Here lies a stark reminder. This brass Stolperstein commemorates Albert Rosenthal. Albert Rosenthal was born in 1861 in Bentschen. Bentschen is now Zbąszyń in Poland. Rosenthal died in 1942 in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. He was a German merchant. He was also a publisher of postcards and a photographer.
Albert Rosenthal married Carolina Samuel. In 1891, he opened his business. He specialized in postcards already in the 1890s. Rosenthal competed with other postcard publishers in Bremen. Around the turn of the century, Rosenthal expanded his range. He included other city motifs in his assortment. The black-and-white pictures were partly colored by hand. However, the delicately produced engravings were soon replaced by photographic images.
Rosenthal also published postcards with the motif of the Bremen Stock Exchange. He also acted as a photographer for these. Rosenthal also produced multi-color prints. These prints featured the Old Geeste Bridge in Bremerhaven. These were marked with an artist’s signature. They also bore the imprint “Stephan-Post” and were “legally protected.”
The Rosenthals experienced a real boom in postcards during World War I. Much of the field post was sent by postcard. Rosenthal ran his “luxury paper wholesale and postcard publishing house”. It was located in the house at Charlottenstraße 28 in Bremen. His two younger sons Herbert and Hermann also worked there. They also used the building as a rented residence. The entrepreneur himself lived as the owner with his wife and eldest son Arthur in the house Osterdeich 107e.
Albert Rosenthal and his sons supported the Werder Bremen sports club. They donated money to the club’s “sports field fund”. His eldest son Arthur Rosenthal distinguished himself as chairman. He chaired the advertising and press committee. He contributed to the club’s membership growth. He organized sports advertising weeks. He also helped with the anniversary celebration. It celebrated the club’s 20th anniversary. He helped distribute flyers. He also aided in cinema advertising.
After the Nazis seized power in 1933, the repression against Jews steadily worsened. This culminated in the arrest of Albert Rosenthal and his sons. This happened during the November pogroms in 1938. All were released from custody for reasons that were later unclear. Shortly thereafter, the ordinance forced Albert Rosenthal and his family. It forced them to move from their own residence on Osterdeich. They moved into the family building in Charlottenstraße 28. There, they could only live together in cramped conditions as tenants.
Hermann, one of Rosenthal’s sons, emigrated to the USA in 1939. Herbert emigrated to Ecuador in 1940. Only Arthur remained with his parents. However, he was deported to the Minsk Ghetto. This was during the Bremen Jew deportation. He died there. The Rosenthal couple remained in Bremen without children. However, they were deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Albert Rosenthal died there just a few months later. He succumbed to the hardships. Carolina Rosenthal experienced the liberation of the Ghetto. She was able to return to Bremen.
Meanwhile, two employees of the company had continued the Rosenthal company. After the company was returned to the surviving members of the Rosenthal family in 1950. Five years later, the company was sold to Herbert von Bültzingslöwen. He was a merchant from Oranienburg.
Carolina Rosenthal died in Bremen in 1956. The former Rosenthal family business continued as Verlag Papeterie from 1974. After further changes of ownership, it exists today under the name Avancarte in Bremen.
Stolpersteine have been laid for Albert and Arthur Rosenthal. They are at the former residence on Osterdeich 107e. This Stolperstein reminds us of Albert Rosenthal’s life. It highlights his tragic fate during the Nazi era. It serves as a reminder of the importance of tolerance and remembrance.