Erich Heymann
born 8 August 1912 in Fürstenwalde
died 1943 (?) in Auschwitz-Birkenau
Historical former address Junkerstraße 13
Stumbling stone Reinheimer Straße 11
Date of stone-laying 17 November 2009
Erich Heymann was born into a Jewish family in Fürstenwalde on 8 August 1912. His parents Betty and David ran a branch of the wholesale warehouse chain "Hamburg Engros-Lager" near the market square where they sold cotton underwear, haberdashery and knit­wear. Erich had a younger sister named Ilse. He trained as a caricaturist in Berlin but could no longer pursue his education after the National Socialists' seizure of power.
In 1935, he attended a Hachshara course in Pianizza di Sotto near Bolzano in South Tyrol with the aim of preparing himself for emigra­tion to Palestine and acquiring the basic agricultural know­ledge required to live there. Erich was engaged to Ruth Hamburger at the time and the couple were planning to emi­grate together. It is believed that their plans came to nothing because of illness.
Later, Erich Heymann instead married Fanni Klappholz, with whom he lived in Berlin. On 1 March 1943, Erich and Fanni were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where they were murdered. Erich's parents shared their fate in the Sobibor extermination camp (Polish: Sobibór); only his sister Ilse managed to escape to the United States in 1937.
Betty Heymann née Weinkrantz
David Heymann
Fanni Heymann née Klappholz