Paul Alexander was born on Dec. 9, 1870, in Tirschtigl, Prussia, the son of Rebecca Pinner Alexander and Solomon Alexander . Paul was very bright, but, in high school only worked on subjects that interested him (science), and hence flunked out after 10th-grade, and at the age of 16, entered a vocational program for pharmacist's assistant, that involved apprentenship during the day, and theoretical studies during the night. The best student in that program was allowed to enter the university without high-school diploma (Abitur), and that happended to be Paul. His University studies culminated with him earning a Dr. phil. in 1897, from the University of Leipzig, under the direction of J. Wislicenus. His dissertation was entitled: `Über die Einwirkung von o-Nitrobenzylchlorid und Matriummalonsaeureaethylester'.
In 1900, he married Elfride Pinner Alexander (1875-1942) , and they had six children listed below.
His specialty was the recycling (regeneration) of rubber. He had numerous patents, both German and foreign, for example US patent no. 844,077 (issued Feb. 12, 1907). He started a company for the recycling of rubber, and became a wealthy man. His fortune came to an end in the mid-twenties because of the great decrease in prices of new rubber, that came from the openings of new markets from Africa, and the great inflation of 1923. He was forced to sell his stately mansion, and move to a much smaller apartment. Nevertheless, he continued his research, and constantly published, and was one of the world's great authorities on the regeneration of rubber. He contributed 4 articles to the first edition (1919) of Ullmann's famous Encyclopedia of Technical Chemistry and 3 articles to the second edition (1930).
He had several mentions in the book `History of the Rubber Industry' published in 1952 by the British Inst. of Rubber Industry.
After selling their house in Insterburgalle 21 in Chalottenburg, Berlin, Paul and Elfrieda moved to Apt. III in Mommsen Strasse 47, Chalottenburg, Berlin.
The directory of Greater Berlin: "Jüdisches Adressbuch für
gross-Berlin" has him listed as follows:
Alexander, Dr. Phil. Paul, Fabrikdirecktor, Chalottenburg,
Insterburgalle 21.
[here is the
street sign
(taken by Gil Zeilberger)]
When Hitler came to power, all his children managed to get visas and escape out of Germany, with the exception of Elisabeth ("Bettchen"), who nobody wanted to grant a visa to, because of her heart illness. Not wishing to leave Bettchen behind, Paul and Elfride stayed in Germany.
In May 23, 1942, which was his 46th wedding anniversay,
he wrote his
Last Letter
(
.doc) summarizing his scientific accomplishments,
followed by his
List of Publications
(.doc)
[both translated by Kathy Wolff]).
Added Jan. 21, 2019: Many thanks to Micaela Haas for scanning the "afterword" (nachtrag)
page 1,
page 2,
page 3)
When they were taken away, on Aug. 4, 1942, to a concentration camp,
Bettchen committed suicide by jumping out of the window.
Paul Alexander died of an untreated disease shortly after,
on Sept. 5, 1942 in the concentration camp Theresienstadt.
See this url.
[Here is his
death certificate].
His list of publications (until 1931) appeared in the famous Poggendorff's directory of scientists.
[Added July 5, 2014: Here is a photo of an etching (by Aenny Loewenstein) of Paul Alexander (kindly sent by my cousin Anne Howson)]
His children are:
Added Feb. 13, 2011: Karola Nick very kindly transcribed a letter written, on July 25, 1919 (when Ludwig was sixteen) to his grandmother Anna Pinner. There is also a short postscript by Ludwig's mother Elfride. Karola Nick also kindly scanned the original: page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 and wrote an English summary They have one son
Ernest R. Alexander (b. Dresden, Germany 11 Dec. 1933).
Ernest ('Ernie' to his family and `Alex' to his friends),
is professor emeritus of urban planning at the
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and now
lives in Israel.
He graduated in Architecture at the University of Cape Town, South Africa,
and received his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from The
University of California-Berkeley. He has practiced architecture
and town planning in Israel, Britain, and Ghana, worked
as a senior planner in California, and has been a consultant
for local government, state, and national government agencies in
Wisconsin and Israel.
His books and monographs include:
"How Organizations Act Together: Interorganizational coordination in theory
and practice", Amsterdam: Gordon & Breach,1995.
"Approaches to Planning : Introducing Current Planning Theories,
Concepts, and Issues", Amsterdam: Gordon & Breach, 1989 (2nd. Ed. 1992;
Arabic edition 1995, Italian edition 1997, Korean edition 1999).
"Evaluating Plan Implementation: The national statutory planning system in
Israel" (with R. Alterman and H. Law-Yone) Progress in Planning 20 Part II,
Oxford: Pergamon, 1983.
"Going It Alone: A case study of planning and implementation at the local
level" (with R.M.Beckley) Washington, DC: USGPO 1975.
Ernest is married to
Shulamit ("Shuly") Stock (b. Katowitz, Poland, 15 April 1937).
