Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Gutta or Gutel or Jetchen or Jette Herzenberg

Female 1844 - 1899  (55 years)


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  • Name Gutta or Gutel or Jetchen or Jette Herzenberg 
    Born 1844  Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 1899  of Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 1899  Piltene Cemetery, Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I3963  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Joseph or Yosef or Jossel Herzenberg,   b. Abt 1809, Ventspils (Windau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1877, Kuldiga (Goldingen), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 69 years) 
    Mother Zippe,   b. Abt 1808, , Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1868, Kuldiga (Goldingen), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 61 years) 
    Married Bef 1825  of Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F222  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Gerschon or Gustav Gerson,   b. 1832, Piltene (Pilten), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1891, Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 59 years) 
    Married Bef 1861  of Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Fanny Gerson,   b. 10 Jan 1861, Piltene (Pilten), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Mar 1887, Liepaja (Libau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 26 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1899  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Archival Research Paper about Herzenberg Family prepared for Kerry Petersen 28 Feb 2011 and is report no. Nr. 3-P-272, 2816, 1927 N, by Latvijas Valsts Vestures Arhivs (Latvian National Archives), Slokas iela 16, Riga, LV-1007. Complete transcript is in the notes of Edouard/Elias Ocipovitch Herzenberg and the following is but a partial transcript:
      "The merchant's list of Pilten for 1892 contain information about the family of Gerson Gerson:
      -2nd guild merchant Gerson, son of Efroim (Froim) Gerson, born in ca 1832 (aged 22 in 1854), died in 1892,
      -his wife Jette (maiden name is not stated) (one can suppose that Jette was a daughter of Joseph Herzenberg).
      -son Robert Gerson, born on January 4 of 1859. His wife Libchen, née Koenigsfest, born in ca 1865,
      -son Samuel Gerson.
      In 1892 the family of Gerson Gerson was transferred from the merchant's oklad to petty bourgeois oklad of Pilten..."

      2. Per Leo Herzenberg, this couple had the following children: Robert, Louis, Jacob, Samuel, Eduard, Leopold, Fanny, and Sophie.

      3. Data from a copy captured of Peter Bruce Herzenberg's website of London, England, since relocated to South Africa (website is no longer functioning as of 7 Aug 2007). See more on his research and data in the notes of the earliest Herzenberg in this database. Sources for this individual are HL for Leonardo Herzenberg and PC for Piltene Cemetery records. In regards to this individual:
      Name variations: Gutta, Gutel b. Yosef.
      HL 103/018 shows b. 1844 at Piltene, d. 1900, md. Gerson.
      PC 006 shows d. 1899.

      4. The following descendancy was developed by and received 1 Aug 2009 from Selwyn Neiman in England , who is a researcher of the Gerson/Gersohn family. The names with an * denote individuals for whom Selwyn has a photo.
      Gutta Gutel Jetchen Herzenberg (1842-1898), md. Gustav Gerson (1840-1891). They had the following children:
      A. Reuven Robert Gerson* (1870-), md. Liebchen Konigsfest* (-1925).
      B. Fanny Gerson (1861-1887), md. Leonhard Herzenberg (1856-1932). They had the following Child:
      a. Robert Herzenberg* (1885-1955), md. Gerda Gerson* (1900-1990). [Gerda is the dau. of Samuel Gerson and Malvine Khan listed below making her and her husband first cousins.] They had the following son:
      i. Leonardo Nardi Herzenberg (1934-), md. Caroline Stuart Littlejohn* (1932-).
      C. Sophie Gerson.
      D. Louis Gerson.
      E. Samuel Gerson, md. Malvine Khan.
      F. Jacov Gerson, md. Rose Konigsfest (-1936).
      G. Edward Gerson, md. Matilda Kallmeyer.
      H. Leopold Gerson, md. Mery Herzenberg. [Genealogy of Mery is unknown.]

