CHAPTER 1
The Mueller, Rosenthal, Schuster,and Schueler Families in Westphalia
My maternal grandfather, Louis Rosenthal, died in 1912. He left hiswife, Emilie Schuster Rosenthal, with a great deal of property, a hugebusiness, and six teenagers, three boys and three girls. He was only fifty-fiveyears old, and he loved his family and his business and enjoyed agood life. His father, Abraham Rosenthal, had settled in the Paderbornarea from Erwitte, where he had grown up as one of the sons of LeviRosenthal, a prosperous merchant and farmer in the early nineteenthcentury, a period when the Jewish people in Germany were battlingfor freedom and citizenship. At that time, Jews had barely obtained theright to move from one place to another, and Paderborn especially wasstill frowning on having more Jews settle there. Very few were able toobtain that permission from the authorities. Abraham and his brotherwere among those few. At first they started a feed and grain businessin Paderborn; this led to Abraham acquiring a small flour mill close tothe main road leading out of town toward Neuhaus, a nearby village,the onetime residence of the local bishop who ruled there from a four-sidedcastle fortress with a moat as protection from the local peasantry.That castle had been turned into the garrison of a Prussian-mountedHusaren regiment during the nineteenth century.
Abraham was able to acquire a large, water-driven flour mill situatedalong the road leading to that castle. This became the firm A. Rosenthal& Son, a successful enterprise producing flour for civilian and militaryHis son Louis, my grandfather, continued in that business and expandedit by building a modern, larger, seven-story mill at the edge of thevillage. Across from that mill he was able to acquire a wonderful siteto build a beautiful mansion surrounded by a large flower garden withstables, outbuildings, and even a tennis court.
Many of the people in Neuhaus were employed at his mills. Because mygrandfather was rich, affable, and a good horseman, he enjoyed verygood relations with the commander of that regiment. At the beginningof the First World War, his sons, Charles and Heinrich, served in thatregiment. Charles volunteered at age sixteen, received a battlefieldcommission, and was discharged as a decorated lieutenant at the endof the First World War.
My grandmother Emilie's maiden name was Schuster, the Germanword for shoemaker, and she was one of ten siblings from an equallyprosperous family in Luegde, another Westphalian rural community.This family also lived in that town for centuries. She was one of tensiblings, and she was related to the Staabs and Nordhauses in NewMexico. One of her brothers, Bernard, lived in El Paso, Texas.
Since the eighteenth century, my paternal grandfather's grandfather,whose name was Calmon Mueller, the same as my grandfather, lived inthe Westphalian village Stoermede. My great-grandfather Isaac Muellerstill lived there in the nineteenth century but later moved to anotherlittle town, Geseke, where my grandfather was born into a large family.My grandfather Calmon Mueller established himself in the feed andgrain business in Paderborn in the nineteenth century and marriedPaula, maiden name Schueler, whose father was a banker in Geseke.The Schueler family was one of the oldest Jewish families in thatregion. They were related to a famous rabbi who was instrumentalin legislative proceedings to improve the living conditions for Jewishfamilies in Germany in the ginning of the nineteenth century. Noneof these families exist in that area, as their descendants either fled toother countries or were slaughtered by the Nazis.
A brief explanation of these family names: It was only at the beginningof the nineteenth century that Jews were permitted to have surnamesrecorded at the courthouses. Mueller and Schuster are unusual names forJews, as at that time it was prohibited to assume names that conflictedwith the guilds. A few people were able to avoid that regulation becausetheir names had been used prior to the promulgation of those rules.In my case, the first Mueller went to the village priest to have his sons'name recorded, and when asked what his name was, he must haveresponded "Mueller" because that was his nickname at the time. Inthe case of the Schusters, it must have been similar. Rosenthal wasa typical name chosen by folks who availed themselves of the newrules to choose surnames. Schueler, meaning student or scholar, wasnormal for a family who had emerged from the ghetto and probablywas also in use prior to the new rules. When Jews had their own civiladministration, the babies were always named with biblical Hebrewnames in their synagogues.
I also want to mention that Jews in Germany did not hold full Germancitizenship until 1870; however, they were granted new freedoms,permission to serve in the military, and surnames after Napoleonbrought the French Revolution into the country with his conquests.
It is also appropriate to mention here that Moses Mendelssohn, afamous Jewish philosopher who lived in Berlin in the eighteenthcentury, effectively sponsored emancipation for the Jews of Germany.He labored for acceptance not only by the state but also by the Jewishcommunities, who traditionally preferred to be separate from thegeneral populace.
I am one of the few still alive to tell this story, and I am proud to beable to prove that Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jews in Europedid not succeed. I have collected information about my ancestry formany years, made repeated trips to Germany, visited many of the sitesand graveyards, and conferred with local historians. Today, there arefolks in most of those places who compile information about the Jewishfamilies who lived there before the Second World War.
