On p. 8, we find Cassirers in business in Breslau in the year 1857:[^http:www.bibliotekacyfrowa.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=39766 cyfrowa = cipher = digit viewed 10 Feb 2013]^

• Ernst was a son of Leopold Cassirer. We find a reference to an Ernst Cassirer who died in the Shoah. His birth date was 1895 which is consistent, with his mother then being 23 years old. The likelihood is that this is the son of Leopold. In the 1895 Gogolin Address Book we find that Ernst Cassirer is carrying on the lime quarrying and kiln work of his father with the following description: Adressbuch 1895 Gogolin: CASSIRER,ERNST Kalkbrennerei-Werk (limekiln) and CASSIRER,ERNST Steinbruch (quarry).⁷⁹ We also find in the same address book a reference to CASSIRER, S. Destillation. Once more the brewing work of the Cassirer tribe appears. This may be a reference to the now 85 year old Salomon Cassirer (born in 1810).
• Jenny 1859 Cassirer who lived in Gogolin (1859-1939), married Moritz Berliner, and produced a daughter Else Berliner (born in Krappitz in 1880, and died in the Shoah in 1942) who married Fritz Laqueur.⁸⁰
• Elisabeth Levy, born Elisabeth Cassirer in Gogolin (1876-1941). Another victim of the Shoah she died in Minsk.
• References on the history of the Jews of Gogolin and photos of gravestones from the Jewish cemetery are available at this site's page on Gogolin.

Ernst was a son of Leopold Cassirer. We find a reference to an Ernst Cassirer who died in the Shoah. His birth date was 1895 which is consistent, with his mother then being 23 years old. The likelihood is that this is the son of Leopold. In the 1895 Gogolin Address Book we find that Ernst Cassirer is carrying on the lime quarrying and kiln work of his father with the following description: Adressbuch 1895 Gogolin: CASSIRER,ERNST Kalkbrennerei-Werk (limekiln) and CASSIRER,ERNST Steinbruch (quarry).⁸² We also find in the same address book a reference to CASSIRER, S. Destillation. Once more the brewing work of the Cassirer tribe appears. This may be a reference to the now 85 year old Salomon Cassirer (born in 1810).

There is also a reference to a Jenny 1859 Cassirer who lived in Gogolin (1859-1939), married Moritz Berliner, and produced a daughter Else Berliner (born in Krappitz in 1880, and died in the Shoah in 1942) who married Fritz Laqueur.⁸⁴ Finally there is a reference to Elisabeth Levy, born Elisabeth Cassirer in Gogolin (1876-1941). Another victim of the Shoah she died in Minsk.

References on the history of the Jews of Gogolin and photos of gravestones from the Jewish cemetery are available at this site's page on Gogolin.

References on the history of the Jews of Gogolin and photos of gravestones from the Jewish cemetery are available at this sites page on Gogolin.

References on the history of the Jews of Gogolin and photos of gravestones from the Jewish cemetary are available at this sites page on Gogolin.

Ernst was a son of Leopold Cassirer. We find a reference to an Ernst Cassirer? who died in the Shoah. His birth date was 1895 which is consistent, with his mother then being 23 years old. The likelihood is that this is the son of Leopold. In the 1895 Gogolin Address Book we find that Ernst Cassirer is carrying on the lime quarrying and kiln work of his father with the following description: Adressbuch 1895 Gogolin: CASSIRER,ERNST Kalkbrennerei-Werk (limekiln) and CASSIRER,ERNST Steinbruch (quarry).⁸⁵ We also find in the same address book a reference to CASSIRER, S. Destillation. Once more the brewing work of the Cassirer tribe appears. This may be a reference to the now 85 year old Salomon Cassirer (born in 1810).

There is also a reference to a Jenny 1859 Cassirer who lived in Gogolin (1859-1939), married Moritz Berliner, and produced a daughter Else Berliner (born in Krappitz in 1880, and died in the Shoah in 1942) who married Fritz Laqueur.⁸⁶ Finally there is a reference to Elisabeth Levy, born Elisabeth Cassirer in Gogolin (1876-1941. Another victim of the Shoah she died in Minsk.

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually was created as "son (or daughter) of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar). For Prussia - now Germany and parts of Poland - the change of name was mandated from 1812. As Prussia acquired additional territory the requirement was restated, being extended to Posen in 1833 and the rest of the Prussian state in 1845.⁸⁸

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually was created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar). For Prussia - now Germany and parts of Poland - the change of name was mandated from 1812. As Prussia acquired additional territory the requirement was restated, being extended to Posen in 1833 and the rest of the Prussian state in 1845.⁹⁰

Markus Cassirer was born in “Bujakow” as it is recalled was his father Moses Loebel Cassirer and grandfather Loebel Moses Cassirer. This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was too small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik, Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled. More on possible relationships between Bujakow and the early Cassirers (prior to the invention of the Cassirer name) is given here.

