Tag Archives: Germany

Eugen Baer’s Escape from Germany, Part III: The “Lost” Luggage

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As we saw, Eugen and his family were unable to get to the US on their original German ship, the Hansa, because Hitler recalled all ships leaving Germany in late August, 1939. In addition, their luggage and other possessions were confiscated by Germany in Hamburg.

As the German Maritime Museum explains:

When the war began in September 1939, civilian shipping was largely discontinued. Freight that had not yet been loaded remained in the warehouses, and ships that had already left were ordered back to Germany. From spring 1940, the Gestapo confiscated these unshipped goods in order to “utilize” their contents and allow the proceeds to go to the German Reich. The emigrants’ private possessions were publicly auctioned off to the highest bidder on behalf of the Oberfinanzdirektion (Chief Finance Office).

The LostLift database maintained by the German Maritime Museum includes a document in Eugen Baer’s file (as sorted and translated by Google AI) that listed the inventory of the family’s belongings that at some point had been packed up and brought to Hamburg to be shipped to the United States:1

  • Item 1: 1 Large moving crate (1 Kiste)
  • Item 2: 2 Bed frames (2 Patentrahmen)
  • Item 3: 1 Chair (1 Stuhl)
  • Item 60: 5 Laundry/washing boards (5 Wäscheplatten)
  • Item 63: A collection of picture frames and 3 family pictures (1 Partie Bilderrahmen / 3 Bilder)

Family Footwear

  • Item 7: 1 Pair of ladies’ house shoes/slippers (1 Paar Damen-Hausschuhe)
  • Item 8: 1 Pair of men’s leather boots (1 Paar Herrenstiefel)
  • Item 9: 1 Pair of men’s shoes (1 Paar Herrenschuhe)
  • Item 10: 1 Pair of white ladies’ dress shoes (1 Paar weisse Damenschuhe)
  • Items 11–14: 4 Additional pairs of assorted ladies’ shoes (4 Paar Damenschuhe)
  • Items 15–16: 2 Pairs of children’s shoes belonging to little Adolf (2 Paar Kinderschuhe)

Eugen’s Clothing & Linens

  • Item 4: 3 Pieces of men’s winter underwear (3 Teile Herrenunterwäsche)
  • Item 39: 3 Men’s nightgowns (3 Herren-Nachthemden)
  • Item 40: 5 Men’s nightgowns (5 Herren-Nachthemden)
  • Item 42: 4 Pairs of men’s underpants, noted as mended/patched (4 Herrenunterhosen, teils gestopft u. geflickt)
  • Item 43: 3 Men’s undershirts (3 Herrenunterjacken)
  • Item 47: 3 Men’s dress shirts (3 Oberhemden)
  • Item 48: 2 Men’s dress shirts (2 Oberhemden)
  • Item 68: 1 Pair of men’s trousers (1 Herrenhose)
  • Item 78: Eugen’s heavy men’s winter coat (1 Herrenwintermantel)
  • Item 79: Eugen’s men’s overcoat/ulster (1 Herrenulster)

Hedwig’s Clothing

  • Item 5: 3 Ladies’ scarves (3 Schals)
  • Item 18: 1 Ladies’ pullover sweater (1 Damen-Pullover)
  • Item 22: 3 Ladies’ aprons (3 Damenschürzen)
  • Item 24: 1 Ladies’ skirt (1 Damenrock)
  • Item 25: 1 Unfinished/in-progress handmade ladies’ wool skirt (1 unfertiger Damenwollrock)
  • Items 26–27: 6 Additional ladies’ aprons (6 Damenschürzen)
  • Item 29: 1 Black smock/house dress (1 schwarzer Kittel)
  • Item 30: 1 Traditional German Dirndl dress (1 Dirndlkleid)
  • Item 31: 1 Ladies’ beach/sun suit (1 Strandanzug für Damen)
  • Item 34: 4 Pieces of assorted ladies’ underwear (4 Teile Damenwäsche)
  • Items 36–37: 4 Ladies’ nightgowns (4 Damen-Nachthemden)
  • Item 44: 3 Pieces of ladies’ undergarments (3 Teile Damenunterwäsche)
  • Item 45: 2 Pairs of ladies’ wool bloomers/panties (2 wollne Damenschlüpfer)
  • Item 66: 1 Ladies’ jacket (1 Damenjacke)
  • Items 69–71: 3 Matching sets of a ladies’ blouse and skirt (3 Bluse, 1 Rock)
  • Item 72: 2 Ladies’ blouses (2 Blusen)
  • Item 73: 1 Ladies’ blouse (1 Bluse)
  • Item 74: 1 Ladies’ dress (1 Damenkleid)
  • Item 77: 1 Black ladies’ winter coat (1 schwarzer Damenmantel)

Adolf’s Clothing

  • Item 20: Adolf’s children’s athletic training suit (1 Kinder-Trainingsanzug)
  • Item 32: 2 Pairs of children’s pants (2 Kinderhosen)
  • Item 38: 1 Child’s morning robe (1 Kindermorgenrock)
  • Item 58: 2 Pieces of children’s underwear and 1 child’s vest (2 Teile Kinderwäsche / 1 Pollunder)
  • Item 64: Adolf’s boy’s raincoat (1 Knaben-Regenmantel)
  • Item 67: 1 Child’s jacket/blazer (1 Kinderjackett)
  • Item 80: 1 Child’s set of pajamas (1 Kinder-Schlafanzug)

Household Textiles & Valuables

  • Item 6: 1 Real cat fur blanket/throw (1 Katzenfell)
  • Item 23: 2 Wool blankets (2 Wolldecken)
  • Item 41: 1 Tablecloth (1 Tischdecke)
  • Item 49: 6 Hand towels (6 Handtücher)
  • Item 50: 5 Kitchen dish towels (5 Geschirrtücher)
  • Item 51: 2 Bed comforter covers (2 Bettbezüge)
  • Item 52: 1 Bath towel (1 Badelaken)
  • Item 54: 1 Bed sheet (1 Bettlaken)
  • Items 55–56: 6 Pillowcases (6 Kissenbezüge)
  • Item 57: 7 Hand towels (7 Handtücher)
  • Item 61: 1 Handbag containing a 26-piece family silverware set (1 Tasche m. 26 Teilen Besteck)

There were also several items of furniture, including bed frames and a chair.

