Richard and Grete Löwy Family House
On June 26, 1936, Richard Löwy signed a purchase agreement for the construction plot number 482/49, located at the corner of Dlouhá Street (now Erbenova) and V zahrádkách Street (today Fišova). For the sum of 129,000 crowns, this forty-three-year-old merchant from Brno became the owner of the land on which he intended to build a family house with several rental apartments.
Richard Löwy was born in 1893 as the third of four children of Bernhard (1859–1929), originally a leatherworker from Jevíčko, and his wife Rosalie (1854–1916). According to the Jewish registry, the marriage between Bernhard and Rosalie took place on February 28, 1883, in Brno, where all their children were subsequently born. First, three years after the marriage, their son Josef (1886–1942), followed by daughter Irene (1891–1944), then the aforementioned son Richard Löwy (1893–1942), and finally the youngest, Alfred (1896–1943).
As indicated by city directories, their father Bernhard Löwy moved residence in relatively short intervals. The very first Adressbuch von Brünn from 1885 lists him at Křenová number 29. Just five years later, in 1890, his residence was listed as Schüttgasse (now Rumiště) number 8. The 1900 directory then mentions his name at Orlí 18, and in 1909 at Bahnring (now Benešova) 22. His business was usually listed as Trödler und Schuhwarenhändl, meaning second-hand dealer and shoe merchant. Only directories from 1915 until his death identify Bernhard Löwy with the address Orlí 13, the rental house of Emil and Ida Stern.(1)
The oldest of the sons, Josef Löwy, is first listed in the directories from 1911, described as a reisender (traveler) at Benešova 22. In 1917-1919, he is mentioned as a businessman living in the same house as his father, at Orlí 13. In April 1919, Josef Löwy married Josefine Weissensteinová (1893–1942), a native of Trhová Kamenice, with whom he gradually had two daughters, first Gerturudu (1920–1942) and Alice Rittu (1928–1942). Probably these family circumstances led Josef Löwy to leave his current residence on Orlí and move to the rental house of Berta Pawlu at Tivoli Street (now Jirásková) number 55.(2) Josef Löwy is mentioned at this address in directories from 1920, and it was in this house that the couple Josef and Josefine purchased shortly thereafter, at the end of 1924.(3) Also living in their house on Jirásková was the youngest of the brothers, Alfred, with his wife Olga (1901–1943), who was additionally connected to Josef through their joint business. Josef Löwy established a fabric goods store focusing on women's clothing, Josef Löwy, Handel mit Tuch und Manufakturwaren, with his brother Alfred as partner and procurator. The company was located at Glacis 59. After renaming and renumbering, it corresponds to the house at today’s Koliště 47.
The third brother, Richard Löwy, is first mentioned in the directory in 1920 as a representative of the company Büchler und Löwy, which also included Otto Nettl, Gustav Büchler, and Karl Löwy as partners. Their firm operated a warehouse of textile goods and a store selling industrial and new clothing first at Krapfengasse (Kobližná) 31 and then Glacis 73 and 79, again now at Koliště.(4) Richard Löwy married the daughter of his partner, Greta Nettl (1898–1942), with whom he had a son Jan (1918–2003) and a daughter Margot (1924–1942). According to city directories, Richard Löwy lived with his family in the early 1920s at Strassengasse (Hybešova) 19. When changing addresses in 1929, when the family moved to the rental house of František Dvořák at Sadová (Drobného) 30, Richard Löwy indicated Křenová 8 as his previous residence on the notice form. The family then lived on Drobného until the construction of their own house in 1937.
In June 1936, when Richard Löwy became the owner of the plot on Erbenova Street based on the purchase agreement, he already had plans for his house prepared. This is at least implied by preserved documentation stored in the archive of Brno Waterworks and Sewage. Here, we find plumbing plans marked as Stavba R.L. However, the documentation for the property is not recorded under the address Erbenova 14, as one might expect, but is designated as Fišova 38 considering the water connection. Six drawings are each signed by a pair of Brno-based architects of Jewish descent, Max Tintner (1907–1984) and Hans Haas (1901–?).
Richard Löwy applied for a building permit on March 9, 1936, and the Council of the capital city of Brno issued it on May 23. Probably due to some requirements from the city and as a result of a formal change of parcel number for the building site, Richard Löwy resubmitted the application for a building permit on December 2, 1936.(5) The city then definitively issued the construction permit on January 27 of the following year. The construction was entrusted to the Brno company Podnikatelství pozemních a betonových staveb Schallinger a Drucker, which completed the project in the summer of the same year. The final inspection took place on August 28, and the occupancy of the building was permitted just a few days later, on September 1, 1937. As indicated by the second notice form of Richard Löwy, the family moved from their previous home on Drobného Street to their own house on September 30.
