Samuel Katz I

Samuel Katz fathered 16 children, most of them died in early childhood, only five made it to maturity One of the five, Baruch died young as a soldier in the first world war and another one, Julius was considered dead because he converted to Christianity. Samuel  fell victim to the world pandemic the  "Spanish Flu"  half a year after his son Baruch died.  

Samuel Katz - Pages from his life (Written by his grandson Shmuel Katz of Toronto):

Samuel Schmuel Katz my grandfather, was born on December 24, 1855 in the small village of Guxhagen, Hessen province, Germany, as the third child of his father Jacob Katz (born Guxhagen, May 12, 1818)

and his mother Malchen Boley from Ungedanken, which is a suburb of the town of Fritzlar, about 22 kilometers southwest of Guxhagen. He had two older sisters, Breinchen and Blümchen and three younger siblings; Isaac, who only lived for 28 days, Mendel and Hanchen. Jacob his father was a merchant, descendant of one of the first Jewish families to settle in Guxhagen approximately 260 years ago. Samuel’s mother Malchen was the daughter of Breune Lengsfelder and the merchant Itzig Boley from the famous Boley family, producers of the world renowned lathes and other machine tools in Fritzlar..

Samuel Katz was just under 18 years old when he lost his father Jacob, on October 27, 1873. His father was 55½ when he passed away. Samuel’s remaining siblings at that time were Breinchen 21, Blümchen

19, Mendel 11½ and Hanchen 7½.

On June 20 1883 when Samuel was 27½ years old he married his first wife, the 36 years old Bertha Rose, from Niedenstein, the daughter of the merchant Joseph Rose and his wife Hanchen nee Levi. Bertha

was born on May 11, 1847 and was eight and a half years older than Samuel. Being a very religious Jew and a Cohen, not permitted to marry a divorcee, Samuel may have married a widow. It is not known if she was previously married or not and whether she had any children by a previous marriage when she married Samuel. He was a very good looking person and it is just puzzling why he would choose for a wife a 36 years old woman close to the end of a woman’s child bearing years, in times when most families wanted to have 4-8 children.

Their one and only son Jacob, named after his grandfather who died 10½ years earlier was born within 11 months of their marriage, on May 20, 1884. Unfortunately Bertha his mother died, 71 days after his arrival into this world. Then, 9 days after his mother’s death he too died on August 8, 1884 just 8 days after birth.

One year later, Samuel Katz married his second wife on August 25, 1885, the 28½ year old Esther Emma Heilbrunn from Wichmanshausen in the district of Eschwege. She was the daughter of the merchant Liebmann Heilbrunn and his wife Betti, nee Schwabe. Born on November 26, 1856 she is 11 months younger than Samuel.

Ten month later, Louis their son is born on June 16, 1886 just to live less than one year and then to die on June 10, 1887. After Louis death his sister Emma is born on January 21, 1888 and is named after her mother who died the following day. Esther Emma the mother was buried at age 31, in the Guxhagen Jewish Cemetery, on a hill overlooking the town from the east side. Emma the baby starts a new, very sad life, as the rest of this story will show when it unfolds.

On the Hebrew side of her gravestone, barely, but you can still read what translates into English:

Here Is Buried

An Honest and Pleasant Woman

She Walked the Honest Road

Esther Wife of Shmuel

Son of Jacob the Cohen

Died on Sunday 9 Sh’vat

And Was Buried on 10 Sh’vat

5648

May Her Soul Be Bound In the Bundle of Life

On January 26, 1890, two years after the passing of Esther Emma his second wife, Samuel Katz marries his third wife, Janchen nee Katz of his hometown Guxhagen. It is not known whether she is related to him or not. They get married in Frankfurt am Main 180 kilometers away to the southwest. Her parents Baruch Katz and Merle Katz nee Speier, both were born in Guxhagen and they too are descendants of the first Jewish inhabitants of that beautiful town built on the banks of the River Fulda in the shadows of the 800 years old Benedictine Monastery Breitenau. Having been born on March 29, 1862 she is just under 28 years old and Samuel at 34, is six years her senior.

