Gruenberg Maria (Albrecht)

Grünberg, Marie Grünberg, Marie Marie Grünberg (née Albrecht) was born in Pappelhorst (today Wierzchląd, Poland) in 1903. She went to the local one-classroom school, and eventually moved to Berlin, where she met and married a Jew by the name of Kurt Grünberg. The couple owned a soap store, lived in an apartment in the city and owned a small plot of land with a small hut at 30 Ziegelstrasse, Berlin-Blankenburg. The plot was a part of the so-called Schrebergärten, where city people would go on weekends, grow vegetables and enjoy the fresh air. Marie's Jewish husband had to wear a Jewish star, but living in a mixed marriage gave him a certain protection from deportation. Nevertheless, the couple suffered from discrimination and persecution. After the large Gestapo roundup at the end of February 1943, in the wake of which Berlin was declared Judenfrei (free of Jews), Marie harbored four illegals. These included, besides her Jewish brother-in-law, Martin Grünberg, two other Jewish fugitives, Mr. Ostaszewer and Mrs. Dobriner, and an Aryan deserter, Mr. Klinzahn, who preferred living illegally to serving in the German armed forces. As if all that were not challenge enough, she also took upon herself to assist and accommodate from time to time the 16-year-old Heinz Abrahamsohn (later Zwi Abiram). The psychological strain and the heroic self-denial involved in harboring three illegal Jews and a military deserter in wartime Berlin must have been incalculable. As the Jewish partner in a mixed marriage, Marie’s own husband was safe for a while from outright deportation, but his position was, at best, extremely precarious. The burden of feeding six adults with only two ration cards – one of which was marked with a “J” – fell squarely on her shoulders. She had to take great care in doing her shopping so as not to raise suspicion because of the large quantities of food she was purchasing, and then carry the food by train and bicycle to the remote cabin. Zwi Abrahamsohnm, whose parents Arthur and Margarete had been deported, lived illegally with a group of other Zionist youngsters. Whenever he needed shelter, he turned to Marie Grünberg, who was always willing to help. Abrahamsohn-Abiram told Yad Vashem about the harsh conditions in the small hut. The four illegals were practically incarcerated there day and night, which led to enormous tension and constant fighting, and described the atmosphere as explosive. When their apartment building was destroyed by the bombing, the Grünbergs too had to move into the small hut. Nevertheless, Grünberg’s resolve never lessened, and she continued to harbor the fugitives even when her husband was arrested and sent to concentration camp Sachsenhausen. “It is inconceivable who Mrs. Grünberg persisted for two and half years, being constantly in danger from the Gestapo and from unexpected mishaps (which occurred all the time)…”, wrote Zwi Abrahamsohn-Abiram. After the war the Grünbergs lived in East Berlin. Kurt, who suffered from medical problems as result of his time in Sachsenhausen, passed away in 1967. In 1983 Zwi Abrahamsohn, who had immigrated to Israel, invited her to the bar-mitzva of his son, and turned to Yad Vashem to have her recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. On February 16, 1984, Yad Vashem recognized Marie Grünberg as Righteous Among the Nations.