While I was keen to reach some sort of closure to this project by producing a book it does not bring an end to my research. I expect there will be typos, mistakes and clarifications to make. I also live in hope that new information may also come to light that may provide more insight.

I intend to collect any such additions and errata on these pages.

Family Trees

• Shamefully I omitted Noa Koifman from the Basch and Mahler family trees. Unfortunately news travels slowly on the family grapevine!

• Tim Weston's full name is Tim Bergmann-Weston, not Burns-Weston. 

• Reinhold Frisch and his descendants have been added.

• The dates of death for Dr. Lipot Kohn (1919), Ottilie and Jenny Weiss (1942) and Ernst Buchler (1957) have been added.

• The date and place of Anna Golwig's death have been revised based on new evidence obtained by Charles Nadler.

• Caroline Schlesinger's date of birth (1803) has been added together with her date and place of death (Vienna 1893).

• Alice (Alica) Hrvatov's date of death can now be confirmed as after 1963 as she is recorded as the kurator of her cousin's medical files from Ybbs. She surivived the Holocaust!

Was Ludwig's father called Armin or Herman?

In Die Familien Extrablatt I refer to Ludwig's father as Armin Basch but was his name Armin (the Magyar version of his name) or Herman (the German version)?  

Tracing my steps backwards I initially I would have been guided by the Geni record which calls him Armin. Lacking confidence in my own research I would have initially gone on blind trust that whoever had posted the record had seen some evidence for calling him Armin. Certainly the Budapest address books definitely has him going by both names. In different books there's someone living at the same address going by both Herman and Armin Basch and at least one entry that has him listed as Armin/Herman Basch. Plus there is a record of him changing his business name from Herman to Armin in 1876 (in line with the government's Magyarisation policies).

But why does the Geni record call him Armin and not Herman? I'd assumed that whoever had added the record had access to more information than us but now I'm not so sure.  The Geni record for Armin/Herman is pretty thin. Apart from naming him as father of Wilhelm, Ludwig and Regine and husband of Rosalie it doesn't include any other information. There is no date of birth, marriage or death for him - so presumably whoever added the Geni record had not seen any of these records. 

So the Geni record was probably primarily based on his name appearing on the birth records of his children. At the time of writing the book I hadn't seen these but recently, with Kerin's help we have found these and now know these name him as Herman! 

We have found his obituary which also calls him Hermann. We haven't (yet) found his birth or marriage records but if he was born in Polna where they spoke German then he would have been called Herman, not Armin, by his parents. 

Finally, in what counts for more than anything else, I checked back to my mum's notes and she wrote that her father (Rudolf) told her that Ludwig's father (his great grandfather) was called Hermann (with two n's). It was there all along! It just goes to show that I should have listened more to my mum.

Leopold & Katty

The starting point for my research on Leopold & Katty Fried was Geni.  Deciphering the hand-written registers can be excrutiating and, where possible, I preferred to build upon the work of others and consult computer databases rather than orginal documents. I wasn't sure who had done the research that underpinned the family tree on Geni but it appeared to be solid. I doubted I could add much to it. However, in October 2022, I stumbled upon a batch of scanned records from the Jewish community of Pressburg, today's Bratislava, that included birth records from the 1840s. The handwriting was surprisingly legible and so I rolled up my sleeves and methodically went through the registers one by one. 

Within a few minures I discovered the birth records of Josef and Bertha Fried. Josef was born on 10 April 1843, Bertha on 14 Nov 1845, - both two years earlier than previously thought. 

Josef was born on the same day as a boy who was named "Marcus Fried". His father was called Josef Fried, a man who could well have been a brother of Josef's father Leopold - perhaps a distant great-uncle of ours?

Even more excitingly I discovered two additional children born to Leopold and Katty Fried - Antonia Fried (born 1 Jan 1847) and Moritz Fried (born 19 May 1848). It doesn't appear either of them surivived into adulthood (although, who knows, maybe they did and their stories have just not yet been uncovered?) but they were major additions to our family tree.

My guess is that the birth dates for Josef and Bertha were educated guesses by whoever did the original Geni research. They knew the names of Leopold and Katty's children and the birth dates of some of them so they pencilled in approximate dates for the rest of the children using the one child every two years as a rule of thumb. The addition of Antonia and Moritz changes things and, using the same rule of thumb, I now think the order is Johanna (18??), Josef (1843), Bertha (1845), Antona (1847), Mortiz (1848), Ernestine (1848),  Julie (1848),  David (1850), Anna (1851) and Josefine (1854) although I am still not convinced this is correct. Moritz, Ernestine and Julie can't *all* have been born in 1848! 

The Schlesingers

Paula Schlesinger

Paula appears to have married a man called Hugo Friedmann. We don't know much about her life during the twenties and thirties but in the summer of 1942 she and her husband were deported to  Theresienstadt together with thousands of other elderly Jews. 

At the time they were deported they were living at Fugbachgasse 6/5 in Leopoldstadt. They had probably been forcibly moved there sometime during the preceding three years of Nazi rule. 

Theresienstadt ghetto

On the morning of 20 August 1942, Paula and Hugo were detained at the Aspangbahnhof station outside Vienna. Standing beside them were a thousand other elderly Jews. 

