I wish to mention another family, a Jewish family in the neighbouring building of Kaiserallee 79 A, the Kleinbergers. For some time my aunt rented a room in this couple's apartment. We did not know much about them, however, except the fact that their three children had emigrated long before. Thus the two parents, both sickly, were left behind on their own. My mother and I helped them as much as we could, but we never visited each other or had any social contacts. One day, at the end of February 1943, Mr. and Mrs. Kleinberger, came to see us for a short visit. They wore elegant clothes and were rather excited. They had come to say goodbye as if they were going on a trip… They informed us that they intended to have a very good meal with music and wine. They had received the "list" (a summons for deportation with lists and forms to be filled out) and had already acquired the remedy a long time ago. We understood immediately that this remedy was a poison and that their trip was a planned suicide. But there was nothing we could do and there was no way we could intervene… The only thing we could do was to shake their hands in silence and wish the couple in our hearts a good voyage to the world beyond. It was only three days later that their bodies were found in their apartment.
Others, after having received the lists, prepared for the imminent "voyage" with diligence, as if they were really going on a trip…. They washed and sewed they ironed and arranged their belongings to prepare as well as possible. My aunt, Elfride Wolff, was one of these active and agile people. She was my favourite aunt, my father's sister, who had never married. After many years as head clerk of a Berlin industrial firm, she worked for the Jewish community and was then engaged in forced labour. She was taken from the factory with all the other Jews directly to the transport. Thus she could not even go home first and take even one single piece of the baggage she had so carefully prepared….
