Geography

Dresden (pop 505,000) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe in eastern Germany close to the Czech border and only 2 hours from Prague. It was formerly in East Germany. During the War it was almost annihilated in the 13 and 14 February 1945 bombing by the British and American air forces. The city has been much rebuilt and is now considered the “Silicon Valley” of Germany.

Halle-an-der-Saale population 233,500 is a very old town, the composer Frederick Handle was born here in 1685. It is 1½ hours northwest of Dresden.

Hersfeld now known as Bad Hersfeld (pop 30,500)
3 hours west of Dresden and 1½ hours northeast of Frankfurt, is a thriving spa and resort city with a famous annual festival and “classic therapies like drinking or bathing cures with the mineral and salt water springs”.

Niederaula (German only) population 5,500 is half-an-hour from Hersfeld.

Stolp-in-Pommern (now Slupsk) is near Gdansk (formerly Danzig) in Poland. At the time my Father was born, Pommern (Pomerania) was a part of Germany.

NOTE
Most of the above websites have English translations available.

Nussbaum/Samuel family in Germany (Revised)

PHOTOS

The four sons 0f Joel and Betty Nussbaum

This photo was taken between 1902 and 1904 in Halle-an-der-Saale.

from the left, Emil, Sigmund and Julius; Leopold is seated in front.

26 Klaus Strasse in Hersfeld, 1903?

My Great-grandmother Betty Nussbaum (left) and one of the two spinster ladies that lived upstairs; they were non-Jews and seamstresses.

The Nussbaum family has been in Saxony and neighboring Provinces since the mid 1700’s.

My Mother Ella Nussbaum was born 1901 in Halle-an-der-Saale and died 1979 in Oakland, California. Her sister Hilde, my Aunt was born 1905 also in Halle-an-der- Saale and died 1989 in Florida.

In 1925 in Dresden, Ella, later know as Ellen married my Father, Herbert Samuel (b. 1894 in Stolp-in-Pommern) and had only one child …me.

My Aunt Hilde married Arthur Braun (b. 1900 in Gniewkowitz, d. 1950 in New Jersey) in 1928 in Dresden and they had only one son, Hanns, my cousin (b. 1930 in Dresden) now known as Hank and living in Florida with his wife Enid (American born) and their two daughters and five grandchildren.

My Grandfather, Leopold (Levi) Nussbaum, father of Ella and Hilde was born in 1869 in Niederaula near Hersfeld and died 1926 in Dresden. He married Selma Braun (1876 – 1942) in Niederaula. Leopold was the eldest of the four sons of Joel Nussbaum, my Great-grandfather and Betty Blumenthal. The four brothers later moved to Halle-an-der-Saale, where the picture was taken and where Leopold’s daughters, Ella and Hilde, were born. Leopold went into business (maybe in Halle and later in Dresden, where he started the Wach- und Schliess Gesellschaft) Leopold died falling off the roof of his house in Dresden where he was supervising some repair work. My Grandmother was born 1876 in Dortmund and died 1942 in Theresienstadt.

Great-grandfather Joel Nussbaum, was a Kosher butcher at 26 Klaus Strasse in Hersfeld. He and Betty had four sons all born in Niederaula:

Leopold (Levi) the oldest, my Grandfather

Sigmund (1871 to 1917) never married and died in Belzec(?)

Julius (1879 – 1965) father of Hede Goldsmith (born 1905) and Helmut Nussbaum (born 1908). Julius was also a Kosher butcher in Berlin and New York.

Emil, the youngest (1882 – 1953) was the father of Harry Nussbaum.

Great-grandfather Joel (b. 1838 in Niederaula, d.1925 in Hersfeld) married Betty Blumenthal in Niederaula. Betty (b. 1842 in Rosenthal nr. Kassel, d. 1929, in Hersfeld) Joel was the fifth of nine children of Joseph Nussbaum and Elle Oppenheim (1807 - )

Great-great grandfather Joseph (1792 – 1826) was born and died in Niederaula. He was one of the two sons of Sussman Nussbaum (1756 – 1852) His brother Maier (1805 –) married Sarah Goldschmidt.

Great-great-great-grandfather Sussman Nussbaum born 1756 near Hausen(?), died 1852 in Niederaula. He married Sara Joseph (____ - ____)