The house of Richard and Grete Löwy is located on a relatively exposed corner plot and forms an urban landmark at the point where the sharply bending Erbenova Street meets Fišova Street. The effort for an organic approach to architecture, responding to the location, is reflected in the rounded solids and nautical details of the circular windows. A similar tendency can be observed in the rental house of Melanie Weisz from 1937-1938 by Max Tintner, located not far from here at Drobného 24.
The two-story house of the Löwy family contained a total of six apartments, with a pair of generous apartments located on the first and second floors as central units. The facade facing Fišova street is modest, with two window axes. However, the façade opening onto Erbenova is much more interesting, where a semicircular corner bay protrudes from the mass of the building, additionally adorned with band windows. This dominant architectural element reflects the dynamics of its prominent corner position. The entrance to the house is located in the side facade, formed by a central bay into which the staircase is inserted, with balconies located on both sides on the two floors.
On the ground floor, there are two apartments. One contains two interconnected rooms, a study with a hallway, a wardrobe, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The second, smaller apartment consists only of a hallway, a toilet, and a living kitchen. On the first floor, there is again a pair of apartments, but in this case, they are significantly different. The larger of the two apartments is accessed through an entrance hallway, which extends both to the right to access the kitchen with a balcony connected to the maid's room, further to the toilet, or to the left to access the social and living area of the apartment owner. This part contains an extensive space referred to in the plans as a hallway, which is dominated by stone cladding of the central heating, evoking a fireplace. From the hallway, one can enter a covered loggia overlooking Erbenova Street, as well as bathrooms or a social space comprising three rooms – a separate bedroom and the main living area, separated by a built-in showcase, which is also finished in a semicircular bay. The second apartment on the floor consists only of a hallway and a room with a balcony and bathrooms. According to the original documentation, there is, for example, a kitchen missing here, raising the question of whether it was possibly a service apartment for the main apartment.
The central apartment of the whole house, however, is found, like the only one, on the second floor. The apartment has practically the same layout as the generous apartment below, but is enlarged by one room and a spacious wardrobe. Here, too, the stoning in the hallway is preserved, but in this case much more conservative in its conception. One floor up is a flat, walkable terrace and an attic with originally two service apartments. Later, they were merged into one two-room apartment with a bathroom.
Given the known body of work of the two mentioned architects, it is likely that the construction project took place in the atelier of Max Tintner, while Hans Haas created the interiors of the apartments.
Unfortunately, photographs of the house from the time of its construction are not available, so the only archival image capturing the entire object is part of the file of the Emigration Fund (Auswanderungsfond für Böhmen und Mähren) from 1941. Additionally, there are three photographs from a private collection taken in the summer of 1967, showing the house in detail. From the preserved photographs, it is evident that compared to the current smooth plaster of the facade, the original plaster had a linear texture.
Jan Pazdírek, who lived at the house on Erbenova from 1950 to 1968 and who met Mrs. Srbová, presumably a former servant of the Löwy family, recalled that the house was built as a future inheritance for the son of Richard and Grete Löwy. Meanwhile, the remaining plot behind the house, towards what is now Fišova Street, was left as a garden for the future construction of the neighboring house, intended for their daughter Margot.(6) Simultaneously, Jan Pazdírek recalled the antique furniture that the central apartment of the family was supposed to have originally been furnished with. Based on these personal memories, it can be assumed that the central apartment of the house on the second floor was inhabited by Richard and Grete Löwy with their daughter Margot, while their then-adult son Jan occupied the apartment on the first floor.
The elder of Richard and Grete's children, son Jan, was a very interesting person who was the only member of the family to survive World War II. Even before the war, we can observe a somewhat complicated situation regarding the use of his name. On the first notice form in 1929, his father Richard listed his son's name as Jan. On the second form in 1937, it is stated as Hanuš. Different variations are also recorded in the almanac of students from the Brno Jewish Reform Real Gymnasium, which both Jan and Margot Löwy attended. In 1930, he is listed as Jan Löwy; in 1934 as Jan/Hanuš Vilém Löwy; and in 1936 simply as Hanuš Vilém Löwy. After completing his studies at the gymnasium, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine in Brno, which he did not complete due to the Nazi occupation. Anti-Jewish measures began to affect the Löwy family after the occupation, and in the summer of 1939, Hanuš Vilém Löwy decided, as the only family member, to leave home and escape from the Protectorate with the help of his friends.(7) His further fate is described in his obituary in 2003: ,,Almost without money, but speaking fluent French, English, German, and Latin, Hanuš first went to Italy and then to France, where he took on odd jobs. In France, he contacted the Czech Brigade, a group of about 5,000 anti-Nazi fighters with headquarters in England. After a six-week horrific voyage, avoiding German submarines, he arrived in Liverpool. He then continued his medical studies in London to qualify as a medic in the brigade. Letters and messages from his family ceased in 1941.”
