THE 20 CHILDREN

Marek Steinbaum

Marek Steinbaum (or Szteinbaum) was born on 26 May 1937. The family owned a small leather factory in Radom, Poland. The Steinbaum family was probably deported to Auschwitz at the beginning of October 1944 via the forced labor camp at Pionki, near Radom. From there Marek’s father Rachmil Steinbaum was taken to Buchenwald and Groß-Rosen concentration camps and to a satellite camp of Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp near Stuttgart. Marek’s mother Mania Steinbaum was deported to the Georgenthal satellite camp of Groß-Rosen in November 1944. Also imprisoned here were Zela James, the mother of Marek James, and Rucza Witonska, the mother of Eleonora and Roman Witoński. Marek Steinbaum was brought to Neuengamme Concentration Camp on 28 November 1944 and murdered here at Bullenhuser Damm on 20 April 1945. He was seven years old.

Marek’s parents Rachmil and Mania Steinbaum survived the concentration camps. After the Second World War they lived for several years in Memmingen, Bavaria. In 1947 their daughter Lola was born. They emigrated to the United States in 1949. Günther Schwarberg tried to get in touch with them in 1981, but they refused any contact. Their daughter Lola found out about Marek’s fate in 1993. On 20 April 1999 she took part in the remembrance ceremony in Hamburg for the children of Bullenhuser Damm.

A road in Hamburg-Burgwedel is named after Marek Steinbaum.