Max and Sara Löb lived at Speyerer Straße 1 in Mutterstadt. They had five sons: Jakob, Friedrich, Emil, Adolf and Ernest; two died before the war, while Jakob, Emil and Ernest escaped abroad. In October 1940 Max and Sara were deported to Gurs, but with help from French business contacts of their son Jakob, they were released in February 1941. They survived the war hidden in France under very difficult conditions and returned to Mutterstadt in 1951. Ernest Löb was arrested after the November pogrom in 1938 and imprisoned in Dachau for six weeks. With help from Jakob, he fled via Paris and England to the United States in 1939. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, he returned to Germany as an American soldier in 1945.
Ferdinand Löb I, born in Mutterstadt on 1 May 1866, was a merchant who lived at Speyerer Straße 1 with his wife Marie Oberdorfer. Their son Alfred died at only 13, and Marie died in 1929. Their daughter Liese, also called Recha, escaped to North America in January 1940, later married Martin Himmel and died in 1987. Ferdinand was a Social Democratic member of the municipal council from 1926 until March 1933, when he was forced to resign. As the only Jewish councillor, he had spoken up for recognition of the Jewish teacher Michael Rosenstiel. In 1938 Ferdinand became cantor of the Jewish community and, under Nazi decree, had to adopt the middle name “Israel.” On 22 October 1940 he was deported to Gurs with the other Jews from Mutterstadt. Letters to Liese describe camp life, poor supplies, health problems and worry. In March 1943 he was transferred to Masseube, where he died on 13 December 1943.
