Category Archives: Zimmersrode

Malchen Rothschild, Part I: A Large Family

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Having now completed the stories of the family of Gerson Rothschild and Fanny Kupermann, it is time once again to see where I am in the overall Blumenfeld family. Gerson was the eighth of the eleven children of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild. And Gelle Blumenfeld was the third of the three children of Moses Blumenfeld I and Gidel Loeb. And Moses Blumenfeld was the older brother of my three-times great-grandmother Breine Blumenfeld Katzenstein. So seeing this in a visual format, this is where I am:

Here is a chart of where I am in the descendants of Moses Blumenfeld I:

That looks like a lot of progress, doesn’t it?

But this is where I am in the overall family of Abraham Blumenfeld I and Geitel Katz, my 4x-great-grandparents:

So I still have a long, long way to go. (One thing not reflected here is that I have already covered the family and descendants of my three-times great-grandmother Breine Blumenfeld Katzenstein, the third child of Abraham I and Geitel.)

Now I will move on to the ninth of the children of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild, their daughter, Malchen. She was born on March 3, 1857, in Waltersbrueck, Germany.

Malchen Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 28

On May 12, 1878, Malchen married Daniel Rosenblatt in Waltersbrueck. Daniel, the son of Feist Rosenblatt and Minna Heilbrunn, was born on December 20, 1851, in Beisefoerth, Germany (now known as Malsfeld, Germany).

Malchen Rothschild and Daniel Rosenblatt marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8404, Year Range: 1878, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Malchen and Daniel had seven children.

Their first born was Julchen or Julie Rosenblatt; she was born February 3, 1879, in Beisefoerth.

Julchen Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 4410, Year Range: 1879, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

The second child was Jette, born February 8, 1880, in Beisefoerth.

Jette Rosenblatt birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 66, pp. 76-77

Felix, the third child, was born December 15, 1881, but in Zimmersrode, so the family must have relocated from Beisefoerth by then.

Felix Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9519, Year Range: 1881, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

The fourth child was Auguste, born in Zimmersrode on February 6, 1883.

Auguste Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9521, Year Range: 1883, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

The fifth child, another boy, was Juda or Julius Rosenblatt, also born in Zimmersrode, on July 13, 1884.

Juda Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9522, Year Range: 1884, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

After Juda came Betty Rosenblatt, born January 8, 1887, in Zimmersrode. Sadly, Betty did not make it to her second birthday; she died on October 7, 1888, in Zimmersrode.

Betty Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9525, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Betty Rosenblatt death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9603; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1888, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Finally, Malchen gave birth to her seventh child, Siegmund, on November 15, 1889, in Zimmersrode.

Siegmund Rosenblatt birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9527, Year Range: 1889. Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Julchen, Jette, Felix, Auguste, Juda, and Siegmund all survived to adulthood. Finding records for some of their children has proven to be a challenge.

On July 3, 1905, Julchen Rosenblatt married Max Wolf in Zimmersrode. Max, the son of Loeb Bunum Wolf and Bertha Blach, was born on April 11, 1879, in Barchfeld, Germany.

Julchen Rosenblatt and Max Wolf marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9567, Year Range: 1905, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Julchen and Max had one child, Edgar, who died on March 2, 1909, in Kassel, when he was only one year old.

Edgar Wolf death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 5501; Laufende Nummer: 910,  Year Range: 1909, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

As far as I have been able to determine, Julchen and Max did not have any other children.

Jette Rosenblatt, the second child, does not appear to have married or had children.

Felix Rosenblatt, the third child, married Minna Goldwein on March 17, 1914, in Ehrsten, Germany.  Minna was born in Meimbressen, Germany on January 2, 1891, to Jakob Goldwein and Bertha Frankenberg. (Minna is likely very distantly related to Manfred Goldwein, who married my cousin Margaret Sluizer.) I have no primary sources to prove that Felix and Minna had children, just unsourced family trees on Ancestry and on Geneanet and Geni/MyHeritage, but those trees and sites show that Felix and Minna had two children born in Zimmersrode: Siegfried, born January 23, 1915, and Ludwig, born November 15, 1919.