At the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, there is a list of Jewish households for which a custodian was appointed in accordance with the decree of the Reich Protector. This list, dated November 26, 1940, states that for the property of Richard and Grete Löwy, a certain Anton Hoznora was appointed as the administrator of the house, residing at Scherakgasse (Skřivanova) 8.(8) The Protectorate city directory from 1942 only mentions Karl Hoznora – a dealer in technical supplies, oils, and fats, for all industrial enterprises at Koliště 59, which is the address of the former Löwy family business. The Nazi-imposed administrator of the house on Erbenova, Anton Hoznora, is later further mentioned in documents related to the Emigration Fund, to which Richard and Grete Löwy were forced to sell their property based on the mentioned decree of the Reich Protector: ,,Based on the decree of the Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia concerning Jewish property from June 21, 1939, I approve the purchase contract of March 28, 1941, concluded between Richard Löwy, in Brno, as the seller, and the Emigration Fund for Bohemia and Moravia.”
Even before the official change of ownership of the property, Richard, Grete, and Margot were evicted from their home and found new accommodation at Hvězdová 2a. From Richard Löwy's notice form, we learn that the change of residence occurred on February 21, 1941. Probably with this change of address, communication between the family and son Hanuš in Britain ceased. Richard, Grete, and Margot Löwy were deported from Brno to Terezín on transport U on January 28, 1942. Alfred and his wife Olga were also included in the same transport. Josef Löwy, his wife Josefína, and their children Gerturda and Alice were deported on March 31, 1942. Sister Irene Traub and her husband Max were deported from Pardubice on December 9, 1942. All perished in concentration camps. Hanuš Vilém's obituary states that during the war, he lost 27 members of his family.
The Emigration Fund, as the new owner of the property, then rented the apartments in the house mainly to German-oriented residents of the city. Specific names can be found in the city directory from 1942, where the address lists commercial representative of Praga Ing. Bedřich Rupp, lawyer JUDr. Otto Schmetzer, assistant plumber Franz Valeš, who was designated as the caretaker by the Emigration Fund, as well as Josef Fiala, and also the wholesale merchant and owner of the department store Kaufhaus der Brünner Hans Schröder.(9) This German trader from Saarbrücken became the owner of the former Plaček department store on Masaryk Street based on an enforced purchase agreement from 1939. From 1941, the Plaček company was divided into the companies Textor and the aforementioned Kaufhaus der Brünner. It was Schröder who occupied the central apartment of the house on Erbenova Street. This is at least indicated by a note in a letter dated October 28, 1944: ,,Sent with a note that the showcase shown on the other side serves to separate two rooms and that without this showcase, the entire apartment cannot actually exist. To achieve any separation between the two rooms would require at least a significant investment.
Since this showcase and built-in cabinet were sold by the former administrator Hoznor without his authorization, I request that part of the money, which amounted to 56,850,- transferred on February 21, 1941, to the blocked account of the Jewish woman Grete Löwy at the Erste Sparkasse branch in Brno, be paid out to the depositor Hans Schröder. […]
The payment of 23,000,- has now become urgent because the housing office has given notice to the buyer and now wants to demolish this dividing wall, which is here referred to as a showcase. This 23,000,- was therefore wrongfully paid and must be refunded, as the sale is hereby canceled.”
The letter was likely written by Hans Schröder and its content suggests strange manipulations with the dividing showcase in the central apartment and particularly the intent to remove it permanently. This ultimately did not happen, probably marking the approaching end of the war.
As a member of the Allied forces and participant in the Normandy landings, Vilém Hanuš returned to Brno, where he completed his medical studies specializing in traumatology after the war. Upon his return, Vilém Hanuš claimed seized property, which had been placed under national administration later in 1945. In the property record, there is an entry regarding the removal of national administration from February 1946, and the new owner Vilém Hanuš (Löwy) is recorded for the year 1947. Probably during the post-war period, Hanuš stopped using the surname Löwy and in the following years is listed under the new identity Vilém Hanuš. Until his departure from Czechoslovakia in 1948, Vilém Hanuš lived in the family house on Erbenova. As Dr. Vilém Hanuš, he is listed in the Adressář zemského hlavního města Brna from 1948. Along with him in the house lived clerk Lib. Chlubnová, factory worker Václav Srba, or wholesale trader with metal goods Karel Šolc and clerk Hilda Šolcová.
In his later life, the events of 1948 became crucial for Vilém Hanuš, ultimately leading to his perhaps targeted and planned departure from the country. One of Hanuš's obituaries states that he left Czechoslovakia due to the communist coup, however, in the Archive of Security Forces under fund 425 Jewish organizations, documentation about his training in the Hagana organization has been preserved. As Lieutenant Dr. Vilém Hanuš, he had to sign an affidavit on October 30, 1948, stating: “that I will keep secret all facts associated with the training camp Libavá.” Vilém Hanuš evidently got involved in training Jewish volunteers, which prepared them from August to November 1948 for the fighting of the first Arab-Israeli war. In Vilém Hanuš's personal file, his marital status is listed as single, religion as Jewish, education as physician, and he speaks Czech, German, English, and French. Officials recorded his special skills as being a driver of cars of all classes.
