Rolf Joseph
Rolf Joseph (December 11, 1920 – November 28, 2012) was a German Jew who survived the Nazi persecution during World War II. He grew up in Berlin with his brother Alfred. In the 1930s Jews faced growing persecution, and Kristallnacht in November 1938 shocked him as Jewish shops and synagogues were attacked. Rolf left school at 14 and learned carpentry. He did forced labor for IG Farben and made equipment for the Wehrmacht.
In 1942 their parents were taken to concentration camps and died. Rolf and Alfred hid with Marie Burde in Berlin, helped by Arthur Fordanski. Rolf was tortured by the Gestapo but did not reveal where Alfred was hiding. He escaped twice—once from a train heading to Auschwitz and once from a hospital window. In 1943–44 they lived in a rough shelter on Burde’s land outside Berlin, then returned to the city.
Alfred was arrested in 1944 and sent to Sachsenhausen and then Bergen-Belsen, but he survived. Rolf stayed hidden until the Red Army liberated Berlin in 1945 and then rejoined his brother.
After the war, Rolf married Lydia, who had survived Auschwitz; they were together for 46 years until Lydia’s death in 1991. He later married Ursel Sikora and lived in Berlin. He worked as a carpenter and later as a manager at a wagon and machine factory, retiring in 1983 after 28 years. He spoke to schoolchildren about his experiences and thanked Marie Burde for helping them. He received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2002. He prayed at the Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue. He died on November 28, 2012, at age 91; Alfred died in 2014.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:37 (CET).