Ludwig Adolf Melzer

https://vademecum.nacr.cz/vademecum/permalink?xid=5c8fcebd-4d55-48a... – His birth registry entry.

https://www.arkivverket.no/kom-i-gang-med-arkiv/kildetips-og-oppgav... – Information about an auction of his property in Norway in 1943.

https://www.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/i/wP911o/soestre-fra-brasil-dypt-... – A news report about his Stolperstein in Norway

https://www.snublestein.no/Ludvig-Melzer-1886-1942/p=568/ – Information in Norwegian.

https://archive.org/details/EnzyklopadieDerTechnischenChemieBand8 – Here is “Enzyklopädie der technischen Chemie” (1931), which includes his article about Norgine.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDtGznl_lo

Full text on Ludwig Melzer (by Tone Aarrestad), sent to me (Claudia Heller) on February 2019:

"Ludwig Adolf Melzer was born on 7.March ,1886, in Saaz(Bohemia) in Austria-Hungary. Today, the city is called Zatec and belongs to the Czech Republic. He was of Jewish origin and had two sisters and a brother. His sisters are Antonie and Sophie, his brother is Max. His parents are Karl Carl and Otilie. He was single and childless and did not belong to any religious community. The Melzer family was not religious. He had lived in Ogna two times. The first time was from 1920-1921. He lived in the farm of Hans Kvianes. He was a trained chemical engineer and was an operational manager at several foreign chemical plants. He was the operational manager at Sjøtang A/S, a company created in 1917 in the area of seaweed alginate. The factory produced derivatives of algae- norgin and tangin. Norgin was used in the textile industry to make textiles softer and give them a shiny surface. Tangin were mineral salts that would be used in hydromineral resorts for rheumatic patiens. The factory was the first of its kind in Norway, and was populary known as "Tanginen". Per Pavels Munthe of Kristiania(Oslo) was the companys managing director. In 1921, the post-war depression(World war one) began to make itself felt. It was not easy to obtain venture capital and the factory did not get a new and particularly necessary bank loan. Sjøtang A/S went bankrupt on March 27, 1921. Melzer had to return to Bohemia.

Ludwig Melzer had established contact with engineer Christian Nielsen and his family. They became good friends. Christian Nielsen was born in 1886 in Egersund. He was an electrical engineer and operational manager at Jæren Electricity Plant in Ogna. He spoke fluent German after studying in Germany. Nielsen and Melzer lived in the same neighborhood. Both owned photographic equipment and were amateur photographers.

In 1935, the factory was re-opened under a new name, A/S Korkindustri. It would produce insulation materials for refrigerators and other cork products. Cork was transported by wessels from Spain and Portugal. It should researched more on algae. Per Pavels Munthe from Oslo founded the new factory and managed to have companys by-laws changed so that foreign citizens could subscribe shares. He invited Melzer back to Ogna to operate the A/S Cork Industry and new industry on sea algea. Melzer received a work permit in November 1938, granted by the Rogaland police for a period of one year, which was subsequently extended for another six months.

Melzer came to Norway from London as a political refugee on May 5, 1939. He had fled to England in 1938 and stayed there until arriving in Norway.

Melzer resumed contact and friendship with Christian Nielsen and his family. When the eldest son, Reidar, married on March 7, 1942, he was an obvious guest at the wedding. The family had a cottage in Ualand in Ogna, and he was a constant presence and was always helpful. He liked the hut very much. He often went hunting with the sons of Nielsen, Reidar and Egil. When Nielsen asked if he had shot something, he usually replied, "No, but it slams well". He spoke a mixture of Norwegian and German and made funny comments.

He appreciate the Nielsen family and was often on good meals. He was included in the family. He had a long nail in his right little finger, which he used to collect samples in the laboratory. He was always careful about what he said and "hush-hush, the walls have ears" was his standard expresssion.

When the shadows of World War II began to invade the country, he had German lessons to the Nielsen family and other interested people.

The war ended the importation of cork and, thus, production was interrupted. Melzer spent time researching algea. He created green soap. Soap was missing at the time.

