Binyamin Ben Avraham Shlomo

Shmuel Avraham Ben Binyamin

1) Irit and Uri Levitt 2) Edna and Gilad Fortuna, Shwedia 54, Haifa

He was a cattle-broker "Viehaendler" in Ichenhausen.

In February 1937 , Hermann and Betty made a trip to Palestine , to vis it their children and grandchildren, and shortly after returned to Ger many. On the 10th of September 1942, all remaining Jewish inhabitants of Nur enberg (everyone over 65) were deported to Theresienstadt. Among the m were also Hermann and Betty Freimann. Hermann died there on April 26, 1943 . Betty was transported to Auschwitz in October 1944 and died there.

Claude M. Erlanger (Klaus)

" I was born as Klaus Erlanger in 1923, in Mannheim. My father, Joseph , was born in Altenstadt, Bayern (Bavaria), and my mother, nee Roos , in Chemnitz. Both died in Los Angeles, California. I had one brother , Paul, also born in Mannheim, in 1919. He died in Los Angeles in 1982 . We first lived on Rheinstrasse -- both Ernst "Erwo" Michel (see also ) and I were born in the same apartment during the inflation. We the n moved to 18 Mollstrasse, corner of Augusta Anlage. My wife, Dorothe a Inge Gimbel, now Dotty. and her brother Rudolph, now Roger, lived o n Augusta Anlage and Rosengarten. We belonged to Hauptsynagogue (mai n synagogue) and my father's seat was next to professor Billingheimer , who passed away in Australia. Dr. Max Gruenwald (see also) barmitzvahed both Paul, on December 2, 1 932 and myself, on August 1, 1936. Both Paul and I were very active i n the Jugend Gottesdienst (youth synagogue services) with Werner Hirsc h, under the direction of Cantor Hugo Adler, organist Seppl Levi, wh o died here in Los Angeles, and Rabbi Dr. Laemle. I visited Dr. Laeml e in Rio de Janeiro, who .incidentally was my in-laws' Rabbi when th e Gimbles all lived in Rio de Janeiro from 1943 till 1949. Dr. Laeml e also barmitzvahed my brother-in-law. Roger Gimbel, in Rio. I also re member Rabbi Oppenheimer, his son Ludwig, and Dr. Una, who were teache rs at the Jewish school. Some of my friends were Karlsruher, aeppenhei mer (see also), Karlebach, Wolf, Feibelman. and my cousin, Eric Samso n (see also), now Sao Paulo, Brazil. I collect stamps, and have complete first day issues for United State s since 1942, complete United Nations, and complete Israel first day c over collections . Our departure from Mannheim, for my parents and brother Paul, and mys elf actually started in 1912! "How come", you ask? Well, let me tell y ou about it. Joseph Erlanger, my father, a partner with his brother Ma x in M.Marum G.M.B.a. located in Mannheim, ran a branch office in Mila n, Italy, prior to WWI. Dad's office was next door to Corriera Dela Se ra, the renowned newspaper, on whose staff was a young reporter -- sam e age as my father, about 26 years old, and the two bachelors were goo d friends. I was told they palled around together until .the outbrea k of WWI, His name: Benito Mussolini ! When World War I started, Dad r eturned to the Vaterland to become a Frontsoldat (soldier) in the Germ an Imperial Army, and Benito entered the Italian Imperial Army as a C arabineri. And so it came to pass that in 1923 Benito became Il Duce ! We were told that the friendship continued and I remember as a littl e boy, about Weihnachtzeit (around Christmas) the Italian Consulate, w hich was right down the street from where we lived, on the Rheinstras se, would send beautiful floral arrangements to my parents. Marum was engaged in export of iron and steel to the Balkan and to Ita ly, and my father, on many of his business trips to Italy, would hav e an audience with the Duce in Rome. When the Nazis came to power in 1 933, my father received an assurance from Mussolini, if ever he neede d help, to come and settle in Italy and to contact someone. Whom, we d o not know, but Dad must have had the phone number engraved in his bra in or tatooed around his naval! The years 1933, 1934- 1936, and 1937 went by.I went from Adolf Hitle r Real Gymnasium to the Jewish School. My father was designated a Son der Jude (special jew) for bringing foreign currency into Germany, an d selling German steel in Italy. Paul was selling condoms and other ru bber goods made in Germany, also in the Balkan. Suddenly in March 193 8 my