For

Mildenberg – Jenny

unfortunately no stumblingstone exist yet.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Jenny Mildenberg led the life of an independent woman.
She was born on May 6, 1887 in Wohnbach, in the district of Friedberg/Hesse, the second daughter of Maier and Grete Löb. At the time of her birth, the village had just over 600 inhabitants and the Jewish community was also small – seven Jewish families lived in the community. Nothing is known today about her family’s social background, but it is quite possible that her father was a merchant, as six of the seven Jewish heads of family were merchants.
At the age of 24, she married Max Mildenberg (1887-1959), a butcher from Vöhl, on February 13, 1912 in Marburg, with whom she settled in Kassel. Just one year later, on February 14, 1913, they became parents to their son Leo [1].
The next few years were probably not easy, as the husband was called up for military service in August 1914. We do not know whether mother and son continued to live in North Hesse for the next four years. What we do know, however, is that the family, reunited after the war, moved to Bad Mergentheim in 1919, where the couple took over the “Hotel Restaurant Fechenbach” at Gänsemarkt 8 on November 5 and ran it as the only kosher restaurant in the spa town.
After the marriage broke up in 1922 and the couple divorced, Jenny Mildenberg briefly leased the restaurant from spring 1923 to autumn 1924. The weekly magazine “Der Israelit” wrote about the hotel in July 1926: “In the Hotel Fechenbach, where Jewish hospitality goes beyond the rigid hotel form, the best possible food is served in the most beautiful modern presentation with the most scrupulous ritual precision.” [2]
In 1928, Jenny Mildenberg gave up the hotel for good and moved to Schwäbisch Hall, where her son Leo took his A-levels in 1931. In 1934 – her son was now studying oriental languages in Dorpat (Estonia) – she returned to her house at Gänsmarkt 8, but did not take over the management of the restaurant again.
After she was forced to sell the house in March 1939 due to increasingly radicalizing Nazi legislation, she had to move into a “Jews’ house” at Holzapfelgasse 20 on 1 December. On May 30, 1940, another move was made to the “Jews’ house” at Ochsengasse 18.
Between November 20 and 25, 1941, the now 52-year-old received the order to get ready for deportation to Riga, and she presumably embarked on the first stage of the deportation and was taken to Killesberg in Stuttgart with the other Mergentheimers. It is not known whether Jenny Mildenberg fell ill in Stuttgart or started the journey already ill, but her state of health was so poor that she was allowed to return to Mergentheim. The resident registration card states: “Police permission to return to Bad Mergentheim according to the decree of the Stuttgart Gestapo dated 11.12.1941 on 9. 12. 1941. Schr. was sent back to the Gestapo by M.” [3]
The deferment only granted Jenny Mildenberg a brief reprieve. On July 13, 1942, she was deported from Stuttgart via Munich to Auschwitz. A letter from the mayor of Mergentheim dated July 10 proves that she was still ill at this time. It reads: “Individual transport of a sick Jewish woman.” It can be assumed that Jenny Mildenberg was taken to Stuttgart on this day and from there, three days later, she was deported on a deportation train with 99 Jews to Auschwitz. This is also confirmed by the memorial book of the Federal Archives, which lists her deportation date as July 13, 1942.
A date of death is not known, but it can be assumed that Jenny Mildenberg was “selected” and murdered in Auschwitz immediately after her arrival – not least due to her illness.

[1] For Leo Mildenberg, see also: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Mildenberg (accessed on 25.11.2021)

[2] http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%20193/Mergentheim%20Israelit%2022071926a.jpg (accessed on 25.11.2021)

[3] This comment suggests that Jenny Mildenberg was taken to a collection camp from where she was allowed to travel back to Bad Mergentheim before being deported