A Mighty Girl

Please Note:  You never know if you have German  or Slavic Heritage, it could contain Eastern Jewish.  The Low German spoken by many of our relatives is very close to Yiddish.  REBENSDORF COUSINS:  One of the women who married one of our REBENSDORF Grandfathers was SOMMER.  SHAVLIK COUSINS:  Alice grew up in Moravia as did Apolina KRSKA mother of Stephen James SHAVLIK

To mark the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Week, we're sharing the incredible true story of Alice Herz-Sommer, who was the world's oldest known Holocaust survivor and pianist until she passed away in London last year at the age of 110. Her story is told in the recent documentary, "The Lady in Number 6," which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary. As the film's producer, Nicholas Reed, writes: “Kids all over the world grow up on superheroes. What we, their parents, must remind them, is documentaries tell stories about ‘real superheroes.' Superheroes are based on great people, real people, like Alice Herz Sommer.”

Born in Prague in 1903, Herz-Sommer pursued a career as a classical musician until the Nazis prohibited Jews from performing in public. She then remained in Prague caring for her ailing mother, who was arrested and killed at the Treblinka extermination camp in 1942. The following year, Herz-Sommer was sent with her husband and 6-year-old son to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Theresienstadt was an unusual camp in that, although tens of thousands of people died there and many more were transported from there to extermination camps, it was also designated by the Nazis as a model camp for propaganda purposes. Many prominent Jewish artists and intellectuals were imprisoned there and permitted to maintain a cultural life. The Nazis would make films about life in the camp and, late in the war, allowed International Red Cross representatives to tour it in an effort to create the false impression that Jews were being treated humanely at their camps.

During her two years at the camp, Herz-Sommer played in more than 100 concerts. As she recounted in an interview, "Whenever I knew that I had a concert, I was happy. Music is magic. We performed in the council hall before an audience of 150 old, hopeless, sick and hungry people. They lived for the music. It was like food to them. If they hadn’t come [to hear us], they would have died long before. As we would have.”

In September 1944, her husband, Leopold, was sent to Auschwitz and later to Dachau where he died of illness. In May 1945, Herz-Sommer and her son were freed when the Soviet army liberated Theresienstadt. She later moved to Israel and worked as a professor of music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music for nearly 40 years until she emigrated to London in 1986 to be near her son.

Through it all, Herz-Sommer was known for her remarkably positive outlook on life. Toward the end of her life, she observed: "I think I am in my last days but it does not really matter because I have had such a beautiful life. And life is beautiful, love is beautiful, nature and music are beautiful. Everything we experience is a gift, a present we should cherish and pass on to those we love."

To learn more about Herz-Sommer's inspiring story, two books for adult readers were recently published about her life: "A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor"  and "Alice's Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer".

You can watch an excerpt of the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Lady in Number 6," at  or stream the entire documentary on Vimeo.

There is also a book for ages 9 to 13 about the children of the Terezin-Theresienstadt camp and the art they created there under the direction of Austrian artist Frederika "Friedl" Dicker-Brandeis.

Hana's Suitcase" also tells the story of a young girl who took part in Theresienstadt art programs for ages 9 to 12,

Adapted from post and picture at A MIGHTY GIRL facebook page.  Our publishing this article does not mean we endorse this sight. http://www.amightygirl.com/

More Past Pictures

This couple was married 
15 June 1927

Jennie Phoebe Gunter
B. 4 Nov 1904
D. 23 December 2000
Jean's Grandmother

Stephen James Shavlik
B. 26 Dec 1899 
in Linwood, Saunders, Nebraska
D,.2 Jan 1975 
in Chambers, Holt, Nebraska
Jean's Grandfather 

Here they are holding their first Grandchild

Jean Marie GESCH

Photo 1953

Past Pictures

I'm starting to go through pictures for saving to the Family History Files.  Here's a Golden Oldie!  Who can guess who this picture is?  I'll be posting lots of pictures this week as I work on history files.