Sometime around noon, six armed Schutzpolizei under the command of Lieutenant Robert Rill forced them on to a train. The overcrowded train was given the reference IV/8. Fifty-five year old Paula would have been one of the youngest passengers. The average age was 69 years old: the same age as her husband Hugo. 

The train, slowly travelled north to the Theresienstadt via Nordbahnhof, Floridsdorf, Jedlersdorf, Stockerau, Absdorf-Hippersdorf, Gmuend, Tabor and Prague, finally pulling into Bohusovice at 7:19 am the following day.  

At Bohusovice, Paula and Hugo were taken off the train and forced to walk the 3km to Theresienstadt, carrying their cases. 

By the end of the summer of 1942 the arrival of trainloads more deportees had exacerbated conditions in the already overcrowded ghetto. Hunger and disease had resulted in a spike in the death rate. 

Treblinka extermination camp

Paula and Hugo didn't stay long in Theresienstadt. Less than a month after their arrival they were informed they would be being moved to another ghetto.  

Paula and Hugo were ordered to pack their belongings, and report to the quarantine site (“Schleuse”) in the courtyard of the Aussig Barracks. Camilla Hirsch, an elderly Viennese lady who kept a diary in the ghetto, noted the preparations for the transport:

"20 August 1942. We thought Theresienstadt was something else, but we were horrified to hear of the new orders. And so, sixty five of our people were brought to the Schleuse today, to be sent to another ghetto. The older one is and the poorer his physical condition, the greater the chances the he will be sent away. It was terrible. The column looked like a funeral procession. Everyone went with their luggage, carried for them by the fortunate ones who were allowed to remain. It is doubtful that these poor people will ever see their luggage again.”

On 21 September, Paula and Hugo joined the miserable column of elderly prisoners marching back to Bohusovice. At the station they were loaded onto the waiting railway wagons. The train was the second in a series of eight transports of sick and elderly Jews (“Alterstransporte”) destined for Treblinka. The train was packed with over two thousand elderly Jews whose average age was 72.

From Theresienstadt, the train slowly travelled north to Dresden, and then east to Wroclaw, Poznan and Warsaw before finally stopping at the train tracks inside the Treblinka camp. The entire journey, in which the prisoners had to endure horrific condictions, had taken two, or possibly even three days. 

Unlike the ghetto of Theresienstadt, where Jews were simply forced to endure appalling conditions, or the concentration camps, in which prisoners were used as forced labour, Treblinka was an extermination camp.  The camp had only one function: to murder those sent there. 

To prevent incoming victims from realising the true nature of the camp, Treblinka II was disguised as a transit camp, complete with train schedules and destinations, a fake station clock, and a fake ticket office.

Upon arrival, Paula and Hugo were taken off the train, and forced to stand to attention before being taken to two large barracks where they were seperated and forced to undress. Money and jewelry were collected, ostensibly for safekeeping, at cashier's booth. Jews who resisted were taken away or beaten to death by the guards. Behind the station building, further to the right, there was a Sorting Square where their luggage was collected. 

Naked, they were then whipped and beaten by SS officers, along a fenced-off path through the forest, to the gas chambers. Unlike Auschwitz and Majdanek where Zyklon B was used for killing, at Treblinka they murdered victims by suffocating them with simple carbon-monoxide poisoning. 

Shortly after their arrival they were both murdered. 

Of the 2,020 on board the train on which they were transported, not a single person is known to have survived. In total somewhere between 700,000 and 900,000 people were murdered at Treblinka 

Salomon & Julie

Salomon Flesch's leather cutting company registered in the commercial register 22 April 1873- 29 Oct 1875 (Vienna City Archives)

Weiss

The three Weiss sisters - Regine, Jenny and Ottilie - went on holiday to Baden bei Wien together in 1926 and 1927. Frau Regine Kohn and the two Weiss sisters booked into the same guesthouse together. Their names jumped out of the page - while Kohn and Weiss were both very common names and almost impossible to track, the three names appearing together meant that they were almost certainly OUR relatives.

Regine described herself as a kunstgewerblerin (an artisan), while Jenny described herself as a malerin (painter). Despite approaching 50 years old, both Jenny and Ottilie were still not married and used the title "fraulein". Regine booked in alone suggesting that she was already a widow. The three sisters stayed at the Hotel Peter in 1926. The following year they returned and stayed in Helenenstrasse 100. 

It was only through sheer luck that I came across them in the curliste. I was actually researching Friedrich Bielitz at the time and by a total coincidence their names appeared just below his. Friedrich was only distantly related to the Weiss sisters so the Bielitz's stay in Baden can only be down to coincidence.  

Luckily, this meagre additional information provided the key to unlocking much more of their story.

In 1927 there were six Regine Kohn's in the Vienna address book - a hairdresser, a wood merchant, and four who described themselves as "private". Geni suggested that Regine had once been married to a man called Dr.Lipot or Leopold Kohn but gave no other information. And Leopold Kohn was so common a name it was a joke - the Austrian version of John Smith or John Doe. It was practically impossible to pin down which Leopold would be ours. There were twenty-seven Leopold Kohns in the address book, of which two were doctors of law. Picking the 1916 address book at random I scoured the list and discovered that there was a Dr.Leopold Kohn, a lawyer living at Lagergasse 2 in the Landstrasse district. This was  the same address that a Regine Kohn could be found ten years later. Sometime between 1916 and 1926 Leopold passed away but after his death his widow Regine remained in the same house!

