Auch von regionalhistorischem Wert ist das soeben erschienene Buch von Janet Bernd Isenberg, das sie unter Zugrundelegung vieler Tonbänder über ihren Vater geschrieben hat. Das Leben ihrer jüdischen Vorfahren in unserer Region – besonders der Familien Wolff in Bad Münstereifel und Gemünd – ist eine Form lebendiger Genealogie und die Biographie ihrer jüdischen Verwandten.
Stundenlang hat der Vater der Autorin, Addie Bernd, über die Vorfahren der Familien, aber auch über das Schicksal in der Zeit des Holocaust, erzählt. Mit wissenschaftlicher Akribie hat seine Tochter Janet alles überprüft und inhaltlich ausgebaut, sodass eine nun publizierte Autobiographie unter der Überschrift „Addie Bernd: In His Own Words“ – An Ordinary Life Lived in Extraordinary Times mit vielen Daten, Listen und Fotos vorliegt. Besonders die Leser aus dem Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen werden interessante Fakten über das rheinische Judentum erfahren.
Das Buch wurde mit Hilfe von Blurb USA und eigenen Mitteln erstellt und kostet in der Softcover-Version US $ 36,90. Bestellungen können direkt über jbisenberg@me.com. erfolgen. Unter derselben Email-Adresse können weiterführende Kontakte aufgenommen werden.
Auf meinen Wunsch hin hat Mrs. Janet Bernd Isenberg für meine regionalhistorische Homepage in knapper Form ihre genealogischen Beziehungen zu folgenden NRW-Städten skizziert: Bad Münstereifel, Bonn, Gemünd, Harzheim, Hellenthal, Siegburg.
Eines der vielen Fotos zeigt Simon Wolff, vor seinem Geschäft in Bad Münstereifel. Seine Ehefrau Sofie sierht gerade aus dem Fenster heraus. Ein anderes wurde im Jahre 1930 bei einem Familientreffen gemacht. Es zeigt alle Angehörigen der jüdischen Familien Wolff aus der Eifel und Voreifel, hauptsächlich aus Münstereifel, Mechernich und Gemünd.
A Nordrhein-Westfalen Ancestry
I have been researching my family's history for almost 40 years and have discovered that my ancestors have deep roots in the towns of Nordrhein-Westfalen, from the medieval beauty of the walled hill town of Bad Münstereifel to the urban environs of Bonn and Siegburg. Despite the reputation of the Jews for "wandering", it seems that my family made this area of Germany their home for over 400 years.
BAD MÜNSTEREIFEL
If you go to Bad Münstereifel and enter the town at the Orcheimerstrasse Tor, a short walk down the street will bring you to the Wollfschluct (Wolf's Den) Hotel. Prior to World War II, this building was the home of my great grandparents, Simon and Sophie WOLFF. Simon's grandfather, Markus WOLFF, had been the first to move to the town some time before 1816. Almost 60 of my relatives were born, married or died in Bad Münstereifel. Besides WOLFF, family last names include APFEL, BROMET, DAVID, FRÖHLICH, HERZ, LEVI, LÖWENSTEIN, MAAS, MEYER, NATHAN, SIMON, STEINBERG, VOSS, and WALLERSTEIN.
BONN
In his book about the Jews of Bonn, Klaus H.S. Schulte included several family lists for my ancestors. Those names include ABRAHAM, BINGEN, GUMPRECHT, JACOB, MEHLER, MENACHEM, WALLERSTEIN, WALTER. My roots in Bonn go all the way back to the late 1600s, when Juda MEHLER, my 7th great grandfather, was a rabbi there. He was later the head Rabbi of Köln. Over 100 of my relatives were born, married or died there. Ancillary names include ANSCHEL and HÖCHSTER.
GEMÜND
Before moving to Bad Münstereifel, my ancestors came from Gemünd. The two towns have a lot in common - they both have rivers running through them and they are nestled in the Eifel mountains. While Markus left the town, many of his siblings stayed in Gemünd and could be found there and in Mechernich until the Holocaust. My earliest known ancestor was born there before Jews had last names - Aron ben Meir Joseph was born in 1716 and died in 1801.
HARZHEIM & HELLENTHAL
My 4G grandmother, Eva, is described on her tombstone as being the daughter of Levi Chan, also known as Hirz Cain, of Harzheim. This is the only information that I have for this town that is equidistant to Mechernich and Bad Münstereifel. Eva and her mother, Eva Rebeka Thelle Abraham, were both from Hellenthal.
SIEGBURG
Siegburg is a bustling little city that used to have a very Jewish community of more than 500. The large and very old cemetery still stands behind its walls, and I was able to see the graves of many of my ancestors. Because of intermarriage between families, I am related to almost one-half, or 230+, of the Jews from this city. The names include ABRAHAM, BÄR, COCHENHEIM, HIRSCH, JOSUE, LÖWENSTEIN, SAMUEL, WALLERSTEIN and WALTER.
These were the homes of my ancestors and, even though their descendants ventured away from their hometowns, many of them could still be found in Nordrhein-Westfalen, in towns too numerous to list here.
Of course, World War II, the Holocaust and the diaspora changed all that. My family's names are included on the memorial stones that can be found in each town. Over 180 were murdered far from the green hills that they loved in places like Auschwitz, Chelmo, Izbica, Lodz, Mauthausen, Minsk, Riga, Sobibor, Theresienstadt, and Treblinka. For those who emigrated, their descendants can now be found in almost every country and continent, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay and USA. Within the last few years, email and web sites like Geni, Ancestry and Facebook have allowed me to exchange information with many of these cousins, and even become friends with them.