Moritz (Mordechai) Knöpflmacher

Moritz (Mordechai) Knöpflmacher lived for several years in Holesov before moving to Vienna, Austria. At the time of his death, he was residing at 1020, Ob. Donaustr. 63, Vienna. He was buried next to his wife on 24 March 1910. He printed two Hebrew Haggadahs for Passover, which are still owned by his great-grandson, Ulrich Knoepflmacher. He was a skillful genealogist and was the author of the extensive "Stammbaum" (family history) of the Knoepflmacher family.

According to family stories, Moritz was interested in the history of the Knopfelmacher family from an early age. He began his genealogical efforts by confirming the family's direct descent from the legendary Rabbi, the MaHaRal of Prague -- Jehuda Loew (d. 1609). Subsequently, he traveled extensively seeking out -- and becoming acquainted with -- numerous branches of the Knopfelmacher family (as well as other connected families). Moritz is said to have written a detailed extensive genealogical account of the Knopfelmacher family, nearly 300 pages in length. However, that work was included in numerous possessions sent by his grandson, Georg, to a storage facility in Odessa at the beginning of World War II -- and never seen again.

What was preserved was a 66-page abbreviated summary that Georg kept with him. The original is now in the possession of Georg's son, Ulrich C. Knoepflmacher, a retired Princeton University professor. Copies of it have been made available to various interested family members.