Now that we knew which Leopold Kohn was ours I was able to methodically work my way through the address books. They moved into Lagergasse 2 in 1907, the same year in which they were married in Josefstadt. By this time they would have both been in their late thirties, a rather late age in these times to be getting married. As far as we know their marriage was childless.

Leopold was born in 1868 in Purbach am Neusiedlersee, or Feketeváros as it was known before the breakup of the empire, on the western borders of Hungary. After gaining his doctorate he spent *** years working as trainee lawyer before finally qualifying for the bar in 1900. Six years later he was a "Hof- und Gerichtsadvokat", a court advocate who was permitted to appear in the higher courts. 

On 5 September 1919 Dr.Leopold Kohn died suddenly of a heart attack in Baden bei Wien.

Regine survived him by 23 years and remained in the house on Lagergasse until 1937.

Jenny, Ottilie and Regine never made it to Sydney. Ottilie and Jenny Weiss both died in a concentration camp in Riga, Latvia. 

The records show that they were deported from Vienna on 11 January 1942.  Some time beforehand, possibly several weeks earlier, SS guards, or maybe just "wardens" - Jewish men who were blackmailed by the SS to assist in the deportation process - dragged the two elderly sisters out of the house and took them to Kliene Sperlgasse 2. Kleine Sperlgasse was a Jewish school that the Nazis had converted into a transit camp. The rules only permitted Ottilie and Jenny to take baggage and personal effects up to 50 kilograms. Each deportee was allowed to take 100 Reichsmarks.

Transport number 14 departed from Aspangbahnhof station at 5:35pm. 1,000 elderly Jews were packed into third class carriages and guarded by 15 armed policeman from the Schutzpolizei, travelled for four days in appalling conditions. Of the 1,000 deportees on board, 406 - including Ottlie and Jenny - were older than 61 years old. Only 31 of the deportees on board that train survived the war.  

"We had enough food, in as much as the Jewish community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde) had supplied us with provisions, enough for three to five days. During the first two days the heat in the train was turned on, to the point where we thought we would suffocate. Indeed, a few people suffered heart attacks and died on the train. We could not open the windows as they were sealed shut and likewise the doors were locked tight. Moreover the guards threatened to shoot anyone who dared open a window. Finally the heat was turned off and, in spite of the fact that we were packed together like sardines, it was terribly cold, to the extent that we thought we would freeze to death. Some people suffered frostbite to their feet and hands.

On the evening of January 15 we arrived at the Skirotava station on the outskirts of Riga.  To say our reception was not friendly would be an understatement. Armed with rubber clubs, the SS men awaiting us urged us to quickly alight from the train, at times not even allowing us to take our personal belongings. 50 women and young girls were selected and sent to the Riga ghetto. We – all the rest – marched on foot for about half an hour from the train station to the Jungfernhof Camp; the dead and sick were loaded onto trucks; we never saw them again. It would seem that they were sent to a better world." 

(Karl Engel, survivor) 

Ottilie and Jenny's last address was Kreuzwiesengasse 2, Richard Golwig's house. 

Their sister Regine was deported to Theresienstadt five months later. Her last address is also given as Kreuzwiesengasse 2.

• In the USHMM database Ottilie's date of birth is recorded incorrectly as 4 April 1879 (not 1878) and Jenny's name was spelt with a  'Y', not an 'I' as it is written on her birth certificate . These inconsistencies together with the limited knowledge of their lives I had at the time that I orginally researched their story perhaps explain why I had previously failed to find them.

Isidor Flesch

Ernestine Flesch

• Ernestine Flesch was buried in Vienna's Zentralfriedhof on 21 Dec 1931. The burial records show her having been registered dead at the mortuary. Her age is given as 50. Our Ernestine would have been 54 in 1931 so this might not be her, however this date fits with other information we know about her (she disappears from the address books in 1932). Perhaps whoever recorded the death had to estimate her age?

Fanni Basch-Mahler

• Fanni's matriculation form was signed by Theresie. Kerin was able to translate the kurrent script that I was unable to make sense of. 

• Fanni's first performance at the Musikverein was 25 March 1871. Previously  I had mistakenly assumed this was during her time studying at the Conservetoire but now I have realised this took place before she enrolled. She was only sixteen years old. I wonder whether Epstein was in the audience? It was only fourteen months after the Musikverein opened. In those days concerts held in the Kleine Musikverein (nowadays called the Brahmssaal) did not take place on the stage as they do today but instead were performed in the centre of the room so that the musicians could be lit by the skylight.

• Ludwig resigned from the Kunstlerhaus on 14 February 1924 as he wanted to write not just some but all of the cooperative's articles for the Press and was disatisfied that there was nothing to write about. 

Wladimir Aichelburg 150 Jahre Künstlerhaus Wien 1861-2011

Anton Seidl

Additional performances since found

Bolzano

Listed in German Stage Almanac 1877 as first baritone in Bolzano

• April 1875 joins Bolzano

• Oct 1875 Dr. Basch of Stuttgart engaged in Bolzano

• Oct 1875 performs in Flotow's Martha in Bolzano

  • Jan 1876 Wilhelm Basch ("from Bozen") staying in Vienna.

