Max Bonnem

Since 2018 two books from the library of Dr. Max Bonnem could be returned.

Max Bonnem was born on June 26th, 1886 in Oberstein (today Idar-Oberstein). He was a lawyer by profession. He lived in Halle and since about 1920 in Berlin. In 1923 he married Elisabeth Oppenheimer, born in Fürth on February 21st, 1899. Their son Heinz Emanuel was born on July 30th, 1924 in Berlin. The family lived in Berlin-Halensee, Hektorstraße 9.

Max, Elisabeth and Heinz Bonnem were persecuted as Jewish in National Socialist Germany. Max Bonnem died on December 10th, 1937 in Berlin under circumstances not yet clarified. Elisabeth and Heinz Bonnem were deported to the Łódź ghetto on November 1st, 1941 and were murdered there.

As the supplier of one of the books, the Bergungsstelle is indicated in the access directory, for the other book the so-called Cultural Office ("Kulturamt") but in this case there are strong doubts as to the correctness of these allocations. It is more likely that the Berlin city library acquired the now returned books in 1943 in the course of the purchase of ~ 40,000 books looted from the last homes of Jewish people from Berlin.