Selma Philipps

Selma Philipps was born in Schwanfeld in 1879. After her marriage to master kosher butcher Max Philipps, she moved to Frankfurt am Main. She, her husband, and two children — Hans and Bertha — lived at Zeil 4, and the butcher shop was at this address as well. After the death of her husband in June 1928, she continued the business until the Nazi law against Jewish butchers forced her to import kosher meat from Denmark. The business declined steadily and she was forced to 'aryanize' the business after 'Kristallnacht' in November 1938. In 1939 she was forced to sell the property at Zeil 4 in which the business was located and the family lived. She sold the property to Friedrich Thomas and his wife from Schweinfurt for 14,000 Reichsmark. She was forced to pay taxes and 5,000 Reichsmark of the „Judenvermögensabgaben.“

The date on which Selma Philipps was deported to a extermination center or a concentration camp is unknown. The final official document is dated 16 June 1942. The 31 December 1945 was assigned as her date of death.

Source: Archivist, Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, correspondence of 2009.