Lewin Aron Pinner

Written by: Doron Zeilberger.

Please send all additions and corrections to:
zeilberg at math dot rutgers dot edu (include the word MathIsFun somewhere).

First written: Feb. 7, 1999.

Last Updadte: March 27, 2013.

Lewin Aron (`Libesch') Pinner (1799, Birnbaum, Posen, Prussia- Birnbaum, Posen, Prussia, April 3, 1873 (death certificate transcription, another transcription), was a Rabbi who from 1840 on, lived and practiced in Wronke (now Wronki), and before that in Bombst (now Babimost) and possibly other small towns in the province of Posen, Prussia (now the district of Poznan, Poland). Later on they went back to Birnbaum. He was married to Wilhelmine Goldbarth (Sept. 18, 1803, Betsche-Meseritz, Posen, Prussia- Birnbaum, Posen, February 8, 1887.), daughter of Ascher Goldbarth.

He was naturalized a (partial) Posen citizen [according to the partial Emancipation act of 1834, that accorded some Jews some rights] on June 11, 1834. At that time he lived in Bomst, Posen, Prussia (now Babimost, Poland). [source: Edward David Luft, `The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835', p. 71, where his last name is misspelled Piner ].

The fact that Lewin Aron Pinner was the Rabbi of Wronke in 1840 is documented on p. 907, note f, of v. 3 of the book `Die Juden und die juedischen Gemeinden Preussens in amtlichen Enqueten des Vormaerz' , edited by Manfred Jehle, K.G. Saur, Munich 1998. That book refers to p. 1016 of A.Heppner/I. Herzberg, `Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart und der juedichen in den Posener Landen'.

(Added Dec. 4, 2007) My fifth-cousin, Stephen Falk, kindly sent me the following entry from the book "Biographical Directory of Rabbis" [in German, published by Saur]

Added July 13, 2011: See the fascinating transcription of Lewin Aron's will, kindly done by Karola Nick, as part of a project of the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, who owns the copyright. Thanks to Karola Nick and Michael Lenarz for permission to post them.

Added July 23, 2011: See the fascinating transcription of Miene Pinner's will, kindly done by Karola Nick, as part of a project of the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, who owns the copyright. Thanks to Karola Nick and Michael Lenarz for permission to post them.

Added July 25, 2011: See the fascinating transcription of Rabbi Lewin Aron Pinner's will, kindly done by Karola Nick, as part of a project of the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, who owns the copyright. Thanks to Karola Nick and Michael Lenarz for permission to post them.

He had eleven children, seven of whom survived childhood. (See a copy of the Pinner Family Listing from Mormon film number 1,184,461 [Wronke 1832/1842].)

Amongst the four children who died in their infancy is Tobias Pinner (Bombst, June 17, 1837- Bombst, March 29, 1838).

• Samuel Pinner (?-Dec. 1893), who learned to be a bookbinder, spent some time in Chicago, IL, USA, but apparently went back home to Birnbaum, Posen, and lived with his parents.
• Moritz Pinner (b. Moses Pinner) (Birnbaum, Prussia, March 9, 1828- Elizabeth, NJ, July 30, 1911) (See http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/moritz.html).
• Herman Pinner (1830-1890) (b. Hirsch Pinner) (See http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/herman.html).
• Rebeke Pinner Alexander (Bombst, March 16, 1835- Leipzig, Feb. 19, 1913), my great-grandmother and wife of my great-grandfather Salomon Alexander (1826-1911) (See http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/solomon.html).
• Henrietta Pinner Koppel (b. as Jette, or Jetcchen) (Wronke, 1839-1910), whose children were Leo Koppel, Helena Koppel Falk, and Rosa Koppel Alt. Rosa Alt had a daughter called Elisabeth.
• Emilie Pinner Rosenberg Kiwi (Birnbaum, 1825-1887) was married twice. Her first husband was ? Rosenberg. Emilie had one child with Mr. Rosenberg: Jacoby Rosenberg. Jacoby was married to Vanda, and they had one child: Walter Rosenberg, who was an architect, and who died in Haifa. Walter was married to Anna, and they had one child: Ernst-Peter Joseph Rosenberg, who was a policeman in the Palestine and early Israel police, and moved back to Germany to become a police commisioned officer, who was deputy-chief Police Academy. Ernst-Peter was married to the late Dina, and they had one daughter: Irena Rosenberg Kaufmann, who was also a police officer, and now is administrating a Judaica Institute. Irena is married to Dr. Uli Kaufmann, a historian, and they have one son: Julius Imanuel Kaufmann (b. 1996).

  Emilie's second husband was Mr. Kiwi. She had one son with Mr. Kiwi: Hermann Kiwi, who was the chairman of the German Department Stores' Association. Hermann had three daughters: Ilse, Margot, and Truda, but I don't know whether they had any children.