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. 28 Jul 2007 Http://www.herzenberg.net/leo/htmlrh/Content.html copyrighted by Leo Herzenberg:
      "An meinen Sohn (To my son) Leonhard Herzenberg von (from) Robert Herzenberg. Memoirs written during the 1940's." Translated during the 1990's by Leonardo (Leonhard) Herzenberg. The entire memoir is quite lengthy and included in its entirety in my notes with Joseph Herzenberg, the original known ancestor, in this database. The following is only the portion dealing with this part of the family:
      "GRANDPARENTS ON Mother'S SIDE
      My grandparents on mother's side, Gerschon and Gutta = Gustav and Jetchen Gerson in Pilten had two daughters and six sons. Fanny was my mother. When she was dying of Typhus, Sophie, the younger sister cared for the sick sister, and died a few days later of contagion. (17 Wissam 5647, 14 years old). The sons were Robert, Louis, Samuel, Jakob, Edward, Leopold. The latter I no longer knew, he died after my mother's death. Louis I knew only from correspondence. He had emigrated to San Francisco where he also died. He had many children who all live scattered in the States. In contrast I knew uncles Robert, Samuel, Jacob and Edward that much better.
      UNCLE Robert lived in Pilten and led the family business. It was a discount store, a rural department store [90], where each and every thing was available that the few "Burger" in the tiny town, the gentry of the surrounding estates, and the Lettish peasants needed when they came to the "City" on Sunday. Uncle Robert was the typical good, simple, small town merchant, as if clipped from "Jettchen Gebert." He was married to aunt Liebchen, born Konigsfest, and when I was spending the summers of 1896 and 1897 with him, he had two girls, Cila and Fanny, Gustav, the only son lay in diapers, later the sisters Milly, Gerda, and Lena were born. Cila is married to my cousin Elias Haase and has a very talented son Robert. Fanny with Dreyer have a son, Morton. She is the only sister who emigrated to the United States. In the years 1922 and 1923 she lived in our family home, and cared for Mamachen until her death. Milly is married to a Gerson of the [ 91] Tuckum Gersons, and has three children; Gerda and Lena, who live in South Africa and are not married. Gustav lived in Moscow, one has not heard from him for years. When the first world war began the Russians ordered the inhuman evacuation of the Jews from the border lands, on suspicion of being friendly toward the Germans; in 24 hours they had to abandon everything, were taken to the nearest railway station, and from there taken into inner Russia in cattle cars. It did not matter if one was sick, dying, or pregnant, there were no exceptions, no mercy. Naturally, only the most essential things could be taken along, and during the trip in the freight cars, which rolled on for days to their destinations; many died, and some children first saw the light of the best of all worlds in the cattle car. Thus uncle Robert with the whole family came to Rostow on the Don. There they lived more [92] poorly than well until the end of the war. Uncle Robert died in Rostow. After the war the family returned to Latvia with nothing. Only Gustav stayed in Moscow. Then they lived in Riga and Libau. First Fanny went to the states, then Milly to South Africa. Aunt Liebchen died in Libau. Then Elias Haase went to Africa, followed by Cila with Robert, Gerda, and Lenchen. Uncles Samuel, Jacob, and Eduard lived in Lodz at the time of my Childhood. Lodz was then the most significant textile industry center in Europe. Giant factories produced a large part of the needs of the Czarist Russia. With a hinterland that reached the pacific ocean in the east, Archangelsk in the north, and Persia in the south, one can imagine what market opportunities that provided. The uncles had representation of the factories, and traveled [93] several times a year to the Baltic provinces. The visits of uncles Samuel, Jakob, and Edward, either alone or with aunts Malvine and Rosa - uncle Edward never brought aunt Matilda along - were always a feast for me; these visits have remained the best memories of my Childhood. They showed me love, which I unconsciously craved, since Mamachen, as good as she was to me, did not show love to me, and my blessed father I am sure loved me as much as I love you, Nardi, but just as I am mostly strict with you, my father preferred, likely for educational [erzieherishen grunden] reasons, to suppress the love, and show the strictness. So, when the uncles came to visit, all was love and friendship. They always brought along from Lodz beautiful Pralines, and meat delicacies; the memory of the Warsaw Sausages [94] still makes my mouth water. Then there also was much better food to honor the guests, otherwise our table was quite frugal, and the most important thing was that all punishments for past or present misdeeds were dropped; then I was allowed to visit the uncles in their Hotel, which also was a great change for me. For a few days after their departure the friendly atmosphere prevailed. Often during my school time, when I was burdened by difficulties, I only wished that an uncle would come, and usually one would come, as if by magic.
      UNCLE Samuel Married aunt Malvina Khan, from Friedrichstadt. They have two sons, Gustav and Leo, and two daughters, Gerda and Wila. Gerda is your (Nardi) mother, and aunt Wila lives with us. For Easter 1908 [95] I visited uncle Samuel in Lodz. Gustav and Leo were students at the time, Maminka was an eight year old girl and stared amazed at her big, fat, cousin, and Wilchen was in diapers.
