The widow Christine Engler owned a store selling smoked fish and fine foods in Berlin-Schöneberg. She maintained her good contacts to Jewish customers and neighbors under National Socialism. When their food rations were restricted, she secretly gave them extra.
One of her Jewish customers was Ernst Goldstein. When he feared being deported with his wife Herta and their four-year-old daughter Evelyn, he talked to Engler about escaping. She offered her help and also informed her niece Hildegard Knies.
After fleeing during Berlin’s “Operation Factory,” the Goldsteins hid in rooms behind Engler’s store in March 1943. After several weeks, an employee became a threat. Hildegard Knies then took the child into her home and found other quarters for the parents.
Christine Engler did not lose contact to the family in hiding. She was particularly supportive to Herta Goldstein after Ernst Goldstein was arrested by the Gestapo in August 1943. Christine Engler died in an air raid in January 1944.
Christine Engler with her son Werner Kundt, Berlin, June 20, 1943. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Christine Engler’s store in Berlin-Schöneberg, Flottwellstraße 5, with unknown passers-by, Berlin, 1944. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
