other children to Heinrich and Luise:
Pauline, 26 May 1878
Ella, born 12.June 1881 (father Heinrich, mother Aloisia)
Resi, born 26 October 1886
Abraham, born 01 January 1888
Sara , born 18 November 1889
both spellings are used Gelles and Gellis

I would like to correspond with those that are knowlrgable of the Gellis / Gelles family. I am married to Rachel Leah Gellis, (she is named after her grandmother Rachel Leah Gellis) her father was Mordechai Gellis from Tapolcany, his father was Gershon Tzvi Gellis.

George Reichenberg
USA
greichen@optonline.net

I would like to correspond with those that are knowlrgable of the Gellis / Gelles family. I am married to Rachel Leah Gellis, (she is named after her grandmother Rachel Leah Gellis) her father was Mordechai Gellis from Tapolcany, his father was Gershon Tzvi Gellis.

George Reichenberg
USA
greichen@optonline.net

In the Austrian phone book today we find only 1 “Gellis” in whole Austria but 180 “Gelles” ;)

In most of the metrical records the name of the clan was Gelles not Gellis. I wonder what spelling the other family members used.

It seems that Gellis was really a very smart and energetic businessman.

Meir Deutsch sent me the wedding invitation and following text via E-Mail:

As I wrote, Heinrich Gellis (@Carole: that is how it is spelt on the invitation) had also a restaurant. Enclosing an invitation to the wedding of my father’s elder sister.

The family was pious as Hirsch writes: כל הבנים היו ירא שמים. If we look at the invitation there is nothing written in Hebrew, not even ב”ה at the top (If I look at the correspondence of our family they used to write ב”ה on the top of all letters and עמו”ש=עד מאה ועשרים שנה after the name of the recipient).

Yes, in German, before the date, there are the abbreviations s. G. w. = so Gott will, or in Hebrew אי”ה=אם ירצה השם.

@Chaya-Bathya. You forgot to mention that he had also a Restaurant.

I also would like to make a correction. The wife of Heinrich Gelles did not die in the Holocaust (unless it was a second wife). Luise Gelles died in 1935:
Luise Gelles née Fischer death record. Date of death: 27 Aug 1935. Age: 78 (born circa 1857). Reported: 28 Aug 1935. Place of death: Mattersburg; residence:, Judengasse. Spouse: Heinrich Gelles. Parents: Bernhard Gelles and Betty Stroh. [Note: This is an error in the records. These are the names of Luise’s father- and mother-in-law.) Occupation: Haushald. Mattersburg death registrations,1935, entry 47.

Heinrich (Gershon Zvi) Gelles and Luise Fischer either had son named Armin who was also born in 1888 and died in 1917, or Armin was the secular name for Aaron and he died of tuberculosis during World War I. Here is the death record for Armin Gelles:

Armin Gellis [sic] death record. Date of death: 27 Dec 1917 Age: 29 (born circa 1888). Reported: 28 Dec 1917 Place of death? could be Nyomdaszeged near Szeged, Hungary. Residence: Mattersdorf, Judengasse 11. Parents: Heinrik Gellis and Lujza Fischer. Cause: tüdödümökor (tuberculosis of the lungs). Nagymárton death registrations 1917, p. 182, entry 87, written in Hungarian.

(Aus: Samuel Hirsch, Erinnerungen, S. 92.)

Der vollstaendige Titel des hebraeischen Buches lautet:

שמואל הירש, זכרונות מקהילת מטרסדורף וחורבנה, בני ברק: מכון זכרון – מפעל להנצחת יהדות הונגריה, תש”ס

Hier nun die Titelseite des von Chay-Bathya erwähnten Buches, nochmals herzlichen Dank dafür (die roten Umrahmungen der Namen stammen natürlich von mir):

Fantastisch und hochinteressant! Vielen Dank schon einmal dafür!

The mother of Luise (Rahel Lea) Gelles nee Fischer was Rosa Fischer. Rosa’s parents were Abraham Fischer and Elanore (Ella) Fischer nee Walles/Wicks.. Elanore’s father was Yisorel Prague.

– Der Vater, Gerschon Zvi Gellis, wurde geboren am 1. Tewet 5614 (Ende 1854 oder Anfang1855), als Sohn des Aaron Dov Baer G. aus Eisenstadt (dort gestorben am 16. Nissan 5647/1887 und daselbst begraben).

– Gerschon Zvi Gellis war der Schwiegersohn von Dov Baer Fischer aus Mattersdorf und Verfasser des Werkes “”Dovev Siftei Jeschenim”. Er wohnte auch selbst in Mattersdorf.

In Kuerze will ich einen Scan des Titelblattes des genannten Buches schicken, in dem auch Aaron Gellis genannt wird.

Auf dem Grabstein muss es in der 2. Zeilen heissen: הבחור (ha-bachur = der Juengling), nicht: הפקיד (ha-pakid)