Julius Rothschild was born on 21 May 1898 in Netra. He came from a Jewish merchant family and ran a branch of his textile department store in Mihla an der Werra, which was managed locally by Arno Hotze. Rothschild visited Mihla once a month, partly to check the accounts. He usually stayed at the ‘Zum Schwan’ inn, which was located right next to his shop. Following Hitler and the NSDAP’s seizure of power, an openly hostile atmosphere towards Jews had also taken hold in Mihla, and leading local Nazis railed against Mihla’s only Jewish-owned business. On 15 March 1934, Julius Rothschild was once again in Mihla; he parked his car near the inn and stayed there after work. In the middle of the night, whilst he was asleep, he was attacked – with the innkeeper’s assistance – by five local Nazis and beaten until he bled. The perpetrators also slashed the tyres of his car. The family were notified, collected the seriously injured man and took him to Eschwege Hospital. Julius Rothschild died there eight days later. Julius Rothschild’s father died a year later of grief over the loss of his son.
