Isaak Bierig was born in Edelfingen on October 19, 1869 as the youngest of a total of 10 siblings, of whom only 6 survived the childhood years. His parents were the Edelfingen cattle dealer Jakob and his wife Rosa (née Schloss).

Ida (née Weil) was born on May 30, 1873 in Steinsfurt near Sinsheim in a similar environment. She was the seventh of a total of nine children. Her family had lived in Steinsfurt since at least the late 18th century and her father Karl Salomon Weil was active in the cattle trade.

On February 8, 1898, Ida and Isaak married in Heilbronn and then moved to Edelfingen. In the same year, on December 18, their only child Siegbert (Samuel) was born. The choice of name for their son shows that the couple, although of Jewish faith, saw themselves culturally as Germans and were Germans.

In 1918, the couple suffered the worst blow that can befall parents: on May 22, 1918, their son Siegbert was killed by gas poisoning in Burgundy on the Western Front.

His name can be found – together with the names of three other Jewish and 40 Christian soldiers who died in the First World War – on the memorial to the fallen, which the community had erected for the soldiers in 1923.

Below these 44 names can be read:

“Rest now proudly you good heroes
You who fell at the hands of the enemy
For one day from your grave will bloom
Blessing to all the German land”

In view of the later disenfranchisement and murder of the parents of these “heroes”, these lines seem like a mockery.

The next few years brought financial challenges, because at least in the years from 1924 to 1925, Isaak was unable to work due to a heart condition and could no longer run his business as a livestock, raw materials and smoked goods trader. In this situation, the couple were dependent on support from the Schloss family (Isaak’s cousin).

From 1933 at the latest, there were also disputes with the tax office when Isaak was accused of being involved in financial irregularities affecting the Schloss family. In the end, Isaak was accused of hiding a wallet belonging to his nephew.

When the couple moved to the Wilhelmsruhe Jewish retirement home in Heilbronn-Sontheim in 1939, they had already lost their rudimentary business and livestock trade due to Nazi legislation. They did not live in Heilbronn for long, as the residents of the old people’s home were forcibly relocated to Buttenhausen in 1940.

On August 19, 1942 – i.e. in the same action in which Jette David and Jeanette Weißburger were deported – Ida and Isaak Bierig were deported to Stuttgart-Killesberg and from there to Theresienstadt on August 22.

A relative of other people deported on that day writes: “The final humiliation was the fact that in August 1942, when they were deported, they had to wait behind barbed wire for about two days and nights on the Killesberg, exposed to the eyes and remarks of passers-by, for their transportation. Like a herd of animals, these old people stood and lay there, walking towards their terrible fate without any hope or illusion – on open trucks!”

The couple only stayed in Theresienstadt for a short time, because just one month later they were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, where they were both murdered.

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Laying date: May 06, 2024
Sponsorship: none
Author: RH