Golde was a daughter of Wolf Charles Behrman and Minnie. She married the well known Chassidic Rabbi, Moushe Aaron Aronson and they lived in Poland. The Rabbi was known to possess the lingest beard in the family. Golde was tall, slightly round shouldered and had the best part of her forehead covered by a sheitel or heibele, also she took snuff. In 1907 one of her sons, Cecil, was engaged in the cigar business in New York; he had an accident and died in that year. In 1920, Golde's oldest son was a Chassidic Rabbi in Warsaw. His economic circumstances were very bad. He appealed for help to his Aunt Dvore Hinde in New York. She forwarded the appeal to the author, who arranged with the American Jewish Relief Association to give him immediate help.

Aaron Hirsh, known in the family as "Ore Hirshe" was the third son of Wolf Charles and Minnie. He was a handsome looking man of fine personality and strong features and possessed a good intellect. After the death of his father he took over the management of the business. The leadership of the community did not fall upon him until the death of his oldest brother, Moushe. Aaron Hirshe married Simche Esther from a nearby town. Aaron died in Memell while on a business trip. His son, Gershon, had died a few years previously unmarried, at the early age of 24. His daughter , Sophy (Zipe), married Hessel Levy, who succeeded to the house and business. They had two children, Aaron and Minnie. Nothing has been heard of them since the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

Yankel was th fourth son of Wolf Charles and Minnie. In his early manhood he became intimately associated with the famed Reb Elijah Levenson (Reb Elye Krottinger) of Krottingen. He acted as Reb Elijah's secretary for many years. He married Seine Masse Lapin. She died in the home of her daughter Mrs Charles Behrman in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1946. Yankel was a tall, handsome man with a fine figure, black hair, blue eyes and a blonde beard. Yankel and Seine Masse had two children - Mendel, who died unmarried and Kreine, Mrs Charles Behrman of Johannesburg, South Africa. Kreine married her second cousin, Charles Behrman and had three children Jack, Horace and Dorothy.

There were in the family at Krottingen, at the same period in the 1850s, two Dvore Hindes, the aunt and the niece. The aunt was the daughter of Wolf Charles and Minnie and the subject of this chapter, whereas the niece was the daughter of Moushe Behrman, himself the son of Wolf Charles. Both Dvore Hindes were about the same age and great friends. They were tall, stately and of great beauty, intellect and intelligence. They were considered women of good education. Aunt Dvore Hinde was born in 1846. Her mother Minnie died when she was very young. She attended religious and secular lessons with the boys, went skating on the lake and was always ready for all sorts of tricks. She had grown into a vivacious, beautiful and worldly young woman before her father's sudden death in 1863.

At the age of 19 in 1865 she married Isaac Jacobson (Eisik Yankes) from Dorbyan. He was the heir apparent to the most successful trading firm in Dorbyan , exporting flax and flaxseed in a rather big way, as well as to a fine estate known as "Bachuska", situated within a mile of Dorbyan, where the Jacobsons resided. Within a matter of days of her arrival in Dorbyan, Dvore Hinde was dubbed "Die Krottinger Grafin", the Countess of Krottingen. All the "sheiteled" housewives were simply horrified, they had seen nothing like it! True Dvore Hinde also wore a "sheitel" but hers could hardly be distinguished from her own hair, it was made by a Memeler artist instead of by the local "Sheitelmacherke". Before very long she assumed the "leadership" and became, in fact, the "First Lady" in Dorbyan. She had eight children, six daughters and two sons.

Economic conditions in Lithuania in the latter part of the nineteenth century became very bad, the merchants and traders suffered great losses and Isaac Jacobson was no exception. He moved to Libau, Latvia, a fortified city on the Baltic and at that time the most important port in the province. Unfortunately before he had a chance to do very much Isaac Jacobson in 1885 took ill and died. Thus at the age of 39 and with eight children, Dvore Hinde was left a widow. She moved from Libau to Memel to make the best use of her business talents and engaged in the trade of silks, perfumes, jewellery and other luxuries with Lithuania. After a great struggle of seven years, she emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey in 1892. Eventually she moved to New York to be near her married daughters. Her sons abbreviated Jacobson to Jacobs; she however insisted on the original name and she died in 1927 at the age of 81

The following are the descendants of Dvore Hinde and Isaac Jacobson:-

6.1.6.1 Minnie married Yudel Jaffe while residing in Libau in 1886. In the early part of the century the family emigrated to New York. They had three children.

6.1.6.2 Olga married Dr Abraham Sacks, from Zager, Lithuania in New Jersey in 1896. They had three children.

6.1.6.3 Pauline married Ephraim Jacobson from Lithuania in New Jersey in 1898

6.1.6.4 Morris had been sent from Libau to his uncle Lazar Behrman in Sunderland England. He later joined the family in New Jersey and married Miss Kassel. They had six children.

