Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt –biographie

Gustav Ballo was born in Forst in the Lausitz region in 1901. He began commercial training at the age of 15 and went on to work as a decorator and managerial clerk for fabrics, dresses, and blouses. At the start of 1939 he was dismissed, as a Jew.
Gustav Ballo attempted to evade forced labor by applying for a pension due to reduced capacity to work. His application was rejected, however, and he was “conscripted” to the L. Späth company in April 1940. He had to shovel large amounts of earth and suffered a physical breakdown after a month. From October 1941, he continued as a demolition and transport worker despite sickness, out of fear of imprisonment.
He worked as an assistant in the workshop for the blind from March 21, 1944 to January 4, 1945.
His marriage to the non-Jewish Elisabeth Ballo (née Scharn) protected Ballo from deportation. Gustav Ballo survived National Socialism. He died in Berlin at the age of 53.