Opi Deutsch part I

זאב יהודא בן יונתן דייטש
כ"ח אלול תרי"ג - א' דר"ח אדר ב' תרח"ץ
Ma's mother's father

Zev Yehudah Deutsch, “Opi Deutsch” (Ma's mother's father), was from Verbau, Slovakia.  He was born about 1853 to his parents Yonasan and Chana nee Fuchs. His secular name was Wilhelm, and in Yiddish he was called Wolf Leib.
 

One of his childhood friends was HaGoan R’ Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, a native of Verbau, later Rav of Yerushalayim.

In the late 1870's, Zev Yehudah married Silka the daughter of R’ Leib Schick of Trnava, Slovakia and his wife Rivka nee Schlesinger. They settled in Welschitz a small town near Verbau. Sometime around the turn of the century they moved to Vienna.

Geflugelhandlung, Lazar Kaufmann, formerly Wilhelm Deutsch
L-R Aunty Dita Bauer Ma's sister, Lazar Kaufman Ma's father,
Opi Deutsch Ma's grandfather (with beard).
Two of Ma's uncles are standing in the back and the porter is standing on far right

In Vienna Opi Deutsch opened a Geflügelhandlung (poultry shop) at 18 Grosse Schiffgasse. The family lived upstairs and the shop was downstairs. The store was later given over to his son in law Lazar Kaufmann (Ma’s Father) for his dowry.

סולקא בת יודא ליב
תרי"ז- ז' חשון תרס"ד
Ma's grandmother after whom she was named
It is noteworthy that Ma's Yahrzeit is also ז' חשון

In 1903 (ז' חשון תרס"ד) his wife Silka passed away at a young age.

Inscription of Lazar Kaufmann in a חומש:
The Yahrzeit of my father in law
Moreinu Zev Yehudah ben Yehonoson
א' דר"ח אדר שני ת.נ.צ.ב.ה

Zev Yehudah was מאריך ימים, he was נפטר in Vienna at the age of 85. Ma's first-cousin, Boba (Joe) Kohn gave an account of his פטירה.
Zev Yehudah, who had been generally in good health called his family to his bedside and said: “A drinking glass slipped from my hands and shattered. I feel I’m losing my strength and my time is near”. Ma’s mother Malka started screaming: “that’s ridiculous, so a glass fell from your hands”. Opi told his son in law Rudy Kohn and Rudy’s sons, who were כהנים,  to leave the house. He then turned to the wall and was נפטר בשם טוב.

Siddur רנה ותפלה which Ma received from her grandfather Opi Deutsch
on the 25th Yahrtzeit of her grandmother Silka

Als andenken an euren Grossvater
(A remembrance from your grandfather)
Wilhelm Deutsch
Wien 22/ 10/ 28 fur L. Cilla
(Vienna, October 22nd 1928 for dear Cilla)

Seventy two years ago...

The S. S. Washington
on which the Stroh Family arrived to the United States
72 years ago, January 6th 1939

Seventy two years ago, Friday night, ט"ז טבת, the S.S. Washington pulled into the New York Harbor. Among the many passengers aboard the ship, was a small family of refugees, a husband, wife, with their son and daughter. Having escaped Nazi occupied Vienna, traveling over land and sea for over three weeks, they had finally arrived at a safe haven.  The passengers began to disembark. Standard procedure required that immigration papers be signed; people stood in line, signed their papers and went ashore. Mr. Stroh firmly refused to sign; it was שבת קודש. The officers explained that it would be impossible to enter the United States without having signed the papers, Mr. Stroh refused. Many other Yidden felt they had no choice; they signed and went on their way. Mr. Stroh remained on the boat.
 

Manifest of the S.S. Washington
Lines 17 thru 20 list the Stroh Family
note the Gruenhut Family just above

Finally, in the wee hours of the night עסקנים who became aware of the situation showed up.  The עסקנים spoke with the proper authorities and the Stroh family entered the United States of America.  

 
This story was told by Rabbi Gruenhut from Boro Park שיחי' who arrived with his father, the Mattersdorfer שוחט, on the same boat. Rabbi Gruenhut the שוחט and Mr. Stroh were the only ones that had the מסירות נפש and refused to sign.

Stroh House; Botei Ungarin 118 - part 2

Postcard sent by Berthold Stroh (Dally's father) May 1939
from Vienna to his cousin David Schischa
Jerusalem Bothe Hungaria N. 118
He mentions how glad he is that Mr. Schischa
is "living in our house" in Yerushalayim

Reverse of the postcard
Malvine Stroh (Dally's mother) also writes
how glad she is that the Schischa's
"are living in the Stroh House"

Rabbi Yeshaya Furst's letter dated 1910, mentions that R' Bendit HaLevy Lowy of Vienna was living in the Stroh House, Botei Ungarin 118. A note on the original page in the Pinkas of Kollel Shomrei Hachomos, states that in 1928 R' Yackov Stroh (Dally's uncle) had given R' Bendit's widow permission to continue living there.

