Other Gerechters: Armin's uncle's family, and cousins not yet proven
Other Gerechters: cousins and namesakes
Gerechter is a rare name. Armin's father's family came from Borek, a small town in the Prussian province of Posen, and many other Gerechters were born there too. Some of them were surely kin. For most, we cannot yet say how.
Adolph Aron Gerechter, Armin's uncle, was Wilhelm's brother. He had a men's and boys' clothing business in Berlin, in Spandauer Straße, and Wilhelm ran or took over its branches in Oranienstraße. Adolph died in 1896. He and his wife Pauline had seven children: Georg, Erich, Siegfried, Hedwig, Johanna, Else and Martha.
Louis Gerechter and his wife Amalie, born Hurwitz, had children in Borek in the 1870s and 1880s: the twins Hedwig and Julian, born in 1878, and Hugo, born in 1883. Louis may have been Wilhelm's uncle. Hugo very probably served in the First World War: a Hugo Gerechter of Borek was wounded in 1916 and taken prisoner in 1917.
Moritz Gerechter and his wife Johanna, born Meyer, also lived in Borek. Their sons were James, born in 1884; Artur, born in 1887, who died of illness as a soldier in 1916; Ludwig, Martin and Albert.
Ludwig Gerechter, born in Borek on 17 December 1888, was a merchant in Berlin. He escaped to Shanghai, and died there. Judith Gerechter, born Krotoschiner in Bojanowo in 1896, was very probably his wife. She was deported to Auschwitz in 1942.
Martin Gerechter, born in Borek on 20 July 1890, was a merchant in Charlottenburg. He fled to Belgium and then France. He was deported from France to Auschwitz on 7 September 1942.
Albert Gerechter, born in Borek on 23 January 1892, ran a metal goods business in Berlin, probably with a brother. He too fled west to France, and he too was deported from there.
Amalie Gerechter, born in Borek on 7 December 1871, moved to Hamburg with her family in 1890. On 6 December 1941 she was deported from Hamburg to Riga, with her nephew Bernhard, born in Hamburg in 1897. Bernhard's father, Leopold Gerechter, born in Borek in 1860, the same year as Wilhelm, may have been Wilhelm's brother or cousin.
Maria Salomon, born Gerechter in Borek on 16 December 1853, was deported to Theresienstadt. She died there on 28 October 1942, aged eighty-eight.
Emanuel Gerechter, born in Borek in 1842, the son of a teacher, became a rabbi in America, in Appleton, Wisconsin. He died in New York in 1926.
Hugo Gerechter, born in 1854, had his own firm in Cottbus from 1882. He may be one reason Wilhelm came to Lusatia. Hugo died in 1921, and his wife Johanna, born Loewy, in 1925. Both are buried in Cottbus, like Wilhelm. Their firm passed to a Charlotte Gerechter, very probably the Charlotte born in Cottbus in 1892 who reached England and lived in Derby after the war.
What we don't know
We don't know how Louis, Moritz, Leopold or Hugo of Cottbus were related to Armin's grandfather Jakob or to Wilhelm. We don't know what became of Albert after he was deported, or of Adolph's children.
The recordsthe archive's notes, dates and sources
Wilhelm's own siblings' households
- Adolph Aron Gerechter (c. 1848-1896): men's and boys' clothing business, C Spandauer Str. 36/37 (1884-91), with branches at Oranienstr. 14 and 2a that Wilhelm ran or took over. Home Holzmarktstr. 8 (1887-88). His widow Pauline (née Fahle) is listed at Holzmarktstr. in 1900. Children per Geni: Georg, Erich, Siegfried, Hedwig Silberstein, Johanna Rosenbach, Else Pollak, Martha. None appears in the Gedenkbuch under a birth name ADR-B, GB
- Jenny Tuch: see The Tuch family (Jenny Tuch née Gerechter and her children)
Borek-born Gerechters (probable cousins)
The Borek birth registers (seen 5 Nov 2026) show that the Borek children of 1878-1892 came from two households, not one BOREK:
| Child | Born in Borek | Register entry | Parents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hedwig (twin of Julian) | prob. 15 May 1878 | 1878 no. 89 | Louis Gerechter, Kaufmann, and Amalie née Hurwitz |
| Julian (twin) | May 1878 | 1878 no. 90 (not opened) | presumably the same |
| Hugo | prob. 10 Nov 1883 | 1883 no. 209 | Louis Gerechter, Handelsmann, and Amalie née Hurwitz |
| James | prob. 4 Dec 1884 | 1884 no. 220 | Moritz Gerechter, Handelsmann, and Johanna née Meyer |
| Arthur | 7 Mar 1887 | 1887 no. 52 | Moritz Gerechter, Kaufmann, and Johanna née Meyer |
| Ludwig | 17 Dec 1888 | 1888 no. 240 | Moritz Gerechter and "Anna" (= Johanna) née Meyer |
| Martin | 20 Jul 1890 | 1890 no. 147 | Moritz Gerechter and Johanna née Meyer |
| Albert | 23 Jan 1892 | 1892 no. 15 | Moritz Gerechter and Johanna née Meyer |
