(The Hirschlands: The Rise and Expulsion of a Jewish Banking Family)

More than two years ago, Norbert Fabisch began contacting members of the Hirschland Banking family for help in researching a book about the Hirschland Family. He noted that he was “a trained historian, (who) studied with Hans Mommsen and work(ed) as a high school teacher… The distance from my home to the former residence of Georg Hirschland is less than a mile and I can see the park from my window. When I retired I started to write an essay about this villa.”

His research includes family papers from the Leo Baeck Institute, some “qualified scientific reports about the ayranisation of the Simon HIrschland Bank” and a book about the history of the Foldwang Museum.

“Other important aspects were not in the focus. I wanted to find out more about the general history of the Hirschlands in Essen. The last report in general was written by Hermann Schröter about sixty years ago. I couldn’t find anything about struggles and efforts of the Grünebaum-brothers Erich and Kurt helping members of the family, friends and staff of the bank to leave Germany after the pogrom in 1938 and so on.”

Fabisch’s additional research through family members has filled in a lot of these holes in his research. He has also obtained many photos and other images, which are part of the book that is now available for purchase.

The book is available through Amazon.de. A quick search of “Die Hirschlands” will bring it up. The cost, including shipping to the U.S. is approximately US$46. Once you have ordered the book, you can request a pdf English translation from Norbert at the email below.

Alternatively, Norbert is offering to send packages of four books to the US by UPS for $185, approximately US$46 each. Contact him at fabisch-hirschland@gmx.de to arrange delivery or request the English translation pdf.