Leo Lindenberg worked for the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) health insurance fund in Berlin. He was a devout Protestant and a member of the Nazi Party. As a case worker at the AOK, he advised the Jacks family. In 1937 he met Elly Jacks personally, who was in a “mixed marriage.” He was familiar with the family’s difficult situation.
In the spring of 1942, Elly Jacks was forcibly divorced from her Jewish husband. She and her two daughters moved to Berlin. When Elly Jacks informed Lindenberg of her new address, he offered his help to the family if they were ever in danger.
From March of 1943, Elly Jacks’ children were at threat of deportation, and she turned to Leo Lindenberg for help. He offered to let them stay in his garden shed in Berlin-Wittenau. He himself had just been drafted into the Wehrmacht, but maintained contact to Elly Jacks and her children.
After the end of the war, Elly Jacks learned of her husband’s murder. Lindenberg was taken prisoner of war by the British in 1945, returning to Berlin at the start of 1946. Elly Jacks and Leo Lindenberg married in the spring of 1946.
Wedding photo of Ruth Jacks and Karl-Heinz Winkelmann with their witnesses Leo Lindenberg (left) and Karl Winkelmann (right), Berlin, August 5, 1949. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Leo Lindenberg and his wife Elly, née Jacks, Berlin, 1960s. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
