Helene Goldschmidt Fuld’s Children: Marriages and Divorces

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The oldest child of Jacob Meier Goldschmidt and Jettchen Cahn, Helene Goldschmidt Fuld, was widowed as a young mother in 1882 and left to raise her four children on her own: Clementine II (1874), Minna (1875), Harry (1878) and Hedwig (1880).

In the 1890s, her three daughters all married.

The oldest daughter Clementine Fuld II married David Cramer, son of Jacob Cramer and Caroline Furth, on June 24, 1892, in Frankfurt. David was born in Thundorf, Germany on January 1, 1862.

Marriage of Clementine Fuld and David Cramer, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1892, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Clementine II and David had two children. Sally David Cramer was born on May 21, 1893, in Frankfurt.

Sally David Cramer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_9120, Year Range: 1893, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

His sister Caroline Lilly Cramer was born the following year on September 26, 1894, in Frankfurt.

Caroline Lilly Cramer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_9138, Year Range: 1894, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Caroline Lilly Cramer (known as Lilly) married Arthur Drey on January 27, 1919. Arthur was the son of Simon Drey and Flora Lovis and was born on September 9, 1890, in Wuerzberg, Germany. Arthur and Lilly would have three children born between 1919 and 1926: Claude (1919),1 Florence (1921),2 and Elisabeth (1926).3

Lilly Cramer and Arthur Drey marriage record,
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903
Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Lilly Cramer Drey’s brother Sally Cramer married two years after she did. Sally married Margarete Steinberg on April 29, 1921 in Frankfurt. She was born in Frankfurt to Albert and Carrie Steinberg on April 24, 1898.  Sally and Margarete had two sons born in the 1920s: Hans (1921)4 and Peter (1923).5

Sally Cramer and Margarete Steinberg marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1921, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Salomon and Helene’s second child, Minna Fuld, married Leo Offenstadt on September 7, 1894, just over two months after her sister Clementine’s wedding. Leo was born on June 6, 1870, in Frankfurt, the son of Amschel Offenstadt and Julie Schwab.

Marriage record of Minna Fuld and Leo Offenstadt, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

They had one daughter, Flora Offenstadt, born the following year on June 30, 1895, in Frankfurt.

Flora Offenstadt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_9153, Year Range: 1895, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Minna and Leo were divorced on November 15, 1904, as noted on their marriage record. According to several sources, including Roger Cibella and David Baron, in 1906 Minna then married Ladislaus Polacovitz, who was born in Kala, Hungary, on April 30, 1868. These sources also report that Minna and Ladislaus had a child, Liselotte Polacovitz, on May 14, 1907, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

I cannot find any source for the marriage or any other official record for Ladislaus, but I do have a FindAGrave entry for Ladislaus Polacavitz indicating that he died on September 13, 1913, in Frankfurt, just seven years after their marriage, if the unsourced marriage date is correct.6

I have only two records that support the marriage of Ladislaus Polacovitz to Minna Fuld. The first is Minna’s third marriage record. On June 8, 1923 in Frankfurt, a Minna Polakovicz geb. Fuld married Hermann Heinrich Karl Reuss.

Marriage record of Minna Fuld and Hermann Reuss, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1923, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

The second record is a marriage record for a Liselotte Polacovitz and Wilhelm Strauss-Reich dated January 5, 1928. Wilhelm was the son of Benjamin Strauss and Franziska Silberberg and was born in Munich on May 29, 1899.

Marriage of Liselotte Polacovitz and Wilhelm Strauss-Reich, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1928, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

The marriage record does not include Liselotte’s parents’ names, but one of the witnesses to that marriage was Clementine Fuld Cramer, Minna’s sister, supporting the inference that Liselotte was related to Minna Fuld Polacovitz. Liselotte and Wilhelm had one child born in the 1920s, according to Cibella/Baron.

Meanwhile, Minna’s daughter from her first marriage, Flora Offenstadt, had married Hermann Durlacher on November 21, 1918, in Hamburg. That record indicates that her mother’s name was currently Polacovitz. Hermann Durlacher was born in Muehringen, Germany, on October 14, 1885, to Julius Durlacher and Luise Schweitzer. Flora and Hermann would have two children, Siegfried Fritz Julius Thomas, born in Hamburg on September 1, 1919,7 and Ulla Louise Sara, born on July 27, 1923, in Hamburg.8

Marriage of Flora Offerstadt and Hermann Durlacher, Year Range and Volume: 1918 Band 02
Ancestry.com. Hamburg, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920. Original data: Best. 332-5 Standesämter, Personenstandsregister, Sterberegister, 1876-1950, Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland.