  • 25 Jan 1876 Wilhelm Basch performs in Lucretia Borgia in Olomouc Stadt Theatre, Moravia

  • March 1876 Wilhelm Basch ("from Pest") staying in Vienna. 

• 23 April 1876 performs in Bratislava Redoutensaal 

• May 1876 performs as Count Luna in Verdi's Troubidour in Bolzano.

• 10 June 1876 performs in Hotel Zillinger, Wieden

Stuttgart

• April 1876 appointed to Stuttgart

• 9 July 1876 performs as Count Luna in Verdi's Troubidour in Esslingen, Stuttgart

Augsburg / Ulm

• August 1876 guest performance (as Count Luna) in Verdi's Troubidour in Augsburg

• Nov 1876 performs as Don Juan in Richard Strauss's Don Juan in Ulm

• 17 Jan 1877 performs as General Belisario in Donizetti's Belisario in Ulm Stadt Theatre

• March performs as Marquis de Corcy in Postillon in Ulm Stadt Theatre

• March performs as Relusco in Afrikanerin in Ulm Stadt Theatre

• March performs as Tell in William Tell in Ulm Stadt Theatre

Gorlitz, eastern Germany

• 1 April 1877 performs as Carlos V in Verdi's Ernani in Gorlitz

• 5 April 1877 performs as Pizzaro in Beethoven's Ferdelio in Gorlitz

• 6 April 1877 performs as Plunkett in Flotow's Martha in Gorlitz

• 8 April 1877 performs as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in Gorlitz

• 9 April 1877 performs as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in Gorlitz

• 11 April 1877 performs as Belisar in Belisar in Gorlitz

• 12 April 1877 performs as Valentin in Gounod's Margarethe (Faust) in Gorlitz

• 13 April 1877 performs as Jager in Nachtlager in Gorlitz

• 17 April 1877 performs as Rigaletto in Rigaletto in Gorlitz

• 19 April 1877 performs as Juan in Don Juan in Gorlitz

• 22 April 1877 performs as Tell in William Tell in Gorlitz

• 23 April 1877 performs as Ottakar in Weber's Freischutz in Gorlitz

• 24 April 1877 performs as Tell in William Tell in Gorlitz

• 26 April 1877 performs as Spreecher in Mozart's Magic Flute in Gorlitz

• 28 April 1877 performs as Luna in Troubadour in Gorlitz

• 4 May 1877 performs as the Marquis of Corcy in The Postillon de Lonjumeau in Ulm 

• 8 May 1877 performs as Ottakar in Weber's Freischutz in Gorlitz

Magdeburg, northern Germany

• 1 September 1877 performs as Ottakar in Freischutz in Magdeburg

• 9 September 1877 performs as Ottakar in Freischutz in Magdeburg

• 3 September 1877 performs as Luna in Troubadour in Magdeburg

• 7 September 1877 performs as Comte de Nevers in The Huguenots in Magdeburg

• 11 September 1877 performs as Pizarro in Figedelio in Magdeburg

• 13 September 1877 performs as Jager in Nachtlager in Magdeburg

• 20 September 1877 performs as Valentin in Magarethe (Faust) Magdeburg

• 23 September 1877 performs as Valentin in Magarethe (Faust) Magdeburg

• 11 October 1877 performs as Amonasro in Aida in Magdeburg

• 12 October 1877 performs as Amonasro in Aida in Magdeburg

• 26 Nov performs as Wolfram in Tanhauser in Magdeburg

• 27 Nov performs as Wolfram in Tanhauser in Magdeburg

• 28 Nov Basch performs as Juan in Don Juan in Magdeburg

• 1 Dec performs in the Marriage of Figaro in Magdeburg

• 3 Dec performs in Tannhauser in Magdeburg

• 4 Dec performs as Peter in Lortzing's Czar und Zimmerman in Magdeburg

• 8 Dec performs as Talmarund in Longerin in Magdeburg

• 10 Dec performs as Talmarund in Longerin in Magdeburg

Ulm

• 12 Sept 1877 performs as The Hunter in Keutzer's The Camp of Grenada in Ulm Stadt Theatre

Magdeburg

• Listed in German Stage Almanac 1879 as first baritone at Magdeburg Stadttheatre.

• 13 May 1878 performs in Magdeburg

Budapest

• 10 August 1878 performs as Nelusko in The African Woman at the Budapest National Theatre

• 15 August 1878 performs in Budapest National Theatre

Barmen & Elberfeld

• Listed in German Stage Almanac 1879 as first baritone at Barmen & Elberfeld united theatres. Seidl working as Kappelmeister. 

• 16 Nov 1878 performs in Elberfeld

• 12 March 1879 performs in Elberfeld

• 26-27 March 1879 performs in Barmen

Leipzig Opera

• July 1879 joins Leipzig Opera

• 2 July 1879 performs as Valentin in Faust in Leipzig

• 8 Aug 1879 performs as Wolfram in Tannhauser in Leipzig

• 15 Aug 1879 performs as the Count in Pierre Robin in Leipzig

• 12 Sept 1879 performs as Baal-Hanan in Queen of Sheba in Leipzig 

• 24 Sept 1879 performs in Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung" in Leipzig. Role unknown.

