Armin's father
Wilhelm Gerechter
Borek, Posen, 12 April 1860 – Groß-Räschen, 9 May 1926
aged 66
Wilhelm Gerechter was born in 1860 in Borek, a small town in the province of Posen. He became a clothing merchant, first in Berlin and then in the Lausitz, where he built a department store in Groß Räschen that carried his name.
He and his wife Cäcilie had eleven children. He lived to see one son go missing in the war and his wife die before him, and he died in 1926, aged sixty-six, eight years to the day after her.
He did not live to see what came after. His store, and his name over its door, were taken from his children in 1938.
Before 1933
In the 1880s and early 1890s Wilhelm sold men's and boys' clothing from shops on Oranienstraße and Skalitzer Straße in Berlin. Business was hard. He went bankrupt in Berlin in 1887, and twice more in the Lausitz, in 1899 and 1910; each time he settled with his creditors and carried on. Around 1895 the family moved to the Lausitz, and by 1904 the Kaufhaus Wilhelm Gerechter stood in Groß Räschen. It advertised in the Jewish papers for milliners, menswear clerks and apprentices, and in 1909 for a governess for four of the children.
He signed the notices of his children's engagements: Margarete in 1909, Erich and Robert in 1922. His son Georg went missing in Flanders in 1915. His wife Cäcilie died on 9 May 1918.
Wilhelm died in Groß Räschen on 9 May 1926, after a long illness. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Cottbus.
After
In 1930 his son Armin and his son-in-law Herbert Bernhard took over the shop together. They kept his name: Textilhaus Wilhelm Gerechter. After the November pogrom of 1938 the shop was handed to another man, and in April 1939 the firm bearing Wilhelm's name was struck from the register.
Close family
- WifeCäcilie Gerechter, née Schiller 1862 – 1918
- SonDr. Erich Gerechter 1885 – 1949
- DaughterMargarete Lewinsky, née Gerechter 1887 – 1943
- DaughterElse Meyer, née Gerechter 1888 – 1941/42
- SonGeorg Gerechter 1892 – 1915
- DaughterHedwig Gerechter b. 1894
- SonRobert Gerechter 1896 – 1936
- DaughterFrida Gutmann, née Gerechter 1898 – 1943
- SonArmin Josef Gerechter 1899 – 1955
- DaughterEdith Bernhard, née Gerechter 1901 – 1943
- DaughterIrma Kassel, née Gerechter 1904 – 1943
In Armin's films
- Film 1, Hier wohnteHis father Wilhelm sells clothes. Soon he has a department store in Groß Räschen: the Kaufhaus Wilhelm Gerechter.
In Erich's films
- Film 1, Jg. 188630 October 1885. In Berlin, Wilhelm and Cäcilie Gerechter have their first child: Erich.
What we don't know
We do not know exactly when he married Cäcilie, why the family chose the Lausitz, or where in the Cottbus cemetery his grave lies.
The recordsthe archive's notes, dates and sources
Notes
- Also listed as: "W." and "F. W." Gerechter (Berlin address books, 1899 bankruptcy)
Life events
| Date | Place | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1885-1888 | Berlin SO, Oranienstr. 14 (ground floor) | Men's and boys' ready-made clothing shop, formerly the second branch of his brother Adolf's firm ADR-B |
| Dec 1886-Jun 1887 | Berlin | Bankruptcy of "Wilhelm Gerechter, Herren- und Knaben-Garderobenhändler, Oranienstr. 14"; composition guaranteed by Ad. Gerechter (identity probable) RA |
| 1889-1890 | Berlin SO, Oranienstr. 14 / 2a | The shop is listed under "C. Gerechter", possibly Cäcilie ADR-B |
| 1891 | Berlin SO, Oranienstr. 2a | "W., Kfm." ADR-B |
| 1892-1894 | Berlin SO, Skalitzer Str. 103 | Men's and boys' clothing ("F. W." in 1893-94) ADR-B |
| 1894-96 | Berlin → Lusatia | Gone from the Berlin book by 1896; Robert born in Großräschen in Mar 1896 ADR-B, GENI |
| 13 Apr-10 Nov 1899 | AG Senftenberg | Bankruptcy of "Kaufmann F. W. Gerechter zu Klein Räschen"; composition 26 Oct; lifted 10 Nov 1899 RA |
| 1904-1921 | Groß-Räschen | "Kaufhaus Wilhelm Gerechter" advertises for staff, including a governess for 4 children (1909) IFB |
| 14 Nov 1910-28 Mar 1911 | AG Senftenberg | Second bankruptcy; composition 5 Jan 1911 RA |
| 1909, 1922 | Gross-Räschen N.-L. | Signs the engagement notices of Margarete (1909), Erich (1922) and Robert (1922) BT |
| 9 May 1926 | Groß-Räschen | Died BT |
| 1930 | Groß-Räschen | The business continues as "Textilhaus Wilhelm Gerechter" under Armin and Herbert Bernhard RA |
Sources
- Berlin address books 1884-1900 (ZLB; crops in
_downloads/ancestors/) - Reichsanzeiger bankruptcy notices 1887, 1899, 1910-11
- Berliner Tageblatt and Israelitisches Familienblatt
- Geni
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.