Tag Archives: Argentina

Falk Goldschmidt Part III: Two of His Daughters Escape to South America

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Meyer Goldschmidt’s youngest child Falk Goldschmidt died on June 4, 1901. He was 65 years old when he died and was survived by his wife Clara Babetta Carlebach and their five children, Meier, Helene, Fanny, Hedwig, and Julius, and their grandchildren.

Falk Goldschmidt death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10551, Year Range: 1901, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

The family lost its matriarch when Clara Babetta Carlebach Goldschmidt died on February 27, 1920. She was 75.

Babetta Carlebach Goldschmidt death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10828, Year Range: 1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

In the last post we saw that Meier Falk Goldschmidt, Falk’s oldest child, went to the US in about 1890 and died there in 1922. He did not have any children. Falk and Babetta’s two youngest children—Hedwig and Julius Falk—I have already covered in earlier posts because they married cousins who’ve already been discussed. So that leaves the two older daughters, Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer and Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal. I will tell their stories separately in this post.

Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer and Her Children

Eight years after losing her father Falk, Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer lost her husband Bernard. He died on September 14, 1909, in Frankfurt; he was 51.1 Helene was a widow at 38.

Helene’s daughter Fanny Flora Igersheimer married Ludwig Selmar Goetz on December 11, 1912, in Frankfurt. Ludwig was born in Berlin on August 13, 1876, to Julius Goetz and Rosalie Badt.

Fanny Flora Igersheimer and Ludwig Goetz marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1912, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Fanny and Ludwig had two sons. Erwin Julius Goetz was born in Frankfurt on February 21, 1914.2 His brother Arthur Bernard Edmund Goetz was born October 8, 1915, in Frankfurt.3

Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer’s son Franz Jonas Igersheimer married Elizabeth Isabel Malvina Lorch in Frankfurt on April 7, 1927. She was the daughter of Ludwig Lorch and Gisela Koehler and was born on December 14, 1904, in Frankfurt.

Franz Jonas Igersheimer marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1927, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Franz and Elizabeth also had two sons, according to Baron and Cibella, both of whom were born in Frankfurt before Hitler’s rise to power.4

By 1939, Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer was living in London with her son Franz and his wife Elizabeth. Franz and Elizabeth had changed their surname to Ingham, but Helene had not. Franz was working as a company director of an electric company. Neither of their sons were listed with them on the 1939 Register; perhaps they were in boarding school.

Ingham household, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/307J, Enumeration District: AMBM, Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register

On his enemy alien registration, Franz listed his occupation as company director of Telephone Trading Company. It appears that he was found exempt from being sent to an internment camp.

Franz Ingham enemy alient registration, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/40
Piece Number Description: 040: Internees at Liberty in UK 1939-1942: I-Iz, Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945

Meanwhile, Helene’s daughter Fanny Flora Igersheimer Goetz and her husband Ludwig Goetz had immigrated to Argentina by 1936. They appear on a 1936 ship manifest leaving England for Argentina, but report that they were already citizens of Argentina where Ludwig, now using the name Luiz, was a farmer in Buenos Aires. I assume they had been visiting Fanny Flora’s mother and brother and family in London and were returning home.

Luiz and Flora Goetz, ship manifest, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer and Franz Jonas Ingham and his family soon followed Fanny Flora and Luiz to Argentina. They are all listed on a ship manifest dated June 22, 1940, leaving England for Argentina, and they indicated that Argentina was their permanent destination.

Franz Ingham and family, ship manifest, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

Helene Goldschmidt Igersheimer died only two years after moving to Argentina; she was 71 when she died in Buenos Aires on September 30, 1942.5

From various travel documents it appears that both of Helene’s children and her grandchildren remained in Argentina after the war and for the rest of their lives. I have no other specific sources for them at this point.

Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal and Her Son

Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal’s son Julius married Else Margarete Cahn, the daughter of Arthur Moritz Cahn and Alice Hellman, in Frankfurt on December 10, 1920. Else was born on January 31, 1900, in Frankfurt. According to Baron and Cibella, Julius and Else had two sons.[^6]

[^6]: Baron and Cibella, Goldschmidt Family Report

Julius Loewenthal marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Then five years later, Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal’s husband Siegfried died on August 30, 1925, in Cannes, France. He was 61.6 Thus, like her sister Helene, Fanny was a relatively young woman when she became a widow at 51.

