When he died at age 40 in 1884, Seligmann Rothschild was survived by his four sons and his second wife, Emma Rothschild.  Just nine years later, his son Emil died when he was just eighteen, leaving the three other sons: Moses Max, Leopold, and Hugo. These three sons had suffered so many losses in such a short time; for Moses, his mother when he was two; for all three of them, their father when they were all ten or younger; then their brother Emil, and then their grandparents Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild.

Unfortunately, I have hit many a brick wall in trying to research the lives of Moses, Leopold, and Hugo. There are lots of trees on Ancestry, MyHeritage, Geni, etc., for this family, but very few have any sources, and I have not yet been able to find the sources to back up the information on those trees. Because I try not to include unsourced information on the blog, I am reluctant to share the information included on all those trees. I will keep searching, but for now this is a post that should have a big asterisk next to it, warning readers that some of the information here may not be correct. I will indicate below where there are places that are not yet verified by records or at least some direct family confirmation of the facts.

Moses Max Rothschild, Seligmann’s oldest son, married Helene Hoechster on July 8, 1897, in Nordeck, Germany. Helene was born in Nordeck on September 3, 1870, and she was the daughter of Salomon Hoechster and Jette Loew.

Moses Rothschild and Helene Hoechster marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 905; Laufende Nummer: 1070, Year Range: 1889-1899, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

I have been able to find records for three children of Moses and Helene: Gertrude, born June 23, 1898, in Nordeck, Erna, born November 25, 1899, in Nordeck, and Erwin, born December 4, 1904, in Nordeck.¹

Gertrude Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 905; Laufende Nummer: 1068, Year Range: 1888-1899, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Erna Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 905; Laufende Nummer: 1068, Year Range: 1888-1899, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Several unsourced trees include three other children born to Moses and Helene, but the online records for Nordeck do not include the birth records for the years of the births of those other children. For two of these children, there are records that show that they were born in Nordeck, but nothing that ties them to Moses and Helene.

For example, there is a death record for a Siegfried Rothschild who was born in Nordeck on April 8, 1901, and died on January 15, 1936, in Hanau, Germany.² But that record does not include his parents’ names. Could this be a son of Moses and Helene? Certainly. But is this record reliable evidence of that? No.

Similarly, there is a Holocaust era record for a Fritz Rothschild, born in Nordeck on June 1, 1906.³ Could this be a son of Moses and Helene? Sure. But this record in no way establishes that connection.

Then there is another son included on these trees, Walter, born July 6, 1903, and there is no record at all for this person or even a reference to his birthplace, let alone his parentage.

These children—Siegfried, Fritz, and Walter—could indeed be children of Moses and Helene Rothschild, but on Ancestry, the trees that include them all cite Geneanet as a source (as well as other Ancestry trees). The listing on Geneanet for this family has no actual sources either. I wrote to the person who submitted the information on Geneanet, and he said he had no sources and had just taken the information off other trees. So it’s like going in a circle—each tree relies on another tree that relies on another tree, and none have any real sources.

I also have sent a message through Geni to a profile manager there for this family. I am hoping that person will respond because they seem to be family members. Maybe they can help me break through this brick wall not only for Moses and his family, but also for his two half-brothers, Leopold and Hugo. But it’s now been well over a month, and I’ve heard nothing.

Leopold Rothschild, the second surviving son of Seligmann Rothschild, married Zipporah Birkenruth on September 28, 1906, in Fulda, Germany. Zipporah was the daughter of Josef Birkenruth and Roschen Grief and was born in Wehrda, Germany, on January 5, 1876.

Leopold Rothschild and Zipporah Birkenruth marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Signatur: 2363, Year Range: 1906, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Leopold and Zipporah had one child for whom I have a record with a birth date, but no reference to his parents: Siegfried, born on September 13, 1907, in Halberstadt, Germany.⁴ Although there is no specific official record tying Siegfried to Leopold and Zipporah, there are some secondary sources that have convinced me that he was their son.

A story on Yad Vashem mentions that Leopold and his family moved in 1913 from Halberstadt to Dinslaken, Germany, to run an orphanage there. The story refers to and quotes a son Pinchas, who was six when the family moved to Dinslaken, thus born in 1907. I assume that Pinchas was the Hebrew name of Siegfried, who was born in 1907, as noted above. And I have found a Shoah Foundation interview with Pinchas Rothschild. Unfortunately, it is in Hebrew, so I am waiting for a cousin to translate it for me. But the index for this interview on Ancestry identified his father as Leopold Rothschild and his mother as Zipporah Birkenruth. ⁵

According to other unsourced trees, Leopold and Zipporah had three other children, Judith, Naftali, and Mirjam, but I have no records for those three. Until I can verify the birth dates for these three, I have nothing more I can add.

As for Hugo Rothschild, the third surviving son of Seligmann Rothschild, several unsourced trees list his spouse as Hannah Adler. I did find Hugo Rothschild, married to Hannah Adler, on a citizen register for the city of Lubeck, Germany. The birth date and birthplace match that of our Hugo Rothschild, so I see this as fairly reliable evidence that Hugo did marry a woman named Hannah Adler. The register also indicates that they had two female children at that time. But what I can’t determine is when this register was created. It says that Hugo became a citizen on June 24, 1911, but is that necessarily the date that Hugo was listed on the register? Does it mean that as of June 24, 1911, he was married to Hannah and had two female children? Or does it only mean that that was his family status as of the time he was listed in the register—which could have been years after June 24, 1911?

Hugo Rothschild Lubeck register, general_subcollection: Verzeichnis der in den Lübeckischen Staatsverband Aufgenommenen, 1903 (Mai)-1919, Ancestry.com. Lübeck, Germany, Citizenship Register, 1591-1919

The reason that this is important is that those unsourced trees for Hugo have conflicting dates for when Hugo married Hannah; some say 1908 in Baden-Baden, some say December 14, 1918, in Nordrach, Germany. I am inclined to think that the 1908 date makes more sense, especially since those trees also list four children for Hugo and Hannah born between 1907 and 1917. But alas, none of these trees includes a marriage record, nor have I found one.

As for those four children, two were allegedly born before June 24, 1911: a daughter Judith in 1907, making me wonder about a 1908 marriage, and a son Eli born in 1909. The register, however, says that Hugo had two daughters. So something is not right either on the register or on those trees. The unsourced trees list two more children for Hugo and Hannah: Chava, born in 1914, and Naomi, born in 1917, both in Lubeck. But again, no records support any of this information. A profile on Geni lists a descendant of Hugo and Hannah, and I have sent a message to that person and am hoping for a response. But again, it’s been over a month, and I’ve gotten no response.

So where do I stand? Frustrated for sure. I will move on to finish what I can of the stories of Seligmann Rothschild’s sons and their families based on the records I have, and if later I can find more sources, I will update the information with later posts.