• 14 Oct 1879 performs as Hömemia in "Die heimliche Ehe" [the Secret marriage] in Leipzig .

• 18 Dec 1879 performs as High Priest in Mozart's Idomeneo in Leipzig .

• 6 Feb 1880 performs as Leuthold in Rossini's William Tell in Dresden.

• 24 May 1880 performs in Auber's "Schwarzer Domino" in Leipzig

• June 1880 performs as Ubald in Dvorak's Armida in Leipzig

• 18 July 1880 performs as Conrad von Wettin in Kretschmer's "The standard operaglass" in Leipzig 

• Nov 1880 performs as Wolfram in Tannhauser in Leipzig

• Nov 1880 performs in The Mayoress of Schorndorf in Leipzig

• 21-22 Nov 1880 performs as Samuel in Verdi's "Masked Ball" in Leipzig

• 6 Dec 1880 performs in Gouvy's "Oedipus auf Colonos" in Leipzig

• 8-11 March 1880 performs as the Emperor in Rothenthal's Lendfriese in Leipzig 

• 8 April 1881 performs as Valentin in Gounod's Faust in Leipzig 

• 24 April 1881 performs as "Gawein" in August Klughardt's "Gawein" in Leipzig

• 29 July 1881 performs as Rigelleto in Leipzig

• July 1881 offered role at Wiesbaden Opera but unable to join as still under contract to Leipzig Opera.

• 11 Aug 1881 performs in "Francesca von Rimini" in Leipzig.

• 13 Sept 1881 performs as Morales in Bizet's Carmen in Leipzig 

• Oct 1881  performs as Gutmund in Hallen's "Harald the Viking" in Leipzig

• 16 Nov 1881 performs as Gawein in Klughart's Iwein in Leipzig

• 6 Dec 1881 performs in Gouvy's Oedipus auf Kolonious in Leipzig

• 29 June 1882 performs as Pacio Orsini in Die Nibelungen in Leipzig

• June 1882 performs as Wolfram in Tannhauser in Leipzig 

• 5 July 1882 performs as Alberich in "The Nibelungen" in Leipzig

• July 1882 Wilhelm and many others leave the Leipzig Opera after a change of management. He joins the Rotterdam Opera.

Hoogduitsche Opera, Rotterdam 

• 2 July 1882 Rotterdam Hoogduitsche Opera announce Wilhelm joining cast for 1882/83 season

• 16 Sept 1882 performs Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 18 Sept 1882 performs as William Tell in Rossini's William Tell in Rotterdam

• 20 Sept 1882 performs Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• Dec 1882 performs in Bruch's "Arminus" in Rotterdam

• 2 Jan 1883 performs as Arminus in Bruch's "Arminus" in The Hague

• 26 Jan 1883 performs as Lord Asthon in Lucia von Lammermoor in Rotterdam

• 29 Jan 1883 performs as Count Oberthal in Der Prophet in Rotterdam

• 7 Feb 1883 performs as Drago, haushofmeister in Schumann's Genoveve in Rotterdam

• 19 Feb 1883 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's  "Die Meistersinger" in Rotterdam

• 21 Feb 1883 performs as Drago, haushofmeister in Schumann's Genoveve in the Hague.

• 7 March 1883 performs as Beckmeisser in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Rotterdam

• 9 March 1883 performs as Lord Asthon in Lucia von Lammermoor in Rotterdam

• 16 March 1883 performs as Beckmeisser in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Rotterdam

• 13 April 1883 performs as  Graf Almaviva in the Marriage of Figaro in Rotterdam

• 28 Sept 1883 performs as  Graf Almaviva in the Marriage of Figaro in Rotterdam

• 6 Nov 1883 performs in Die Frieschutz in Rotterdam

• 16 Nov 1883 performs as Herr Fluth in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor in Rotterdam

• 29 Nov 1883 performs as Sprecher in Mozart's Zauberflote in Rotterdam

• 2 Dec 1883 performs as the Pied Piper in Nessler's Pied Piper in Rotterdam

• 1 Jan 1884 performs as Herr Fluth in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor in Rotterdam

• 24 Jan 1884 performs as Hunold Singuf in Pied Piper of Hameln in Gouda

• 12 Feb 1884 performs with Euterpe singing society as Elias in Schiedam (Rotterdam) 

• 22 Feb 1884 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's  "Die Meistersinger" in Rotterdam

• 7 March 1884 performs (as Oberon?) in Weber's Oberon in Rotterdam

• 28 March 1884 performs in Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 31 March 1884 performs in Grand Hall of the Harmonic Society, Rotterdam

• 1 April 1884 performs as Kohlborn, a powerful waterlord, in Lortzing's Undine in Rotterdam

• 15 April 1884performs as Telramund in Wagner's Lohengrin in Rotterdam

• 20 April 1884 performs as Don Juan in Mozart's Don Juan in Rotterdam

• 27 April 1884 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 4 Oct 1884 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 5 Oct 1884 performs as Herr Fluth in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor in Rotterdam

