Gottliebs of Nahbollenbach |
Updated 8/17/2014 |
| Home | Descendant Tree | Ancestor Tree | Alphabetical List |
Wilhelmine Gottlieb (known as Mina) was the first child of Isaac and Caroline. She was born in Nahbollenbach on May 29, 1873 and married Louis Siesel sometime in the early 1900s. Louis was born in Ober Workshadz on June 19, 1879. They stayed in Germany until the brink of the Holocaust and had five children there: Sol, Theodore, Irma, Julius and Max.
Most of the family left Germany starting in the late 1930s: Max emigrated first in September 1936, then Julius in April 1937, Sol in September, 1937, Louis and Mina in December 1938, and Theodore in June 1941. They settled in Brooklyn, around the corner from where Mina's brother Herman had been living since the early 1900s. The boys were all single at the time of their immigration. Theodore and Max volunteered to serve in World War II and went back to Germany as American soldiers. Daughter Irma and her family did not get out of Germany until after the war.
Sol Siesel was born in Nahbollenbach, Germany on March 23, 1906. He came to America in September 1937 on the SS Berengaria from Cherbourg to New York. In America, he lived in Brooklyn. Sol was naturalized on June 12, 1944. He worked as a merchant and an accountant.
Sol married Erna Lion (or Lyon) in New York in the early 1940s. Erna was born in Tholey, Germany on January 13, 1909 and emigrated in September 1938 on the SS Manhattan from Hamburg to New York. She apparently worked as a maid for Sol's uncle Herman Gottlieb before Sol and Erna married. Erna was naturalized on December 5, 1944. Sol and Erna had one child.
Sol died on December 13, 1993. Erna died on September 21, 2001.
Theodore Siesel was born in Nahbollenbach, Germany on May 7, 1907. He left Germany for France in 1938 and lived there for a few years, then came to America in June 1941 on the SS Evangeline from Trinidad to New York. He volunteered for service in the U.S. Army from October 16, 1942 and December 14, 1945, and earned American citizenship on April 14, 1943 for his service. He was serving in Holland, rescuing Jewish families in hiding there, when he found and rescued his sister Irma and her family.
Theodore married Frances Rosenthal in the 1940s. Frances was born on April 30, 1921. They had one child.
Theodore died on October 2, 1980.
Irma Siesel was born in Nahbollenbach, Germany on December 15, 1909. She married Willi Leopold in Germany on March 18, 1934. Willi was born in Bleichenbach, Germany on July 13, 1905. He worked as a cattle dealer in the German countryside. Irma and Willi had a daughter in Germany.
When the Nazi regime took power in German, the Leopolds planned to avoid it in Holland, but Germany took over Holland not long after their arrival. They survived the Holocaust in hiding, much like Anne Frank. They lost contact with Irma's family in Germany, and did not know that the rest of the family had gone to America. At the end of the war, Irma's brother Theodore was an American soldier in Europe, rescuing families that were in hiding in Holland, and found Irma and her family.
The Leopolds came to America in March 1947 on the MS Gripsholm from Gothenburg to New York. Willi purchased a farm in Vineland, New Jersey, which they operated productively for many years. Later, they operated a motel in Atlantic City.
Irma died on September 7, 1986. Willi died on March 19, 1994 in Atlantic City Medical Division, New Jersey. They were buried together at Cedar Park Cemetery in Emerson, New Jersey.
Julius Siesel was born in Nahbollenbach, Germany on December 8, 1910. He came to America in April 1937 on the SS Berengaria, using his uncle Herman Gottlieb as a contact. Julius was naturalized on July 20, 1944. He worked as a butcher in Lakewood, New Jersey.
Julius married Alma J. Siegal in the early 1940s. Alma was born on June 7, 1909. They had one child.
Julius died in December 1978. Alma died in March 1990.
Max Siesel was born in Nahbollenbach, Germany on March 17, 1918. The youngest child of Louis and Mina, Max was the first to come to America as things began to turn against the Jews in Nazi Germany. Max was 18 years old when he came to America alone on the SS Berengaria in September 1936. He used his aunt Rose (Gottlieb) Rich as his contact in America.
Max enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941. He was serving as a Technical Sergeant in Germany when he met and married Anne Wilhelmina Stern. Anne was born in Germany on January 15, 1922. She could not come to America at first because of immigration restrictions, so she lived in England in a war brides' camp. Their first child was born in England. The War Brides Act of 1945 allowed Anne and their daughter to come to America, and they arrived in April 1946. She was naturalized an American citizen in 1950. Max and Anne had a second child in America.
Max died on October 5, 1977. Anne died on May 1, 2003. They were buried together at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.
| Home | Descendant Tree | Ancestor Tree | Alphabetical List |
This site is created and maintained by Tracey Rich, great-granddaughter of Rose Gottlieb Rich.
Do you think you or members of your family may be related to the Gottliebs of Nahbollenbach? Email me for more information!