In Memory of Claire Booher Velzy

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I am sad to report that my cousin Claire Booher Velzy passed away on April 15, 2025, at the age of ninety-three. Claire was my fourth cousin on my Schoenthal side. We both were descended from Heinemann Schoenthal and Hendel Beerenstain, our mutual three-times great-grandparents. Heinemann and Hendel were the parents of Levi Schoenthal, my great-great-grandfather, and Fanny Schoenthal, Claire’s great-great-grandmother.

But Claire was also related to me through my Goldschmidt branch since her great-great-grandmother Fanny Schoenthal married Simon Goldschmidt, brother of my three-times great-grandfather Seligmann Goldschmidt. Thus, Claire was my fourth cousin, once removed, on the Goldschmidt line. We share mutual ancestors, Jacob Falcke Goldschmidt and Eva Seligmann, the parents of my three-times great-grandfather Seligmann Goldschmidt and the parents of Claire’s great-great-grandfather Simon Goldschmidt.

As readers of my latest novel Simon’s Secret know, Simon Goldschmidt was the inspiration for the title character of that book, Simon Handler. And his wife Fanny Schoenthal was the inspiration for Simon’s wife Fanny in the novel. Claire’s great-grandmother was Hannah Goldsmith Benedict, the inspiration for Hannah Handler Miller in Simon’s Secret. And Claire’s grandfather Jacob Benedict was the inspiration for Hannah’s oldest son Jonah in the novel.1

As I have written on my blog, Jacob Benedict’s daughter and Claire’s mother, Helen Benedict, married John Engstrom Booher in 1931, and Claire was born later that year. A second baby was stillborn three years later. And then tragically Claire’s father John died a month before Claire’s fifth birthday.

Claire’s son Bruce and I connected five years ago, and he shared many stories and photographs that helped me add authenticity to the story of his ancestors, Simon, Hannah, and Jacob in Simon’s Secret. He now has shared this amazing photograph with me that shows four generations of Claire’s family: her great-grandmother Hannah Goldsmith Benedict, her grandfather Jacob Benedict, her mother Helen Benedict Booher, and Claire, just a toddler when this photograph was taken in 1933.

From left to right: Claire Booher Velzy, her mother Helen Benedict Booher, her grandfather Jacob Benedict, and her great-grandmother Hannah Goldsmith Benedict. 1933 Courtesy of the family

In 1940, eight-year-old Claire was living in Pittsburgh with her mother Helen, her grandfather Jacob Benedict, and her aunt Marian Benedict, Helen’s sister. Helen was working as a probation officer.2 In 1950, they were all still living together in Pittsburgh, and Helen was working as a social worker for Allegheny County. Claire was now eighteen years old.3

Claire married Richard Velzy eight years later in 1958. Here is her photograph from the engagement announcement in the June 1, 1958, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph.

Claire Booher and Richard Velzy engagement announcement, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, June 1, 1958, p. 42

Bruce shared his mother Claire’s obituary, which taught me more about her life:

Claire Booher Velzy was born in 1931 and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  She went to and graduated from Flora Stone Mather College, which is now part of Case Western Reserve University.  She remained a loyal alumna for the remainder of her life.  Her first job was at a Baltimore-area Girl Scout Camp.  She married Richard Velzy in 1958, and they remained married for 57 years until he passed away in 2015.   They had (and have) three children (Suzanne, Bruce, and Greg) and four grandchildren (Andrew, Matt, Jackson and Tom).  While married, they lived in Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, PA; and since 1972, Richmond VA.  They enjoyed traveling.   She was a mental health caseworker for the City of Richmond for almost 20 years.  She was very active in her church, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, and made and maintained many friendships there.  She will miss her friends and her family and was thankful for the life she lived and her ability to do so mostly on her terms.  She passed away peacefully on April 15, 2025.

Bruce also shared this more recent photograph of his mother Claire:

Claire Booher Velzy
Courtesy of her family

In reading this, I was very moved and struck by the fact that Claire, after suffering the loss of her father at such a tender age, had nevertheless lived a long and happy life—-graduating from college in a time when not many women accomplished that, sharing a long and happy marriage with her husband Richard, raising three children, and having a successful and meaningful career. She followed in her mother Helen’s footsteps, becoming a social worker. Like her great-grandmother Hannah, whose mother died when she was a toddler, Claire had overcome the tragic loss of a parent at an early age but grew up to live a productive and fulfilling life. Her life story is an inspiration.