About a month after completing military training, Vilém Hanuš indeed left Czechoslovakia through the A.J.D.C. Emigration Service Prague. In a form dated December 1, 1948, there is a note , "during the war he served in the army and his only wish is to immigrate to Israel.” A few days later, on December 5, he indeed traveled by train from Prague to Genoa and from there to Israel. Besides a personal ticket, he also had to procure a special ticket for a hundred-kilogram piece of luggage.
In the obituary of Vilém Hanuš, it is mentioned that after arriving in Israel, he indeed actively participated in the fighting of the ongoing war, and after its conclusion worked at the prestigious Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. It was here that he met his future wife Zahava, with whom he had daughters Dorit and Tali.
Before his departure, Hanuš appointed the aforementioned Augusta Srbová as the administrator of the house on Erbenova and to represent him. In May 1951, Bruno Švalb, who lived in the ground floor service apartment in the house on Erbenova, complained to the Central National Committee in Brno about the inability to use the ventilation window in his apartment and requested a commission investigation. The property owner in this matter was represented by Augusta Srbová, who also lived at Erbenova 14. Three years later, in 1954, the state imposed national administration over the property: , "National administration is established over the above-mentioned property due to the ongoing economic situation and also because the owner lives permanently abroad, and is unable to take care of the property himself.” Thus, the Czechoslovak state became the owner of the object. According to Jan Pazdírek's recollection, legendary Brno conductor and bandleader Gustav Brom lived in an apartment on the first floor at the turn of the 50s and 60s.
Vilém Hanuš, with his wife and children, moved to Ethiopia in 1960, where he helped establish local hospitals and a medical faculty. In 1967, the family eventually moved to the United States, settling in Houston. In his new home in Houston, John William Haenosh died on May 5, 2003.
Especially the apartments of the former owners on the first and second floors of the house have survived to the present day with a relatively large number of authentic details. Although both apartments have undergone minor spatial and functional changes compared to their original state, features such as showcases separating the main living halls, stone cladding of the central heating, built-in furniture, or parquet floors can still be found here. Currently, the house on Erbenova Street is owned by a homeowners' association that, in 2021, decided to apply through the National Heritage Institute for the inclusion of the property on the list of cultural monuments.
Dedicated to the Löwy family
Michal Doležel
Thank you:
Heleně Vlachové
Janu Pazdírkovi
Vladislavu Chrastnému
Sources:
Archive of Security Forces
Archive of Brno Waterworks and Sewage, a.s.
Archive of the City of Brno
Internet Encyclopedia of the History of the City of Brno
Cadastre Office for the South Moravian Region
Moravian Provincial Archive
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Obituary of John Haenosh (2003) - Houston, TX - Houston Chronicle (legacy.com)
Literature:
Adressbuch von Brünn [Address Book of Greater Brno]. Brno, 1885–1934.
PELČÁK, Petr; SAPÁK, Jan; WAHLA, Ivan. Brno's Jewish Architects 1919-1939. [Ed.]. Municipal House Brno, 2000.
SMUTNÝ, Bohumír. Brno Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses: 1764–1948: Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs and Their Families. Brno: Statutory City of Brno, Archive of the City of Brno, 2012.
Notes:
1) Emil Stern was the son of a Jewish merchant and founder of the company Albert Stern, which mainly traded in glass and porcelain goods. Stern's department store was located at Minoritská 10 and was communicatively connected to the house at Orlí 13.
2) The house at today’s Jirásková 55 was built in 1903 by builder Franz Pawlu. The original owner of the house was Marie Pawlu, wife of Franz Pawlu, from 1903 until her death in 1917. After her death, their son Oskar Pawlu owned the house from 1918 to 1921. From 1923 to 1924, it was owned by Oskar Pawlu's wife, Berta.
3) Five years later, in 1929, the couple Josef and Josefina Löwy purchased a rental house on today’s Drobného 50.
4) At the address Glacis 73, there was also the company Nettl und Karpeles, Handel mit allen Waren, owned by Emanuel Nettl.
5) In the first building permit dated 23.5.1936, the parcel is marked as 482/49, and the city places the following requirement: , “The construction is permitted on the condition that the change of the parcel of the original area is made legal.” The second building permit dated 27.1.1937 states parcel 482/68.
6) The residential house marked as Fišova 36 was built on this plot only between 1968 and 1970. Its investor was Second Construction Housing Cooperative in Brno. The building smoothly connects to the neighboring house of Richard and Grete Löwy.
7) In the fund of the Police Directorate at the Moravian Provincial Archive, there is a list of members of the Jewish religious community who held positions in the judiciary at the regional civil court in Brno, where Richard Löwy is listed. The list was created following the government order dated April 21, 1939, to halt the functions of Jewish residents in public professions.
8) In Volksdeutsche Zeitung (30.10.1943, vol. 93, p. 8) there is an announcement that Anton and Wilma Hoznora welcomed the birth of their daughter Renate on October 27, 1943, sister of Ingrid.
