One of the Memorable Seventeen - Hattie Bernstein, has had her photos surface. Her granddaughter Renee made these available recently and here they are! Hattie is on the left, and she is in some of the photos below along with her husband William Fried. Also shown is her daughter-in law Alva Sara Kaul, who was the wife of Leo Fried, Hattie and William's only child.

Thank you so much, Renee

In the course of discovering one's ancestry - it certainly is a journey and many times a trek (a journey with obstacles). If we consider Lewin Jacob Braunhart and his wife Wilhelmine Zadek as the first generation of Braunharts; and Bernhard, Samuel, Sara, and Alexander as the 2nd, then the 3rd generation would be the seventeen surviving children of Bernhard, Sara, and Alexander. These I have previously written about as quite an admirable group of ancestors in The Memorable Seventeen.  The 3rd generation was exemplified by immigration and escape.  Half of the 17 immigrated to America, and half escaped from Schubin to Berlin, and many of those escaped Germany from the Nazis, although two were unsuccessful.

So what about the next generation - the fourth? There were a total of 35 children born to the 17 grandchildren of Lewin and Wilhelmine.  Who were they and what makes them special? These 35 were exemplified by the majority being born in America as a result of their parents immigrating. However, holdovers from the 3rd generation still occurred, as a few of these 35 had to also escape Nazi Germany. 

The birth years range from 1892 to 1936 - quite a span. Here is a list, followed by names and photos. Truly an impressive bunch:

• 5 died in childhood (4 via illness, 1 by drowning)
• 2 spent several years in the Shanghai Ghetto
• 1 was murdered at Auschwitz
• 1 escaped to Palestine
• 1 was a vaudeville pianist
  
• 1 was a statistician
• 1 served in both World War 1 and World War 2
• 7 were housewives
  
• 1 broke the record for typewriting speed and broke one of the first electric typewriters
• 1 designed clothing and was an award winning smoothie dancer
• 1 built clocks, watches, and custom furniture
• 3 were attorneys
• 1 was a jazz musician
• 1 was a singer
• 1 was a shoe designer
• 1 was a captain at a world famous hotel
• 2 were successful amateur boxers
• 1 owned a bicycle shop
• 1 was a legal secretary - her sister a secretary
• 1 was a school teacher
• 3 served in the US Army
• 2 were stenographers
• 1 owned a luncheonette for 40 years
• 1 was a track star in high school and college
• As of the date of this publication, 3 are living

And here they are:

On this Father's Day we remember our deceased Braunhart fathers. Some of us knew you and all of us wish we had met you. 

Alexander Braunhart - Father of Moritz, Jakob, Anna, Martha, Theodor, Carl, Selma, Cecelia, Julius, Philipp, Frieda, Caesar, and one unknown 

Harry Tulman (Husband of Anna Braunhart) - Father of Mildred, Muriel, Stanley, and Helene 

Bernard Sternbach (Husband of Martha Braunhart) - Father of Leo, Harold, and Regina

Carl Braunhart - Father of Hanna and Heinz

Jacob Braunhart - Father of Erna, Margaret, and Herbert

Philipp Braunhart - Father of Horst, Gisela, and Bernhard 

Salo Brunn - (Husband of Frieda Braunhart) - Father of Henry and Miriam 

Max Markheim (Husband of Cecelia Bernstein) - Father of Arthur, Robert, Minnie, Pauline, Leo, and Edith

Isidor Heyman (Husband of Ernestine Bernstein) - Father of Celia, Martha, Arthur, Robert, Leo, and Mynette 

Julius Braunhart - Father of Lilly and Lothar 

Unfortunately we do not have photos of the following Braunhart fathers: 

Bernhard Braunhart – Father of Harry

Aaron Bernstein (Husband of Sara Braunhart ) - Father of Amalie, Ernestine, Cecelia, Hattie, Max and 2 others unknown

William Fried (Husband of Hattie) - Father of Leo

William Brock (Husband of Amalie) - Father of Teresa, Regina, and Eric 

On this Mother's Day we remember our deceased Braunhart mothers. Some of us knew you and all of us wish we had met you. 

