Günther Benno Robert Jaffé (1890 - 1959)

Born 5 Nov 1890 in Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, German Empire

Ancestors

Husband of Hedwig Marie Luise (Schlesinger) Jaffé — married 23 Oct 1913 (to 13 Oct 1959) in Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, German Empire

Descendants

Died 13 Oct 1959 at age 68 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Charlie Jaffé [send private message]

Biography

Günther Jaffé has Jewish Roots.

Günther Jaffé was detained in Suchsenhausen Concentration Camp, after his wife won his release he fled to Venezuela surviving the Holocaust.

Günther Benno Robert Jaffé was born on the 5th of November, 1890 to Benno Jaffé and Helene (Salomon) Jaffé in Berlin, Germany.^[1] On the 23rd of October, 1913 Günther married Hedwig Marie Luise Schlesinger in Berlin^[2] and together they raised two sons. See Table below

Günther studied zoology in Berlin where he earned his PhD ^[3]

Günther served in the Kaisers Calvary during the WWI. The family story has it that Günther was an excellent horseman and had joined the Calvary prior to the war and had earned himself a prized position in a ceremonial unit attached to the body of the Kaiser. With the start of the war he volunteer to join a fighting unit and was initial sent to the Western Front. The story goes that on the Western Front his Calvary unit found its self in the trenches. After a failed attempt by the French to overrun their position, a French officer who had been wounded and left in no mans land, was screaming for help. Günther crawled out to the wounded man and pulled him back to safety. Here the story takes an ugly turn: Günther is nominated for an Iron Cross, First Class, before they can turn the nomination down, he is ordered to the Eastern Front. There he find is himself on the Polish-Russian border (wherever that was in those days). His cavalry unit is ambushed, he is wounded and his horse falls on him. After the firefight was over he played dead when the Russian's came to inspect their dirty work. When he was alone again, found that he was not the only survivor, that one of his officers had also survived. He managed to find a wagon and found his way back, with the wounded officer to the German lines. Once he was back within his own line he was quickly sent back to Berlin for medical treatment and recovery. ^[4]

After the war,^[5] Günther had to abandon his scientific career as a Zoologist. In those days to be a Zoologist meant spending hours at a time sitting in front of a microscope. During the war he had been shot in the hip and was unable to sit for long periods of time. He had to find a new career. His wife, Hedwig Schlesinger, was one of the heirs to the Schlesinger Bank and he took over running her third of the bank. The family story is that Günther took over the oversea investment portfolio and within a couple of years was so successful that his brother-in-laws felt threatened and bought their sister out.^[6]

In April 1939 he emigrated from Berlin to Caracas, Venezuela with his wife, mother and youngest son. In July 1958 he immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

He died on the 13th of October, 1959 in Cincinnati after a massive heart attack. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Berlin, Germany, Births, 1874-1908". database with images. Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : 5 Apr 2023) Charlottenburg > 1890 (Zurückgeführters Erstregister) > image 2186 of 2714 images; citing Geburtenregister der Berliner Standesämter (Bestände P Rep. 100 bis P Rep. 840) 1874–1911. Digital images. Landesarchiv Berlin, Germany.
2. ↑ "Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1936". database with images. Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : 4 Apr 2023), Berlin III > 1913 (Zum Erstregister Erklärtes Zweitregister) [Second register declared as primary register] > image 1509 of 1763 images; citing "Heiratsregister der Berliner Standesämter 1874 - 1936". Digital images. Landesarchiv, Berlin, Deutschland.
3. ↑ Charlie Jaffé is in possession of his sheepskin diploma.
4. ↑ This story was told to me by my grandmother a couple of years after my grandfathers death. The moral of the story, from grandma's perspective, was that it was all because he was a Jew. Supposedly he was the first Jew to to be allowed to join the Kaiser's Ceremonial unit, and supposedly he was shipped to the eastern front in retaliation for being nominated for an Iron Cross, First Class as a Jew. How much of this is true and how much can be verified is an open question.
5. ↑ I know that my brother had talks with our father concerning this period of time. I will have to get him involved in this project of mine
6. ↑ I have heard this story from my father
7. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Charlie Jaffé.

Also See:

• Günther Benno Robert Jaffé: Images
• Page 20 and 20c, Miloslaw Jaffe Tree - 1985 Version, 1985; Jaffe Family, Posen Collection; AR 4037; Series II: Family Trees, 1869-1986; box 1; folder 34; Leo Baeck Institute.
• "Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKLM-4YB : 8 December 2014), Gunther Jaffe, 13 Oct 1959; from "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2010); citing vol. 15924, certificate number 70951, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus; Ohio Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Columbus.
• New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963 for Gunther Jaffe.
• Bremen, Germany, Passenger Lists Index, 1907-1939. Retrieved from http://www.public-juling.de/passagierlisten/listen.php?ArchivIdent=AIII15-03.04.1939_Y&abreisehafen=Hamburg&ankunftshafen=Caracas,%20Venezuela&lang=en&start=1&more=653991#653986