Ma's note:
The David Schischa family
live in the "Stroh House"

Dally's mother Shvartzel, had a first cousin in Vienna named David Schischa. (David Schisha's mother Gitel Ziporah nee Breuer was a half sister of Shvartzel's father Zalmen Breuer). Mr. Schischa was a distinguished member of the Schiffschul community. His Kosher grocery in the Second District was well known. Older Vienner Yiden recall, how as children they would enter the store and he would get up on the wooden bench to take down a piece of chocolate for them to enjoy.

 

In March 1938, the Friday night after the Nazis entered Vienna, Mr. Schischa and his wife Hana nee Schrieber fled to Eretz Yisroel through Italy.  They settled in Yerushalayim and moved in to the Stroh House.  In Yerushalayim, Mr. Schischa opened a grocery which he operated for many years. After his passing in 1967, his widow remained in the house until she passed away in 1975.

 

Air Letter from David Schischa
118. Bote-Hungaria
Jerusalem (Palestine)
to Dally in 1947

The house was then taken over by a neighbor, Mr. Einhorn, who then connected the two adjacent houses. Currently, the Einhorns are still residing in the house.

בתי אונגארן 118, ביתם אשר בנו לשם ולשארית לאביהם המנוח ז"ל

Page record of the house in Botei Ungarin donated in 1905
by the children of David Stroh from his estate
for the price of 2000 Kronen

In 1892, כולל שומרי החומות in ירושלים acquired a parcel of land upon which בתי אונגארן in מאה שערים was built. The funding for the individual houses came from generous בעלי בתים in Austria and Hungary. In 1905 the children of ר' דוד בן יעקב  Stroh (Dally’s grandfather) (1834-1905), built a house there with funds from their father’s ירושה. The transaction was recorded in the פנקס of the כולל, and a plaque was put up on the house. For many years קרובים of the Stroh family lived in the house. The house still stands today, yet the plaque has been missing for a long time. 

We found an interesting letter from the Vienner Rav  הר' ישעי' פירסט זצ"ל, dated 1910, in which he discusses the inhabitants of the house. Following is the letter and a loose translation of the section regarding the house.

[October, 1910]

To the esteemed Rabbanim …

On behalf of the יורשים of the late ר' דוד שטראה ז"ל with whom we have agreed, that as of now and in the future, מו"ה ברוך בענדיט לוי סג"ל נ"י of Vienna, shall reside in their house, which they built as an everlasting memory for their late father, in order that no one shall contest his rights to live there, rights which were given to him as a portion from the inheritors …

A letter from R' Yeshaya Furst in 1910
regarding the Stroh House in Botei Ungarin

בעה"י

ב' לס' נח תרע"א לפ"ק

שוכ"ט להרבנים הגדולים הגאונים ... צדיקים הממונים על אוצרות בית ה' עוסקים בצרכי הכולל באמונה ... הע... הקדושה וחכמי' ושומרי' ה' עליהם יחי' בתוככי ירושלים עה"ק תובב"א

אחדש"ה הנני מטעם יורשי המנוח כ"ה דוד שטראה ז"ל אשר אתם עמם יחד הסכמנו שגם מעתה והלאה ידור בתוך ביתם אשר בנו לשם ולשארית אביהם המנוח ז"ל - כבוד הזקן בן עירינו פה מו"ה ברוך בענדיט לוי סג"ל נ"י – להודיע כזאת למעכת"ה נ"י למען לא יערער שום איש על הזכות הזאת אשר נתנו לו למנה מהיורשים בכל יפוי כח וברוח נדיבה – ובדרך אגב הנני מבקש מהדר"ג נ"י שישלחו הנה אל אדרעססע שלי מזוזות ... בכתיבה תמה ... ולא נמחקות ומטושטשות כמזוזות הראשונות אשר נשלחו אלי ... ולא אוכל למוכרם כי רובם פסולים המה

והנני בזה מוקירם ומכבדם כרום ערכם עבד לעבדי ה'

הק' ישעי' פירסט

If anyone is aware of a photo of the house or the plaque we would really appreciate a copy.

Special thanks to Tommy Lamm and R’ Leoffler

דאס שפיעלן איסט וויעדער אסור כמקדם

In Eisenstadt, the home of our Stroh ancestors, there was a strict חרם against playing cards all year round. חנוכה was an exception, card playing was allowed for that entire week  and a bit longer. 

