The Family of Salomon & Fanny (née Riegheimer) ROSSKAMM

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See also: Stefan Rosskamm, b. 1922, Kindertransport child to Commando X in British army
See also: Martin Rosskamm

The Rosskamm family was an important one in the village of Schwarza in the late 1800s and first three decades of the 1900s. Yet, as with so many German-Jewish families whose lives were disrupted by the Nazi regime, it is challenging to reassemble the story of this family. Available sources include the database compiled under the leadership of Dr. Siegfried Wolf in the late 1990s, after the East German regime ended; the chapter about Schwarza in volume 1 of Juden in Südthüringen: geschätzt und gejagt; internet resources in Family Search, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage; and contact with descendants of the family.

The chronology below sets out what we know about the Rosskamm family story. We can take the Rosskamm family back to the mid-1800s and Solomon Rosskamm and his wife Fanny Riegheimer in Weyhers/Hesse. They had three children all born in Weyhers: Sarah, b. 1871; Abraham — known as “Adolf” in the secular world — b. 1874; and Jacob, b. 1877.  

What We Know:

  • The Rosskamm family moved from Weyhers in the state of Hesse to the village of Schwarza in Thüringen, before 1899.
  • Exactly when and why the family moved is not yet known: The Jewish community in Weyhers was in steep decline after the mid-1800s: in 1880 there were seven Jewish families; in 1890 there were only two. The Jewish community of Schwarza had also passed its peak but was not disappearing as quickly.
  • The first mention of the family in official records in Schwarza is the inclusion of Salomon Rosskamm in the list of the 8 tax payers in 1899. (1)
  • Both Abraham/Adolf and Jacob Rosskamm were in Schwarza in the early years of the 20th century. We do not as yet know anything about Sarah Rosskamm’s life.
  • The date of Abraham’s marriage to Nandl Reinthaler is not yet known.
    • In 1912, they had their first child, a son, whom they named “Georg.”
    • Georg’s birth certificate uses his father’s Hebrew name “Abraham.” (2)
  • In March 1914, Jacob Rosskamm married Paula Bechhöfer and moved to her hometown of Nuremberg.
    • They had their first child, Fridl, on 28 January 1915.
  • In 1915, Abraham Rosskamm and Nandl Reinthaler had their second child, a son, whom they named “Martin.”
  • In 1917, Jacob and Paula Rosskamm had their second child, whom they named “Stefan.”
  • In 1922, Abraham Rosskamm and Nandl Reinthaler had their third child, a son whom they named “Stefan.”
  • In 1923, Jacob Rosskamm died in Nuremberg, age 45. Paula, his widow, had two young children: 8-year-old Fridl and 6-year-old Stefan.

*****

The Nazi Regime, 1933-1938

  • On 30 January 1933, when the Nazi Regime began, Sarah Rosskamm and the five members of the Abraham and Nandl Rosskamm family were living in Schwarza, and Paula Rosskamm and her two children were living in Nürnberg.
  • Sarah Rosskamm was the one member of this branch of the Rosskamm family to die in Germany during the Nazi Regime; she died in Schwarza in 1936 and was buried in the Schwarza Jewish cemetery.
  • Two members of the Adolf/Nandl Rosskamm family were able to leave Germany before the violence of the Reichspogromnacht/Kristallnacht of 9/10 November 1938:
    • Martin was the first to leave. On 13 January 1936, Martin received a visa to enter the United States, and on 4 February 1936, he sailed from Bremen to New York City. Sol Reinthal, who lived at 1580 Oakwood in Cleveland, Ohio, sponsored him. [Sol Reinthal, b. 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio, is identified as Martin’s uncle in the ship’s manifest. Exactly what his relationship to the family of Nandl Reinthaler, b. in Kitzingen, was, is not yet clear.)
    • Georg followed Martin. He received his visa to enter the United States on 27 May 1938, registered his departure with the Schwarza authorities on 13 June 1938, travelled to Antwerp and boarded the S.S. Koenigstein on 18 June 1938. Georg was sponsored by “cousin A. Reinthal,” probably Arthur Reinthal, Sol’s son. (Source: Ship’s manifest)
  • In September 1938, Stephan Rosskamm, the third son of Adolf and Nandl, was registered in the American Consulate in Berlin for immigration into the United States. His brother Martin signed the financial affidavit for his immigration.
  • The two children of Jacob and Paula (née Bechhöfer) Rosskamm were both able to leave: Fridl left in November 1938, sailing from Hamburg to New York City, arriving on 02 December 1936. Stefan Rosskamm (b. 1917) sailed from Hamburg on 06 October 1937. Julius Bechhöfer, Paula’s brother, supported the immigration of both Fridl and Stefan.

