Gerta Katscher - Gerta Ehrlichóva-Katscheróva interview

Can you upload anything to her profile? I could not get to the link you gave for the book.

Of course! I've added the pages with the higlighted information to the media tab. I also added her "mothers" record from the Riga deportation list. I think there's reason to believe either the researchers took the wrong record - or she changed her birth date?

I think that Paula Katscher, Pavla Katscherova, and Pauline Katscher are the same person, even if the birthdays do not agree.

Paula Katscher https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/4991185/?p=1&am... gives birth 24 May 1882 in Znojmo (Moravia), death 4 February 1943

Pavla Katscherova, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/4991184/?p=1&am... & https://www.holocaust.cz/en/database-of-victims/victim/97503-pavla-... give birth 26 November 1882
Transport G, no. 688 (02. 12. 1941, Brno -> Terezín)
Transport O, no. 183 (09. 01. 1942, Terezín -> Riga)

Gerta Katscher https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/archive/?doc_id=4991164
gives birth 30 October 1914
Transport G, no. 687 (02. 12. 1941, Brno -> Terezín)
Transport O, no. 182 (09. 01. 1942, Terezín -> Riga)

Pauline Katscher Pauline Katscher
gives birth 24 February 1882

From the consecutive transport numbers, it is safe to assume that Pavla is Gerta's mother and Paula, Pavla, and Pauline are one person.

I just read a part of the attachment Sebastian provided http://shamir.lv/images/PRINT%20%20book%203000%20DE.pdf and there Gerta is saying that her mother" Pavla Katscherová was born on November 26th, 1882. On December 2nd, 1941 deported to Terezín and deported to Riga on January 9, 1942, where she died on August 3, 1944." That is consistent with what Arolsen and Holocaust.cz has on Pavla but not consistent with what Arolsen has on Paula (namely that she died in February 1943 as opposed to August 1944).

I followed the lead of Paula Katscher right when I found it, because conveniently, she also was born "Fuchs" just like Pauline Katscher. Unfortunately, I think she's not the same person.

Here's the death certificate for Paula Katscher:
https://www.holocaust.cz/en/database-of-digitised-documents/documen...

In Line 16 it is noted that "Dr. Arnold Katscher" is related to her as "Gatte" (husband) (So not Bernhard Katscher, as here with Pauline Katscher)
I then found their supposed grave and it does not match the death date of Gretas father (1937):
https://www.vets.cz/vpm/35247-kenotaf-pavla-kacerova/#35247-kenotaf...

So in conclusion, I think we can rule out Paula Katscher born 24.05.1882 as a possible match.

You are correct. I agree. Paula died in 1943 in Terezin but Pavla died in 1944 in Riga. They are two different people.

The deportation records for Pavla and Gerta show that Pavla is the mother of Gerta, even though the deportation records give Pavla's birth in November (same date that Gerta gives in her interview) and Geni gives Pavla's birth in February.

What I have just noticed yesterday though, was that Bernhard Katscher (Gertas father) was born on 26.11 (in 1870) too. So this could be an actual coincidence, but I rather think someone mixed up the birth dates, or Pauline/Pavla might have forgot her own birth date through fear/shock, when she was deported and told them her husbands birth date, thus ending up being the 26.11 and her given age - 59, at the time of deportation (so the year 1882).

Those seem the only reasonable options to me now.
If we can agree on that, I will add the other family members mentioned in the interview.

My experience is that birthdays got often confused in those days. For example, I found on holocaust.cz official documents for one of my great grandmothers three different birth dates. Only one of them agreed with the date in the Jewish birth registry.

Gerta's birthday agrees with what is on Geni and Gerta's description of her mother agrees with what is on holocaust.cz and Arolsen for Pauline Katscher. I am sure that Pauline and Pavla are the same person. You should go ahead and update Geni with all the info from the Holocaust.cz and the the German pdf and add Gerta's husband, etc

Alright. Will do. But I will keep the official birth date of her mother and add a note for the birth date mixup.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Thanks everyone. This was a tough one.

Indeed, it was. Very interesting nonetheless!

I'm still unsure though, is there a standard/convention for using Czech names in english on Geni?

E.g. should I change her name to Gerta Ehrlich-Katscher and add Gerta Ehrlichová-Katscherová as Czech translation?
Also maiden names for women would have the -ová suffix at the end, I assume this would cause consistency errors in the tree?

Unfortunately, I do not think there is a standard that people follow. What you are suggesting sounds good to me. Omit the feminine suffix from the English name and keep it in the Czech version of the name. I would do that for maiden/birth names as well as for last names. That is actually what was in pre-War Czechoslovakia for the German speaking Jews. The German birth records did not have the feminine suffix of -ova but the Czech language birth records did, all for the same person.