The חרם was instituted in Eisenstadt by the פנים מאירות in 1730. For over two hundred years, up until the destruction of the קהלה in 1938, the איסור was  taken as seriously as the הלכות of Kashrus.

תקנות מאת רבינו מאיר בן ר' יצחק בעל הפנים מאירות משנת ת"ץ

A copy of the Takanos instituted in Eisenstadt

referring to card playing on חנוכה

The נוסח of the original תקנה is:

גם עלה במוסכם בחרם או חתיכא דאיסורא איזט, אין קארטין שפילין. חוץ נשים אצל יולדות מאגין שפילין. וחוץ חנוכה אפילו אנשים איז התיר להם. אבל אנשים עם נשים, או נערים ובתולות, אפי' בקרובים איזט בחרם הנ"ל ניט צו שפילין בייא אזאם (= צוזאמען). ואיסור זה איזט חל הקרוב ונראה תוך פירסא מקהלתינו.ד

An English translation of the תקנה:

It was agreed, that card playing is totally אסור, or in חרם. Excluding those women visiting a kimpeturin. On חנוכה, men are also permited to play. But men with women, or boys with girls even if they are related are included in the חרם and may not play cards together. This איסור applies to all those areas which are within a פרסא of our community.

 

Since on חנוכה card playing was permitted, the מנהג was that shortly before חנוכה the ראש הקהל would announce; "card playing is now permitted". This announcement would nullify the חרם. The חרם did not take effect again, until there was another anouncement; "דאס שפיעלן איסט וויעדער אסור כמקדם", "the playing of cards is now אסור as in the past".  The reinstating of the חרם was usually delayed until the רייצעשער ניטל (the Russian Nitel) which was on January 6th.

In a book entitled A Walk Through the Jewish History of Eisenstadt published by the Austrian Jewish Museum of Eisenstadt, there is the following interesting anecdote about Frumet Wolf, (abt. 1770-1849), the great great grandmother of Dally [דוד בן דוב בן חנה בת גיטל בת פרומט].

 

Some women in the community really enjoyed playing cards, so after חנוכה they made use of the other exceptions provided in the תקנה. One of those women was the Babbe Frumet, who had a reputation for being truly fond of card playing.  She is reputed to have asked poor women who had recently given birth for the keys to their houses, when they themselves had long returned to work.  Naturally, she reciprocated by giving them meals and money.  There are several stories of how in order not to be deprived of her card game, the Babbe Frumet would sometimes go with her friends to the next village -where the ban did not apply- to spend the day playing cards.

Chanuka 1939

 

One of the last letters received from Dally's father הי"ד
 seeking help to escape from the hands of  the Nazis

This letter, dated December 12, 1939 which was the sixth day of Chanuka ת"ש, is most likely one of the last letters Dally received from his father Dov (Berthold) הי"ד.

In March of 1938, Vienna was annexed by Nazi Germany. The persecution of Jews in Vienna from that point on became worse from month to month.  November 1938 during Kristalnacht most of the Shuls and Jewish businesses were destroyed. Dally, Ma and their two children, Hanna and Shlomo, escaped Vienna, fleeing to New York at the end of 1938. 
 
Dally's parents, who remained in Vienna, were desperately trying to obtain affidavits and visas to emigrate to the United States.  Some time in 1939, an extremely difficult year for Jews in Vienna, Dally's parents escaped from Vienna to Hungary. From letters written by Ma's sister Greta and other sources, it seems that for a while Dally's parents were staying with their Breuer relatives in Hungary, in Sopron. We are unsure of the exact sequence of events, but we heard that for some time before they were deported to Auschwitz, in the spring of 1944, they were in hiding in Hungary and were staying with a family that lived in New Square after the war.
 
In the above letter, written from Sopron at the end of 1939, Dally's father mentions that he has received permission to extend his stay in Hungary for only another two weeks.  Ma's sister Greta הי"ד and her husband Erno Bauer ז"ל lived in Szombathely, Hungary and were in touch with Dally's parents. This letter was written when Dally's father was staying by Greta and Erno.
 
Unfortunately, all efforts failed and Dally's parents, Berthold and Sabina were eventually murdered by the Nazis יש"ו in Auschwitz, הי"ד.
 
(The letter is written in Dally's handwriting, apparently the original was deteriorating therefore he copied it and placed it in the original envelope.  The letter was found in the same envelope as a letter written by Greta and Erno Bauer dated on the same date, December 12, 1939.)    