9) Bedřich Rupp lived in 1934 at Lužánecká 4. Otto Schmetzer lived at Dobrovského 13.
Richard Löwy was born in 1893 as the third of four children of Bernhard (1859–1929), originally a leatherworker from Jevíčko, and his wife Rosalie (1854–1916). According to the Jewish registry, the marriage between Bernhard and Rosalie took place on February 28, 1883, in Brno, where all their children were subsequently born. First, three years after the marriage, their son Josef (1886–1942), followed by daughter Irene (1891–1944), then the aforementioned son Richard Löwy (1893–1942), and finally the youngest, Alfred (1896–1943).
As indicated by city directories, their father Bernhard Löwy moved residence in relatively short intervals. The very first Adressbuch von Brünn from 1885 lists him at Křenová number 29. Just five years later, in 1890, his residence was listed as Schüttgasse (now Rumiště) number 8. The 1900 directory then mentions his name at Orlí 18, and in 1909 at Bahnring (now Benešova) 22. His business was usually listed as Trödler und Schuhwarenhändl, meaning second-hand dealer and shoe merchant. Only directories from 1915 until his death identify Bernhard Löwy with the address Orlí 13, the rental house of Emil and Ida Stern.(1)
The oldest of the sons, Josef Löwy, is first listed in the directories from 1911, described as a reisender (traveler) at Benešova 22. In 1917-1919, he is mentioned as a businessman living in the same house as his father, at Orlí 13. In April 1919, Josef Löwy married Josefine Weissensteinová (1893–1942), a native of Trhová Kamenice, with whom he gradually had two daughters, first Gerturudu (1920–1942) and Alice Rittu (1928–1942). Probably these family circumstances led Josef Löwy to leave his current residence on Orlí and move to the rental house of Berta Pawlu at Tivoli Street (now Jirásková) number 55.(2) Josef Löwy is mentioned at this address in directories from 1920, and it was in this house that the couple Josef and Josefine purchased shortly thereafter, at the end of 1924.(3) Also living in their house on Jirásková was the youngest of the brothers, Alfred, with his wife Olga (1901–1943), who was additionally connected to Josef through their joint business. Josef Löwy established a fabric goods store focusing on women's clothing, Josef Löwy, Handel mit Tuch und Manufakturwaren, with his brother Alfred as partner and procurator. The company was located at Glacis 59. After renaming and renumbering, it corresponds to the house at today’s Koliště 47.
The third brother, Richard Löwy, is first mentioned in the directory in 1920 as a representative of the company Büchler und Löwy, which also included Otto Nettl, Gustav Büchler, and Karl Löwy as partners. Their firm operated a warehouse of textile goods and a store selling industrial and new clothing first at Krapfengasse (Kobližná) 31 and then Glacis 73 and 79, again now at Koliště.(4) Richard Löwy married the daughter of his partner, Greta Nettl (1898–1942), with whom he had a son Jan (1918–2003) and a daughter Margot (1924–1942). According to city directories, Richard Löwy lived with his family in the early 1920s at Strassengasse (Hybešova) 19. When changing addresses in 1929, when the family moved to the rental house of František Dvořák at Sadová (Drobného) 30, Richard Löwy indicated Křenová 8 as his previous residence on the notice form. The family then lived on Drobného until the construction of their own house in 1937.
In June 1936, when Richard Löwy became the owner of the plot on Erbenova Street based on the purchase agreement, he already had plans for his house prepared. This is at least implied by preserved documentation stored in the archive of Brno Waterworks and Sewage. Here, we find plumbing plans marked as Stavba R.L. However, the documentation for the property is not recorded under the address Erbenova 14, as one might expect, but is designated as Fišova 38 considering the water connection. Six drawings are each signed by a pair of Brno-based architects of Jewish descent, Max Tintner (1907–1984) and Hans Haas (1901–?).
Richard Löwy applied for a building permit on March 9, 1936, and the Council of the capital city of Brno issued it on May 23. Probably due to some requirements from the city and as a result of a formal change of parcel number for the building site, Richard Löwy resubmitted the application for a building permit on December 2, 1936.(5) The city then definitively issued the construction permit on January 27 of the following year. The construction was entrusted to the Brno company Podnikatelství pozemních a betonových staveb Schallinger a Drucker, which completed the project in the summer of the same year. The final inspection took place on August 28, and the occupancy of the building was permitted just a few days later, on September 1, 1937. As indicated by the second notice form of Richard Löwy, the family moved from their previous home on Drobného Street to their own house on September 30.
The house of Richard and Grete Löwy is located on a relatively exposed corner plot and forms an urban landmark at the point where the sharply bending Erbenova Street meets Fišova Street. The effort for an organic approach to architecture, responding to the location, is reflected in the rounded solids and nautical details of the circular windows. A similar tendency can be observed in the rental house of Melanie Weisz from 1937-1938 by Max Tintner, located not far from here at Drobného 24.