But these items never made it out of Germany.  They were seized by the Nazis in Hamburg after Eugen and his family were turned back to port in August 1939, and later auctioned off, the proceeds being kept by the Nazi government.

According to another document in Eugen Baer’s file in the LostLift database, on November 19, 1942, the government ordered a bailiff in Hamburg to auction off Eugen Baer’s confiscated possessions; the bailiff reported back on May 6, 1943, that the goods had been sold at auction for 655.50 Reichmarks  (RM) with an additional 15% added as a “buyer’s premium,” bringing the total proceeds to 753.85 RM.2 One calculation indicates that that would be worth almost $6000 today. After paying fees to the bailiff, the rest of the proceeds went back to the Nazi government in Hamburg.3

When Eugen filed a claim for restitution against the German government in 1958, he claimed compensation for all these items and the cost of shipping them from Bad Nauheim to Hamburg as well as compensation for other losses:4

  1. The cost of the tickets he had purchased for his family to travel to the United States from Hamburg in 1939 from HAPAG, the Hamburg shipping company, which Eugen claimed he had purchased for 838 RM, which, according to one calculation, would be worth about $8000 today;
  2. The value of debts he had never been able to collect; and
  3. The value of the furniture and household belongings that had been destroyed in Griedel as well as some jewelry that had been stolen.

The German government contested these various claims, but in the end provided compensation for the unused tickets and the goods that had been shipped to Hamburg and later sold at auction, but not for the items damaged by the Nazis in Griedel nor for the stolen jewelry and linens and other items that Eugen had lost. He was awarded 1200 DM in 1961. Accounting for inflation, that would be worth about $3350 dollars in 2026.5

Given that the auctioneer sold the shipped goods for what would now be worth about $6000 and that the unused tickets would be worth about $8000 in today’s US dollars and that the judgment did not include many other valuable items that the Baer family lost, the award obviously did not cover even their material losses.

Having endured so much persecution and abuse—their home vandalized and possessions stolen, their ship to safety being called back, Eugen being sent to a camp in France– no amount of money could compensate them for all the emotional, psychological, and other intangible losses and harm they’d suffered. But fortunately by the end of 1939, Eugen, Hedwig, and Adolf were safe in America along with all of Eugen’s siblings except Julius, who, as we saw, survived the war in France and Switzerland.

  1. LostLift database, German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History, “Removal good: Eugen Baer” (source: Staatsarchiv Hamburg 214-1_124, Baer, Eugen, Bad Nauheim, Bekleidung/Hausrat, Lgb. C 12/43, 1942–1943), https://lostlift.dsm.museum/en/detail/collection/a2f6b9b1-b72f-4649-9389-8d00c303527d. ↩
  2. LostLift database, German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History, “Removal good: Eugen Baer,” https://lostlift.dsm.museum/en/detail/collection/a2f6b9b1-b72f-4649-9389-8d00c303527d (last modified: 2 Aug. 2026). ↩
  3. RM 753 is converted here using the official 1943 exchange rate of approximately RM 2.50 = $1 (Marcuse, “Historical US Dollars to German Marks Currency Conversion”), then adjusted for inflation using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator. The resulting figure of almost $6000 is an approximation. ↩
  4. StAHH 213-13 Nr. 24475 (Z 24657), Eugen Baer, Anmeldung, 24 Feb. 1958. ↩
  5. Staatsarchiv Hamburg, 314-15 Oberfinanzpräsident, Nr. 885 (Bescheid, 27 March 1961). There was also an award of accumulated interest of 4% a year not included in this figure. ↩

Eugen Baer’s Escape from Germany, Part II: The Cancelled Ship

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We saw last time that Eugen Baer and his family left Griedel for Bad Nauheim and were in Bad Nauheim until August 1, 1939. According to their ship manifests, his wife Hedwig and son Adolf had visas for the US from the consulate in Stuttgart dated August 11, 1939, ten days later. But Eugen did not obtain his visa until October. And yet even Hedwig and Adolf did not sail for the US until November and Eugen not until December.

This had me perplexed. What could have held them up? Why didn’t they travel together? I had several theories. Maybe Eugen was sick. Maybe he had a harder time getting a visa. Maybe there were quotas for men that were different from women. Theories but no answers. I didn’t know why Eugen’s visa was dated so much later than that of his wife and son or why he didn’t get a ticket on the same ship as Hedwig and Adolf. Maybe there was no more room on that ship, maybe he needed to tie up loose ends before he could leave.

One thing my general research indicated was that none of them could have received a visa from the US consulate unless they already had tickets on a ship to the US.1 That meant that by August 11, 1939, at least Hedwig and Adolf and perhaps even Eugen already had purchased their tickets. And yet they didn’t arrive in the US for months.

