Leo Rosengarten – Docs

Leo Rosengarten, born in Witten-Heven, Westphalia, Germany, in 1903

Profession in country of origin: labourer and bricklayer

Arrived in Britain as a refugee from Germany in summer 1939

Below, a wedding card – an English translation follows

To our dear friend Rosengarten

We wish on his wedding day,

Of course to you, Helga, too,

All the best we can think of.

We all know very well,

You have a noble heart,

You’ll treat your young wife well

And always love her dear,

You’ll cherish her all the time 

Until you are grown old,

For you are always caring,

As we experienced ourselves.

Bread and butter, dear Leo,

Were always there.

When you arrived in the hut,

We shouted la oud ‘Hurrah’.

Your trade man’s bucket brought to you,

And all of us, good luck.

It opened all the doors to you,

Never empty-handed you came back.

As a comrade you proved yourself

With us at any time.

For that we’ll hold you always dear

For all eternity.

You never thought just merely of yourself,

For others too you had to care.

Look, Helga, now this is the glory

Belonging now to you alone.

Though not attending ourselves,

The wedding isn’t valid less:

We wish much happiness to the young couple

And to their future children!

The Comrades of

Hut 23/I

Ackerfeld, Adler, Baum, Demuth, Eisenberg, Gonsinowski, 3*Heilborn, Henoch, Hess, Kadritzkt, Kongrecki, Levy, Lewin, Lucas, Meier, Michel, Nebel, Neugeboren, Neustadt, Oske, Penzias, Rosenthal, 2* Sadel, Silberberg, Sommer, Tanne, Waksmann, Wedel, Weintraub, Weissenberg, Wormann, Zacharias

Kitchener Camp

Richborough 30.10.39

……………………………………..

Translation kindly submitted by a Kitchener researcher

[Editor: Cross-checking these names against the 1939 Register, we have the following information about the men in Hut 23/I

Mortiz Ackerfeld, born 1894 – a tailor

Adler – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Hans Baum, born 1902 – a clerk

or

Max Baum, born 1893 – a pharmacist

Armand Demuth, born 1904 – a clerk

Gustav Eisenberg, born 1905 – a plumber

Adolf Eisenberg, born 1900 – a bookseller

Manfred Gonsiorowski, born 1917 – a milliner

Heilborn – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Ludwig Henoch, born 1900 – a farm assistant

Hess – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Leo Kadritzki, born 1897 – a textile dealer

Abraham Kongrecki, born 1901 – an upholsterer

Levy – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Lewin – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

David Lucas, born 1900 – a jockey

Meier – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Michel – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Heimann Nebel, born 1897 – a master butcher

or

Erich Nebel, born 1895 – a linen salesman

Neugeboren – not in 1939 Register

Rudolf Neustadt, born 1904 – a master furrier

Werner Oske, born 1898 – a labourer and driver

Karol Penzias, born 1911 – a leather salesman

Rosenthal – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Sadel * 2 – not in 1939 Register

Kurt Silberberg, born 1903 – a bank manager

Sommer – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Max Tanne-Muenz (probably), born 1912 – a textile salesman

Cecil Waksmann, born 1899 – a laundry owner

Edmund Wedel, born 1909 – a farm assistant

Weintraub – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Weissenberg – too many possibilities to draw a conclusion

Wormann – not in 1939 Register

Julian Zacharias, born 1905 – a textiles commercial traveller