In the course of considering the Cassirer history we are confronted with the historical distinction at one time of Silesia into Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: As mentioned above, Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to the Austrian (Habsburg empire), but was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.). After WWI the refounded Poland managed to force Germany and nearby Austria, loosers of this war, to have a referendum in counties with a notable polish minority or even majority about their identity: if they would rather belong to Poland. [See here for Maps of Silesia in the German Empire in 1870, and The German Empire in 1917 (right bottom quarter for area of interest), and German and Polish Place Name Equivalents.]

In the course of considering the Cassirer history we are confronted with the historical distinction at one time of Silesia into Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: As mentioned above, Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to the Austrian (Habsburg empire), but was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.). After WWI the refounded Poland managed to force Germany and nearby Austria, loosers of this war, to have a referendum in counties with a notable polish minority or even majority about their identity: if they would rather belong to Poland. [See here for Maps of Silesia in the German Empire in 1870, and The German Empire in 1917, and German and Polish Place Name Equivalents.]

Caveat We are of course here riding over very thin ice. Most of the facts we have elicited here are derived from online sources, without serious scholastic work in relevant libraries. These would ideally be bolstered, tempered, and corrected by one or more scholars who read Hebrew, someone who devotes themselves to reading inscriptions on gravestones, someone knowing Yiddish or Czech (Bohemian and Moravian) and so on. We offer this in the hope that perhaps some such people with appropriate skills might read and add to these discussions, and in this way perhaps help thicken the ice!

Markus Cassirer was born in “Bujakow” as it is recalled was his father Moses Loebel Cassirer and grandfather Loebel Moses Cassirer. This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was too small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik, Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled. More on possible relationships between Bujakow and the early Cassirers (prior to the invention of the Cassirer name) is given here.

• In 1872-5, also at Crossen, there was the Krankenkasse bei C. & J. Cassirer (Rahmenfabrik) (health insurance fund of Cassirer - C.& J. timber-framing factory) J. Cassirer was perhaps Jacob Cassirer (1837-), or Julius Cassirer (1824-1924) or Joel Cassirer (see below). So this might have been the early timber business which became the mainstay of later generations.

(:Doc: L :)(:Research: L:)(:StillToBeIdentified: L:)(:Shoah: L:)

Crossen was a place quite near to Frankfurt/Oder and Berlin and was historically first Silesian, then Brandenburg (and part of Prussia).⁹² Expat has found in Google Books a book about the history of the Jews in Polish archives which is searchable. The number of Cassirers is not great (although there are quite a lot of Falks and many Cohns). A search for "Cassirer" locates 3 references, of which two are related together :

Crossen was a place quite near to Frankfurt/Oder and Berlin and was historically first Silesian, then Brandenburg (and part of Prussia).⁹³ Expat has found in Google Booksa book about the history of the Jews in Polish archives which is searchable. The number of Cassirers is not great (although there are quite a lot of Falks and many Cohns). A search for "Cassirer" locates 3 references, of which two are related together :

(:Doc: L :)(:Research: L:)(:StillToBeIdentified: L:)

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers including a different Moses Cassirer (not Moses Loebel Cassirer so to avoid ambiguity we will call him here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) who married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer who married a "Moses Cassirer" who may well have been Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer and Eva Fischer in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)⁹⁵.

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers including a a different Moses Cassirer from Moses Loebel Cassirer (who we will call here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on: Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer married Moses Cassirer who can tentatively be identified with Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer married Eva Fischer and in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)⁹⁷.

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers including a a different Moses Cassirer from Moses Loebel Cassirer (who we will call here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on: Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer married Moses Cassirer who I identify tentatively with Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer married Eva Fischer and in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)¹⁰⁰.

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers including a a different Moses Cassirer from Moses Loebel Cassirer (who we will call here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on: Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer married Moses Cassirer who I identify tentatively with Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer married Eva Fischer and in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)¹⁰³. We have no record of their other children but they could well have included Ida, Siegfried and daughter O or D Cohen (although mysteriously Siegfried and D Cohen are referred to as "Messrs").¹⁰⁴.

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers including a a different Moses Cassirer from Moses Loebel Cassirer (who we will call here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on: Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer married Moses Cassirer who I identify tentatively with Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer married Eva Fischer and in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)¹⁰⁷. We have no record of their other children but they could well have included Ida, Siegfried and daughter O or D Cohen (although mysteriously Siegfried and D Cohen are referred to as "Messrs").¹⁰⁸.

Cassirers in Oberglogau

Cassirers in Gogolin

We find a whole line of the Cassirer family developing from the town of Gogolin. Much more on them is recounted at One family - two lines: Loebel Cassirer → the Serck-Hanssen & Goerke families.

Cassirers in Oberglogau

Some 20 km from Gogolin in Oberglogau can be found references to other still to be identified Cassirers? including a a different Moses Cassirer from Moses Loebel Cassirer (who we will call here "Moses 2 Cassirer"). Here our current probable identification is based on: Siegfried Cassirer (brother of Markus Cassirer) married Henriette Fischer (1821-1891) and Henriette Fisher's sister Eva Fischer married Moses Cassirer who I identify tentatively with Moses 2 Cassirer above. Moses 2 Cassirer married Eva Fischer and in due course had a son Loebel 2 Cassirer (7 Mar 1809-bef 1849)¹⁰⁹. We have no record of their other children but they could well have included Ida, Siegfried and daughter O or D Cohen (although mysteriously Siegfried and D Cohen are referred to as "Messrs").¹¹⁰.