My condolences to all of Claire’s children and grandchildren. May her memory be a blessing to all of you.

 

  1. If you are interested in learning more about Claire’s ancestors, you can find Simon’s Secret here on Amazon. ↩
  2. Claire Booher, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03663; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 69-390, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Claire Booher, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 5287; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 77-471, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩

Siegmund Rothschild and His Family: Life in America

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After escaping from Nazi Germany to England, the family of Siegmund Rothschild chose to immigrate from England to the United States in September 1940.

First, Siegmund and his younger son Werner left on August 30, 1940, arriving in Boston on September 14, 1940, and then Elise and their older son Ernst left England on September 18, 1940, arrived in Quebec, Canada, on September 27, 1942, then crossed the border into the United States.1 Elise must have been waiting for Ernst to be released from being interned as an enemy alien in England. Both Siegmund and Elise reported on their respective ship manifests that they were teachers, the profession they had practiced in Frankfurt before the Nazi era.

Siegmund and Werner Rothschild ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943; NAI Number: 4319742; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number: 450, Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963

Elise and Ernst Rothschild, ship manifest, The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-145937, Month: Sep, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

The family settled in New York City where on April 23, 1941, Siegmund filed a Declaration of Intention to become a United States citizen, now listing his occupation as a salesman.

Siegmund Rothschild 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 613) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 484001-485000), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

As the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt described their early life in America, “The new beginning in the USA was associated with challenging times for the couple. Neither of them could ever be active in the profession they had learned. Siegmund, with a doctorate in philosophy, first worked as a dishwasher. Until the end of his life he mostly kept his head above water with mini jobs.” Imagine how frustrating that must have been for Siegmund and Elise. And what  a waste of their knowledge and skills.

Both Siegmund and his older son Ernst, now using the more Anglicized Ernest, registered for the World War II draft; I haven’t found any evidence that either served in the military during the war. As their registration statements indicate, they were living at 558 West 164th Street in New York City in the Washington Heights neighborhood where so many Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany settled. Siegmund was working for the Gibraltar Manufacturing Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Ernest was working for Hugo Brand in Brooklyn.

Siegmund Rothschild, World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Ernest Rothschild, World War II draft registration, 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

Werner may have had the easiest transition to life in the United States. According to the report in the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, “Werner was 12 years old in 1940 and felt like an American from day one, he emphasized. In order to contribute to the family income, he took various jobs. Early in the morning before school at 5:30 a.m. he delivered bread rolls, delivered meat to the households or brought the clothes from the dry cleaners to the apartments, seven days a week, upstairs and downstairs. He immediately felt like an American in his school too. He studied with 35% Afro-Americans and classmates of different nationalities. Something like normal came back to life.”

The 1950 US census shows Siegmund without a job, but both Ernst, now 28, and Werner, now 22, were working. Ernst owned a laundry where both young men were working. According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, however, that laundry did not provide much income for the family until a few years later.

Siegmund Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 3572; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 31-2290, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

Here is a photograph of Elise and Ernest in their laundromat:

Elise Bloch Rothschild and her son Ernest in their laundromat. Courtesy of the family

Sadly, Siegmund died on October 2, 1952, at the age of sixty-eight.2 According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, he suffered a heart attack after receiving an injection from a contaminated needle.

Ernest Rothschild married Margot Ochs in New York in 1954.3 Margot was born in Duren, Germany, on July 29, 1923,and like her husband Ernest, she had first escaped from Germany to England before immigrating to the US on December 27, 1939.4 Ernest and Margot had one child; he was given the middle name Siegmund presumably in memory of Ernest’s father Siegmund Rothschild.

Werner Rothschild married Audrie Max on December 21, 1958.5 Audrie was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 18, 1929, to Isadore Max and Minnie Vinkelstein.6 According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, Werner and Audrie met while vacationing in Florida. Werner and Audrie have three children.

The engagement announcement for Audrie and Werner in the Allentown newspaper, The Morning Call, on October 5, 1958 (p. 25) reported that Werner was a graduate of City College of New York and had received a master’s degree in school administration from Columbia University. He was working at that time as a teacher in Levittown, New York. How interesting that Werner pursued the teaching profession, the profession both his parents had lost as a result of Nazi persecution.

