Simon Bloch
At Belfortstraße 26 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Simon Bloch’s story connects one address with the city’s Jewish history. He was born in Eichstetten and lived here with his wife, Melanie Guggenheim.
Simon ran a hardware store and a real estate agency before the Second World War shattered their lives. On 22 October 1940, German authorities deported the couple to Gurs internment camp in France. They endured the camp’s harsh conditions until escaping to Dun-sur-Meuse on 25 November 1941. Hidden there, they survived until the war ended.
Simon and Melanie remained in Dun-sur-Meuse until 1947, when their lives took separate paths. Simon died aged 83, while Melanie returned to Germany and later lived in a Jewish nursing home in Frankfurt. She died there in 1953, leaving Belfortstraße 26 as a tangible point of connection to their Freiburg years.
- City
- Freiburg im Breisgau
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