We find a whole line of the Cassirer family developing from the town of Gogolin. Much more on them is recounted at One family - two lines: Loebel Cassirer → the Serck-Hanssen & Goerke families.

Cassirers in Gogolin

We find a whole line of the Cassirer family developing from the town of Gogolin. Much more on them is recounted at One family - two lines: Loebel Cassirer → the Serck-Hanssen & Goerke families.

Going Places - Finding more Cassirers in records of place

More Breslau Connections

Going Places - Finding Cassirers in records of place

Cassirers in Crossen/Oder

Thus Jews, such as the Cassirers, who were clever and busy in the 19th century, and up to 1918, were suddenly confronted with the unconfortable idea of becoming Polish citizens thus losing the ‘enlightened’ (more or less protestant founded) protection of the Prussian kings (and German Kaiser). For the now supernationalist/ strongly Catholic Poles the Germanophile jews were fellow-travellers (as in Austrian Galicia where, after 1918, ten thousand jews had to flee from there to Vienna and then to Paris, London or the US). So one has to have a close look: Breslau belongs to Lower Silesia only after 1920/21, whereas Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz or Rybnik are simply Silesia before 1920 and then Polish till 1939 and after 1945, but Gleiwitz, Beuthen or ‘Hindenburg’ after 1920/21 are Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia, because people there decided to stay German.

In the “Regierungsbezirk Oppeln” [District of Oppeln] is the town of Guttentag (~’guten Tag’ = ‘good day’ = ‘hello’, ‘hi’). This ‘guten Tag’, Polish ‘dzien dobry’, reappears in the name of the town today (Dobrozien), where Jeanette Steinitz’s mother, a Guttentager (a jewish name derived from a place, like Posener) came from. In this “Regierungsbezirk” were also Ziegenhals (Isidor Cassirer), Oberglogau (Siegfried Cassirer’s brewery), and up to 1920 also Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz, Beuthen, Königshütte, Rybnik and other places touched by the family Cassirer as they developed and relocated seeking opportunity and consolidating their business endeavours.

In the “Regierungsbezirk Oppeln” is also the town of Guttentag (~’guten Tag’ = ‘good day’ = ‘hello’, ‘hi’). This ‘guten Tag’, Polish ‘dzien dobry’, reappears in the name of the town today (Dobrozien), where Jeanette Steinitz’s mother, a Guttentager (a jewish name derived from a place, like Posener) came from. In this “Regierungsbezirk” were also Ziegenhals (Isidor Cassirer), Oberglogau (Siegfried Cassirer’s brewery), and up to 1920 also Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz, Beuthen, Königshütte, Rybnik and other places touched by the family Cassirer as they developed and relocated seeking opportunity and consolidating their business endeavours.

The role of Bujakow.

Markus Cassirer was born in “Bujakow” as it is recalled was his father Moses Loebel Cassirer and grandfather Loebel Moses Cassirer. This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was too small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik, Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - is recalled as being known as Loebel Moses Bujakow - perhaps being named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹¹³ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes. This includes its emergence as a polish province, becoming a possession of Bohemia in 1335, passing with the Bohemian crown to the Austrian Hapsburgs in 1626, being taken by Prussia in 1742, and returned to Poland in the aftermath of WWII in 1945.¹¹⁴

Why Bujakow?

Markus Cassirer was born in “Bujakow”: This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was too small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik, Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Challenges for 'modern' jews.

Thus Jews, such as the Cassirers, who were clever and busy in the 19th century up to 1918 were suddenly confronted with the unconfortable idea of becoming Polish citizens thus losing the ‘enlightened’ (more or less protestant founded) protection of the Prussian kings (and German Kaiser). For the now supernationalist/ heavy Catholic Poles the Germanophile jews were fellow-travellers (like in Austrian Galicia - after 1918 ten thousand jews had to flee from there to Vienna and then to Paris, London or the US). So one has to have a close look: Breslau belongs to Lower Silesia only after 1920/21, whereas Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz or Rybnik are simply Silesia before 1920 and then Polish til 1939 and after 1945, but Gleiwitz, Beuten or ‘Hindenburg’ after 1920/21 are Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia, because people there decided to stay German.

In the “Regierungsbezirk Oppeln” is also the town of Guttentag (~’guten Tag’ = ‘good day’ = ‘hello’, ‘hi’). This ‘guten Tag’, Polish ‘dzien dobry’, reappears in the name of the town today (Dobrozien), where Jeanette Steinitz’s mother, a Guttentager (a jewish name derived from a place, like Posener) came from. In this “Regierungsbezirk” were also Ziegenhals (Isidor Cassirer), Oberglogau (Siegfried Cassirer’s brewery), and up to 1920 also Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz, Beuthen, Königshütte, Rybnik and other places touched by the family Cassirer as they developed and relocated seeking opportunity and consolidating their business endeavours.

