Feist Zeilberger (The Father of the father of the father of the father of Doron Zeilberger)

Last Update: May 24, 2021 (thanks to Gaby Schuller)

Please send corrections and updates to: zeilberg@math.rutgers.edu.

Feist Zeilberger (Aug. 7, 1816-Feb. 28, 1908) was a master butcher (Metzgermeister) in Ermershausen, a vilage in Bavaria, Germany. In Nov. 4, 1851, he married Babette Roemer (April 1, 1820-Jan. 17,1909), in Sulzdorf A.D.L.

His father is: Lazarus Zeilberger, (?-Feb. 12, 1859), a cattle trader. His mother is: Regina Schoenemann Zeilberger.

[ See his grave (courtesy of Gil Zeilberger)]

Feist Zeilberger's children are:

Kusel/Karl (Sept. 2, 1852-ca. 1939) [see his circumcision certificate, kindly sent to me by Avraham Malthete] was born in Ermershausen, Germany, died at the USA, and was a store-owner. He was married (in Bamberg, ca. 1880 ) to Veronica Steinhardt (July 27,1857- June 9, 1935).

Karl and Veronica Zeilberger
[Here is a family picture (thanks to Marcy Wexler)] taken at their Golden anniversary party (Oct. 31, 1931). See here. This picture is also in Cordula Kappner's chapter on the Jews of Eremeshausen (kindly scanned by Gil Zeilberger) ]
had 12 children who survived childhood.
- Rosa Zeilberger Beck. Rosa was married to Heinrich Beck. Their four children are:
  - Martha Beck, who had no children.
  - Richard Beck, who married Renada, and who had two children
    - Rosalie Beck Krantz (b. 1950), who is married to David Krantz, and whose children are Sheri (b. 1972), and Sammy (b. 1975).
    - Henry Beck (b. 1952), who is married to Marissa, and whose children are Samantha (b. 1985) and Ilana (b. 1987).
  - Ruth Beck Herschfield (b. 1925), who is married to Gunther Herschfield. They have no children.
  - Paula (b. 1908) who was married to Julius Strauss, and had no children.
- Heinrich Zeilberger (Ermershausen, Nov. 16, 1883-?), was married to Blanka Lutzky Zeilberger. They had two children, now dead: Hans (b. 1926), and Fritz (b. 1928). Neither of them had any children.
- Ludwig Zeilberger, who was married to Dina, and who had two children: Fred (who had two children whose name I don't know), and Florence Zeilberger Horn, who is married to George Horn, and whose children are Ann (b. 1936) and Larry (b. 1938).
- Martha Zeilberger Ginsberg, who was married to Arthur Ginsberg. Martha and Arthur had two children: Roland (b. 1916, who changed his name to Kibbee), and who has two children, and Mitchel Ginsberg (b. 1921), who also has two children.
- Friedrich Zeilberger (Dec. 21, 1888-Apr. 14, 1973) , who was married to Louise (nee Schwartzhaupt) (Feb. 7, 1895- July 24, 1974). [Here are their graves (thanks to Marcy Wexler)]
  They had four children:
  - Frank Berger (April 8, 1923-April 14, 1998) [he is the very left of the front row in this class photo (thanks to Marcy Wexler)],
    who was married to Ruth nee Jacobowitz Berger (July 8, 1924- June 24, 2009)
    [Here are their graves (thanks to Marcy Wexler)]
    Frank shortened his last name from Zeilberger to Berger. Frank and Ruth's daughter is
    - Audrey Wexler (b. 1950), who is married to Richard Wexler. Audrey and Richard Wexler's children are
      - David Wexler (b. 1984).
      - Marcy Wexler (b. 1986),
  - Kurt (Sept. 4, 1926- May 5, 1940) [Here is his grave (thanks to Marcy Wexler)]
  - Otto Zeilberger (Ermershausen, Germany 1929- Union, NJ, Sept. 22, 2000). He attended the Ermershausen elementary school, where the teacher was Alfred Thomae. In the book ``950 Jahre Ermershausen'' , p. 148, there is a group photo of all the school children, where he was one of four Jewish children. The other three died in the gas chambers. He lived in Queens, Newark, and Hillside, before moving to Union, NJ, in 1974. He was married to Adrienne who predeceased him. Their children are: Craig (b. 1960), of Summit, NJ, and Nancy (b. 1963), of Union, NJ.
  - Rose Zeilberger Shaw (b. 1934), who is married to Arnold Shaw. Rose and Arnold have three child:
    - Leonard Shaw (b. 1957), Leonard who is married to Theresa, and their children are: Aaron (b. 1984), and Marissa (b. 1986); Marissa is married to Jimmy Solek and they are the parents of Arley Solek (b. Jan. 4, 2014)
    - Steve Shaw (b. 1960), who is married to Andrea; and Cindy (b. 1963), who is married to Steve Clark. Cindy and Steve Clark have a daughter, Leah.
  - Norbert Zeilberger. Norbert was married to Sadie and they had one child: Louise (b. 1920) who is married to Morris Katz, and they have no children.
  - Max who was married to Selma, and who apparently had no children.
  - Frieda Zeilberger Schmidt, who was married to Joseph Schmidt. Frieda and Joseph Schmidt had two children:
    - Ludwig (b. 1930)
    - Ruth Schmidt Lowenstein (b. 1921), who is married to Julius Lowenstein. Ruth and Julius Lowenstein have two children:
      - Marilyn (b. 1943) who was married to the late Steven Blumenthal and whose children are:
        
