The Eisner family

The Eisner family

• The father Ludwig Eisner, b. November 27, 1880. His father came as a young man from Poland (belonged to Russia at that time) in order not to become an Russian soldiers.
  
  
• The mother Rosa Eisner, née Heimann, b. August 30, 1884 in Tarnowitz. The wedding took place August 12, 1906.
  
  
• The son Dr. Lothar Eisner, b. April 21, 1909.
  
  He started school at the Jewish school but because there were to less pupils the Jewish children were sent to the catholic school in 1916. After WWI they had to go to the Protestant School. For the secondary school (Oberrealschule, address Oimska/Katowicka) he moved to Oppeln for 9 years.There he stayed at the couple Spier (Karlstraße 20 (Edmunda Osmańczyka 20)). He was so successful at school that he was rewarded with a sightseeing flight.
  
  From 1929 until 1933 he studied in Freiburg, Munich and Breslau. He had a degree in law and a doctorate in law. He completed his first state exam in 1933 and despite his Jewish religion he was allowed to begin his legal clerkship due to a special regulation for Upper-Silesia. Later he said that he had always been treated well in Guttentag and Gleiwitz during his legal training. Moreover, at the lower district court of Gleiwitz he made many Jewish acquaintances through which he met years later in Israel his wife.
  
  But the atmosphere must have been tense. Right after the Nazis came into power, in March 1933 in Gleiwitz young men entered the court and beat Jewish lawyers. A young female assessor had to be taken into protective custody. In April 1933 a new legislation came into effect which deprived the license of Jewish lawyers. However, at the beginning there were a lot of exceptions (WWI veterans, long years in office) and "only" 30 % were affected (cf. Friedläner, Saul: Das Dritte Reich und die Juden, München 1997, page 41f).

In August 1937 also Lothar Eisner was affected: he was terminated by the upper district court in Breslau due to his being Jewish. Therefore he could not complete his second state exam.

• The daugher Alice Meyerstein, b. June 29, 1910.
  
  She finished school at the age of 16. She was a born salesperson and worked in the shop of their parents.
  
  On August 21, 1932 she married Ludwig Meyerstein, b. March 10, 1893. She got a very big dowry: goods with a value of 30,000 RM and 25,000 RM in cash. Together the dowry therefore had around the same value as the Eisners` property in Guttentag. Alice followed her husband to Halle (Adresse: Kleine Ulrichstr. 19).
  
  Ludwig Meyerstein was a soldier in WWI. In Halle he was working as a defense attorney in private practice and was of-counsel for IG-Farben.
  
  Their son Hans was born on March 31, 1935. He was named after a brother of Ludwig Meyerstein who was killed in WWI.
  
  
• Rosa and Ludwig Eisner had another daughter, Miriam, born before Lothar. She was born February 23, 1908 but died only 15 month later on May 22, 1909, just one month after Lothar was born.
  
  
• Fanny, the mother of Ludwig Eisner, born 1856 in Guttentag, nee Gross. About her further fate anything is known.

Read here about the family tree, explained by Dr. Lothar Eisner