 

We transcribed the letter in its original German and translated it to English.

ב"ה

Sopron, December 12 1939

Dear Edwin! עמ"ש

I have just come from Budapest and with unusually great difficulty, this time, I was able to extend my visa for an additional 2 weeks.  I cannot understand how you have written three times that you have already sent an affidavit, upon every inquiry I made at the consulate the answer was always no documents have been submitted for you.  As a precaution I also made inquiries at the consulate in Vienna where I received the same reply.  I can not understand why you are not putting more effort into the matter, when you yourself know exactly the despairing situation we are in.  I have no idea what to begin to do if the affidavit will not arrive before the 2 weeks run out, I will then have absolutely no chance that they will lengthen my visa.  You can imagine how despairing dear mother is.  I beg you immediately as soon as you receive this letter use all leverage you can muster to send the affidavit to my address here via air mail that it may arrive within the time I have left.  I am by Grete and Erno, Marta is extremely cute, constantly saying, Opapa Stroh, also hoping to come to you soon.  How are you and the dear children? How is the Bauer family doing?  Send my best regards to the Zehlemer Rav.  What is your position?  How are things with you their?  Are you happy with your salary?  We haven’t heard anything from Vienna in a quite some time.

Sending you our best wishes, regards and kissing you many times,

Your … father,

Stroh

Following is the transcribed copy of the letter. 

ב"ה

Sopron, 12. Dez. 1939

Lieber Edwin! עמ"ש

Ich komme Soeben aus Budapest und hatte dort deismal besonderes grosse schwierigkeiten um unsere aufenthaltsbewilligung auf weitere 2 wochen verlangern zu konnen. Ich kann nicht begreifen wieso du schon dreimal schreibst dass das affidavit fur uns schon abgegangen ist und ich auf jede ausfrage beim konsulat, den bescheid erhalte dass keinerlei papiere fur uns eingelangt sind. Vorsichtssalber habe ich auch beim konsulat in Wien angefragt, wo ich die selbe antwort erheilt. Ich kann nicht verstehen wieso du in die sache nicht mehr bemuhst, wo du doch genau weist in welcher werzweifolten lage wir uns hier befinden. Ich weiss nicht was ich anfangen soll wenn das aff. bis zu um ablauf der nachsten 2 wochen nicht hier ist, den ich habe garkeine aussicht, das man mir den aufenthalt wieder verlangert. Du kanst dir also vorstellen wie verzweifelt die l. mutter ist. Ich bitte dich daher sofort nach erhalt dieses briefes alle hebel in bewegung zu setzen unn das affidavit sofort an meine adresse abzusenden, damit es innerhalb der frist unsereres aufenthaltes  hier ist, sende es daher unbedingt per luftpost an mich. Ich bin bei Grete & Erno, Marta ist unberufen sehr goldig, … immer Stroh opapa, hoffen auch balt zu euch zu kommen. Was macht ihr und die l. kinder? Was macht fam. Bauer? Viele grusse an Zehlemer Rav. Wie ist Dein posten? Wie geht es dir dort? Bist du mit der bezahlung zufreiden? Aus Wien haben wir schon lange keine nachricht.

senden euch alles gute wunsche, grusst u. kusst euch vielmals,

euer … vater

Stroh

א פרייליכן חנוכה

A Menorah received by a great grandchild
from Ma at his Bar-Mitzvah

Another Menorah received by a great grandchild
from Ma at his Bar Mitzvah

Each Chanukah, many of Ma's grandsons and great grandsons light Chanukah Lecht on Menorahs they received as Bar Mitzvah presents from Ma.

Dally's Menorah
A replica of the Chasam Sofer's Menorah

The inside of Dally's Menorah

Chanukah is a time spent with family. It brings  back fond memories of Hooper Street. The older members of the family definitely remember the small silver Menorah that Dally would light.  The Menorah was a replica of the Menorah used by the Chasam Sofer Ztz"l.
 

Ma's first-cousin, Boba (Joe) Kohn once mentioned, that his father, Uncle Rudy Kohn (who was a Kohen), would take all the silver coins he received for performing Pidyon Habens and have them melted down and formed into Menorahs.  He would then give these Menorahs as presents to various relatives.

Is it possible that this Menorah which had belonged to Dally was one of those Menorahs?

Ma's father; Opi Kaufman's Menorah

An eagle atop Opi's Menorah

Another beautiful antique Menorah that is in the family had belonged to Opi, Ma's Father (Eliezer Kaufman). It is not clear if it was brought with from Europe or was bought in the United States.

 

If anyone has any more information about the origin of Dally's or Opi's Menorahs we would really appreciate their input.