Ernest and Werner’s mother Elise Block Rothschild lived to 102, dying on May 2, 1991.7 As reported on the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, “Elise outlived her husband by 42 years and died very old at 102. She led a very independent life; it wasn’t until the age of 90, after a hip fracture, that she was admitted to the Margaret Tietz Nursing Home. … Elise worked in the family laundromat, taught English to German immigrants, and volunteered at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, YMHA, library. She fought for compensation for many years and got a small pension from the 1950s onwards. Of course, this amount could not even come close to compensating for the enormous financial losses that had arisen as a result of the Nazi era and emigration and that shaped her life from then on.”

Ernest Rothschild died on December 11, 2011; he was 89 years old.8 His younger brother Werner is living, and I am hoping to be in touch with him soon. His first cousin Hal and Hal’s daughter Sandy and niece Judy are trying to connect me with Werner.

Given what happened to so many of Siegmund’s siblings and their families, Siegmund and his wife and children might by some be considered lucky because they survived. And yes, in some ways that is true. But look at how they also suffered because of Nazi persecution. Both Siegmund and his wife Elise lost their chosen careers as teachers; Ernest never became a dentist. These were psychological losses as well as financial losses. They also lost their homeland and most of their close family members. No one who was touched by Nazi persecution should ever be considered lucky.

For more information and photographs of the family, please see the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website.

 

  1. Elise and Ernst Rothschild, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Manifests of Passengers Arriving At St. Albans, Vt, District Through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; NAI: 4492490; Record Group: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: M1464; Roll Number: 611, Ancestry.com. U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960; Elise and Ernst Rothschild, The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Index to Alien Arrivals at Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Seaports; NAI Number: 3000080; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, Ancestry.com. U.S., Index to Alien Arrivals at Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Seaports, 1904-1944 ↩
  2. Siegmund Rothschild, Age 66, Birth Date abt 1886, Death Date 2 Oct 1952
    Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 20929, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  3. Ernest Rothschild and Margot Ochs, Marriage License, Ernest Rothschild
    Gender Male, Marriage License Date 1954, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Margot Ochs, License Number 7121, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  4. Margot Ochs, Declaration of Intention, Margot Ochs, Gender Female, Race
    White, Declaration Age 18 Record Type Naturalization Declaration, Birth Date
    29 Jul 1923, Birth Place Duren, Germany, Departure Place Southampton, England
    Arrival Date, 27 Dec 1939, Arrival Place New York, New York, USA Declaration Date
    24 Apr 1942, Declaration Place New York, Court U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Declaration Number 520250, Box Number 395, 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, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  5. Werner Rothschild, Gender Male, Residence Date Abt 1958, Residence Place New York City, Marriage Date 21 Dec 1958, Spouse Audrie Max, The Morning Call; Publication Date: 21/ Dec/ 1958; Publication Place: Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/275138958/?article=8c58a828-c766-4dff-8c86-8cceadb65bd&focus=0.38331795,0.5598585,0.4987282,0.6864521&xid=3398
    Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current ↩
  6. Audrie M Rothschild, Birth Date 18 Sep 1929, Residence Date 1993, Address 14 Joyce Ln, Residence Woodbury, NY, Postal Code 11797-2115, Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1; “Rothschild,” South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), September 7, 2016, p. B6; Minnie Vinkelstein and Isadore Max marriage announcement, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, November 18, 1919, p. 18; Isadore Max and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Allentown, Lehigh, Pennsylvania; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0038; FHL microfilm: 2341798, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Elise O Rothschild, Birth Date 4 Apr 1892, Death Date 2 May 1994, Claim Date 6 Apr 1957, SSN 080181441, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  8. Ernest Rothschild and Margot Ochs Rothschild gravestones at Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245622521/ernest-rothschild: accessed April 7, 2025), memorial page for Ernest Rothschild (1922–2011), Find a Grave Memorial ID 245622521, citing Beth-El Cemetery, Paramus, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA; Maintained by dalya d (contributor 46972551). ↩

Siegmund Rothschild: Escape from Nazi Germany

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It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about the family of Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild, given the breaks for some updates, Passover, and our trip to England. Today I return to Gelle’s story, specifically the story of her son Gerson Rothschild. In my last post about Gerson, we saw he died in 1930 and was survived by his wife Fanny Kugelmann and eight children.