grandmother passed away in Amsterdam. My mother had in aller Stie ge (in all secrecy) all our furniture packed and put into storage. O n March 7, 1938 the Nazis were kind enough to issue mother a passpor t valid for seven days to attend her mother's funeral in Amsterdam. Si x days later the Erlanger Family travelled on the French side of the R hine to Milan. At the Guestura (police), like all other foreigners, we immediately r egistered, only to be told, like in the Haggadah : "Wi-Hineh Bachazi H alaila" (from the Hebrew:may it come to pass at midnight)! At midnigh t Signora Erlanger will be sent back to Germany !. My father got up, a sked to use the phone to call Roma (Rome)! A scene as vivid in my min d as if it happened yesterday. He dialed the phone and spoke in perfec t Italian. The police officer probably thought Dad to be derailed, but after a fe w minutes my father handed the officer the receiver and the conversati on continued, but at the time in a language I did not quite understand . I did understand what the officer said after hanging up : "Si accomo di Signor, un amigo del Duce est un amigo de me!" ("Sit down please , a friend of the Duce is also my friend!"). Out came the forms, the s tamps, salutation, friendship, and we stayed! Weeks passed while I liv ed with an Italian Jewish family to learn Italian. Dad accepted applic ations for Italian citizenship, but he wanted to leave Europe. Visas f or USA were applied for and running. Three families from Mannheim livi ng in Milan, one was a family Rothschild, the others I don't remember , pooled their resources for emigration to Australia to start a wool f arm. . Papers in order, we left Milan August 28, 1939, for London to receiv e our immigration papers at the Empire House on the 2nd day of Septem ber 1939. On the day before, Hitler had marched on Poland and on the 2nd day o f September war broke out. On the third day of September we all were E nemy Aliens! Eighteen months later in April 1941, after internment o n the Isle of Man in Camp Lingfiald southeast of London, and after th e evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk with our US Visa twice ren ewed, we finally left England on board of a British merchantship, dest ination: USA! And thus during the battle of the Atlantic, 13 Europea n refugees, including two from Danzig, a family of three from Prague , and two children from a children's transport who had lived in Manche ster England, were on the water for 43 days. The route took us to Icel and, Greenland, Canada, Bermuda, Curacao, and, wherever we stopped w e were Enemy Aliens and not permitted to go ashore. Finally, we saile d through the Panama Canal to the American West Coast, and finally aga in "Wi-Hineh Bachazi Halaila," we arrived at Long Beach, California ha rbor and were advised by the Captain: "End of the Line!". When I arrived in Los Angeles I got a janitorial job at a radio part s manufacturing plant owned by the son-in-law of David ( ? ) and Gret e Sternheimer from Mannheim. Their daughter Emily married Walter Schot t who became a prominent electronic manufacturer. I had last seen Emil y in Mannheim when both of us were thrown out of Schwimmbad Herwec k ( swimming pool) by the Nazis. I left Schott five years later and st arted with my brother Paul, an electronic representative agency in 194 6. We switched to consumer goods in 1978, and work now in the handbag , backpack, small leather goods, and novelty import items with two o f our sons and my brother-in-law, Roger Gimbel. In 1950 on a blind date in New York I met my darling wife-to-be, Dori s Gimbel, also from Mannheim -- and four months later our revered Rabb i Dr.Max Gruenewald married us in New York. Doris Gimbell's family ha d a Getreide Muehle ( flour mill) in Ludwigshafen. Ruth Gimbel was he r aunt and Hugo and Sophie Feibelmann, Zigaren Fabrick (cigar factory ) in Mannheim, were their maternal grandparents. They left Germany i n 1934, went to France, fled the Nazis to the Pyrenees, then to Portug al with false immigration papers. From there they went to Brazil, an d came to New York in 1949. Her parents and brother Roger stayed in Ne w York, where he became extremely successful in the leather goods busi ness. Both parents passed away in New York.