        Susan (b. 1964), Susan is married to Mark and they have (at least) two children: Daryl (b. 1989), and Stacey (b. 1993).
        Michael Blumenthal (b. 1966)
        David Blumenthal (b. 1970)
      - Vivian Lowenthal Daniel (b. 1946), who is married to Fred Daniel. Vivian and Fred Daniel's children are Debbie (b. 1969), and Jonathan (b. 1972).
  - Alma Zeilberger Schwarzhaupt was married to Adolf Schwarzhaupt. Alma and Adolf had one daughter Rose Schwarzhaupt Bravmann (b. 1923), who is married to Isaac Bravmann. Rose and Isaac Bravmann have two children: Sandra (b. Nov. 11, 1944) and Kenneth Bravmann ("Sunny") (b. June 12, 1951). Kenneth Bravman's first wife, Donna ("Sunshine") died on Jan. 29, 2004. Donna and Kenneth's son is Benjamin (b. April 29, 1982). Benjamin Bravman is married to Amber, and they have a son, Bo Sunshine Bravman. Kenneth Bravman's second wife is Janet O'Hara.
  - Alfred Zeilberger (1896-1966) married Marie ? (Oct. 19, 1897-Mar 21,1995). Alfred and Marie Zeilberger had two children:
    - Ernest Zeilberger (b. 1926), who is married to Marilyn, and who have two children:
      - Helen Zeilberger (b. 1951)
      - Karen Zeilberger Fussell (b. 1956), who is married to Larry Fussell, and whose children are Brian (born 1986) and Alison (b. 1988).
    - Paul Zeilberger(b. 1930)
  - Justin Zeilberger (Alfred's twin, July 17, 1896- holocaust, 1945). He married Lilly (Lea) (b. Keller) Zeilberger (Hessdorft, Feb. 27, 1902-holocaust) in 1925. He lived in Würzburg on Sterngasse 6, and worked as a master tailor. He has a long entry in "Biographisches Handbuch Würzburger Juden 1900-1945" (by Reiner Sträz, Verlag Ferdinand Schöngh, Würzburg, 1989). According to that entry, he was active in the German Democratic Party
    Justin and Lilly(Lea) Zeilberger had two children
    - Ilse Zeilberger (Aug. 29,1927-holocaust)
    - Fred Zeilberger (b. Dec. 16, 1929) who is married to Elaine (b. ?) Zeilberger. Fred Zeilberger grew up in Würzburg, and survived the holocaust. His experience is described in the documentary film. He has a long entry in "Biographisches Handbuch Würzburger Juden 1900-1945" (by Reiner Sträz, Verlag Ferdinand Schöngh, Würzburg, 1989). They now live in Cedarhust, NY. [Added Aug. 13, 2011: Gisela Bamberg pointed my attention to this article in the Würzberg Main-Post, written Aug. 5, 2011].
      Fred and Elaine Zeilberger have three children. Linda Rappaport (b. 1957) who is married Steven Rappaport, Jay Zeilberger (b. April 1, 1960), who is married to Lisa, and whose son is Zane Zeilberger (b. 2001) and Robin Ilse Burns (b. Robin Ilse Zeilberger) (b. 1962), who is married to Sanford Burns, an analyst for Deutsche Bank. Robin and Sanford Burns have two children: Rachel (b. ca. 1998) and Jenna (b. ca. 1995).
  - Paula Zeilberger Hahn, who was married to Joseph Hahn. They had no children.
- Seligman (Jan. 20, 1854- Koenigshofen, Dec. 12,1921), [see his circumcision certificate, kindly sent to me by Avraham Malthete] who married (1879) Jette Frankenberger (July 28, 1852-Dec. 10, 1941).
  Added Jan. 23, 2007: Elizabeth Levy communicated to be the Mohel's report of Selgiman's Brit Mila ("brith")
  Seligman and Jette had two children: Rosa Zeilberger Suendermann, (who was married to Leopold Suemdermann who had one daughter, Mina Kahn, all of whom were killed by the Nazis), and Julius Zeilberger (Sept. 2, 1883-ca. 1942) who was married to Johanna Reinhold (Aug. 30, 1883-ca. 1942). Julius and Johanna, who died in the holocaust, had two children: Fritz (Fred) (?, 1918- Fort Lee (NJ), April 20, 2011), and Benjamin (Walter) who managed to escape to the USA.