In April 1941, all documents of the Melzer case were sent to the sheriff in Egersund "to ascertain whether the presence of Ludvig Meltzer in Ogna was still necessary." In this context, it was asked whether Melzer came to Norway via England (London).

In the autumn of 1942, Ludwig Melzer was in Oslo at an extraordinary general meeting of A/S Korkindustri. The factory management (Munthe) had arranged an escape route to Sweden, but Melzer thought he would be safe in Ogna and went back.

Ludwig Melzer was arrested by the sheriff in Egersund on the morning of October 26, 1942. The sheriff was a Nazi. Melzer was arrested at the factory and taken with a police escort to Kvianes, where he lived, to pick up his personal belongings. Christian Nielsen and his sons, Reidar and Egil, worked against the Germans.They had their connections and received a quick message about the arrest. Reidar introduced himself and asked to say goodbye, but this was denied with a gun to his neck and was told to disappear. Ludwig was taken to the prison in Egersund on the same day.

On October 27, 1942, A/S Korkindustri (Munthe) sent a telegram to the police chief in Rogaland and asked for a new operational manager. The telegram can be understood as a silent protest against the arrest. 

On October 28, he was transported by train, accompanied by a police officer, to Stavanger. When the train passed Ogna (message from their connections), the Nielsen family was there, silent. Ludwig waved at them as the train passed. They never saw him again. The family returned home in silence. Nobody managed to say anything.

In Stavanger, he was left to the state police and was imprisoned in the Stavanger prison, department C in Lagårdsveien. There he met eight other male Jews from Rogaland.

Ludwig Melzer and the other male Jews from Rogaland, all on the same Friday morning, October 30, were transported by train to the Berg concentration camp in Tønsberg under the surveillance of three officers and two policemen from the state police. They arrived at the Berg concentration camp om 31 October. At the detention camp, run by the state police, the Jews were detained in miserable conditions until transportation out of the country was ready. They were accommodated in three unfinished huts without furniture, light nor heating. The food and the treatment of the guards and the state police were terrifying. The prisoners were beaten, kicked and spat. They were cursed as "Jewish pigs" and "Jewish rats".

There is letters from A/S Korkindustri (Munthe) dated 4.11.1942 and 5.11.1942, in which they request Melzer`s release.

On November 26, 1942, Melzer and the other Jews at Berg detention camp were transported by train to Utsikker 1 at the port of Oslo. There the D/S Donau freighter was waiting for them. Other Jews, men, woman and children were also transported to the port. Melzer was deported along with 531 other Jews to Stettin in Poland. The D/S Donau freighter arrived in Stettin on 30 November. Melzer and the other Jews were transported by the train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They arrived on December 1, 1942 at nine o`clock in the evening. Ludwig Melzer went straight to "The Little White House", which was a temporary gas chamber. In the night from the 1st do 2nd December, he was killed with the other Norwegian Jews. All men over 50, women and children were sent directly to the gas chambers. The next day they were thrown into a pile and burned. Ludwig was 56.

Ludwig had "poison capsules" and could have been thrown off the train between Stettin and Auschwitz when he took the "gift bottle". He would have told Christian Nielsen that "they will never take me alive". But he had not been thrown off the train, as it is documented that he went to Auschwitz where he was killed in the gas chamber. 

Goods and values were confiscated. When the sheriff arrested Ludwig, he confiscated Ludwig`s wristwatch, a fountain pen, a pencil, a few small keys, and 55 crowns in coins. Later, state police seized 491 NOK in cash. There were judicial auctions of jewish estates in Stavanger in March 1943. A smoking jacket, slippers, a handbag, clothing and underwear, two suitcases, a camera, a leather bag, a suit and a winther coat, who had belonged to Melzer, were auctioned. A camera was left out of the auction. Christian Nielsen had taken care of notes, chemical formulas, and an amateur album, which were off the property register. 

