Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Eilertsens by the lake

Ed was the rector at Saint Martin's By the Lake in Minnetonka Beach, Minn. The family was raised in towns around the lake region west of Minneapolis, including in the church rectory

Green Valley Drive—our exurban childhood

Our years in Pittsburgh were spent in a tract house in a natural wonderland—backed up against a family farm and an equestrian estate.

Hermann Ringel's German citizenship

August 13 1906 -

When Hermann turned 21 in 1906, he presented documentation to secure legal German citizenship.

Our family during the Nazi years in Berlin

February 1933 - September 1942

During the first five years of Hitler's reign of terror, Jewish families of Berlin faced one repression after another.

Split decision on restored German citizenship

Both Dan and Joanne applied for reclaimed citizenship under Article 116 of the German Constitution, but only Joanne’s application was approved

Sputnik in the backyard

Watching Sputnik at night from our back yard in a suburb of Pittsburgh is one of my earliest memories.

Stan at Brant Lake

Stan summered at a Jewish summer camp in the Adirondacks.

The Clerc jewelry aryanization files

1940 - January 1701

The Clerc jewelry assets were seized and resold to an Aryan buyer. The Nazis kept perfect records of the transactions.

The early history of the Wohlgemuth family

March 11 1812 - July 25 1876

In 1812 in Preußisch Stargardt, an elderly Jew Moses and his sons Salomon and Herz took the surname Wohlgemuth in exchange for Prussian citizenship rights. Our family, descended from Herz Wohlgemuth, stayed in Stargardt for the next three generations