Prologue

The following is an abridged Genealogy of a branch of one Jewish Pomeranian Family, which in years past was always a very small minority within the general population of the region which now to my knowledge no longer exists. It is a fact, the first Jews came into central Europe and later as far as Britain with the Romans as Traders before the birth of Christ, however after the end of the Jewish war in Judea, several of those Roman Legions moved to western Europe to what today is south-west Germany and brought with them Jewish slaves, women with their children etc. many of whom were simply abandoned. Their descendants however formed the first Jewish Communities in Germany which spread further east in the centuries that followed to Pomerania and beyond. During the Middle Ages many of those german Jews migrated further east to Poland and Russia to escape the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church which only came to an end with the Reformation in Europe, taking with them the german language which evolved gradually into Yiddish.

A History

Soon after the Kingdom of Prussia gained control over the eastern Pomeranian region, the government in Berlin decided in 1774 to take a census of the area east of the river Oder which was then rather sparsely populated. It is this census and its result which starts our story. That census showed a startling result regarding a rather insignificant Village near Tempelberg ( Czaplinek) by the name of BROTZEN ( Broczyno) of less than a few hundred souls total, 19 families, a total of  71 individuals were Jewish and appear to have lived there for many years, all were listed by their ( Jewish) names. This must have upset the people in Berlin, who issued a royal edict saying. "Die Juden auf dem platten Land" should move elsewhere being none owned any property, but were renter. Apparently many did, but not all. It seems, I am told, there was also a cemetery there at that time and some few Jewish citizen did still live there 100 years later.

"Two" of those BROTZEN Jews adopted "Brotzen"1812 as their Surname, one called himself Pesach Brotzen and the other Fabian Brotzen. Both served in the Prussian military during the "War of Liberation" ( from Napoleon). Although both returned and married and fathered several children, however only descendants of Pesach Brotzen have survived the past 200 plus years. At that point in time, all were proper Prussian citizen. Among Pesach's children were two sons, Falk and Abraham. Falk, the older of the two, moved in later life to Berlin where he died'1897, he has descendants living in Britain, California, Germany and Israel.

 His younger brother Abraham meanwhile lived in Wangerin ( Wegorzyno) with a successful business traveling with horse and wagon as a Trader dealing in Linen and other pierce goods throughout the area from the Baltic Sea to the borders of West Prussia, usually taking him 2 and 3 weeks away from his home. He died in Wangerin 1888. Abraham too, had a large family, his youngest son Luis becoming eventually my Grandfather. Luis at first, gave his fathers business a try at the time he married my Grandmother Helene Aronsbach born 1847 in Treptow on der Reger, but grew-up in Koeslin ( Koszalin) where she lived until her marriage to Luis. Luis, at first, did not succeed at his fathers enterprise, but eventually operated a profitable Smokehouse in Greifswald where he raised his family of one daughter and two sons. He died suddenly in 1904. Although his older son Max took over the family business, the latter was liquidated two years later and Max for the rest of his life lived in the United States. There after, Helene moved to Berlin to live with her younger son Karl and later with her Daughter Flora Goldstein, she died 1938 in Berlin at age 91. Karl and his wife and son ( both Berliner) left 1938/9 for the United States after building himself a successful business over the prior 25 years in Berlin which the Nazis made impossible to keep. He died 1965 in New York City. Being their son, my wife and I have tree children of our own plus Grandchildren. Neither I or anyone else of my family here have ever been to Pomerania.

It must be noted that from one generation to the next, education was always, and still is in this family, a priority. My father, like his siblings and most of his many cousins attended High-School and two of them, Siegfried and Georg Brotzen were graduates of the University at Greifswald and both became Doctors of Medicine. 

By the start of WWI nobody of our extended family remained in Pomerania. From the Luis and Helene Brotzen's three children, their daughter Flora and her husband were murdered in Auschwitz, Max died 1941 in New York and Karl also much later as noted. Of the various worldwide extended "Brotzen" families, two live in Brazil, one in Israel, two in London, two in Sweden and all told presently at least eight in the United States. There is a theory where those people in the Hamlet of Brotzen came from, but virtually impossible to document except that they all were German speakinq and even their oriqinal Jewish names reflected their german origin. 

There is further a theory regarding the name BROTZEN itself, which seems to have had its origin perhaps somewhere in Wuertemberg (south-west Germany) at least 500 or more years ago and apparently was the surname of a long ago and extinct gentile family   ( their existence was documented ) which may have been transplanted to Pomerania in the 1600's, but that too is speculation and supported by very little real evidence.

In conclusion, as it turns out, the descendants of those two fellows who choose the name Brotzen nearly two hundred years ago most likely did and do not realize that they also choose a unique name being I have never met or heard of anyone worldwide with our name who was not relate and the real oriqin of the name remains a mystery.

Jack L. Brotzen

New York   USA