My parents, Erich and Hilde Samenfeld.

My name is Gary Samenfeld and this website is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Erich and Hildegard(geb. Pfifferling) Samenfeld. I want to chronicle what their lives were like as Jews in Germany and the United States. I will be including photographs, documents, and various written materials. My mother passed away in December of 2004 and I now have many things that she had saved.My daughter, Michelle, suggested that I make a website so that all of this information would not be lost, and be organized into one place. The pictures that I have that were taken in Germany will show what their lives were like in Germany, that is to say, they lived as typical Germans and I want to add that they were always proud of their German heritage. They came to America with their respective nuclear families, my father's in 1938, and my mother's in 1939, and became good citizens in their new country. I have included a speech that I wrote myself some years ago that will explain the backrounds of my parents and their other family members. The pictures, documents, and other writings will have captions to explain what they all are. This will be a work-in-progress, as I may find  more items to include in this website.

Gary Samenfeld, Greenville, South Carolina

From The Aufbau:

Speech, first delivered at Congregation Shir Hadash, 1994:

For the purpose of this project I have made several additions to my original speech.

My parents, Erich and Hildegard Samenfeld

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Descendents of Moses Heynemann Heyum Isaac

Grandfather of my  grandmother, Dina Samenfeld.

Oma Dina’s father, Isaak Heynemann is in the center of this photo. My dad is to the right of his grandfather. The dog is named Lady. June 20, 1922. (left click to enlarge)

Family tree information provided by William C Grafen of Melbourne, Australia.

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Irma and Walter Jacobsohn

Family recollection, titled: "Seventy Years,Four Months, And Seven Days"

My Uncle Walter wrote this story for his 5 grandchildren:

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This is a photo of my mother’s uncle and Opa Karl’s oldest brother and his family. Adolph his wife Therese (geb. Dannenbaum), and two of their three children, Hans, and Anna Kaeta. There had been another son, Albert. Albert was shot and killed by communists when he was 13 and further down on the main page there is a specific entry for him. Anna Kaeta died of Polio when she was 6. Hans left Germany in 1934. At the entry for Hildegard Samenfeld there is more detail about their family.

Paula Rosenberg was my mother’s aunt and Opa Karl’s sister. Her husband was Julius Rosenberg. They had 3 children Rudy, Alice, and Lotte. In August of 1942, my mother’s aunt and uncle, her cousin, Lotte,  and her husband Bertold Steinberg, and their little girl Marion all perished in the gas chambers of the Treblinka and Auschwitz Concentration camps.

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This is a picture of the memorial to the synagogue that my mother’s family attended.

please click  http://www.gedenkbuch.halle.de then Halle (Saale)

Julius Pfifferling was the brother of my grandfather Karl Pfifferling, he died in Buchenwald. Also listed is Opa’s youngest brother, Fritz, Who died in Shanghai.

"ASR-Aktion" on 25.04.1938, category "ASR Jew" [6], "Arbeitsschönreich" 
prisoners The Leopold Nußbaum and Julius Pfifferling from Halle were the 
first Jews to be killed "in Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

 
 Memorial at the Jewish cemetery.

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Karl Pifferling

My Opa Karl was an officer in the German Army in World War I. He earned the Iron Cross and the Honor Cross, as my mother said, “the latter one saved his life”. When he was taken to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp on Krystalnacht, he carried with him in his coat pocket a copy of a document from former President Hindenburg. This showed that my Opa had served his country and earned the Honor Cross. He was released from Buchenwald after 3 weeks. Opa’s brother, Julius, who was also in the German army, died in Buchenwald in May, 1938. In all, 61 of Opa Karl’s relatives died in the Holocaust.

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Kurt Keller was the husband of my mother’s sister, Aunt Lore Keller, and the father of my cousin Sharon Keller.

The following is an article from the Milwaukee Journal:

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This is a letter that my grandfather received from his lieutenant in WWI. This lietenant obviously did not realize that my grandfather was a Jew.

Translation of what is written on this photo:

“War 1915 Belgium”

“Ancient warrior on guard. But image is not good. When do you think will be peace?”

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 Bremen, Germany: Holocaust Memorial

 Letter that my cousin Peter wrote to the research project on the former citizens of Bremen.

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This is the grave of my father’s father, Adolph Samenfeld, in Lavelsloh, Germany.

Jüdischer Friedhof (Lavelsloh)

The Lavelsloh Jewish Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in the town of Lavelsloh in the Diepenau district (municipality of Uchte, district of Nienburg / Weser, Lower Saxony). It is a protected cultural monument.

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To Whom It May Concern:

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The incident that resulted in the shooting death of Opa Karl's 14-year-old nephew, Albert Pfifferling.

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http://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/en974368

My mother's first cousin, Charlotte Steinberg (geb. Rosenberg), her husband, Bertold, and daughter, Marion interned at Camp de Casseneuil in Vichy France prior to deportation to Auschwitz.

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Chemnitz Memorial

http://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/en974398

The following article is about the children and young people from Chemnitz, Germany who were deported to the concentration camps.

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internment of my Opa Karl Pfifferling and his older brother, Julius, at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

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Samenfeld/Jacobsohn:http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/New-York/Dina-Samenfeld_51wr8

There are several errors here in the 1940 census. The family consisting of my grandmother, my father, my aunt, uncle & cousin, actually lived at 2710 Sedgwick, not 2734. Johanna Jacobsohn, who was my uncle’s mother was the person who lived at 2734. Here she is shown as my grandmother’s cousin, which is an obvious mistake.