At that time transportation in Germany was by means of slow steam engines only, running very infrequently and slow. The trip to Frankfurt would be a half day’s fare. Why they all went 180 kilometers away to the city of Frankfurt to get married is not known. There are quite many other cities, much closer where one could get married and have a party if this is what they were after, like the city of Kassel, which is just 15 kilometers to the north, Fulda, 90 kilometers to the south, Melsungen, Fritzlar, Homberg and several other average sized towns even closer.

Just, three months after getting married, a stillborn set of twins is born on April 10, 1890, a boy and a girl. They were not named and it is unknown where they were buried. The short period between the parents’ marriage and the birth of the twins may offer some explanation as to why the parents would not tie the knot in their birthplace and hometown and would travel far away to Frankfurt to get married. I can’t help thinking that maybe Janchen moved to large Frankfurt for a while where she would not be bothered by staring neighbours’ eyes.

Isaac, their third child is born on June 19, 1891. He is named after his father’s brother Isaac who died in infancy, but his parent can’t rejoice for very long, 6 months later, on January 11, 1892 Samuel’s mother dies at age 68, followed by the death of baby Isaac two days afterwards.

Julius, the fourth child, is born on March 3, 1894. Emma, his half sister has just celebrated her 6th birthday.

On June 22, 1895 Janchen gives birth to her second set of twins. Baruch and Menni and 16 months later she gives birth to baby girl, the first female to be born after Samuel’s mother passed away at age 68, 4½ years earlier. They name her after his mother Malchen, (Lengsfelder Boley) on November 9, 1896.

Fourteen and a half months after the birth of Malchen Malka, the third set of twins is born, Lehman the boy and Selma the girl, born January 29, 1898. Selma died that very same day and Lehman only lives 40 days till July 8, 1898.

Mother Janchen Katz, third wife of Samuel Katz dies on December 12, 1898. She is 36½ years old and managed to give birth to 9 children over a period of less than 8 years, between April 10, 1890 and January 29 1898. I can’t help wondering about another amazing fact regarding this marriage. When this Janchen, the third wife of Samuel dies at age 36 and after giving birth to 9 children she was the same age as was the first wife Bertha Rose the day she got married. Looks like Samuel, who loved children and wanted many of them married his first wife Bertha Rose for some other considerations too, not only because he loved her.

On the day Janchen dies:

Her stepdaughter Emma is under 11 years old.

Julius her son is under 5 years old

Menni and Baruch the twins are 3½

Malka Malchen her daughter is 2 years old.

Who takes care of the children now, is not quite clear but the number of children to be taken care of is reduced in October 1899 when little Menni returns his soul to the Lord at age 4 years and 4 months. 10 months after the death of his mother.

Some time after the death of Menni, Samuel his father married his fourth and last wife, Merle Malchen nee Gottlieb, born on February 15, 1870. She is almost 23 years younger than the first wife Samuel has married. I have no records of the day they got married, who her relatives were and where she came from. At that time records of births, marriages, deaths and burials were kept by official local registrars, separately for every religion so I guess they married in another town and registered there. Perhaps in the town Merle Malchen came from. When Sally Elieser their first son was born on March 20, 1901 only his father’s name was entered in the registry while next to his name in the “Mother’s Name” column the square was left blank. This raised my eyebrows but I have no explanation as to how and why this could happen.

For the sake of completing this story I would dare to calculate the marriage date of Samuel Katz and his fourth wife Merle Malchen Gottlieb, my grandparents. Menni, Samuel’s son by his previous wife died in October 1899. The exact day of the month was not registered either. According to Jewish custom his father would not marry within the prescribed 30 days of mourning. This takes us to November 1899. The next sibling to be born is Elieser, he was born on March 3, 1901 and assuming his mother carried him to full term that would place the conception at late June 1900. Looking at the Hebrew calendar for the most likely day in this 7 months window of opportunity would place us on January 15, 1900. Two months into the window. The Jewish holiday of Lag Ba’Omer is a very popular day to get married on. My parents married on Lag Ba’Omer too. In the Hebrew year 5660 Lag ba’Omer coincided with Jan 15, 1900.