The two-story house of the Löwy family contained a total of six apartments, with a pair of generous apartments located on the first and second floors as central units. The facade facing Fišova street is modest, with two window axes. However, the façade opening onto Erbenova is much more interesting, where a semicircular corner bay protrudes from the mass of the building, additionally adorned with band windows. This dominant architectural element reflects the dynamics of its prominent corner position. The entrance to the house is located in the side facade, formed by a central bay into which the staircase is inserted, with balconies located on both sides on the two floors.
On the ground floor, there are two apartments. One contains two interconnected rooms, a study with a hallway, a wardrobe, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The second, smaller apartment consists only of a hallway, a toilet, and a living kitchen. On the first floor, there is again a pair of apartments, but in this case, they are significantly different. The larger of the two apartments is accessed through an entrance hallway, which extends both to the right to access the kitchen with a balcony connected to the maid's room, further to the toilet, or to the left to access the social and living area of the apartment owner. This part contains an extensive space referred to in the plans as a hallway, which is dominated by stone cladding of the central heating, evoking a fireplace. From the hallway, one can enter a covered loggia overlooking Erbenova Street, as well as bathrooms or a social space comprising three rooms – a separate bedroom and the main living area, separated by a built-in showcase, which is also finished in a semicircular bay. The second apartment on the floor consists only of a hallway and a room with a balcony and bathrooms. According to the original documentation, there is, for example, a kitchen missing here, raising the question of whether it was possibly a service apartment for the main apartment.
The central apartment of the whole house, however, is found, like the only one, on the second floor. The apartment has practically the same layout as the generous apartment below, but is enlarged by one room and a spacious wardrobe. Here, too, the stoning in the hallway is preserved, but in this case much more conservative in its conception. One floor up is a flat, walkable terrace and an attic with originally two service apartments. Later, they were merged into one two-room apartment with a bathroom.
Given the known body of work of the two mentioned architects, it is likely that the construction project took place in the atelier of Max Tintner, while Hans Haas created the interiors of the apartments.
Unfortunately, photographs of the house from the time of its construction are not available, so the only archival image capturing the entire object is part of the file of the Emigration Fund (Auswanderungsfond für Böhmen und Mähren) from 1941. Additionally, there are three photographs from a private collection taken in the summer of 1967, showing the house in detail. From the preserved photographs, it is evident that compared to the current smooth plaster of the facade, the original plaster had a linear texture.
Jan Pazdírek, who lived at the house on Erbenova from 1950 to 1968 and who met Mrs. Srbová, presumably a former servant of the Löwy family, recalled that the house was built as a future inheritance for the son of Richard and Grete Löwy. Meanwhile, the remaining plot behind the house, towards what is now Fišova Street, was left as a garden for the future construction of the neighboring house, intended for their daughter Margot.(6) Simultaneously, Jan Pazdírek recalled the antique furniture that the central apartment of the family was supposed to have originally been furnished with. Based on these personal memories, it can be assumed that the central apartment of the house on the second floor was inhabited by Richard and Grete Löwy with their daughter Margot, while their then-adult son Jan occupied the apartment on the first floor.
The elder of Richard and Grete's children, son Jan, was a very interesting person who was the only member of the family to survive World War II. Even before the war, we can observe a somewhat complicated situation regarding the use of his name. On the first notice form in 1929, his father Richard listed his son's name as Jan. On the second form in 1937, it is stated as Hanuš. Different variations are also recorded in the almanac of students from the Brno Jewish Reform Real Gymnasium, which both Jan and Margot Löwy attended. In 1930, he is listed as Jan Löwy; in 1934 as Jan/Hanuš Vilém Löwy; and in 1936 simply as Hanuš Vilém Löwy. After completing his studies at the gymnasium, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine in Brno, which he did not complete due to the Nazi occupation. Anti-Jewish measures began to affect the Löwy family after the occupation, and in the summer of 1939, Hanuš Vilém Löwy decided, as the only family member, to leave home and escape from the Protectorate with the help of his friends.(7) His further fate is described in his obituary in 2003: ,,Almost without money, but speaking fluent French, English, German, and Latin, Hanuš first went to Italy and then to France, where he took on odd jobs. In France, he contacted the Czech Brigade, a group of about 5,000 anti-Nazi fighters with headquarters in England. After a six-week horrific voyage, avoiding German submarines, he arrived in Liverpool. He then continued his medical studies in London to qualify as a medic in the brigade. Letters and messages from his family ceased in 1941.”
