Wilhelm “Willy” Löb

Wilhelm „Willy“ Löb was born on January 27, 1912, in Leipzig. He was the eldest son of Jewish master butcher Sally Löb and his wife Frieda. How do we know that? We were able to identify him and learn about his life story thanks to the work of the AG Stolpersteine.

Willy Löb’s father died in 1927 at the age of 45. The son learned butchery and gained practical experience at the family business, which had been in operation since 1909. The butcher Markus Ruhr took over the business after Sally Löb’s death. In 1930, Markus Ruhr and Willy’s mother Frieda were married. Together with his siblings Ruth (b. 1914) and Gerhard (b. 1925), the new family moved to 10 König-Johann-Straße (now Tachaikowskistraße).

In August 1933, a couple of months after the Nazis came into power, Löb and his partner Sofie Schwarz fled to Paris. He likely had the Mittelmann photo taken for the identification documents he needed. In October 1933, Willy Löb opened a kosher butcher’s shop in Paris. In April 1934, he married Sofie Schwarz. In April 1935, the couple came back to Leipzig and resided once again in the Waldstraßenviertel.

Löb’s mother Frieda and Markus Ruhr did not consider fleeing Germany themselves. However, they supported the three children in their emigration. Willy Löb and his wife were able to flee to England in February 1939. Shortly thereafter, his sister Ruth managed to do the same thing. Löb’s brother, 14-year-old Gerhard “Gerd,” initially found safety in Denmark in October 1939. After the German occupation intensified in 1943, the Danish resistance organized the rescue of Jews to Sweden.

As part of the first deportation from Leipzig on January 21, 1942, their mother Frieda and Markus Ruhr were deported to the Riga ghetto, where they were murdered.