Arthur Marx

Arthur Marx, born on August 6th, 1890 in Ingenheim, fought as a young man for almost four years as a soldier in World War I. He married Lilly Weissmann on May 25, 1923 in Landau / Pfalz, who was born on July 25, 1899 in Viernheim. The couple moved to Landau / Pfalz. Here Arthur ran a tobacco and tobacco shop together with his brother-in-law Wilhelm Dannheiser (unfortunately, it is not known where the trade was). The business office was at Königstrasse 71, where there is now a supermarket.

The two children Hans (July 30, 1924) and Edith (February 18, 1926) were born in Landau. Their parents raised the two children full of hope and good prospects for their future.

Hans attended the Pestalozzi School in Landau and Edith the municipal secondary school for girls, today the Max Slevogt Gymnasium. In January 1930 the family moved to the second floor in Ostring 27. Since the old fortress was razed around the turn of the century, spacious houses could be built in this street, which created enough space for trade. Together with the connection to the industrial track of the railway, a center of Jewish life, work and action could grow here.

However, in 1933, both business and social difficulties began. Everyday harassment hit the family hard, the Nuremberg race laws continued to restrict life. Every day the family was confronted with new obstacles and strong aversions. And as Jewish traders, they suffered badly from discrimination and the official boycott by the city's citizens. The two children, Hans and Edith, also suffered severely from hostility and even physical violence in and around school. In August 1934 the family had to leave the apartment at 27 Ostring under pressure from the “Aryan” owner. For a short time they moved into the house of the Jewish tobacco dealer Nathan Pfeiffer at Ostbahnstrasse 28a.

It became clear to them that, under these circumstances, Jews in Germany could no longer lead a decent life for a long time.
And yet, what a contradiction: In the same year 1934, the businessman Arthur Marx was awarded the Cross of Honor for front-line fighters in the name of the Führer and Reich Chancellor in memory of his service to the fatherland in World War I, donated by Reich President General Field Marshal von Hindenburg!

After Felix Marx's death in Ingenheim in 1935, Arthur and his siblings Sigmund / Siegfried and Sophie were able to sell their parents' house there. With the proceeds and with a lot of courage and courage, they decided to emigrate in order to escape further discrimination and racist persecution. It was the feelings of helplessness and uprooting, bitterness and melancholy, but also the fear of the unknown that accompanied those who were forced to emigrate when they left Germany.

After much deliberation, they decided to emigrate to Argentina. The youngest brother Hugo had already emigrated there. He worked and lived there. But before the exit was approved, various papers were necessary: ​​The exit permit, "Llamada", which Brother Hugo was able to get you. It says that emigration was approved in Stuttgart in October 1935. In addition, they had to have the tax office confirm that the departures owed nothing. And after submitting the police clearance certificate and paying the “Reich flight tax” amounting to 25% of the property, things could finally start.

From Hamburg, Arthur and his family went south by ship in 1935. Lieselotte Dannheiser, her sister Sophie's daughter, also traveled with them. In any case, her parents, who still hoped it wouldn't get so bad, wanted her to be safe, as Lieselotte had been seriously injured by a stone throwing him on the way to school. So it was for the five departing people full of emotions and expectations in distant Argentina. They traveled with little luggage to a completely unknown country with a foreign language, culture, history, geography and customs. Argentina was a country of immigration and at the time it was very well positioned economically. Tolerance and openness had priority and made many things possible. All these positive aspects gave them courage and energy to try their new life there with a lot of confidence. But this was not an easy undertaking. Life in exile was hard and you lived modestly, from one day to the next, so to speak.