Family History Bergenstein
Seligmann Bergenstein (*1788) came from Leihgestern in the Langgöns district and, like Herz Stern, was a subject of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. He had initially worked as a farmhand in Roth and fathered an illegitimate child with Reitz (*1783). In 1807, during the Westphalian period, they took advantage of their new freedom to marry. He had applied to the Cantonal Maire Wegner in Marburg to be released from his subject status. By 1817, he had already had five children with Reitz. Now, like Herz Stern, he had to apply for formal admission to the Electoral Hessian subject association, which was initially rejected in 1818, but then approved. Seligmann and Reitz had a total of eight children.
In the second generation, two of Seligmann Bergenstein's sons, Josef and Abraham, founded families in Roth. Josef married Ziborah Stern from Oberweimar and had ten children. Abraham married Silpa Grienenbaum from Hermanstein and had five children with her. Their only son Kaufmann emigrated to the USA in 1866, after which this branch of the Bergensteins in Roth died out.
In the third generation, the Bergenstein family branched out again in Roth. Levi Bergenstein married Goldine Spier from Merzhausen and had the children Emma and Josef with her. Seligmann Bergenstein married Jettchen Buchheim from ... and had a son Julius with her.
The fourth generation and their children were the ones who were driven into emigration by the Nazi regime or deported to the ghettos and extermination camps.