In my next series of posts, I will write about the eight surviving children of my cousin Gerson Rothschild and his wife Fanny Kugelmann. Only three of those children survived the Holocaust, making this task a very painful one. But I can start with one of those three who survived, the oldest child of Gerson and Fanny, their son Siegmund.

As we saw, Siegmund married Elise Olga Block on December 22, 1919, in Frankfurt, and they had two sons, Ernst, born March 1, 1922, and Werner, born January 12, 1928, both in Frankfurt. There is a wonderful resource about this family on the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt am Main website. Based in part on information obtained during a visit to Frankfurt by Werner Rothschild in 2019, the website details the family’s life before, during, and after the Nazi era. Much of the information in this post came from that website.

According to that website, Siegmund Rothschild moved to Frankfurt in 1911 and was known as “a valued historian with good contacts abroad and president of the liberal main synagogue in Frankfurt.”  He taught at Philanthropin, a free Reform Jewish school founded in 1804 in Frankfurt. An article from the Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture abstracted here states that the school was “one of the most significant German Jewish Reform projects in the first half of the 19th century.” Siegmund’s wife Elise also taught at Philanthropin on and off between 1913 and 1939.

UPDATE: I learned from Siegmund’s grandson Alex that Siegmund fought for Germany during World War I. Here is a photo of him from that time.

Siegmund Rothschild c. 1915
Courtesy of the family

Siegmund and his family were living a good life in Frankfurt, identifying more as German than Jewish, until Hitler came to power in 1933. Siegmund’s son Werner recalled that one friend joined Hitler Youth and stopped talking to him. Another time while visiting family in Borken, he and his cousins were tormented by Hitler Youth.

Here is the family in January 1938:

Siegmund, Werner, Ernst, and Elise (Bloch) Rothschild, January 1938.

As for Ernst, the older son, according to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, he had always dreamed of being a dentist, but under Nazi persecution he was not allowed to pursue the studies to reach that goal. Instead he ended up working as an apprentice in a leather dressing business after leaving school in 1937. But when that business was Aryanized in 1938, Ernst lost his job.

The family’s situation became even more dire in November 1938 with Kristallnacht.  As reported on the Projekt Judische Leben website, “For Werner… the worst day of his young life was the so-called “Reichskristallnacht.” He saw furniture fly out of the windows and buildings burn. Immediately afterwards, his father was picked up by the Gestapo. They gave [Siegmund] ten minutes to pack his things, then they deported him to Buchenwald. Fortunately, [Ernst] was not at home or he would have been arrested too.” Elise did everything she could to get Siegmund released; he was released in December 1938 with orders to leave Germany quickly.

The Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website continued, “Siegmund was a broken man when he came home and it took weeks and intensive care from his wife before he regained his strength. As soon as his health permitted, he traveled to England with his son Ernst, with ten Marks in his pocket. More was not allowed per person. The only contact there was with two of Elise’s brothers who had emigrated from Ratibor in 1935 and opened a dental practice in London.”

Meanwhile, Elise and Werner remained in Frankfurt until Elise arranged in 1939 for Werner to leave Germany as part of the Kindertransport program. Werner took the train alone to Hamburg and was forced to strip naked so that the Gestapo could check to be sure he wasn’t taking anything prohibited with him. In Hamburg he took a ship to England, where he  was placed in a youth hostel.1

Once Elise also was able to escape to England, the family was reunited in London and Werner was able to attend school.   The 1939 England & Wales Register shows Siegmund and Elise living in London.2 But after the war started against Germany in September 1939, Ernst was interned as an enemy alien; Siegmund and Elise, however, were exempted from internship. Werner was just a child.

Siegmund Rothschild, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/238, Piece Number Description: 238: Dead Index (Wives of Germans Etc) 1941-1947: Rosenber-Schitz, Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945

Elise Rothschild, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/238, Piece Number Description: 238: Dead Index (Wives of Germans Etc) 1941-1947: Rosenber-Schitz, Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945

Ernst Rothschild, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/193, Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945

Ernst was eventually released, and the family was finally able to immigrate to the United States in the summer of 1940, as we will see. Then they had to start their lives all over again. More on their life in the US in the next post.

