Kaufmann, Sofie née Weil (1877 - 1942)

Sofie Weil was born in Steinsfurt on January 23, 1887

Her father was Leopold Weil (* October 21, 1847 in Steinsfurt, ✡ December 27, 1920 in Karlsruhe), her mother was Johanna (called "Hannchen") née Billigheimer (* December 9, 1852 in Rappenau, ✡ February 18, 1933 in Karlsruhe). The couple had married in Heidelberg on April 25, 1876. They had 10 children:
Sofie,
Ida (* 1878 in Steinsfurt, ✡ 1878 in Bruchsal),
Frieda (* 1879 in Bruchsal),
Max (* 1880, ✡ 1880, both in Bruchsal),
Siegmund (* 1881 in Bruchsal),
Mathilde (* 1883 in Bruchsal). Mathilde and her husband Isidor Frank were murdered in the Piaski extermination camp.
Nathan (* 1882 in Bruchsal, ✡ 1937 in Ottersweier).
Lina (1887 in Bruchsal). She was murdered in the Riga Ghetto.
Rosalie (* 1888 in Bruchsal,  1888 in Muggensturm).
Berta Carola (* 1889 in Muggensturm). She was murdered in the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Sofie's father, Leopold Weil, was a scrap metal and rag dealer. During his life he moved several times and started a business in  new places: Steinsfurt – Bruchsal – Muggensturm – Colmar. After WWI Leopold and Hannchen Weil were expelled from Alsace. They moved to Karlsruhe.

Sophie Weil moved from Colmar to Cologne on May 22, 1906 and married.
Her husband Moritz (Moyses) Kaufmann was born in Lapanow (in Lesser Poland, then part of Austria) on April 30, 1881. His parents were Joachim (Jochanan) Kaufmann (* March 7, 1852 in Lapanow, ✡ February 21, 1925 in Cologne) and Charlotte (Zlata) née Karton (* June 1, 1852 in Rozdziele in Lesser Poland, ✡ April 11, 1936 in Cologne). Moritz' parents had married in Lesser Poland before 1880. They had 4 children, all born in Lapanow:
Moritz,
Gustav (Gerschen) (* 1884, ✡ 1925 in Cologne),
Sara (Zurtel) (* 1887, ✡ 1981 in Porto Alegre)
Leo (* ca 1891, moved to New York in 1911).

Joachim Kaufmann was a scrap metal dealer in Cologne. At the time of his death he owned several houses and a manufactory.

When Moritz Kaufmann married, he was the authorised representative in his father's business. After his father‘s death he founded the firm “Moritz & Hermann Kaufmann”, that dealt with “Scrap metal, bottles etc”. The partnership was dissolved in 1928 and Moritz and his wife Sofie moved to Vietorstraße 16 in Köln-Kalk. Moses/Moritz Kaufmann died there on March 25, 1930.

Sofie remained in Vietorstraße and in 1936 she moved to Friedrichstraße. In the 1939 address book her address finally is “Kaufmann, M, Wwe, o.G.” in Engelbertstraße 23. This house was later used as a Ghetto-house by the Nazis.

On October 22, 1941 Sofie Kaufmann was deported to the Lodz Ghetto. The list of this “8. Transport” containes more than 1000 Jews from Cologne. Her occupation is given as “Flickfrau” (mending seamstress). In Lodz she lived in Richterstraße (ul. Mickiewicza) 11, flat 1. Here her occupation is given as “seamstress”.

On May 10, 1942 Sofie Kaufmann was deported to the Chelmno extermination camp. There she was murdered, probably immediately after arrival. She was 65 years old

Memorials

There is an entry in the Memorialbook of the Bundesarchive: 1575683

Entry in the Yad Vashem data base: 4570256