Roots
Where we came from
Yechezkel’s parents and sisters in Łódź and Etta’s family in Baltimore, followed by everything the archives have told us so far. Each finding is marked Confirmed when a document names our family, Likely when the evidence is strong but the deciding record has not been read, or Possible · unproven when it is only a name match. On the tree, people without a mark are confirmed.
The families
What the records show
From research in the Yad Vashem, Arolsen Archives and Łódź records, October 2026.
Yechezkel: the war and the journey to America
- Confirmed Łódź ghetto address 1940–41: Sulzfelder Strasse 63, flat 44 (ul. Brzezińska 63/44), with parents Yitzchak Aron & Sura and sisters Frajda and Cesia collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629489 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629499 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629487 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629484 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629505
- Confirmed Deported from the Łódź ghetto on 2 May 1941 in Transport No. XIII to a forced-labor camp; listed as Chaskiel Rotfogel, born 3 June 1918, Sulzfelderstr. 63/44. This list is the likely origin of the '1918' birth year in later records CONFIRMED (same address)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/17263166
- Confirmed Listed among Jews from Poland held in Auschwitz, then Buchenwald, as Chaskiel Rotfogel b. 18 Jun 1919; the list gives Koło as a wartime place CONFIRMED (same Buchenwald identity)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/13227016
- Confirmed Buchenwald prisoner no. 120640. Admitted 26 Jan 1945 from KL Auschwitz; Polish Jew; trade: locksmith/fitter ('Schlosser'). Home given as Litzmannstadt (the researcher’s reading of the handwriting: 'ul. 1go Maja 44'). Father: Icek Rotfogel, butcher ('Schlächter'); mother: Sura née Worcman; both 'whereabouts unknown'. The number 138414 appears on the cards and may be his Auschwitz number (not verified). The file carries his own signature 'Chaskel Rotfogel' collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/1-1-5-3_01010503 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/6957119
- Confirmed The Buchenwald file cover is stamped 'T/D 244884', the same number as the tracing case for ROTVOGEL, Heinrich b. 16.12.1923. ITS itself linked the two identities collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/6957119 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/6-3-3-2_06030302
- Possible · unproven Buchenwald card note reads 'Kdo 9/2 B II' (the researcher’s reading of the handwriting): probably assigned to work detachment 'B II' on 9 Feb 1945. 'B II' may be the Langenstein-Zwieberge subcamp's code; not confirmed that or tied it to BMW collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/6957124
- Confirmed Buchenwald change report (Block 51) lists Rotfogel Chaskel, 120640 collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/5284400
- Confirmed Postwar DP registration card: ROTVOGEL Heinrich, b. 16.12.23. Birthplace given as Labes, Pommern, Germany (Łobez), which explains USHMM's 'Łobez' keyword. Father given as 'Tsidor' (Isidor = Icek), mother Sara 'Hörzmann' (garbled Worcman). Last residence Łódź, Poland. Occupation 'disinfector', languages German and Yiddish. Registered 7 Mar 1947 at an assembly center, no. 590. Emigrated to the USA, destination 1733 Moreland Ave, Baltimore 16, MD. Departed 8 Apr 1947 on the SS Ernie Pyle. T/D 244884 collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68850398
- Confirmed IRO/Joint emigration list (Period 1946–52): Rotvogel Heinrich, age 23, German citizenship. Sponsor/payer Joint (AJDC). Visa no. 23199, ticket no. 74635, fare $134 + $8 CONFIRMED (name + T/D context)collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81650789
- Possible · unproven Interpretation: he registered as German-born (Labes, Pomerania), probably to come under the larger German immigration quota in 1947. This is a common survivor strategy, not stated in any document
- Note Arolsen tracing case 244.884 itself: online it is an index entry only (0 digitized pages). The full file must be requested from Arolsen (free) collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/6-3-3-2_06030302
Before the war: the Polish records
From the JRI-Poland index and the Łódź State Archive’s address cards, October 2026.
- Confirmed Marriage of Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel and Sura Worcman, Łódź, 1904, record no. 332 (Łódź Jewish civil register, Łódź State Archive fond 1568). The scan is not online; it was requested from the Łódź State Archive in October 2026 JRI-Poland index (free login): legacy.jri-poland.org
- Confirmed The 1919–21 Łódź address card: Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel, born 1885 (in “Słupca”, probably Słupia), father Lajzer, married, a merchant. Arrived in Łódź on 12 Aug 1919 and lived at ul. Południowa 42, later 38. With him: his wife Sura “Workman”, born 1889 in Klimontów, and children born in Klimontów: Mojżesz (1904), Frajda-Ruchla (1915) and Chaskiel (1917). No Klimontów birth record has been found for the children; see the 2026 research below szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl · Łódź address cards, image 5
- Likely Mojżesz, born 1904, is most likely “Moshe Meir”, the brother drawn on the 1990 family tree. He is not with the family in the 1940 ghetto list; what became of him is not yet known szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl · Łódź address cards, image 5
- Confirmed Frajda Ruchla’s grave is in the Łódź Jewish Cemetery index: died 18 Mar 1941, aged 24, father Yitzchak Aron; section 10/7, row 10, grave 3I JRI-Poland index (free login), Łódź cemetery index
New research from a JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
A JRI-Poland researcher who studied the Worcman family reported these in October 2026. The records were seen by the researcher and are not yet in hand, so they are marked Likely until the scans arrive.