  1. Werner Rothschild, Gender Male, Record Type Refugee List, Birth Date 12 Jan 1928, Residence Place Frankfurt, Document Date 22 Mär 1939 (22 Mar 1939)
    Permit Number 3813, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Washington, D.C.; Series: Selected Records Relating to Kindertransports; Record Group: RG-59.075; File Number: mh55-704.00000088, Ancestry.com. UK, Selected Records Relating to Kindertransport, 1938-1939 (USHMM) ↩
  2. Siegmund Rothschild, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/244E, Description Enumeration District: Akde, Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register ↩

Six Days in Merry Old England

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We just returned from a wonderful trip to England where our daughter Maddy ran her eighth marathon and her first one outside of the United States. It was, as it always is,  a bit nerve-racking to think of her running 26.2 miles, especially alone and in a foreign country, but as always she came through, despite the unusually warm weather and the unknown city. We were delighted to see her at Mile 6 and then after she finished in St. James Park.

We are so grateful to Maddy for getting us to go to England, our first trip outside the country since COVID (and England was the last place we visited outside the US before COVID in 2019). We kept this tour focused on fun and new adventures, a tour of Notting Hill (and we’d watched the movie this winter together to refresh our memories) and a pub tour of SoHo.

Notting Hill tour:

Ben, our guide, in front of George Orwell’s house in Notting Hill

Banksy art in Notting Hill

Notting Hill—where parts of the Paddington Bear movies were filmed

Alas, Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts were not around…

SoHo pub tour:

Carlos, our guide, and most of the tour group enjoying one last beer

After Maddy left to return to Boston, we traveled north to Liverpool, fulfilling a definite bucket list item for me. I fell in love with the Beatles in February 1964 when I was eleven, and that love has never faded. Seeing where the four young teenagers lived and met and first played together was heartwarming and exciting. Little eleven year old Amy could not believe she played Paul’s piano or stood in the churchyard where Paul and John first met or met Pete Best’s nephew, who gave us a tour of the Casbah where the Beatles (with Pete, not Ringo) first played together as a band.

Mural dedicated to Ringo down the alley from where he grew up

St Peter’s Church where Paul first met John playing with the Quarrymen at a church festival

Did you know there was a real Eleanor Rigby? She is buried in the graveyard at St Peter’s where John was a choirboy and where he first met Paul

John’s childhood home

The kitchen in John’s home

Outside John’s home

Paul’s childhood home

Paul’s backyard and outhouse

Paul’s piano (which I played!) where he and John wrote many of their early songs

George’s childhood home

Alley where George lived

Gate to Strawberry Fields

There are stones with quotations from John’s songs throughout Strawberry Fields

Inside the Casbah on a tour with the nephew of Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles

The Casbah stage

If you know the lyrics to Penny Lane, you’ll know what this store is.

Some of you have likely seen some of these photos on Facebook, but I wanted to share these with those blog readers who may not be on Facebook with me.

Special thanks to my cousin Mark Morreau, who met us in Notting Hill and helped us navigate the Underground back to our hotel, and to our tour guides in London and Liverpool, Ben, Carlos, and Dave.

Yom Hashoah 2025

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Before I started researching my family history back in 2010, I believed that I had no relatives who were killed in the Holocaust. Since then I have learned that there are so many of my cousins who were killed by the Nazis that I have lost count—babies, children, teenagers, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents, the frail and the elderly—innocent people who were put to death for no reason other than their Jewish identity.

Here we are 80 years after the Holocaust and we are still seeing people being despised and targeted because of their identities. There is still widespread antisemitism, but also widespread racism and islamophobia. We seem to have learned nothing.

On Yom Hashoah let’s work for and hope for the end of all kinds of intolerance and hatred.

Another update: Alfred Meyer Survived The Holocaust

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Almost five years ago I wrote about Alfred Meyer, son of Regina Goldschmidt and Aaron Meyer and my third cousin, twice removed. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 16, 1875, and that was almost all I knew about him. The only other records I could find for Alfred were two Holocaust era records on file at the Arolsen Archives. Both indicated that Alfred had left Germany for France on April 24, 1939, and was still there as of November 3, 1939. I couldn’t find any other records for him.

Had he ever married? Did he have children? I didn’t know. Had he died in the Holocaust? There were no records for him at Yad Vashem or at the US Holocaust Memorial and Museum. I was left without any further information.