I could not find Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal on any record between her children’s birth records in the 1890s and a 1946 Brazil immigration card. She was a widow whose husband had died in 1925 and with only one surviving child, her son Julius. Where could she have been between 1920 and 1945? How did she survive the war? I don’t know.

Fanny Goldschmidt Loewenthal Brazil immigration card, Digital GS Number: 004568863
Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965

In tracking Julius’ whereabouts, I only had marginally better luck. He appears to have immigrated to Brazil in 1940-1941. He listed his address at his prior residence as being in Brussels. His wife Else arrived with him, also listing Brussels as her last address, and Else listed their son Herbert on her immigration card.

Julius Loewenthal Brazil immigration card, Digital GS Number: 004847850
Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965

Else Cahn Loewenthal immigration card, Digital GS Number: 004542452
Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965

Maybe Fanny was with Julius and Else in Brussels, but I have no record that supports that notion. All I have is a Brazil immigration card for Fanny indicating she arrived in Brazil in 1946 after the war was over. Her card indicates that her prior address had been in Frankfurt. Could she have safely survived the Holocaust hiding in Frankfurt?

I wish I had a way to find her story. But I have no further records for Fanny or Julius or Else, except one travel document for Else showing that she was living in Rio de Janeiro in 1961. David Baron and Roger Cibella report that both Fanny and Julius died in Rio de Janeiro, Julius in 1955 and Fanny in 1957.7

Thus, Falk and Babetta Goldschmidt’s widowed daughters Helene and Fanny both escaped from the Nazis to South America with their children and grandchildren, but to two different countries, Helene to Argentina and Fanny to Brazil.

  1.  Bernhard Igersheimer, Age: 53, Birth Date: abt 1856, Death Date: 14 Sep 1909
    Death Place: Frankfurt V, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Civil Registration Office: Frankfurt V, Father: Jonas Igersheimer, Mother: Sara Igersheimer, Certificate Number: 1119, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10659,
    Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  2. Erwin Julio Goetz, Gender: Male, Marital status: Married, Birth Date: 21 fev 1914 (21 Feb 1914), Birth Place: Frankfurt, Arrival Date: 1945, Arrival Place: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, FHL Film Number: 004558748, Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965 ↩
  3. Arturo Bernardo Edmundo Goetz, Marital status: Married, Birth Date: 8 out 1915 (8 Oct 1915), Birth Place: Frankfurt, Arrival Date: 1957, Arrival Place: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Father: Luis Goetz, Mother: Flora Igersheimer, FHL Film Number: 004834211, Ancestry.com. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965 ↩
  4. David Baron and Roger CIbella, Goldschmidt Family Report ↩
  5. Helene Igersheimer, Death Date: 30 Sep 1942, Death Place: Argentina
    Probate Date: 16 Aug 1944, Probate Registry: Oxford, England, Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 ↩
  6. Ibid. ↩
  7. Ibid. ↩

Regina Goldschmidt’s Children: Did They Escape in Time or Not?

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When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Regina Goldschmidt Meyer had already outlived her husband Aaron Meyer, who had died in 1902, and two of her seven children, Sally having died in childhood and Jacob in 1928. Her other five children—Alfred, Max, Siegfried, Ferdinand, and Amalie— were still living as well as a number of grandchildren.

But Regina died in Frankfurt on October 7, 1938, just a month before Kristallnacht. She was 83 years old.

Regina Goldschmidt Meyer, death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 11076, Year Range: 1938, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Some of her five surviving children fared better than others during the Holocaust. For some, I ran into brick walls when I tried to learn more about their lives during or after the war. For others, I discovered tragedy. This post will focus on her four oldest children and their families.

The fate of Regina’s oldest child, Alfred Meyer, is somewhat unclear. I found only two documents for him after his birth record. First, I found this card in the Arolsen Archives:

2 Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees by Public Institutions, Social Securities and Companies (1939 – 1947) / 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany / 2.1.1.2 Lists of all persons of United Nations and other foreigners, German Jews and stateless persons; American Zone; Bavaria, Wurttemberg-Baden, Bremen (2) / Excerpts from “Hausstandsbüchern” of the town of Frankfurt/Main

With help from the German Genealogy group, I learned that this card says that Alfred was a widower and that he had no occupation. The final column indicates that Alfred was still living in Frankfurt on April 24, 1939, and then left for France and was there until November 3, 1939.

