| First Name | Irene |
|---|---|
| Family Name | Löwenstein |
| Date of Birth | 06/01/1919 |
| Birthplace/Place of Residence | Schornsheim near Oppenheim |
| Residence in „Heim Isenburg“ | 06/27/1939 - 11/02/1939 |
| Departure to | Frankfurt am Main, Zobelstraße 9 |
| Profession | - |
| Deportation/Escape | Deported from Frankfurt am Main to the ghetto Kaunas on 11/22/1941 |
| Date of Death/Place of Death | 11/25/1941, Ghetto Kaunas |
Irene Löwenstein was the mother of Denny Löwenstein who is also listed in this Memorial Book.
Irene was born on June 1, 1919, in Schornsheim near Oppenheim. Her mother died shortly after her birth. Irene grew up with her father and his second wife. She completed elementary school in Wörrstadt. When Irene subsequently tried to enroll in the High School in Mainz and Hofheim in 1933/1934, she was not accepted according to later statements by the father because of alleged overcrowding. Also, the search for an apprenticeship position was not successful.
In 1935 the then 16-year-old immigrated to the United States with her father and stepmother. However, she returned to Germany alone two years later to take care of her grandmother who lived in Hofheim.
In March 1939, Irene Löwenstein was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp because of the so-called “racial defilement.” On June 27, the twenty-year-old was received in the Home of the Jewish Women's Association in Neu-Isenburg. On September 14, she gave birth to her son Denny in Frankfurt. When he was one and a half months old, his mother left him in the care of the home and moved to Frankfurt on Zobelstraße 9. In the same year, Irene Löwenstein married Manfred Mayer.
On March 13, 1940, Denny Löwenstein was deported from the Home of the Jewish Women's Association to Frankfurt in Schwanenstraße. The boy latter lived with his mother and his stepfather at Schützenbrunnen 13, today's Alfred-Brehm-Platz at the main entrance to the Frankfurt Zoo.
On November 22, 1941, Irene and Manfred Mayer, together with Irene’s son Denny Löwenstein were deported from Frankfurt to the Kaunas ghetto. This was the third transport in which Jews were expelled from Frankfurt. The Riga ghetto was planned as the destination, but the transport was redirected to Kaunas in occupied Lithuania because the ghetto in Riga was overcrowded. The deportation train probably arrived in Kaunas on the 24th of November. There, the deportees spent one night. The next morning they were driven out of the ghetto to large pits and shot (Kingreen, Gewaltsam verschleppt, S. 366 ff.).
Among the deportees murdered in Kaunas on November 25, 1941, were 22-year-old Irene Mayer, her two-year-old son Denny and her 29-year-old husband, Manfred Mayer.: