Category Archives: Places My Family Has Lived

When I Assume, I Make An Ass Out of ME!

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As we saw in the last post, the four daughters and one of the sons of Therese Spier Baer escaped from Germany before Kristallnacht and ended up in the United States. Klara was in Baltimore as was Paula while Jenny and Selma were living in New York. Their brother Meyer/Manfred settled in Baltimore. Another son, Arthur Baer, escaped with his family to England.

But I realized after publishing my last post that I had made an error in my research about Arthur Baer and that he had never spent time in Buchenwald. I have updated my last post to correct this error, and I’ll write more about Arthur Baer’s actual story in a later post. I only realized I’d made that error when I discovered I’d made a similar error in researching Arthur’s brother Julius. In researching both Julius and Arthur, I made stupid assumptions that led me down a deep rabbit hole that led me nowhere for quite a while.

According to records in the Arolsen Archives, a man named Julius Baer was arrested during June 1938 as part of a mass arrest of Jewish men to force their emigration from Germany. The record revealed that he was released from Sachsenhausen concentration camp on July 16, 1938.1 There was no birthdate or birthplace on those records, and I made the fatal novice genealogist error of assuming that this was my Julius Baer. That assumption was unfortunately reinforced when I saw that that a Julius Baer also was sent to Buchenwald and released on the same day as an Arthur Baer.2 I assumed—incorrectly—that the two brothers had been released together after some pressure from their relatives. After all, their names were listed one after the other on one of  the Arolsen documents (along with many other names).

But then I hit a dead end on Julius. I knew only that at some point my Julius Baer ended up in France because he died there in 1981.3 But I didn’t know when or how he got to France or anything about his life there during or after World War II.

When I found that there were Stolpersteine laid for Julius and his wife and sons in Butzbach, Germany, that report that the family fled to France in 1936, I was confused. How could Julius have been in France in 1936 if he was arrested in Germany and sent to concentration camps in 1938? I dismissed it as an error on the Stolperstein and shrugged.

Stolperstein in Butzbach, Germany, for Julius Baer, GeorgDerReisende@Vicuna, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

But it turns out that I was the one who’d made errors. And I learned that when Bryan Knobloch, another genealogist, sent me scans of pages from Hanno Muller’s book about the Jews of Butzbach.4 Bryan had seen my first post about the Baer family and commented on my blog about Muller’s book and its content related to the Baer family. I wrote to him and asked if he would scan the relevant pages, and he graciously did so.

On page 50 there was this entry about Julius a/k/a Jules Baer [as translated by Google]:

  1. Baer, Julius
    171 | 15.05.1900 | 03.11.1929 | France
    He was born in Griedel, was a merchant (in 1927 he founded a ready-made clothing store together with his brother Arthur Bär; see Chap. 9.3.2: 1926) in Butzbach, Marktplatz 20 and Weiselerstraße 14, and was a marriage witness in 1929 for Arthur Bär; V: Adolf Bär in Griedel. He is said to have been a communist and was brought to the Osthofen concentration camp near Worms in February 1933 together with Josef Oppenheimer [105] (WOLF, 1988 p. 45). His textile business had to close in 1934 as a result of the boycott of Jewish businesses (WOLF, 1988 p. 47). The wife was born in Nonnenweier in Baden, and the marriage took place there too. The family moved to Molsheim in Alsace on February 19, 1936 (HELLRIEGEL, 1968 p. 45). From there they fled to Southern France in 1940 and in early October 1942 to Switzerland (WOLF, 1988 p. 51). After the end of the war, they returned to Molsheim in Alsace, where both died in 1981 (according to Arnold BAER: Mein Vater Julius Baer, Jerusalem 2005, in: Stadtarchiv Butzbach Judaica Familie “Bär”).
    oo Wertheimer, Erna | 19.07.1907 | France

That paragraph tells a far different story about Julius. It indicates that the Stolperstein was correct—Julius did flee to France in 1936. And it also reports that once World War II started, they fled to Switzerland, returning to France after the war ended.

It was also Muller’s book that alerted me to the fact that Arthur Baer had not spent time in Buchenwald. As with Julius, I had incorrectly assumed that records for an Arthur Baer in the Arolsen Archives were for my cousin because the two names—Julius and Arthur—were listed together on one of the documents.

But how could I verify the information in Muller’s book? I requested the original files from Germany regarding Julius’ arrest in 1933 and from Switzerland regarding his time there; I also have asked another researcher to help me find information about his life in France, including possible descendants. In my next post I will report on what I learned from the German documents I’ve received and what really happened to Julius Baer and his family.

I will be taking a break from blogging until after Labor Day to enjoy the next two weeks with my children and grandchildren. Enjoy the last days of summer, everyone! And this might be a great time to read The Women Before Us!  It’s available on Amazon here in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

 

 

  1. Name Julius Baer, Nationality H., Record Type Register, Departure Date 16 Jul 1938, Prisoner Type A. S. R., Prisoner Number 5268, Reference Number 00115100112, Arolsen Archives; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Group 1 Camp Lists, Reference Number: 00115100112, Ancestry.com. Arolsen Concentration Camp Lists, 1939-1944. ↩
  2. Julius Baer, Religion Jude, Record Type Register, Departure Date 28 Dez 1938 (28 Dec 1938), Prisoner Type Schutzhaft, Prisoner Number 20699, Reference Number 00116100004, Arolsen Archives; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Group 1 Camp Lists, Reference Number: 00116100004, Ancestry.com. Arolsen Concentration Camp Lists, 1939-1944 ↩
  3. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/283584356/jules-baer: accessed 14 Aug 2026), memorial page for Jules Baer (1900–26 Jul 1981), Find a Grave Memorial ID 283584356, citing Cimetière Israélite de Rosenwiller, Rosenwiller, Département du Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France; Maintained by Laura (contributor 48852786). ↩
  4. Hanno Muller, Familienbuch Butzbach Band V: Judenfamilien in Butzbach und seinen Stadtteilen (Family Book Butzbach Volume 5: Jewish Families in Butzbach and its Districts). ↩

The Baer Sisters and Two Brothers Leave Germany

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Therese Spier Baer, the first child of Samuel Spier, died on July 26, 1935, in Griedel, Germany, at the age of 64, leaving behind all eight of her children and all of her grandchildren. By that time the Nazis had come to power. What was the fate of those eight children and all of their children?

Even before Therese died, her youngest daughter Klara and her husband Hermann Fuld and their two-year-old daughter Helga had left Germany. They arrived in New York on March 22, 1934. On the passenger manifest for their ship, which sailed from Hamburg, they listed their destination as Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, where Hermann’s brother Max Fuld was living. Max had arrived in the US in 1926, long before the Nazi era.1

Klara Baer Fuld and family, passenver manifest, “New York City, New York, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95ZY-W4W?view=explore : Jul 30, 2026), image 161 of 847; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 004870034

When Klara filed her declaration of intention to become a US citizen on May 23, 1935, the family was living in the Bronx.

