The Katzenellenbogen family is a rabbinical family descended from 12 Jews who settled in Katzenellenbogen in Hesse-Nassau Germany in 1312, with thousands of descendants and huge family connections throughout Europe and America. The name was first used after the family moved to Padan, Italy by Meir Katzenellenbogen (1482-1565). Two generations later the family was in Poland.
Hello, My name is Tom Grafstrom.
I have written once before complementing you
on your site and stating that my mother Lorraine was from a German line of
Katzels.
I don't know if I had mentioned that I had been researching the
Katzel family for a while.
I am in contact with Bruce Katzel from the Yankel
Katzel line and directed him to your site. He was very impressed and may have
contacted you.
I thought you might be interested in a letter I recently came
across from a Gertruyd Katzel Jaffe of Albany, New York. I am transcribing it
because it is difficult to read and probably would not copy well. My scanner
isn't working anyway. The letter was written 12/15/84 to one of the Katzels
in my family who was collecting information for his father, Victor Katzel of
Kentucky. It is as follows:
Mr. Katzel (for your dad) 12/15/84
My name is Gertruyd Katzel Jaffe oldest sister of Karen Katzel a retired
speech therapist of N. Y. City. We are of the Hebrewic line of the
"Katzenelenbogen" Klan Altho at the moment we encompass the three major
religions and ten - no twelve foreign nations. I have just been presented
with a darling great granddaughter who adds Italy and Portugal to our genes
(?) for the first time. Her dad, a Bureau Chief in a Capital City for a Major
U. S. Newspaper says his ancestors jumped ship at Cape Cod long before ours
booked passage for the U.S.; and we are six generation Americans.
Never got to Paduka but visited Columbus Ohio several times while my daughter
was a student at Ohio State. In Cleveland we met a part of the Katzel tribe
who filled us in on the family history in Germany back to the 14th Century.
That was long before this Chap from So. Africa wrote "The Unbroken Line" to
coabriate (sp) it. My father was Louis Katzel, he had a brother Joseph whose
children call themselves Kastle from Long Island and N. Y. City. His father
Era Katzel.... (looks like Lenzner?) left a family by that name in Buffalo.
Would greatly appreciate a copy of your findings and perhaps a note from your
Dad.
In the spirit of good fellowship
Gertruyd Jaffe Katzel (signature)
115 N Krumkill Rd. Apt 804(street name may be misspelled; it is difficult
to read)
Albany, NY 12208
Victor Katzel wrote back about a month later but Gertruyd died in March of 1985 before responding; she was 82, born 4/24/1903. In Victor's response he mentioned a William Katzel of Arizona who had also mentioned a connection with the Katzenellenbogen name. I am trying to locate and contact either William or his descendants as well as the descendants of Gertruyd or her sister Karen.