• 15 Nov 1884  performs as Graf Almaviva in the Marriage of Figaro in Rotterdam

• 17 Nov 1884  performs as Graf Almaviva in the Marriage of Figaro in Rotterdam

• 18 Nov 1884 performs as Count Oberthal in Der Prophet in Rotterdam

• 20 Nov 1884 performs at Musicians Pension Fund concert in Rotterdam

• 28 Nov 1884 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 10 Dec 1884 performs as Graf Almaviva in Marriage of Figaro in Rotterdam

• 12 Dec 1884 performs at Society for the Promotion of Music concert in Rotterdam

• 23 Jan 1885 performs as Telmarund in Wagner's Lohengrin in Rotterdam

• 29 Jan 1885 performs with Euterpe Choir in Medelsohn's Paulhus in Schiedam

• 1 March 1885 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhauser in Rotterdam

• 3 March 1885 his replacement announced on a 3 year contract.  Wilhelm was probably also on a 3 year contract.

• 19 March 1885 due to perform as Beckmeisser in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Rotterdam but the performance was cancelled due to Wilhelm and another member of the cast being ill. 

• 30 March 1885 performs in a chamber music performance at the Hall der Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemen, Rotterdam

• 15 April 1885 performs as the Pied Piper in Nessler's Pied Piper in Rotterdam. End of season. 

• 19 April 1885 performs as Telmarund in Wagner's Lohengrin in Manneheim 

• Appears twice as guest performance in Manneheim

Dresden

• 20 August 1885 signs 3 year contract with Dresden Opera

Bruno

• 28 April 1886 performs as the Dutchman in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman in Bruno

• 30 April 1886 performs as Werner Kirschofer in Nessler's The Trumpeter of Sakkingen in Bruno 

• 2 May 1886 performs as Nélusko, a slave in Mayerbeer's The African Woman, Bruno

New York

• 17 Nov 1886 performs as Count Oberthal in US premiere of Meyerbeer-Scribe's "Le Prophete" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 28 Nov 1886 performs as Count Oberthal in Meyerbeer-Scribe's "Le Prophete" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 4 Dec 1886 performs as Count Oberthal in debut of Meyerbeer-Scribe's "Le Prophete" at Metropolitan Opera, New York, matinee performance

• 3 Jan 1887 performs as Lancelot in US premiere of Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 7 Jan 1887 performs as Lancelot in Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 8 Jan 1887 performs as Telramund in Lohengrin at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 10 Jan 1887 performs as Lancelot in Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 15 Jan 1887 performs as Lancelot in Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 21 Jan 1887 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 28 Jan 1887 performs as Lancelot in Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 29 Jan 1887 performs as Count Oberthal in Meyerbeer-Scribe's "Le Prophete" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 2 Feb 1887 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 5 Feb 1887 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 11 Feb 1887 performs as Lancelot in Goldmark's "Merlin" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 21 Feb 1887 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's "Tannhauser" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 23 Feb 1887 performs as Count Oberthal in Meyerbeer-Scribe's "Le Prophete" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

• 25 Feb 1887 performs as Beckmesser in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at Metropolitan Opera, New York

Budapest

• 11 Oct 1887 performs as Rigoletto in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Budapest Opera House

• 12 Oct 1887 performs as Rigoletto in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Budapest Opera House

• 14 Oct 1887 performs as William Tell in Rossini's "Wilhelm Tell" in Budapest Opera House

• 15 Oct 1887 performs as William Tell in Rossini's "Wilhelm Tell" in Budapest Opera House

• 17 Oct 1887 performs as Rigoletto in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in National Theatre, Budapest

• 19 Oct 1887 performs as Rigoletto in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in National Theatre, Budapest

Amsterdam

• 1 Nov 1887 performs as Wolfram in Wagner's "Tannhauser" in Palace of Popular Culture, Amsterdam

Rotterdam

• 11 April 1888 benefit concert in Hoogduitsche Opera, Rotterdam

Kaliningrad 1888/1889

• performs in Kaliningrad

Berlin

• 1888 performs at Kroll's Theatre, Berlin for summer season

Berlin

• 4  May 1889 performs in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 6 May 1889 performs in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 7 May 1889 performs as Caspar in Weber's "Der Freschutz" in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 10 May 1889 performs as Juan in Mozart's "Don Juan" in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 17 May 1889 performs Lysiart in Weber's "Guryanthe" in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 21 June 1889 performs as Lord Enrico Ashton in Donazetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" in Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

• 5 July 1889 performs in Mayerbeer's "The Hugenots" in Kroll's Theatre

• 8 July 1889 performs as the Duke in Donizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia" at Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

Kalingrad

• Dec 1889 performs as Sach's in Wagner's "Der Meistersinger" at Stadt Theatre, Kalingrad

Berlin

• 4 May 1890 performs in Verdi's La Triviarta at Kroll's Theatre, Berlin

The Last Will and Testament of Dr. Hugo Flesch 1934

Amusingly he refers to the Gerstmanns (Grandpa's aunt & uncle) as the Gerst leute - the barley folk. The Gerstmanns also left Grandpa and Tante a large apartment block that is not mentioned in the will.

Hugo must have known he close to the end as he begins by arranging for his mother to be financially taken care of.