Until, that is, a few weeks ago when I received an email from another researcher named Ofra Karo. Ofra and I had been in touch over a year ago about a different branch of my tree, but now she was writing to say that she had found additional information about Alfred Meyer. For one thing, she had found a marriage record for Alfred indicating that he had married Augustine Marguerite K/Brat in Paris, France on August 11, 1911.

Alfred Meyer marriage record, Archives de Paris; Paris, France; État-Civil 1792-1902, Certificate Number: 0553-0836, Paris, France, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1555-1929

At first I was skeptical. What was Alfred doing in France in 1911 if he was in Frankfurt in 1939? Was this the same Alfred Meyer? But after studying the marriage record and relying on my rusty high school French, I saw that this was indeed the same man—-son of Regina Goldschmidt and Aaron Meyer, born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 16, 1875. And he was at that time residing in Paris. Given that Alfred was a grandson of Jacob Goldschmidt, whose family owned the international art and antiques business, it wasn’t really surprising that Alfred was living in Paris in 1911, perhaps working for the family’s business.

Ofra also directed me to a death record for Alfred. He had not died in the Holocaust, but had lived long enough to die after World War II. He died on January 27, 1947, in Gennevilliers, France, and had been residing in Clichy, France, a suburb of Paris just a few miles from where he died. He was 71 and a widower at the time of his death. No occupation was listed.1

Unfortunately, I have no other sources at this time for Alfred. Ofra found a tree on Ancestry that appears to be created by Alfred’s granddaughter and has many photos of family members. I tried to contact that tree owner through Ancestry without success, and I have looked to see if I could find her outside of Ancestry without success. Because I cannot confirm the information in that tree, I am not comfortable relying on it. If it is accurate, it does appear that Alfred had a son and has living descendants, but I cannot confirm that at this time.

At any rate, I do now know that Alfred did not die in the Holocaust. How he survived remains a mystery.

  1. There are two men named Alfred Meyer on this page—same age, same day of death, both with spouses with the first name Augustine. Ofra suggested that the one on Line 14 is a correction of the one on Line 8. That seems a reasonable assumption. ↩

Two Updates: Why Didn’t Mathilde Rothschild Leave Germany With Her Family? And How did Albert Alexander Meet His Wife?

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Before I continue the stories of the children of Gerson Rothschild and Fanny Kugelmann, I have three updates to earlier posts that I’d like to share. All three are possible because other researchers and family members found this blog and contacted me. These are true gifts from the genealogy village. I am so grateful.

Some of you may recall that back in May 2024, I wrote about my relative Hirsch “Harry” Rothschild and his three children, all of whom escaped from Nazi Germany to the United States before World War II started. But unfortunately Harry’s wife Mathilde did not escape with her family and was ultimately murdered by the Nazis.

In my blog post about this family I wondered why Mathilde had not come with Harry and her children when they left Germany. Was she ill, I speculated? I had no answers.

Now I have more information about the family of Harry Rothschild. A man named Fredo Behrens recently contacted me after seeing my blog post. He lives in Oldenburg, Germany, and as he told me in his email, he worked for the “Nordwestdeutsches Museum für Industriekultur” in Delmenhorst for several years 25 years ago, where his area of responsibility was museum education, exhibitions and a regional “Topography of the Nazi Era.” He also is on the board of the “Friends and Supporters of the Jewish Community of Delmenhorst,” and heads the Delmenhorst City History Working Group. More specifically, he has done research into the history of the Jewish people of Delmenhorst, including the Rothschild family.1

Fredo told me about a monograph by Dr. Enno Meyer from 1985 entitled “Die Geschichte der Delmenhorster Juden 1695-1945”, or the History of the Jews of Delmenhorst 1695-1945. Dr. Meyer was the head of “Gesellschaft für christlich-jüdische Zusammenarbeit” (Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation) for at least 30 years, according to Fredo. Fredo sent me both a copy of Dr. Meyer’s monograph (in German) and also a copy of an article that Fredo himself wrote about the Jews of Delmenhorst that excerpts parts of Meyer’s monograph and adds to it.2 I was able to use DeepL to translate Fredo’s work and learn more about the Rothschild family’s life in Delmenhorst.

