Fortunately, the story of the third child of Gerson Rothschild and Fanny Kugelmann, their son Max, does not end as tragically as that of his sister Katchen. Max was born in 1886, and, as we saw, he married Johanna Katz on October 19, 1919, in Zimmersrode, Germany. They had three sons, Erich, Fritz, and Richard. According to his marriage record, Max was a merchant in Zimmersrode.

Max Rothschild and Johanna Katz marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9581, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Max and his family were among those who were able to leave Germany in time and thus survived the Holocaust. Thank you to Donna Levinsohn from the GerSIG Facebook group for finding them on a list of immigrants to Argentina at the CEMLA website. From that website I learned that Max listed his occupation as “agricola” and his sons listed theirs as “practicante agricola,” or in the practice of agriculture. Their date of arrival in Buenos Aires was May 25, 1939, on the ship Cap. Norte. Missing from this list is the third son of Max and Johanna, Fritz. According to Hal Katz. Max’s nephew and first cousin to his sons, Fritz immigrated with his parents and brothers, so I cannot account for the fact that he is missing from this passenger ship manifest index.¹

Ship manifest facts for Max Rothschild and family from CEMLA website at https://cemla.com/buscador/

Although the family escaped the tragedy of being murdered by the Nazis, their life was not without tragedy. Just one month after arriving, Erich Rothschild died, perhaps from cholera, according to one tree on Ancestry. He was only eighteen years old. How devastating it must have been for the family to escape safely from Germany only to lose Erich so soon after leaving.

Andra Marx from the GerSIG Facebook group located Erich’s burial record on JewishGen; he was buried in the Jewish section of the cemetery in Moisesville, Argentina.

Erich Rothschild death and burial info from JewishGen, found at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0260737

When I saw the name of the town—-Moisesville—-on that burial record in JewishGen, my immediate reaction was “Moses town,” that is, that it had to be a Jewish settlement in Argentina, and in fact that’s what it was. Interestingly, it was not founded by Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, but many years before as a refuge for Russian Jews escaping persecution. According to Wikipedia, “Moises Ville was founded by a group of Russian Jewish immigrants who arrived in August 1889 aboard the SS Weser from Kamenetz-Podolsk, Ukraine.” But during the 1930s and 1940s, some German Jewish refugees like my Rothschild cousins were welcomed into that community. At one time there were four synagogues in Moisesville; today there are only 119 Jewish families there.

I do not know more about what life was like for Max, Johanna, Fritz (who became Frederico in Argentina), and Richard (who became Ricardo) in Argentina. Andra Marx located a notice in the Aufbau newspaper that announced that Max Rothschild died on January 14, 1962, at the age of 75 after a serious illness. He was mourned by his wife Johanna, who was living in Buenos Aires, his sons Frederico and Ricardo and Ricardo’s wife Ruth Heymann Rothschild, and other family members.

Death notice for Max Rothschild in The Aufbau, January 19, 1962, p. 29, found at https://archive.org/details/aufbau291962germ/page/n46/mode/1up?view=theater

Max is buried in Buenos Aires. His wife Johanna (Juana) survived him by 21 years; she died on December 27, 1983, and is buried next to Max in Buenos Aires. She was 91 years old.

Max Rothschild burial record from JewishGen, found at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0226824

Johanna Katz Rothschild burial record at Jewish Gen, found at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0226822

Their son Richard or Ricardo Rothschild died on August 18, 2012, at the age of 89. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Palacios Luis, Argentina, where his wife Ruth, who died on April 28, 1995, is also buried.

Richard Ricardo Rothschild gravestone, found at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0265042

Ruth Heimann Rothschild gravestone at JewishGen, https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0265043

The inscriptions on both headstones read, “tu esposo/a hijos hijas  politicas y nietos te recuerdan con carino,” or “Your husband/wife, sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren remember you fondly.” Ricardo and Ruth thus had at least two sons and grandchildren who survived them. I assume the sons are Eric (presumably named for his deceased uncle) and Mario Rothschild, who were named as mourners in the death notice for Max Rothschild.

Judy Katz, Hal Katz’s niece, informed me that Fritz also married and had children and grandchildren. They lived in Argentina and Germany. Fritz died in Germany just a few years ago.²  There are thus living descendants for Max and Johanna and their family.

Thank you again to Donna Levinsohn and to Andra Marx from the GerSIG Facebook group for their help in locating information about the Rothschilds in Argentina. And special thanks to my cousins Hal, Sandy, and Judy for sharing their memories of Max and his family.