Markus Cassirer was born in “Bujakow”: This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - is recalled as being known as Loebel Moses Bujakow - perhaps being named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹¹⁸ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes. This includes its emergence as a Polish province, becoming a possession of Bohemia in 1335, passing with the Bohemian crown to the Austrian Hapsburgs in 1626, being taken by Prussia in 1742, and returned to Poland in the aftermath of WWII in 1945.¹¹⁹

In the course of considering the Cassirer history we are confronted with the historical distinction at one time of Silesia into Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: As mentioned above, Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to the Austrian (Habsburg empire), but was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.). After WWI the refounded Poland managed to force Germany and nearby Austria, loosers of this war, to have a referendum in counties with a notable polish minority or even majority about their identity: if they would rather belong to Poland.

After the vote there was an amputation of certain counties at the former border in the coal belt around Kattowitz - they voted for Poland. And its only after that date that the German started speaking of ‘Oberschlesien’ (Upper Silesian) and ‘Niederschlesien’ (Lower Silesian). In an encyclopaedia dating 1905 and there even the word ‘Oberschlesien’ does not exist. From the actual Polish point of view it sounds as given here. Oberschlesien, for short often “OS” or “O/S”, became a separated part of Silesia also to remind Germany of the forced loss of the rich southwestern “peak” of old Silesia. That’s why Zabrse, now just at the new boundary, was renamed ‘Hindenburg’ (after the famous german marshal of WW I). It was the faked polish invasion in nearby german Gleiwitz which gave Hitler the pretext of starting WW II. Breslau was thus in Silesia, and following 1921 it has always been in Lower Silesia (and even today again in Poland).

Bujakow, where the Cassirer name was adopted by Loebel Moses Cassirer, is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the recollections of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

In the course of considering the Cassirer history we are confronted with the historical distinction at one time of Silesia into Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to Austria (Habsburg empire), and was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.).

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - is recalled as being known as Loebel Moses Bujakow - perhaps being named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹²¹ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.¹²²

Taking into account more what we know on the movements of the Cassirer family, as we note, as far as the Cassirer history is concerned, it appears that in a very general view they moved from very poor rural places around Silesia (clockwise: Russia, i.e. occupied Poland, and Habsburg countries like Galicia, small remains of Habsburg-Silesia next to the southwestern border, Moravia and Bohemia) to rural places in Prussia, and as their mobility was less and less restricted they moved from Upper Silesia - first from little Bujakow to bigger Rybnik and then to industrial boom towns like Beuthen - to Breslau, Goerlitz etc. and then to Berlin.¹²⁴

We may see more on the movements of the Cassirer family. Indeed, as we note, as far as the Cassirer history is concerned, it appears that in a very general view they moved from very poor rural places around Silesia (clockwise: Russia, i.e. occupied Poland, and Habsburg countries like Galicia, small remains of Habsburg-Silesia next to the southwestern border, Moravia and Bohemia) to rural places in Prussia, and as their mobility was less and less restricted they moved from Upper Silesia - first from little Bujakow to bigger Rybnik and then to industrial boom towns like Beuthen - to Breslau, Goerlitz etc. and then to Berlin.¹²⁶

Bujakow is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the recollections of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Bujaków today belongs not to Rybnik but to nearby Mikolów (German: Nicolai). Looking around in modern Bujaków (with google images) it seems that perhaps only 4-5 historical buildings are still at a place where they perhaps were in Cassirer's times. Bujaków and Rybnik both were more or less forced to join Poland in 1922. This ironically meant perhaps that from 1922 to 1939 (when the Nazi army rushed vengefully in) they weren't able to destroy Jewish culture as in the Reich. But then the local culture was hardly conducive to the Cassirer intellectual endeavours. It's more and more likely that the Cassirer moved very quickly after their registration as 'Cassirer' about 1820 in Rybnik. This is also attested to by the comment from a local correspondent.

We may see more on the movements of the Cassirer family. As Expat notes, "as far as the Cassirer history is concerned, it appears that in a very general view they moved from very poor rural places around Silesia (clockwise: Russia, i.e. occupied Poland, and Habsburg countries like Galicia, small remains of Habsburg-Silesia next to the southwestern border, Moravia and Bohemia) to rural places in Prussia, and as their mobility was less and less restricted they moved from Upper Silesia - first from little Bujakow to bigger Rybnik and then to industrial boom towns like Beuthen! - to Breslau, Goerlitz etc. and then to Berlin."¹²⁷

Bujakow is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld? it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Bujakow is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Bujaków today belongs not to Rybnik but to nearby Mikolów (German: Nicolai). Looking around in modern Bujaków with google images it seems that perhaps only 4-5 historical buildings are still at a place where they perhaps were in Cassirer's times. Bujaków and Rybnik both were more or less forced to join Poland in 1922. This ironically meant perhaps that from 1922 to 1939 (when the Nazi army rushed vengefully in they weren't able to destroy Jewish culture as in the Reich. But then the local culture was hardly conducive to the Cassirer intellectual endeavours. It's more and more likely that the Cassirer moved very quickly after their registration as 'Cassirer' about 1820 in Rybnik. This is also attested to by the comment from a local correspondent.

