Emil Rothenberg
1st Cousin of Helena Rothenberg
Emil Rothenberg
Emil Rothenberg was born in Drohobycz, Poland in 1900, the youngest of four children born to Leiser (Leo) and Amelia Rothenberg. His father and uncle Pinkas (Pawel) were in the Lumber business. Pinkas was Helena’s father making Emil her 1st cousin.
Leo / Leiser Rothenberg © Alan Rothenberg
Leo lost some of his prosperity in the crash of 1929, and Emil moved to Vienna where he built a small business selling used cars. It was also in Vienna that he met his wife Lucie Kern. One of Emil’s customers was a prominent lawyer who owned a 32 Valve Cadillac, a car that no-one in Vienna could fix; no-one that is, except Emil.
After the Nazi’s occupied Vienna in 1938 the lawyer became the Head of the Nazi party in Austria. He called Emil in the knowledge things would become ‘tough’ and told Emil to call him if there was anything he could do to help.
Thankfully Emil took him up on the offer. A deal was negotiated with the chief of Police in Vienna; in exchange for all their possesions, the Rothenberg’s were given a safe conduct pass out of Austria through Germany to Hamburg where they recieved two ship tickets to the U.S.A.
Ada, Emil and Fania (Seif) with daughters Miriam and Ruth © Alan Rothenberg
They left with one candelabra and a pair of earings on the S.S Manhattan. When the Chief of Police came to buy the tickets (with the Rothenberg’s money) only First Class tickets were available and so on arrival in New York they were not required to go through Ellis Island.
Emil and Lucie settled in America where they raised two sons. Ada also escaped but their sister Fania, her husband, Isaac Seif and their two daughters were murdered in Drohobycz along with the entire Jewish community.
In 2017 Jennie Milne matched Emil’s son, Alan in DNA. Confirming their connection through records and a letter written by Emil’s sister Ada which mentioned Pinkas, the pair connected and met in London in 2018. This match smashed a brick wall; records for Pinkas were few making his side of the family impossible to trace until a baptism record for Helena identified his parents. The very same morning the DNA results came back identifying a match between Jennie and Alan. They are now great friends!
Excerpt from Ada’s letter including Pinkas/ Pawel (Helena’s father) as one of Zindel and Riva’s children.
Rothenberg Photographs
Alan Rothenberg and Jennie Milne (with a photo of Jennie’s mother) London 2018