Last, Irma

Plot Location	2B12
Surname	Last
Given Name(s)	Irma
Place of Birth	Czernowitz, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Date of Birth (Eng)	circa 1906
Date of Birth (Heb)
Date of Death (Eng)	November 25, 1940
Date of Death (Heb)	24 Cheshvan 5701
Age at Death	34
Hebrew Name	ארמה
Spouse’s Name
Father’s Name	Dr. Adolf (Avram) Last
Mother’s Name	Bettina Klarfeld
Other Surnames
Sex	F
Marital Status	S
Maiden Name
Title (e.g., Dr)
Religious Status (כ/ל/י)
Cause of Death	Infection from tonsillitis
Other Family Data	Sister: Iryna Julia Last (b. 1900)
Inscription (Eng)	TO THE MEMORY OF IRMA LAST DIED 25TH NOV. 1940 AGED 34 YEARS
Inscription (Heb)	לזכר עולם פה מצאה מנוח ארמה לאצת נלב”עת כד חשון שנת תשא תנצבה
Inscription (Other)	“179” on bottom front of slab; [Stonemason’s name] “—– Ltd.”
Historical	She arrived in HK as a refugee from Vienna in 1938 and worked as an art mistress at the Diocesan Girls’ School up to her death. She is mentioned on page 17 in Frances Wong’s book, “China Bound and Unbound: History in the Making : an Early Returnee’s Account”. Her cousin, Kate Andreis, filed a claim for Holocaust reparations in 2003 claiming to be the sole heir to the Lasts’ assets and was awarded SWF 214,199.38. Her father, Adolf Last, was born in Fălticeni, Romania, on January 7, 1864. He had a brother, Koine (b. July 10, 1862). Adolf and Bettina (b. 1877) were married in 1899. According to records, his parents’ names were Wolf and Paulina. Hers were Juliusz and Jozefina. In 1935, the family lived at Wallnerstrasse 4, Vienna. Adolf may have been working at the Magistrate of the City of Vienna – Vienna River Authority on Hauptstrasse. Dr. Last’s uncle Moisa’s great-grandson, Dr. Emil Costin, wrote on March 2, 2017: “Dr. Last and his wife left Vienna for Bucharest, Romania in 1938 (probably coinciding with Irma’s departure for HK). From then until 1940, he practiced law there and was well known. They then emigrated to Jerusalem, Palestine. He died in Israel in 1950. After his death, Bettina returned to Vienna where she died on May 22, 1962. She is buried in the Central Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, Section: T1 Group: 6 Row: 24 Grave: 060A.”

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