The Jewish businessman Kurt Grünberg ran a soap store. He lived with his wife Marie in Berlin-Mitte. The couple also owned a weekend house with a large garden in Berlin-Blankenburg.
Despite being in a “mixed marriage,” Kurt Grünberg was taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp during the November pogrom in 1938. He had to sell his business shortly after and perform forced labor for the Siemens company. During “Operation Factory” in 1943, he was arrested and taken to the assembly camp on Rosenstraße, but released a few days later since his wife was not Jewish.
When Kurt Grünberg’s brother Martin had to go underground and was looking for a place to hide, the Grünbergs took him and three other persecuted Jews into their home. Kurt and Marie Grünberg lived in their weekend house. Once the air raids on the inner city intensified, they hid their Jewish guests there as well.
It was difficult to obtain food, since they only had two ration cards. In addition, Kurt Grünberg’s card was marked with a J (for Jew), which meant his rations were smaller.
Kurt Grünberg survived the war.