To be honest I see that name for the first time. It's very amazing that Cassirer family moved from Berlin to Rybnik for voting. Far away distance. The voting took place in 1921 (not in 1920). I would like to help you but I think Cassirers didn't leave any traces here.¹³⁰

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - is recalled as being known as Loebel Moses Bujakow - perhaps being named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹³² His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹³⁴ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point they had been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually were created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar). For Prussia - now Germany and parts of Poland - the change of name was mandated from 1912. As Prussia acquired additional territory the requirement was restated, being extended to Posen in 1833 and the rest of the Prussian state in 1845.¹³⁶

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point they had been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually were created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar). For Prussia - now Germany and parts of Poland - the change of name was mandated from 1912. As Prussia acquired additional territory the requirement was restated, being extended to Posen in 1833 and the rest of the Prussian state in 1845.¹³⁷

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point they had been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually were created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar). For Prussia - now Germany and parts of Poland - the change of name was mandated from 1912. As Prussia acquired additional territory the requirement was restated, being extended to Posen in 1833 and the rest of the Prussian state in 1845.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses [of] Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹³⁹ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point they had been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually were created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (cashier, or similar).

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses 'of' Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia.¹⁴⁰ His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob (or known simply as Loebel Moses 'of' Bujakow) - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia. His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name. Prior to the adoption of the "surname" (which in different places became mandated in the late C18 and C19) Jews had to that point they had been named by a Jewish patronym - which usually were created as "son of....". For example the son of Loebel could be named Moses ben Loebel. However, if that left ambiguity then additional physical, occupational, or locational characteristics could be added to form a nickname. Even before it was mandated, as Jews came into closer contact with modern life they found it useful to create a more contemporary style name with a recognisable surname. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (Cashier, or similar).

One problem in understanding this is the distinction of Silesia, Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to Austria (Habsburg empire), and was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.).

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia. His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow. However, to understand the challenges, opportunities and thinking of these early Cassirers it is also necessary to understand the context in which they lived. They lived as 'modern' Jews in Silesia - a historical region of "Central Europe" - but one which had from the point of view of identity, language, politics and culture, undergone a long series of tumultuous changes.

One problem in understanding this is the distinction of Silesia, Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to Austria (Habsburg empire), and was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.).

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia. His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer, also born in Bujakow.

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia. His son, Moses Loebel Cassirer Moses ben Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer.

The Cassirer story in one sense must begin with the invention of the "Cassirer" name, forced upon Jews living in Central Europe by the governing powers. Up to that point they had been named by reference to their father - Loebel, Moses ben Loebel, etc. Often the name chosen was one relating to occupation. In this case Cassirer (or Cassierer, Kassierer, etc) probably usually related to an occupation relating to finances (Cashier, or similar).

Loebel Moses Cassirer (1738-1809) - perhaps named at birth Loebel Moses ben Jakob - is recalled to have been a cashier at a Grafen ("estate of a person of high rank") in Bujakow, Silesia. His son, Moses ben Loebel Cassirer of course was the father of Markus Cassirer.

The social development and geographic movement of the Cassirer family

The problem of place

The problem is the distinction of Silesia, Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to Austria (Habsburg empire), and was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.).

After WW I the refounded Poland managed to force Germany and nearby Austria, loosers of this war, to have a referendum in counties with a notable polish minority or even majority about their identity: if they would rather belong to Poland.

After the vote there was an amputation of certain counties at the former border in the coal belt around Kattowitz - they voted for Poland. And its only after that date that the German started speaking of ‘Oberschlesien’ (Upper) and ‘Niederschlesien’ (Lower).

In an encyclopaedia dating 1905 and there even the word ‘Oberschlesien’ does not exist. From the actual Polish point of view it sounds as given here¹⁴¹. (The text about upper Silesia is not so informative, at least in the english version, not in the german one.)

Oberschlesien, for short often “OS” or “O/S”, became a separated part of Silesia also to remind Germany of the forced loss of the rich southwestern “peak” of old Silesia. That’s why Zabrse, now just at the new boundary, was renamed ‘Hindenburg’ (famous german marshal of WW I) and it was the faked polish invasion in nearby german Gleiwitz which gave Hitler the pretext of starting WW II.

So it’s quite clear that there has never been a “Breslau, Upper Silesia” and after 1921 it has always been in Lower Silesia (and even today again in Poland).

Challenges for jews.

The problem gets hot at those places, where Cassirers were clever and busy in the 19th century up to 1918 and suddenly were confronted with the unconfortable idea of becoming Polish citizens thus losing the ‘enlightened’ (more or less protestant founded) protection of the Prussian kings (and German Kaiser).

For the now supernationalist/ heavy Catholic Poles the Germanophile jews were fellow-travellers (like in Austrian Galicia - after 1918 ten thousand jews had to flee from there to Vienna and then to Paris, London or the US). So one has to have a close look: Breslau belongs to Lower Silesia only after 1920/21, whereas Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz or Rybnik are simply Silesia before 1920 and then Polish til 1939 and after 1945, but Gleiwitz, Beuten or ‘Hindenburg’ after 1920/21 are Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia, because people there decided to stay German.