Felix Rosenblatt and Minna Goldwein marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Signatur: 1808, Year Range: 1914, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Auguste Rosenblatt, the fourth child of Malchen Rothschild and Daniel Rosenblatt, married Samuel Roth on June 13, 1911. Samuel was born February 16, 1883, in Nieder-Ohmen, Germany. He was the son of Jakob Roth and Jettchen Stiebel. Auguste and Samuel had four children born in Breitenbach, Germany, according to various secondary sources, Holocaust documents, and a few primary sources for marriage or death: Irma, born May 26, 1912;1 Friedel, born December 15, 1913;2 Lothar, born January 15, 1915;3 and Gretl, November 12, 1919.4

Auguste Rosenblatt and Samuel Solly Roth marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9573, Year Range: 1911, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Juda Rosenblatt married Julchen Rosenblatt on February 3, 1920. No, not his sister—this Julchen Rosenblatt was his first cousin. Julchen, Juda’s wife, was born on September 10, 1892, in Malsfeld (formerly Beisefoerth), Germany, to Levi Rosenblatt and Dorette Levi. Levi Rosenblatt was Daniel Rosenblatt’s brother.

Juda Rosenblatt and Julchen Rosenblatt marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 4473, Year Range: 1918-1924, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Tragically, Juda died just ten months later on December 15, 1920. He was only thirty-six years old. I believe that Juda and Julie had one child before Juda died: a son Manfred born on August 11, 1920. More on that to come in a subsequent post.

Juda Julius Rosenblatt death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9635; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1920-1921, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Siegmund Rosenblatt, the youngest sibling, married Else Schwab in Schlitz, Germany, on February 9, 1920, six days after his brother Jude’s wedding. Else was born on November 1, 1896, in Schlitz, Germany, to Abraham Schwab and Franziska Strauss. Once again several unsourced trees and sites list Siegmund and Else with two or three children: Arno and Ruth and Margot. I have no primary sources for those children.

Siegmund Rosenblatt and Else Schwab marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 921; Laufende Nummer: 902, Year Range: 1915-1925, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Thus, as you can see, my research of many of the grandchildren of Malchen Rothschild and Daniel Rosenblatt rests largely on unsourced trees and websites. I am not sure where I could find more reliable information since the birth records for the towns and years where and when these grandchildren were born are not available online. But I will keep searching.

Sadly, Malchen Rothschild Rosenblatt died before any of those grandchildren had reached their teenage years. She was 65 when she died on January 11, 1923, in Kassel, Germany.5 She was survived by her husband Daniel, five of her seven children, and her grandchildren.

“Rosenblatt, Malchen née Rothschild (1923) – Haarhausen,” in: Jewish Gravesites <https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/idrec/sn/juf/id/2330&gt; (accessed June 5, 2012)

Her gravestone reads:

Here rests

a capable housewife for her husband and children.

This is Malchen, daughter of Simon,

Wife of Gedaliah, son of Uri.

She died on Thursday, 23 Tevet,

and was buried on the 25th of the same [5] 683

after the small count.

Her soul is bound in the bond of life.

(German inscription below:)

Here rests

Malchen Rosenblatt

from Zimmersrode

born March 3, 1857, died January 11, 1923

Her husband Daniel Rosenblatt lived long enough to experience Nazi persecution and the beginning of World War II. He died on April 5, 1940, in Zimmersrode.

Daniel Rosenblatt death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9655; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1940, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Notice that his death record has his name as Daniel “Israel” Rosenblatt, reflecting the Nazi requirement that all Jewish men add Israel as their middle name. He was 88 years old and died of a stroke.6

Malchen and Daniel were spared seeing what would happen to their three daughters and their families during the Holocaust.

