Genealogy

April 21, 2012

Rotterdam Resistance

from Annemarie den Hartog,
Frits Hirschland’s cousin

My uncle Herbert Hirschland and his brother Rudy came to the Netherlands before the war started because of the rise of Adolf Hitler. Frits’ father, my Uncle Herbert, hide from the Germans in both my grandparents’ houses. He hid in The Hague (in a basement). My grandfather (Leen Boender, my father’s dad), was a member of the resistance in Rotterdam. He helped Jews with false passports and food stamps (ration coupons?). Uncle Herbert lived in their house in 1943/45, and before that he he lived in a chicken house.

Rotterdam after the 1940 Blitz. Photo from Wikipedia.

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April 8, 2012

Mystery Hirschlands

1865 Emigrants

Our research left some loose ends, and raises the question about whether the Steinham Hirschlands are the only ones who adopted this name. We have two clues: one of a group of Baptisms near Berlin in the late 18th century and another of a group of Hirschlands who emigrated to the US in 1865. We can’t seem to trace either one to the Steinham family, which leads us to believe that the name may have been used by others. We are looking for answers. Continue Reading

April 2, 2012

World War II Marine

Compiled from notes by Judy Lanskey

Judy is a niece by marriage and was raised by Robert George Stagg, née Hans Georg Hirschland (1921-1970), a son of Dr. Fritz Hirschland. Judy has shared these recollections with us:

My uncle was in the Marines, I believe, until he was 29 and although I was quite young when he told us these stories, I know that he wanted to be a career soldier. Because he was German, the military sent him to Japan instead of Germany and he had his back broken there. He knew some of the guys that are in the statute of Iwo Jima. He was given a silver star and a purple heart and an honorable discharge. It was after his discharge that he attended NYU. (Note that Hans is the only Hirschland we found a record of who served in the US Military during WWII. Charles Hannam, née Karl Hirschland, served in the Britsh military, but was also kept out of the European theater.) Continue Reading

February 28, 2012

From Records to Revolution

by Victoria Hirschland Hess — Added March 6, 2011

Frits Hirschland, 1988, Bern

Frits Hirschland, 1988, Bern

In the last minutes of 1986, my boyfriend and I returned early from our New Years Eve outing and the phone was ringing. It was a Frits Hirschland, calling from Amsterdam. I have never heard from him or of him before, and in fact, had not at the time known that Hirschlands still lived in Europe, having survived the war there. I still believed the family myth that my grandfather, Franz, had saved the entire family, while those who told that story were really talking only of our branch of it.

Frits was obviously quite drunk, and surprised that he had found me home, since it wasn’t yet midnight in Washington. He said he had looked through phone books, found my name, knew we were related, and decided to call and wish me a Happy New Year. We went through the “are we related” dance, and he debunked the family myth. I had the impression that he had not yet slept that night, though it was almost 6 a.m. in Amsterdam. Continue Reading

February 13, 2012

Complications of Hirschland Genealogy: On Naming Hirschlands

It is Herz Solomon or Solomon Herz, and who was the First Hirschland?

Contributed by Daniel Kester
(who connects to our tree through Herz Solomon)— updated Nov. 3, 1010

There are two main sources that I have used for Hirschland data. The first is a document written in the 1930’s, called “Die Familie Hirschland”. I have no author or precise publication date. It starts with Salomon Herz (who I think is actually Herz Salomon, see below) and his wife Golde/Göttgen Levi, and their three sons, Salomon, Marcus, and Jonas.

The second source is a book by Siegfried Porta, “Chronik der Familie Löwenstein-Porta”, published in 1922, about the Bassevi/Löwenstein/Porta families. It starts with Joseph Bassevi in 1545(!), and one branch ends with the children of Israel and Esther Levi, including their daughter Golda, who married “Salomon Herz (Hirschland)” (the same person who I think is actually Herz Salomon). Continue Reading

February 12, 2012

On Tracing the Hirschland Family Tree

Contributed by Victoria Hirschland Hess — October 2, 2010

I set up this Hirschland family group after meeting my second cousins here in Jackson Hole last month, I recognized that there was so many more Hirschlands than we realized, even with the almost 300 descendants of Isaac Hirschland that Henry Hirschland identified. I became inspired to track down lost Hirschlands, and learn their stories.

Two versions of the Hirschland Family ring. Do you have one too?

But we don’t know much about the broken branches Hirschland family. The descendents of Simon Hirschland’s siblings — Levi, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Goltchen — were not recorded on the available family trees. So imagine my joy (and sorrow) when Karrie Hirschland Sundbom wrote me after I started to find Hirschlands on Facebook. In her words:

Unfortunately I personally do not know which of the Essen Hirschlands we are descended from. My great grandfather was Otto Hirschland and he was married to Lily. They were taken into Dachau I believe the day before they were to emigrate to England and then America to meet their child, Walter (my grandfather) and sadly never made it out. Walter and his fiancee (my grandmother Ruth) made it to America sponsored by Frank or Franz Hirschland … I would love it if you knew how we could trace Otto into the Hirschland family. All we know is that they (we) are Essen Hirschlands!

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