In the “Regierungsbezirk Oppeln” is also the town of Guttentag (~’guten Tag’ = ‘good day’ = ‘hello’, ‘hi’. This ‘guten Tag’, polish ‘dzien dobry’, reappears in the name of the town today: Dobrozien), where Jeanette Steinitz’s mother, a Guttentager, came from, i.e. a jewish name derived from a place, like Posener.) In this “Regierungsbezirk” were also Ziegenhals (Isidor), Oberglogau (Siegfried’s brewery), and up to 1920 also Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz, Beuthen, Königshütte, Rybnik etc.

Place and the Cassirers

“Markus Cassirer”: born in “Bujakow”: This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Social Development

Several strands of development will have shaped the Cassirers from the C19 to WWII. One of these was the transition with German Jews becoming Jewish Germans. This started in the 19th century until the fatal outcomes after WW I.

Expat writes: This is entirely speculative: It's somehow like the saying: Of course there must be a balance between nature and humans ... in favour of the humans. I mean over these years there was a slowly growing feeling on both sides: Germans and Jews are in a win-win-situation - in favour of the Germans (because in the beginning foreign Jews should be happy to be in some regular situation at all). Then, in the economic and societal ruins after the lost war 1918 (unfairly lost, they thought) there was a growing suspicion that the balance perhaps had 'worked' the other way around (even during the war!).

In feudal times - the times we're so interested in - there was a very special Jewish figure or social type right in the middle of the shifting German-Jewish-win-win-relation: The "Court Jew" is described in a book, available on line.¹⁴² It is possible that panning across the notion of Court Jew to Dukes and even Kaisers and Kings 'down' to Counts and formerly humble Junkers in their woods who became tycoons in the upper Silesian boom period we perhaps will get a hint at the positions where confidants like Cassirer were situated, for example, in Bujakow.

The problem of place

In an encyclopaedia dating 1905 and there even the word ‘Oberschlesien’ does not exist. From the actual Polish point of view it sounds as given here¹⁴⁵. (The text about upper Silesia is not so informative, at least in the english version, not in the german one.)

Challenges for jews.

Place and the Cassirers

The changes of place

The problem is the distinction of Silesia, Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. It’s a historico-geographical problem: Silesia belonged up to the middle of the 18th century (1742) to Austria (Habsburg empire), and was after that date until about 1919/20 entirely a Prussian province (with dukes etc.).

After WW I the refounded Poland managed to force Germany and nearby Austria, loosers of this war, to have a referendum in counties with a notable polish minority or even majority about their identity: if they would rather belong to Poland.

After the vote there was an amputation of certain counties at the former border in the coal belt around Kattowitz - they voted for Poland. And its only after that date that the German started speaking of ‘Oberschlesien’ (Upper) and ‘Niederschlesien’ (Lower).

I have a encyclopaedia from my father dating 1905 and there even the word ‘Oberschlesien’ does not exist. From the actual Polish point of view it sounds like this: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Silesia>. (The text about upper Silesia is not so informative, at least in the english version, not in the german one.)

Oberschlesien, for short often “OS” or “O/S”, became a separated part of Silesia also to remind Germany of the forced loss of the rich southwestern “peak” of old Silesia. That’s why Zabrse, now just at the new boundary, was renamed ‘Hindenburg’ (famous german marshal of WW I) and it was the faked polish invasion in nearby german Gleiwitz which gave Hitler the pretext of starting WW II.

So it’s quite clear that there has never been a “Breslau, Upper Silesia” and after 1921 it has always been in Lower Silesia (and even today again in Poland).

The problem gets hot at those places, where Cassirers were clever and busy in the 19th century up to 1918 and suddenly were confronted with the unconfortable idea of becoming Polish citizens thus losing the ‘enlightened’ (more or less protestant founded) protection of the Prussian kings (and German Kaiser).

For the now supernationalist/ heavy Catholic Poles the Germanophile jews were fellow-travellers (like in Austrian Galicia - after 1918 ten thousand jews had to flee from there to Vienna and then to Paris, London or the US). So one has to have a close look: Breslau belongs to Lower Silesia only after 1920/21, whereas Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz or Rybnik are simply Silesia before 1920 and then Polish til 1939 and after 1945, but Gleiwitz, Beuten or ‘Hindenburg’ after 1920/21 are Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia, because people there decided to stay German.

In the “Regierungsbezirk Oppeln” is also the town of Guttentag (~’guten Tag’ = ‘good day’ = ‘hello’, ‘hi’. This ‘guten Tag’, polish ‘dzien dobry’, reappears in the name of the town today: Dobrozien), where Jeanette Steinitz’s mother, a Guttentager, came from, i.e. a jewish name derived from a place, like Posener.) In this “Regierungsbezirk” were also Ziegenhals (Isidor), Oberglogau (Siegfried’s brewery), and up to 1920 also Kattowitz, Schwientochlowitz, Beuthen, Königshütte, Rybnik etc.

