Erich Tobias was a tailor and married a non-Jewish woman named Maria Johanna Langendonk of Herne in 1922. They lived in Recklinghausen for a few years, but moved to Essen in 1927 after Erich’s business failed. He re-opened a new shop in Essen.
In 1937, the Gestapo accused Erich and Maria of “Rassenschande” – sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews were prohibited since 1935 and called “race-sha…