  - Fritz (Fred), who was a tailor and dry cleaner, was married to Ilse (b. ca. 1923, who now lives in Fort Lee, NJ), and their children are
    - Jane Hartmann-Zeilberger (b. 1947), who lives in Berlin since the early seventies, was married to Winfried Hartmann. Their children are Sarah (b. 1980) and Rebecca (b. 1985). In 2013, Rebecca married Ori Kegel. Rebecca and Ori Kegel have a daugther Naomi Kegel (b. Nov. 6, 2015).
      Jane graduated in 1964 from the Bronx High-school of Science, and is a psychotherapist. On Mach 2003 she founded, with Ann Wertheimer, an anti-war group called "Americans in Berlin Against the War", and organized a 48-hour demonstration where she gave a great speech . See also the Article in Die Welt about the anti-war demonstrartion .
    - Jeffrey Zeilberger (b. Jan. 29, 1951), who is a pharmacist at the Purdue-Pharma R&D center in New York. Jeffrey was married to Leslie Tarchis (b. Nov. 5, 1952). He is now remarried to ?. Jeffrey and Leslie have two sons. Adam Zeilberger (b. Feb. 27, 1981), a police officer, and Matthew Zeilberger(b. May 29, 1985), who married (2016) Andrea ?.
  - Benjamin (b. Walter) Zeilberger (Königshofen, March 14, 1921- Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 10. 2005) [wikipedia] was an orthodox Rabbi who lived in Brooklyn, NY. He studied in a yeshiva in Mir, Poland, and (possibly with the whole yeshiva) escaped to Sanghai, China, and later to the USA. He taught at the Beth Hatlamud yeshiva in Brooklyn.
    He was married to Sarah, and they have 8 children: Hannah, Rifka, Yehudis, Yeruchin (who is a rosh yeshiva) , Arie Loeb (who lives in Bnei Barak, Israel), Chasia, Yehuda (who also lives in Israel, I think), and Eleasia. Rabbi Benjamin and Sarah have very many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, ken yirbu!
- Markus Zeilberger (see http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/marcus.html) , my great-grandfather.
- Lazarus Zeilberger, (Ermeshausen, Jan. 14, 1860- Coburg, Nov. 29, 1928) was better known as Elieser or Ernst. Lazarus-Ernest, who married (Oct. 1890) Rosa Weickerscheimer (April 13, 1864-?), who owned a large textile business in Coburg, had 6 children.
  - Leo Zeilberger (Ermsershausen, Feb. 3, 1894- Kiryat Bialik, March, 1989), who married Miriam Mannheim (Gradenz, 1898-Kiryat Bialik, 1966). In June 1924, Leo and his brother Heinrich (see below), and another brother, were harassed by a gang of 15 Nazis, and to scare them away, Leo shot some bullets, one of them wounding one of these ruffians. However, he was acquitted when it was proved that he was acting in self-defense. Nevertheless, many citizens of Coburg (that was a notorious Nazi stronghold) started to boycott his family's clothing store, and after a few years, the store closed. [This incident is naratted in p. 249 of the book (in Hebrew): `Pinkas Hakehilot, Germania, Bavaria', published by Yad vaShem, Jerusalem, 1973, where it is also mentioned (p. 250) that Leo Zeilberger was known as an active fighter against Nazis, and that he was chair of the local chapter of Jewish (WWI) veterans.) When Hitler came to power, in 1933, the Nazis had their revenge, and Leo and Heinrich were badly tortured, and then taken to Dachau. Luckily, they were released in 1936, and were able to emigrate. Leo went to Palestine in 1937, where he later became in charge of landscaping in Kiryat Bialik.
    Added May 24, 2021: Gaby Schuller (from Coburg) told me about this very interesting website about Coburg jews
    