- Louis Gerechter may be the Louis on Find a Grave (24 Feb 1834 - 21 May 1903), a generation between Jakob (b. c. 1821) and Wilhelm (b. 1860), so perhaps Jakob's younger brother. If so, Amalie (still bearing children in 1883) was a much younger, perhaps second, wife. Unproven FG
- Moritz Gerechter and Johanna née Meyer: a Johanna Gerechter b. 19 Oct 1860 has a Reichsvereinigung card (Arolsen 1.2.4.1). Her age fits Moritz's wife; unconfirmed HSV
- Martin (b. 20 Jul 1890): merchant, Kaiserdamm 35, Charlottenburg (1930-33). Emigrated to Belgium; ausgebürgert 1940; interned in France; deported Drancy → Auschwitz 7 Sep 1942 GB, RA, BOREK
- Albert (b. 23 Jan 1892): like Martin, he is in the French deportation lists and the "Transfers of Jews from the Marseille region", so he too fled west and was deported HSV, BOREK
- Ludwig (b. 17 Dec 1888): merchant, Magdeburger Str. 30 (1924). Died in Shanghai ("Central-European Jewish refugees who died in Shanghai"; also in the Aufbau database), where Hugo and Martha Tuch also took refuge. Judith Gerechter née Krotoschiner (b. 1896 Bojanowo; Auschwitz 1942), probably his wife, was at the same address in 1924. Dr. Erich's first wife was also a Krotoschin(er) ADR-B, GB, HSV, BOREK
- "Gebr. Gerechter", metal semi-finished goods, Adalbertstr. 62 / Michaelkirchstr. 28 (1924-26), was listed with Albert and Moritz. Since Moritz was Albert's father, "Gebr." was probably Albert and a brother. Artur Gerechter (died of illness in WWI, 1916) was a son of Moritz and Johanna née Meyer ADR-B, PRESS, BOREK
- Hugo Gerechter of Borek, IR 129: wounded 1916, missing and captured 1917. Probably Louis's son Hugo, b. 1883 VL
- Siegfried Gerechter and Richard Gerechter: liftvans shipped via Hamburg, auctioned for the Gestapo (Siegfried: ref. II B 2 2756/42, G 687, proceeds 4 Nov 1942; Richard: G 722, proceeds 30 Dec 1943). No birth data. Siegfried may be Adolph Aron's son LIFT
- Other Berlin Gerechters on Reichsvereinigung cards, unplaced: Louis b. 13 Apr 1865, Walter Paul b. 17 Jun 1893, Georg b. 27 Jan 1886, Paul b. 20 Aug 1891, Frieda b. 18 Nov 1898, Rosa b. 19 May 1843 HSV
- Amalie Gerechter (b. 7 Dec 1871 Borek): daughter of Zalek and Gittel née Jaskulsky; the family moved to Hamburg in 1890. Deported 6 Dec 1941 Hamburg → Riga-Jungfernhof (the same train as Else Meyer) with her nephew Bernhard (b. 1897 Hamburg, son of Leopold Leib Gerechter, b. 23 Mar 1860 Borek; household at Rutschbahn 8, Hamburg). Leopold, the same age as Wilhelm, could be a brother or cousin GB, STOL-HH, MTL
- Maria Salomon née Gerechter (b. 16 Dec 1853 Borek): Theresienstadt; died 28 Oct 1942 GB
- Rabbi Emanuel Gerechter (b. 1842 Borek; Appleton, Wisconsin; d. 1926 New York): son of the teacher Louis Gerechter [lit.]
Cottbus Gerechters (possibly why Wilhelm moved to Lusatia)
- Firm "Hugo Gerechter", Cottbus, from 1882 (owner Hugo Hermann Gerechter); then Johanna Gerechter née Loewy (1921); then Fräulein Charlotte Gerechter (1924); deleted 1937 RA
- Find a Grave has Hugo Gerechter 1854-1921 and Johanna Gerechter née Loewy 1864-1925 at the Südfriedhof Cottbus, in the same batch as Wilhelm, Cäcilie and Georg (years only, user-made). Hugo, b. 1854, was of Wilhelm's generation: a brother or cousin is possible FG
- Charlotte Gerechter, b. 24 Sep 1892 Cottbus: naturalised in Britain 1947, resident in Derby (HO 405/17129) TNA. Possibly the "C. Gerechter, Cottbus, Burgstr. 28" named as Georg's next of kin in 1915-16
- Paul Gerechter, b. 19 Jan 1883 Cottbus (BLHA 36A (II) 11097, digitised; later Mainz)
- An "Irma Gerechter" of Cottbus, engaged in 1913 to Franz Kachel of Groß-Räschen (not Armin's sister, who was 9)
Other lines (not ours, recorded so they aren't re-checked)
- Mosina, Jarocin and Śrem lines (Flora Jubelski, Helene Kaufmann, Sara née Staub); Posen family (Martha née Gottschalk and daughters); Rostock family (Hedwig b. 1888 and Käthe Fink, see Hedwig Gerechter); Hamburg family of Hartwig Gerechter; Breslau family (Reinhold, Erna née Simmenauer, Doris née Ledermann); the older Berlin "C. A. Gerechter" hat-and-fur firm (Zehdenicker Str. 2)
- The merchant Erich Gerechter of Winsstr. 41 (d. Oct 1927; widow Anna née Fabian, murdered Chelmno 1942). Not Dr. Erich, but possibly Adolph Aron's son Erich
Sources
./research/official-lists../research/uk-canada.
- Borek civil birth registers, AP Leszno 34/407/0/1.1 (szukajwarchiwach fonds 27353)
The small letters after an entry name its source: GB the German Memorial Book, JM the Joods Monument, AROL the Arolsen Archives, GENI the family tree on Geni, STOL the stones.