Staff in the Workshop for the Blind

More than 45 people are known by name to have been employed in Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind between 1940 and 1945. The “Deployment Section for Jews” placed them there as forced laborers. Otto Weidt protected them, obtained food for them, and supported them with advice. Only few of them survived—through existing marriages to non-Jewish partners, in hiding, or in concentration camps.

Our knowledge of these people’s life stories varies. In many cases, all that has survived is their dates of birth, marital status, address, and deportation details. This information is sourced from property declarations that Jews had to fill out before their deportation, and Gestapo deportation lists. Unfortunately, this basic information gives us no details about the persecuted individuals’ private lives.

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