 

 

  1. Irma Roth marriage record, Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Heiratsregister, Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1940 ↩
  2. Friedel Roth death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 598; Laufende Nummer: 926, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  3. Lothar or Lotario Roth burial record on JewishGen, JOWBR database, found at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0200287&#160;↩
  4. Gretel Roth, Arolsen Archives; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Record Group 1 Incarceration Documents; Reference: 1.2.1.1, Ancestry.com. Germany, Incarceration Documents, 1933-1945 ↩
  5. “Rosenblatt, Malchen née Rothschild (1923) – Haarhausen,” in: Jewish Gravesites <https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/idrec/sn/juf/id/2330&gt; (accessed June 5, 2012) ↩
  6. Daniel Rosenblatt, Arolsen Archives, Digital Archive; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Lists of Persecutees 2.1.1.1, Description Reference Code: 02010101 oS, Ancestry.com. Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947 ↩

Gerson and Fanny Rothschild’s Children: From A Large Family to Small Families

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Gerson Rothschild’s wife Fanny gave birth to eleven children between 1883 and 1901, but three of those babies did not survive. Two died at birth, and one died at seven weeks. That left eight surviving children: Siegmund (1884), Katchen (1885), Max (1886), Auguste (1888), Jenny (1890), Clara (1891), Rosa (1893), and Amalie (1901). Two sons, six daughters.

But from such a large family, only one of those eight surviving children would have more than two children, and they all married at a later age than was typical of those times. They almost all married in their thirties. It made me wonder why these siblings delayed marriage and had so few children after coming from such a large family. Were they so close to each other that they didn’t want to leave home? Were the older ones helping to care for the younger ones? Did the fact that three babies did not survive make them wary of having more that one or two children? Or was it simply a matter of economics or the trend in the 1920s in Germany? I don’t know, but here are the facts.

Siegmund, the first born, was 35 when he married Elise Olga Block on December 22, 1919, in Frankfurt. Elise, the daughter of Max Block and Fanny Schaefer, was born in Ratiburg, Germany, on April 4, 1892.

Siegmund Rothschild and Elsa Block marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1919, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Siegmund and Elise had two sons: Ernst, born March 1, 1922,1 and Werner, who is still living as far as I’ve been able to determine. Both were born in Frankfurt.

Katchen Rothschild was 28 when she married Adolf Hirshberg on April 23, 1914, in Zimmersrode. Adolf was born July 6, 1889, in Bad Zwesten, Germany, to Levi Hirshberg and Braunchen Levi.

Katchen Rothschild and Adolf Hirschberg marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9576, Year Range: 1914, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Katchen and Adolf had one child, a son Ludwig, born in Kassel, Germany, on February 1, 1920.2

Max Rothschild was 32 when he married Johanna Katz in Zimmersrode on October 19, 1919. Johanna was the daughter of Jacob Katz and Karoline Rosenblatt, and she was born Neuenhain, Germany, on May 1, 1892.

Max Rothschild and Johanna Katz marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9581, Year Range: 1919-1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Max and Johanna had two sons: Erich, supposedly born on May 13, 1921, and Richard, supposedly born October 24, 1922, both in Zimmersrode.3

Auguste Rothschild was thirty when she married Wolf Feldheim on March 18, 1919, in Zimmersrode. Wolf was born April 4, 1875 in Graudenz, then part of Prussia, now part of Poland. His parents were Aron Feldheim and Lena London. Wolf had been previously married and had four young children when he married Auguste.

Auguste Rothschild and Wolf Feldheim marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9581, Year Range: 1919-1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Auguste and Wolf had one son, Bruno, according to several trees, but I am still looking for a record that ties Bruno to Auguste and Wolf. I did find records for a Bruno Feldheim born in Fulda, Germany, on November 12, 1921, but those records do not identify Bruno as the son of Auguste and Wolf.4

Jenny Rothschild was thirty when she married Salomon Abraham on November 11, 1920, in Zimmersrode. Salomon was born in Durboslar, Germany, on August 14, 1891. I am still looking for a record to confirm the names of his parents.

