Getting to Gittle

Gittle Ett has been a mystery. Neither of her nieces (Sally or Pearl) recalled her married name. I could not find any Gittle with the maiden surname Ett in Argentina, where she first immigrated, or New York, where she spent her last years.

Finally the 1950 U.S. census provided the critical information and her gravestone inscription clinched it! This has led to a slew of additional records that start to fill in the story. In this post I will go through just a few pieces of evidence and the records in which they appeared. A full discussion of all the proverbial stones that have come loose as a result of this initial research is too much for one blog post. [I promise to get to it soon!]

Gittle was the oldest of Tillie Liebross Wilson's (my grandmother) first cousins from the Ett family. While Gittle's younger brother (Dave) and sisters (Clara, Sarah and Sophie) immigrated to New York (between about 1900 and 1910) and settled in Brooklyn. Gittle and the youngest sibling, Jutte, stayed in the Zaleszczyki, Galicia, area. 

Jutte, born in in Skole in 1894 - 18 months before her mother Perl Wenkert Ett passed away - moved back to Zaleszczyki with her father Hersch Leib Ett. Years later she married Moshe Efraim Barath and had two children. Before the Shoah, Jutte lived with her family in Torskie, a small community within the Zaleszczyki district (and the place where her brother Dave Ett and sister, Sprintze/Sophie, said they was born). While Jutte's and Moshe Efraim's children managed to survive the Nazi invasion and the Shoah (ultimately immigrating to Canada), Jutte and Moshe Efraim did not.

But what happened to Gittle? Family stories indicated that Gittle had, at some point, immigrated to Argentina. Her (unnamed) daughter died there (Gittle's nieces said her daughter died of Sleeping Sickness) and sometime after that, in the 1940s, Gittle moved to New York and lived with her brother Dave Ett's family. She died sometime in the early 1950s.

Unfortunately, Zaleszczyki vital records were lost during World War II and the only records relevant to this time period and available thus far, remnant residence lists from Zaleszczyki, did not include anyone from the Ett family.

At some point I tried the shooting-fish-in-a-barrel research strategy (NOT!): I tried to find anyone named Gittle (or Gertrude, or Gussie) in cemetery plots where her siblings were buried.

• Clara Rappaport in Wellwood Cemetery, West Babylon, NY
  
• Sarah Cohn in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Queens, NY
• Dave Ett in Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, NY 
• Sophie Leiner in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Queens, NY

Bottom line on that? Too many Gittles/Gertrudes/Gussies and too little known information to allow for identifying the correct one.

For me, Gittle's life remained in darkness. I settled in, hoping that I could find her living with Dave Ett's family in the 1950 census when it became available in April 2022. I have been (s0mewhat) patiently waiting for several years.

The 1950 U.S. census reveal at 12:01 AM on April 1, 2022? Yes! Gertrude Rothleder, a widow, lived with her brother David Ett's family.

Dave and Bessie Ett, as I expected, lived at 278 Beach 138th Street, Queens, NY. They were in 1950 census enumeration district 41-2123.[1]

Since I had heard that Gittle (aka Gertrude) died in the early 1950s, I searched the New York City death indices indexed on Ancestry.com and found a Gittle Rothleder who passed away on 31 January 1952 in Brooklyn.[2] It seemed like a good bet. But, of course, I am still waiting for the New York City Department of Health to approve the application for a copy of her death certificate [kindly submitted by one of Gittle's great nieces (thank you!) because I am Gittle's first cousin twice remove - too distant a relative to be eligible for a 1952 death certificate in NYC].

In the meantime, Find A Grave to the rescue. They included Gittle Rothleder in an index (no photos) in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY.[3] 

Unfortunately, there was another Gertrude Rothleder in New York City and, amazingly, buried in the same cemetery. That one, however, despite the name, could not have been Gittle Ett. A bit of research indicated that Gertrude Rothleder [II] had been born Gussie Horn on 6 February 1901 in New York City to Max Horn and Lena Schwartz and died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 19 March 1990. She married Emanuel Rothleder on 22 May 1922 in Brooklyn, New York.[4] She was a generation too young, not born overseas, and not an Ett sibling.

Mt. Hebron has a nice feature where one may order an inscription photo online. Of course, after I placed my order I found out that Gittle's gravestone was toppled over - no inscription could be photographed. In mid-April I paid to reset the stone and waited.

Yesterday I finally received photos of Gittle's gravestone.[5]

[Hebrew:] Here lies

Mrs. Gittle 

daughter of Tzvi Arye

Died 3 Shevat 5713*

May her soul be bound in the bonds of the living

[English:] OUR BELOVED SISTER

GITEL

ROTHLEDER

JAN 31, 1952

AGE 76 YEARS

IN OUR HEARTS

YOU LIVE FOREVER

[* the Hebrew year is incorrect. It should be 5712.] 

Gittle's age of about 76 would make her just older than her sister Clara (who was born about 1879).

The Ett siblings' father was known to the family as Hersch Leib Ett. Gittle's father is identified on her gravestone as Tzvi Arye. In fact, Hersch Leib and Tzvi Arye are the same names in two different languages (known as calques or loan translations): respectively, Yiddish and Hebrew. Hersch and Tzvi = deer; Leib and Arye = lion). 