*****

9/10 November 1938: Reichspogromnacht

  • The village of Schwarza was not spared the violence of the Reichspogromnacht.
  • 64-year-old Adolf and 16-year-old Stefan were both arrested on 9/10 November 1938. They were taken to Suhl where they were held in the county court jail, which was bitterly cold. They were not sent further to Buchenwald but were released.
  • Upon release, Stefan went to Berlin to see about emigration possibilities.
  •  Startled by the panic and swarms of anxious persons, Stefan was able to help organize them into a numbered queue. As he was doing so, he learned about the possibilities for Jewish children to leave Germany and find refuge in Holland or in England. (These transports would later become known as the Kindertransport.) Stephan “was able to add his own name to a transport that would be travelling through Cologne across the Dutch frontier, then to the Hook of Holland, and by ship to England, where a boys’ camp called Dovercourt had been hastily set up in the cabins of a working-class holiday resort.” (3)
  • As a result, on 8 December 1938,1date in Siegfried Wolf, Nandl and Adolf Rosskamm, and Stefan, moved from Schwarza to Cologne to ensure that their youngest son would be able to flee Nazi Germany. They lived in the apartment of 55-year-old Rosa Friedländer, née Jakobs, at Alteburger Straße 11.
  • On 06 January 1939, 16 years old, Stefan Rosskamm entered England with a Kindertransport. For more about his journey see this page.

World War II 1939-1945

  • There were no Rosskamms in Schwarza when World War II began. Three Rosskamms were still in Germany: Adolf and Nandl in Cologne and Paula in Nürnberg. All were applying for visas to enter the United States.
  • In October 1939, Stephan Rosskamm met with the Enemy Aliens Tribunal in London/England and was declared exempt from internment.
  • On 01 February 1940, Paula Rosskamm left Europe, sailing from Genoa to the United States.
  • Sometime in June/July 1940, after the Nazi army had conquered the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Stephan Rosskamm was rounded up as “enemy alien” and interned in Onchan camp on the Isle of Man.
  • Meanwhile, in America, George and Martin Rosskamm registered in the American draft for younger men 16 October 1940.
  • On 11 February 1941, Martin enlisted in the American army, but we do not yet know if he saw active service.
  • On 25 May 1941, Adolf and Nandl Rosskamm received their visas to enter the United States from the American Consul in Stuttgart. They left Germany in a sealed train from Berlin to travel to Lisbon, Portugal.
  • On 12 June 1941, Adolf and Nandl left Lisbon on the Serpa Pinto, one of the “navios da amizade, the ‘friendship ships,’ that transported precious cargo across dangerous seas as doors rapidly closed for Jewish refugees from Europe.” [On 22 October 1941, their landlady Rosa Friedländer was deported from Cologne to Litzmannstadt Ghetto. On 4 May 1942 she was taken from the ghetto the Chelmo killing centre and murdered by gas.]
    • Sol Reinthal was critical in arranging the departure Nandl (née Reinthaler) and Abraham Adolf. He worked through the Jewish Transmigration Bureau, a non-profit service agency established in New York City on 21 June 1940 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to deal with emigration of Jews from Germany, Austria, former Czechoslovakia, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Bureau’s primary purpose was to accept monetary deposits made by American friends and family to pay the full or partial travel costs of the Jews emigrating from the European countries. JDC leased every available ship to enable the thousands of refugees arriving in Lisbon to proceed to safe havens in North and South America. (See “About U.S., Jewish Transmigration Bureau Deposit Cards, 1939-1954 (JDC),“
  • In July 1941, Stephan Rosskamm was released from internment in Onchan camp on the Isle of Man. Age 19, he was now old enough to join the British army and was enrolled in the Pioneer Corp of the British army. He was subsequently assigned to No. 10 Inter-Allied Commando 3 Troop.”
    • No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War, recruited largely from non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe.
    • Commando 10, No. 3 Troop, also known as “X” Troop, was “possibly the strangest unit” in the British Army, as its personnel — about 87 when formed in summer 1942 never fought as a complete unit. The men were seconded in groups of two to six to other Commando units as interpreters and interrogators. Their language skills and rigorous Commando training also made them valuable for raiding parties behind enemy lines, gathering intelligence and capturing prisoners.
  •  February 1947: “Eventually Stephan Ross emigrated to the United States, rejoining his parents and brothers.”
  • The 1950 US Federal Census identifies the following members of the Rosskamm family living in Cleveland, Ohio:
    • Adolph and Nandl Rosskamm were living in an apartment on Edmunds Street.
    • George Rosskam was living with his wife Rita (née Silberbach) and their 9-year old son Peter.
    • Martin Rosskam was living with his wife Betty (née Reich) and their infant son Alan