They have two children who live in Israel:
Ravit Eylon(born May 26, 1972), who graduated in 1999 from the Technion,
Merav Eylon Perel (born May 24, 1977), who got a master's degree in physics from the Hebrew University. Merav is married to Yoav Perel (born July 10, 1978) Merav has three children:
Rivka and Shmulik's son is Arnon (b. Kfar Bialik, July 19, 1953), a farmer and heavy equipment expert, married to (another) Michal, a teacher and a flower-artist. Arnon and Michal have four daughters:
Gertrude and Paul Kuhn have two children:
John Kuhn's children are:
Added Feb. 3, 2003: On Jan. 11, 2003 we celebrated, in Matti's house (in Ramat Raziel, outside of Jerusalem), Gitti's 90th birthday .
Paul Alexander's parents are:
Solomon Alexander , and Rebecca (Pinner) Alexander.
Added May 13, 2017: On May 10, 2017,
three Stolpersteine ("stumbling stones") for Paul, Elfrieda, and Elisabeth Alexander, were put
at the entrance to Mommsenstrasse 47, Chalottenburg, Berlin (where they lived between 1938 and 1942),
along with three stones for Judith Nathan Elam's family.
Judith Elam initiated and organized it together with current resident,
graphic designer Tobias Willemeit, partner in the graphic design firm Hayn-Willemeit.
We thank Judith for her initiative and Tobias for his (and his family and neighbors') wonderful hospitality!
Karola Nick delivered a deeply moving speech .
Added May 28, 2017: Here is a picture of Karola Nick, Celia Zeilberger, Ruth Zeilberger Stone, and Noam Zeilberger reading excerpts from the Alexanders' letters here is a picture of Gil Zeilberger delivering a short speech, and here are pictures of some of the audience. More pictures can be found in this directory .
Here are some links reporting the event.
Added Aug. 5, 2017: Read Jane Legrange's talk, delivered at the Princeton, NJ, Jewish Center.
Last update: July 24, 2022 (to report the passing of Johh Kuhn)
Previous Updates:
Sept. 21, 2021 (Thanks to Gil Zeilberger and Ann Howson);
Jan. 21, 2018 (Thanks to Micaela Haas);
July 12, 2018 (thanks to Ada Weiss);
March 8, 2018 (thanks to Yael Barkai Kenan);
Aug. 5, 2017 (put a link to Jane Legrange's Dvar Torah about the ceremony, delivered at the
Princeton, NJ, Jewish Center, Aug. 5, 2017);
July 25, 2017 (correct some errors);
May 28, 2017 (add pictures of the Stolperstein ceremony, thanks to Christine Krueger, a friend of Karola and Klaus Nick)
Sept 2, 2000, Dec. 3, 1999 ;July 3, 1999, Dec. 22, 1996.
May 15, 2002. (Thanks to John Kuhn)
Jan. 1, 2002 , Nov. 14, 2000,
Feb. 3, 2003 (thanks to Tom(jr) Furstenberg,
who took pictures from Gitti Weiss's 90th birthday).
Sept. 17, 2005. [To enter Yael Barkai's marriage to Issai Kenan].
Dec. 22, 2005 (To enter
Paul Alexander's Last Letter
(.doc)
and
Paul Alexander's List of Publications
(.doc)
[both translated by Kathy Wolff]) ;
Jan. 11, 2007: to record the birth of Zohar Alexander.
Sept. 3, 2007 (To update information about Michael Alexander and Dana Alexander).
Dec. 13, 2007 [Thanks to Ernst ("Alex") Alexander]
May 22, 2008 [thanks to Rivka and Shmuel Barkai,
to enter Yael Barkai's daughter Shachar, and exact dates of their other great-grand-children].
June 16, 2009 [to report the death of Brigitte ("Gitti") Weiss z"l]
Aug. 1, 2009 [To post
Elisabeth Alexander's grave
(thanks to Gil Zeilberger)]
;
July 19, 2010: to enter Merav Eylon's twin children Na'ama and Omri, born Feb. 27, 2010.
Feb. 3, 2011 (to report Shmuel Barkai's death)
Feb. 23, 2014 (to report the birth of Tamar Weiss (b. Feb. 21, 2014), a
great-great-grandaughter of Paul and Elfriede.
Feb. 13, 2011, thanks to Karola Nick (post the letter from (Friedrich) Ludwig Alexander
(July 25, 1919) to his grandmother, kindly transcribed by her.
Also thanks to Michael Lenarz, the historian of the Jewish Frankfurt museum for correcting
the circumstances of Paul and Elfrieda Alexander's deaths.
Feb. 26, 2013,
thanks to Karola Nick for the transcription of the important
letter to the Alexander children
by the family friend, Georg Krüger-Wittmack, dated Aug. 1, 1946.
May 30, 2014 (thanks to Matti Weiss);
June 14, 2016 (Thanks to John Kuhn) ;
July 9, 2016 (Thanks to Michal Eylon)
Nov. 8, 2016 (Thanks to Michal Eylon)
March 25, 2017 (to report the death of Rivka Barkai)
May 13, 2017, to report the Stumbling Stone Ceremony