Andreas Nasch (in progress)
- 22 June 1912 Cluj/Romania, parents Adalbert Nasch, born 1890; Fanny Nasch, née Schmit
- Attended grammar school, studied at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cluj (Romania). Diploma, submission of doctoral thesis, enrolled at the Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University in 1941/42
- exmatriculated because he was Jewish
- From June 1942 forced labour (Gherla/Klausenburg, Gomel, Mallinowa/Voronezh, Brest-Litovsk)
- released December 1943
- 20 April 1944 to 6 June 1944 Klausenburg (Cluj) ghetto
- June 1944 Auschwitz concentration camp,
- 7 June 1944/18 June 1944 Dachau/Kaufering concentration camp, prisoner number #71504,
- 26 April 1945 Dachau/Allach concentration camp,
- 30 April 1945 liberation.
- Munich, studied at Ludwig Maximilian University, obtained doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.)
- Worked from May 1948 in the administration of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, Munich, Maria-Theresiastr. 11.
- 1950 Emigration to Israel
He lost his parents, his wife, his child and two brothers during the persecution.
Before the Persecution
All of the above sufferings were caused by persecution. Until the persecution began, I was completely healthy, strong, had no serious illnesses and always felt healthy. I had a balanced character, was sociable and active in sports. My parents and all my siblings were also healthy; I come from a thoroughly healthy family in which there were no serious illnesses. My financial situation was excellent. My parents were wealthy, I graduated from the Academy for Advanced Studies in Commerce and Industry, and also studied economics at the University of Klausenburg. I grew up in prosperity and was able to devote myself to my studies without any worries. My father was a large landowner, owned two spirit factories and a large timber yard, and I was also involved in my father's businesses. I became co-owner of the spirit factories, which operated under the name ‘Adalbert Nasch & Söhne’. I was in a very good financial position and my future seemed secure.
Source: Affidavit regarding ‘damage to body or health’
Andreas Nasch writes about his education:
After finishing secondary school, I studied at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cluj (Romania). After passing my diploma examination as an economist and commercial teacher, I continued my studies to obtain a doctorate. At that time, Cluj (Klausenburg) came under Hungarian rule in accordance with the Vienna Dictate. In 1941/42, I was enrolled at the Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University. After passing all my exams and submitting my doctoral thesis, I was expelled as a Jew in accordance with the anti-Jewish measures that had come into force in the meantime, and I was unable to obtain my doctorate.
Source: Affidavit dated 23 March 1967, Tel Aviv
Forced Labour for the Wehrmacht
I, Dr. Andreas N a s c h, arrived in June 1942 from Gherla, formerly Hungary, now Romania, where I had been drafted from my home town, in a collective transport first to Gomel and from there to Mallinowa, Voronezh district. Here I was handed over to German troops for forced labour (mine detection, trench digging, etc.).
When the German troops withdrew in January 1943, I was transported away and came to the hospital in Brest-Litovsk because I had contracted typhus. In December 1943, I was released to Hungary.
Source: Affidavit ‘Damage to Liberty’, 20 October 1949, Munich
Kluj/Klausenburg ghetto
[....] I suffered my first severe shock in the KLUJ ghetto. Since we were known to be among the wealthy citizens of the town, the SS wanted to extort gold and jewellery from my father and me by beating and torturing us. They beat us cruelly because they did not believe that we had handed over all our gold and jewellery. They beat my father so badly that he collapsed unconscious, and I feared they would not let him live. They also abused and beat me in the most cruel manner. From then on, my father was unable to recover, so badly was he beaten.
Source: Affidavit regarding ‘bodily injury or damage to health’
Auschwitz concentration camp
Later, I was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp with my parents, my wife and my only child, who was still a baby at the time, and my brother. Immediately after our arrival, I suffered the most terrible and devastating blow of my life. My parents, my wife, my little child and my youngest brother were immediately separated from me and placed among the prisoners destined for extermination. I never saw them again. Suddenly, I saw emptiness all around me. I felt alone and abandoned. Every day I saw the smoke from the crematoria, and I was tormented by the worst fears. I knew that my closest relatives had died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. I could no longer find peace, neither day nor night. I spent the following days sleepless, unable to get over the loss of my family.
Source: Affidavit regarding ‘bodily injury or damage to health’
Kaufering concentration camp
After a short time, I was transferred to the Kaufering concentration camp. Here, too, I went through a difficult time. I was assigned to heavy physical labour, working in the transport and railway command. I had to carry heavy sacks weighing about 100 kg and carry heavy stones. It was work that was far beyond my strength, which I was not used to and which I was not able to cope with. I often collapsed under the strain of this work and the heavy loads. At work, I was constantly beaten to make me work faster; I was threatened and insulted. I couldn't come to terms with this sudden degradation, even internally. As an intellectual, I had to endure insults. I also had to drag dead bodies and bury them, which was a terrible task that I dreaded. After all, these were the bodies of my fellow sufferers who had been alive only yesterday. I knew that the same fate awaited me tomorrow. -
[reports of illnesses, tooth loss, pain]
I also lost a brother there, who died of starvation two days before liberation. Shortly before liberation, I fell ill with severe typhus with high fever, and when I was liberated in April 1945, I was still seriously ill with typhus.