At the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, there is a list of Jewish households for which a custodian was appointed in accordance with the decree of the Reich Protector. This list, dated November 26, 1940, states that for the property of Richard and Grete Löwy, a certain Anton Hoznora was appointed as the administrator of the house, residing at Scherakgasse (Skřivanova) 8.(8) The Protectorate city directory from 1942 only mentions Karl Hoznora – a dealer in technical supplies, oils, and fats, for all industrial enterprises at Koliště 59, which is the address of the former Löwy family business. The Nazi-imposed administrator of the house on Erbenova, Anton Hoznora, is later further mentioned in documents related to the Emigration Fund, to which Richard and Grete Löwy were forced to sell their property based on the mentioned decree of the Reich Protector: ,,Based on the decree of the Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia concerning Jewish property from June 21, 1939, I approve the purchase contract of March 28, 1941, concluded between Richard Löwy, in Brno, as the seller, and the Emigration Fund for Bohemia and Moravia.”
Even before the official change of ownership of the property, Richard, Grete, and Margot were evicted from their home and found new accommodation at Hvězdová 2a. From Richard Löwy's notice form, we learn that the change of residence occurred on February 21, 1941. Probably with this change of address, communication between the family and son Hanuš in Britain ceased. Richard, Grete, and Margot Löwy were deported from Brno to Terezín on transport U on January 28, 1942. Alfred and his wife Olga were also included in the same transport. Josef Löwy, his wife Josefína, and their children Gerturda and Alice were deported on March 31, 1942. Sister Irene Traub and her husband Max were deported from Pardubice on December 9, 1942. All perished in concentration camps. Hanuš Vilém's obituary states that during the war, he lost 27 members of his family.
The Emigration Fund, as the new owner of the property, then rented the apartments in the house mainly to German-oriented residents of the city. Specific names can be found in the city directory from 1942, where the address lists commercial representative of Praga Ing. Bedřich Rupp, lawyer JUDr. Otto Schmetzer, assistant plumber Franz Valeš, who was designated as the caretaker by the Emigration Fund, as well as Josef Fiala, and also the wholesale merchant and owner of the department store Kaufhaus der Brünner Hans Schröder.(9) This German trader from Saarbrücken became the owner of the former Plaček department store on Masaryk Street based on an enforced purchase agreement from 1939. From 1941, the Plaček company was divided into the companies Textor and the aforementioned Kaufhaus der Brünner. It was Schröder who occupied the central apartment of the house on Erbenova Street. This is at least indicated by a note in a letter dated October 28, 1944: ,,Sent with a note that the showcase shown on the other side serves to separate two rooms and that without this showcase, the entire apartment cannot actually exist. To achieve any separation between the two rooms would require at least a significant investment.
Since this showcase and built-in cabinet were sold by the former administrator Hoznor without his authorization, I request that part of the money, which amounted to 56,850,- transferred on February 21, 1941, to the blocked account of the Jewish woman Grete Löwy at the Erste Sparkasse branch in Brno, be paid out to the depositor Hans Schröder. […]
The payment of 23,000,- has now become urgent because the housing office has given notice to the buyer and now wants to demolish this dividing wall, which is here referred to as a showcase. This 23,000,- was therefore wrongfully paid and must be refunded, as the sale is hereby canceled.”
The letter was likely written by Hans Schröder and its content suggests strange manipulations with the dividing showcase in the central apartment and particularly the intent to remove it permanently. This ultimately did not happen, probably marking the approaching end of the war.
As a member of the Allied forces and participant in the Normandy landings, Vilém Hanuš returned to Brno, where he completed his medical studies specializing in traumatology after the war. Upon his return, Vilém Hanuš claimed seized property, which had been placed under national administration later in 1945. In the property record, there is an entry regarding the removal of national administration from February 1946, and the new owner Vilém Hanuš (Löwy) is recorded for the year 1947. Probably during the post-war period, Hanuš stopped using the surname Löwy and in the following years is listed under the new identity Vilém Hanuš. Until his departure from Czechoslovakia in 1948, Vilém Hanuš lived in the family house on Erbenova. As Dr. Vilém Hanuš, he is listed in the Adressář zemského hlavního města Brna from 1948. Along with him in the house lived clerk Lib. Chlubnová, factory worker Václav Srba, or wholesale trader with metal goods Karel Šolc and clerk Hilda Šolcová.
In his later life, the events of 1948 became crucial for Vilém Hanuš, ultimately leading to his perhaps targeted and planned departure from the country. One of Hanuš's obituaries states that he left Czechoslovakia due to the communist coup, however, in the Archive of Security Forces under fund 425 Jewish organizations, documentation about his training in the Hagana organization has been preserved. As Lieutenant Dr. Vilém Hanuš, he had to sign an affidavit on October 30, 1948, stating: “that I will keep secret all facts associated with the training camp Libavá.” Vilém Hanuš evidently got involved in training Jewish volunteers, which prepared them from August to November 1948 for the fighting of the first Arab-Israeli war. In Vilém Hanuš's personal file, his marital status is listed as single, religion as Jewish, education as physician, and he speaks Czech, German, English, and French. Officials recorded his special skills as being a driver of cars of all classes.