Interview with Solveig Omland:

Solveig consideres Ludwig a tolerably, careful and restrained man. He was a pleasant and nice man who liked to talk. She remember him as a small man with a lot of clothes on. He had a nice ring on his finger. He photographed Solveig in the snow when she was five years old. He spoke Norwegian, and Solveig think she was the only child he talked to.  After he was arrested and disappeared, there was silence and nobody spoke of him. But Solveig thinks she was told that Melzer had a brother who lived in America and that his brother went to Ogna after the war to look for something or some information. She also remember that Ludwig had been advised to escape, but he answered that "if he was not worthy to live, so get it just be". The Germans knew where he was, and what he owned. He had some nice rings, a camera and a nice watch. He was the chief of the factory. At the "Tanginen", an iodine was produced from seaweed. He was an educated chemistry engineer. He was concerned about the work. That could be the explanation on that he was not so involved in the local community. His high position perhaps led to some distance.

Interview with Margit Sirevåg

Margit`s parents had a general store, Jaarvik, in Ogna. She used to be in the store where Ludwig used to shop. She remember that Ludwig was a bit funny and playful. He made comments and funny jokes. He always asked for "Kong Christian" when he bought a candy branded "King of Denmark"(the king was called Christian). He was an engineer, worked on the "Tanginen". He spoke good Norwegian. He was a warm and cozy man. Ludwig was arrested on her twentieth birthday, October 26, 1942. She felt very sorry for Melzer when he was arrested. It seemed terrible. She didn`t get any information before long after, but during the war.

Christian Nielsen was informed by Ludwigs brother, Max, after the war, that Ludwig was dead. Max went to Ogna after the war in 1949. Max was a chemical engineer, like his brother, and worked for the Norgine factory in Usti-nad-Lebem(Bohemia). Max managed to escape from Bohemia in 1938 via Belgium and France and arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1941. He had his wife Marianne and his daughter Dora with him.

Ludwigs two sisters died in Holocaust. Antonie was married to Friedrich Kraus and had a son named Robert. She, her husband and her son died in the Holocaust. She died in Belarus. Sophie was not married. She died in Riga, Latvia.

Max has two granddaughterts, Claudia and Barbara. I found them on Geni`s genealogy page and on facebook. They are Ludwig`s grand-nieces. They will receive a formal invitation from the municipality of Hå for the inauguration of the Stolperstein.

Sources:Frode Sæland, "Ancestry and Home" 2010"-"Jews in Rogaland" by Frode Sæland. "Herman Beckers war" by Frode Sæland, "On such night" by Kristian Ottosen, "Algae industry in Ogna" by Astrid Obrestad, Christian Nielsen, Reidunn Margot Kvia, Solveig Omland, Margit Sirevåg and Claudia Heller.

See https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/185410/Dybvig%...:

Ludwig Adolf Melzer, født 07.03.1886 i Østerrike-Ungarn, kom via London til Jæren som politisk flyktning 05.05.1939 (Sæland 2009, s. 92). Han finnes ikke på Yad Vashem sin liste, noe som sannsynligvis betyr at det ikke er noen som har savnet eller ettersøkt ham. Han hadde vært der tidligere, fra 1920-1921, som bestyrer hos tangprodusenten A/S Sjøtang til denne gikk konkurs. Melzer var utdannet kjemiingeniør, og arbeidet som bestyrer ved flere kjemiske fabrikker i utlandet. Han var ugift og barnløs, og tilhørte ikke noe trossamfunn. Da han kom tilbake til Jæren i 1939 ble han ansatt som bestyrer ved A/S Ogna Fabrikker. Det var bedriften som søkte om arbeidstillatelse for ham, noe som ble innvilget av Rogaland politikammer for ett år om gangen. Melzer bodde på gården til Ole Kvianes, og hans eneste bekjente skal ha vært Christian Nielsen, bestyreren ved Jæren Elektrisitetsverk på Ogna.

See also, by Kjersti Dybvig " Folkemordet i Rogaland" (The Genocide in Rogaland). Masters thesis, University of Stavanger at https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/185410/Dybvig%... and also at https://docplayer.me/4096508-Det-humanistiske-fakultet.html

See also http://yvng.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&s_lastName=melzer&...

Birth record: ŽATEC (o. Louny) 2459 N 1884-1895 (20/95)