Klara Baer Fuld declaration of intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; 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, Description: (Roll 486) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 364301-365300), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

However, by 1937 Herman and Clara (as spelled in the 1937 Baltimore directory) were living in Baltimore; Herman was associated with a disinfectant business called Fuld Brothers Inc. There were two other men listed in that directory, Joseph Fuld and Melvin Fuld, who also listed Fuld Brothers as their business. I assumed they were his relatives and that the business was why he and Clara moved to Baltimore.

Herman Fuld, Maryland, City Directory, 1937, Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995

So I researched Joseph and Melvin Fuld and found that they were the sons of Solomon Fuld from Sickenhofen, the same town where Hermann Fuld was born. I then researched Solomon Fuld and found that he was the brother of Lazarus Fuld, Hermann’s father. So Melvin and Joseph Fuld were first cousins of Hermann. Interestingly, Solomon had come to the US back in 1894 and his sons were American born.2

By the time  Klara and Herman moved to Baltimore in about 1937, some of Klara’s siblings had also arrived in the US, but all after their mother Therese had died. Jenny Baer and her husband Julius Goldschmidt and their seven-year-old daughter Lore arrived in New York on July 31, 1936, along with Julius’ mother Lina, a widow. They listed Atlantic City as their final destination on the manifest, but on January 25, 1937, when Julius filed his declaration of intention, they were living in the Bronx. Julius, who had listed his occupation on the manifest as a merchant, now listed his occupation as a mechanic.3

Julius Goldschmidt and family, passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Hansa, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Selma Baer and his husband Julius Siegmann were the next to arrive. They and their three sons, Heinz (later Henry), Adolph (later Edward), and Erich (later Eric) arrived in New York on October 7, 1937. They listed Julius Goldschmidt, Jenny’s husband, as the person they were going to and their destination as the Bronx. Julius Siegmann listed his occupation as a cattle dealer, but clearly there was no opportunity to pursue that in the Bronx!

Selma Baer Siegmann and family, passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Gerolstein, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Just a month later the next Baer sibling arrived, Paula, along with her husband Julius Steinberg and their teenage son Kurt. They arrived in New York on November 11, 1937, indicating that they were going to Paula’s sister Clara in Baltimore.

Paula Baer Steinberg and family, passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Champlain, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

When Paula filed her declaration of intention on March 2, 1938, they were in fact living in Baltimore.

Paula Baer Steinberg declaration of intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pa; Petitions For Naturalization, 1903-1972; NAI Number: 654310; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21
Petitions 24451-24750, Ancestry.com. Maryland, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931

Thus, the four sisters—Klara, Jenny, Selma, and Paula—-were all safely in the US and out of Europe before their four brothers. Were the women more able to see the writing on the wall and willing to leave Germany behind or did they marry men who had that foresight?

The oldest brother Meyer Manfred Baer, his wife Friedel, and their son Erich arrived in New York on July 22, 1938, just a few months after Paula. Meyer listed his occupation as a butcher on the manifest.

Meyer Manfred Baer and family, passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Washington, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Although the manifest did not indicate their destination, the family ended up in Baltimore like Klara and Paula, as seen on Meyer’s declaration of intention dated October 29, 1938. He was still working as a butcher.

Meyer Manfred Baer declaration of intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pa; Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1911-1967; NAI Number: 573394; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, Description: Declarations 27401-28200, Ancestry.com. Maryland, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931

Arthur Baer’s story is not quite as straightforward. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht in November 1938, he was arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp; he was released on December 28, 1938, and like the others arrested after Kristallnacht, he left Germany soon after being released.4

UPDATE: I have now realized that this was a different man named Arthur Baer. My cousin Arthur Baer was not sent to Buchenwald! In fact, as we will see in a subsequent post, he left Griedel before Kristallnacht and was living in Bad Nauheim. More on that to come. The paragraphs below, however, are accurate. Arthur and his family did escape to England.

Arthur and his wife Erna and their son Erich escaped to England, where they appear living in London on the 1939 England and Wales Register which identified Arthur and Erna as refugees. Arthur was temporarily interned in England as an alien enemy but was released on November 25, 1940. As we will see, Arthur and his family eventually came to the United States.

Arthur Baer 1939 England and Wales Register, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/625D, Enumeration District: AYBQ, Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register

Arthur Baer UK World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/166, Piece Number Description: 166: German Internees Released In UK 1939-1942: Ba-Berg, Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945

The remainingg two siblings, Eugen and Julius, have much more complicated stories that will follow in the posts to come, but as we can see, Paula, Jenny, Selma, Clara, Meyer, and Arthur were safely out of Germany before 1940.

  1. Max Fuld, Petition for Naturalization, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions For Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  2. Sol Fuld, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 4 Jan 1875, Birth Place Sickenhofen, Federal Republic of Germany, Father Joseph Field Mother Bertha Simon, SSN 212091919, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; Solomon Fuld and family, 1910 US census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 15, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T624_558; Page: 2b; Enumeration District: 0255; FHL microfilm: 1374571, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Julius Goldschmidt, declaration of intention, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, Description: Petitions For Naturalization From Us District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  4. Arthur Baer, Religion Jude, Record Type Register, Departure Date 28 Dez 1938 (28 Dec 1938), Prisoner Type Schutzhaft, Prisoner Number 22955, Reference Number 00116100004, Arolsen Archives; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Group 1 Camp Lists, Ancestry.com. Arolsen Concentration Camp Lists, 1939-1944 ↩

The Children of Therese Spier Baer Marry, and The Family Ends Up with Four Men Named Julius

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We saw last time that Therese Spier and her husband Eisemann Adolf Baer (hereinafter just referred to as Adolf, the name he seems to have been known as) had eight children, four girls and four boys, born between 1893 and 1909. By 1919, those children began to marry and have families of their own.

Paula, the oldest child, married Julius Steinberg on September 13, 1919, in Griedel. Julius was born in Steinfischbach, Germany, on April 8, 1883, to Herman Steinberg and Johanna Kohlmann. They had one child, Kurt Steinberg, born on November 26, 1920, in Lamberg, Germany.1

Paula Baer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 726, Year Range: 1911-1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Selma, the second daughter, married Julius Siegmann on May 26, 1921, in Griedel. He was born on May 11, 1886, in Mogendorf, Germany. I was only able to find their marriage record after locating a 25th anniversary announcement for them in the Aufbau newspaper, which gave me their marriage date.

Marriage record of Selma Baer and Julius Siegmann, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, Standesamt Griedel Heiratsnebenregister 1921-1930 (HStAMR Best. 924 Nr. 727)AutorHessisches Staatsarchiv, p. 5

Aufbau, May 17, 1946, p. 36

I, of course, am wondering how Therese and Adolf felt about having two sons-in-law named Julius in addition to their own son Julius. It must have gotten a bit confusing at times! (And it got even more so—see below!)

