Saturday, February 13, 2010

Shael Efron of Amdur, Samuel Lowenstein of Frankfurt

Are there any living descendents of Shael Efron? He was born in 1823 and his story is told by his son, "Lazar Shael's," in Lazar's book, Khamishan Alfin . Lazar, more formerly known as Aharon Eliezer, tells how his father was put in the Grodno prison because he dealt in gold, which was forbidden by the Russian authorities.

Shael escaped from prison and went to Germany with his wife, Sarah. There, he settled in Frankfurt with the alias "Samuel Lowenstein." From the information in Lazar Shael's book, plus some information from Yedidia Efron's Amdur, Mayn Geboyrn Shtetl and a reference in Sam Effron's genealogy, I feel I've got to know this family pretty well.

I was thrilled to find the gravestones of Shael and his wife in the collection of photos of the Rat Beil St. cemtery in Frankfurt, posted by the JewishData.com folks. The photo requires a subscription to JewishData.com . The lengthy Hebrew text on the imposing monument erected for Shael "Samuel" is not legible, but it is transcribed in his son's book!

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