Otto Weidt and His Help for People at Risk
This museum tells the story of Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind. During the Second World War, Otto Weidt employed mainly blind, visually impaired, and hearing-impaired Jews here in his small factory. They manufactured brushes and brooms.
A number of life stories shed light on Otto Weidt’s efforts to protect his Jewish workers from persecution and deportation. When the threat to their lives grew ever greater, he and other helpers sought places for some of them to hide. One of these hiding places was on the premises of what is now this museum.
Otto Weidt's Workshop
for the Blind
In 1939, Otto Weidt and his business partner Gustav Kremmert founded the company Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind, which was initially located in...
Jews in Berlin, 1933 to 1945
Immediately after the National Socialists took power on January 30, 1933, the exclusion of Jews and the deprivation of their rights began...
Otto Weidt's early life
Otto Weidt was born in Rostock in 1883, and grew up in poverty. In 1888 his family moved to Berlin, where Otto Weidt completed his basic schooling...
Otto and Else Weidt
Otto Weidt’s efforts to establish his decorating business in Berlin failed. In 1936 he married his third wife, Else Nast, born 1902. Her father was a paver by occupation...
Employment in the Workshop for the Blind
In 1941, Otto Weidt employed around 35 people, mainly blind, visually impaired, and hearing- impaired Jews. They were...
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”...
The Helper's Circle formed around Otto Weidt
In order to help his workers, Otto Weidt relied on support from people he could trust. He managed to build up several circles of helpers,...
Postcards from Theresienstadt
With the support of several helpers, in 1943 and 1944 Otto Weidt sent more than 100 food packages to his workers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto...
Illegal Accommodation
Around 7,000 Jews evaded deportation by going underground in Berlin. This could usually only succeed with help from people...
Successful Rescues
Otto Weidt went to great effort to protect his Jewish workers from persecution and deportation. When the threat of National Socialist persecution grew ever greater...
Failed Rescue Attempts
Not all those who received help and hiding places arranged by Otto Weidt managed to survive underground. Some of them were betrayed,...