    Added April 5, 2012: Rachel Zeilberger Rotman and Michal Ayalon kindly told me about the Stolperstein (commemorative stone) for Leo and Heinrich in Coburg.
    Leo and Miriam had one child,
    - Rachel Zeilberger Rotman (1939-2024), who lived in Kiryat Bialik Israel. (see here) She was a schoolteacher and was married to Arie Rotman (?-2021), a former merchant marine officer. Rachel and Arie have 3 children:
      - Orit (b. Kiryat Bialik, 1964). Orit Rotman married Oded Hershkovitz (b. ?). They changed their last name to Harel. Orit and Oded Harel, who live in Adi, near Haifa, have three children:
        Omer (son, b. 1991)
        Ophir (daughter, b. 1993)
        Gilad (son, b. 2000)
      - Amir Rotman (b. Kiryat Bialik, 1967). Amir is married to Rivka (Riki) and they have three daughters:
        Yuval (b. 1997)
        Shira (b. 2000)
        Maya (b. 2006)
      - Shai (b. Kiryat Bialik, 1976) Shai Rotman is married to Inbal Rotman and they have a son and a daughter:
        
        Nir (b. 2003)
        Hila (b. 2007)
        .
  - Martha, who was married to ?, and had one child
    - George ?
  - Heinrich Zeilberger (Ermershausen, Sept. 18, 1891- ?, USA, ? 1970), (mentioned above), who married Therese ("Rosa") Meyer (??-?, 1997). Heinrich, his wife, and two children, lived in Palestine between 1936 and 1948. The children Alfred and Margaret moved to the USA on Dec. 7, 1947, and their parents joined them later.
    Added May 23, 2016: Heinrich is mentioned in Ha'aretz, May 3 and May 6, 1948, for bravely helping his son Alfred (called Abraham there), daughter Margaret, and son-in-law Max (called Meir there) Hirsch immigrate to the US. He was unfairly sentenced (by a panel of three judges, consisting of advocate Ben Yishai (chair), Levi Shkolnik [who later changed his name to Levi Eshkol] and Y. Ziv-Av) to a one month prison term. According to the Ha'aretz article, his wife, who was present in the trial, cried bitterly when she heard the sentence.
    Anat Stern wrote an interesting article (in Hebrew) about the trials of "draft dodgers" and "defectors". (pp.11-12, footnotes 39 and 43).
    Heinrich and Therese Zeilberger's children are :
    - Alfred Zeilberger (b. Coburg(?), 1929), who between 1936 and Dec. 1947 lived in then-Palestine, where he was called Abraham, and now lives in Airmont, NY, and was a carpenter (owner/manager of the A to Z repair shop), and whose children are:
      - Kenneth Zeilberger (b. ca. 1958), an attorney in Florida, who is married to Deborah M. Zeilberger, also an attorney. Kenneth and Deborah Zeilberger have two children:
        