Here is a chart showing Minna’s three husbands and her two children and their spouses.

The youngest of Helene and Salomon’s daughters, Hedwig Fuld, also married before the 20th century began. She was nineteen when she married Isidor Reiling on November 17, 1899, in Frankfurt. Isidor was born in Mainz on October 30, 1867, making him thirteen years older than Hedwig. He was the son of David Reiling and Esther Schmalkalden.

Marriage record of Hedwig Fuld and Isidor Reiling, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1899, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Hedwig and Isidor had one daughter, Netti Reiling, born in Mainz on November 19, 1900.

Netti Reiling birth record,Year Range: 1900 Band 5, Ancestry.com. Mainz, Germany, Birth Records, 1872-1900. Original data: Personenstandsregister Geburtenregister 1876-1900. Digital images. Stadtarchiv Mainz, Mainz, Germany.

On August 10,1925, Netti married Laszlo Radvani, who was born in September 13, 1900, in Budapest. I will have a lot to say about Netti and Laszlo in a later post.

Helene Goldschmidt Fuld’s son Harry Fuld married Flora Sondheimer sometime early in the 20th century. Flora was born in Strassbourg, France, on January 22, 1881, to Aron Sondheimer and Fanny Oppenheimer.9 I do not have a marriage record for Harry and Flora, but David Baron and Roger Cibella’s rerport shows that they were married in Strassbourg on March 12, 1903.

Harry and Flora had one child who shared his father’s name, Harry Fuld, Jr. He was born in Frankfurt on September 2, 1913.10 The fact that Harry was born ten years after the date reported for his parents’ marriage makes me wonder whether that date is correct. and if it is correct, whether there were other pregnancies prior to the birth of Harry, Jr.

Harry, Sr., and Flora divorced sometime before May 28, 1920, when Harry married his second wife, Ida Margareta Maria Felsmann. She was the daughter of Eugen Felsmann and Emma Stolze and was born in Mainz on December 8, 1884. They had one son, Peter Harry Fuld, born in Frankfurt on February 12, 1921.11

Marriage of Harry Fuld, Sr. and Ida Margarete Maria Felsmann, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Harry and Ida divorced in 1926, and on May 12, 1926, Harry married his third wife, Elsa Cajzago Tedesco, who had also been previously married. Elsa was born in Funfkirchen, Hungary, on March 21, 1881, and was living in Budapest at the time of the marriage. More on Elsa in a subsequent post.

Marriage record of Harry Fuld and Elsa Tedesco, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1926, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Here’s a chart showing Harry’s three marriages and his children.

While all these marriages, divorces, and births were occurring, the family lost its matriarch when Helene Goldschmidt Fuld died on April 15, 1922, at the age of 68.

Helene Goldschmidt I Fuld death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10857, Year Range: 1922, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

She had outlived her husband Salomon by forty years and had managed to raise four children on her own. Looking at Minna and Harry’s marital histories–each married three times—one has to wonder what impact losing their father when they were so young had on them.

That brings Helene Goldschmidt Fuld’s family up to the late 1920s. Next we will see what happened to each of them in the 1930s and after.

 