Selma and Julius Siegmann had three sons: Heinz (Henry) born on August 24, 1924, in Giessen;2 Edward (Adolph) born on October 20, 1926, in Mogendorf;3 and Erich, born on August 30, 1928, in Mogendorf.4

The oldest son, Meyer, married next. He married Friedel Stern, daughter of Moritz Stern and Emma Michels, on March 20, 1925, in Frankfurt. She was born in Frankfurt on November 1, 1900. Meyer and Friedel Baer had one child. Erich Adolf, born in Frankfurt on May 31, 1928.5

Meyer Baer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1925, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

The next of Therese and Adolf’s children to marry were not the two sons next in birth order, but their daughter Jenny. She married—Yikes, another Julius!—Julius Goldschmidt on January 19, 1927, in Griedel. Julius, the son of William Goldschmidt and Lina Isenberg, was born in Gossfelden, Germany, on March 11, 1897. Jenny and Julius Goldschmidt had one child, Lore, born on January 12, 1929, in Marburg, Germany.6

Jenny Baer Marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 727, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

The remaining four children of Therese and Adolf—Eugen, Julius, Arthur and Klara Baer—-all married in 1929. I know weddings weren’t the lavish affairs we have these days, but can you imagine having four of your children marry in one year?

Eugen married Hedwig Samuel in Reichelsheim, Germany, on January 20, 1929. She was born October 15, 1904, in Reichelsheim, Germany.  Eugen and Hedwig Baer had one child, Adolph, born on January 7, 1930, in Griedel.7

Julius Baer was also married in 1929; he married Erna Wertheimer, who, according to secondary sources, was born July 19, 1907, in Nonnenweier, Baden, Germany. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find an actual marriage record or a birth record for Erna, and I don’t know her parents’ names. Secondary sources report that Julius and Erna Baer had two children, Arnold, born on February 3, 1931, and Rolf, born on September 20, 1933, both in Butzbach, Germany.8

Arthur Baer, the youngest son of Therese and Adolf, also married in 1929. He married Erna Kraemer on June 2, 1929, in Nieder-Weisel, Germany. She was born on August 22, 1906, in Nieder-Weisel; her marriage record did not include her parents’ names, nor could I find a birth record for Erna online. Arthur and Erna Baer had one child, Erich, born in Nieder-Weisel on July 18, 1932.9

Arthur Baer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 1376, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

And finally Klara Baer married Hermann Fuld on November 6, 1929, in Griedel. Hermann was born on January 19, 1901, in Sickenhofen, Germany. Klara and Hermann Fuld had one child, Helga, born May 13, 1931, in Frankfurt, Germany.9

Klara Baer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 727, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Eisemann Adolf Baer died on August 31, 1925, in Griedel, at age 61.

Adolf Baer death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 733; Laufende Nummer: 924, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Every one of his children who had a son after that date seems to have honored their father by naming a son for him. Selma had two sons Edward (Adolph) and Eric; Meyer had a son Erich Adolf; Eugen’s son was named Adolph; Julius had a son named Arnold; and Arthur had a son named Erich. Only Paula, whose son Kurt was born before her father died, and Jenny and Klara, who did not have any sons, did not have the opportunity to name a child for their father.

Therese Spier Baer lived long enough to see all those grandchildren born (and thus, none of them was named for her). She died on July 26, 1935, in Griedel, Germany, at the age of 64. (Thank you to Cathy Meder-Dempsey for correcting the Google transcription of this death record that had transcribed it for someone with a different name.)

Therese Spier Baer death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 734; Laufende Nummer: 924
Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

The burial index on LAGIS had a photograph of Therese’s gravestone with other relevant information about her, her family, and her death. In fact, it was here that I discovered the eighth child of Therese and Adolf, their daughter Klara.

Therese Spier Baer headstone, Bär, Therese, née Spier (1935) – Griedel”, in: Jewish Gravesites < https://lagis.hessen.de/de/personen/juedische-grabstaetten/alle-eintraege/18212_baer-therese-geborene-spier-1935-griedel > (accessed on 29.06.2026)

Her gravestone translates to:

Here rests
the precious woman,
the ornament of her husband,
a virtuous woman, that is,
a woman who feared
God and did
good all her days:
Mrs. Reize [short for Therese], the daughter of
Nathanael, the wife of
Adolf Bär. She died
on the eve of Shabbat (=25th Tammuz)
and was buried in good standing
on the 26th Tammuz in the
year 695 according to the Lesser Census. May
her soul be bound up in the bundle of life.

Next. How did those eight children and their families fare during the Nazi era?

 

  1. Kurt Steinberg, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 26 Nov 1920, Birth Place Camberg Taun, Federal Republic of Germany, Death Date 15 Mar 1996, Father
    Julius Steinberg, Mother Paula Baer, SSN 212122078, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  2. Henry Siegmann, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 15 Aug 1924, Birth Place Giessen, Federal Republic of Germany, Death Date May 1986, Father Julius Siegmann, Mother Selma Baer, SSN 079188596, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  3. Edward Adolph Siegman, Race White, Age 18, Birth Date 20 Oct 1926, Birth Place Mogendorf, Germany, Registration Date, 20 Oct 1944, Registration Place
    New York City, Bronx, New York, Next of Kin Selma Siegman, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  4. Eric Siegmann, Race White, Age 18, Birth Date 30 Aug 1928, Birth Place Mogendorf, Germany, Registration Date 30 Aug 1946, Registration Place New York City, New York, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  5. Erich Adolf Baer, Eric Adolph Baer, Race White, Age 18, Relationship to Draftee Self (Head), Birth Date 31 May 1928, Birth Place Frankfurt, Germany, Residence Place Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Registration Date 1946, Registration Place Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Maryland, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 16, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  6. Naturalization petition of Julius Goldschmidt, stating birth of daughter Lore, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions For Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Description: (Roll 1412) Petition No· 419644 – Petition No· 420058, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  7. I could not find a marriage record for Eugen and Hedwig online because the online marriage records for Reichelsheim do not go as late as 1929; thus, I have to rely on Hedwig’s statement in her Declaration of Intention for her birthdate, marriage date, and her son Adolf’s birthdate. Hedwig Baer, Declaration of Intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; 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, (Roll 587) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 460501-461500), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943.  ↩
  8. This information came from family trees on Ancestry that unfortunately did not have citations to any sources. Thus, I cannot be certain about its reliability. I am searching for primary sources. ↩
  9. Klara Fuld’s Declaration of Intention includes her daughter Helga’s birthdate and birthplace. The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; 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, Roll 486) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 364301-365300), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩ ↩

Therese Spier Baer and Her Eight Children, Part I

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My cousin Therese Spier Baer, the first child of Samuel Spier, had eight children with her husband Eisemann Adolf Baer between 1893 and 1909, and amazingly all eight survived to adulthood, and they all survived the Holocaust as did their children. Almost all of them then lived remarkably long lives.

Therese’s first child was her daughter Paula, born on June 14, 1893, in Griedel, Germany.

Paula Baer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 721, Year Range: 1891-1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Then came Selma, born February 19, 1895, in Griedel.

Selma Baer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 721, Year Range: 1891-1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Next was her first son, Meyer Manfred, born on November 8, 1896, also in Griedel.

Meyer Baer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 721, Year Range: 1891-1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Her fourth child and second son was Eugen, born July 13, 1898, in Griedel.

Eugen Baer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 721, Year Range: 1891-1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Then came Julius, born May 15, 1900, in Griedel.