        Aaron Zeilberger (b. ca. 1990) yet another lawyer, was Assistant Public Defender at Law Offices of Robert Wesley, Public Defender, Ninth Judicial Circuit (see old linkedin). He is currently (2024) associate at Conroy-Simberg.
        Emily Zeilberger(b. ca. 1993) (linkedin) a geomatics expert.[Listen to her interesting lecture on the Mesic Hardwood Forest]
      - Michael Zeilberger (b. ?)
    - Margareth ("Gretel") (?-?, ca. 2007), who between 1936 and Dec. 1947 lived in then-Palestine, and then "defected" with her then husband, Max Hirsch to the US. She was married three times. Gretel's first husband was Max Hirsch (Hebrew name: Meir). Their children are
      - Ron Hirsch (b. ?,?)
      - Beverly Ann Heinz (b. Hirsch) (b. ?,?), who got her Ph.D. in biology at Univ. of Wisconsin, in 1986, and whose thesis was entitled "ENTEROVIRUS-CELL INTERACTIONS THAT INITIATE INFECTION IN THE SMALL INTESTINE". She is currently with Eli Lilly Research laboratories, at Indianapolis, IN. Beverly is married to Michael Heinz (b. ?, ?), a former assistant dean, and currently (2016) an adjunct professor at Butler University, and a tai chi chuan master. Beverly and Michael Heinz are the parents of twin daughters
        Katharine Heinz(b. ?, ca. 1993, atteneded, and probably graduated (2015) Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)
        and Marissa Heinz (b. ?, ca. 1993, gradueat (2015) from Smith College, and former member of its crew team see here)
      After Max passed away in 1974, Gretel married Harry Straus in 1977, who passed away in 1983. In 1985 Gretel married Wallace ("Wally") Ross, and she lived in Mawah, NJ.
  - Regina, no known children.
  - Bernd, no known children.
- Isak Zeilberger (Oct. 20, 1862-July 1942) who was already hard-of-hearing during his school years, became totally deaf later in life. He married (in Ermershausen, Sept. 12, 1910) Frieda Rau (May 27, 1879-Jan. 29, 1943). The wittnesses on their marriage certificate are Frieda's father, Cattle-trader Emauel Rau, aged 63, and Religion-teacher David Kissinger, aged 50 (who happened to be Henry Kissinger's grandfather, and also the husband of Isak's first-cousin, Lina). Isak and Frieda had two children. The first died young, but the second, Fritz, emigrated to New York and worked as a waiter.
I would like to express many thanks to Mrs. Cordula Kappner, director of the Landkreis Hassberge Library, for her extremely generous help in supplying much of the information concerning Ermerhausen in this page. I also like to thank Marilyn Zeilberger for sending me, back in 1993, extensive information about the descendants of Karl Zeilberger, and to Marilyn's daughter, Helen Zeilberger (my third cousin), for an update (Dec. 24, 1999). I also wish to thank (May 2, 2000), Liz Friedman, for updates and more information on Leo Zeilberger and his family. [Liz is married to the nephew of Arie Rotman, and has a daughter whose name is the same as my youngest daughter: Hadas]. I also wish to thank my father's first-cousin, Bertel Zeilberger Schloss for many corrections.
Last Update: May 24, 2021 (thanks to Gaby Schuller)
Previous Update: July 18, 2020 (thanks to Marcy Wexler) April 5, 2021 (Thanks to Janet O'Hara) July 19, 2020 (Thanks to Marcy Wexler). April 16, 2019 (thanks to Rachel Rotman and Gil Zeilberger), May 14, 2017, (thanks to Jane Hartmann-Zeilberger). May 23, 2016, Thanks to Gil Zeilberger. June 14, 2014, Thanks to Pascal Kuhn, who kindly agreed that I post his very interesting Seminar essay on the Zeilberger family (in German). Feb. 11, 2014 (thanks to Alison Fussell) April 5, 2012 (thanks to Rachel Rotman and Michal Ayalon) Aug. 13, 2011, thanks to Gisela Bamberg. Aug. 7, 2011: thanks for Avraham Malthete for sending the circumcision certificates of Kusel and Seligman Zeilberger; Dec. 2, 2009: to add a link to the ship-log records of Fleeing Zeilbergers (thanks to Judith Berlowitz) ; June 13, 2009. To add information about the children and grandchildren of Margareth Zeilberger Hirsch-Ross; to correct the dates of Seligman Zeilberger (thanks to Avraham MALTHETE). Avraham Malthete also kindly trascribed and translated (parts of) the Ermershausen Book of Circumcisions. Nov. 24, 2006. To update two new grandchildren of Arie and Rachel Rotman, May 30, 2003 [ To add info about Jane Hartmann-Zeilberger ], April 20, 2003 (thanks to Benjamin Bravman) , May 2, 2000 ; May 12, 2003 (Thanks to Jeffrey Zeilberger.); March 14, 2006 [to record the death of Rabbi Benjamin Zeilberger]; Oct. 22, 2006 [Thanks to Gisela BAMBERG, who kindly sent me a copy of the Zeilberger pages in "Biographisches Handbuch Wüzburger Juden 1900-1945" (by Reiner Sträz, Verlag Ferdinand Schöngh, Wüzburg, 1989)].
Please send corrections and updates to: zeilberg@math.rutgers.edu.
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