The second card, also from the Arolsen Archives, came up through a search on Ancestry.com:

Arolsen Archives, Digital Archive; Bad Arolsen, Germany; Lists of Persecutees 2.1.1.1; Series: 2.1.1.1, Reference Code: 02010101 oS, Ancestry.com. Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947

According to the description on Ancestry, this document was prepared after the war by the American forces occupying West Germany as an attempt to document the Jews who had been persecuted by the Nazis. This particular document lists those who had become or were French citizens. Under the last category, “Aufenthaltsdaten,” or dates of stay, it says April 24, 1939, to November 3, 1939. This appears to be consistent with the other card from the Arolsen Archives.

But what happened to Alfred after November 3, 1939? Did he return to Frankfurt and survive? Was he killed? He does not appear in either the Yad Vashem database or the US Holocaust Memorial and Museum database. There are many other post-war records for men named Alfred Meyer, but the name is so common and the records so vague in identification information that I have no idea what happened to my cousin Alfred Meyer. Cibella and Baron say he died in a concentration camp, and I fear that that is probably the case even though I can’t find him at Yad Vashem.

As noted above, Alfred’s brother Jacob Meyer had died in 1928, leaving his wife Elli and their children to survive him. I was able to find records for Elli showing that she had immigrated to England by 1939; she and her son Arthur are listed together on the 1939 England and Wales Register.

Ellie and Arthur Meyer, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/416H, Enumeration District: APCA, Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register

Arthur also registered as an enemy alien in 1939; at that time he was working as an apprentice shirt cutter for Harrod’s. Note that his address is 28c Maida Avenue.

Arthur Meyer, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/187, Piece Number Description: 187: German Internees Released in UK 1939-1942: Mayer-Morgens, Ancestry.com. UK, WWII Alien Internees, 1939-1945

Also living at 28c Maida Avenue in 1939 when she registered as an enemy alien was Arthur’s sister Hilde Meyer, who was a student and an unemployed domestic worker.

Hilde Meyer, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; HO 396 WW2 Internees (Aliens) Index Cards 1939-1947; Reference Number: HO 396/61, Piece Number Description: 061: Internees at Liberty in UK 1939-1942: Mer-Mid, Ancestry.com. UK, WWII Alien Internees, 1939-1945

On the 1939 England and Wales Register, Hilde was working as a parlor maid and living elsewhere, so she must have found work by the time that was enumerated.1

As for the third child whom Cibella/Baron identified as a child of Jacob and Elli Meyer, Lotte Henriette Meyer, I did not have much luck locating records. Cibella/Baron report that she married Helmut Leopold Wallach in Frankfurt on April 27, 1934, and that they had twin daughters born in 1935, but I could not find a marriage record or birth records for the twins. I did find a 1937 ship manifest for a Lotte Wallach with two daughters born in 1935, heading from England to Argentina2 and a separate 1937 manifest for a Helmut Leopold Wallach heading to Uruguay,3 but nothing more specific to tie Lotte to Jacob and Elli Meyer or to Helmut Wallach.

Elli Loeser Meyer lived the rest of her life in England, dying there on April 18, 1966. The listing for her in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar names “Arthur Meyers, company director,” as one of the executors.4 I have been unable so far to find any other later records for any of her children. Thus, I do not know when or where they died, whether or not they married or had children, or anything else.

Max Meyer and his family escaped from Nazi Germany to Argentina. It appears that their son Arnold had immigrated there in July, 1936, but had been living in Basel, Switzerland prior to heading to Buenos Aires:

Arnold Meyer, Ancestry.com. Swiss Overseas Emigration, 1910-1953. Original data: Schweizerisches Auswanderungsamt und Auswanderungsbüro. Überseeische Auswanderungen aus der Schweiz, 1910-1953. Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv (National Archives of Switzerland). E 2175 – 2.

According to Cibella/Baron, Arnold’s parents Max and Anna also both immigrated to Buenos Aires and died there, Anna in 1941 and Max in 1952. Unfortunately, I have no records for these events or for Arnold’s death in 1959.

Siegfried Meyer met a tragic end. He immigrated to the Netherlands, but on April 21, 1943, he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he was murdered on November 23, 1943, and cremated.5

Arolsen Arhives, 1 Incarceration Documents / 1.1 Camps and Ghettos / 1.1.42 Theresienstadt Ghetto /1.1.42.2 Card File Theresienstadt /Ghetto Theresienstadt Card File, Reference Code
11422001

Thus, for Regina’s four oldest children, I have mixed results. Jacob’s family ended up in England and possibly Argentina; Max’s family ended up in Argentina. Tragically, Siegfried was murdered by the Nazis, and Alfred probably was also.

