The Rothenbergs of Skole and Drohobycz

The Rothenberg Family of Skole and Drohobycz: A Galician Jewish Lineage

The earliest known direct ancestors of the Rothenberg family that I have traced lived in the town of Skole, in eastern Galicia, during the late 18th century. At the time, Skole was part of the Habsburg monarchy, having been annexed by Austria from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Nestled in the Carpathian foothills, Skole developed a reputation for its timber industry and as a stop on important trade routes that connected Hungary, Poland, and Ruthenia.

Samuel Leib Rothenberg and Ester Rothenberg

4X great grandparents

Rabbinical Ties in Skole

My 4x great-grandparents, Samuel Leib Rothenberg (also known as Shmul Leib) and his wife Ester Rothenberg, were living in Skole by the early 19th century. Samuel Leib held the title of Rabbinatsbeisitzer, a respected lay assessor of the rabbinical court. This position—one step below a fully ordained rabbi—signifies both learning and standing within the Jewish kehilla (community), and suggests the family’s integration into religious and communal life.

‘We have established that Herschel's father was Samuel Leib Rothenberg of the Rabbinate in Skole. Just this week, a friend of mine in Israel followed up on a connection with Rabbi Wunder in Jerusalem, who studied the rabbinical lines in Galicia. He told her he had written about Samuel Leib in his Encyclopedia, and shared that Samuel’s father-in-law was also a rabbi.’- Jennie Milne correspondence Nov 2020 

They were described as "long-time deceased" on the 1882 death record of their son, Aaron Hersch Rothenberg, confirming their deaths occurred well before the late 19th century. Four children of Samuel Leib and Ester have been identified in records spanning 1802 to 1825:

• Rachel (Feigel) Rothenberg (1802–1889) – later settled in Drohobycz

• Sara Rothenberg (b. 1802 – further details unknown)

• Aaron Hersch Rothenberg (1814–1882) – my 3x great-grandfather

• Sime/Szyma Rothenberg (b. 1825 – no known further data)

Migration to Drohobycz: Jewish Life in Galicia’s Urban Centers

Siblings Rachel and Aaron Hersch eventually relocated to Drohobycz, a major Galician town about 50 km northeast of Skole. Drohobycz was known for its salt mines, emerging oil industry, and thriving Jewish cultural life. By the mid-19th century, it had become a vibrant multiethnic urban center, home to merchants, artisans, scholars, and growing Hasidic and Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) communities.

Rachel died in Drohobycz in 1889 of old age, a widow residing at house no. 150. Her death record identifies her husband as Abraham Rothenberg, a merchant. Rachel and Abraham’s sons, Meyer (b. 1848) and Falik (b. 1853), eventually emigrated to the United States, part of the broader wave of Jewish emigration from Galicia in the late 19th century prompted by poverty, anti-Semitic legislation, and dwindling opportunities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Aaron Hersch Rothenberg (1814–1882)

3x great-grandfather

Forest Warden and Patriarch

Aaron Hersch Rothenberg, born in 1814, married Mamcze (also Mamerla) Gruen, and together they had at least eight children:

• Amalia/Malie Rothenberg (1830–1900, Drohobycz)

• Zindel/Sindel Juda Rothenberg (1840–1919, born in Ranowicz) – my 2x great-grandfather

• Rachla Rothenberg - Sindel’s twin (1840–1840)

• Briendel/Brana Rothenberg (1845–1921)

• Solomon/Saloman Rothenberg (1848–1912, born and died in Drohobycz)

• Freida/Fruede Rothenberg (1850–1901, Drohobycz)

• Feige Rothenberg (1851–1884)

• Marjem/Marja Rothenberg (dates unclear)

Mamcze died in 1855, leaving Aaron Hersch a widower. By 1872, he was recorded as a forest warden (Waldhüter) in Drohobycz, an unusual but not unheard-of occupation for a Jew in Galicia. His position likely involved overseeing forest lands owned by either the imperial government or noble estates. The role implies a degree of literacy and trustworthiness, placing him within the bureaucratic structure of the Habsburg Empire, which had gradually opened limited civil roles to Jews following the Edict of Tolerance (1782) and subsequent reforms.