So, Merle Malchen my grandmother became the stepmother of Julius, Baruch, and Malchen - and the second stepmother of Emma, most likely as of January 15, 1900. Their ages at that time would have been:

Emma: 12 years old

Julius: 6 years old

Baruch: 4½ years old

Malchen: 3 years and about 2 months. I knew Malka Malchen my aunt very well, or “Tante Malchen” as I called her, we both lived in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, a small village at that time, about 12 kilometes north of Tel Aviv and for many years I did not even know that she was not a full sister of my father. She was raised and taken care of by my grandmother Merle Malchen nee Gottlieb, her stepmother and by my grandfather, her father Samuel. Aunt Malka Malchen’s granddaughter has been named after Malchen’s stepmother Merle Malchen.

While growing up at home in Israel I never heard the names Emma, Baruch and Julius and I would speculate that they grew up in foster homes. All I knew was that there were 16 siblings from 4 different mothers and that one of the siblings converted to Christianity and became a priest. Their fate was not discussed and never questioned. If I remember correctly we were told only that they died in Germany.

My grandparents home was very orthodox and so were the great majority of the Jews of little Guxhagen where all Jews sent their children to Hebrew school. It would be very unlikely that a child who was brought up in that Jewish orthodox environment would change his religion, so, Julius may have been raised in another place, less strict. Up until late in the year 2005 I never even knew the siblings’ names and who of them converted to Christianity Only then and after I started researching my family roots and was visiting Germany did I find out most the information given above. I then had dates for the death of all siblings whose whereabouts was unknown to me except for Julius. Since they all died very young I concluded that it must have been Julius who converted. It is all thanks to the tireless efforts of Mr. Hans-Peter Klein, Dr Gunnar Richter and their staff from the Breitenau Memorial in Guxhagen They terrifically perform as an enthusiastic team, preserving history, documents and links to the past

When my father Mordechai Max Katz, the second son of Merle Malchen and Samuel was born on October 1, 1902 his mother’s name Malchen was entered properly in the registry.

Emma Katz died at the age 13 years and three months; on April 21, 1901 she is the only child of Samuel Katz out of 11 or 12 children to die in Germany and whose gravestone can be found in the small Jewish cemetery of Guxhagen. I could not find any other gravestones of any other children of his. Emma grave’s headstone is made out of soft sandstone and is crumbling and sinking into the ground; Emma’s name can hardly be read

During her short life, Emma lost her mother, a set of unnamed twin sister and brother, paternal grandmother Malchen Katz Boley, Brother Isaac, Brother Menni, twin sister and brother; Lehman and Selma and her stepmother Janchen. Her relatives included four known paternal uncles and aunts; she also had maternal grandparents Liebmann and Betti Heilbrunn. Who knows who else poor little Emma lost during her short lifetime and if she got to live her childhood at the same dwelling with her siblings Julius, Baruch, Malchen and Menni.

The old transcript of the inscription on her gravestone says in the German language: Gewidmet von Tante Sarah aus Borken. This means: devoted; dedicated by Aunt Sarah of Borken. Borken lies about 35 kilometers southwest of Guxhagen.

Who was this Sarah? Since Emma’s father Samuel had no sister named Sarah she must have been Emma’s maternal aunt. Did Tante Sarah raise Emma or did she just donate the gravestone?

Well, young Emma’s father was a merchant and most likely a travelling cattle dealer. Being myself the son of a cattle dealer I do know that the cattle dealers of that time use to walk with the animals for miles and miles, from one village to the other. Baby Emma’s mother died and there was no one at home to take care of her. Samuel had to make a living to support himself and maybe also his widowed mother who was 64 the day Esther Emma his wife died.