We have three sons and four grandchildren. Steven, 38 years old, singl e, is in business with me and lives one block from us in Lake Arrowhea d, California. David, 36 years old, is married to Heidi. They were sch ool sweethearts and have four children, Brooke , Chason Sidnee and Kir by . They live two miles from us; he is CEO of our corporation. Mike , 28 years, single, graduated from Architectural at Cornell Universit y in 1986, and works in Century City, Beverly Hills, California. I a m on the Board of Directors of our Temple in San Bernardino. Dotty i s home maker and a good provider. All of us, including grandchildren , are all ardent water skiers and enjoy racing and in Winter we becom e snow skiers. Steve is a Certified Ski Instructor; David and Heidi wo rk for the Ski Patrol, and Mike is into racing! For forty-nine we hav e lived in and loved California."

C.Erlanger , June 1990

"Emma married out.Her parents set Shivah and her name was never mentio ned.." Arnold Erlanger

According to the Fuerth memor web-site , http://home.t-online.de/home/ RIJONUE/fuerth7.htm , Emma Nachmann, nee Erlanger born on 09-12-1875 in Altenstadt , last residence: Fuerth, Schwabache r Strasse 13 deported from there on 10-09-1942 to Theresienstadt, from there on 18- 05-1944 to Auschwitz missing

Fanny Erlanger was deported via Munich to Theresienstadt on 11.9.194 2 (transport II/25 -1057), and on 29.9 she was transported from ther e to Treblinka (Bs -211).

Gabriel was a butcher. He had a butcher-shop in Ichenhausen, and his s on Levi followed him in the same shop.

Jacob was wounded in WWI. He worked as an accountant for a big firm in Ludwigshaven.

Juda Loeb Erlanger was born in Ichenhausen, son of a butcher. He lived in Altenstadt , and was the owner (together with a gentile) a nd director of a factory that manufactured wooden shoe-trees . The factory was built in 1865 by Juda Loeb and called at the time "Er langer und Winkle". It was first a match manufacture, but about 5 year s later became a shoe-tree factory, because of the Swedish match mono poly (This information was received from Richard Winkle who runs th e factory today, 2001). For many years he served as chairman of the Jewish community. On the 1st of July 1895 he was found dead near the river Iller. Appare ntly he had committed suicide because of difficulties having to do wit h the business.

"Levi Erlanger, 1907 amtlich in Leo umgenannt"...

"Leo had made tramendous efforts to leave Germany in 1939 with Cuban v isas -bought by Joseph Erlanger for his brother and sister-in-law , bu t he failed to do so , and was later sent to a concentration camp".( C laude Erlanger ).

Leo and his wife Karoline were deported 22.10.1940 to Gurs in Souther n France. Leo was sent to Auschwitz 10.8.1942, where he was murdered . Karoline died in Gurs in 1940.

According to an entry of death-registry 15/1895 St.Amt Illereichen-Alt enstadt (Sterbeeintrag), Levi Erlanger was a butcher , and married no t to Sara Vogel but to Fanny nee Bach or BACHRACH.

Levy Erlanger had a butchershop in Ichenhausen.He lived and worked i n the same house as his father Gabriel before him. He had 6 brothers a nd one sister.

Linda Dolan Son: Chad

Lothar studied Law at the university of Heidelberg in 1917for two seme sters, then he had to go to the army. When WWII broke out he somehow managed to escape from Freiburg, wher e he lived before the war, across the border to Switzerland. During th e war he spent some time in Grenoble, probably with his cousin Ludwi g Nachman. There he met up with a gentile (Protestant) lady, and had two kids b y her. Lothar returned to Germany after the war, and lived in his home town Freiburg with his family.

Max was in business together with his brother Sep (M.MARUM GMBH,starte d in 1830, Mannheim, with a branch office in Milano,managed by Joseph) . The firm was taken away by the Nazis in 1937.