Mobility, Marriage, and Economic Survival

Although some of the family remained in Drohobycz, others - including Aaron’s son Zindel - moved between towns such as Ranowicz, Borysław, Skole, Rychcice, and Stara Wieś. This mobility was typical for Jewish families in 19th-century Galicia and was often driven by:

• Marriage and family networks

• Occupational needs, such as work as traders, tailors, or property caretakers

• Changing residency laws, especially during the shifting administrative reforms of the Austrian Empire

• Conscription pressures, prompting young men to shift residence or register in other towns

Zindel Juda Rothenberg (1840–1919)

2x great-grandfather

Trader, Matchmaker, Patriarch

Zindel, born in Ranowicz in 1840, became a trader and lived for a time in Rychcice, near Drohobycz. He also worked as a matchmaker, a common and respected profession in Jewish communities. A birth record from 1899 lists him as a witness to the birth of his grandson Chaim Jakób Rothenberg (son of Mechel Wolf) and identifies him as a 64-year-old bachelor from Skole, residing in Rychcice in house no. 74.

He finally married Rywa (Rozalia/Rojsa) Zuckerberg, who had lived in Słońsk, on 20 December 1902 in Drohobycz. Despite the late formal marriage, the couple had already had eight children over the preceding decades:

• Samuel Leib Rothenberg (1859–1915)

• Amalia Mamcze Rothenberg (1860–1944, died in Auschwitz)

• Mechel Wolf Rothenberg (1861–1908, Skole/Rychcice)

• Leisor/Leo Rothenberg (1864–1937)

• Pinkas/Pawel Rothenberg (c. 1868–1940) – my great-grandfather

• Krancie/Krenicia Rothenberg (b. 1876, Raniowice/Stara Wieś – unknown fate)

• Chaje Rothenberg (1879–1892, Raniowice/Stara Wieś)

• Marjem/Marja Rothenberg (dates unclear)

The civil marriage in 1902 was formalized by Dr. B. Margulies, the rabbi of Drohobycz, with two tradesmen - Samuel Schechter, a sheet-metal worker, and Nachman Kimelheim, a trunk maker - as witnesses. Their marriage certificate also included confirmations from the Rychcice commune and religious synagogue banns announced in December of that year.

Final Years and Deaths in Drohobycz

Zindel (Sindel) and Rywa spent their final years at Liszniańska Street, house no. 11, in Drohobycz. Their deaths occurred just a day apart in June 1919:

• Sindel Rothenberg died on 13 June 1919 at the age of 89, listed as a "property owner."

• Rywa Zuckerberg Rothenberg died the following day, 14 June 1919, aged 85, described as a widow.

Their death certificates confirm their parentage - Sindel as the son of Hersch Rothenberg and Mamcia née Grün, and Rywa as the daughter of Daniel Zuckerberg and Mariem née Rosenberg.

Mechel Wolf Rothenberg (1861–1908)

son of 2X great grandparents Zindel and Rywa & great grand-uncle

Landowner and Grain Merchant | Galicia

Mechel Wolf Rothenberg was born on 2 October 1861 in the village of Raniowice (Stara Wieś), in the historical region of Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the third child of Zindel (Sindel/Juda) Rothenberg and Rozalia (Rywa/Riva/Roza) Zuckerberg.

By the late 19th century, Mechel Wolf had established himself as a landowner and grain merchant, working across towns such as Stara Wieś, Drohobych, Rychcice, and Skole. These occupations placed him in the ranks of the region's Jewish bourgeoisie, bridging agriculture, trade, and local economic life.

In 1902, he formally married Feige Rysia Stanik (1870–1942). Together, they had eleven children between 1887 and 1906, including:

• Stillborn baby (1887)

• Moshe Moses Rothenberg (1888–1942) died in the Holocaust with his wife Rozia Krigel and their 12-year-old child

• Isak Leib Rothenberg (1889-1896)

• Bracha Rothenberg (1891 - )

• Chaja Ronia Rothenberg (1893–1942) Auschwitz

• Jenti (Yenti) Gruene Rothenberg (1895–1942), Auschwitz

• Julian Sruel Baer Rothenberg (1897 - )

• Chaim Jakob Rothenberg (1899 - )

• Amelia Malka Rothenberg (1902–1942), Auschwitz, also her daughter, 12-year-old Malka Kosoger

• Pepi Rothenberg (1904–1942) Auschwitz

• Herman Rothenberg (1906 - ) survived the Holocaust and moved to Forest Hills, NY

Mechel Wolf died in 1908 in Skole (or Rychcice) at the age of 47, leaving behind a young widow and many children. His death came on the eve of a turbulent century that would devastate Jewish life in Eastern Europe. His widow, Feige, would endure the First World War, shifting national borders, and the rise of antisemitism in interwar Poland.