If indeed Emma was raised by a family in another town, why was Emma the teenager, buried back in Guxhagen, thirty five kilometers away from her devoted aunt, schoolmates and friends? Well, I would try to answer this question myself.

Aunt Sarah, who must have been a very dedicated woman, certainly was not a selfish one. She understood very well that the greatest dedication of all, done to her beloved, adopted daughter, was the dedication done to Emma the baby by her biological young mother who gave her own life giving birth to her. Aunt Sarah, ignoring her own emotions and motherly feelings, wanted to make sure that her own sister- if this is who she was, being robbed of motherhood and child rearing pleasures would at least in her death have her daughter lying next to her for eternal rest. Aunt Sarah deserved being described as GEWIDMET - DEVOTED, DEDICATED and being mentioned here in my humble story, 105 years later.

On April 6 1904 Merle Malchen Katz had another baby girl named Sophie and two years later on May 10, 1906 she gave birth to a boy, Moses. Moses lived for 7 month and died in December 1906 and Sophie died at age 4½ in October 1908. Her surviving siblings’ ages were; Julius 14½, Baruch 13+, Malchen 12, Elieser 7½ and Max my father 6.

I myself was born on March 1940 only 31 years after the death of Sophie my aunt but I never knew there were two children younger than my father. I knew they were 16 but always believed that my father was the youngest. Why was it never mentioned by Malchen, Elieser or by my father?

Baruch died in Battle in World War I in Nestle France on March 9, 1918 he was 22 years and 9 months old, my father was 15½, Elieser was 17 and Malchen, Baruch’s full sister was over 21 at that time. Why did I never know that I had that uncle and that my uncle lost his life fighting for the German fatherland? Aunt Malka Malchen and Uncle Elieser were my neighbours in Ramat Hasharon, Israel for many years. I spoke to them hundreds of times. Also, in the Jewish synagogue of Guxhagen there was a plaque on the wall commemorating the fallen Jewish sons of Guxhagen: Katz Baruch, Katz Moritz, Lichtenstein Hermann and Speier Daniel. My father and Uncle Elieser use to attend that synagogue almost every day, their home was just about 60 meters from there. I am sure Aunt Malka Malchen use to attend that place too till 1929 when she moved away. She too was very religious and kept her head covered for her entire life. Even my mother Betty of blessed memory who moved to live with my father in Guxhagen in 1935 when she got married to him until 1939 when they escaped to Palestine, must have seen that plaque. I just don’t get it, why would an event of such magnitude not be told?

The first time I ever heard anything about the life of Julius was when Mr. Hans-Peter Klein of the Breitenau Memorial and Archives in Guxhagen surprised me with his finding out during my visit in the memorial that Julius my uncle married the second time in Weisensee neighbourhood of Berlin in 1937. I was trying to research more about Julius’ whereabouts but so far to no avail. I wonder, did he make it through the war and the Holocaust or did he end up somewhere like the other 6 million Jews, several years later, despite his conversion to Christianity and serving as an Evangelical priest. Did he father any children, did they survive, and do I have first cousins somewhere I do not know of? It seems like I shall never find out the answers to those questions either. That is life!

I also asked Mr. Hans-Peter Klein if he could find out for me in old medical records the reason why so many young people died in this family. Mr. Klein tried hard but could not find any records from that period. They were all lost or were never kept.