The next post will report on Regina’s youngest son, Ferdinand, and his family.

  1.  Hilde Meyer, Gender: Female, Marital status: Single, Birth Date: 21 Nov 1912, Residence Year: 1939, Address: 24, Residence Place: Yiewsley and West Drayton, Middlesex, England, Occupation: Parlourmaid, Schedule Number: 167, Sub Schedule Number: 3, Enumeration District: BZAA, Registration district: 127/1, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/994A, Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register ↩
  2. Lotte Wallach, Gender: Female, Age: 31, Birth Date: abt 1906, Departure Date: 16 Oct 1937, Port of Departure: Southampton, England, Destination Port: Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ship Name: Almanzora, Shipping Line: Royal Mail Lines Limited, Official Number: 136353, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 ↩
  3. Helmut Wallach, Gender: Male, Age: 31, Birth Date: abt 1906, Departure Date: 5 Feb 1937, Port of Departure: Southampton, England, Destination Port: Montevideo, Uruguay, Ship Name: Arlanza, Shipping Line: Royal Mail Lines Limited
    Official Number: 132021, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 ↩
  4. Elli Meyer, Death Date: 18 Apr 1966, Death Place: London, England, Probate Date: 6 Jun 1966, Probate Registry: London, England, Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 ↩
  5. Siegfried Meyer, entries at Yad Vashem:  https://tinyurl.com/yazazrxa and https://tinyurl.com/y6v946fm ↩

My Vogel Cousins: From Germany to Argentina

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Before I return to the family of Meyer Goldschmidt, I have two more posts to share relating to other family members.

Today I want to share some wonderful photographs I received from my fourth cousin, once removed, Patricia, the daughter of Heinz Vogel, granddaughter of Sophie Katz and Isaak Vogel, great-granddaughter of Rosa Katzenstein and Salomon Feist Katz.

On September 10, 2019, I wrote about this family and told the story of the escape of Sophie and Isaak and their sons Heinz and Carl to Argentina from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It was due to the generosity of Patricia and also Carl Vogel’s daughter that I was able to share details of the Vogel’s story and how they rebuilt their lives in Buenos Aires as well as many wonderful photographs.

In November, Patricia shared several more wonderful family photographs.

This is a photograph of Rosa Katzenstein in 1887 when she was 28 and married to Salomon Feist Katz for six years. (I’ve edited these photographs a little to improve clarity.) Rosa was my great-grandmother Hilda Katzenstein’s second cousin, once removed. I see a resemblance to Hilda. What do you think?

Rosa Katzenstein Katz, 1887

Hilda Katzenstein Schoenthal

Taken that same year is this photograph of Salomon, who was 35 at that time. Salomon was also my cousin (and Rosa’s cousin). He was my third cousin, three times removed, through our shared ancestors, Schalum and Brendelchen Katz, my fifth great-grandparents. He was Hilda’s third cousin.

Salomon Feist Katz, 1887

Patricia also sent me images of what was on the reverse of these photographs. Can anyone read the words above their names?

UPDATE: Thank you to Cathy Meder-Dempsey for transcribing the top words as Grossmutter (grandmother) and Grossvater (grandfather).

This photograph of Rosa and Salomon’s daughter Sophie Katz and her husband Isaak Vogel was taken in July, 1948, after they had immigrated to Argentina; the inscription on the reverse appears below it. Can someone decipher what it says? The second line says “63(?) Geburtstag 10 Jul 1948.”  Sophie was born on July 10, 1885, so this would have been her 63rd birthday. She and Isaak don’t look very happy, however.

UPDATE: Thank you again to Cathy Meder-Dempsey for transcribing the first word in the top line as aufgenommen, meaning “taken.” She wasn’t certain whether the next word was “bei,’ indicating where the photo was taken, or “von,” indicating who took the photo. And the third word was not legible.

SECOND UPDATE: Thank you to Eric, who commented below and was able to read that last word. It says Aufgenommen bei meinem 63rd geburtstag or Taken at my 63rd birthday. Thanks, Eric!

Sophie Katz and Isaak Vogel, 1948

Finally, Patricia shared a photograph taken at Sophie and Isaak’s 50th anniversary celebration on June 9, 1959. That adorable little girl in the center of the photograph is Patricia herself.