And then I found a 2020 obituary for their son Adolf that revealed part of the story. It included this information:

Ed [as he was known in the US] was born on January 7, 1930 in Greidel [sic], Germany, and immigrated to New York City in 1939 with his mother, Hedwig. They settled in Baltimore, MD in 1940 when his father, Eugene, was able to join them after being separated from his family and held falsely in a French internment camp in Falaise.

So Eugen had been separated from his wife and son, but when? And why in France?

Only when I received the documents relating to the compensation claim that Eugen filed after the war was I able to put together more of their story. In detailing his emigration costs as part of that claim, Eugen claimed in part, “2½ tourist-class passages (per attached invoice) RM 1,163.12. These tickets were not used, since the ship was recalled before Southampton.”2

 

The file from Germany also included a confirmation of the purchase of these tickets from Hamburg-Amerika Linie, otherwise referred to as HAPAG, the shipping company from which Eugen and his family originally planned to travel to New York. This meant that at that time the ship was to sail in August, 1939, Eugen also must have had a visa from the US Consulate in Stuttgart, likely obtained the same time that Hedwig and Adolf received theirs.

HHStAW Abt. 518 Nr. 23400, Norddeutscher Lloyd/Hamburg-Amerika Linie Bestätigung, 1 Aug. 1939, p. 22.

But that ship was recalled, as Eugen wrote, because two weeks after they obtained their visas on August 11, 1939, Hitler ordered all German commercial ships to return to Germany or a neutral port, and no German ships could leave Germany after that date.3

This explains why despite having visas in August, Hedwig and Adolf did not leave until months later. Their original plan to leave failed once the ship had to return to port. The family thus had to purchase new tickets from a non-German shipping company sailing out of a non-German port. As Eugen wrote:4

We consequently had to stay in France. My wife and son could only continue on with the “Manhattan” after 3 months. I myself was interned and could only travel on 6 Dec. with a French ship, the “Oregon,” arriving here only on 28.12.39. These passages were paid in advance by my brother-in-law from New York and I had to repay him:
1½ passages from Verdun, approx. $175.—
1 [passage] from Le Havre, approx. $150.—
Stay in France for 3 months cost approx. $500.—

But when had they gotten to France? And where did they stay? The compensation claim file included a statement from Julius Baer, Eugen’s brother, who, as you may recall, had left Germany in 1936 and settled with his family in Molsheim, France, in the Alsace region. Julius wrote:

My brother Eugen came 8 days before the outbreak of war, with his family (wife and son) to us in Molsheim, in order to emigrate to America from here. He had already paid for the ship tickets on the “Hansa” and wanted to board the ship with his family at the port of Cherbourg. Due to the war events the ship did not sail, and so he traveled back from Cherbourg to Paris. He himself was held as a foreigner in a camp until the end of 1939, and his wife and son were sent to Bordeaux and Limoges. Since all three had no financial means and had not anticipated these events, I of course, as the only brother living here, had to provide for their support. I lent them, successively, sums amounting to the equivalent of 500 dollars.[translation by Claude.ai]

HHStAW Abt. 518 Nr. 23400, Jules Baer, eidesstattliche Versicherung, 3 June 1957, p. 47

World War II started on September 1, 1939, and eight days before September 1, 1939, was August 24, 1939. A separate confirmation from HAPAG indicates that August 24, 1939 was the day that Eugen, Helga, and Adolf were supposed to embark from Hamburg:

We hereby confirm that Mr. Eugen Baer and family traveled with our former ship S.S. HANSA on 24 August 1939 from Hamburg, and that this steamer was recalled one day after departure due to the threat of war, so that the family had to withdraw from the voyage. As is further evident from our records, the family’s assets were confiscated pursuant to an order of the Chief of the Security Police and the SD dated 2 November 1942.

HHStAW Abt. 518 Nr. 23400, Hamburg-Amerika Linie to Regierungspräsident Darmstadt, 25 April 1957, p. 52.

Thus, Eugen and family went to Molsheim after their ship was turned back, leaving behind their possessions. I cannot explain why Julius said they were sailing from Cherbourg and HAPAG says Hamburg, but as we will see, their possessions were confiscated in Hamburg. More on that to come in my next post.

We know from their ship manifest that Hedwig and Adolf were eventually able to get tickets on the US-owned ship, the SS Manhattan, and left from Le Verdun, France on November 7, 1939. But Eugen was left behind. I am hoping to get more information about his arrest and time in the French concentration camp, but for now we know that Eugen was later able to get a new visa to travel to the US in October and sailed out of France in December. On December 28, 1939, he joined his family in the United States.

 

 

  1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Immigration to the United States, 1933–41,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/immigration-to-the-united-states-1933-41. ↩
  2. Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden (HHStAW), Abt. 518, Nr. 23400 (Wiedergutmachungsakte Eugen Baer, 1954–1960) eidesstattliche Erklärung (emigration costs), 4 Feb. 1957, p. 21. [hereinafter cited as ” HHStAW Abt. 518 Nr. 23400, Eugen Baer” with the appropriate title and page number in the file.] ↩
  3. See, e.g., “The S.S. Bremen: Last Voyage of a Luxury Liner,” Cruising the Past, https://www.cruiselinehistory.com/the-s-s-bremen-last-voyage-of-a-luxury-liner/; also, see the Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung 1939–1945 (KTB Skl), the official daily war diary of the German Naval High Command, at https://uboatdata.ussleahy.com/SKL/1/Trans/wardiarygermanna11939germ.pdf ↩
  4. See Note 2, supra. ↩

Arthur Baer Leaves Germany

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By the end of July 1938, only two of the eight Baer siblings were left in Germany: Arthur and Eugen. Five (Klara, Selma, Jenny, Paula, and Meyer) were in the US, and Julius was in France. This post will tell more about what I’ve learned about Arthur Baer and a correction to what I once thought.