SLOCUM ALERT!!!! I am looking for pictures of George and Etta Mae SLOCUM and Alonzo and Salinda SLOCUM

Chester CUNNINGHAM and his wife Onieta Mae HALL

Another picture that more of you may recognize:

Mike SLOCUM and his wife Jean GESCH

Love of History Makes Me Travel the Genealogical Path

I love history, maybe that's why I love Genealogy.  I especially love searching for ancestors then studying what was happening in history while they were alive and often guessing what role they played in that history.  It's said that we need to study history so we can learn to not repeat the mistakes of the past.  I don't know if we do that very well, being human and all.  Seems sometimes we need to be hit on the head with a brick before we get it.

I've been told that I 'live in the past'.  I've thought about that a lot.  Wondering............just what does that mean?  All I know is that when I work in genealogy I work in peace because the folks I'm getting to know are normally all gone and they never yell at me or give me grief.

The end of 2014 is nearly upon us, what have we accomplished in it?  Our footsteps have been set for someone in the future to ponder.  My life is nothing special, you say?  I say not so.  Let your footsteps offer encouragement to trudge on through adversity, enjoy the taste of victory or the peace found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Your life will and does speak to someone.

In 2014 we've had the blessing of breaking down some brick walls:

Delmar Slocum 1857-1911
the son of Delivan the
 Brother of Ira Slocum 
father of Alonzo Slocum

Through the wonder of Genealogical DNA we have broken through what genealogists call "the brick wall', when the trail runs cold, and discovered more about IRA SLOCUM, Mike's 4th Great-Grandfather.  He does exhist! Thanks to DAVE BUMP for getting his DNA done so we could find the match to Mike SLOCUM.  Dave's father was adopted and Dave knew that his father was a SLOCUM and wanted to find out more.  We hope to get to Indiana this next summer to visit him!  This break-through was wonderful and opened more doors and will continue to do so. Delmar, pictured here is the 1st cousin of our Alonzo H. Slocum.  Check out that red hair, proving my husband is Scotch/Irish through and through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This picture is believed
to be August GESCH, Sr

This encouraged me to pound on the door of my GESCH family.  Whatever happened to August GESCH, Sr who arrived in the United States in 1893 and his wife Augusta?  Where are they buried?  Does anyone know anything about them?  Are there any pictures?  I'm still pounding on that wall but it's beginning to crack.  I ended up contacting the local Genealogical Society and hiring someone to do some searching for me since I have the toddler (we adopted a granddaughter in May 2014) and this lady has found some encouraging information and we hope to find burial locations and be able to pull death certificates that may name the parents of these folks and open even more doors.  The biggest information on the GESCH family was the Y DNA that showed them to have ASHKENAZI JEWISH (from the tribe of LEVI) background which explains GESCH on the holocaust lists.  From what I have found all of the five children who came with August and Augusta from Berlin, Germany practice the LUTHERAN faith.  We'll keep chiseling on this wall in the new year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joining the  American Germans From Russia Society in 2015 is an expensive venture and will send me on a year long search for more information on my grandmother Mary Elizabeth (Marie) REBENSDORF and her ancestors.  My new year for Genealogy has been mapped out for me with this, working on my new filing system and the beginnings of writing the books on each family tree line.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

W.F. Gesch, Pender, Nebraska Member of Farmer's Holiday Association

The Farmers' Holiday Association was a movement of Midwestern United States farmers who, during the Great Depression, endorsed the withholding of farm products from the market, in essence creating a farmers' holiday from work. The Farmers' Holiday Association was organized in May 1932 by Milo Reno. The group urged farmers to declare a "holiday" from farming, with a slogan of "Stay at Home-Buy Nothing-Sell Nothing" and "Lets call a Farmer's Holiday, a Holiday let's hold. We'll eat our wheat and ham and eggs, And let them eat their gold."