Now for my tale. As I said in my first letter, my mother Lorraine Marie Katzel was from a line of Katzels from Germany. Her father was the youngest son of Herman Katzel and Johanna Schultz, who came to Chicago (via New York) in 1885 on a ship from Bremen, Germany. Herman's father, Heinrich Katzel; his wife, Henriette M�ws; another son, Franz Katzel came 3 years later, also from Bremen, via Baltimore, Maryland. Up until just recently I have not been sure of where they originated in Germany because the ships list, naturalization papers, and other documents I have, did not give that information. A few weeks ago I came across the funeral records for one of Franz's sons and it had listed as Fathers place of birth: Koeslin, Germany. Koeslin or K�slin was in Pommern, Prussia near the Baltic Sea and is now Koszalin, Poland. As it turns out K�slin was not only the name of a town but also the District the Town was in and within that District there are the towns of Buckow, and Malcow where there were several Katzels going back to at least the 1700s. Now, where you come in is that there were also Catzels. When I looked at records for one of the families it started with the first two children listed as Arnold Frederick Catzel, born 1732, father Hanss Juergen Catzel; next was Anna Maria Catzel, born 1733, father Hanss Juergen Catzel; but then I found a Dorth Elisabeth Katzel born 1736, father HANS JUERGEN KATZEL!!! Could it be that Catzel and Katzel were interchangeable? These were not Jewish Katzels because they have Christening dates. Is it possible that Wolfie could have been Wolffgang, or that some other ancestor converted to Judaism? Or could it be that some ancestor of these Catzel/Katzels further back converted from Judaism to Chritianity? Going back to the possible Katzenelnbogen link, I find it interesting that there is another line of Katzels that trace their origins back to Alsace-Lorraine in the 1500s, whose name changes back and forth between Katzel, Kaetzel, and Ketzel. Alsace-Lorraine was one of the first areas that members of the Katzenelnbogen family traveled to; some of them also went to Poland (and in fact one was actually King of Poland for a day). I find this research extremely fascinating but have learned one really needs to keep an open mind. Personally, I'm hoping for a Jewish origin. Ever since my childhood I have had an affinity for Judaism. By the way there is another Jewish Katzel family that I am in contact with that traces it's origins to Minsk before the Revolution. They were sent to Siberia and made there way here through China and Japan.
Monday December 25, 2000 107PM local Tucson Time
Hello Tom and all the other Katzel's;
Let's start with my grandfather.
His name was Eze Leizer Katzel and was
born in
Wilkermir, Russia on April 10, 1872 and arrived in New York City on June 20,
1892.
He then took up residence in the town of Providence, Saratoga County, NY.
He
had
immergrated from Hamburg, Germany on the vessel Zuavia and applied to become
a
citizen of the US on September 1, 1915. He was issued a Certificate of
Naturalization on January 4, 1929. He had 7 children. My father Harold was
one
of the children. His siblings are as follows: Devorah, Abe, Zel, Dave, Karen
(Beatrice), and Gertruyd. Devorah had 3 children; Rob, John, & Beth. Rob
Gaynor
has 2 children and lives in Bar Harbor, ME. John is single and lives with
his
father Lee Gaynor in Lamoine, ME. Beth Furcajg has 2 children and lives in
Paris,
France. Abe had 2 children; Marlene and Jay. Marlene Amrose has 1 child
and
lives in Buffalo, NY. Jay has 1 child and lives in Centerport, NY (Long
Island).
Zel and Dave were both married but had no children. Karen remained single,
is
the only living sibling of my father and lives in Provincetown, MA. She is
the
one who put me on to "The Unbroken Chain" by Neil Rosenstein. I secured a
copy
from Neil's publisher, and like you am researching the Katzenellenbogens.
Gertruyd had 2 children; Eileen and Elaine. Eileen had 2 children; Jeff and
Leslie. Jeff Nathan has 2 children and lives in Andover, MA Leslie is
single
and
lives in LA. Elaine has 3 children and lives in Caracas, Venezuela.
Elaine's
children have children and live in Florida. Eileeen can fill you in on the
details of her sister's children and their children. I've lost touch with
them
many years ago. My father had 2 children, Bill (me) and my brother Lester. I
have
2 children; Danny and Sandy. Danny has 1 child, Devon Violet and lives with
us
in
Tucson, AZ. Sandy is married and lives in Castro Valley, CA. My brother
Lester
has 3 children and lives in Rochester, NY. His son lives in NYC; His
daughter
and other son live in Rochester.
It is my understanding from Aunt Karen that we are in fact Katzenellenbogens
and
go back to the town of Katzenellenbogen, Germany from the 13th century. I
guess
the next step is to find my grandfather's birth certificate from Russia and
see
if it links us to the Katzenellenbogens.
I hope this info is of some value.
Bill Katzel
3716 Hills of Gold Drive
Tucson, AZ 85745-9058
ps Also know as Bicycle Bill, Tucson AZ. I guess that's because I now have
over
26,000 miles on my bicycle in the last 10 years.