According to the works of Meyer and Behrens, Dr. Harry Rothschild came to Delmenhorst from Hesse in 1914 and was the first Jewish doctor to practice in that town. By 1925, he was one of the top two taxpayers in the town. Harry was not active in the organized Jewish community, however, until after the Nazis came to power.3 According to Fredo’s research, the growing antisemitism in the early 1930s prompted Harry to become more involved. By 1933 he was chairman of the local Zionist organization and on the Jewish community board.

When the Nuremberg Laws were adopted and Jews were no longer allowed to employ Aryans, Harry and his Aryan cleaning woman petitioned the mayor for permission to continue their employment relationship, but their petition was rejected.4

Fredo kindly shared with me this photograph showing the street where the Rothschild family lived in Delmenhorst in 1930. The arrow points to where Harry Rothschild practiced medicine and lived before he left Germany in 1939.

Rothschild house and office in Delmenhorst, 1930, courtesy of Fredo Behrens: Jüdisches Leben in der Langen Straße nach 1933. In: Die Lange Straße in Delmenhorst : Biographie einer alten Straße ; Begleitveröffentlichung zur Ausstellung in den Museen der Stadt Delmenhorst auf der Nordwolle vom 24.6. – 2.9.2001. Hg. vom Stadtmuseum Delmenhorst. Isensee, Oldenburg 2001, p. 60

Then on October 10, 1937, Harry and a number of other Jewish residents of Delmenhorst were arrested by the Gestapo without warning or warrants. According to the observations of a fellow prisoner who became Harry’s cellmate, Harry was particularly humiliated by this experience and was called a “dirty stinking Jew” by one of the Gestapo agents. Harry and his cellmate were in solitary confinement, and Harry remained in prison until the spring of 1938. Harry’s condition had deteriorated greatly during his imprisonment.5

On November 10, 1938 in the aftermath of Kristallnacht, Harry was again arrested and was one of fourteen Jewish men who were arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen.6

By that time all three of Harry and Mathilde’s children had left Germany for the United States. Harry left in the spring of 1939 and went to Cuba, and he was finally able to join his children in the US in December 1939.

But as we know, Mathilde did not come with him, and she was eventually deported to Minsk and died there. Dr. Meyer shed some light on this in his monograph, also quoted in Fredo Behren’s work. On page 85 of his history of the Delmenhorst Jews, Enno Meyer wrote that Mathilde had stayed behind to try and sell the family house; then when the war started in September 1939, she was trapped in Germany and could not leave.7

If only Mathilde had left with Harry and had not tried to sell the family’s home, this family’s story would have had a much happier ending. There may be more to this story that we will never know, but if this account is accurate, it shows how one decision affected an entire family’s fate during the Holocaust.

I want to thank Fredo Behrens again for providing me with the information and the photograph used in this post and for the work he does to preserve the Jewish history of Delmenhorst.

The second update came from two newly found cousins—my fifth cousin Charles Alexander and his daughter Kate. They also found me through my blog. Charles is the grandson of Theresa Rothschild Alexander, and I wrote about that family here. Check out the update there and learn how Charles’ parents, Albert Alexander and Mary Jane Deiches, actually met. My original speculation proved to be incorrect.

Also, I’ve added to that post a photo Charles gave me from his father’s yearbook. I am also adding it here since I could not place it properly in the original post.

Finally, the third update will have to wait until next week.

  1. Email from Fredo Behrens, March 25, 2025. ↩
  2. Fredo Behrens, “Jüdisches Leben in der Langen Straße nach 1933. In: Die Lange Straße in Delmenhorst : Biographie einer alten Straße; Begleitveröffentlichung zur Ausstellung in den Museen der Stadt Delmenhorst auf der Nordwolle vom 24.6. – 2.9.2001. Hg. vom Stadtmuseum Delmenhorst. Isensee, Oldenburg 2001. ↩
  3. Enno Meyer, “Die Geschichte der Delmenhorster Juden 1695-1945,” (1985), pp. 48, 55, 60, as cited in Behrens,  Note 2, supra. ↩
  4. Behrens, Note 2, supra, citing a letter dated November 14, 1936, response from the mayor dated December 3, 1936. Exhibition “Delmenhorst in National Socialism.   based on a letter dated September 24, 1955, affidavit from Wilhelm Schroers for Dr. Rothschild. Exhibition “Delmenhorst under National Socialism.” ↩
  5. Letter dated September 24, 1955, affidavit from Wilhelm Schroers for Dr. Rothschild. Exhibition “Delmenhorst under National Socialism.” as quoted in Behrens, Note 2, supra. ↩
  6. Behrens, Note 2, supra. ↩
  7. Enno Meyer, “Die Geschichte der Delmenhorster Juden 1695-1945,” (1985), p. 85, as cited in Behrens, Note 2, supra. ↩

