Bermann Baum
1867 - 1939

Bermann Baum was born in December 1867 in Hasselbach, a small village in the Hintertaunus, around 20 km from Usingen. In 1885 there were still 12 Jews living there. His father was the merchant Raphael Baum from Hasselbach, who died in Usingen in August 1897. His mother Babette Baum, née Kremer, also died in Usingen in November 1905. Bermann Baum had three siblings: Johannette Baum (1865-1939), Bernhard Baum (1870-1943) and Emanuel Baum (1873-?).

Bermann Baum married Cäcilie Hirsch, who was born in Freudenheim (Austria-Hungary?) in 1870. They had two children: Elisabeth (Liesel), married Epstein (1900-?) and Alice, married Rosenthal (1902-1959). Cäcilie Baum died in Usingen in October 1922 at the age of only 52.

Together with other family members, Bermann Baum ran a furniture and textile business in Usingen at Obergasse 11 (under the name "Raphael Baum Company"). He was very active in Usingen. In 1917, for example, he was one of three members of the supervisory board of the "Vorschußverein" Usingen (corporative credit association). Two years later, on March 9, 1919, Bermann Baum was even elected first chairman of the Usingen district and local group of the Volksbund. In 1924, he became a member of the "Gewerbeverein" (trade committee) Usingen. Another three years later, the new Usingen "Handwerker- und Gewerbeverein" (Craftsmen's and Tradesmen's Association) elected Bärmann Baum as its second chairman. In the spring of 1930, the Usingen local history and tourist association set up benches in the town, for example at Hattsteiner Weiher. It said: "Die Schaffung dieser Bänke ist vor allem Kaufmann Bärmann Baum zu verdanken." (The creation of these benches is primarily thanks to the merchant Bärmann Baum.)

After his daughter Alice married, her husband Kurt Rosenthal joined the business and became a partner. He also had a general power of attorney at least after 1933 to conclude transactions for Bernhard Baum.

Bermann Baum became a member of the Frankfurt on the Main section of the German and Austrian Alpine Club in 1909. Interestingly, he was correctly listed as Bermann Baum in the annual reports of the Frankfurt section before the First World War, but as Hermann Baum in the list of members in the annual report for the period 1919 to 1924. Due to a lack of sources, we were unable to clarify whether this was a typing error or a deliberate concealment of the Jewish first name Bermann. However, he is also listed in the section's Nachrichten-Blatt from March 1930 with the first name Hermann as the donor of 5 RM for the new construction of the Rauhekopfhütte. Consequently, it seems that after the end of First World War he was no longer listed as Bermann, but as Hermann.

His younger daughter Alice Baum joined the Frankfurt on the Main section in 1923. Her father Bermann Baum must have recommended her for membership at the time. Due to a lack of relevant sources, we are currently unable to say how Bermann Baum participated in the section's events.

After the introduction of the so-called "Arierparagraf" (Aryan paragraph) in the statutes of the Frankfurt section in February 1934, his daughter Alice could no longer remain a member. As a member from before 1914, he was not affected by this paragraph. However, Bermann Baum was not honored for his 25-year membership in the Alpine Club in 1934. It can therefore be assumed that he had previously left the section.

After the destruction of the Usingen synagogue in September 1938, Bernhard Baum went to Freiburg (in Breisgau) to live with his daughter Elisabeth Epstein, who had lived there since 1933. In November 1938, his son-in-law Kurt Rosenthal was forced at gunpoint to sell Bernhard Baum's residential and commercial property at 11 Obergasse in Usingen for less than it was worth. He himself died in Freiburg in February 1939. His two children were able to emigrate from Germany: The older daughter Elisabeth went to Switzerland, the younger daughter Alice and her family to the USA.

Bernhard's sister Johannette Baum died shortly after him in March 1939 in Kransberg, a village just 4 km southwest of Usingen. She was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Usingen. His brother Bernhard Baum left Usingen for Frankfurt on the Main in 1938 and was deported from there to Theresienstadt in September 1942. He died in November 1943 due to the catastrophic living conditions in German Theresienstadt camp.

While his brother Emanuel Baum from Usingen went to Frankfurt on the Main and died before the deportations began, his wife Rosa Baum, née Gutenstein, also from Usingen, was deported from Frankfurt to Theresienstadt in September 1942. From there, she was deported to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp in May 1944 and subsequently murdered.