CHAPTER 2
My Parents' Wedding Banquet,July 6, 1913
Translation:
Wedding Dinner Menu
July 6, 1913
The Baroque-Style Banquet Hall
Beluga caviar on ice
Queen's soup
Saddle of venison, garnished with truffles and mushroom
Wine: Liebfrauenmilch and Medoc, Margot
Fresh lobster from Helgoland with mayonnaise and head lettuce
Roasted goose with various pickled fruit (Oderbrucher)
Asparagus with melted butter
Vanilla ice cream with whipped cream
Pastries (tarts)
Dessert buffet
Paderborn is a midsize town in Westphalia, located at the confluenceof several rivers. It also boasts the rise of the Pader River. The namePaderborn means "spring of the Pader." Charlemagne culminated acampaign in Germany around 1000 CE and is said to have baptizedGermans at that spring. Today there is still a large church, thePaderborn Dom, standing above that spring, and the immediate areais the venue of a large diocese headed by a bishop and his retinue.Paderborn remains principally a Catholic community, in contrast tomost of the lower Saxony environment, which is Protestant. A sizableJewish community arose in Paderborn in the mid-nineteenth century.My great-grandparents and grandparents, the Rosenthals and theMuellers, lived, prospered, and raised their families there. Both of myparents were college educated.
She was twenty-two years old; he was twenty-eight. Her name wasAnna Rosenthal, and she was one of six siblings (three boys and threegirls). Her mother had been widowed for about a year. Louis Rosenthalhad been the second-generation owner-operator of A. Rosenthal & Sonin Neuhaus, twenty minutes by streetcar from the center of Paderborn.My father, Ernst, was the oldest of three sons of Calmon Muellerand his wife Paula, nee Schueler, and a feed and grain merchant inPaderborn. Their patrician home and adjoining warehouse was locatedacross from the hotel on the Bahnhof Strasse, the main thoroughfareof Paderborn.
Ernst had just passed the Bar after studying in Freiburg, a collegetown in the so-called Black Forest. He was a tall, handsome chap, andat university, he had acquired dueling scars on his left cheek, a badgeof honor at that time for German university scholars. Anna was apetite, very attractive, accomplished girl having studied in Lausanne,Switzerland, and fluent in both English and French. Their courtshiphad been passionate (I have a copy of a poem she wrote to him) butovershadowed by the sudden, recent death of Anna's father. Her momhad frowned somewhat upon the untimely and sudden engagement butcondoned it, especially because Anna's sister Hilda had recently marrieda Catholic fellow, a situation that was abhorrent to her. Anyway, Emilie,my grandmother, was overwhelmed, having to take over the hugeresponsibilities of ownership of the large enterprise bequeathed toher after the untimely death of her husband. My grandfather, LouisRosenthal, had inherited A. Rosenthal & Son from his father, AbrahamRosenthal. I only knew him from his portrait, but I know he must havebeen a very impressive and active merchant who loved his family andbeautiful horses and exulted in the success of his business. He built alarge home on the main street leading into Neuhaus, and he ownedextensive acreage across the street. He had a second mill built, a verymodern, six-story building, equipped with the latest machinery formilling the finest flour. The mill was driven by electric water turbines,which were also propelled by the swift flowing Pader River. Apparentlyhis business was flourishing at that time, and he and his family couldafford a wonderful lifestyle. He was vacationing on the Frisian islandresort Norderney, where he went swimming in the North Sea andsuffered a heart attack after overexerting himself at the beach. The yearwas 1911, and he was fifty-five years old.
It was not too long after his funeral that my mother fell in love withmy father and they decided to marry.
CHAPTER 3
My Parents' First Years inHannover and Starting a Family
The newlyweds' plans for their future included his decision to accepta position with a law firm in Hannover. Their honeymoon featured atrip into the mountains of southern Germany and an ocean voyageto England on the new luxury liner Vaterland. Just as they reachedEngland in the summer of 1914, the First World War became imminent.Since the ship was discharging passengers in Southampton and wasscheduled to proceed to New York, Anna suggested that they continueto America. "Nonsense" was Ernst's reply. "I must return and fulfillmy duty to serve my country." He therefore joined the German Army,served four years in the trenches, and was awarded the Iron Cross.
After Gertrude was born on February 8, 1915, Anna moved back toNeuhaus to stay with her mother and get help with the infant. Shealso accepted a job to work with Allied war prisoners in the nearbyvillage of Sennelager. I understand that Ernst was unhappy with thosearrangements, and thus began serious rifts early in their marriage.The war ended in 1918, and I was born on March 10, 1919, at No. 18Ferdinand Walbrecht Strasse, where my mother had rented a ratherluxurious two-story apartment and furnished it, no doubt, with thehelp of her mother. She was alone at the time of my birth and had tocall a neighbor to help her with the delivery. She nursed me, and shetold me in later years that I had been an incredibly greedy little baby.I have some dim recollections of my parents' bedroom and spendingtime in their bed. My mother started to read to me in bed when I wasstill very, very little, and I remember that she was pleased with me whenI showed some comprehension of the material.
