A Century-Long History

The Mittelmann Family and Their Photo Studio in Leipzig

Abram Mittelmann was born in 1876 in Mohilev (Russia). In 1904, he moved to Leipzig with his wife Rosa (née Mordchin). Three children were born in the photography studio at Peterssteinweg 15, where the family lived and worked starting in 1909: Leon (1906), Nadja (1909), and Siegfried (1917). The family was deeply rooted in Leipzig’s Jewish community—the children attended the Jewish school and later helped out in the studio.

Rosa Mittelmann died in 1932. After 1933, Abram Mittelmann was arrested several times by the Gestapo—his partner at that time was Alma Goliner, née Samter.

Portrait of Abram Mittelmann — Abram Mittelmann circa 1920
**Photo** Mittelmann Photo Archive
**Seq. No.:** AM00001760

Persecution, Flight, and Exile

In 1938, Abram Mittelmann was forced to flee. Via Denmark, he eventually made his way to Belgium. His daughter Nadja and 21-year-old Siegfried took over the liquidation of the photo studio. Siegfried fled to France via Italy shortly after the outbreak of war, and Nadja escaped from Germany in 1940. Abram Mittelmann and Alma Goliner were married in Brussels in April 1940—but anti-Semitic persecution caught up with the family once again.

Portrait of Siegfried Mittelmann around 1922 — Siegfried Mittelmann around 1922
**Photo** Fotoarchiv Mittelmann
**Seq. No.:** AM00001861
The picture shows the young Siegfried Mittelmann. He was born in Leipzig in 1917 as the youngest of the Mittelmann family’s three children.

Farewell to Selma, circa 1935
**Photo** Mittelmann Photo Archive
**Seq. No.:** AM00004052
Family photo apparently taken in the Mittelmann apartment before Selma Ascher emigrated in 1935. She was the sister of Alma, Abram Mittelmann’s partner. From left: Alma and Julius Samter, Nadja Mittelmann, Alma Goliner, Herbert Samter, Selma Ascher (with Hanna behind her), Paula (née Samter), and unidentified individuals.

The Fate of the Family During the Shoah

Only Siegfried and Leon, along with Leon’s wife Lena and their children, survived the Shoah. Beginning in the summer of 1940, they were forced to hide in inhumane conditions and relied on the help of the French population.

Nadja was arrested following a raid in the southern zone of France and was deported from Drancy to Auschwitz in September 1942, where she was murdered. Abram Mittelmann was murdered in the street during a raid in Brussels on the night of September 3–4, 1942. Alma was interned in the SS transit camp in Mechelen, deported to Auschwitz in October 1942, and murdered.