[There is a] signatory authorization from Großi, authoriz[ing] a standing order to the bank to transfer the respective half-yearly balance to Rudi. On the other hand, your account must be ordered to send 300 shillings in monetary terms and interest separately on time each month. In the event of Großi's death, the assets will pass to you; However, you are morally bound to continue to give your mother the enjoyment of the interest.

Großi's furniture includes the dining room, black furniture and boxes in the bedroom Hellmuth and Hilda Fried respectively [not sure who these people are?]. This person must be informed immediately so that they can take over the items and take them into account in general.

He then goes on to stipulate his wishes regarding other members of the family....

Mother [Helene] : Is not provided for if money is lost; I don't have to say what I want. [i.e. don’t lose it!]

Grandparents [Ludwig & Fanni] : There is a letter in the cash register that does not have to go to court and must be opened in the presence of Erwin. This will include in particular: invoice for mother's dowry 10,000 shillings, loan Erwin 20,000 shillings.

I don't want any exact calculations, especially no differences; Should any arise, they may be transported from Hederl [Hedi] for the benefit of them. If Grandpa [Ludwig] dies first, Hedi Basch’s 15,000 shillings will initially be used for Grandma [Fanni] if necessary.

The Elbamühl contract [not sure what this is?] says that the discount does not apply to using Grandma's pension; this is something to pay attention to; therefore about 300 shillings. So we won't get by and Erwin [Helene's brother Erwin Basch] and you will have to contribute. Then she should eat [use] the money, it belongs to her and is there for that purpose.

Yourself [Rudi & Annie] : It is of course a duty for everyone who has something to also support others who have nothing. I'm thinking in particular of Adler, Hellmuth Fried, Erni König until she reached adulthood, Julie Flesch [Hugo’s cousin] and Annie's parents-in-law because of their filial obligation. In an emergency also Hederl and for my friends Diamant etc.

On the other hand, the Gerst folk [The Gerstmann’s] have not saved money so that you or those you support throw the money away, but rather it should only serve to secure your existence. This particularly refers to Ella [Helene?].

The settlement between the two of you should be carried out precisely, possibly in my office, but the assets should stay together as long as possible because the risks are smaller as a result.

His consideration for those less fortunate is touching and paints a picture of a generous and caring man. And, if in fact "Ella" is his pet name for Helene, then his comment that the money should not be frittered away also tells us something. 

Hedi Basch / Levenback

• Hedi  was born in the Sanatorium Leow (Mariannengasse 20) on 24 August 1924 and was jaundiced as a baby.

• Her mother Elise ('Lise') committed suicide by gassing herself. See document written by Hedi Levenback for the Leo Baeck Institute 1998.

Embarressingly, when I transcribed a video interview that Hedi and Bob recorded in 1997 for the Shoah Foundation, I mistakenly wrote Kieran instead of Kerin. At that time (Winter 2022) I was still not very clear as to Hedi's grandchilren and, being unfamiliar with the name Kerin, I thought she said Kieran. Thankfully I am now much better informed.

What became of Anna Golwig? 

Thanks to the investigations of Hanna's husband Charles we have now discovered what happened to her mother Anna.

Anna briefly worked as a teacher at the Realgymnasialen Mädchenunterricht, the progressive girls school in Vienna which both Helene Basch and Tante Annie attended. In fact Tante only graduated in 1927, two years before Anna became a teacher.

She taught maths and natural science under the supervision of Dr. Karoline Ludwig. It looks like she was only there for a year (1929/30) before quitting in the summer of 1930 to go to Berlin with Gustav while he worked with Einstein.

Anna's medical records give a detailed account of her time there. Records of interviews with her give the impression that she was disorientated, talking to herself in English and repeating herself over and over. A few weeks after being admitted to Ybbs she is assessed.

"The patient is highly agitated, talks to herself, has acoustic hallucinations, appears disoriented in terms of location and time, is difficult to make contact with and has an even Lappish cheerfulness. She is led in, speaks English spontaneously while pointing around with her hands.

When asked what is your date of birth? there are a few mistakes before she can say the right thing

(Born in Austria?) She speaks English and German, then explains; "When to wear a wedding ring." Suddenly she interrupts herself and says, "Yes, I was born in Austria. I was just suddenly confused because someone suddenly whispered something to me. That's often done to me, different people whisper to me." 

(Do you know these people?) "I know some of them and I know all about the past". Sometimes she doesn't answer questions at all, or she talks to herself without asking a question to be broken. 

(Did your husband practice the profession in America?) "Between the lines, as a real handyman with hand and head, scientifically and like a craftsman. Actually I have to ask, what do you know about it" 

(When divorced?") "1939"

(Married again?) "It's almost like that now, 1940 with a lot of tears".

(Religion?) "Protestantism, evangelical; I was a freethinker in Austria and with the social-democratic Freidenkebund, as a child I was Hebrew." She asks spontaneously "But you don't tell me anything either, what is written about my husband? Tell me something."

(Relatives in Austria?) She pats the seddel and says: "Yes, thank God"

(Where are you located?) "I'm not in eldorado and nirvana, in the digestion stage, it's going well here too, the memory is fading, I'm completely confused."

The 260 pages of  her medical file provide a fascinating insight into her time at Ybbs. As well as her medical records the files include details of her correspondence. She regularly received packages of sweets and an occassional gift of money from friends. 