Julius Baer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 721, Year Range: 1891-1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

The third daughter and sixth child, Jenny, was born in Griedel on November 25, 1902.1

A fourth son, Arthur, was born on August 28, 1905, in Griedel.2

And finally a daughter, Klara, was born on January 21, 1909, in Griedel.3

Eight children, four girls and four boys, born in just over fifteen years! Most of the children were born less than two years apart.4

Next we will see who these children married and who their children were.

It’s not too late! Please consider reading and reviewing The Women Before Us, available on Amazon here.

 

 

 

  1. See, e.g., marriage record of Jenny Baer, Jenni Bär, Gender weiblich (Female)
    Age 24, Birth Date 25 Nov 1902, Marriage Date 19 Jan 1927, Marriage Place Griedel, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Griedel, Spouse
    Julius Goldschmidt, Certificate Number 3, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 727, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930 ↩
  2. Marriage record of Arthur Baer, Gender männlich (Male), Age 23, Birth Date
    28 Aug 1905, Marriage Date 02 Jun 1929 (2 Jun 1929), Marriage Place Nieder-Weisel, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Nieder-Weisel, Spouse Erna Krämer, Certificate Number 4, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 1376, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930 ↩
  3. Marriage record of Klara Baer, Gender weiblich (Female), Age 20, Birth Date
    21 Jan 1909, Marriage Date 06 Nov 1929 (6 Nov 1929), Marriage Place Griedel, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Griedel, Spouse Hermann Fuld, Certificate Number 7, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 924; Laufende Nummer: 727, Year Range: 1921-1930, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930 ↩
  4. At first I only had found the first seven children and was surprised that Therese did not have more children after she was 34; then, while searching for a death record for Therese, I found a reference to Klara, who was born when her mother was 37. ↩

Momberg, The Ancestral Town of the Blumenfelds

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The article below was written by my fifth cousin, Richard Bloomfield, who recently visited our mutual ancestral town, Momberg, Germany, with his first cousins (and my fifth cousins) Jim and Steven Bloomfield. Momberg is where our mutual four-times great-grandparents Abraham Blumenfeld I and Geitel Katz lived and raised their children, including my three-times great-grandmother Breine Blumenfeld Katzenstein and Richard, Jim, and Steven’s three-times great-grandfather Jakob Blumenfeld.

In this article, Richard discusses the construction and history of the Momberg synagogue, including the terrible story of how it was damaged on Kristallnacht and of the Torah scroll that the Blumenfeld family rescued and brought to America. Richard mentions many Blumenfeld relatives whom I’ve mentioned and written about on this blog, including Abraham Blumenfeld IIA,  Sitta Blumenfeld Spier and her daughter Gisela Spier-Cohen, Fritz Blumenfeld, Kathinka Blumenfeld Rosenberg, and some of their descendants including my cousins Simeon Spier, Michael Rosenberg, and Alan Blumenfeld, all of whom have helped me with my research and with whom I’ve exchanged emails and zoomed.

I am so grateful to Richard for sharing this article and his photographs so that I can share them with my readers, especially all the Blumenfeld cousins I’ve been so lucky to connect with through my blog and my research.

Samuel Spier and Amalie Adler, Part I: A Growing Family

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The first born child of Sarchen Frank and Isaac Spier was their son Samuel, born as we saw on December 18, 1842, in Schrecksbach, Germany. On March 1, 1870, in Langendiebach, Germany, Samuel married Amalie (Malchen) Adler, the daughter of Markus Adler and Dolce Rosenstrauch; she was born in Hintersteinau, Germany, in about 1849. 1

Samuel Spier and Amalie Adler marriage record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 515, p. 19

Samuel and Amalie had at least five children. Their first born, Therese, was born on February 18, 1871, in Langendiebach, Germany. (Her marriage record states that she was born in Grosskrotzenburg like some of her later-born siblings so it took some searching to find her actual birthplace and birth record.)

Therese Spier birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 514, S. 6

A second child, Lina, was born on February 24, 1872, in Langendiebach. Her birth record reveals that Samuel was a teacher and religious leader in the community:

Lina Spier birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 514, p. 7

Samuel and Amalie must have moved from Langendiebach to Grosskrotzenburg sometime between February 27, 1872, and June 29, 1875, because their third child Leopold Saly was born in Grosskrotzenburg on that date.

Leoopold Saly Spier birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland
Year Range: 1875, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Isidor, their fourth child, was born on August 11, 1880, in Grosskrotzenburg.

Isidore Spier birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland, Year Range: 1880, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Finally, Selma was born on September 3, 1886, in Grosskrotzenburg.

Selma Spier birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland, Year Range: 1886, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Given the rather large gaps between Leopold and Isidor and between Isidor and Selma, I am wondering whether there were other children born in between that I’ve missed or miscarriages. I will continue to search for any children I may have missed. There was a male child with the surname Spier who was stillborn in Grosskrotzenburg on January 5, 1888, who could have been another child of Samuel and Amalie, but I can’t be certain of that.

Male Spier stillbirth jan 5 1888, from JOWBR, JewishGen.org

The oldest of these children, Therese Spier, married Eisemann Adolf Baer on August 31, 1892, in Grosskrotzenburg. Known primarily as Adolf, he was born on November 20, 1863, in Griedel, Germany, to Mayer Baer and Marianna Stern. Therese and Eisemann Adolf would have eight children, as we will see in the next post. In fact, all of the sources for the grandchildren of Samuel and Amalie will be discussed in later posts.

Marriage reocrd of Therese Spier and Eisemann Adolf Baer, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland, Year Range: 1892, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Lina Spier married Ferdinand Gruenwald on March 1, 1898, in Grosskrotzenburg. He was the son of Abraham Gruenwald and Rebekka Schloss and was born in Allendorf, Germany on May 25, 1869. Lina and Ferdinand had one child.

Marriage record of Lina Spier and Ferdinand Gruenwald, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland, Year Range: 1898, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Leopold Saly Spier, known as Saly, married Lina Wrzeszinski in Labischin, Poland, then part of Prussia, allegedly on April 12, 1907. She was born in Labischin on September 18, 1877, to Adolf Wrzeszinski and Ernestine Lewin. I could not find a marriage record for Saly and Lina or Lina’s birth record online, but later immigration documents revealed some of this information. Their marriage date, however, came from another tree that had no sources, and when I asked the tree owner for her source, she could not identify where she got the information. Saly and Lina had two children.2

The youngest sibling, Selma Spier, married Julius Bauer on August 29, 1909, in Grosskrotzenburg. Julius, the son of Jonas Bauer and Fanny Markus, was born in Weilburg, Germany, on February 28, 1881. Selma and Julius had four children.

Selma Spier and Julius Bauer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Signatur: 1426, Year Range: 1907, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Samuel Spier died on September 4, 1909, in Grosskrotzenburg, less than a week after his youngest daughter Selma was married. He had lived to see all but his son Isidor marry and lived to see the births of most of his grandchildren. He was 66 years old.

