Heymann Erika (Geck)

Heymann-Geck, Erika Erika Geck, born in 1895 in Germany, was married to the Jewish Stefan Heymann and both lived in Germany before the war. They had two children Dieter and Sonja. Stefan was an active Communist, and was arrested immediately with Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 and sent to a concentration camp for “re-education”. As soon as she could, Erika left Germany with their two children and found a place to live in Amsterdam, in a neighborhood that was to become one of the areas Jews were allowed to live in by German decree. In order to generate income, she rented rooms in her apartment including meals that she prepared for her renters. With the increasing anti-Jewish measures ordered by the Germans after their occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, the German authorities pressed Erika to divorce her Jewish husband, which she refused to do. She kept on renting out rooms, and more specifically to people who were active in underground groups as well as to Jews, who would either stay for days or for longer periods. One of the Jews who boarded at her home was Hanan Florsheim. He came in the spring of 1943, fleeing the major razzias in Amsterdam. Part of the time, he shared his room with other Jews, such as with Abraham (Appie) Keyzer and Erwin Geismar. They paid Erica their expenses for food and house service. On September 5, 1943, the SD raided Erika’s apartment after being tipped off about Jews hiding in her place. Four Jews who were with her at the time were arrested, as was she. Three of them relatives who had arrived at Erika’s place only one day earlier: Friedrich Polak (1904, Adelebsen – 1944, Central Europe) and his wife Bernhardina née Katzenstein (1906, Rotenburg – 1944, Auschwitz) and their daughter Ilse (1939, Amsterdam – 1944, Auschwitz) as well as Erwin Geismar (1901, Freiburg – 11.1943, Auschwitz) were arrested. All were murdered. Hanan managed at the last minute to escape by jumping from the balcony of a neighbor and runningfor his life. Erika was taken to the Vught concentration camp (Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch), from where she was released on April 20, 1944 as a gesture for Hitler’s birthday, which fell on that day. She returned to Amsterdam physically exhausted, and never fully recovered. Erika passed away at a young age in 1950. Her husband Stefan survived a number of camps, including Auschwitz-Monowitz. After the war, Hanan stayed in touch with Erika and then with her children. On April 28, 2010, Yad Vashem recognized Erika Heymann-Geck as Righteous Among the Nations.