“Markus Cassirer”: born in “Bujakow”: This is an interesting very little town (in the “Landkreis Rybnik”) because it is situated halfway between Kattowitz and Rybnik (all three went to Poland after 1920). In the citation from the memories of Walter Grünfeld it says that as a boy he and his aunt met in 1920 in Kattowitz a large group of Berliner Cassirers, comming from Rybnik, where they had voted (that means I think: the law then forced people to vote for Germany / for Poland at the place where they / their family originated. Perhaps Bujakow was to small to manage such a vote with people from as far as Berlin). So instead of Rybnik Bujakow might have been also one of the places in the Kattowitz region where the Cassirers from Russian Poland / austrian Poland, i.e. Galicia, or Moravia and Hungary, Bessarabia, whatever, first settled.

Social Development

The social development and geographic movement of the Cassirer family

In feudal times - the times we're so interested in - there was a very special Jewish figure or social type right in the middle of the shifting German-Jewish-win-win-relation: The "Court Jew" is described in a book, available on line.¹⁴⁷

In feudal times - the times we're so interested in - there was a very special Jewish figure or social type right in the middle of the shifting German-Jewish-win-win-relation: The "Court Jew" is described in a book, available on line.¹⁴⁸

In feudal times - the times we're so interested in - there was a very special Jewish figure or social type right in the middle of the shifting German-Jewish-win-win-relation: The "Court Jew" is described in a book, available on line.[^[[http://www.amazon.com/The-Court-Jew-Contribution-ebook/dp/B006JL0GNU/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1359760804&sr=8-8&keywords=The+Court+Jew#reader_B006JL0GNU

http://books.google.de/books?id=Mp6nAvggQTIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Der+Hofjude&hl=de&sa=X&ei=KU4MUceBPcnCswbDsYGoDw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA]]^] It is possible that panning across the notion of Court Jew to Dukes and even Kaisers and Kings 'down' to Counts and formerly humble Junkers in their woods who became tycoons in the upper Silesian boom period we perhaps will get a hint at the positions where confidants like Cassirer were situated, for example, in Bujakow.

The social and geographic movement of the Cassirer family

The movement of the Cassirer family

Several strands of development will have shaped the Cassirers from the C19 to WWII. One of these was the transition with German Jews becoming Jewish Germans. This started in the 19th century until the fatal outcomes after WW I.

Expat writes: This is entirely speculative: It's somehow like the saying: Of course there must be a balance between nature and humans ... in favour of the humans. I mean over these years there was a slowly growing feeling on both sides: Germans and Jews are in a win-win-situation - in favour of the Germans (because in the beginning foreign Jews should be happy to be in some regular situation at all). Then, in the economic and societal ruins after the lost war 1918 (unfairly lost, they thought) there was a growing suspicion that the balance perhaps had 'worked' the other way around (even during the war!).

In feudal times - the times we're so interested in - there was a very special Jewish figure or social type right in the middle of the shifting German-Jewish-win-win-relation: The Court Jew.[^[[http://www.amazon.com/The-Court-Jew-Contribution-ebook/dp/B006JL0GNU/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1359760804&sr=8-8&keywords=The+Court+Jew#reader_B006JL0GNU German (second edition, first ~1950): http://books.google.de/books?id=Mp6nAvggQTIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Der+Hofjude&hl=de&sa=X&ei=KU4MUceBPcnCswbDsYGoDw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA]]

I confess I haven't read (or browsed through) the book yet, but I think, if we 'zoom' the notion of Court Jew from Dukes and even Kaisers and Kings 'down' to Counts and formerly humble Junkers in their woods who became tycoons in the upper Silesian boom period we perhaps will get a hint at the positions where confidants like Cassirer were e.g. in Bujakow. But as I said, it's entirely speculative.

Bluecherplatz sounds like a very good address. The Cassirers were moving fast! Only 50-60 years after the 'invention' (speculative) of the name 'Cassirer', a name suitable for a honest/reliable job in Christian business and in Jewish self-administration as well.

Bluecherplatz) sounds like a very good address. The Cassirers were moving fast! Only 50-60 years after the 'invention' (speculative) of the name 'Cassirer', a name suitable for a honest/reliable job in Christian business and in Jewish self-administration as well.

• Cassirer broth. - Heymann Cassirer - gold-, silver- and jewel-trade - Am Rathause 14 [At the Town Hall !!]
• Joel Cassirer - Joel Cassirer - manufacture goods - Bluecherplatz 12
• Cassirer & Friedlaender - Samuel Wilhelm Cassirer, Eduard Friedlaender - banking-, products- and dispatchin-trade - Altbuesserstrasse 61

• Cassirer broth. - Heymann Cassirer - gold-, silver- and jewel-trade - Am Rathause 14 [At the Town Hall !!]