Two schoolfriends Babette Kraus and Evi Schuschny made several enquiries after her health.  At school Babette went by the nickname "Bekschi". She and her husband had emigrated to England and were living at  149 Ralph Court Queensway London W2) where she was now called Barbara Benedict. Barbara must have been very close to Anna as she asked both her brother Albert Kraus, a lawyer, and her sister, a political activist, Dr.Rosa Marie Ebner to make enquiries about Anna on her behalf.  Another friend, Evi Schuschny, was a talented pianist in her twenties. Evi was now married and called Eva Fuchs  and living at Johann Strausgasse 28, Vienna.

Anna also received packages from two ex-colleagues of hers from the Realgymnasialen Mädchenunterricht, Dr. Ella Zilsel and Dr.Herta Leng. Ella lived on Billrothstrasse 32, Vienna. Like Anna, Herta had taught maths and natural science at the school and had first emigrated to Switzerland and later Troy in upstate New York. 

Elsa Schilder (Kegelgasse 32, Vienna), 

For the first ten years at Ybbs there seems to have been no family contact. Neither her ex-husband Gustav or her daughter Hanna appear to have made contact. Hanna in fact may have never known the whereabouts of her mother. 

At the beginning of 1958 Dr. Rosi Keurti (3306 Clarendon Rd., Cleveland, Ohio) wrote to inform the hospital that Anna's daughter Hanna was engaged and due to be married in February. She asked whether it would be advisable for her to write to Anna about this and to send her a picture of her daughter. The hospital asked for Hanna's address and wrote to her in Oberlin but by that time she was no longer living at that address. When questioned about her daughter Anna was able to recall her name and when she was born but seemed to not know anything else about her.

Eventually members of the family learnt of Anna's incarceration in the hospital and made contact. In April 1957 Zvonimir Hrvatov, her cousin Alice's husband, wrote to the hospital enquiring whether Anna was a patient and what the visiting times were. There are no records of whether Alice visited Anna in Ybbs but she appears to have immediately applied to be Anna's legal guardian. six years later she formally became her custodian.

A few year later, in Sept 1961 she recieved a visit from another cousin, Anna Jellinek (Pantownalaar 28 Amersfoort in the Netherlands), who was presumably related to her mother Elsa. 

The hospital records detail all her medications and illnesses over the years. At one point in the late 1950s she caught tuberculosis and she became dangerously thin, at one time being reduced to only 50kg. 

Anna died in Ybbs on 7 May 1979. Her cause of death was given as: hypostatic pneumonia, marasmus senilis, myocardial damage, decubitus ulcers. She was buried in Ybbs cemetery on 10 May 1979. The grave itself no longer exists and is now a meadow but the caretaker knows the location of the plot.

The Frischs

Paul Frisch, the youngest son of Rudolf and Ernestine Frisch, was one of the most elusive people to track down but it turns out he was also one of the most colourful characters in our family. In July 2022 I revisited his story and realised that, dazzled by the information I had stumbled upon in a fiction book, I had neglected to fully explore the sources I usually turned to. It turned out there was a lot more to his story... so much so it needs a seperate page. See Paul Frisch part 2.

Footnotes can be found here.

• Gisela Frisch (nee Ruckendorfer) was born on 11 July 1880 according to papers submitted to the Nazis as part of their efforts to steal Jewish assets. This was seven months after Karl and Wilhelmine Ruckendorfer got married and would therefore fit in with my assumption that she was their daughter although I have been unable to find a record of her birth. 

• Paul & Gisela got married in a civil wedding ceremony on 20 November 1919.

The Holocaust

• Mathilde Bielitz died of ulcerative colitis on 20 April 1938 and therefore her death cannot be considered suspicious. Sadly Hedi recalls that she was told that some of the nurses were cruel to Mathilde during her terminal hospitalization. See Hedi Levenback letter to Leo Baeck Institute 1998

• "Paul Schlesinger dies" should of course read "Paula Schlesinger dies"

• At the outbreak of war Friedrich "Fritz" Bielitz was detained in a UK internment camp on the Isle of Man. Edith Sekules (2000) Surviving the Nazis, exile and Siberia. Vallentine Mitchell p.58

The Holocaust Survival table at the end of volume 3 is perhaps the most important information of the whole project. 

• • Leopold Fried was  included in the table by mistake.  He died in Trieste in 1924 and therefore should not appear on the list.

  • Ottilie & Jenny Weiss were deported to a concentration camp in Riga, Latvia on 11 Jan 1942. They did not survive.

  • Bertha Weiss, Ottilie & Jenny's mother, is not listed as having gone on holiday with the in 1926 or 1927. Nor is she listed as being deported with them in 1942. I still haven't found a date of death for her but in 1938 she would have been over 90 years old in 1938 and therefore I am now assuming that she died sometime earlier, probably just before the start of the First World War.

  • Reinhold Frisch, Paul's son by his first wife, is now known to have been living in Santiago, Chile.

As a result of these changes I now believe there were 41 relatives alive in March 1938. 

• • Fifteen emigrated. Plus Reinhold was already living in Santiago.

  • Four remained (Gisela & Liselotte Frisch, Alice & VlaHravatov [nee Golwig] and Margit Banfi)

  • Twenty one did not survive