Tietjens Edwin & Gina

Tietjens, Edwin Tietjens, Gina Specht, Senta Sometime in 1941, Ruth Heynemann b. 1924) was assigned to work in the Jewish section of a Berlin shoe factory. There she met Senta Specht, a young German woman who was about 35 at the time. Specht, a professional shoe buyer, took a liking to the young Jewish girl and promised to help her when the time came. The time came in 1943. Specht contacted her psychiatrist friend, Dr. Edwin Tietjens, who arranged a hiding place for Heynemann and her mother in Berlin-Reinickendorf with a former Communist. They stayed in Reinickendorf for four weeks and after that ten days at Specht’s house, while Dr. Tietjens got rid of a pro-Nazi employee on his estate. He then took the two Jewish women into his villa, taking care of all their needs, and even arranging false papers for them. He was, however, unable to obtain papers for Heynemann’s father, Artur. In 1944, Dr. Tietjens died suddenly of a heart attack, and his wife, Gina, who had been a full partner in the rescue effort, continued to care for the two women until the liberation by the Soviet army. After the war the Heynemanns moved to the United States. On May 27, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Edwin and Gina Tietjens and Senta Specht as Righteous Among the Nations.