Farmers went to extreme measures to ensure that their wants were carried through. One person was killed when the farmers began to blockade roads, and other farmers rallied to destroy their crops, reducing supply, and raising prices. The highways into Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa, were blocked by pickets who dumped farm produce on the side of the road.  At Le Mars, Iowa some farmers dragged a judge out of his courtroom, placed a noose around his neck, and threatened to hang him unless he stopped approving farm foreclosures. The striking farmers were countered by sheriffs, militia, and vigilante groups.

Farmers' Holiday Association activity subsided by 1934 and was relatively unsuccessful. As a leader of the group from the Sioux City, Iowa area William Frederick Gesch, who was born on 9 October 1887 in Brandenburg, Germany and immigrated with his parents and siblings (one being Jean's Great-Grandfather August, Jr) in 1893 to the Pender, Nebraska area, was labeled a 'Reactionary' by the United States Government.  Indeed, the group was contacted by some of the leaders of the 'Communist Party' at the time, but the Farm Holiday Association rejected the groups overtures.  It was common, in this time period, for the US Government to jump at labeling people Communists.  

Hero or Reactionary, you be the judge.  Similar groups organized during the 1970's Farm Crisis, but because of input by famous people like, Willie Nelson, the group was a bit more successful.

Are You a GESCH?

In 1894 Jean's great-grandfather August GESCH brought his wife and 6 children to Pilger, Nebraska. I have yet to find his grave site or the site of the grave of his wife Augusta (or possibly Louise Augusta).  Once I find that information we will, hopefully, know a lot more about this couple and even their lives in Germany.

August Fredrick Gesch,
center, with his 5 older boys

I DID FIND, a August Frederick GESCH who was baptised on 5 Nov 1943 in Schmargendorf, Herzsprung, Angermunde, Brandenburg, Germany.  I know that my grandfather aka August Frederick GESCH hated Hitler and said he was born in Berlin.  This was confusing because previously we had heard Gruenburg, etc but it didn't fit and family members who visited there were told that no one with the GESCH name ever lived there.

Now, the immigration papers do mention Brandenburg AND I learned that this area (state), which was once part of Poland, was later annexed to Berlin.  So let's learn a bit more about this area......

Anermunde is a town in the districe of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Germany loncated on the Mundesee, 43 miles northeast of Berlin on the Berlin-Szczecin railway.  The population is about 10,000 people but the population has been dwendling rapidly.  It is Located in the gave filled forests of the Uckermark, and has has many lakes in the area.

Court House Schmargendorfer

Schmargendorfer is a south-western locality (Ortsteil) of Berlin in the district(Bezirk) of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Until 2001 it was part of the former district of Wilmersdorf.  The village in the Margraviate of Brandenburg was first mentioned as des or’s Margreven Dorp (literally English: the Margrave's Village) in 1354, contracted to Low German Smargendorp and later adapted to High German standard as Schmargendorf.^[1] It was probably established about 1220 by German settlers in the course of the Ostsiedlung under the co-ruling Ascanian Margraves John I and Otto III of Brandenburg, after the former Slavic territories had been conquered by their great-grandfather Albert the Bear.

During the growth of the City of Berlin after the 1871 unification of Germany, many peasants profited by the real estate speculation, when Schmargendorf on the eastern rim of the Grunewald forest became a popular residential area. In 1899 the former village was separated from neighbouring Wilmersdorf and received municipal rights within the Brandenburgian Landkreis Teltow, whereafter the residents had the lavish Neo-Gothic town hall erected in 1902. On 1 October 1920 Schmargendorf was incorporated into Berlin by the "Greater Berlin Act". (from Wikipedia)

Now curiously the people from this area all spoke LOW GERMAN.  This language is pretty much extinct except for the Germans from this area and those who migrated to Russia and then to other areas in the world and expecially included German Mennonites.

Wikipedia:

Low German or Low Saxon(Plattdüütsch, Nedderdüütsch;Standard German: Plattdeutsch orNiederdeutsch; Dutch: Nedersaksischin the wider sense, see Nomenclaturebelow) is an Ingvaeonic^[8] West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is descended from Old Saxon in its earliest form.