      When the war began in 1914 Gustav was visiting in the Baltic provinces, he went to Russia, where he stayed after the war's end. Aunt Malvine, your grandmother, was very worried, since she knew nothing of Gustav's fate. She had long been sick with rheumatoid arthritis, and succumbed to a heart attack on Schusan Purim (the day after Purim) in the year 1915. Gustav came back to Poland by train, which rolled for about a month; he met the woman who is now his wife, your aunt Dora born Stillerman. Uncle Samuel I did not see again. Your grandfather on mother's side died after long suffering in the 14 Tjar 1929, shortly after Gustav was able to show him his little daughter, Inka (Malvinka). [96] Your uncle Leo married your aunt Marisja in March 1936. Wila came to us in Bolivia at the end of 1936. We advised uncles Gustav and Leo to emigrate to South America since 1938; however, they could not decide to do so, and were surprised in Poland by the second world war. What that means you will learn later in school. Leo and Marisja went to Warsaw, and live there in the ghetto erected by the Nazis; Gustav, Dora and Inka had to stay in Lodz due to Inka's illness, and vegetate in the ghetto there; we here cannot help them as we would wish.
      UNCLE Jacob was the closest to me of the uncles on Mother's side. I saw him most often, even after 1905 when I was living in Germany. Every year aunt Rosa born Konigsfest would visit a health resort, and so we would meet [ 97] in Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and spend pleasant hours together. Uncle Jacob was always ready help me with money, when I was shy of asking Papachen. My cousin Hela, their only daughter, was always with them; a very pretty, pampered Child, very clever and self conscious [selbtbewust]. Then came the war of 1914 and tore us apart. Hela had become a beautiful lady and had many admirers. Finally she married a Jewish lieutenant of the french occupation a Hauser who had factories in Nancy, and had a son Claude. In 1920 aunt Rosa came to Berlin again, this time not for fun, but for breast cancer surgery. Hela came there from France; she was expecting her child. The operation went well - aunt Rosa died in Lodz in 1936 of cancer. Hela was beautiful and cultured [gebildet], everything came easily to her, she painted, she sculpted [98] and was active in several sports. As she was returning from a tennis tournament in which she won a prize, another car ran into hers from behind. She suffered serious injuries to the face. She was patched up with many skin transplants, but was not recognizable. Her husband became estranged, got a divorce, and the Hauser great parents took in the children. Hela lived in Paris and married a Perls or a similar name. Where they are, I have no idea. Uncle Jacob, who is now also living in the Lodz ghetto and sees Gustav daily, has had no news from her since September 1939. (Note added later: Today, 14 June 1941, we received a card from Gustav Gerson, of 13 March 41 with the sad news that good dear uncle Jacob passed away. Lodz is now called Litzmanstadt).
      UNCLE EDUARD, the youngest, most slender, of the brothers was the least happy. Always quiet, thoughtful, modest, he stepped back behind the brothers. He married Matilde Kallmeyer. At his wedding, [99] which took place in the winter 1894/1895, my father sent me with uncle Jacob to Talsen. I was to learn to dance before that time, my father was a very good dancer and made the greatest effort to teach me the waltz step; he did not succeed, and I never did learn to dance; perhaps my entire life would have been different. We traveled until Tuckum by rail, and from there to Talsen by sled. Three children came from the marriage of uncle Eduard, Siegmund, Georg, and Fanny. Siegmund was a teacher, then changed saddles and became a merchant; Georg and Fanny are pharmacists. Uncle Eduard, aunt Mathilde, Siegmund and wife, and Fanny lived lastly in Riga; Georg with wife in Libau where he leased a pharmacy. Since the outbreak of the second world war we have not had any news from them. Outside of the 8 uncles and their wives, the six aunts and their husbands, or 28 of the generation of my [100] parents, I had no special uncle-aunt range [reihe] through the second marriage of my father. My second mother was a born Halpert from Konigsberg. The step-grandfather, leader of the polish schul (the eastern Jewish community) in Konigsberg, was Hirsch Halpert, and I met him when he came to Libau to visit his daughter. He stayed there for a few weeks, and I went with him to the Hassidic minjan (services) every day. He was not Hassidic, but this minjan was the closest. Soon after that he died in Konigsberg. Beside my step-mother, there were the aunts Manna, married to Nathan Weinberg in Berlin, Hand married to Dr, Moritz Singer in Magdeburg, and uncle Dodo (then still David), a lawyer and confirmed bachelor [sehr unverheirated] in Berlin. Later he married aunt Kate, I still knew her when she was married to a Berlin physician. [101] Uncle Dodo split the marriage, and then married aunt Käte himself. I met the two aunts and uncle only in 1902, when I came to the University of Konigsberg at age 16½. I arrived on 1 October 1902, but the semester did not start till the 15th, so that same night I continued to Berlin, and dropped in without warning on the family of my stepmother. The friendship did not last long with aunt Manna and uncle Nathan, aunt Manna died before the first war, but I was tied to uncle Dodo and aunt Hand with an intimate friendship and lively correspondence until their death, partly because we were spiritually [geistig] close, and partly that the world war caused no censorship [caesur] in our communication since I stayed west of the Russian front.
      Aunt MANNA and uncle Nathan. Aunt Manna was the eldest sister of my step-mother. When I met her she was still relatively [102] young. They lived in Berlin at that time, in their own house, Lietherstrasse 4. Uncle Nathan was a tall, slender, man with a quite large nose. In their house I got acquainted with the totally unaccustomed luxury of the good Burgers of Berlin of the 90's. I felt very well there, and on the first day ate ham without revulsion - at home we were strictly kosher. I never found out exactly what uncle Nathan's occupation was - negotiating, commissions, stock market speculation. They had three children, Georg, Trude, and Elsa, all much younger than I. After a few years I was no longer welcome, probably because of a sisterly quarrel between aunt Manna and my step-mother. Soon after my brother Erich came to Berlin we estranged ourselves totally. Aunt Manna died before outbreak [103] of the world war. Uncle Nathan married again, I don't know who. The children came to a sad end. Elsa died in an insane asylum. Georg's father kept him from the front by all possible means, he was in the Strassburg garrison, and died soon after the war from tuberculosis [schwindsucht]. Trude married a Bloch who was associated with a bookstore. Both got baptized, and had a son Erwin. This was of no use [nutz] to them, the son emigrated to Brazil. They got a visa for Australia, and went to friends in Denmark from which they were to go to Australia in September 1939. I have heard nothing from then since then.