• Paulina Pinner Saul, who was married to ? Saul (died 1918), had four children:
  • Joseph Saul
  • Ephraim Saul, a medical doctor and cancer researcher.
  • Ernestine Saul Herzfeld, who became Christian, and was married to Julius Herzfeld, and who had three children
    • Ernst Herzfeld, who was killed in the war.
    • Peretz Herzfeld, who had two children, one of whom called Harold.
    • Katherina Herzfeld ?, who married a nobleman and lived for many years in Baghdad and Teheran, before returning to Germany.
  • Emanuel Saul (Rügenwalde, Aug. 29, 1876-WWI, Aug. 23, 1915) [sometimes spelled Immanuel Saul] who was an attorney in Essen and Duisburg. He was married to Hedwig (nee Nassau) Saul (Dec. 15, 1885-Jan. 17, 1942) [Hedwig Saul is the daughter of Edurad Nassau and Hilde (nee Herzfeld) Nassau. Hedwig Saul committed suicide when the Nazis came to take her away]. [Added Sept. 18, 2008: Shai Saul and Debbie Saul kindly allowed me to post the Saul Family reunion invitation that commemorates Hedwig and her sister Anna]. Emanuel Saul was killed in WWI. He was also a poet. He wrote a poem "For my Children" and a poem reproduced in a site about German Jewish aviators. His military affiliation was: 8/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 219, and his rank was Offizier-Stellvertreter (Deputy-Officer). [source: `Die Juedischen geffallenen des Deutschern Heeres, ..., 1914-1918, Ein Gedenkbuch, 1932', a list of the German Jewish soldiers who were killed in WW I]. Shai Saul kindly communicated to me Jennifer Carolin Arif's translation of Emanuel Saul's poem and Rosenthal's obituary.

    [Added March 27, 2013: here is an article (published in Ha'aretz, March 22, 2013) containing a Hebrew translation of the poem.]

    They had three children:

    • Werner Saul (Essen, Germany, 1906 - Vevey, Switzerland, 1984), who went to Paris and married Jaqueline, a French-Swiss woman. He was a political-cartoonist (using the pen-name CURRY) for daily newspapers. Later they moved to Switzerland. Among many other things, he wrote the "propaganda" phamplet "L'Homme au cigare entre les dents. Les 1000 et 1 mefaits du plan marshall mis en images par Curry", and "Der Kleine Diktator" (publised in 1984 by Viernheim).
      (Added Sept. 10, 2009: My nephew Noam Zeilberger, gave me as a birthday present an old issue of The World Digest from 1934, that contained one of
      Curry's cartoons.)
      (Added Sept. 12, 2009: My third-cousin-once removed sent me Four more Curry caricatures).
      Added Jan. 11, 2015: for Werner Saul's bio, ee p. 54 of German Children's and Youth Literature in Exile 1933-1950: Biographies [accessed Jan. 11, 2015]
      They have two children:
      • Brigitte, who is married to Roland Ney (both of whom are teachers), who live in Yverdon, Switzerland. Brigitte and Roland Ney have three children.
      • Dominique (deceased)
    • Günter (Jacob) Saul (Dec. 15, 1908- ca. March 28, 1953), who was trained as a lawyer (the Nazis let him complete his training because his father was killed in WWI). With his (then) wife, Ada (b. Feb. 27, 1914- 2005), [Ada is the daughter of Julius and Sidonia (Anschel) Peyser], Günter immigrated to Palestine and served in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army during WW II from 1940 to 1945. He was shortly a chicken farmer in Ramot Hashavim. In 1947 he divorced Ada, and married Margot Seligman, moving, with his son Yona, to Detroit, and later Flint, Michigan, where he worked on the assembly-line in the auto-industry. On March 21, 1953 he was injured in a car accident, and died a week later. Ada later married Walter Berman, but they divorced, and he went to Australia, and then Ada married Herbert Nathan, who died a few years ago.

      Günter and Ada's children are:

      • Yona Saul (b. Dec. 12, 1935) who is married to Tova. They live in Ganei Yehuda (now part of Savyon). Yona was first a chicken farmer in Ramot Hashavim, and then a Customs officer at Ben-Gurion airport. Yona and Tova have four sons:
        • Shai Saul (b. Feb. 2, 1962). Shai studied law in Tel-Aviv University, earning an LLB, but went into business. Shai is the founder and General Partner of Tamir Fishman Ventures and was on the board of directors of Infocyclone . He is currently (Dec. 2006) involved, as board member, with Native Networks, Allot Communications, CopperGate Communications, Lanoptics and Teleknowledge, and has been involved in different capacities also with Aladdin Knowledge Systems, Modem Art, Voltaire, Expand Networks and Wave Systems.

          Shai is also a talneted artist. In Sept.-Oct. 2006 he had an exhibition in Tel-Aviv.

