Author Archives: abeecher

Dachau Concentration Camp. November 1938 – January 1939.

Date of Entry Dachau Concentration Camp (following Kristallnacht).             November 11, 1938. Isaak Beck.            Prisoner 20,834.  Release date 22 Nov 1938. Ludwig Beck.        Prisoner 20,898. Release date 22 Nov, 1938. Walter Beck.         Prisoner 20,899. Release date  6 JanContinueContinue reading “Dachau Concentration Camp. November 1938 – January 1939.”

Our German Jewish Roots. Life in Germany pre WWII. WWII Experience. Hidden in France. The escape to Switzerland.

In 2017,  my mother, my sister Judi and I embarked on a meaningful journey to Europe in honor of our mother’s 80th birthday.   We set out on a pilgrimage through Germany, France and Switzerland, retracing the steps of our family’s past. Our first stop was Lörrach, the birthplace of my mother, where we feltContinueContinue reading “Our German Jewish Roots. Life in Germany pre WWII. WWII Experience. Hidden in France. The escape to Switzerland.”

Offenburg, Germany. Hometown of my grandmother Alice Geismar Reutlinger and her three siblings, and my great-grandparent’s shop- Metzgerai Sieg. Geismar.

The German “roots” part of our trip began in the town of Offenburg, where my great-grandparents Siegfried and Judith Geismar lived and for nearly 30 years owned a butcher shop, (Metzgerai & Wursterei Sieg. Geismar), in the lovely main square of town; they lived on the top floors of the butcher shop on Kreuzkirchstrasse 4.Continue reading “Offenburg, Germany. Hometown of my grandmother Alice Geismar Reutlinger and her siblings. Metzgerai Sieg. Geismar.”

Living and Teaching in Freiburg 1938-1940. The 1940 Deportation of the Baden Jews.

In our quest to trace my grandfather’s footsteps during WWII, I was lucky enough to come across Rosita Dienst-Demuth, a history teacher at the Lessing Realschule in Freiburg. Rosita had published a book in 2004 on the “The Forgotten Jewish School” (Lessing Realschule) and its important position during the war as a segregated Jewish school.ContinueContinue reading “Living and Teaching in Freiburg 1938-1940. The 1940 Deportation of the Baden Jews.”

1940-1943. The Gurs & Rivesaltes internment camps in Vichy France. Ronja hidden in Cruseilles, France.

My mother, grandparents, and 6,500 other Jews from Baden in southwest Germany were deported from Freiburg, Germany to the Gurs internment camp in southwestern France on October 22, 1940. The journey involved three days and seven railway trains, culminating in their arrival in Gurs on October 25, 1940. GURS In France, there were no campsContinueContinue reading “1940-1943. The Gurs & Rivesaltes internment camps in Vichy France. Ronja hidden in Cruseilles, France.”

Lörrach; Ronia’s birth town and hometown of great-grandmother Judith Beck and the Günzburger family.

In December 1936, my mother Ronia was born in the border town of Lörrach in the southwest part of Germany (Baden/The Black Forest) directly across the border from the Swiss town of Basel. My great-grandmother Judith Beck Geismar, her parents Daniel Beck and Auguste Werthheimer Beck, and her siblings Isaak, Emma Beck Heilbronner and AdeleContinueContinue reading “Lörrach; Ronia’s birth town and hometown of great-grandmother Judith Beck and the Günzburger family.”

Breisach – hometown of Geismar and Günzburger (founding Jewish families).

Breisach is the birth town of my great-grandfather Siegfried Geismar and our Geismar ancestors, as well as Sigfried’s mother Marie Günzburger’s family. The familes were two of the five founding Jewish families of Breisach in the 1600s. One of the only reminders of the former Jewish community is The Blue House (Blau Hause) which, untilContinueContinue reading “Breisach – hometown of Geismar and Günzburger (founding Jewish families).”

Karlsruhe – Hometown of the Reutlinger family.

I had been looking forward to visiting the State Archives in Karlsruhe to research my Grandfather’s family about whom we know very little but we got into a 4 hour traffic jam and when we finally got there, all the people who could have helped with research had left for the day.   We drove aContinueContinue reading “Karlsruhe – Hometown of the Reutlinger family.”