The following family of Aufrichtigs are descended from Shalom Aufrichtig, for whom there is no established date or place of birth. Each of his two recorded sons, Jakob [Chaim/Yaakov] Aufrichtig and Isaak Aufrichtig were born in Poland, Jacob thought to have been in Brzezany, and Isaak in neighbouring Zawadowska, Podhajce. Holocaust memorial testimonies in their names were presented by Shimshon Aufrichtig, son of Jacob Aufrichtig and Adela [Hadasa/Hudel] Messing, and Oskar [Tzadok/Asher] Plavner, son-in-law of Isaak Aufrichtig and Fanny [Frumet] Vogelhut and husband of their daughter Helena [Hella] Aufrichtig. In both cases, the names Shalom and Zlata were entered as parents of the deceased Aufrichtig.

Isaak Aufrichtig

There is also the possibility of a third son, since it had been suggested that Isaak had a brother with the surname of Biber, which had been his mother's maiden name. Jewish religious marriages were not recognised by many authorities, particularly Polish and Austro-Hungarian powers that be, and unless a couple underwent a civil as well as a religious ceremony, their children were registered as being illegitimate.  This resulted in the use of the term "Recte" to signify that the child was rightly known as, for example, ~~~ Aufrichtig recte Biber. In other words, ~~~ Aufrichtig's mother's name was Biber. Jakob and Adela had four children - Zlata Aufrichtig (1910-c1943), Shimshon Aufrichtig, Moshe Aufrichtig (c1915-c1943) and Bela Aufrichtig (1920-c1943). Zlata's 1910 year of birth suggests that her grandmother may have died by this time. She and her siblings Moshe and Bela all perished in the Holocaust. There is, as yet, no further information regarding Shimshon and any possible descendants.

Fanny [Frumet] Vogelhut

Jakob and Adela had four children - Zlata Aufrichtig (1910-c1943), Shimshon Aufrichtig, Moshe Aufrichtig (c1915-c1943) and Bela Aufrichtig (1920-c1943). Zlata's 1910 year of birth suggests that her grandmother may have died by this time. She and her siblings Moshe and Bela all perished in the Holocaust. There is, as yet, no further information regarding Shimshon and any possible descendants.

 

Isaak and Fanny had two children, Helena [Hella Aufrichtig and Kurt Aufrichtig, who were born in Stuttgart. Helena married Oskar [Zadok Asher] ~~~ and for a time moved to Palestine, where her daughter Anna ~~~ was born in 1934 and son Josef ~~~ 11 years later in 1945. Like his sister, Kurt Aufrichtig also left Stuttgart and spent time in London, Spain and New York before emigrating to Bolivia with his wife ~~~ Fischler.

Teenage Hella Aufrichtig (1st left) and Kurt Aufrichtig (centre) with friends

Kurt pictured in Bolivia

Their travels saved their lives. Less fortunate were their parents, forcibly separated when Fanny was denied entry back into Germany after travelling to Brzesko in Poland to visit a sister she had not seen in 30 years. She remained in the Brzesko Ghetto until it was liquidated in 1942. Isaak, had been deported from Stuttgart to Riga a year earlier in 1941.

The potential third brother is known to have married and to have had a daughter. In the absence of any information to the contrary, this line of Aufrichtigs would appear to be without further descendants. However, there is another, larger group of Aufrichtigs whose earliest established ancestor was Zvi Hersch [Hersz Zvi] Aufrichtig, born 1842 in Brzezany. Zvi Hersch and his wife Beile Pflug are known to have had eight children.

They were Isak Mayer Aufrichtig (b1878), who died shortly after birth, Josef Schojel Aufrichtig (c1879),  Baruch Aufrichtig (1880), all born in Brzezany, Udel Aufrichtig (1882), Hudie Aufrichtig (1883), Samuel Aufrichtig (1884). Rebeka Aufrichtig (1887) and Simon Aufrichtig (1890), whose births were registered in Gliniany. Udel died the year after birth, Samuel in 1888 and Simon in 1896. Further details for Hudie and Rebeka are unknown.

Survival of this branch of the Aufrichtigs rested with Baruch and his wife, Regina [Rivka] Seidenwerg, and their four children Bernard [Dov] Aufrichtig, Toni [Jona] Aufrichtig, Izydor [Yitzhak] Aufrichtig  and Else Aufrichtig. Their families are now to be found in Europe, the USA and Israel. They are as yet unrepresented on this website, although the successful careers of some of Baruch's grandchildren have amassed countless Internet references to them.

While connections between the two Brzezany sets of Aufrichtigs are a distinct possibility, it is also worth noting that one of the largest Aufrichtig groups, the Dolniany-Rohatyn Aufrichtigs, were also based in the same Ternopil region.

Alphabetical Listing

Isaak Aufrichtig & Fanny [Frumet] Vogelhut