Source: Affidavit on ‘Damage to Body or Health’
After Liberation
He lived with Eugen (brother) and Ernst (relationship unclear) Nasch in Munich at St. Michaelstraße 124/I, a furnished flat previously occupied by a member of the SA. When he had to return the furniture, he turned to the ‘Generalanwaltschaft für rassisch, religiös und politisch Verfolgte’ (General Attorney’s Office for Racial, Religious and Political Persecutees) on 25 July 1949 for financial support. This probably refers to the compensation office run by Phillip Auerbach, the ‘Staatskommissar für rassisch, religiös und politisch Verfolgte' (State Commissioner for Racial, Religious and Political Persecutees)’:
In June 1945, the furnished apartment of the former SA member Gottlieb Althoff, Munich, St. Michaelstr. 124/I, consisting of two rooms and a kitchen, was assigned to my brother and me. According to the notification dated 16 February 1949/seesupplement from the Munich City Council (Central Office for the Munich Housing Authority – Furniture Trust Agency), permission was granted for us to take the furniture we had been using. As a result, I am obliged to return it to him.
As I have no means of support, I am unable to purchase furniture and essential household items for myself and my brother (who is currently training as a chemist). The decision to seize the furniture hit me particularly hard as I am about to get married.
In order to purchase furniture, essential equipment and crockery, I need at least 3,000 German marks.
Nasch writes about his professional development:
After liberation, I continued my studies and obtained a doctorate from the Faculty of Political Science at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich in 1948.
On the psychological consequences of persecution:
I lost my entire family and my livelihood as a result of the persecution. Before the persecution began, I was a healthy and strong person, but I came out of the camp a wreck, completely broken in body and soul. I have no prospect of ever regaining my former state of health or of ever becoming healthy again. As a result of my suffering, my ability to work is significantly reduced. I cannot find peace at night. My dreams are often filled with the sad, horrific images and events from this difficult time of persecution. I often see the faces of my dead comrades whom I had to drag away, and I often relive all these terrible events in my dreams. -
Afterwards, I can hardly calm down and walk around in a daze for hours. I avoid people and company, rarely go to the cinema or theatre, have no patience for anything and no interests. I have remarried and have another child, but I cannot get over the loss of my first wife and my first child. I cannot enjoy life; I find no joy in living. I have to think back over and over again to what I experienced and went through; I can never get rid of these memories and this difficult time.
Source: Affidavit on ‘Damage to Body or Health’, 1960
Witnesses for Andreas Nasch
The following witnesses were named by Andreas Nasch:
- Sigmund Levi, merchant in Munich 19, Dachauerstrasse 140,
- Mor Rosman, civil servant in Munich 8, Schneckenburgerstrasse 21,
- J. Hermann Szobel, merchant in Munich, Schleissheimerstrasse 106
They were in Kaufering together with Naftali (Andreas/Andor) Nasch. They describe their persecution in a joint affidavit dated 29 October 1949:
Sigmund Levi
I, Sigmund Levi, arrived in June 1942 from Gherla, where I had been conscripted from my home town, in a collective transport first to Gomel and from there to Mallinowa, Voronezh district. Here I was handed over to German troops for forced labour. In January 1943, I was sent to the hospital in Brest-Litovsk with typhus. In December 1943, I was released to my home town in Hungary. In April 1944, I was sent to the Klausenburg ghetto and from there to the Auschwitz concentration camp in June 1944. In mid-June 1944, I was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp, Kaufering branch camp. On 26 April 1945, I was sent to the Dachau concentration camp, main camp, and was liberated there on 29 April 1945 by American troops.
Mor Rosman
I, Mor Rosman, came in June 1942 from Baiamare, where I had been conscripted from my home town, in a collective transport first to Gomel, from there to Mallinowa, Voronezh district. Here I was handed over to the German troops for forced labour. In January 1943, I was taken to the hospital in Brest-Litovsk because I had contracted typhus. In December 1943, I was released to Hungary. On 4 May 1944, I was taken to the Baiamare ghetto, and from there to the Dej ghetto on 6 May 1944. I remained there until 6 June 1944. On 6 June 1944, I was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp and on 13 June 1944 to the Warsaw concentration camp. I was there for about three months. In September 1944, I was taken to the Dachau concentration camp, Kaufering subcamp, and from there to the Allach subcamp on 26 April 1945. On 30 April 1945, I was liberated by American troops.
J. Hermann Szobel
I, J. Hermann Szobel, came in June 1942 from Bathlen, where I had been drafted from my home town, in a collective transport first to Gomel and from there to perform forced labour for the German troops in Mallinowa near Voronezh. In January 1943, I was released to my home town in Hungary.
On 4 May 1944, I was sent to the ghetto in my home town of Dej. On 6 June 1944, I was transferred to Auschwitz concentration camp and from there to Dachau concentration camp, Kaufering branch camp, on 18 June 1944. On 29 April 1945, I was evacuated to the branch camp in Allach, where I was liberated by American troops on 30 April 1945. On 3 June 1945, I was admitted to Schwabing Hospital, from where I was discharged on 10 July 1945.
Notes
Further Sources
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Office for Compensation
Munich, file on Naftali Andreas Nasch, file number EG 15833
Notes
His brother Eugen Nasch was also a client of Konrad Kittl. Office for compensation Munich, file number EG15506
Picture Credits
Arolsen Archives