Ultimately, Mechel’s descendants, including his wife and all but two of his children, perished during the Holocaust in 1942 under Nazi occupation, either in Auschwitz, or in or near the Drohobycz Ghetto. Mechel’s son Chaim Jakob went to Israel and submitted his family’s names to Yad Vashem. His youngest brother, Herman, survived and went to New York. It is not clear that he knew Jakob had also survived. Their story stands as both a testament to Jewish resilience in Galicia and a tragic reminder of what was lost.

Rachla Rothenberg Russ (1840–?)

Daughter of 3X great-grandparents, Aaron Hersch and Mamcze Grun. Sindel’s twin & my 2nd great-grand grandaunt

In 1867, Rachla gave birth to her first child, Malka Amelia Russ, in Drohobycz. She went on to have three more children over the next 18 years:

• Kreindel/Kriendla Lola Russ b. 1869 - died in the Holocaust

• Wilhelm Mechel / Mechel Wolf Russ (b. 1875), who died in Boryslaw, near Drohobycz, in 1935.

• Szmul/Shmuel Russ (b. 1885) Szmul married Adela and the couple had a child, Hela, b 1902. All three died in the Holocaust, Vienna, 1942

In 1894, at the age of 54, Rachla married Hersz (Hersch) Russ in Gródek, a town then in eastern Galicia (today Horodok, Ukraine). Their late marriage, occurring after all their children were born, was not uncommon in Jewish communities where civil marriage registration often lagged or differed from traditional religious unions.

Wilhelm Russ holds a significant place in cultural history as one of the pioneers of photography in Poland. Known as the “father of Polish photography,” Wilhelm played a transformative role in shaping the visual language of early 20th-century Poland, especially in the realm of portraiture, architecture, and ethnographic documentation.

Malka Russ married Wolf Wilhelm William (VIII) Waldmann, and had two children: a daughter, Erna Waldmann, who was born and died in Berlin in 1897, and a son, Bruno Berl Dov Waldmann, born on 18 May 1898 in Drohobycz. Malka arrived in New York on 22 February 1940 from Rotterdam, fleeing Europe on the brink of destruction. She lived in Kings County and later in Queens, New York. Her husband Wolf died in 1960. Remarkably, Malka lived to be 103 years old, passing away around 1970 in Flushing, Queens.

Both Kriendel and Shmuel died in the Holocaust

Salomon Rothenberg (1842 – 1911)

Son of 3X Great-grandparents Aaron Hersch and Rywa & 2nd great grand-uncle

Jewish Shaft Owner in Wolanka, Galicia

Salomon Rothenberg was born circa 1842 in Skole, a town in eastern Galicia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now western Ukraine). He was the son of my 3x great-grandparents, Aaron Hersch Rothenberg and Mamcze Gruen, house owners in Skole (according to records). The Rothenbergs were part of a large and deeply rooted Galician Jewish family, some of whom were involved in religious, trade, and property-owning roles in towns like Skole, Drohobycz, and Wolanka.

Occupation and Residence

By the late 19th century, Salomon was living in Wolanka, near Borysław, and is described as a “Schachtbesitzer” - a shaft or pit owner - indicating that he was involved in the region’s booming petroleum and ozokerite mining industry. Galicia was one of the first regions in Europe to commercially exploit oil, and Borysław was at its epicenter. Jewish entrepreneurs like Salomon played a notable role in this local industrial development.

Inheritance Matters

Ref. no. A.V. 207/12 (8) — (9179 3–3)

Edict

Calling Unknown Heirs to Court

The Imperial-Royal District Court S.I. in Lwów notifies that on the 5th of February, 1911, in Lwów, Salomon Rothenberg died without leaving a last will and testament.

As the court is unaware of any individuals who are legally entitled to inherit his estate, it hereby calls upon all those who may have a rightful claim to the inheritance under any title or right to present such a claim within one year from the date listed below.

Claimants must register their inheritance rights with this court and submit a declaration concerning the estate.
Otherwise, the estate — for which Dr. Stanisław Bieliński, attorney-at-law, has been appointed as curator — will be allocated to those who come forward and successfully prove their claim.

Any part of the inheritance not claimed or refused will, in the absence of legal heirs, be transferred to the State as unclaimed property.

