Elly Landau

Elly Landau (g. Röttgen) was born in Wattenscheid on September 17, 1887 to David Röttgen (1849-1908) and Sara Röttgen (g. Appel) (1861-1942). The family had couple of businesses and buildings in Wattenscheid.

As a young girl Elly attended Prestigious Internat für Mädchen (girls boarding school) in Bonn, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia (I don't know the name).

Sometime between 1916-1919 Elly met Leo Landau

Leo Landau: Dr. Zahnarzt, born in Raschkow, Posen, Preußen on April 5, 1886, as a boy he moved with his family to Berlin, studied in Berlin Freiburg and Königsberg, between 1915-1926 lived in North Rhine-Westphalia buer & Dortmund, 1926-1933 lived in Berlin and from 1933 to 1968 in Tel-Aviv.

Hermann Röttgen was acquainted with Leo landau and introduce him to his sister Elly. Elly and Leo got married on January 14, 1920. First they lived in Buer (Gelsenkirchen), where their first child –Peter- was born on October 30, 1920. Later the family moved to Dortmund where their second child –Hans- wad born on April 14, 1922.

The family lived a happy life and in 1926 they all moved to Berlin (Boppstraße 10, Kreuzberg, Berlin). They lived in a house (11 rooms) that also served as a Leo's clinic.

Leo and his wife where Zionists (Unlike Elly's brothers that were anti-Zionists). Leo was one of the founders of the umbrella organization of German Zionist student organizations, Kartell Jüdischer Verbindungen (K. J. V.) Elly was Involved (as an Activist) in the WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) activities in Berlin. The children studied in Elementary Schools and later in Gymnasiums in Berlin.

The Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany took place on 1 April 1933, soon after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. After that, Leo Landau decided that the family will not stay in Germany and it’s a proper time to emigrate to Palestine (Zionists). All preparations were made and in July 1933 Leo Elly Peter & Hans began the journey. First they went to Wattenscheid to say goodbye to the family. After that they went to cologne=> Paris=> Marseille (they had to wait for couple of weeks because their migration certificate was stolen), then in sep 1933 they shipped to Palestine on board the "Mariette Pacha" liner.

In Sep. 1933 the family arrived to Jaffa port. They settled in Tel Aviv.

The Landau family lived in a Tel-Avivian flat that also served as Leo's clinic. Leo worked until his retirement in 1956. Elly Helped her husband as a assistant at the clinic. She went back to Germany in 1935 (for a short time) to try to persuade her brothers and her mother to emigrate from Germany. She didn’t Succeed (they told her that they consider themselves Germans and no one will tell them who they are). After WW2 she was in touch with her brothers Hermann and Kurt and with Rosa (the widow of her brother Ernst(. They all visited Israel several times and Elly went to Germany to meet them. Elly died in 1964 at the age of 77. Leo died in 1968 at the age of 82.