- Likely The Rotfogel (Rotfogiel) family came from Nowa Słupia, a small town west of Opatów JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
- Likely Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel Hy”d was born in Nowa Słupia in 1883, the son of Lejzer Rotfogel and Estera Chaja née Glanc of Opatów JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
- Likely Yitzchak Aron married Sura Worcman Hy”d in Łódź in 1904 (Łódź marriage record no. 332). The couple seem to have left Łódź afterwards and came back only in 1919, which fits the 1919 address card JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
- Likely No Klimontów birth record exists for Chaskiel (YoungPa) or his two siblings, even though the 1919 address card gives Klimontów JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
- Possible · unproven YoungPa was likely born in or near Opatów rather than Klimontów, in the researcher’s view. No birth record has been found yet JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
- Likely A different Sura Worcman, born in Klimontów in 1889, married Icek Yosef Nissenbaum in 1909. She is not YoungPa’s mother JRI-Poland researcher (2026)
Next. The 1904 Łódź marriage record (no. 332) should name Sura Worcman’s parents. It has been requested from the Łódź State Archive.
Chezzy’s great-great-grandparents
- Likely Lejzer Rotfogel z”l and Estera Chaja née Glanc ע״ה, very likely Yitzchak Aron’s parents. Lejzer was born in March 1859 in Nowa Słupia, son of Lajb, a merchant, and lived at ul. Południowa 16 in Łódź, the same street as Yitzchak Aron. He died in Łódź on 14 Jun 1928, aged 66 (death record 915/1928; cemetery section Z-II, row 2, grave 515). Estera Chaja, daughter of Icek, was born in 1865 in Opatów and died on 24 Apr 1936, aged 70 (death record 652/1936; cemetery section 7/10, row 7, grave 471) szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl · Łódź address cards, image 7 · JRI-Poland index (free login), Łódź deaths and cemetery index
- Likely The link to Yitzchak Aron: an 1883 birth record from Słupia (Opatów register, no. 19) names an Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel, son of Lejzer, 21, and Estera Chaja née Glanc, 23. A JRI-Poland researcher (2026) reports the same birth: Yitzchak Aron, born 1883 in Nowa Słupia to Lejzer and Estera Chaja Glanc of Opatów. His 1919 card also names his father Lajzer. The 1904 marriage record, which should name his parents, would settle it JRI-Poland index (free login), Opatów births 1867–84 (FamilySearch film 1808845)
- Likely Their other children, Yechezkel’s aunts and uncles if the link holds. Each is a confirmed child of Lejzer and Estera Chaja:
- Lajb (Lajbuś) z”l, born 5 Mar 1895 in Nowa Słupia, died in Łódź 4 Feb 1924, aged 27; his death record (no. 233/1924) names both parents
- Chana, born about 1895 in Słupia, single on her card
- Nachman, born 1897 or 1899, now a likely uncle: see family C below (wife Laja née Szwarcbard)
- Fajga Hy”d, born 3 Aug 1901 in Łódź, died in the Łódź ghetto 30 May 1943, aged 41
- Possible · unproven Three Rotfogel births registered together in Łódź in 1914: Mojsze Majer (no. 2364), Maryjem Certel (2365) and Chana Idesa (2366). The consecutive numbers suggest one family; the parents are not named in the index. If they were Yitzchak Aron’s children, Chana Idesa would be a sister nobody knew of JRI-Poland index (free login), Łódź births 1906–17
- Possible · unproven Older hints: Nowa Słupia births with no parents indexed (Icek Majer 1895, Sura Chinda 1896, Cyrla 1900), and a Nachman Dawid Rotfogiel who married in Słupia in 1846, probably a great-uncle line JRI-Poland index (free login), Nowa Słupia and Opatów registers
Likely His birth. Born Dec 16, 1923 (family date); likely c. 1917–18, per pre-war records (1919 Łódź address card, 1940 ghetto list). Possible · unproven Birthplace: not yet confirmed; likely near Opatów. The 1919 card says Klimontów, but no Klimontów birth record exists for him or his siblings (JRI-Poland researcher, 2026). Raised in Łódź.