Samuel Spier death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 1460, Year Range: 1907, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

The last child to marry was Isidor. He married Pauline Mayer on December 14, 1920, in Guntersblum, Germany, where she was born on November 12, 1891, to Simon Mayer and Eva Morgenstern. As with Saly and Lina, I could not locate a marriage record or a birth record for Pauline but am relying on later documents. Isidor and Pauline had one child.3

Amalie Adler Spier, the widow of Samuel Spier, died on February 24, 1924, in Weilburg, Germany, where her youngest child Selma had settled after marrying Julius Bauer. She was 75 years old and had lived to see the births of all her grandchildren.

Amalie Adler Spier death record. Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister, Year Range: 1924, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

The stories of those grandchildren and their parents—-Therese, Lina, Saly, Isidor, and Selma—will be told in the posts that follow.

 

 

  1.   According to her death record, Amalie was 75 when she died in 1924. I was unable to find a birth record for her. Amalie Spier, Maiden Name Adler, Gender weiblich (Female) Death Age 75, Birth Date abt 1849, Death Date 24 Feb 1924, Death Place Weilburg, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Weilburg, Certificate Number 21, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  2. Lina Sara Spier, [Lina Sara Wrzeszinski], Gender Female, Marital Status Widowed, Birth Date 18 de set de 1877 (18 Sep 1877), Birth Place Labischin, Arrival Date 1939, Arrival Place Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Father Adolf Wrzeszinski, Mother Ernestine Levin, Traveling With Children No, FHL Film Number 004921080, Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965. ↩
  3. Pauline’s birth and marriage information was reported in her naturalization papers, Pauline Spier, Gender Female, Race White, Petition Age 55, Record Type Naturalization Petition, Birth Date 12 Nov 1891, Birth Place Guntersblum, Germany
    Marriage Date 14 Dec 1920, Marriage Place Guntersblum, Germany, Departure Place
    Kobe, Japan, Petition Date 1946, Petition Place California, USA, Naturalization Place USA, Ship ”nitta Maru” Court District Court, Northern District, California: San Francisco, Relation to Head Self (Head), Spouse Irving Isidor Spier, Child Lotta
    Petition Number 87852, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Petitions For Naturalization, 8/6/1903 – 12/29/1911; NAI Number: 605504; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009,
    Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1888-1991. Her birthname and parents’ names came from secondary sources. ↩

Sarchen Frank Spier: Ten Children, Seven Who Survived Their Childhoods

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The first-born child of Sprintz Blumenfeld and Samuel Frank was their daughter Sarchen (Sarah) Frank, born in Momberg, Germany, in about 1816, as determined by her age of 78 on her 1894 death record (see below).

Sarchen married Isaac Spier in Momberg on May 25, 1842. Isaac was the son of Samuel Spier and Telsa Katz, and he was born in Schrecksbach, Germany, in about 1812, according to his age of 30 on their marriage record. Sarchen was 26 when they married.

Sarchen Frank and Isaac Spier marriage record, Trauregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1828-1907 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 612)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1828-1907, p. 5

Sarchen and Isaac had ten children, all born in Schrecksbach. Their first child was Samuel, born on December 18, 1842.

Samuel Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-188, p.8

Then came Telsa, born just over a year later on January 2, 1844.

Telsa Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 9

The third child was Roschen, born less than two years after Telsa on July 23, 1845. Sadly, she died before her fifth birthday on February 8, 1850.

Roschen Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 10

Roschen Spier death record, Sterberegister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen)SignaturHHStAW 365 613Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden, p. 8

Beilchen Spier, the fourth child born to Isaac and Sarchen, was born on December 6, 1847.

Beilchen Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 12

Her sister Jettchen was born almost two years after Beilchen on November 11, 1849.

Jettchen Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 13

A boy came next, Liebmann, born two years after Jettchen on November 22, 1851, but like his sister Roschen, he died before he turned five. He died on June 9, 1856.

Liebmann Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 14

Liebmann Spier death record, Sterberegister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1911 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 613)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1911, p. 10

The seventh child of Isaac and Sarchen was their daughter Breinchen, who was born on December 11, 1853.

Breinchen Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 15

Then came another boy, Manuel or Emanuel, born April 20, 1856.

Manuel Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 16

The ninth child was another girl, Beschen, born June 6, 1858.

Beschen Spier birth record, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 18

And then finally on April 12, 1861, Sarchen Frank Spier gave birth to her tenth child, another daughter Fredrike or Rickchen, but that child, like her siblings Roschen and Liebmann, did not survive childhood. She made it just past her fifth birthday and died on April 26, 1866.

Fredrike Rickchen Spier birth, Geburtsregister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1883 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 610)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-1883, p. 20

Frederike Spier death record, Sterberegister der Juden von Merzhausen (Willingshausen) 1824-1911 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 613)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, WiesbadenErscheinungsjahr1824-191, p. 12

Sarchen had given birth to ten babies between 1842 and 1861, roughly a baby every two years. She was 45 years old when she gave birth to Frederike in 1861. She had seen three of her babies die before or just after turning five years old. Five years of loving and caring for a child, only to see them die, while meanwhile probably pregnant or about to be pregnant with yet another child. It’s a life I cannot imagine.

Of the seven children who survived to adulthood, there were two sons, Samuel and Emanuel, and five daughters, Telsa, Beilchen, Jettchen, Breinchen, and Beschen. I am laughing, thinking about how confusing it must have been with all those B names. I would probably be calling out all the girls’ names, hoping that one of them would respond. At least Telsa and Jettchen had names that didn’t start with B.

Although I cannot locate any record to corroborate this, Geneanet.com reports that Isaac Spier died in 1868 when he was 57. If that is in fact the case, he left behind the seven surviving children who ranged in age at that time from Beschen who was ten up to Samuel who was 26, and Sarchen would still have had all  those children still at home since even the oldest two did not marry until 1870. Of course, by that time Samuel was likely working and the older daughters were available to help with the household chores and the younger children. But nevertheless, Sarchen endured quite a bit during her life.

Sarchen lived until she was 78, dying on January 14, 1894, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Sarchen Frank Spier death record, HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 609, S. 5

Now I will turn to the lives of her seven surviving children, starting with the oldest, Samuel.

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I hope you will consider reading it and reviewing it. If you are a blogger or podcaster, I’d love to have you review it on your blog. Alternatively, I am happy to do an author interview for your blog or podcast.

And if you are in a book group and are interested in having me talk to your group by Zoom, I am more than happy to do that also.

You can buy the book here.

 

Sprintz Blumenfeld, Part I: My Fourth Great-Aunt

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In August 2021, I began writing about my Blumenfeld family, starting with my four-times great-grandparents Abraham (Katz) and Geitel (Katz) Blumenfeld and then their oldest child, Moses Blumenfeld. Since then, I have been writing about the children and later descendants of Moses Blumenfeld. That has taken more than four and a half years, and Moses Blumenfeld had only three children. Having now finished writing about the youngest child of the youngest child of the youngest child of Moses’ daughter Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild, I am finally ready to move on to the second child of Abraham and Geitel Blumenfeld, their daughter Sprintz.

This is where I am in the overall Blumenfeld branch of my family tree:

It seems I’ve hardly made a dent!