As I wrote earlier here, Arthur was eventually able to escape from Germany to England, but I was wrong when I wrote that he had been arrested after Kristallnacht. Hanno Muller’s entry for Arthur Baer in his book about the Jewish families in Butzbach1 states:

He was born in Griedel, married in Nieder-Weisel, and was a merchant (ready-made clothing business together with his brother Julius Bär in Butzbach at Wetzlarerstraße 31 and Römerstraße 27; F[ather]: Adolf Bär in [Butzbach]). He was a member of the Griedel gymnastics club (Turnverein Griedel) (WOLF, 1998 p. 14) and was a witness to the death of Berta Kaufma[nn] Speyer, who died in his apartment. During the night of September 16 to 17, his house was defaced with the word “Jude” (Jew) written in oil paint (WOLF, 1988 p. 49). Best men (wedding witnesses) were Leopold Krä[mer] from Nieder-Weisel and Julius Bär from Butzbach. The family relocated on June 27, 1938, to Bad N[auheim], thereafter to England, and later to the USA (WOLF, 1988 p. 55). The wife was born in Nieder[-Weisel], F[ather]: Adolf Krämer II. The son was born in the Johanniter Hospital in Nieder-Weisel.

I wrote to the archivist in Butzbach to see if they would scan those two pages (49 and 55) from the source Muller referred to, that is, Dieter Wolf’s book Zur Geschichte der Juden in Butzbach (On the History of the Jews in Butzbach), which was published in 1988. I was hoping that those pages would clarify exactly when Arthur Baer’s house was vandalized and when they left Bad Nauheim for England.

The archivist, Gerd Becker, graciously sent me the scans of those two pages. 2 On page 49, it lists events for 1935 and says as to September 16/17 the following:

16./17. September:

During this night, the house at Wetzlarerstraße 31 is defaced with the oil paint inscription “Jude” (Jew); the local group leader (Ortsgruppenleiter) of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) intends to point out the cessation of such “isolated actions” (Einzelaktionen) at the next members’ meeting. – Smearings of antisemitic content are also frequently applied to other Jewish houses and businesses at night.

Wetzlarerstraße 31 was the same address Muller cited as the location of the clothing business owned by Arthur Baer and his brother Julius. It is also the address given for Arthur on p. 55 of Wolf’s book, which confirms that Arthur and his family left Butzbach on June 27, 1938.3

This residence card from Butzbach further confirms that they left on June 27, 1938.

Stadtarchiv Butzbach, Butzbach, Germany. Bestände des Einwohnermeldeamts: Meldekarten der jüdischen Einwohner. Registration card for Arthur Bär (born 28 August 1905), recording residential changes and family details from 1929 to 1938. Digital Images 1 & 2.

But did they go directly to Bad Nauheim and when did they leave Bad Nauheim? Gerd Becker suggested I contact someone in Bad Nauheim for that information, and I wrote to the archivist there, but he never wrote back. Now I have written to another person and am hoping that I will get a response.

For now, I know that Arthur and his family were in Germany until at least June 27, 1938, when they left Butzbach. And it seems that they were in England by September 29, 1939, when the England and Wales Register was taken and compiled.

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

The marked-out name underneath Arthur and Erna’s names must have been for their son Erich; names of those who were minors in 1939 were covered over for privacy reasons when these records were released.

As we will see, Arthur Baer and his family later went to the United States and joined the relatives who were already there.

  1. Hanno Muller, Familienbuch Butzbach Band V: Judenfamilien in Butzbach und seinen Stadtteilen (Family Book Butzbach Volume 5: Jewish Families in Butzbach and its Districts). Translation by Google AI. ↩
  2. Dieter Wolf, Vor 50 Jahren brannten die Synagogen: Aus sieben Jahrhunderten jüdischen Lebens in Butzbach und Umgebung (Butzbach: Stadtarchiv und Museum Butzbach, 1988), 49, entry for 16./17. September 1935. Translated by Google AI. ↩
  3. Dieter Wolf, Vor 50 Jahren brannten die Synagogen: Aus sieben Jahrhunderten jüdischen Lebens in Butzbach und Umgebung (Butzbach: Stadtarchiv und Museum Butzbach, 1988), 55, entry for 27 June 1938. ↩

Julius Baer and His Family: Running for Their Lives

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To learn what next happened to Julius Baer and his family after Julius was released from the Osthofen prison camp in March 1934, I relied on a combination of a biography written by his son Arnold in 2005 that I obtained from the archives in Darmstadt,  a residence registration I received from the archives in Butzbach, and a collection of documents I obtained from the Swiss archives detailing the family’s experiences in Switzerland.

The Butzbach residence registration indicates that Julius left that town for Molsheim, France, on either February 19 or April 19, of 1936. Is that a 4 or a 2 with an ink blob over it?

Stadtarchiv Butzbach, Butzbach, Germany. Bestände des Einwohnermeldeamts: Meldekarten der jüdischen Einwohner. Registration card for Julius Bär (born 15 May 1900), recording residential changes and family details.