Imperial-Royal District Court, S.I., Division IV
Lwów, 18 May 1911

First Marriage: Feige Klughaupt (Klinghoffer)

Before 1865

Salomon’s first marriage was to Feige Klughaupt (also recorded as Klinghoffer), born in Drohobycz. Feige was the illegitimate daughter of Efroim, a tavern keeper, and Rifke Klughaupt.

Feige died in Wolanka on 2 October 1881, aged 34, of endometritis - a common and often fatal postpartum infection in the 19th century. She passed away in house no. 249 in Wolanka. Her death occurred just five days after the birth of her daughter Udel, due to complications related to childbirth.

Children of Salomon Rothenberg and Feige Klughaupt:

1. Mechel Wolf Rothenberg: Born: (1865/66, Drohobycz) Occupation: Merchant, Spouse: Perl Sussmann, age 46, from Medenice (modern Medenychi), daughter of Jozef Mendel Sussmann and Sara (née Rettig)

2.  Amalia (Malka) Rothenberg: Born: 1868 Married: Leisor Rothenberg, first cousin (son of Zindel and Rywka) in 1890

3. Marjem Rothenberg: Born: 1874 in Wolanka, Died: 1880 at age 5 years, 11 months, 12 days

4.  Leisor Rothenberg: Born: 1876 in Wolanka Died: 1903, age 27 years

5.  Udel Rothenberg: Born: 27 September 1881, Wolanka

Second Marriage: Rifke Oher

Married in Borysław, 1898

After the death of Feige, Salomon remarried Rifke Oher in 1898 in Borysław, a rapidly growing oil town.

• Groom: Salomon Rothenberg, aged 56, Jewish, unmarried (perhaps referring to legal marital status), resident in Wolanka, born in Skole, shaft owner, son of the deceased Hersch and Malke Rothenberg.

• Bride: Rifke Oher, aged 34, Jewish, born in Schodnitz (almost certainly Schidnytsia in Ukrainian), daughter of the deceased Joseph and Mindel Jetty Oher, spirit (alcohol) dealer. She also resided in Wolanka.

Witnesses:

• Salman Leib (possibly Wa...?) of the rabbinate in Borysław

• Abraham Lichtschein, a school servant in Borysław

Rabbi: Hersch Lustman officiated the ceremony. A certificate from Wolanka dated 19 December 1898 confirmed Rifke's age.

Together, they had 15 children, many born in Wolanka, a smaller settlement near Borysław, heavily shaped by oil exploitation.

1. Josef Jakob Rothenberg (b. 18 Jan 1883 – d. 1932)

2. Salka (Sara?) Rothenberg (b. 1883 – d. 1941)

3. Elias Rothenberg (twin, b. 12 May 1885 – d. 26 Jun 1886, age 1 year, 1 month )

4. Aron Hersch Rothenberg (twin, b. 12 May 1885 – d. 28 Apr 1896, age 11 months)

5. Mina Mindel Itte Rothenberg (b. 13 Aug 1886 – d. 1966)

6. Stillborn boy Rothenberg (b/d 14 Jan 1888)

7. Adolph Abraham Rothenberg (twin, b. 14 Mar 1889 – d. 1913)

8. Isak Rothenberg (twin, b/d 1889, age 6 months)

9. Bernard Rothenberg (b. 1892 – d. 1940)

10. Clara Chaja Rothenberg (b. 1895 – d. 1959)

11. Laura Rothenberg (b. 1896 – d. 1940)

12. Udel Rothenberg (b. 9 Jul 1897 – d. 23 Jul 1897 age 14 days)

13. Samuel Rothenberg (b. 19 Jul 1899 – d. 1973) Daughter Rina, born Oct 1943, Khazakhstan

14. Rachel Hella Rachella Rothenberg (b. 1901 – ?)

15. Freida Frydzia Fredericka (Fritzie) Rothenberg (b. 4 Sep 1906 – d. 1992)

A Family Thread Through Galician Jewish History

My Rothenbergs’ story is deeply woven into the larger historical tapestry of Galician Jewry—a population shaped by imperial reforms, socio-economic struggle, migration, and resilience. From rabbinic roots in Skole to merchant life in Drohobycz and emigration to the Americas, the family's history mirrors the broader experiences of Jews under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Their movement between towns like Skole, Drohobycz, Borysław, Rychcice, and Stara Wieś illustrates how Jewish families in Galicia navigated changing laws, shifting borders, and limited opportunities, while still preserving kinship, religious tradition, and communal life.