Sprintz had six children—twice as many as her brother Moses. That could mean it will take me more than eight years to research and write about all her descendants! I will be in my 80s by then, and I will still have the younger siblings of Sprintz and Moses to cover. Fortunately, one of those siblings, my 3-x great-grandmother Breine Blumenfeld Katzenstein, has already been covered when I wrote about her husband Scholem Katzenstein and all of their descendants.

But that still leaves three more children of Abraham and Geitel: Hannah, Meier, and Jakob. I am relying on my cousin Richard Bloomfield to cover the family of his ancestor Jakob Blumenfeld in his wonderful blog, Blumenfeld Family Stories. But that still leaves me with Sprintz, Hannah, and Meier. I hope I live long enough to do them all a decent job of honoring their memories, but it is feeling more than a bit overwhelming.

But onward I go, starting with Sprintz. Although I do not have a birth record for her, her death record (see below) indicates that she died on March 26, 1863, at the age of eighty, meaning she was born in about 1783, presumably in Momberg where her parents were living. Her death record also identifies her husband’s name as Samuel Frank, which is consistent with other trees and her children’s records. I have no marriage record for Sprintz and Samuel, but since their first child was born in about 1816, presumably they were married before that year. Samuel was born on August 8, 1788, in Adelsberg, Bavaria. According to the LAGIS entry for Samuel’s gravestone, he was a mohel, or the ritual circumciser, in Momberg, as well as a merchant.1

As stated above, Sprintz and Samuel had six children, five daughters and one son. Their first-born was Sarah/Sarchen, who was likely born in 1816 in Momberg, based on her death record, which records her age as 77 when she died in January, 1894.2 Next came Bertha/Breine, whose death record says she was 95 when she died in April 1914, meaning she was likely born in about 1819 in Momberg.3 The third daughter was Feilchen/Veichen, according to several secondary sources including Geneanet.org, but I do not have one actual record showing her birth, marriage, or death. Those secondary sources say that she was born July 1, 1819,4 meaning that Bertha/Breine must have been born no later than October 1818, unless Feilchen and Bertha/Breine were twins or Bertha/Breine was not 95 when she died in April 1914.

The fourth daughter of Sprintz and Samuel was apparently named Fradchen, and as with Feilchen, I have no primary sources for her. Geneanet.com reports that she was born on December 22, 1822 in Momberg.5 The last two children, Roschen and Abraham, were twins born on August 29, 1825, in Momberg, and fortunately, I do have records for both of them showing those birth dates.

Roschen Frank birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 628, p. 4

Abraham Frank birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 628, p. 3

As you can see, I have my work cut out for me trying to establish with any degree of reliability the bare facts about this family. For the most part I need to rely on the records of the next generation and some death records to fill in the gaps.

I do, however, have some records for the deaths of Sprintz Blumenfeld and her husband Samuel Frank. Sprintz died on March 27, 1863, in Momberg, and is buried at the Neustadt Jewish cemetery. She was reportedly eighty years old.

Sprintz Blumenfeld death record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 609, p. 5

Here is her gravestone, which says:6

Here rests
the worthy woman, Mrs.
Sprintz, wife of Mr.
Samuel from Momberg.
She died on the 7th of Nisan [5] 623
AH (= 27.3.1863). May her soul be bound up in the bond of life until she is resurrected at the resurrection of the dead.
Amen.

“Frank, Sprinz née Blumenfeld (1863) – Neustadt (near Marburg)”, in: Jewish Graves < https://lagis.hessen.de/de/personen/juedische-grabstaetten/alle-eintraege/5298_frank-sprinz-geborene-blumenfeld-1863-neustadt-bei-marburg > (accessed on 20.03.2026)

Her husband Samuel Frank died ten years later on May 28, 1873, in Momberg. He was 84 years old. He is buried with Sprintz in the Neustadt Jewish Cemetery.

Samuel Frank death record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 609, p. 5

“Frank, Samuel (1873) – Neustadt (near Marburg)”, in: Jewish Graves < https://lagis.hessen.de/de/personen/juedische-grabstaetten/alle-eintraege/5325_frank-samuel-1873-neustadt-bei-marburg > (accessed on 21.03.2026)

His gravestone reads:

Gravestone
of the man, Mr. Samuel
Frank from Momberg, who
walked the path of the good and upright.
He brought many (children) into the covenant
of Abraham. He died at a very advanced age and
in good repute on Wednesday, the 2nd of Sivan,
and he was buried on Friday, the 4th of the same
[5] 633 ndkZ (= May 28, 1873).
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.

The posts to follow will tell the stories of their descendants as best I can.

Now available through Amazon! The Women Before Us, my newest family history novel tells the stories of eight women, all inspired by my research and my family stories, all of whom moved far from their own mothers and then saw their daughters move far from them. It’s a love story—love between mothers and daughters and love between those women and the men they married. Please check it out! It’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook. If you enjoy it, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads and elsewhere! Thank you!!

 

 

  1. Samuel Frank, Register of Males Living in Momberg and Neustadt, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, Dept. 365, No. 631, p. 20; “Frank, Samuel (1873) – Neustadt (near Marburg)”, in: Jewish Graves < https://lagis.hessen.de/de/personen/juedische-grabstaetten/alle-eintraege/5325_frank-samuel-1873-neustadt-bei-marburg > (accessed on 21.03.2026) ↩
  2. Sarchen Spier, Maiden Name Frank, Gender weiblich (Female), Death Age 77
    Birth Date abt 1817, Death Date 14 Jan 1894, Death Place Frankfurt am Main, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Frankfurt am Main,
    Father Samuel Frank, Mother Sprintz Frank, Certificate Number 138, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 10472; Laufende Nummer: 903, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  3. Breine Levi, Maiden Name Frank, Gender weiblich (Female), Death Age 95, Birth Date abt 1819, Death Date 26 Apr 1914, Death Place Neustadt Hessen (Neustadt), Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Neustadt (Hessen), Father Samuel Levi [sic Frank], Mother Sprintz Frank, Certificate Number 9, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 6581; Laufende Nummer: 915, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  4. See information on Geneanet.com at https://gw.geneanet.org/faberh?n=frank&oc=&p=veichen&_gl=1*1c0swom*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3NzM5MjU1OTMuQ2owS0NRand2ZTdOQmhDLUFSSXNBTFp5OUhWTF9JNXNxSVdfNXh4aVU4NlBiYk9QUXVaUloxRk9QYUhFM1NEMTlhdmROOXRMMzlIX2xYWWFBcktPRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3NzM5MjU1OTMuQ2owS0NRand2ZTdOQmhDLUFSSXNBTFp5OUhWTF9JNXNxSVdfNXh4aVU4NlBiYk9QUXVaUloxRk9QYUhFM1NEMTlhdmROOXRMMzlIX2xYWWFBcktPRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*MTg3MjQ1NDM3OS4xNzY4MTM5NTU1*_ga*NDA0NjMwMzI3LjE3MjEzMjI4ODE.*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*czk4NjZlYmZiLTUzYTMtNGE1ZC04ZmE4LWJlMjViNjI3ZTZkMiRvOTgkZzEkdDE3NzQxMTE2MzIkajQwJGwwJGgw&#160;↩
  5. See information on Geneanet.com at https://gw.geneanet.org/faberh?n=frank&oc=&p=fradchen&_gl=1*zkxnzj*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3NzM5MjU1OTMuQ2owS0NRand2ZTdOQmhDLUFSSXNBTFp5OUhWTF9JNXNxSVdfNXh4aVU4NlBiYk9QUXVaUloxRk9QYUhFM1NEMTlhdmROOXRMMzlIX2xYWWFBcktPRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3NzM5MjU1OTMuQ2owS0NRand2ZTdOQmhDLUFSSXNBTFp5OUhWTF9JNXNxSVdfNXh4aVU4NlBiYk9QUXVaUloxRk9QYUhFM1NEMTlhdmROOXRMMzlIX2xYWWFBcktPRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*MTg3MjQ1NDM3OS4xNzY4MTM5NTU1*_ga*NDA0NjMwMzI3LjE3MjEzMjI4ODE.*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*czk4NjZlYmZiLTUzYTMtNGE1ZC04ZmE4LWJlMjViNjI3ZTZkMiRvOTgkZzEkdDE3NzQxMTE3MTYkajI4JGwwJGgw&#160;↩
  6. “Frank, Sprinz née Blumenfeld (1863) – Neustadt (near Marburg)”, in: Jewish Graves < https://lagis.hessen.de/de/personen/juedische-grabstaetten/alle-eintraege/5298_frank-sprinz-geborene-blumenfeld-1863-neustadt-bei-marburg > (accessed on 20.03.2026) ↩