      Aunt HAND and uncle Moritz lived in Magdeburg, I visited them a few times. Dr. Singer was a well-known ear-nose-throat specialist and very receptive [empfanglich] for the irritations [reize] of his patients. The marriage did not go well, they got [104] divorced, and aunt Hand moved to Berlin with her son Ivan (accent on the i). There she lived till her death in 1933. Ivan was a pleasant boy, graduated, and studied law in Berlin. Then came the war, Ivan volunteered, went into the artillery and was a good soldier. In 1917 he was lethally wounded by a grenade fragment. He suffered for a whole month and died in the Aachen hospital in his mother's arms.
      Aunt Hand was the prettiest of the sisters, slender, spirited, and with golden hands [goldenen handen]. She could not produce much independently, but was a master at copying. As a handicraft maker no equal could be seen. She made the two Gobelins (a kind of tapestry that hung in the guest room), the leather cover of the Doree bible, and many small things. During her youth, like all ladies of the time, she made poker pictures (pictures made by burning the pattern into wood with a hot iron) [brandmalerei] [105]; she covered a large buffet with such work. Uncle Dodo had one of her Gobelins of about 2 by 3 meter, a group consisting of two chess players, two onlookers, marvelously executed. She belonged to an association of noble ladies [adliger damen] in Berlin; besides she helped the widow of Hans von Bulow (the second wife, the first was Cosima Liszt, whom Wagner later married) with her regular musical evenings. With this she filled her life, which had become empty after the death of Ivan. Her love carried over to me and your uncle George; with Erich she got along briefly before her death - before that their relationship was very tense. In June 1933 she willed the Doree bible to me and your mother; she received the confirmation that we had received it already in her sick bed, and a week later dear, good, aunt Hand expired [ausgelitten].
      UNCLE DODO (formerly David) Halpert [106]. He was the youngest of the siblings, though the sisters, except for aunt Manna, claimed to be younger. He attended the gymnasium in Konigsberg, which the strict, orthodox father permitted, (he could even attend the school on Saturday, but could not write on this day) until his graduation. In addition he had a strict Jewish education, and, often had to pray before the [Omed] in the synagogue where his father was [Gabbai]. Of these only a strong memory remained - in his later years he could say without error the [Niggunim] for the [Maariv] prayers on the various holidays, which I was never able to do. He studied law in Munchen and Berlin, and then settled in Berlin as a lawyer. He wrote a little, and my mother owned two novels by him. He became a free spirit like the whole generation of that time. He was a very admired, appreciated, lawyer. [107] I saw and heard him argue a case [pladieren] a few times. He belonged to the democratic group at the time for the "World on Monday" [Welt am Montag] that was led by Gerlach. He argued many political trials, but did not stand out enough to become a direct sacrifice of the Hitler time. I met him in 1902; he was then much older and successful [arriviert], but he helped me where and when he could. Our love and friendship grew from year to year, and became even stronger when he married aunt Kate shortly before the world war. She had been married to a doctor; uncle Dodo split that marriage, and married, or rather, was married by, Kate. She brought her mother and aunt along to live with them. She nurtured uncle Dodo movingly [ruhrend], but exercised an uninhibited tyranny over the household. I was never in the parlor - the furniture was covered and no bit of dust was tolerated. I believe she regarded each of my visits with panic, [108] if only because of the cigarette ashes that might drop anywhere. When I came through Berlin, we were always together with uncle Dodo, but we also met outside of it. He invited me to his summer resorts at Nordernry and Salzungen, and visited me in Hamburg, and we had Easter 1924 after Mamachen's death, on a joint trip to Libau. Also after my emigration to Bolivia we remained close by correspondence; only after Hitler's emergence did he write seldom because he could not write what he wanted to. Your development he followed attentively; I could not send him pictures of you often enough. The Arian laws made his life in Berlin into hell. He wanted to leave for Latvia. George and Linzit made an effort to get the immigration papers, though it was clumsy and fruitless [ungeschickt und vergeblich]. He was not to experience it. [109] On the 13th of June he was mowed down [angerempelt] by a speeding military auto and succumbed to his injuries on the 18th of June. Of all my 17 uncles, uncle Dodo in Berlin and uncle Jacob in Lodz were closest to me. Spiritually only uncle Dodo stood close, which could not be otherwise, since we had a similar education and development experience, graduation and further study, while the uncles in Russia never grew beyond the Cheder education. I surely would also have been comfortable with uncle Moritz, but due to the divorce from aunt Hand he quickly stepped out of my range of acquaintance. I wrote aunt Kate immediately after receiving the misfortune telegram, but received no reply. [Q: when had Kate left Berlin?]. How she helps herself further, where she lives, I do not know. The outbreak of war had dissolved our links. [109 ]"

