College of Charleston Student Helps Memorialize Family in Berlin

^{Photos by Pablo Castagnola / Anzenberger}

March 9 proved to be a beautiful day for the installation ceremony of Stolpersteine at the entryway of at 17 Hirtenstrasse in Berlin, Germany, the last home of Chaim and Malie Landsmann and their daughters Ida and Peppi.

These 4-by-4-inch brass plaques sharing the name, birth date and fate of each member of the Landsmann family gave College of Charleston senior Leah Davenport a sense of peace: The Stolpersteine not only ensures the memory of the family will continue, but also serves as a reminder of the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust.

“While the Landsmanns have not been in Berlin since 1939, they have now returned, and so many people are excited to welcome them back,” says Davenport, noting that current residents of 17 Hirtenstrasse joined them for the ceremony honoring the Landsmanns.

Davenport first learned of the Landsmanns in 2022 as a research assistant for the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture, when Chad Gibbs – assistant professor of Jewish studies, director of the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies and co-director of the Perlmutter Fellows Program – asked her to help with a project involving letters written during the Nazi regime. Gibbs wanted the letters, which were held in the Jewish Heritage Collection within the College of Charleston Libraries’ Special Collections, and the stories contained within them to be shared. He asked Davenport to take the lead on a packet of letters between Minnie Tewel Baum of Camden, South Carolina, and Malie Landsmann of Berlin.

With funding from the S.S. Solomons Scholarship and College of Charleston Foundation Scholarships, Davenport had the flexibility to focus on the Landsmanns’ story. As the Jewish studies and women’s and gender studies double major read the translated letters, she caught a glimpse of the Landsmann family’s despair and the tremendous burden Baum assumed.

Malie first wrote Baum – a cousin she never met – in March 1938 out of desperation. In the letter, Malie explained their relationship and that the German government was forcing Jews to migrate but first required an affidavit.

When Malie wrote again in November, she shared that her husband, Chaim, was involuntarily sent to Poland while she and the children remained in Berlin. Chaim had been swept up in the Polenaktion, where naturalized Jewish Germans who had been born in Poland were forcibly deported.

“Help, help, help we scream,” wrote Malie.

What Malie didn’t know was that Baum was doing everything in her power to get them to the U.S. She had reached out to multiple organizations and government officials and pooled the limited resources of family members to cover the travel and visa fees. Every step of the way, Baum encountered roadblocks.

In December, Malie received the affidavits only to learn that it would take up to three years before their turn would come.

In January 1940, Malie shared that she and her children had been deported to Chrzanow, Poland. While reunited with Chaim, they’d lost all their belongings and lived hand to mouth.

“Our lives are in your hands,” she implored.

“By the time Malie reached out to Minnie in 1938, getting out of Germany was nearly impossible,” says Davenport. “Both Malie and Minnie faced insurmountable systematic failures and barriers on both continents.”

Sadly, time ran out for the Landsmanns. In 1942, Malie and Chaim were deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Although there is no record for Ida and Peppi, it is presumed their daughters were killed there with their parents.

To preserve the memory the Landsmanns, Davenport shared the family’s story in an article for the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina magazine, presented to groups, produced a podcast and collaborated with classmate Grace Shaffer ’23 to have the letters turned into a learning tool for South Carolina high school students.

Through The Samuel Freeman Trust – International Travel Scholarships, Davenport joined Gibbs for a study abroad program to Poland, the Netherlands and Germany. Throughout the trip, Davenport saw some of the more than 100,000 Stolpersteine located throughout Europe.

Seeing the Stolpersteine inspired Davenport to have the plaques placed in front of the Landsmanns’ last home in Berlin. She researched and compiled the required documentation, providing background information about where they lived, their fate and what the Nazis did to them between 1933 and their murder. After submitting all the paperwork with German translations, Davenport learned her submission had been approved.

She was honored to be able to be part of the installation ceremony on March 9, 2025.

“I am happy the Landsmann family is home again and grateful that I am no longer one of the few who know of them,” says Davenport. “Now they will serve as a reminder that the people killed at the hands of the Nazis had been neighbors and friends.”

Thanks to Davenport’s efforts, the Landsmanns will not be forgotten.