Meier Rothschild, Part VI: Anna Rothschild Hamberg

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The youngest child of Meier Rothschild and Bertha Lorge was their daughter Anna. And unlike with her older siblings, I was able to learn where she and her family were in the 1930s and 1940s. I found the Palestine immigration files for Anna, her husband (and my cousin) Julius Hamberg, and for two of their three children, Alice and Ernst, on the Israel State Archives website. They all had immigrated from Germany to Palestine in 1934 when Alice was twelve, Hans Leo was eleven, and Ernst was eight. Here are two pages from Julius Hamberg’s application that show their date of immigration.

Julius Hamberg, Palestine immigration file found at the Israel State Archives, https://www.archives.gov.il/

Among the interesting things I learned from these immigration files is that Julius listed his occupation as a “commission agent,” meaning most likely a broker who handled commercial sales for sellers and buyers, Alice was a children’s nurse, and Ernst was an agricultural laborer.

Here are the photos of them from their immigration files:

Anna Rothschild Hamberg, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

Julius Hamberg, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

Alice Hamberg, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

Ernst Hamberg, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

I was not able to find a Palestine naturalization file for Hans Leo Eliezer Hamberg, but he was mentioned in his father Julius’ file when Hans later sought immigration to Israel in 1990 under the Law of Return and had to establish his Jewish identity to qualify. Although I cannot find him elsewhere, I assume Hans Leo Eliezer must have come to Palestine in 1934 with his parents since he was just a young boy; he perhaps left Palestine/Israel at some point and then wanted to return in 1990.

Hans Leo (Eliezer) Hamberg mentioned in Julius Hamberg’s immigration file, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

As an aside, the fact that Anna Rothschild Hamberg and her family arrived in Palestine in 1934 helps to understand how Helene/Hana Rothschild, Berthold’s daughter, was more able to come to Palestine in 1937 without her sister or her father (her mother had died). She had an aunt, her father’s sister, living there so did have family already established in the country.

Returning to the family of Anna Rothschild Hamberg, a letter in her daughter Alice’s file from when she was applying for naturalization in 1941 includes the sentence: “The applicant came to Palestine together with her parents and on the ppt [passport] of her father, whose whereabouts she does not know.” Alice was nineteen at that time, and her family had been in Palestine since 1934. Where could Julius have gone? Or is the writer of the letter referring to her father’s passport and its whereabouts? I think that seems more likely, but the sentence is certainly poorly drafted.

Letter in Alice Hamberg’s Palestinian immigration file, 1941, found at https://www.archives.gov.il/

On IGRA I found the marriage record of Alice Hamberg to Fritz Shalom Mayer on February 10, 1947, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Fritz was 35 at the time, Alice was 24. Fritz was the son of Gerson Leo and Alza Sara Mayer, according to the marriage record.

Alice Hamberg and Fritz Shalom Mayer marriage record, found at https://genealogy.org.il/AID/

At this point I have not found any further records for Anna, Julius, or any of their children. Perhaps a descendant will find me and fill in the gaps.

This brings me to the end (for now) of my attempt to learn about the children of Meier Rothschild and Bertha Lorge. There is so much I still don’t know. What I do know is that all five of their children and all of their grandchildren survived the Holocaust, except Berthold’s ex-wife Sarah, who died in a sanatorium in Germany.

Berthold himself ended up in South Africa where he died in 1964, and his daughter Adelheid survived the concentration camp at Celle/Bergen Belsen and ended up in Israel after the war. His daughter Helene/Hana escaped to Palestine in 1937.

Theodor Rothschild and his wife Bettina ended up in Monaco, and their daughter Doris died in France. I don’t have further records for their daughter Ellen.

As for Gertrud Rothschild Neuhahn and her husband Gustav and daughter Ruth, I know they were in Tel Aviv for some time, but Ruth and her children ended up in Mexico later on.

Siegfried and his wife Gisela are buried in Israel, their son Zeev died in British Columbia, and their son Gunther Michael lived in the United States.

Finally, Anna Rothschild Hamberg and her husband and children immigrated to what was then Palestine in 1934.

So Meier and Bertha’s children and grandchildren were not killed by the Nazis, but they ended up spread to all corners of the earth: Israel, France, Monaco, Mexico, Canada, South Africa, and the United States. They may have survived the Holocaust, but their family was torn apart forever. They also were therefore all victims of the Holocaust.

With this final chapter in story of the children of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild, I have also closed the chapter on Gelle’s father Moses, the first of the six children of my four-times great-grandparents Abraham Blumenfeld and Geitel Katz. I started this particular chapter of the Blumenfeld family over four years ago, and now I can finally move on to the second child of Abraham and Geitel, their daughter Sprintz.

 

Meier Rothschild, Part V: Siegfried Friedrich Rothschild

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After several weeks focused on updates on Berthold Rothschild and other topics, I now will return to the other children of Meier Rothschild and Bertha Lorge. As with the three oldest children of Meier Rothschild and Bertha Lorge, Berthold, Theodor, and Gertrud, I struggled to learn more about what happened to their fourth child Siegfried Friedrich Rothschild and his family during and after the Holocaust.

I have no actual records or even indices of records that show where Siegfried and his wife Gisela Katz and sons were in the 1930s or 1940s, but multiple factors indicate that they went to Palestine/Israel. First, there are some entries on the IGRA website for a Zigfried Rotschild, and that could be Siegfried, but I cannot be certain. Secondly, one of Siegfried’s sons used the name Zeev Rotem; and that may indicate that the family was at least for some time in Israel because Zeev is a common Israeli name and  Rotem is a Hebrew term for the tamarisk plant found in Israel. I doubt that Zeev was born with that name in Germany, but rather that it is a name he adopted in Israel. But these are just circumstantial bits of evidence, nothing definitive.