The historical Sprachraum of Low German also included contemporary northern Poland, the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, and a part of southern Lithuania. German speakers in this area were forcibly expelled after the post-World War II border changes. The former German communities in the Baltic states also spoke Low German. Moreover, Middle Low German was thelingua franca of the Hanseatic League, and it had a significant influence on theScandinavian languages.

Dialects of Low German are widely spoken in the northeastern area of the Netherlands (Dutch Low Saxon) and are written there with an orthography based on Standard Dutch orthography.

Variants of Low German were widely (and are still to a far lesser extent) spoken in most parts ofNorthern Germany, for instance in the states ofLower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg,Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Small portions of northern Hesse and northernThuringia are traditionally Low Saxon-speaking too. Historically, Low German was also spoken in formerly German parts of Poland as well as in East Prussia and the Baltic States of Estoniaand Latvia. The language was also formerly spoken in the outer areas of what is now the city-state of Berlin, but in the course of urbanisation and national centralisation in that city, the language has vanished. (The Berlin dialect itself is a northern outpost of High Germanand typologically a Missingsch variety,^{[citation needed]} although rarely recognized as the latter.^{[citation needed]}) Under the name Low Saxon, there are speakers in the Dutch north-eastern provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, Stellingwerven (part of Friesland), Overijssel andGelderland, in several dialect groups per province.

Today, there are still speakers outside of Germany and the Netherlands to be found in the coastal areas of present Poland (minority of ethnic German Pommersch speakers who were not expelled from Pomerania, as well as the regions around Braniewo).^{[citation needed]} In the Southern Jutland region of Denmark there may still be some Low German speakers in some German minority communities, but the Low German and North Frisian dialects ofDenmark can be considered moribund at this time.^{[citation needed]}

Low German outside Europe and the Mennonites[edit]

Main article: Plautdietsch

There are also immigrant communities where Low German is spoken in the western hemisphere, including Canada, the United 

States, Mexico,Belize, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil,Paraguay and Uruguay. In some of these countries, the language is part of the Mennonite religion and culture.^[10] There are Mennonite communities inOntario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia,Manitoba, and Minnesota which use Low German in their religious services and communities. These Mennonites are descended from primarily Dutch settlers that had initially settled in the Vistula Deltaregion of Prussia in the 16th and 17th centuries before moving to newly acquired Russian territories in Ukraine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and then to the Americas in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The type of Low German spoken in these communities and in the Midwest region of the United Stateshas diverged since emigration. The survival of the language is tenuous in many places and has died out in many places where assimilation has occurred. Members and friends of the Historical Society of North German Settlements in Western New York (Bergholz, NY), a community of Lutherans who trace their immigration from Pommerania in the 1840s, hold quarterly "Plattdeutsch lunch" events, where remnant speakers of the language gather to share and preserve the dialect. Mennonite colonies in Paraguay, Belize, and Chihuahua,Mexico have made Low German a "co-official language" of the community.

Pommersch is also spoken in parts of Southern and Southeastern Brazil, in the latter especially in the state of Espírito Santo, being official in five municipalities, and spoken among its ethnically European migrants elsewhere, primarily in the states of Rio de Janeiroand Rondônia. Pommersch-speaking regions of Southern Brazil are often assimilated into the general German Brazilian population and culture, for example celebrating theOktoberfest, and there can even be a language shift from it to Riograndenser Hunsrückisch in some areas. In Espírito Santo, nevertheless, Pomeranian Brazilians are more often proud of their language, and particular religious traditions and culture,^[11] and not rarely inheriting the nationalism of their ancestors, being more likely to accept marriages of its members with Brazilians of origins other than a Germanic Central European one than to assimilate with Brazilians of Swiss, Austrian, Czech, and non-Pommersch-speaking German and Prussian heritage – that were much more numerous immigrants to both Brazilian regions (and whose language almost faded out in the latter, due to assimilation and internal migration), by themselves less numerous than the Italianones (with only Venetian communities in areas of highly Venetian presence conserving Talian, and other Italian languages and dialects fading out elsewhere).