According to the biography written by Arnold Baer in 2005, “In early 1936 our family emigrated to Molsheim (Bas-Rhin), in France, [a town in the Alsace region right near the border with Germany]. There my father opened a new shop, much larger than the one in Butzbach, in partnership with my [maternal] grandfather, Markus Wertheimer. Shortly afterward, German Jews abroad were “denaturalized” (stripped of citizenship). We were now stateless (apatrides).”1

Arnold wrote that his father was twice interned by the French as an enemy alien, first in the fall of 1938 after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and then again after World War II started in September, 1939. Both times Julius had in fact volunteered to fight with the French army against Germany but nevertheless was treated as an enemy—even though Germany no longer considered him to be a citizen. The family was truly stateless— neither German nor French. 2

After the war broke out, the French soon ordered an emergency evacuation of the Alsace region because of its proximity to the German border. Thus, Julius’ wife and sons were forced to leave their home and move to the southwestern region of France. Along with other residents of the Alsace region, Erna, Arnold, and Rolf were resettled in Périgueux, the capital of the Dordogne province in France.3

Meanwhile, Julius was in an internment camp. As Arnold recounted:4

The French treated the internees — Jews and non-Jews alike — equally badly. After a few months he was assigned to the British allied army, in Nantes, a port city at the mouth of the Loire. His role was as a prestataire, a kind of labor unit. The English, compared with the French gendarmes, behaved rather more like gentlemen.

In May 1940 the Germans overran Holland and Belgium and pushed into northern France. The French army was overrun. The English army left Nantes, but left the prestataires their trucks and food, with the advice to flee south as far as possible. Their column, led by a French non-commissioned officer, reached Toulouse — where we, his family (who had fled from Alsace since May 15, 1940), found him again by chance.

The column continued south, almost to the Spanish border, and we followed. There the column was disbanded and my father was demobilized.

The family, now reunited, lived in Perigueux together, but Arnold wrote that starting in November 1941 his father Julius was forced to join a group of foreign workers (Groupement de Travailleurs Étrangers). He wrote, “There, one either had to go into a camp and be assigned to forced labor, or had to be able to prove that one had a contract for ‘useful’ work. As a result, [my father] hired himself out to various farmers, having to report for work each morning and being able to return home in the evening.”5

The documents I received from Switzerland corroborate the fact that Julius was part of this foreign workers group. The document below, date stamped February 9, 1942, by the French Ministry of Labor, was Julius Baer’s registration card with the foreign worker’s group.

Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgueux, France. Series M/W: Groupements de Travailleurs Étrangers (GTE). Group 665/647 (Chancelade), Foreign Worker Identity Card for Jules Baer (Registration No. 665.223), dated 9 February 1942.

Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgueux, France. Series M/W: Groupements de Travailleurs Étrangers (GTE). Group 665/647 (Chancelade), Foreign Worker Identity Card for Jules Baer (Registration No. 665.223), dated 9 February 1942.

The document, as translated by Google, reads as follows:

Groupement No.: 1

Groupe No.: 665 / 647

Identity Card for Foreign Workers

Last Name: BAER (Registration No. 665.223)

First Name: Jules

Date and Place of Birth: 15-5-1900 in Griedel, Germany

Nationality: German

Profession: Merchant (commerçant)

Emergency Contact: Wife, 4 rue Miséricorde, Périgueux

Physical Description (Signalement)

Height: 1.65 m (approx. 5’5″)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Gray

Nose: Medium

Moustache: [Blank]

Complexion: Swarthy (tanned / mat)

The text at the bottom reads, “The foreigner must always carry this card. If called upon to travel alone, he must carry a movement order to be endorsed by the Gendarmerie upon arrival.”

Erna also was required to have an identity card:

Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgueux, France. Series M: Cartes d’identité d’étrangers—Non-Travailleurs. Identity Card No. 40-CK94452 for Erna Baer (née Wertheimer), issued 24 June 1942.

Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgueux, France. Series M: Cartes d’identité d’étrangers—Non-Travailleurs. Identity Card No. 40-CK94452 for Erna Baer (née Wertheimer), issued 24 June 1942.

Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgueux, France. Series M: Cartes d’identité d’étrangers—Non-Travailleurs. Identity Card No. 40-CK94452 for Erna Baer (née Wertheimer), issued 24 June 1942.

She is identified as a non-worker. The card includes identifying information and facts about Erna and Julius as well as the names and birth dates and places of their two sons.

Arnold Baer, who was just eleven years old at the time, detailed what happened next:6

In July 1942, the Gestapo official responsible for Jewish affairs, Theo Dannecker, accompanied by the police director for Jewish questions, Schweblin, made an inspection tour through “unoccupied” southern France, and was also seen in Périgueux. Immediately afterward, around August 24, large-scale raids were carried out by the Vichy authorities. Father and Mother went into hiding for a time. Whoever was caught was transported to a French holding camp and later deported eastward toward Eastern Europe.

It was at this point in time that Julius and Erna sought refuge in Switzerland. According to the documents I received from the Swiss archives, the family received permission on October 2, 1942, to enter Switzerland and arrived on October 22, 1942, but illegally.

Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485. Emigrant Bureau, Internal Memorandum to Dr. Schuhmacher regarding early illegal entry, 23 October 1942.

[Translation by Google]

To: Mr. Dr. Schuhmacher, Police Department

For your information: We authorized entry into Switzerland for the Baer family on October 2, 1942. Nevertheless, they entered illegally on October 22. Canton Obwalden and we are prepared to grant a tolerance permit, especially since the family’s financial support is taken care of.

— Emigrant Bureau, October 23, 1942

The date is particularly noteworthy because as of August 1942, the Swiss government closed its borders and refused to accept any more Jewish refugees, a decision for which it has since been harshly criticized.7 Arnold Baer wrote that they had family in Switzerland who vouched for the Baer family and helped them get a residence permit and also later provided support to the family.8 I don’t know who those relatives were as Arnold did not name them, but since almost all of Julius’ siblings were in the United States or England by 1942, it was none of them.