The household in the ghetto
A. Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel: Chezzy's great-grandparents
Confirmed Ghetto address: Sulzfelder Str. 63 / flat 44 (ul. Brzezińska 63/44)
- Yitzchak Aron Rotfogel / Rotfogiel · b. 1882 — father of Yechezkel; presumably murdered (family record: Chelmno, Mar 1942)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629489 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629509
- Sura/Sara Rotfogel née Worcman · b. 1882 — mother; presumably murdered (family: Chelmno, Mar 1942)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629499 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629517
- Frajda (Fryda Ruchel) Rotfogiel · b. 1917 — sister; family: died in Łódź ghetto 18 Mar 1941collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629505
- Chaskiel Rotfogel · b. 1918 (family date 16 Dec 1923; see the note on his birth above) — Yechezkel himself (listed as presumably murdered in error; he survived)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629487 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629502
- Cesia (Tzirel) Rotfogel · b. 1922 — sister; presumably murdered (family: Chelmno, Mar 1942)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629484 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629500
The ghetto list shows no other children at this address. The 1919 address card adds an older son, Mojżesz (b. 1904), likely the 'Moshe Meir' on the 1990 tree, who had left home, died before 1940, or lived elsewhere. No Pages of Testimony were found for this household, and none submitted by Yechezkel/Henry Vogel/Rotfogel.
No Pages of Testimony. No Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony have been found for Yitzchak Aharon, Sara, Fryda Ruchel or Tzirel, and none filed by Yechezkel; it appears none was ever filed. The family can still file them, so that their names are recorded at Yad Vashem.
Other possible links
- Possible · unproven Rotfogel–Wortman marriages in the Nowa Słupia (Kielce) Rotfogel family: Yad Vashem Page of Testimony: Iakil Rotfogel b. 1906 Nowa Słupia, filed by his brother-in-law Israel Vortman; Marmol Rotfogel's spouse née Vartman. Sara's maiden name Worcman = Wortman, so this hints that the Łódź and Nowa Słupia Rotfogels were connected. Unprovencollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1843398 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1400819
Other Rotfogel families of Łódź
Connection unproven. These families carry the same surname in Łódź. None is linked to ours by a document yet; they are kept here as leads.
B. Rywen (Reuven) Rotfogel + Chana Laja née Morgensztern
Possible · unproven POSSIBLE relative, probably NOT a brother of Yitzchak Aharon: Pages of Testimony give Reuven's mother as Bracha, b. Kielce; the same submitter files for a Nowa Słupia family of Yosef & Bracha Rotfogel
Ghetto address: Cranach Str. 20 / flat 12 (ul. Żydowska 20); prewar Baluter Ring 2
- Rywen/Reuven Rotfogel · b. 14 Aug 1895 (Page of Testimony: 1900, Kielce) — died 9/10 Jan 1945, Hannover-Ahlem (Neuengamme subcamp), buried Jewish cemetery Hannover-Bothfeld; merchantcollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629516 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/15648761 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1255962 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/3655839
- Chana Laja née Morgensztern · b. 15 Mar 1902, Kielce (parents Yaakov & Bela) — murdered Auschwitzcollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629501 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1255960 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/13852445
- Josef Mosze (Yosef) Rotfogel · b. 15 Feb 1925 — SURVIVED; submitted Pages of Testimony 1950s; possibly = Jozef Rotfogiel b. 15 Feb 1926, Mauthausen/Flossenbürg no. 133863collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629512 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/16358554 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4143402
- Eliezer Dawid (Laizer) Rotfogel · b. 17 Feb 1927, Łódź — SURVIVED: Bergen-Belsen, then DP camp Feldafing; Arolsen tracing case 455.628. His DP card names his parents Rywen & Laja Morgensztern and his address Żydowska 20collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629503 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68850407 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68850406
- Ryfka/Rivka · b. 1930 — murderedcollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1255963
- Nachman · b. 1933 — murderedcollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/1255961
- Hadasa · b. 19 Nov 1940 (in the ghetto) — presumably murderedcollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629506
C. Nachman Rotfogiel + Laja (née Szwarcbard)
Likely LIKELY Yechezkel’s uncle: Lejzer Rotfogel’s address card lists a son Nachman (b. 7 Mar 1899, Opatów), most likely this Nachman b. 1897; that makes him Yitzchak Aron’s younger brother if Lejzer is Yitzchak Aron’s father (likely)
Ghetto address: Hohensteiner Str. 53 / flat 29 (ul. Zgierska 53); prewar Herren 45
- Nachman · b. 24 Sep 1897collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629514