Jeanette Rothschild and Salomon Abraham marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9582, Year Range: 1920-1921, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Jenny and Salomon had two children, Walter, born September 13, 1921, in Zimmersrode5 and Herta, born August 26, 1928, born in Kassel.6

Clara Rothschild was thirty when she married Moritz Katz in Zimmersrode on November 1, 1921. Moritz was born on November 4, 1894, in Neuenhain, Germany. He was the son of Jakob Katz and Karoline Rosenblatt and the younger brother of Johanna Katz, who had married Clara’s brother Max.

Clara Rothschild and Moritz Katz marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9582 Description Year Range: 1920-1921 Source Information Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Clara and Moritz had three children: Otto, born September 5, 1922, in Neuenhain;7 Helmut (later Harold) born in Neuenhain in 1924,8 and Ilse, born on May 19, 1928, in Kassel, Germany.9 Since Harold may still be living, I will not report on his exact birth date.

The last two children of Gerson Rothschild and Fanny Kugelmann, their daughters Rosa and Amalie, married after 1930 and had children after Hitler came to power.  I will write about their husbands and children in a subsequent post.

Isn’t it interesting how late these eight children married and how few children they had after being from such a large family? I’d love to know more about their decisions, but alas, all I have is speculation.

Their father Gerson Rothschild passed away on April 17, 1930, at the age of 74.

Gerson Rothschild death record, LAGIS Hessen Archives, HStAMR Best. 920 Nr. 9644 Standesamt Zimmersrode Sterbenebenregister 1930, S. 6

Gerson had lived to see all eight of his surviving children reach adulthood, and before he died, he saw the six oldest of those children marry and have children of their own. As of his death, Gerson had ten grandchildren. His daughter Rosa would later have one child and his daughter Amalie two, meaning that Gerson and Fanny at one time had thirteen grandchildren from their eight surviving children.

Gerson may have been blessed to die before Hitler came to power and before he would know what would happen to so many of those children and grandchildren.

 

  1. Ernest Simon Rothschild, Race White, Age 23, Birth Date 1 Mar 1922, Birth Place Frankfort, Germany, Registration Date 30 Jun 1945, Registration Place New York City, New York, Employer Hugo Brand, Next of Kin Siegmund Rothschild,  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 ↩
  2. Ludwig Hirschberg J., Gender männlich (Male), Nationality Deutsch Juden
    Record Type Miscellaneous, Birth Date 01 Feb 1920 (1 Feb 1920), Birth Place Kassel
    Residence Place Kassel, Kassel, Notes Lists of judicial and official files concerning foreigners and German Jews, Reference Number 02010101 oS, Document ID 70443311, Arolsen Archives, Digital Archive; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Lists of Persecutees 2.1.1.1, Ancestry.com. Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947 ↩
  3. I could not find any actual birth records for Erich Rothschild or Richard Rothschild. There are no online birth records for Zimmersrode for 1921 or 1922. These dates, however, appear on numerous trees on Ancestry. I do not know how reliable that specific information is. I am still searching for birth records for these two sons, but I do have other records for them that place their birthdates as approximately in 1921 and 1922. I will discuss those other records in a later post. In addition, one tree included a third son, Fritz Simon Rothschild, but I have no records that support the existence of that son. ↩
  4. Bruno Feldheim, Palestine Immigration file, found at the Israel State Archives website at https://search.archives.gov.il/&#160;↩
  5. Walter Abraham, Birth Date 13 Sept 1921, Birth Place Zimmerrode, Residence Street Address 26 Johann-Georg-Strasse, Residence Place Berlin, [Halensee]
    Occupation Bãcker [Baker], Description Deportationen, URL https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/document/127213170 , Arolsen Archives; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Record Group 1 Incarceration Documents; Reference: 1.2.1.1, Ancestry.com. Germany, Incarceration Documents, 1933-1945 ↩
  6. Herta Abraham, Birth Date 26 Aug 1926, Birth Place Kassel, Residence Kassel
    Camp Riga/Stutthof, Ancestry.com. Poland, German Jews at Stutthof Concentration Camp, 1940-1945 ↩
  7. Otto Katz, Race White, Age 19, Birth Date 5 Sep 1922, Birth Place Neuenhaus [sic], Germany, Registration Date, 15 Feb 1942, Registration Place, New York City, New York, Employer Kenneth Miller, Next of Kin Clara Katz, 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, Name Range: Katz, Bernard-Katz, Sam, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  8. Helmut Katz [Harold Katz] Race White Age 18 Birth Date …1924, Birth Place Neuenhain, Germany, Registration Date 19 Dec 1942, Registration Place New York City, New York, Employer Student, Next of Kin Clara Katz, 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 ↩
  9. This date came from Dennis Aron’s Ancestry tree, and Dennis obtained his information from Ilse’s brother, Harold Katz. I have no other source for this, but given that it came from her brother, for now I assume it is accurate. ↩

