Uhlandstraße 15: The Hayum Family – Committed to Democracy and Social Welfare
Station im Stadtrundgang: History Path to National Socialism
From 1905 on, Simon Hayum (1867-1948), his wife Hermine (1875-1967), and their five children lived in Uhlandstraße 15. Here, lawyer and local politician Simon Hayum operated the largest law firm in Tübingen. Hermine Hayum was engaged in voluntary social welfare work. The Hayums represent a generation of Jewish citizens whose livelihood was destroyed by National Socialist Germany.
Simon Hayum was born into the humble circumstances of a rural Jewish family. He successfully rose on the social ladder, obtained a Ph.D. in law, and was involved in the left-of-center Volkspartei (People's Party) during the time of the German Empire. From 1908 to 1912 he was chairman of the Tübingen Bürgerausschuss (citizen's committee). In the 1920s, he was Stadtrat (city councilor) for the Deutsche Demokratische Partei (German Democratic Party, DDP) and, from 1928 on, that party's chairman. In the Gemeinderat (town council), Hayum was a proponent of citizen-friendly and pragmatic policies. In late March 1933, during the phase of National Socialist "Gleichschaltung" (forced coordination), he resigned from his political post in order to elude imminent attacks by Nazis in the Tübingen town council.
On April 1, 1933, brown-shirt stormtroopers from the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment," SA) prevented clients from entering Hayum's law firm, which was followed by a creeping boycott. On the streets, the once-esteemed lawyer and former local politician was mostly ignored by his fellow citizens. Simon and Hermine Hayum avoided visiting concerts, restaurants, and theaters in order to evade insults. After the pogrom of November 9, 1938 ("Crystal Night"), the couple prepared its escape to the USA, following their children who had already immigrated there. The Hayums had to sell their house well below worth to the city of Tübingen. Simon Hayum died in 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio; Hermine Hayum passed away in 1967 in Newark, New Jersey.
Image 1
Simon Hayum (second to the left) as a member of the Bürgerausschuss (citizen's committee) and Gemeinderat (town council) in Tübingen city hall, 1909. Photo: City Archives Tübingen
Image 2
Simon and Hermine Hayum in their garden, 1938. One reason for Hermine Hayum's involvement in charity work was her Jewish faith. The Hayum household was well-known among Tübingen's poor and homeless. A soup kitchen was set up in the ironing chamber of Uhlandstraße 15 each winter. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Jewish charity work became undesirable in the eyes of the authorities. Photo: Geschichtswerkstatt Tübingen e.V.
Image 3 and 4
Simon Hayum's nephew Julius Katz was a partner in his uncle's law firm from 1913 on. In 1929, Simon's son Heinz (photo) also joined them. In 1934, senior partner Simon Hayum was banned from his profession by the Württembergisches Innenministerium (Württemberg Ministry of the Interior). His son and nephew continued business until their law firm had to close in 1935 due to its boycott. Image Letterhead: City Archives Tübingen, Photo Heinz Hayum: Katzmann Verlag Tübingen