At about two or three years old, I remember my father coming in. Hemust have been out all night, and my parents were yelling at each otherwhen I said something to him in defense of my mother. He cuffed me,and I started crying. She held me and called him a brute, and he stormedout. I can't believe I still remember that incident. It must have been duringthat period that we took my first trip to the beach resort of Norderney. Isomehow remember the journey on a steamboat, probably from the portof Emden to Norderney, in the company of my nurse and my mother.I remember getting seasick. In Norderney we stayed in a pension—abed-and-breakfast—and I spent time on the beach, probably learning towalk. These visits were repeated in subsequent years, as I have photos ofmyself with some of my cousins when I was still very little. Now I ascribemy relatively good health to those periods at the shore.
It could not have been much later when an early traumatic experiencestuck in my memory: my nursemaid kissing me good-bye in thedownstairs kitchen of our home, and me crying bitterly about herleaving. I have a memory of my mother coming down the steps to pickme up and console me.
Another early memory that stuck with me is my fourth birthday.(Somehow I remember that it was the fourth.) I received a little trainset, and I remember playing with it under our dining room table. Wehad a balcony at the rear of our home facing a backyard and a biglinden tree. One day I was swinging between two pieces of furnitureout there, and my sister pushed me, causing me to fall and knock myhead on the brick balustrade of the balcony. It gave me a nasty cut inmy forehead, and I carried that scar for many years. I remember peoplelaughing when I told them about the bandage caused by "mein Kopf imLoch"—my head in the hole. I remember because already at that time Ibegan to realize that I meant my hole in the head. In subsequent yearsI endured several bouts with chicken pox, the measles, earaches, andonce even pneumonia. My ears were frequently lanced—this was beforeantibiotics—probably bringing about the beginning of my subsequenthearing impairment, which have required me to wear hearing aids forthe past fifty-plus years.
I also remember a bit of the inflation in the post-World War I Germany,including shortages of food, soap, and other necessities. I rememberfood packages from Neuhaus supplementing our diets, includingpackages from America with all sorts of goodies.
I remember my father taking me for walks and bicycle rides in theEilenriede, our city park, and visits to a restaurant in the park, where hewould order a cup of coffee and a glass of milk for me and then put a littlebit of coffee in my milk. My father in those days also had a motorcyclewith a sidecar, and we took occasionally rides. The park was encircled bya road, the site of the annual motorcycle races that my father would takeme to watch. It was very exciting. He also taught me to identify all sortsof various trees, and I remember collecting acorns from huge oaks.
One incident I will never forget involves my father arriving in frontof our house in a motorcar. I looked out of the window and saw himgetting out with another man. When they came to our door, I wasstanding in the hall with my thumb in my mouth. "That big boy stillsucks his thumb," said the stranger. I was humiliated and never, eversucked my thumb after that experience. My father bought that car thatday, his first automobile. It was an American make, a Whippet. Thismust have been about 1924.
I was six when I was sent to Neuhaus to recover from a bout ofpneumonia. I stayed in my grandmother's house for the rest of thatyear. She had nursemaids for me around the clock. They inducted mein all sorts of Catholic rites, including visits to the local churches andwalks along the Stations of the Cross that abounded there. My healthstarted improving, and I spent time with some of the local childrenand in the flour mills, even riding on the big Belgian dray horses andhorse-drawn wagons that hauled the flour to the rail siding, loadedgrain from the railroad cars, and transported the grain back to themills in the village. During those months I also went to Paderborn andspent time in my paternal parents' home and with my cousins who liveddownstairs. When I finally came back to Hannover, we had moved toanother house, and my brother, Peter, had arrived. I remember the firstmoments when I saw him in my mother's arms—a tiny little baby!
There were always frequent visits to Neuhaus and Paderborn. OneSunday afternoon, my uncles Heinrich and Karl happened to be atmy grandmother's home, and it was decided that we'd have an outingin the Teutoburger Wald, or forest. This was not too far and was anice excursion by horse-drawn carriage. What fun it was to watch myuncles struggling to hitch the horses to the carriage! The men whousually took care of such tasks were off this Sunday. Finally we wereoff after piling into the conveyance, my grandmother carrying boxesand bundles of food and drink. Our destination was the Kreuzkrug, arestaurant in the middle of the forest. Oma, my grandmother, arrangedfor the dishes and utensils and served the food on outdoor picnictables under the trees. We kids were not that hungry and wanderedinto the woods to play and pick wild raspberries and blueberries. Wehad so much fun that when it was time to go home we fell fast asleepduring the trip. Once we stopped in Detmold, a little town nearby, andadmired the Arminius Monument, a statue erected to honor a Germanwarrior who had once ambushed a Roman legion.