But my assumption that the family went to Israel at some point is also reinforced by the grave memorials I found on the Gravez site for both Siegfried and Gisela. Siegfried died on September 14, 1972, and Gisela died on December 26, 1998. They are both buried in the same cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel. Does that mean they lived in Israel or that they had spent the war years in what was then Palestine? No. Many are buried in Israel who did not live there. But all these clues together support an assumption that Siegfried and Gisela and their sons lived for some time in Israel.

Their son Zeev may have spent time in Israel, but according to this death record, he had been a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada for nine years when he died at the age of 46 on November 20, 1973, in Vancouver, Canada. He was survived by his wife and children. He had been a professor in the mechanical engineering department, according to a death notice located online.

Zeev Rotem death certificate, Zeev Rotem, Birth Circa 1927, Death Nov 20 1973, Vancouver, British Columbia, Age at death 46, Registration # 1973-09-016282, BCA microfilm # B13328
GSU microfilm # 2050141, Canada, British Columbia deaths, MyHeritage at https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-20459-596398-/zeev-rotem-in-canada-british-columbia-deaths?indId=externalindividual-b78e16dee8e36e46fe53394e9101649b&trn=partner_Geni&trp=logged_out_matches_module

As you can see, this record ties Zeev Rotem to Gisela Katz, his mother, and to “Frederick Rotem.” Siegfried’s middle name was Friedrich, and my guess is that this is how the informant remembered Zeev’s father’s name.

UPDATE: Thanks to Mark Goldsmith who sent me a link to the obituary for Zeev’s widow Chava Eve Rotem, I am able to fill in a few gaps in this blog. According to her obituary, she and Zeev were married in Palestine in 1947. Eve was born in Berlin on January 15, 1928, and escaped to Palestine when she was five. She trained as a doctor in Switzerland and then returned to Palestine where in 1948 she and Zeev volunteered to help resettle refugees from Nazi Germany. After completing her medical studies in 1949, she and Zeev went to England where their two children were born. They returned to Israel in 1960, but then moved to the US and ultimately to British Columbia, where she and her children continued to live after Zeev’s death in 1973. Chava died on August 15, 2020, after a very distinguished career as a cardiologist in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was survived by her children and grandchildren. (Another obituary here has some differences, but the essence is the same.)

As for Gunther Michael Rothschild, Zeev’s younger brother and the youngest grandchild of Meier Rothschild and Bertha Lorge, a search on FamilySearch turned up some very helpful documents. First, I found his Declaration of Intention to become a US citizen. That document revealed that Gunther Michael Rothschild was living in Detroit, Michigan, when he filed the declaration on November 27, 1953. It also revealed that he had arrived in the US on July 29, 1952. Finally, it reported that Gunther was a citizen of Israel, proof that he had been living in Israel and more evidence suggesting that the other members of his family had as well.

Gunther Michael Rothschild dec of intent, “Michigan, Naturalization Records, 1837-1997”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CLHY-RRPZ : Thu Apr 10 18:17:38 UTC 2025), Entry for Gunther Michael Rothschild, 27 Nov 1953.

I had no idea why Gunther Michael would have been living in Detroit until I found his petition for naturalization on FamilySearch. Gunther Michael Rothschild became a US citizen on August 22, 1957.On his petition he again stated he was a citizen of Israel and that he was living in Detroit but added that he was a student. Most helpful were the names of the witnesses who supported the petition, in particular a man named Louis L. Friedland who identified himself as a professor.

“Michigan, Naturalization Records, 1837-1997”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CV38-FWZM : Thu Apr 10 14:56:55 UTC 2025), Entry for Gunther Michael Rothschild.

I googled “Louis L. Friedland” and learned that he had been a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. Further googling uncovered a commencement program from Wayne State in 1958 that listed G. Michael Rothschild as a candidate for a bachelor’s of science degree in industrial engineering.

A passenger manifest from August 1958 lists Michael Rothschild, as he seemed to be known in the US, as a passenger coming from the US, his permanent residence, going to England for two weeks. His occupation was a student. A few months later in December 1958 he is listed on a passenger manifest card as a US citizen residing in Detroit, Michigan. I found several records showing him traveling between the US and England during the 1950s and 1960s as well.1

Some records from Ancestry’s “Public Records” Index list Gunther living in various places in the US over many years including into the 2000s.2 I could not find, however, any news articles or other records revealing more about him. I don’t know whether Gunther Michael Rothschild ever married or had children. According to the Social Security Applications and Claim Index entry for Gunther Michael Rothschild, he died on October 10, 2007.3 Entries on FamilySearch and Geni indicate he was buried in Tel Aviv, but I cannot find his grave on Gravez or anywhere else. So perhaps he was living in the US, perhaps at some point he’d returned to Israel. I sent a message to the manager of his profile on MyHeritage, and perhaps I will learn more.

Piecing this all together, it seems safe to assume that at some point the family of Siegfried Friedrich Rothschild lived in Israel, but their son Zeev spent years in Canada and their son Gunther Michael spent many years in the US. If and when I learn more, I will update the blog.

Coming soon! Ten days until the release of The Women Before Us on Amazon! You can pre-order the Kindle version now and both paperback and Kindle versions will be released on June 20.

 

 

  1.  Michael Rothschild, Arrival Age 27, Birth Date 11 Mar 1931, Port of Departure New York, New York, USA, Arrival Date 2 Aug 1958, Port of Arrival Southampton, England, Ports of Voyage New York and Galway, Ship Name Ryndam, Shipping Line Escombe, McGrath and Company Ltd, Official Number 7767/20, The National Archives in Washington, DC; London, England, UK; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Inwards Passenger Lists; Class: Bt26; Piece: 1410; Item: 74, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960. There are several passenger cards for him leaving from the US in Ancestry. ↩
  2. E.g., Michael M Rothschild, [G Michael Rothschild], [Gunther M Rothschild], [Michael G Rothschild], Birth Date Mar 1931, Residence Date 2002-2020, Residence Shokan, New York, USA, Postal Code 12481, Second Residence Date 2001-2012, Second Residence Norwich, Connecticut, USA, Second Postal Code 06360, Third Residence Date 2002-2012, Third Address Po Box 403, Third Residence Shokan, New York, USA, Third Postal Code 12481, Ancestry.com. U.S., Index to Public Records, 1994-2019 ↩
  3. Michael Rothschild, [Gunther Michael Rothschild], [G Rothschild], Gender Male
    Race White, Birth Date 11 Mar 1931, Birth Place Werezmunde, Federal Republic of Germany, Death Date 10 Oct 2007, Father Sigfried F Rothschild, Mother Giseca Katz
    SSN 078284849, Notes Aug 1952: Name Listed As Michael Rothschild; Nov 1952: Name Listed As Gunther Michael Rothschild; 21 Jun 2005: Name Listed As G Michael Rothschild; 22 Dec 2007: Name Listed As G M Rothschild, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