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/ ↩
  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 ↩

The Blumenfeld-Rothschild Brain Teaser

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Here’s a good brain teaser for those of you who like puzzles, especially genealogy relationship puzzles:

Gerson Rothschild was the eighth child born to Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild. He was born on May 1, 1855, in Waltersbrueck, Germany.

Gerson Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 27

Gerson married Frommet “Fanny” Kugelmann on September 13, 1881, in Waltersbrueck. She was born in Wohra, Germany, on September 11, 1857.

Gerson Rothschild marriage to Frommet Kugelmann, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8407, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

When I saw Frommet Kugelmann’s name, it rang a bell, but I wasn’t sure why. I searched my tree, and sure enough, I had a Frommet Kugelmann already on my tree. I wrote about her here. She had married Isaac Blumenfeld I, Gelle Blumenfeld’s older brother, and had died March 18, 1842, five days after giving birth to her son Abraham Blumenfeld III. She was about twenty years old when she died.

Frommet Kugelmann Blumenfeld death record, Lagis Hessen Archive, HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 630, S. 8

But was there a connection between the Frommet Kugelmann who had married Isaac Blumenfeld I and the Frommet Kugelmann who married Isaac’s nephew Gerson Rothschild, Gelle’s son? That was not immediately obvious.

From the marriage record for Gerson and his Frommet (to be referred to hereinafter as Fanny to keep them distinct), I knew that Fanny’s parents were Joseph Kugelmann and Male Katten. After searching for more information about Joseph Kugelmann, I learned that he was the son of Hiskias Kugelmann and Knentel Adorn.1 Flipping back to Isaac Blumenfeld’s wife Frommet, I saw that her parents were also Hiskias Kugelmann and Knentel Adorn.2 In other words, Joseph Kugelmann had named his daughter Frommet Fanny Kugelmann for his deceased sister Frommet Kugelmann, Isaac Blumenfeld’s wife.

Gerson and Fanny were thus related through the marriage of Gerson’s uncle Isaac to Fanny’s aunt and namesake, Frommet Kugelmann.

Gerson and Fanny would have eleven children, though two died at birth and one as an infant.

Here’s the brain teaser.

How were the children of Gerson Rothschild and Fanny Kugelmann related to Abraham Blumenfeld III, the son of Isaac Blumenfeld I and his first wife Frommet Kugelmann?

[Jeopardy! Music plays for thirty seconds…]

 

 

 

Here’s the answer:

They were his first cousins, once removed, on the Kugelmann side because their mother Fanny was Abraham III’s first cousin; Abraham III’s mother Frommet Kugelmann and Fanny’s father Joseph Kugelmann were siblings.

Here’s a chart showing that relationship, using one of Gerson and Fanny’s children (Max Rothschild) as an example:

But they were also related to Abraham III through the Blumenfeld side since Abraham’s father Isaac Blumenfeld I and Gerson’s mother Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild were siblings, making Abraham and Gerson first cousins, thus making Max Rothschild and  Gerson and Fanny’s other children first cousins, once removed, to Abraham Blumenfeld III through that connection.

There is a third connection through Abraham Blumenfeld III’s marriage to Friedericke Rothschild—-but I will spare you that one.

OK, since you insist, here’s a chart for that one…

So once again, the family tree twists and groans from the weight of its interconnected branches, twigs, and leaves.

Coming up…the stories of the eleven children of Gerson and Fanny.

 

 

  1. Joseph Kugelmann death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 9981; Laufende Nummer: 915, Description Year Range: 1900, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  2. Frommet Kugelmann Blumenfeld death record, Sterberegister der Juden von Neustadt 1824-1875 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 630), p. 8. Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, at https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/digitalisatViewer.action?detailid=v1900007&selectId=45915616 ↩