But, for further confirmation, I checked other previously located records for renderings of Hersch Leib Ett's first names.

Perl Ett's death certificate in Skole in 1895 identified her surviving husband as Hersch Leib Ett. 

Clara Ett Rappaport's gravestone inscription in Wellwood Cemetery indicated that her father had been Hersch Leib.[6]

 

[Hebrew:] Here lies Khaya daughter of Hersch Leib

[English:] BELOVED MOTHER

AND GRANDMOTHER

CLARA

RAPPAPORT

DIED AUG. 29, 1966

AGE 84 YEARS

GREAT GRANDMOTHER

Sarah Ett Cohn's inscription on her gravestone at Mt. Carmel Cemetery showed her father as Hersch Leib.

Sophie Ett Leiner's father was Hersch Leib on her stone in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.

Only David Ett's stone in Beth David Cemetery named his father as Tzvi Arye.[7]

 

ETT

Here lies

David son of Tzvi Arye

Died 4 Tevet 5719

DAVID

DIED DEC.15, 1958

AGE 67 YEARS

BELOVED HUSBAND

DEVOTED FATHER

A few thoughts. I will stay with the calque concept: that Tzvi Arye is the Hebrew version of Hersch Leib. 

In the Ett siblings' generation, women were not called to read the Torah in synagogue in conservative or orthodox congregations. David Ett belonged to and was active in Temple Beth-El in Rockaway Park, Queens - a Conservative congregation.[8] So, of the Ett siblings, Dave, the only son, would have been the one for whom his father's Hebrew name was critical to his synagogue participation. A traditional Hebrew name, used in ritual, identifies the person by their [Hebrew name] son of [their father's Hebrew name]. Of course Dave knew that everyone called his father Hersch and/or Leib, but he also knew that his father's ritual Hebrew name was Tzvi Arye.

Since Gittle had been living with her brother, it is probable that Dave and his wife Bessie were the informants for Gittle's death certificate. In the Jewish tradition, gravestones are often ordered months after burial. There is not necessarily any relationship between the informant on a death certificate and the informant for an inscription on the deceased's gravestone. So, when and if we receive Gittle's death certificate from the NYC Department of Health, we still will not know who ordered the stone. I will have to check with the cemetery to see they keep that kind of information.

Three siblings were still living when Gittle died: Clara, Sarah and Dave. The English inscription on Gittle's stone provided another clue about the family members still alive when Gittle passed. It referred to her as Mrs. Gittle, but only identified her as a sister. The assumption is that those who took responsibility for erecting the stone were siblings, not a spouse, children or grandchildren. She was referred to as Mrs. So, although she was not identified as a wife, she clearly had been married at some point, and her husband was no longer in the picture.

In another post I will provide evidence of the widow Gittle's arrival in the US from Argentina in 1946. I also have evidence that Gittle's daughter died in Argentina in 1941.

One small mystery: I do not know why she is buried in the Kurlander landsmanshaft plot in the cemetery. Kurland, Russia Empire, around the time Gittle was born is in Latvia today. Gittle was born in Galicia, Austrian Empire - today in southern Ukraine.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read more of this story in my next blog post: https://extrayad.blogspot.com/2022/07/getting-to-gittle-some-of-rest-of-story.html

Notes:

1. 1950 U.S. census, Queens Co., NY, population schedule, Queens, e.d. 41-2123, sheet 19, dwelling 161, David and Bessie Ett family; images, NARA (https://1950census.archives.gov : accessed 1 April 2022). 

2. "New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965," index, Ancestry.com, entry for Gittle Rothleder, 31 January 1952, Brooklyn 2120; citing New York City Department of Health. 

3. Gittle Rothleder, grave, 30 January 1952, Mount Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY; index, FindAGrave.com, memorial no. 78053154. The date of death on this record is likely in error. Acquisition of Gittle's death certificate with the correct date is pending.

4. New York Co., NY, birth certificate no. 8383 (1901), Gussie Horn, 6 February 1901; Municipal Archives, New York City. Kings Co., NY, marriage cert. no. 6241 (1922), Emanuel Rothleder and Gertrude Horn, 27 May 1922; Municipal Archives, NYC. Both documents were accessed via https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/ on 10 July 2022 after locating indexed records via https://www.germangenealogygroup.com/.

5. Gitel Rothleder, grave, 31 January 1952, Kurlander Young Friends Benevolent Association, Block 11, Ref 1, Sec A-C, Line 3, Grave 24, Mount Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY. 

6. Clara Rappaport, grave, 29 August 1966, Section 1, Block 7, Row H, Grave 2, Wellwood Cemetery, West Babylon, Suffolk Co., NY.

7. David Ett, grave, 15 December 1958, Section D, Block 1, Zion's Bruder Bund Society, Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, Nassau Co., NY.

8. Several newspaper articles indicated that Dave Ett and his family were members of Beth-El's congregation. His obituary stated that, as well. "Dave Ett, 67; Had Been Fur Dealer," Obituary Notices, The Wave (Rockaway Beach, NY), 18 Dec. 1958, p. 6, col. 1; images, Fulton History (https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html : accessed 21 Dec 2013).