I believe this picture if of August and August Gesch and their 6 children.
I don't know who the one man is holding the child, another mystery to solve.
Alternately this could be a picture of Gustav (August F Jr's brother) and the elder
man could be the senior August F. GESCH

IT DOES APPEAR that this August Frederich GESCH who was baptized in this area is indeed the same August Frederich GESCH who is the father of my Grandfather August Frederich GESCH.  His father appears to be Joachim Friedrich GESCH and his mother is

 Wilhelmine Bohn.  We will hold this information in reserve until we can get a Death Certificate for the elder August F GESCH and can make confirmations.  If this is indeed him we also can get information on his brothers and sisters from these Parish records also.

Forensic Genealogy Conference Reveals Jewish Ancestry

Friday and Saturday I went to the Fall Genealogy Conference (October 2014) given by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society. in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The topic was Forensic Genealogy with an emphasis on DNA as a Genealogy tool. The presenter was a funny little lady Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, Forensic Genealogist, from California.  Definitely a very brilliant lady who has a nack for digging out the truth in ways you may have not considered in typical genealogical searches.  She's the author of three 'award winning' books, which I bought and have no idea when I'll have time to read.  Why I do that? I don't know, but maybe I need to make Gabby's nap time reading time.


I had two questions about my DNA results and discovered that one of the questions I already had figured out so, thus, confirmed by Ms Fitzpatrick. The reason my Native American Ancestry doesn't show up on my DNA results from Ancestry.com is simply because it wasn't in the slice of DNA tested.

A couple of years ago my half cousin in Washington (GESCH) did a Y Chromosomal DNA test that would show only the male line, thus catching the GESCH DNA. This test was done to see if there was a connection to the Ashkenazi Jewish lines in Germany. My Great-Grandfather brought his family from the Northern Berlin to America in 1857, meaning because of the geographical location, there was a possible Jewish connection.  My Cousins mother, of Jewish descent, had suspicions because she had found GESCH in the lists of Holocaust victims.  The results of that test was absolutely positive.  Not only were the GESCH family of Jewish descent but they seemed to be able to pinpoint of the Tribe of Levi.  I don't know how they do that but the presenter of the conference and a DNA expert indicated if the study was tight enough it was possible.  Further study of the Ashkenazi Jews revealed that it is generally true that this group are indeed Levites.

August Frederick GESCH

The second and newest question was interesting. Why am I showing a DNA match to someone who is one of the children of my Great-Aunts through marriage to my Grandmother, MARY (MARIE) ELIZABETH REBENSDORF DEBUS GESCH's brother GEORGE REBENSDORF? This amazingly strong and loving woman of German Descent,  AMELIA ROTH (VOLZ (FOLTZ)) REBENSDORF, came to America with several children in tow (one an infant) after her husband (Mr Volz (Foltz), also of German descent died in Russia.  Not long after arriving she married my grandmother's brother, GEORGE REBENSDORF.  They blended their two families and had several children together. Clearly, saving a non-parental event that is unlikely, I should not show a DNA match to this person named FOLTZ.

Mary (Marie) REBENSDORF (Debus) GESCH

I posed the question to the presenter and the first question she asked was, "is there Jewish Ancestry"? I said that I had recently found Jewish Ancestry in not only my Paternal Grandfather (as indicated above) BUT ALSO through Paternal Grandmother when it showed up in an actual REBENSDORF close DNA match. The Jewish Ancestry in my Paternal Grandfather is not new news, but finding out that my Paternal Grandmother also was of Jewish descent is new news.  

