Last Update: Jan. 7, 2015.
My grandfather, Heinrich Zeilberger(1886-1915) was born in Ermershausen, a village in Hassberge Landkreis, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. So were my G-grandfather Markus Zeilberger(1855-1941), my great-great-grandfather Feist Zeilberger (1816-1908), my great-great-great-grandfather Lazarus Zeilberger (?-1859), and so on for many generations.
When I finally visited Unsleben, where my father was born, I thought that it would also be nice to visit Ermershausen, that is about 45-minutes away by car. I was also eager to meet the very remarkable Cordula Kappner, the director of the Hassberge County Library, at Hassfurt, who in her spare time is researching the history of the Jews in her county, and who lectures, writes, and designs exhibits on this topic. I first found out about her, about a year ago, when I wrote a letter to the Ermershausen town's clerk, requesting copies of my ancestors' birth-certificates, and after a few weeks, I got, to my very pleasant surprise, a big envelope from Cordula, containing an extensive family tree of the Zeilberger family, plus photos of graves and of my great-grandfather Markus. She wrote me that she has a folder for every Jewish family, with family-trees and photos, and copies of documents. Of course, I was very curious to look at the Zeilberger folder and try to copy as much as possible.
Franz Bungert kindly agreed to give me a ride from Unsleben to Hassfurt. We arrived at about 10:30am, and Cordula, with her characteristic efficiency, immediately lead me to the table where three huge folders were waiting for me. Those of the Zeilberger family (obviously), the Kissinger folder (Markus Zeilberger's first-cousin was Karolina Kissinger), and the Sachesdorfer folder (that are not blood relatives, but who married into the Zeilbergers and I promised descendants of them to make copies). She also kindly gave me the key to the Xerox-machine. Since at 12:00 Cordula and I were to head to Ermershausen, this was a race against the clock, and I managed to make more than a hundred copies, that I still have to digest slowly.
Before I left to Germany, I called up my first-cousin-once-removed Bertel Zeilberger Schloss, (the daughter of Louis Zeilberger, my grandfather Heinrich's brother), who was born in Ermershausen in 1920. She was excited, and entrusted me with a mission: to inquire about Max Kraemer, who was the most faithful employee of the Zeilberger business, and a very good friend, and who bravely defended them in Kristalnacht.
Cordula and I left her library around 12:30pm. After ten minutes we stopped for lunch in a nice restaurant, and ate outdoors. Then we headed to Ermershausen. During lunch and the ride I got to know Cordula better, and was amazed by her enthusiasm and passion for Jewish history. Cordula grew up in Eastern Germany, but moved to the West in the early sixties, when she was in her late teens. She loves Israel, and has lots of friends there, and spends every summer vacation there, every time with another friend. She even picked a bit of Hebrew slang, for example "balagan" (chaos).
The ride to Ermershausen was very pleasant. The village itself is very charming. Our first stop was at the house of Kusel Zeilberger (the brother of my great-great- grandfather Feist). The Inscription "Kusel Zeilberger 1871" is still visible above the door, as well as the mezuza holder in the annex house. We were greeted by a very friendly Mrs. Franz, the current resident. She served us strong Kaffee and delicious Kuchen, that reminded me of my grandmother's baking. I asked Mrs. Franz about Max Kraemer, and was sad to hear that he died about fifteen years ago. "But his wife is still alive", she said, and immediately called her up. She spoke to one of Max Kraemer's grandchildren, only to find out, to her shock, that Mrs. Kramer passed away a few hours before. So, sadly, I arrived too late to send Bertel's regards.
However, Mrs. Franz remembered that the Stoll family were neighbors and good friends of the Zeilbergers, so we went to see them instead. Adolf Stoll, who just turned 71, and his wife, are very charming people. Adolf was wrapped in bandages, as he fell off a ladder a few days earlier. It is hard to believe that he is 71, since he looks much younger, and has not even one gray hair.
Adolf Stoll and his wife remember my great-uncle Louis's family very well. They were really good friends, and corresponded after the war. Adolf even showed me the letters from Louis, from 1958.
Before we left, Adolf made a very moving and generous gesture. He showed me a clock that Louis Zeilberger gave, as a present, to his family, in the early thirties. Saying, that "it means more to you", he gave it to me for keeps. I hope to soon pass it on to Louis's daughter, Bertel Schloss.
Then came the "official" part of the visit, the visit to the "village-hall", and meeting the mayor (Buergermeister), Adolf Hoehn. Adolf Hoehn, who, like, my great-grandfather Markus and my great-uncle Louis, is a "master butcher", is a very interesting and friendly man. He let me look at intriguing Zeilberger folders, and told me about Ermershausen in general. Also present was Herr Schmidt, a journalist for the local newspaper, who took lots of pictures, and wrote a charming article. Herr Hoehn also showed me the "archive", a room full of boxes containing documents way back from 1700, and perhaps sooner. The mayor also gave me a present, the book "Ermershausen, 950 Jahre, 1049-1999", that was published last year to commemorate Ermershausen's 950th birthday. Of particular interest for me was the chapter on the Jews of Ermershausen, written by, who else?, Cordula Kappner.
The next stop was supposed to be the Jewish cemetery, but we first returned briefly to Adolf Stoll's house, so that the journalist, Herr Schmidt, could take a photo of Adolf, myself, and the clock.
Like in Unsleben, and according to Cordula, usually in Bavaria, the Jewish cemetery is on a hill. I was pleased to see that the grave of my great-grandmother, Lina Vorchheimer Zeilberger is in very good shape, as is the grave of her father-in-law, Feist Zeilberger. Lina's husband, Markus Zeilberger, is buried in Wuerzburg, since he died in a Jewish old-age home in Wuerzburg in 1941. I also saw numerous other Zeilberger graves, as well as Sachesdorfers and Raus. The inscription on many of the graves, in Hebrew, is very verbose and florid. For example, Feist's grave has the following inscription: `` P"N ish tam ve-yashar rav pe-alim matsliakh be-kol ma-asei yadav, Feist Zeilberger, tova u-bracha, tav-resh-samekh-khet '' which means: ``Here is buried an innocent and righteous man, who has made many [good] deeds and who succeeded in all his undertakings, Feist Zeilberger, goodness and blessing, 5668 [1908].''
After the cemetery, we stopped briefly outside the house where my grandfather Heinrich was born, and Cordula took a picture of me in front of it (unfortunately, I ran out of film by then). We also passed by the former synagogue. Then Cordula drove me back to Hassfurt, to show me a holocaust memorial in the local park, created by an Israeli artist. Then Cordula dropped me at the train station, and very kindly, waited with me until my train arrived. She commented that the train station looks exactly the same as it did sixty years ago, and that the trains that transported Jews to their death must have passed there. At 7:30pm, I bade farewell to Cordula and boarded the train to Wuerzburg, where I stayed that night, so that I could visit, the next day, the grave of my great-grandfather Markus, as well as the famous Residence.
I'd like to thank Frau Cordula Kappner, Frau Franz, Mayor Hoehn, and Herr und Frau Stoll for a very fascinating and moving day.
Added July 3, 2022: My brother, Gil Zeilberger, just sent me this long list of Eremeshausen Zeilbergers, that he got from the Ermeshausen archivist Brigitte.
Added Sept. 16, 2022: My brother, Gil Zeilberger, just sent me a letter, written in 1945, sent by the author of the above book, Dr. Ludwig Pfeiffer's to his American relative Philip Pfeiffer, clarifying the background to the last chapter of the above-mentioned book.