Grandfather Samuel Katz contacted some lung infection in an epidemic in 1918 and died of it at age 62½, just 7 months after his son Baruch gave his life in the war. The epidemic I heard of from my mother Betty of blessed memory was likely the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic that killed tens of millions around the world. The list of deceased persons of the Jewish community of Guxhagen has more people listed in it for 1918 than any other year. Samuel was buried in the Guxhagen Jewish cemetery. His gravestone broke in pieces sometime in the past and was fixed with cement by some caring hands but the Hebrew inscription plate that once was attached to it, is lost for ever. Some of those plates, I was told, were made out of black, thick glass and could be shattered with a hard blow to them. In some instances fragments of those plates can be found nearby, under a few centimetres of soil and while visiting the cemetery I noticed fresh shallow diggings around my grandfather’s grave and some other graves. Someone is certainly looking after the place. In one instance I even saw a headstone where some fragments were cemented back. (One of them upside down…)

What a pity Samuel died at age 62 and after losing so many of his immediate relatives including three sets of twin children. He never lived to see yet another set of twins in his family; Israel Isbert and Schmuel Samuel to whom his daughter Malchen gave birth in 1931. They lived and raised families. Israel Isbert my cousin lives in Ramat Hasharon Israel, his twin brother passed away 20 years ago at age 55.

Merle Malchen my grandmother died and was buried not far from her husband’s grave site on January 28, 1933 at age 63½. Her gravestone is in relatively good shape and can be easily read by Hebrew readers but its back side that once bore an inscription in German, has been almost washed out by the elements. Out of all members of Malchen’s immediate family that I know of, in 1933 only my father was still living in Guxhagen, so I would assume that her gravestone was erected by my father. Elieser Sally her oldest son moved to far away Frankfurt in 1925 after he got married to Selma Gans and also, at some time in 1933 he moved to Palestine, Israel of today. Malchen Victor her stepdaughter who was raised by her, moved away in 1929 to live with her new husband Max Victor in Schönlanke, better known today by its Polish name Trzcianka, 900 kilometers to the east to what use to be the 19th century Prussian province of Poznan (Posen), part of the German empire.

Before travelling to Germany in search of my roots I was getting ready with date-conversion charts from the Hebrew calendar into the Gregorian one as most Jewish gravestones are traditionally inscribed in Hebrew and I was expecting to spend time studying many gravestones belonging to my relatives but when I arrived there I was baffled by finding large spaces between graves. Out of all of Samuel’s wives and children who died during his lifetime only the gravestones of his second wife Emma and their daughter could be found.

Gravestone of Samuel Schmuel Katz

According to the Jewish religion rules a Cohen, a descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother should not enter cemeteries except in extreme cases like during the funeral of a parent, son or daughter. The title “Cohen” has been passed down the generations from father to son.

All male members of the Guxhagen Katz family were Cohens as are about 5% of the Jewish people including myself - the author of this story. Before visiting Germany I was contemplating for a long time whether I should go through the gateway of the 2 cemeteries I was going to visit. Eventually I made a decision to enter them. According to my own morals this visit was a very important one. I am not a devout Jew and if I sinned I believe that the trip to Germany, the efforts I put into bringing the memory of my ancestors to the attention of the rest of my family and others will atone for my sin.

Most of the information in this story was compiled by Hans-Peter Klein, Melsungen, October 2005

From the archives in Wiesbaden (Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden)

Abt. 365 No. 402-409 Personenstandsregister der jüdischen Gemeinde Guxhagen.

Widowed 2 times; Married 3 times

had 16 children

My (Sam Katz) paternal grandfather Samuel Katz, is buried in the Jewish cemetery of Guxhagen . The gravestone has been fixed several times after it has been broken and damaged. The inscription plate is missing and there is no writings on his gravestone. See picture Shmuel Katz his grandchild took in November 2005 next to his gravestone. The location has been determined by old charts of the Breitenau Memorial nearby in Guxhagen. Also, see his attached portrait picture.

According to Betty Katz z.l. Shmuel's mother, Samuel her father-in-law died from a lung epidemic. His son Max fell ill too but survived. Later on in life Max suffered from tuberculosis. It is not known where he contact it. Also, in 1918 there was a world pandemic of the Spanish influenza that killed tens of millions of people around the worls . The cause of Samuel's death may have been that flu. In 1918 many inhabitants of Guxhagen died. The gravestone list shows that