Although the family had received permission on October 2 to enter Switzerland, their entry into Switzerland on October 22, 1942, was deemed illegal by the Swiss presumably because they did not cross the border at an established checkpoint. Even Arnold Baer, in his biography of his father, admitted that the family was smuggled across the border illegally.9 Given that the Swiss were generally not allowing refugees into the country, Julius and Erna may have been advised to avoid the checkpoints for fear of being turned away.

Julius and the family were held in an “Auffanglager,” a military camp where refugees who entered the country illegally were retained and interrogated.10. On November 25, 1942, Julius submitted an application for a residence permit.11 According to documents from the Swiss archives, on December 9, 1942, the police in the canton of Obwalden were willing to grant the Baer family permission to reside in Engelberg in that canton, and the Swiss federal police then asked the military whether that was permissible from a military standpoint.12

The military, however, was opposed to granting the Baer family permission.13 Nevertheless, because of various bureaucratic errors and lack of oversight, the family was able to move to Engelberg in late 1942 and safely remained there for the duration of the war.14

After the war, the family returned to France. In his biography of his father, Arnold Baer wrote:15

In May ’45 we went back to Molsheim (Alsace). The house and shop had been occupied by Alsatian “Aryans,” who had bought the “right” to do so from the German Nazis for little money. Furniture had likewise been “sold” in the same manner, or “stolen” by German officials. It took several months of legal proceedings before we could move back into our house. Some furniture could be recovered. Father then rebuilt the business.

As I was reading through these files and those from Darmstadt detailing the arrest and imprisonment of Julius in 1934, I could feel my own heart beating faster. I can only begin to imagine the constant fear and anxiety this family felt with two young boys, first, fighting the 1934 arrest, then escaping to Molsheim, only to have Julius treated as an enemy of France. Then the family was evacuated from Molsheim to southern France for safety, but ultimately had to leave there for Switzerland after the Gestapo arrived. Imagine being smuggled through the Alps into Switzerland in 1942 with two boys, not knowing whether the Swiss would let you enter. And once there, the family was once again detained, forced to stay in a camp and wait to see if they could get permission to live in Engelberg where they had family. Even after the war ended and they could return to Molsheim, they had to live through the heartbreak and aggravation of losing their home there.

And yet. Julius persisted. He got back their home. He rebuilt his business. And his family survived. In fact, they more than survived; they thrived. Arnold ended the 2005 biography of his father with these heartwarming words:16

My parents now have 8 grandchildren, of whom 3 bear the family name BAER. 7 of them live in Israel. These grandchildren together have 26 great-grandchildren, of whom 25 are in Israel.

My parents both died in 1981. They are buried in Rosenwiller (Bas-Rhin).

May their souls be bound up in the bundle of the living (after Samuel 2, 25:29). May their memory be a source of blessing…

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Arnold Baer, “My Father Julius Baer (1900–1981),” Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Bestand R 12 P, Nr. 7975HStAD Collection R 12 P No. 7975 (hereinafter referred to as “Arnold Baer’s biography of Julius Baer.”) Translation by Claude.ai. ↩
  2. Ibid. ↩
  3. Ibid. For more information about the French evacuation and relocation of the residents of the Alsace region, see here, here, and here. ↩
  4. Arnold Baer’s biography of Julius Baer. Although Julius used the name Jules in France and is referred to under that name in French records, for clarity’s sake I will refer to him as Julius throughout. That also appears to be his son Arnold’s preference, given that he called his biography of his father “My Father Julius Baer.” ↩
  5. Ibid. ↩
  6. Ibid. ↩
  7. See, e.g., this discussion at Yad Vashem about the Swiss during the Holocaust as well as this discussion by historian Chelsea Sambells. In addition, this 1999 New York Times article discusses the criticism Switzerland faced for this decision. ↩
  8. Arnold Baer biography of Julius Baer ↩
  9. Ibid. ↩
  10. See Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485. Emigrant Bureau, Internal Memorandum to Dr. Schuhmacher regarding early illegal entry, 23 October 1942. ↩
  11. Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485. Police Directorate of Obwalden, Decision Form for Settlement, Residence, or Tolerance Permit (EFP 860979 B), 25 November 1942. ↩
  12. Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485 / Sm. Letter from the Chief of the Police Division to Field Post No. 5397, Inquiry regarding military security clearance for Julius Baer, 9 December 1942. ↩
  13. Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485. Swiss Army Command (Armeekommando), Security Services Division, Official Rejection of Tolerance Permit for Julius Baer, 9 January 1943. ↩
  14. Swiss Federal Archives (BAR), Bern, Switzerland. Federal Alien Police, Dossier N 6485. Federal Alien Police Emigrant Bureau, Case Review and Internal Audit Report regarding Baer’s unregulated stay in Engelberg, 5 February 1944. ↩
  15. Arnold Baer biography of Julius Baer ↩
  16. Arnold Baer, Biography of Julius Baer. Arnold Baer died on August 9, 2007, two years after writing this biography of his father. For more about him and his life, see here. ↩

The “Case” Against Julius Baer: A Page out of Kafka’s The Trial

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It’s been several weeks since I last posted about my Baer cousins, the children of Therese Spier and Eisenmann Adolf Baer and great-great-grandchildren of Sprintz Blumenfeld, the sister of my three-times great-grandmother, Breine Blumenfeld. I had an incredible couple of weeks with my own children and grandchildren and a chance to re-energize myself for more genealogy research. Discussing my latest novel, The Women Before Us, with my daughter has made me realize once again how important it is to preserve the stories and memories of our ancestors.

