Fritz Pfeffer

Friedrich 'Fritz' Pfeffer (April 30, 1889 - December 20, 1944 was a German dentist and Jewish refugee who hid with Anne Frank during the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands, and who perished in the Neuengamme concentration camp in Northern Germany.

Early Life

He was born in Giessen, Germany, one of the five children of Ignatz Pfeffer and Jeannette Hirsch-Pfeffer, who lived above their clothing and textiles shop at 6 Marktplatz in Giessen. After completing his education Fritz trained as a dentist and jaw surgeon, obtained a licence to practice in 1911 and opened a surgery the following year in Berlin.

Related Topics:
Giessen - 1911 - Berlin

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He served in the German Army during the First World War and afterwards, in 1921 married Vera Bythiner (March 31 1904 - September 30 1942) who was born in Poznan, Poland. The marriage produced a son Werner Peter Pfeffer (April 3 1927 - February 15 1995) but soon dissolved and they were divorced in 1932. Fritz was granted custody of the boy and raised him alone until the rising tide of Nazi activity in Germany persuaded him to send him into the care of his brother, Ernst, in England in November 1938. Werner emigrated to California in 1945 after his uncle's death and changed his name to Peter Pepper, later establishing a successful office supplies company under that name.

Related Topics:
First World War - 1921 - March 31 - 1904 - September 30 - 1942 - Poznan - Poland - April 3 - 1927 - February 15 - 1995 - 1932 - England - 1938 - California - 1945

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The tide of Anti-Semitism in Germany which increased from the election of Adolf Hitler in 1933 forced most of Fritz's relatives to flee the country. His mother had died in 1925; his father remarried and remained in Germany, only to be arrested and killed in Theresienstadt in October 1942. His elder brother, Julius Pfeffer had died in 1928, Emil Pfeffer emigrated to South Africa in 1937, Ernst Pfeffer moved to England and died in 1944, and Hans left for New Jersey. Their sister Minna remained with their father in Germany and died in nazi custody. Vera escaped to Holland but was arrested in 1942 and died in Auschwitz.

Related Topics:
Anti-Semitism - Adolf Hitler - 1933 - 1925 - Theresienstadt - 1942 - 1928 - 1937 - England - 1944 - New Jersey - Auschwitz

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In 1936 he met a young Catholic woman, Charlotta Kaletta (1910 - 1985), born in Ilmenau, Thuringia in Central Germany, who shared his history of broken marriage. She was estranged from her first husband, Ludwig Lowenstein, a Jewish dentist like Pfeffer, and their son Gustaf. Neither survived the war. The couple moved in together but were prohibited from marrying under the 1935 Nazi Nuremberg laws which forbade the marriage of Jew and Gentile.

Related Topics:
1936 - 1910 - 1985 - Thuringia - Nuremberg - Gentile

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Kristallnacht cemented their decision to leave Berlin and they fled to Amsterdam in December 1938. They were there for two years before the German invasion, and subsequent anti-Jewish laws which did not permit the co-habitation of Jews and Gentiles, forced them to officially separate and register under different addresses. After establishing a dental practice in Amsterdam's Rivierenbuurt he became acquainted with the Van Pels and Frank families through one of his patients, Miep Gies.

Related Topics:
Kristallnacht - Amsterdam - 1938 - Rivierenbuurt - Van Pels - Frank - Miep Gies

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