Family Story Finder
The sweep of family history across the generations
Adventures in Israel—Walter and Joanne
Two of the Ruby offspring went back to Israel for significant periods.
Demise of the cultured Lewi family
Five siblings who stayed true to German ideals until the bitter end
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
Escape from Berlin—last good chance to get out
Our reconstructed timeline: How Elly and Helga Ringel were smuggled with SS escort out of Germany and across the Belgian border in October 1938
Love conquers all as Gerhard marries Ilse
Two young Berliners make a modern marriage—with lasting consequences
Motives for mercy—the consuls of Toulouse
In July 1940, consular officials from three nations conspired to open an escape route for Jews out of occupied France. Why did they do it?
Stan at Brant Lake
Stan summered at a Jewish summer camp in the Adirondacks.
The peculiar case of Pinkas Twiasschor
The estranged husband of Betty Ringel was one of the 1000 war evacuees who found safe haven in the only U.S refugee camp
The Rubys in Israel—1961 sabbatical
Our family’s amazing year of discovery and connection
When Ed Eilertsen "crossed the bridge"
In a dramatic moment while crossing the Mississippi River, he broke with his parents' austere Lutheranism for a more ecumenical approach
Ze'ev and Penina Sharon of Kibbutz Afeq
A pioneer to Palestine in 1936, Ze’ev married Penina and they did their part to build the state of Israel as founders of Kibbutz Afek.