And so now I will return to the story of Julius Baer, the youngest child of Therese Spier Baer, and his experiences during the Nazi era.

In my last post I confessed that I had gotten myself into a deep hole by confusing my cousins Julius and Arthur Baer with two unrelated men with the same names and concluding that both of my cousins had been arrested after Kristallnacht in 1938 and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. But thanks to Bryan Knobloch, who shared with me pages from Hanno Muller’s book Familienbuch Butzbach Band V: Judenfamilien in Butzbach und seinen Stadtteilen (Family Book Butzbach Volume 5: Jewish Families in Butzbach and its Districts), I discovered that mistake and learned that my Julius Baer was not even in Germany in 1938.

Muller’s note on Julius Baer indicated that he had owned a ready-made clothing store in Butzbach, Germany, and that he was “said to have been a communist and was brought to the Osthofen concentration camp near Worms in February 1933 together with Josef Oppenheimer.”  The note further reported that Julius and his family had left Germany for France in 1936, then fled to Switzerland in 1942, returning to France after World War II ended.

Having made one mistake, I wanted to be sure I was more careful before relying on Muller’s report, and so I wrote to the Hesse Archives in Darmstadt for documentation of Julius’ arrest and imprisonment in Osthofen and to Switzerland for documentation of his time there during the war. I also wrote to France for information about Julius’ life in France and asked a cousin in France for further help in that country. I’ve received the documents from Darmstadt and from Switzerland and will now report on some of the German documents.1

The documents from Germany are, of course, in German, so I used claude.ai to translate them. Since most of them were typed, not handwritten, the translations are likely accurate. Rather than post the entire text and images, I will summarize the important points and quote and include the appropriate images of the documents where appropriate.

I immediately noticed two errors in the Muller note about Julius Baer and his arrest and imprisonment. First, it took place in 1934, not 1933, and second, he was arrested with a man named Julius Ehrlich, not Joseph Oppenheimer, as named in the Muller note. Both Julius Ehrlich and Julius Baer were charged with making disparaging remarks about the SA leader Ernst Roehm on January 5, 1934, in Ehrlich’s shoe store. SA is the abbreviation used to refer to the Sturmabteilung, or Stormtroopers, the Nazi’s paramilitary force.

Two women, Luisa Zahrt and Ria Artz, were in the shop at the time and reported Ehrlich and Baer to the local Nazi government, which then issued the following order on January 10, 1934:2

Enclosed I am sending you a sworn statement against the Jew Julius Bär, born 5/15/1900 in Griedel; residence: Wetzlarerstrasse 31 (Butzbach), who disparaged and insulted Chief of Staff Röhm through his remarks in a public shop. I request that this Jew be sent to Osthofen without delay, along with his racial fellow Julius Ehrlich, Butzbach, Cleebergerstrasse 11, born January 3, 1882 in Friedberg, who provoked the conversation in question through his provocative questions.

According to Ria Artz’s sworn statement:3

On Friday, January 5, 1934, after 6 pm, I went with Miss Luise Zahrt, born 8/6/1915 in Lang-Göns, into the Ehrlich shoe shop, Butzbach, Wetzlarerstrasse, to exchange shoes for acquaintances.

On this occasion the shop owner Ehrlich asked: “Do you also need brown SA boots?” The Jew Bär, [of the] textile trade, Butzbach, who was present, then said the following words to us: “From now on the girls will get SA boots too, and Chief of Staff Röhm will become the Führer!”

Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Bestand G 15, Nr. Q 149 (Schutzhaftsache Julius Ehrlich, Butzbach, und Julius Baer, Griedel, 1934), p. 7

(Interestingly, Roehm was perceived as a rival and a threat by Hitler and was killed on Hitler’s orders on July 1, 1934, just six months after these charges were filed.)

It was those alleged words by Ehrlich and Baer that led to their arrest and interrogation; both denied much of Ria Artz’s story. On January 18, 1934, on being questioned by the police, Julius Ehrlich gave the following sworn statement:4

It is correct that in early January of this year, Luise Zahrt from Lang-Göns was in my shop with a female friend. Zahrt exchanged shoes there. I cannot recall precisely whether it was on 5.1.34. I know Luise Zahrt very well, as she has bought from my shop on several occasions before. Owing to the long-standing business connection with Zahrt and her relatives, I address the young woman informally (“Du”) and make jokes with her whenever she makes a purchase.

It is possible that I therefore said to the girls, jokingly: “May I try some long boots on you?” I also stock long boots in various styles. I use this humorous turn of phrase often with good acquaintances.

However, I must dispute that I said to the girls: “Do you also need brown SA boots?”

The merchant Julius Bär of this town happened also to be in my shop as a customer while the girls were there. Whether Bär said to the girls: “From now on the girls will get SA boots too, and Chief of Staff Röhm will become the Führer,” is not within my knowledge, as I was occupied elsewhere at the time. However, I can recall that Bär did speak with the girls.

It was absolutely far from my intention to insult anyone in any way, especially since girls do not wear SA boots at all.

Julius Baer initially gave the following statement on January 19, 1934:5

I have been in Ehrlich’s shop several times before. That I am supposed to have been at Ehrlich’s on 5.1.34, when two young women were exchanging shoes, is not known to me and I cannot recall anything of the sort.

The accusations that the two girls raise against me are invented.

