. The house was likely Josefine’s inheritance since her brother received the business.
Shortly after the Anschluss (annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany) in 1938, and after the boycott of Jewish businesses, Heinrich, his wife Gisela, and son Walter moved to Wassergasse 24, which had been the family home. The house was a sort of refuge for the family at that tumultuous time. However, this lasted only briefly, as the house was “Aryanized” in 1938, meaning it was confiscated under Nazi policies targeting Jewish property. Consequently, Josefine and her brother Heinrich with his family had to leave the city.
While some members of the Streusler family successfully escaped to Great Britain, Josefine remained behind. In 1937, she spent about a month under medical care at the hospital of the Israelite Community in Vienna. In September 1938, she stayed briefly at a convalescent home on Lainzer Straße. The reasons for these stays are unknown.
According to Vienna’s official records, Josefine’s whereabouts from spring 1939 reflect a series of moves: March 15, 1939 – April 4, 1940: Weissgasse 48/1/6, Until October 8, 1940: Roßauer Lände 23A/7, October 9, 1940 – July 14, 1941: Uhdegasse 11/4, July 16 – August 18, 1941: Weissgasse 48/1/6, August 19, 1941 – January 16, 1942: Liechtensteinstraße 103/11.
The official final removal note states: “16.1.42 Poland action 26.1.42 Riga,” indicating that Josefine was deported from Vienna to Riga on January 26, 1942, and murdered there.
Werner Sulzgruber