Willy Cohn in his study in 1934, in his home at 28 Opitz Street (Żelazna Street), Breslau, August 1934.

“Stephan, the school janitor, brought me a letter stating that I am on leave with immediate effect,” Willy Cohn, a historian and teacher at the Johannes-Gymnasium, noted in his journal on June 18, 1933. Already in the first months after coming to power, the Nazis used dismissals, forced leaves and early retirements against Jewish teachers, officials, lawyers and doctors, labeling them as “politically unreliable.” For many Jews, this meant professional degradation and constant moving to smaller and cheaper housing, as evidenced by the different addresses stamped on the first pages of Cohn’s journals from subsequent years.