        • Gilad Saul (May 24, 1965- Feb. 2, 1985), who was killed in Lebanon. He served in the elite unit Sayeret Orev, of the paratrooper (Tsankhanim) corps. Gan Gilad, a recreational park in Ganei-Yehuda, is named after him.
        • Noam (b. May, 21, 1969), a carpenter and building-contractor, is married to Rachel and they have 3 children:
          • Danielle
          • Gal
          • Idan (Gal and Idan are twins)
        • Itamar (b. Feb. 15, 1974), who married Noa in Summer 2004. They have a daughter Avigail, b. ?, Aug., 2007.
      • Naomi Saul (b. Feb. 27, 1940) lives in Ramat-Gan. She worked in El-Al from 1966 to 1981, starting as a flight attendant, later becoming head bursar (kalkal rashi). She is now an artist and art-teacher. She wrote a wonderful book (in Hebrew) "El-Alma", published in 2000 by Traklin, where she vividly and very humoursly describes her experiences in El Al, and where she also writes about her family.
    • Reinhard Saul (Duisburg, July 4, 1910 -Amsterdam, June 25, 1977) married Greet Swart on Jan. 4, 1939. Reinhard worked as a graphic designer and did a lot of "underground" work in the war. Currently his grand-daughter Debbie Saul is translating a big diary that he wrote, and she hopes to find more info about their life there. Reinhard and Greet, have three children:
      • Peter Saul (b. Feb. 16, 1944), who married Ingrid Frank (b. July 12, 1947). Their children are:
        • Deborah Wittenburg-Saul, (b. May 3, 1971), a graphic designer, who is married to Wessel Wittenburg (b. Dec. 3, 1965), who studied science at the University of Leiden, and now helps children do their homework. Debbie and Wessel have two daughters,
          • Willemijn Wittenburg, born on the 21st of Dec. 2006.
          • Josefien Wittenburg, born on the 23rd of Aug. 2010.
        • Ralph Saul (b. April 14, 1974) who studied economics, and is marketing manager of a big magazine.
      • Monique Saul (b. July 25, 1946), who was married to Bert Keijser, an art teacher. Monique and Bert are the parents of Ingmar Keijser (b. Dec. 16, 1970), a taxi-driver, who is married Riette Dommershuizen-Keijzer (b. Nov. 2, 1971), and their children are
        • Lois (b. June 1, 1998)
        • Damon (b. June 14, 2000)
      • Steven Saul (dec.), who is the father of Lilly
• Adolf Pinner (born as Aron Pinner) (Wronke, Aug. 31, 1842- Berlin, May, 1909) (See http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/adolf.html), my great-grandfather.

Added Feb. 19, 2005: My new-found third-cousin-once-removed, Debbie Saul has prepared an (incomplete) family tree.

Added Feb. 26, 2005: Thanks to my third-cousin Yona Saul for all the information about the Israel and French branches.

Previous Updates: March 15, 1999, Dec. 20, 1999, May 25, 2000, June 25, 2000, Nov. 7, 2000 [Thanks to Dan Brockman], Feb. 17, 2005[ thanks to my third-cousin-once-removed Debbie Saul], Feb. 26, 2005 [Thanks to my third-cousin Yona Saul], Feb. 27, 2005 [Thanks (again) to Debbie Saul]. March 27, 2005 [Thanks to my third-cousin Naomi Saul]. Sept. 22, 2006 [mention Shai Saul's exhibition]; Dec. 13, 2006 [thanks to my third-cousin-once-removed Shai Saul] March 25, 2007 [thanks to Debbie Saul, to report the birth of Willemijn Wittenburg, born on the 21st of december 2006]. Dec. 4, 2007 [thanks to Stephen Falk] . Sept 18, 2008 [To add Avigail Saul and to post the invitation for the Saul family reunion invitation ]. Sept. 10, 2009 (add a link to Curry's caricature.) Sept. 12, 2009 (add a link to Four more Curry caricature (courtesy of Shai Saul)); March 12, 2010 (thanks to Shai Saul and Dominic Bitzer, adding obituary and translation of Emanuel Saul's poem by Jennifer Carolin Arif). Sept. 6, 2010 [To enter Josefien Wittenburg, born Aug. 23, 2010, thanks to Debbie Saul], and to add Samuel Pinner, another son; Sept. 20, 2010 (thanks to Karola Nick, to enter Wilhemine Goldbath Pinner's birthday).; Jan. 3, 2011 (thanks to Karola Nick, to enter Samuel Pinner's death on Dec. 1893).; Feb. 17, 2011 (to post Lewin Aron's death certificate, transcription ) (thanks to Karola Nick); April 27, 2011: to enter the approximate death of Jettchen (thanks to Karola Nick); April 27, 2011 (thanks to Karola Nick); July 13, 2011 (Thanks to Karola Nick, Michael Lenarz, and the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, to upload and link to documents transcribed by Karola Nick); July 23, 2011 (Thanks to Karola Nick, Michael Lenarz, and the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, to link to Wilhelmine ("Miene")'s will, kindly transcribed by Karola Nick); July 25, 2011 (Thanks to Karola Nick, Michael Lenarz, and the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, to link to Lewin Aron Pinner's will, kindly transcribed by Karola Nick)

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