In the front row from left to right are Sophie Katz Vogel, Isaak Vogel, and Rosa Hamburger, Carl Vogel’s mother-in-law. Standing behind them from left to right is Carl Vogel, Gertrud Lippman Vogel (Heinz Vogel’s wife), Heinz Vogel, and Beate Hamburger Vogel (Carl’s wife).

When I look at this photograph and see the love and the smiles that permeate it and compare it to the stern expressions on the faces of Sophie and Isaak in 1948, it makes me think of how hard their adjustment to Argentina must have been, but also how fortunate they must have felt to have left Germany behind and to have made a whole new life for themselves in their new homeland.

I am so grateful to Patricia for sharing these with me.

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie Katz Vogel and Her Family: A Brick Wall Falls in My Katzenstein Family

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Back in October 2017, I wrote about a brick wall I could not break down involving the children of my cousin Rosa Katzenstein. Rosa was my second cousin, twice removed. She was the granddaughter of Jacob Katzenstein, the older brother of my great-great-grandfather Gerson Katzenstein.

Rosa was the oldest child of Mina and Wolf Katzenstein, born on June 19, 1859, in Frankenau, Germany.

Rosa Katzenstein birth record arcinsys
HHStAW Fonds 365 No 174, p. 7

She married her third cousin, once removed, Salomon Feist Katz, son of Joseph Feist Katz and Brendel Katz of Jesberg. Rosa and Salomon were married on June 28, 1881, in Jesberg. They had four daughters, one of whom died as a child, but three survived to adulthood: Sara, Sophie, and Recha.

Marriage record of Rosa Katzenstein and Salomon Feist Katz
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Collection: Personenstandsregister Heiratsregister; Signatur: 920; Laufende Nummer: 3836

I had a great deal of trouble learning what happened to two of those daughters, Sara and Sophie. I knew that Sara had married Otto Loew and had two children and that Sophie had married Isaac Vogel, with whom she’d had two sons, Heinz and Carl, but that was all I could find. Then, with incredible help from my friend Aaron Knappstein, I learned that Sara and Sophie as well as their sister Recha had all left Germany in the 1930s and escaped to Argentina.

But I did not know what had happened to the two sons of Sophie Katz Vogel, Carl and Heinz. Now, thanks to more wonderful research done by Aaron Knappstein, I not only know more about their story, I actually have photographs of the family and am in touch with two new cousins.

In April, 2019, Aaron received an email with a packet of information and photographs from Ingo Sieloff, the director of the Borken museum. Back in 2009, Carl Vogel’s daughter had exchanged emails with Heinrich Broz, then the archivist for the town of Borken, and had sent him photographs and other documents and a history of her family. Mr. Sieloff sent all of this to Aaron, and  Aaron sent them on to me. Last week I took a chance and sent Carl’s daughter an email using the email address she’d had in 2009. That same day she responded and shared it with Heinz’s daughter, and now I have two new cousins with whom to share and exchange family information.

Here is more of the story of Sophie Katz and Isaac Vogel. Most of the information in this post came from my correspondence with their granddaughters and the documents and photographs they shared with me.

Sophie Katz married Isaac Vogel on June 9, 1909:

Sophie Katz marriage to Isaak Vogel
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Collection: Personenstandsregister Heiratsregister; Signatur: 915; Laufende Nummer: 5624

Their son Carl was born on March 30, 1910, in Borken, Germany:

Birth record of Carl Vogel

His brother Heinz was born two years later on July 18, 1912, also in Borken:

Birth record of Heinz Vogel. Courtesy of the Vogel family

During World War I Isaac Vogel served in the Germany military, fighting in France, and then was a city councilor in Borken in the 1920s.

Isaac Vogel (right). Courtesy of the Vogel family

Isaac Vogel, seated far right. Courtesy of the Vogel family

Isaac worked with his brother Moritz as a cattle trader. It was a business that Isaac and Moritz had taken over from their father Ephraim. It was a small business, but enough to support two families adequately.

Here are three photos of Carl and Heinz and their parents taken between about 1910 to about 1924 in Borken, Germany:

Heinz and Carl Vogel, c. 1910. Courtesy of the Vogel family

Sophie, Heinz, Isaac, and Carl Vogel, c. 1917. Courtesy of the Vogel family

Vogel family, c. 1924. Courtesy of the Vogel family

According to Ingo Sieloff,  the Vogel home in Borken was located at Hintergasse 125 and included a house and a stable; the house was 105 square meters or about 1130 square feet in area. It appears to be larger than that in this photograph:

Hintergasse 125, Borken. Courtesy of the Vogel family

I don’t know when this photograph was taken or the identities of the people standing in front.