More Cassirer references can be found in the booklet: 'Verzeichnis saemtlicher Handelstreibenden zu Breslau, welche in Lit. A besteuert sind, der Mitglieder der Handelskammer, deren Stellvertreter und Beamten, der Boersenkommissarien (so wie der [...]) fuer das Jahr 1857, zusammengestellt vom Sekretariat der Handelskammer', which translates as: Inventory of all traders of Breslau, taxed in Lit. A [big, or bigger business, I guess], and of all members of the Chamber of Commerce, their deputies and appointees, the commissioners of the stock exchange (...) for the year 1857, compiled by the office of the Chamber of Commerce.

• Therese Cassirer: Baer, Therese Sara, nee Cassirer, from Crossen/Oder, 12/23/1869 - where she still lived when she was deported in 1942. [Sara was of course a generic name required by the Nazis to be adopted by all Jewish women.] She also is mentioned in another book Lehrerbuch: die Lehrer und Lehrerinnen des Leipziger jüdischen Schulwerks (the Jewish Institution for Jewish teachers at Leipzig, Saxonia) On p. 130 there's BAER, Siegbert Werner, Dr. phil., teacher of mathematics and physics, born 11/18/1890 in Breslau, disappeared 1943 in Auschwitz. He was the son of a ballet teacher in Breslau and his wife, Therese nee Cassirer was very probably the Therese Baer from the first book. Siegbert Werner, according to the internet, was prominent in mathematical research (solving the 'Waringsche Problem'). [At this point these people have not yet been able to be connected to the family tree.]

On p. 8, we find Cassirers in business in Breslau in the year 1857:

• name of the store/establishment - name(s) of the owner(s) - kind of business - address
• Cassirer & Cohn - Louis Cassirer, Adolph Cohn - manufacture goods - Bluecherplatz 16

• Heymann Cassirer - gold-, silver- and jewel-trade - Am Rathause 14 [At the Town Hall !!]
• Joel Cassirer - Joel Cassirer - manufacture goods - Bluecherplatz 12
• Cassirer & Friedlaender - Samuel Wilhelm Cassirer, Eduard Friedlaender - banking-, products- and dispatchin-trade - Altbuesserstrasse 61

On p. 8, we find Cassirers in business in Breslau in the year 1857: http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=39766 cyfrowa = cipher = digit

Cassirer broth. Heymann Cassirer - gold-, silver- and jewel-trade - Am Rathause 14 [At the Town Hall !!]

This work is being developed as a form of dialogue between the site editor and Expat, progressively edited as pieces of the "jigsaw' seem to fit together. As useful insights emerge they are linked to the corresponding site pages.

Cassirers in Crossen/Oder

• Baer, Therese Sara, nee Cassirer, from Crossen/Oder, 12/23/1869 - where she still lived when she was deported in 1942. [Sara was of course a generic name required by the Nazis to be adopted by all Jewish women.] She also is mentioned in another book Lehrerbuch: die Lehrer und Lehrerinnen des Leipziger jüdischen Schulwerks (the Jewish Institution for Jewish teachers at Leipzig, Saxonia) On p. 130 there's BAER, Siegbert Werner, Dr. phil., teacher of mathematics and physics, born 11/18/1890 in Breslau, disappeared 1943 in Auschwitz. He was the son of a ballet teacher in Breslau and his wife, Therese nee Cassirer was very probably the Therese Baer from the first book. Siegbert Werner, according to the internet, was prominent in mathematical research (solving the 'Waringsche Problem'). [At this point these people have not yet been able to be connected to the family tree.]

More Breslau Connections

here, on p. 8, Cassirer in business in Breslau, 1857: http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=39766 cyfrowa = cipher = digit

The title of the booklet: 'Verzeichnis saemtlicher Handelstreibenden zu Breslau, welche in Lit. A besteuert sind, der Mitglieder der Handelskammer, deren Stellvertreter und Beamten, der Boersenkommissarien (so wie der [...]) fuer das Jahr 1857, zusammengestellt vom Sekretariat der Handelskammer' (Inventory of all traders of Breslau, taxed in Lit. A [big, or bigger business, I guess], and of all members of the Chamber of Commerce, their deputies and appointees, the commissioners of the stock exchange (...) for the year 1857, compiled by the office of the Chamber of Commerce)

name of the store/establishment - name(s) of the owner(s) - kind of business - address

Cassirer & Cohn - Louis Cassirer, Adolph Cohn - manufacture goods - Bluecherplatz 16 Cassirer broth. - Heymann Cassirer - gold-, silver- and jewel-trade - Am Rathause 14 [At the Town Hall !!] Joel Cassirer - Joel Cassirer - manufacture goods - Bluecherplatz 12 Cassirer & Friedlaender - Samuel Wilhelm Cassirer, Eduard Friedlaender - banking-, products- and dispatchin-trade - Altbuesserstrasse 61

Bluecherplatz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gebhard_Leberecht_von_Bl%C3%BCcher) sounds like a very good address. The Cassirers were moving fast! Only 50-60 years after the 'invention' (speculative) of the name 'Cassirer', a name suitable for a honest/reliable job in Christian business and in Jewish self-administration as well.

Prisoner Nr. in 2nd Transport: 1148.¹⁶⁴]