The Seiler family in Vienna
Wolf Seiler originally came from Galicia, from the village of Kopytchyntsi in what is now western Ukraine. He came to Vienna as a child and it can be assumed that he spoke Russian. In 1922 he married Chaje, who was also originally from Galicia.[1] Wolf, Chaye and their two children Alfred and Mary were deported to the Maly Trascjanec camp in 1944. All four survived.[2]
Alfred Seiler, the son, describes the family as a middle-class Jewish family.[3] The Seiler family originally lived on the top floor at Kurzgasse 3 in Vienna's 6th district.[4] The house still stands today. Wolf Seiler was also listed in the Vienna housing register at this address for several years.
The father, Wolf Seiler, had a trading company for clothing together with relatives. The location of the company "Glanzmann, Epstein and Co" was Obere Donaustraße 35, in the 2nd district.[5] The shop was located directly at the Danube Canal, diagonally opposite the Rossauer Barracks. It no longer exists today. In December 1938 the business was liquidated in the course of the "Aryanisation"; keys and inventory had to be handed over to the NSDAP.[6] Wolf Seiler worked in a leather factory after his business had to close. Chaje Seiler is noted in a document as a housewife.[7]
Glanzmann, Epstein & Co. noted in Lehmanns housing register
At the top left you will find the note from "Glanzmann, Epstein & Co." in Lehmann's housing register.
The son of Chaje and Wolf, Alfred Seiler, first attended a public school and later the Chajes Real Gymnasium. The Chajes Gymnasium was a conservative Jewish school in the 20th district, in Staudingergasse. There is still a school there today. From 1939 the school had to move to Castellezgasse in the 2nd district. However, the school was now no longer a gymnasium, as the Matura was forbidden for Jewish pupils. From 1941, the school building in Castellezgasse was home to a collection camp.[8]
After it was no longer possible for Alfred Seiler to attend school, he was forced either to find a job in Vienna or to go to the Doppel labor camp, a forced labor camp for Jewish emigrants administered by the SS. Alfred found work at Terranova Industries, a building materials plant.[9] He was employed there with about 20 other Jewish workers.[10] The plant was located in Liesing, now the 23rd district, on the outskirts of Vienna.
Mary, the daughter, originally also attended school in Vienna, but in 1940/1941 she was sent to a labour camp near Berlin with other Jewish girls. There they had to harvest asparagus. However, she soon returned to Vienna.[11]
At the beginning of 1940, the family had to leave their original flat at Kurzgasse 3 in the 6th district and moved into a collective apartment at Wienzeile 4/9, in the 6th district, right next to the Naschmarkt.[12] Alfred Seiler writes the following about this in his book: „Before long we had a population explosion in this appartement with all the rooms occupied by a different jewish family."[13] The address Wienzeile 4/9 is the last address of the Seiler family before the deportation; it is also noted on the deportation list as the family's address.
The two children, Alfred and Mary, were members of the Jewish youth organisation Aliyah, which had its headquarters at Marc Aurel Straße 5 in the 1st district. The leader of the youth Aliyah organisation was Aaron Menczer. He took some Jewish children out of the country and organised child transports. Sister Mary was supposed to leave Vienna in this way, but the attempt failed.[14] The other attempt to emigrate in the direction of Palestine was also unsuccessful.[15]
Sources:
[1] Seiler Alfred, From Hitler's death camps to Stalin's gulags, 2010, pp. 5-8.
[2] Wolf William Seiler *19.12.1895 †?, Chaje Esther (Klara) Seiler (nee Glanzmann) *02.10.1896 †1961, Fred (Alfred) Seiler *14.02.1926†20.07. 2008, Mary (Miriam) Seiler *24.08.1923 †1961
[3] Seiler Alfred, From Hitler's death camps to Stalin's gulags, 2010, p. 5.
[4] Ibid., p. 35.
[5] Ibid., pp. 33-34.
[6] Ibid., p. 36.
[7] Document regarding ship departure on which the names of Wolf, Chaje, Fred and Mary are noted (correspondence and lists of names, issued in Bremen-Grohn, means of transport ship, Uss General Heintzelmann, transit countries and emigration destinations: USA)
[8] Seiler Alfred, From Hitler's death camps to Stalin's gulags, 2010, p. 25-26
[9] Ibid., p. 49.
[10] Ibid., p. 54.
[11] Ibid., pp. 52-53.
[12] Ibid., 2010, p.44.
[13] Ibid., p. 57.
[14] Ibid., p. 46.
[15] Ibid., p. 38.