Sara Braunhart Bernstein - Mother of Amalie, Ernestine, Cecelia, Hattie, Max and 2 others unknown 

Helene Baszynska Braunhart - Mother of Moritz, Jakob, Anna, Martha, Theodor, Carl, Selma, Cecelia, Julius, Philipp, Frieda, Caesar, and one unknown 

Anna Braunhart Tulman - Mother of Mildred, Muriel, Stanley, and Helene 

Martha Braunhart Sternbach - Mother of Leo, Harold, and Regina 

Hedwig Bukofzer Braunhart (Wife of Carl) - Mother of Hanna and Heinz 

Ilse Gass Hart (Wife of Jacob) - Mother of Erna, Margaret, and Herbert 

Else Schmalenbach (Wife of Phillip) - Mother of Horst, Gisela, and Bernhard 

Frieda Braunhart Brunn - Mother of Henry and Miriam 

Cecelia Bernstein Markheim - Mother of Arthur, Robert, Minnie, Pauline, Leo, and Edith 

Hedwig (Hattie) Bernstein Fried - Mother of Leo 

Ernestine Bernstein Heyman - Mother of Celia, Martha, Arthur, Robert, Leo, and Mynette 

Dorka Asch Braunhart (Wife of Julius) - Mother of Lothar and Lilly  

Unfortunately we do not have photos of the following Braunhart mothers: 

Rosa Levison Braunhart – Mother of Harry

Amalie Bernstein Brock - Mother of Teresa, Regina, and Eric

For some reason I have been "obsessed" with finding out more about the Braunhart family over the last three years. I first found out about the family when reviewing the death certificate of Sara Braunhart Bernstein, my great great grandmother. My cousin Clyde Pound made me aware of Sara's brother Samuel, who was a very successful (and outspoken I might add - but more about that in a future post) politician, when I first talked to him about genealogy about three years ago.

In a recent post I talked about the life of Levin Jacob Braunhart, the "patriarch" of the Braunhart family. So far it appears that he and his wife Minnie Zadek, had at least four children that I can name.


The first, Bernhard Braunhart, immigrated to America in 1857. He married Rosa Levison and had one son, Harry.

Sara Braunhart, my direct ancestor, married Aaron Bernstein, and it appears that after his death, she immigrated to America in 1898. She had seven children, 5 who lived to adulthood. 

They were:

The next Braunhart was Samuel Braunhart, the San Francisco politician - he immigrated to America in 1862. He never married.

The last of Levin and Minnie's children (that I know of) was Alex Braunhart. I do not believe that he immigrated to America - but at least one of his children - Anna did - in 1909. She married Harry Tulman and had at least 4 children - Mildred, Muriel, Stanley and Helene. I have not as yet been successful in tracking this family to find out more about Anna Braunhart. She had a sister Sara Selma Braunhart, who immigrated to America in 1946 at the age of 51. I do not know as yet what happened to her.

There are a few "stragglers" that I know are related but have not been able to place as yet. Brother and sister Jakob and Martha immigrated to America in 1904. I do not know what happened to Martha but Jakob ended up in San Francisco. He was the primary heir to Samuel's fortune when Samuel died in 1906 right after the San Francisco earthquake and fire. I know that he was there from 1910 to 1913 because of Census and City Directory info. He was implicated by the FBI as a German sympathizer during World War I when he joined the U. S. Army. He also was married but that is all I know about him. I do not know who Martha and Jakob's parents are - my suspicion is Alex Braunhart, but that is just a hunch from reading Samuel Braunharts' probate file.

There also was a Carl Gustav Braunhart who was born in Schubin - but I have no info at all as to his relationship to "our" Braunhart family.