      BIRTH:
      1. The following is from a report prepared 12 Apr 2007 on the Gerson family for Selwyn and Lynn Neiman [ address: 2 Hornbeam Close, Mill Hill, London, NW7 4PL, England] by Aleksandrs Feigmanis. In the report he notes the following information pertaining to Gerschon Gerson and Gutel (or Jetta) Herzenberg. See also information from same report as noted below under "Burials":
      Records from the "1875 Pilten List" include Gerschon and Gutel as the "1st son" and his wife:
      -Efraim Schlaume Gerson-66
      His wife Jette-62
      -1st son Gerson-42
      Wife Jette-41 [This is Gutta or Gutel or Jetchen Herzenberg]
      son Laser-18
      -2nd son Gerson Moses
      wife Tzippe-24
      -3rd son Chaim-34
      Wife Zippe-29
      -4th son Lemme (SIC for Lemach)-32. This family was transferred from the estate of merchants of Guilds to Petit-bourgeois.

      BURIAL:
      1. The following is from a report prepared 12 Apr 2007 on the Gerson family for Selwyn and Lynn Neiman [ address: 2 Hornbeam Close, Mill Hill, London, NW7 4PL, England] by Aleksandrs Feigmanis. In the report he notes the following information pertaining to Gerschon Gerson and Gutel (or Jetta) Herzenberg:
      A. Records from the "Pilten Cemetery List":
      -Gutel, son [s/b dau.] of Yosef Herzenberg [and] wife of Gershon Gerson d. 5659 (1899).
      -Gershon, son of Efroim Jacob Gerzon d. 5651 (1891).

      2. Nina Kossman [nina@ninakossman.com] reports that the cemetery in Piltene could be called 'the Herzenberg' cemetery because there are so many Herzenberg headstones. The Piltene cemetery is in a better condition than most although she can't really vouch for that as she saw it in winter and a lot of it was covered with snow. It would still be a huge amount of work to inventory and restore.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Leonardo Herzenberg http://www.herzenberg.net/