As a child, Carl Vogel was an avid reader and a good student, and his parents decided to send him to grammar school in Kassel. During the week he lived with his uncle Moritz Vogel. Carl graduated from high school and then studied at the Philosophical Faculty of Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. He also attended lectures at Rabbinerseminar and worked as a religion teacher.

These three photographs are labeled “Schule,” one with year 1921. I can find Carl in the Gymnasium photograph below (the third one); he is the young man standing fourth from the left in the back row. I assume that either Carl or Heinz is somewhere in the other two photos. Can you find them? I have guesses, but am not sure.

Courtesy of the Vogel family

Courtesy of the Vogel family

Courtesy of the Vogel family

Heinz Vogel was also a very talented boy, but his parents could not afford to send both boys to high school. Instead, Heinz completed his apprenticeship as a retail merchant in Kassel at the Tietz department store.

Until 1933, the family lived a normal life. They saw themselves as Jews and as good Germans. They lived a quiet life, although there were occasional verbal anti-Semitic attacks .  But once the Nazis came to power, the Vogel cattle business suffered because farmers were not allowed to do business with Jews. Heinz Vogel also found his livelihood affected; although he was considered the best salesman in the store, he was released from his job. He then completed an apprenticeship in a practical trade in Frankfurt to prepare for emigration.

Carl read Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” and recognized that the family needed to leave Germany. Sophie’s sister Recha Katz Goldschmidt had already left  for Argentina by 1932 after her husband Julius was beaten by the Nazis.

Carl and Heinz prepared to emigrate to Palestine, but then decided to go to Argentina since they already had relatives living there. Heinz and Carl first emigrated in 1935, and one year later their parents Isaac and Sophie and Sophie’s mother Rosa Katzenstein Katz followed. They sold their home in Borken for 9113 Reichsmarks. One source says that there were 2.5 Reichsmarks to a US dollar during World War II, so the price of the house would have been about $3,645 in US currency or about $48,000 in today’s dollars, according to this inflation calculator. They settled in Buenos Aires.

In Argentina, Carl and Heinz had to start their lives all over. But the family adapted well to their life in Argentina. The philanthropic association Asociación Filantrópica Israelita or Jüdischer Hillfsverein helped the newcomers adjust to their new country. In Buenos Aires, Isaac and Sophie continued to have a traditional Jewish home and went regularly to the liberal synagogue founded by German Jews; services were conducted in German and Hebrew and in later years, also in Spanish. Isaac and Sophie never learned Spanish, but it did not matter because they were living amidst other German Jews who had escaped from the Nazis. Isaac also tutored boys for their bar mitzvahs.

In 1943 Carl Vogel married Beate Hamburger from Frankfurt; Carl was very active and well known in the Jewish community and served as a deputy rabbi and as a bar mitzvah tutor. He also taught German and Latin. Beate also was a teacher; she gave private instruction in German and English. Carl and Beate had two children.

Heinz Vogel married Gertrud Lippman from Ludwigshafen in 1943. They had one child. Heinz started work in Argentina as an industrial worker in the meat business. Then he became a white collar worker in a big Argentina-owned multinational firm called Bunge & Born. For his job he was required to travel all over the world, including a six-month stay in India in 1954. He became the General Manager of the Jute department and traveled many times to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Although Heinz lacked the formal education his brother Carl had received in Germany, his daughter described him as a “very cultured and interesting person.” She said that her parents lived a secular life and had friends from many different backgrounds; their connection to the synagogue was limited to Yom Kippur and lifecycle events for family and friends. Heinz’s daughter also told me that Heinz was very proud to be an Argentine citizen and that when he received a diploma from the Argentine government on the fiftieth anniversary of his becoming a citizen, he was very emotional.

Isaac Vogel died on April 16, 1960, in Buenos Aires;1 his wife Sophie died five years later on May 5, 1965.2  Carl died in 1981, and Heinz in 2005.

I feel so fortunate to have found the granddaughters of Sophie and Isaac and to have learned so much more about the courage and determination of Sophie, Isaac, Carl, and Heinz, who all started their lives over in a new place after being forced to escape from Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

 

 

  1. https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0234069 ↩
  2. https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/jowbr.php?rec=J_ARGENTIN_0234085 ↩