Eleven Babies in Eighteen Years

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My cousin Gerson Rothschild’s wife Fanny Kugelmann gave birth to eleven children, starting in 1883 with the last one born eighteen years later in 1901. It is impossible for me to imagine what that was like.

Unfortunately, the first baby, a girl, died at birth (or was stillborn) on March 28, 1883:

Stillborn female child, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 8460; Laufende Nummer: 920
Year Range: 1883, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

The note on the death/birth record was translated by my cousin Richard Bloomfield and reads:

Mrs. Fanni Rothschild née Kugelmann of Jewish religion in the apartment of her husband, the merchant Gerson Rothschild of Jewish religion at Waltersbrück in house no. 2 on the eighth and twentieth of March this year in the afternoon at five o’clock birthed a child of female sex and that this child died in childbirth. Mrs. Waßmuth explained that she had been present at the confinement of Mrs. Fanni Rothschild.

A second child, Siegmund Rothschild, was born less than one year later on March 4, 1884, in Waltersbrueck:

Siegmund Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8386, Year Range: 1884, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Sixteen months after Siegmund’s arrival, Fanny gave birth to Katchen Rothschild on July 5, 1885, also in Waltersbrueck:

Katchen Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8387, Year Range: 1885, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Sixteen months after Katchen came another son, Max, born November 22, 1886, in Waltersbrueck:

Max Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8388, Year Range: 1886, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Then Fanny gave birth to another daughter,  Guste or Auguste, in Waltersbrueck on September 11, 1888. Imagine that—-a gap of almost two years after Max. I wonder whether Fanny had miscarried at some point in between Max and Auguste.

Auguste Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8390, Year Range: 1888, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Johanette (“Jenny”) Rothschild, Gerson and Fanny’s sixth child, was born on February 13, 1890, also in Waltersbrueck, seventeen months after Auguste:

Johannette Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8392, Year Range: 1890, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Their seventh child Clara was born on July 15, 1891, in Waltersbrueck, seventeen months after Jenny:

Clara Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8393, Year Range: 1891, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Number eight arrived May 16, 1893, almost two years after Clara; her name was Rosa. She was born in Zimmersrode where the family was now residing. Zimmersrode is a larger town about a mile and a half from Waltersbrueck.

Rosa Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9531, Year Range: 1893, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Gerson and Fanny’s ninth child Thoni only lived seven weeks; she was born on April 27, 1895, in Zimmersrode, and died there on June 20, 1895:

Thoni Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 9533, Year Range: 1895, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Thoni Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9610; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1895, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Sadly, their tenth child, like their first child, died at childbirth, this time a boy. Richard also translated the note on this death record for me.

Male Child stillborn of Gerson Rothschild, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9614; Laufende Nummer: 920
Year Range: 1899, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Today the personally known tradesman Gerson Rothschild, residing in Zimmersrode, appeared before the undersigned registrar and reported that

The wife of the reporting person of Jewish religion, Fanny Rothschild, née Kugelmann, also of the Jewish religion, gave birth to a male child at two o’clock in the morning on March 28th of this year in the home of the reporting party, and that the child died during birth.

Read, approved and signed

Gerson Rothschild

In a rather creepy coincidence, this baby was delivered on March 28, 1899, exactly sixteen years to the day after Fanny lost her first child in childbirth on March 28, 1883.