Pfifferling:http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Wisconsin/Karl-Pfifferling_2qtdbf

    

Sources from Thomas Beck of Datterode, Germany: 

http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/netra_synagoge.

http://www.heimatverein-datterode.de/geschichte-und-geschichten/die-datteroeder-juden/juedisches-leben-im-dorf

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These are the five Affidavits Of Support that were necessary for the Pfifferling family to come to America.

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I have made a list of the deportation statistics of the family members of my grandfather, Adolph Samenfeld:

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The following information was been sent to me by Klaus Dietermann of Seigen, Germany. I have edited and translated to English from German.

http://aktives-gedenkbuch.de/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/114

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Niederwerrn Synogogue

This is the family tree for the Gutmanns, Oma Julchen’s side of the family.

I have received the Gutmann Family Tree from Sharon Trosch, Rabbi Joseph Gutmann’s daughter. I have also received some notes from Tracy Marx that were from a trip her grandmother, Lillian Marx, made to Niederwerrn.

http://garysam.typepad.com/photos/gutmann_family_tree/index.html

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 Eschwege Synagogue

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hhttp://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/index.html.enttp://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/index.html.en

In the Photo Album section there are individual lists that I have posted:

htmltp://garysam.typepad.com/photos/deportation_lists/index

This website contains photocopies of the actual deportation lists used by the Nazis.

https://www.statistik-des-holocaust.de/list_ger.

Not all of the lists are available. For example, My father's uncle and cousin, Moritz Samenfeld, and Arthur Samenfeld, and also my grandfather's cousin, Johanna (geb Samenfeld) Simon and her husband Harry Simon were all on the 31 March, 1942 transport from Gelsenkirchen to Sobibor. However, only 3 of the lists for that transport were found.

htmlp://www.statistik-des-holocaust.de/list_ger_wfn_420331

Deportation from Halle/Saale:

On March 20, 1942, the Gestapo Kassel informed the district administrators and police stations that "in the course of an ongoing evacuation campaign … in the near future, approx. 840 Jews will also be deported to the east from the Kassel administrative district" [HStA Marburg, 180 Fritzlar 2737] . The planned amalgamation with a partial transport from Halle was intended to achieve the number of 1,000 deportees specified by the RSHA. Another letter from May 22nd then stipulated that "according to the guidelines given … only 522 Jews from the Kassel administrative district could not be considered for the forthcoming campaign". It says: "These Jews will be deported from Kassel to the East on June 1st, 1942." In the same letter, those affected will be brought by rail from the various regions on May 30th. and 31.5. planned in detail [HStA Marburg, 180 Fritzlar 2737]

Eschwege Synagogue: Kristallnacht, November 9/10, 1938.

http://www.germansynagogues.com

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The gravestone in Lavelsloh of my greatgrandparents: Isaak Heynemann 1842/1924, and Bertha Gelchen Lilienfeld 1841/1914.

From the history of the Jewish communities in the German-speaking world:

” In August 1938 the last Jewish inhabitants left the village together with the Samenfeld family.”

http://garysam.typepad.com/photos/heynemann_samenfeld_famil/the-last-jewish-family-emigrated.html

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Shanghai – Zuflucht und Wartesaal. Hallesche Juden im Exil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P545BpuZtu4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/shanghais-jewish-quarter-hongkou?fbclid=IwAR26yC4txcXTY5D9dRAkw1JEsbykZA-E3yVZ4tWXbn6bT6gKQmrb6521iFg

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Family Tree for Oma Dina’s mother: Bertha Lilienfeld

Front row: my great grandmother, Bertha Gehlchen (geb Lilienfeld) Heynemann, my great grandfather, Isaak Heynemann / Back row: my great aunt Johanna (geb Heynemann) Fleischhacker, my great uncle Louis Heynemann, and my grandmother Dina (geb Heynemann) Samenfeld

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Wedding announcement for my Uncle Walter's aunt & uncle.

 The Löwenstein family, Lavelsloh, Diepenau, Lower Saxony, Germany. Uncle Walter's Aunt Henny (Jacobsohn), her husband Louis, children Lisbeth & Herbert. The Löwensteins lived across the street from the Samenfeld family. This was the reason that my Uncle Walter met my Tante Irma. (Please refer to Uncle Walter's story) Unfortunately the Löwensteins were murdered at the Minsk Ghetto in 1942.

Information about the Jewish families in the Diepholz area.

http://www.juedische-geschichte-diepholz.de/13schicksale_nazizeit2.htm

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This is the monument in Gross-Gerau, Hesse, Germany that honored the Jewish soldiers from the area who were killed in the Great War. The monument was destroyed in 1938.

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Lavelsloh Jewish Cemetery

This is an article that was written by Muchael Schwarze and published in the Lavelsloh newspaper on March, 2022.

1938 – Die letzte jüdische Familie verläßt Lavelsloh

1938 – The last Jewish family leaves Lavelsloh

The Samenfeld family from Lavelsloh fled Germany in 1938 from the National Socialists. The family had been based in Lavelsloh for several generations.

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