I definitely cannot recall having said to two girls, at Ehrlich’s or anywhere else: “From now on the girls will get SA boots, and Chief of Staff Röhm will become their leader.”

I can give no further information on the matter.

But Julius then amended his statement, saying,6

After careful reflection, it occurs to me that I was in Ehrlich’s shop, where the two girls in question were also present. Mr. Ehrlich, on that occasion, spoke jokingly with the girls and offered them long boots. It is possible that I said, on that occasion: “The girls are getting SA boots now too.” But that Chief of Staff Röhm was to become their leader — that I definitely did not say.

I have to admit that Julius undermined his credibility by his recanting of his initial denial of being in the store, but nevertheless, the question remains, even if Ehrlich and Baer said exactly what the two women claimed, what was the crime? Joking about the SA’s boots? Its leader? Apparently so.

On January 22, 1934, Ehrlich was sentenced to four weeks and Julius Baer to six weeks of “protective custody” in the Osthofen prison camp and were transported there on February 1, 1934.7

Julius Baer’s lawyer petitioned for early release of Julius. He introduced a number of witness statements in support of his client’s release: a letter from a doctor attesting to the poor health of Julius’ mother, Therese Spier Baer, who was suffering from angina pectoris; a statement from the mayor of Griedel attesting to the service of Julius’ father guarding prisoners of war during World War I despite being beyond draft age; a statement from the mayor of Butzbach as to Julius Baer’s good standing in that town; a statement from Julius’ brother Meier listing his service for Germany during World War I, including being wounded at the Battle of Verdun on August 10, 1918; and a statement from the mayor of Griedel about Julius’ own service for Germany during World War I. In exchange for 150 Reichmarks to be donated to the Butzbach Winter Relief Fund, the authorities agreed to release Julius Baer after four weeks in custody on March 1, 1934, the same day that the four-week term of Julius Ehrlich expired.8

So for allegedly making a joke about the SA and its leader, my cousin Julius Baer was sent to a prison camp for a month. Imagine his own fear, imagine how terrified his wife and child must have been. This is how a fascist government operates; it uses fear and force to intimidate its citizens so that they cannot even make jokes about that government without fear of imprisonment. It turns other citizens into informers who rat out their fellow citizens. It makes all of us suspicious of each other and frightened to speak up against those who are persecuted.

The next post will discuss what happened to Julius Baer and his family after he was released from Osthofen on March 1, 1934.

  1. Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Bestand G 15, Nr. Q 149 (Schutzhaftsache Julius Ehrlich, Butzbach, und Julius Baer, Griedel, 1934). There are 28 pages of documents in this folder. I will refer to the relevant pages below. ↩
  2. Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Bestand G 15, Nr. Q 149 (Schutzhaftsache Julius Ehrlich, Butzbach, und Julius Baer, Griedel, 1934), document 3 ↩
  3. Ibid., p. 7 ↩
  4. Ibid., p. 25 ↩
  5. Ibid., p. 27 ↩
  6. Ibid., p. 28 ↩
  7. Ibid., p. 28 ↩
  8. Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Bestand G 15, Nr. Q 149 (Schutzhaftsache Julius Ehrlich, Butzbach, und Julius Baer, Griedel, 1934)(multiple pages in the file) ↩

The Baer Sisters and Two Brothers Leave Germany

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

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

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

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

Klara Baer Fuld declaration of intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, Description: (Roll 486) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 364301-365300), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aufbau, May 17, 1946, p. 36

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Her gravestone translates to:

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

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

 

  1. Kurt Steinberg, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 26 Nov 1920, Birth Place Camberg Taun, Federal Republic of Germany, Death Date 15 Mar 1996, Father
    Julius Steinberg, Mother Paula Baer, SSN 212122078, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  2. Henry Siegmann, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 15 Aug 1924, Birth Place Giessen, Federal Republic of Germany, Death Date May 1986, Father Julius Siegmann, Mother Selma Baer, SSN 079188596, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  3. Edward Adolph Siegman, Race White, Age 18, Birth Date 20 Oct 1926, Birth Place Mogendorf, Germany, Registration Date, 20 Oct 1944, Registration Place
    New York City, Bronx, New York, Next of Kin Selma Siegman, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  4. Eric Siegmann, Race White, Age 18, Birth Date 30 Aug 1928, Birth Place Mogendorf, Germany, Registration Date 30 Aug 1946, Registration Place New York City, New York, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  5. Erich Adolf Baer, Eric Adolph Baer, Race White, Age 18, Relationship to Draftee Self (Head), Birth Date 31 May 1928, Birth Place Frankfurt, Germany, Residence Place Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Registration Date 1946, Registration Place Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Maryland, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 16, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  6. Naturalization petition of Julius Goldschmidt, stating birth of daughter Lore, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions For Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Description: (Roll 1412) Petition No· 419644 – Petition No· 420058, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  7. I could not find a marriage record for Eugen and Hedwig online because the online marriage records for Reichelsheim do not go as late as 1929; thus, I have to rely on Hedwig’s statement in her Declaration of Intention for her birthdate, marriage date, and her son Adolf’s birthdate. Hedwig Baer, Declaration of Intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, (Roll 587) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 460501-461500), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943.  ↩
  8. This information came from family trees on Ancestry that unfortunately did not have citations to any sources. Thus, I cannot be certain about its reliability. I am searching for primary sources. ↩
  9. Klara Fuld’s Declaration of Intention includes her daughter Helga’s birthdate and birthplace. The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21, Roll 486) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 364301-365300), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩ ↩

Momberg, The Ancestral Town of the Blumenfelds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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