Fortunately, Fanny had better fortune with her eleventh and final baby, Amalie Rothschild, born in Zimmersrode on April 26, 1901. I do not have a birth record for Amalie but found her birth date on records from the Nazi era.1

Fanny Kugelmann Rothschild was 43 years old when she gave birth to Amalie, her last child. She had been either pregnant or nursing a baby for almost twenty years. She had suffered losing two of those babies at birth and one at only seven weeks old. But her other eight children survived to adulthood—-until the rise of the Nazis.

Here’s a timeline showing the birth dates of Fanny and Gerson’s eleven babies:

March 28, 1883—March 4, 1884—July 5, 1885—November 22, 1886—September 11, 1888—February 13, 1890—July 15, 1891—May 16, 1893—April 27, 1895—March 28, 1899—April 26, 1901

More on this family in the posts to come.

 

 

 

 

  1. Amalie Rothschild Stiefel, Arolsen Archives, Digital Archive; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Lists of Persecutees 2.1.1.1, Ancestry.com. Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947 ↩

Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild’s Middle Children: Isaak, Gitel, and Betty

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Returning now to the Blumenfeld branch of my family tree, it’s time to see where I am in that saga. I am still on the oldest child of my four-times great-grandparents Abraham Blumenfeld and Geitel Katz—-their son Moses I. I have completed the stories of Moses’ first two children, Abraham IIA and Isaac I, and have been working through the children of Moses’ youngest child, his daughter Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild. I have so far covered the first four of Gelle’s twelve children: Seligmannq, Abraham, Levi, and Moses. Here’s a chart to show my slow progress through the Blumenfeld family. I’ve only gotten as far as that arrow on the upper left side.

Now I turn to the next group of Gelle’s children, and for better or worse, there is not a lot to say about the next three: Isaak, Gitel, and Betty, their fifth, sixth, and seventh children.

Isaak is an unsolved brick wall. He was born January 15, 1850, in Zimmersrode. But there is no further record of him. No marriage record, no death record. I have searched high and low, and I’ve noticed that no other researcher on Ancestry or MyHeritage or elsewhere has any dates for Isaak’s death. My hunch is that he died in infancy, perhaps at birth, but I have no record to prove it. Here, however, is his birth record:

Isaak Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives in Hessen, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p.23

I thought perhaps the note on the far right would reveal more about Isaak’s life, but unfortunately it does not. All it says is “war noch nicht eingetragen, geschieht nachtraeglich,” which translates as “was not yet registered, will happen later.”

The child born after Isaak was Gitel Rothschild. Sadly, for her I have both her birth and death records. She was born on January 7, 1852, in Zimmersrode, and died there just over a year later on February 11, 1853.

Gitel Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 24

Gitel Rothschild death record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 896, p 21

Following Gitel came Beschen or Betty, born on June 22, 1853, just a few months after her sister Gitel died.

Beschen Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 25

Fortunately, Betty survived to adulthood. On February 4, 1876, in Kassel, Germany, she married Isaac Rosenblatt, the son of Meier Rosenblatt and Hannchen Loewenberg. Isaac was born in Malsfeld, Germany, on December 31, 1846.

Beschen Rothschild and Isaac Rosenblatt marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 910, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930,

I did not find any records showing children for Betty and Isaac. Isaac died on November 13, 1916, in Kassel.1 Betty died there ten years later on February 28, 1926.

Beschen Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 5603; Laufende Nummer: 910, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Thus, there are no known descendants for Isaak, Gitel, or Betty Rothschild as far as I have been able to determine.

The story of Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild’s ninth child Gerson is a more complete one but filled with tragedy. That story begins in my next post.

 

  1. Isaak Rösenblatt, [Isaak Rosenblatt] Death Age 69, Birth Date abt 1847,
    Death Date 13 Nov 1916, Death Place Kassel, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office Kassel I, Father Meier Rösenblatt Mother
    Hannihan Rösenblatt Certificate Number 1490, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 5546; Laufende Nummer: 910, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