- Laja · b. 1902collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629513
- Szlama Lajb · b. 10 Apr 1927collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629518
- Hendel Chjan · b. 1932collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629507
- Wita · b. 16 Jan 1933collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629519
- Nusen Dawid · b. 8 Jun 1939collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629515
- Ita · b. c. May 1924 — died 24 Jul 1924, aged 9 weeks; daughter of Nachman & Łaja Szwarcbardmetryki.genealodzy.pl/id3860-sy1924cd-kt1 · geneteka.genealodzy.pl (Łódź mojż. deaths 1924 #1139)
D. Mojżesz (Moses/Moniek/Moris) Rotfogel
Possible · unproven
Ghetto address: Franz Str. 17 / flat 24 and Rauch Gasse 42 / flat 15 (ul. Franciszkańska 17, Wolborska 42)
- Mojżesz/Moris Rotfogel · b. 5 Jul 1911, Litzmannstadt — SURVIVED: Auschwitz, then Dachau (no. 96002, from Sept 1944); Arolsen tracing case 771.381 ('Morris')collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629493 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/10592854 · collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/130432197
- Ruchla · b. 1909 — likely his wifecollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629495
- Mina · b. 6 Feb 1934collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629490
- Sala · b. 1935/36collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629496
- Chana · b. 4 Feb 1904collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629486
- Chaim · b. 28 Jul 1944 (born in the ghetto days before its liquidation)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629485
Arolsen also has a 1955 emigration record and a tracing case for a Mina Rotfogel b. 19 Mar 1915; it is unclear whether she is this family
E. Ita Rotfogiel with Henryk
Possible · unproven
Ghetto address: Hohensteiner Str. 18 / flat 20; prewar Moltke 8
- Ita · b. 3 May 1909 (also listed 1919)collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629510 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629511
- Henryk · b. 4 Feb 1939collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629508
Arolsen holds a postwar tracing request for Heinrich Henryk Rotvogel b. 6 Jan 1939 (Litzmannstadt), son of Jankel Rotvogel. This may be the same child; the father, Jankiel Rotfogel of Łódź, is on the 1945 survivor register (Yad Vashem 6164505)
F. Josef (Yosef) Rotfogel, tailor, + Chana Miriam née Lubinski
Possible · unproven
- Josef · b. 1904, Łódź — murdered Auschwitz 1944; Page of Testimony by a relativecollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/555887
- Chana Miriam née Lubinski · b. 1906, Łódź (parents Idl & Beila) — murdered Auschwitz 1944; Page of Testimony by a submittercollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/611932
- two children, names unknowncollections.yadvashem.org/en/names/9016104 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/9016105
G. Individuals
Possible · unproven
- Dobra Rotfogel · b. 20 Apr 1940 — died in the ghetto 16 Aug 1942; Kreuz Str. 10/3collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629488
- Fajga Rotfogiel née Wołkan · b. 1902 — died in the ghetto 30 May 1943; Mühlgasse 41collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629520 · collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/4629504
- Sura Rotfogiel · b. 7 Apr 1940 — Veit-Stoss-Str. 4collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/15777928
Other Rotfogel entries in Łódź death records
- 1918 #2667: Marjem Dwojra Kaszmorska, d. 3 Nov 1918, aged 2, mother Chawa Ruchla Rotfogel (father Josek)
- 1929 #384: Ruchel Wajnblum, mother Dwojra Rotfogel
- 1929 #1237: Mindla Rotfogiel, parents Berek & Chaja Rotfogiel
- 1929 #1801: Eleazar Rapoport, mother Hinda Rotfogiel
- 1925 #338: Lajb Wołkan, mother Fajga Rotfogiel
Not found yet
- Geneteka indexes only Łódź Jewish DEATHS for these names; no births or marriages (Rotfogel/Rotfogiel/Worcman) are indexed there.
- The scan of the 1904 Łódź marriage (no. 332), which should name Yitzchak Aron’s and Sura’s parents. Not online free; requested from the Łódź State Archive in October 2026.
- Scans of the 1914 Łódź births nos. 2364–2366, to learn their parents.
- The birth records of Mojżesz, Frajda and Chaskiel. A JRI-Poland researcher (2026) found none in Klimontów; Opatów and the towns near it are the next place to look. Also Sura Worcman’s parents (the 1904 marriage record should name them) and Cesia’s 1922 birth.
- The full Arolsen file: requested in October 2026 (inquiry 2026-10-23-66855), reply pending.
- USHMM Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database: the old site is behind a browser check and is moving; not searched (USHMM catalog only shows Rotfogel in finding aids: CKŻP legal dept, Stutthof).
- No Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony found for Yitzchak Aron, Sara, Frajda or Cesia, and none submitted by Yechezkel/Henry Vogel/Rotfogel/Rothvogel (submitter searches done).
- The Arolsen tracing case 244.884 is not digitized online; it has now been requested (see above).
- BMW subcamp name: not in the online documents.
- Ship arrival: the SS Ernie Pyle departed Bremerhaven 8 Apr 1947 (DP card); the NY arrival manifest (FamilySearch/Ancestry) was not yet checked.