  1. Claude Drey, Birth Date: 13 Nov 1919, Birth Place: Frankfort, Germany, Registration Date: 1 Jul 1941, Registration Place: New York, New York, Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  2. Dorothy Drey, Naturalization papers, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, Ancestry.com. New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  3. Elizabeth Drey, Birth Date: 22 Jan 1926, Birth Place: Frankfurt Yi, Federal Republic of Germany, Father: Arthur Drey, Mother: Lilly Cramer, SSN: 076202437, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  4.  Hans Clemens Cramer, Birth Date: 15 Dez 1921, Birth Place: Bonn, Last Residence: Frankfurt am Main, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Name Index of Jews Whose German Nationality Was Annulled by the Nazi Regime (Berlin Documents Center); Record Group: 242, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1675 – 1958; Record Group ARC ID: 569; Publication Number: T355; Roll: 2, Brüll, Erna – Fränkel, Werner, Ancestry.com. Germany, Index of Jews Whose German Nationality was Annulled by Nazi Regime, 1935-1944 ↩
  5.  Peter Andreas Cramer, Age: 8, Death Date: 14 Feb 1932, Death Place: Frankfurt, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office: Frankfurt IV
    Certificate Number: 180, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 11001, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  6. Ancestry.com. Germany, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi. ↩
  7.  Siegfried Fritz Julius Thomas Durlacher, Birth Date: 1 Sep 1919, Birth Place: Hamburg, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Name Index of Jews Whose German Nationality Was Annulled by the Nazi Regime (Berlin Documents Center); Record Group: 242, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1675 – 1958; Record Group ARC ID: 569; Publication Number: T355; Roll: 2, Brüll, Erna – Fränkel, Werner, Ancestry.com. Germany, Index of Jews Whose German Nationality was Annulled by Nazi Regime, 1935-1944 ↩
  8.  Ulla Louise Sara Durlacher, Birth Date: 27 Jul 1923, Birth Place: Hamburg, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Name Index of Jews Whose German Nationality Was Annulled by the Nazi Regime (Berlin Documents Center); Record Group: 242, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1675 – 1958; Record Group ARC ID: 569; Publication Number: T355; Roll: 2, Brüll, Erna – Fränkel, Werner, Ancestry.com. Germany, Index of Jews Whose German Nationality was Annulled by Nazi Regime, 1935-1944 ↩
  9. Flora Sondheimer Fuld death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 11125, Year Range: 1941, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  10. Harry Fuld, Gender: Male, Nationality: German, Birth Date: 2 Sep 1913, Birth Place: Frankfurt, Germany, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/152, Ancestry.com. UK, WWII Alien Internees, 1939-1945 ↩
  11. Peter Fuld death record, Deutschland, Hessen, Frankfurt, Standesbücher 1928-1978,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKVW-26XV : 12 April 2019), Peter Harry Fuld, 21 Mar 1962; citing Death, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Deutschland, Hessische ↩

29 thoughts on “Helene Goldschmidt Fuld’s Children: Marriages and Divorces”

  1. I see the annotations to the records helped facilitate the research for this family. I wish US records had similar notes about divorces, deaths, name changes, etc. in the margins.

    One does wonder if children who are raised by a single parent are at a disadvantage when it comes to marriage and/or raising children in a partnership. In my personal experience, it is not the case. My mother raised five children between the ages of 8 and 16 on her own after the death of our father. We’ve all been married only once, for between 28 and 44 years, and still going strong.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I am sure that the likelihood of sustaining a marriage is determined by so many factors: economics, personality, luck, religious background, and upbringing, among others. Some people make good choices, some make bad choices. No one should be stuck with the latter. So who knows why these two people had such difficult marital histories. But perhaps growing up without the model of a married couple to follow had an impact. The fact that your family has sustained all those marriages is quite a tribute to you all and to your mother. Thanks, Cathy!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  2. Hi Amy, a nicely documented blog. The Goldschmitt-Fuld descendants may have started a family pattern of divorce and remarriage or perhaps it’s just a coincidence and they had a big social circle! My mother was widowed at a young age and my sibling and I have lengthy marriages, although blended families are more the new norm now.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks, Shirley. As I said to Cathy, there are so many factors that determine whether a marriage can survive long term, family history being just one. It’s wonderful that you and your siblings have been able to sustain long marriages!

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  3. Great documentation for this family. While divorce is certainly very common now days, I had always thought of divorce prior to the 60/70’s as almost taboo. I am always a bit surprised to see how common it really was. Looking forward to your next posting on this family in the 30’s forward

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. I would like to add just one other aspect to the discussion of divorce of the Helen Goldschmidt family branch. One needs to consider the fact that it was extremely hard to get a divorce a hundred years ago, no matter where you lived. Two allowable points for divorce in a court proceeding were adultery or lack of marital relations. There were of course exceptions. So it is quite possible that other factors were playing an important role.

    Liked by 2 people

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  5. Hi Amy, Sally David is such a strange name for a boy. Are you sure it is not Solly David? Solly is a more common name and is a nickname for Solomon, which is a much more masculine name. Just wondering?

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Definitely Sally. Look at his birth record and marriage record. I actually have a number of men named Sally in my tree. It confused me at first, but apparently it wasn’t that uncommon in Germany. The Hebrew name might have been Solomon or Salomon, but the secular records say Sally.

      Liked by 2 people

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    • I should add that the A in German without an umlaut is pronounced more like AH than our short A—as in Frankfurter—-FrAHnkfurter. Or Nacht (night) is pronounced NAHcht.

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  6. I, too, was surprised about the divorces. My in-laws divorced in 1957 and my mother-in-law was shunned by the married women in her neighborhood. I guess they were worried that she would “take” their men.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I’ve really no idea what caused those divorces. As people have commented, there are so many reasons for marriages to succeed or fail, and unless the family left a story behind, it’s all just speculation.

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      Reply ↓

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