The Ashkenazi Jewish lines is where we get the Yiddish pronunciation of Hebrew.  This is a group of people who migrated to Eastern Europe (i.e. Germany and from there to Poland and the Ukraine). They are an interesting group that are often plagued with DNA health issues in children and are often known to be brilliant thinkers.  Albert Einstein was an Ashkenazi Jew.  Colleen Fitzpatrick, the Conference presenter,  indicated to me that this group of Jewish people tended to inter-marry, because of their faith, so that it is possible I would have distant matches to just about everyone from the area or this entire Ethnic Group.

 My next task is to get a Y DNA from my Uncle for the Shavlik line and see what happens. Since I already know that Shavlik is a Hebrew name I am anticipating the results will have European Jewish Ancestry in it. My Grandfather, STEPHEN SHAVLIK's father, was from Bohemia near the Turkish Border and his mother was from Moravia. If positive this brings me to three of my four major lines with European Jewish Ancestry. I am also going add my Ancestry.com DNA results to Family Tree DNA.


                          August GESCH
                Harvey GESCH
                          Marie REBENSDORF
Jean GESCH Slocum
                          Stephen SHAVLIK
                E'Lonna SHAVLIK
                          Jennie Phoebe GUNTER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I AM THANKFUL that all my ancestors of Jewish Descent had, at one point in time, converted to Christianity, or in-other-words, accepted JESUS CHRIST as the SAVIOR they were looking for.

Memorial Day........Remembering Those Who Serve

It was raining when we left home for the 1.5 hour drive to Geneva, Nebraska 

to attend the Memorial Day Service at the Cemetery there.

A wreath was placed for each conflict that the United States Armed Forces took part in.  Flags from departed soldiers circled the Memorial Area and down the lanes of the main entrance roads.  One of those flags once draped the casket of my father, Harvey GESCH (son of August GESCH and Mary Elizabeth (Marie) REBENSDORF) a Korean War Veteran and Purple Heart Recipient.

For some reason he was missed in the placing of flags at his grave, 

but fortunately we brought two flags and placed them there.

The back of the stone indicates is service activity and Purple Heart award.

At the foot of the grave was the stone given by the United States Government.

Harvey GESCH in a picture taken around 1989 with his wife E'Lonna SHAVLIK GESCH

A picture of Harvey GESCH with his mother Mary Elizabeth (Marie) REBENSDORF-DEBUS-GESCH

Ancestrial Foods

On Sunday's in May we are going to talk about ancestral meals or FOOD!  It's our favorite topic right?

Part of remembering is to not only plug in the dates and the children along with a picture and call it good.  We also want to remember stories and even food from the past.  Some of my favorite memories are from gathering around the table with my extended family and I'm sure I'm not alone.

This week we are going to talk about the Sunday Meal.  In the past, Sunday's were often a time when family gathered (I hope you still do) and when the meal was 'special'.  As a child I remember that meals were often something made quickly (because my mother often worked) during the week, but SUNDAY, that was a special meal.  We often had Roasted Chicken or Roast Beef with potatoes and carrots or other vegetables and some kind of bread.  The best thing was that Sunday's meant we had DESSERT!

Everyone looked forward to Sunday.  If my Grandmother, Marie Rebensdorf Gesch, didn't join us for the meal, after lunch, we would often go and get her and take her for a Sunday drive.  One of her favorite 'drives' was in the fall.  We would drive down South Street from about 10th to where ever in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Why?  Before they widened the street there were beautiful Maple and other trees of every color that would hang over the street and the drive was just a delight!  Other Sunday's Grandma would love to drive in the country and we would often end up at my Uncle Elmer Gesch's home for a visit.

Mike's memories were not like mine.  He said that the Slocum's never got together with other family much and often had Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Corn for the Sunday meal that they shared as a family.  Coming from poverty he has memories of not enough to eat and can remember many times having peanut butter and jelly for days at a time.

I'm going to share some recipes as I remember them from that time.  You can share recipes with us or just tell us about your meal together, what you ate, and maybe a special story or two!