Should you have any further information, questions and/or comments about this family, please do contact Sharon Meen at s.meen79@gmail.com

THE FAMILY OF SAMUEL AND FANNY ROSSKAMM

  • Salomon ROSSKAMM,
  • └ ∞ Fanny RIEGHEIMER
    • 1. Abraham Adolph ROSSKAMM, b. 06 May 1874 Weyhers/HE, ? fr Wyhers to Schwarza, 1938 fr Schwarza to Cologne, 12 Jun 1941 fr Lisbon to New York City, d. 24 Oct 1951 Cleveland/OH
    • └ ∞ Nandl REINTHALER, b. 24 Mar 1885 Bad Kitzingen/BY, 1938 fr Schwarza to Cologne, 12 Jun 1941 fr Lisbon to New York City, d. 02 Apr 1959 Cleveland/OH
    • 1. Jacob ROSSKAMM, b. 16 May 1877 Weyhers/HE, d. 1923 [Nürnberg]/BY
    • └ ∞ (02 Mar 1914 Nürnberg)5Nuremberg Marriages, 1876-1925 Paula BECHHÖFER,  b. 22 May 1890 Nürnberg/BY, 01 Feb 1940 arrival fr Genoa/IT in USA, d. 07 Feb 1959 Allentown/PA
      • 2. Fridl ROSSKAMM, b. 28 Jan 1915 Nürnberg, 02 Dec 1936 arrival fr Hamburg to USA, d. 23 Dec 2008 Allentown/PA
      • └ ∞ (21 Dec 1940)6New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940Adolf Wolfgang SCHLESINGER, b. 26 Sep 1912 Fürth/BY (son of Martin Schlesinger & Henriette Goldschmidt),7U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-200705 Apr 1938 arrival in NYC, 16 Aug 1943-22 Feb 1946 served in American army,8U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010d. 03 Jul 1988 Allentown/PA
        • 3. Ronald SCHLESINGER, b. Allentown/PA
        • └ ∞ (1984 Verona/NJ)A9Allentown/PA, The Morning Call, 04 September 1984Rise DAVIS, b.
        • 3. Eric Stuart SCHLESINGER, b. 1951 Allentown/PA
        • └ ∞ (12 Jan 1975 Lancaster/PA) Sharyn/Shari RUBIN10Allentown/PA, The Morning Call, 05 Jan 1975,b. 1952 Lancaster/PA, d. 01 Aug 2017 Silver Spring/MD
      • 2. Stephen ROSSKAMM, b. 22 Feb 1917 Nürnberg/BY, 06 Oct 1937 fr Hamburg to NYC, 26 Feb 1943 enlistment in American army, d. 03 Sep 2010 Paramus/NJ, buried in Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus
      • └ ∞ (14 Dec 1947 Manhattan/NY) Margarete JUNG, b. 07 Nov 1922 Nürnberg/BY(daughter of Richard Jung & Gertrud Held), 1939 fr Germany to England/May 1940 to USA, d. 20 Oct 2016 Paramus/NJ, buried in Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus

Notes:
1. For a brief overview, see Ilan Braun, “The Story of the Serpa Pinto,” Chabad.org

2. Only the birth certificate of Georg Rosskamm has presently been found but other sources such as ship manifests confirm that Martin and Stefan were sons of Adolf and Nandl Rosskamm

3. Peter Masters, Striking Back: A Jewish Commando’s War Against the Nazis, Presidio Press, 1997.

Sources:

  • Email correspondence between grandson of Stephan Ross and Sharon Meen, summer 2025.
  • Hans Nothnagel / Elke Schwerda / Lothar von Hausen: Chronik über jüdisches Werden und Vergehen in Schwarza. In: Hans Nothnagel (Hg.): Juden in Südthüringen – geschützt und gejagt. Bd. 1: Über jüdisches Leben und Erbepflege im Evangelischen Kirchenkreis “Henneberger Land”. Suhl 1988. S. 165-218.