About a month after completing military training, Vilém Hanuš indeed left Czechoslovakia through the A.J.D.C. Emigration Service Prague. In a form dated December 1, 1948, there is a note , "during the war he served in the army and his only wish is to immigrate to Israel.” A few days later, on December 5, he indeed traveled by train from Prague to Genoa and from there to Israel. Besides a personal ticket, he also had to procure a special ticket for a hundred-kilogram piece of luggage.
In the obituary of Vilém Hanuš, it is mentioned that after arriving in Israel, he indeed actively participated in the fighting of the ongoing war, and after its conclusion worked at the prestigious Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. It was here that he met his future wife Zahava, with whom he had daughters Dorit and Tali.
Before his departure, Hanuš appointed the aforementioned Augusta Srbová as the administrator of the house on Erbenova and to represent him. In May 1951, Bruno Švalb, who lived in the ground floor service apartment in the house on Erbenova, complained to the Central National Committee in Brno about the inability to use the ventilation window in his apartment and requested a commission investigation. The property owner in this matter was represented by Augusta Srbová, who also lived at Erbenova 14. Three years later, in 1954, the state imposed national administration over the property: , "National administration is established over the above-mentioned property due to the ongoing economic situation and also because the owner lives permanently abroad, and is unable to take care of the property himself.” Thus, the Czechoslovak state became the owner of the object. According to Jan Pazdírek's recollection, legendary Brno conductor and bandleader Gustav Brom lived in an apartment on the first floor at the turn of the 50s and 60s.
Vilém Hanuš, with his wife and children, moved to Ethiopia in 1960, where he helped establish local hospitals and a medical faculty. In 1967, the family eventually moved to the United States, settling in Houston. In his new home in Houston, John William Haenosh died on May 5, 2003.
Especially the apartments of the former owners on the first and second floors of the house have survived to the present day with a relatively large number of authentic details. Although both apartments have undergone minor spatial and functional changes compared to their original state, features such as showcases separating the main living halls, stone cladding of the central heating, built-in furniture, or parquet floors can still be found here. Currently, the house on Erbenova Street is owned by a homeowners' association that, in 2021, decided to apply through the National Heritage Institute for the inclusion of the property on the list of cultural monuments.
Dedicated to the Löwy family
Michal Doležel
Thank you:
Heleně Vlachové
Janu Pazdírkovi
Vladislavu Chrastnému
Sources:
Archive of Security Forces
Archive of Brno Waterworks and Sewage, a.s.
Archive of the City of Brno
Internet Encyclopedia of the History of the City of Brno
Cadastre Office for the South Moravian Region
Moravian Provincial Archive
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Obituary of John Haenosh (2003) - Houston, TX - Houston Chronicle (legacy.com)
Literature:
Adressbuch von Brünn [Address Book of Greater Brno]. Brno, 1885–1934.
PELČÁK, Petr; SAPÁK, Jan; WAHLA, Ivan. Brno's Jewish Architects 1919-1939. [Ed.]. Municipal House Brno, 2000.
SMUTNÝ, Bohumír. Brno Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses: 1764–1948: Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs and Their Families. Brno: Statutory City of Brno, Archive of the City of Brno, 2012.
Notes:
1) Emil Stern was the son of a Jewish merchant and founder of the company Albert Stern, which mainly traded in glass and porcelain goods. Stern's department store was located at Minoritská 10 and was communicatively connected to the house at Orlí 13.
2) The house at today’s Jirásková 55 was built in 1903 by builder Franz Pawlu. The original owner of the house was Marie Pawlu, wife of Franz Pawlu, from 1903 until her death in 1917. After her death, their son Oskar Pawlu owned the house from 1918 to 1921. From 1923 to 1924, it was owned by Oskar Pawlu's wife, Berta.
3) Five years later, in 1929, the couple Josef and Josefina Löwy purchased a rental house on today’s Drobného 50.
4) At the address Glacis 73, there was also the company Nettl und Karpeles, Handel mit allen Waren, owned by Emanuel Nettl.
5) In the first building permit dated 23.5.1936, the parcel is marked as 482/49, and the city places the following requirement: , “The construction is permitted on the condition that the change of the parcel of the original area is made legal.” The second building permit dated 27.1.1937 states parcel 482/68.
6) The residential house marked as Fišova 36 was built on this plot only between 1968 and 1970. Its investor was Second Construction Housing Cooperative in Brno. The building smoothly connects to the neighboring house of Richard and Grete Löwy.
7) In the fund of the Police Directorate at the Moravian Provincial Archive, there is a list of members of the Jewish religious community who held positions in the judiciary at the regional civil court in Brno, where Richard Löwy is listed. The list was created following the government order dated April 21, 1939, to halt the functions of Jewish residents in public professions.
8) In Volksdeutsche Zeitung (30.10.1943, vol. 93, p. 8) there is an announcement that Anton and Wilma Hoznora welcomed the birth of their daughter Renate on October 27, 1943, sister of Ingrid.
9) Bedřich Rupp lived in 1934 at Lužánecká 4. Otto Schmetzer lived at Dobrovského 13.
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