6.1.6.5 Samuel was sent from Libau to Cheder in Dorbyan. He came to New Jersey and married Rose. They had two children, (71.6.5.1&2) Irving and Sarah

6.1.6.6 Fanny married Arnold Cohen from Dorbyan in New Jersey in 1900. They had three children.

6.1.6.7 Sophy married Edward Margolis, a native of Telz in New Jersey in 1903. They had three children.

6.1.6.8 Mary married Isidor Kumesh, a native of Kurland and nephew of Ephraim Jacobson (Pauline's husband) in 1908. They had three children,

Lazar was the fifth son or Wolf Charles and the only son of his second wife Zipe. As a result of an accident in infancy his left shoulder was permanently dislocated and caused a slight hump. He possessed a fine brain. Originally he was intended for law and was sent to Dorpat University; later, however, he decided not to pursue his studies and joined his nephew, Aaron Behrman (Gershon`s son) in Switzerland. Eventually both he and Aaron came to Sunderland, where they entered business. During his residence in Sunderland he married a Krottingen lady, Rivke. He went to South Africa and upon the outbreak of the Boer War returned to Switzerland. There he lived until the war's end when he returned to South Africa with his family. There were five children, two sons and three daughters, (6.1.7.1-5) Wolf Charles, Zodack, Sophy (Zipe), Ray and Dora. The sons passed away in early life. The daughters ( Sophy (Mrs Hotz), Ray (Mrs Green) and Dora Behrman reside in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Esther Reiche was the youngest child of Wolf Charles and Zipe Behrman. She was five years old when her father died in 1865. During the lifetime of her father the entire house was occupied by his immediate family. After his death, however, the house was divided between families. The son that succeeded to the business, Aaron Hirsh, retained the ground floors, whereas the widow and her three children, Minnie, Lazar and Esther Reiche, occupied the upper floors. At the same time the widow had now to depend on her stepson for her allowance as her share from the business..with the result that the widow had to tighten the purse strings.

During the lifetime of Wolf Charles, the education of the children, was by full time tutors in the home; this luxury could not now be indulged in. When Esther was old enough, therefore, she was sent to the home of friends in Deutsch Krottingen immediately across the German border, whose children were of Esther Reiche's age. These friends employed excellent tutors. Meanwhile her mother had established a soft goods business and when Esther Reiche left school she joined her in that, eventually taking complete charge.

The languages spoken in Krottingen were Lithuanian, German, Russian and Polish. Esther Reich spoke all of them with fluency; this helped to make the business a success.

Esther Reiche married Gershon Levy of Dorbyan. When Gershon married Esther Reiche it was intended that he should continue his studies; he did, in fact, enrol in a post-graduate Academy in Kovno after he was married but a destructive fire in Krottingen, where most of the Behrman fortune was lost, changed the whole situation.

The fire which took place in 1889, completely gutted the town which was built chiefly of wood. Though outwardly the Behrman house was not affected, as it was the only dwelling house built of stone, most of the contents, which had been collected for generations, were lost. When Gershon came to the Behrman house as the husband of Esther Reiche, there was still sufficient of a fortune to enable him to continue his post-graduate studies but these sudden reverses, due to insufficient insurance, almost brought ruin to the mother of Esther Reiche and to Gershon and his wife also, since the whole dowry was lost. Gershon therefore, had to abandon his studies and take to commerce.

Economic conditions were very bad in Lithuania. On the other hand, news came from South Africa of great prosperity there. Gershon, therefore, emigrated to South Africa, leaving his wife and three children in Krottingen. First in Cape Town, after that in Johannesburg, altogether Gershon Levy spent five years in South Africa. Shortly before the Boer War he left South Africa, returned to Krottingen, and after a short stay, wound up his affairs and brought his wife and children to Sunderland in the North of England. There he established himself in business. He was accepted as one of the leaders of the Jewish Community and was affectionately known as Reb Gershon. Gershon Levy died in Sunderland in 1935 at the age of 76. His wife Esther Reiche died in Sunderland in 1932 at the age of 72. They had three sons,

6.1.8.1 Arnold Levy married Lena Esther Jacobs

6.1.8.2 Leib Levy married Clara Cohen and had two sons.

6.1.8.3 Moss Hyman Levy married Leah Serevsky and had nine children.

Sore, daughter of Gershon Behrman, married Rabbi Mordecai Aria Samunov, Rav of Windau, Latvia. They had five children, three sons and two daughters.

5..4.1 Moushe Samunov resided in Orel, Russia, where he and his wife died. They had a son Mordecai or Max, who emigrated to England about 1893 and changed his name to Samuel. After 1914-18 war, Max resided at West Hartlepool.

5.4.2 Gershon Mendel Samunov married Channa Kahn and was engaged in business in Pilten, Latvia. He was a man of learning and culture. They had five sons and two daughters,

6.4.2.1.Rabbi Ephraem (wife Teme Berlin from Moscow and three sons and one daughter, Leib and three sons, who were victims of the Nazis, Yitzchak (wife Ida Vollshnock, residing in Jerusalem); Yakov (wife Dr Sarah Alishevsky, residing in Tel Aviv); Rivke (married to Eliezer Halevy, residing in Israel with one son, Ephraim);

6.4.2.2 Mordecai Aria, victim of the Nazis:

6.4.2.3 Tevye, residing in the USA;

6.4.2.4 Selig, died in Riga before 1939 (two sons survived the Nazis);

6.4.2.5 Leibe (married his cousin Frieda, daughter of Mere Leah. Both died in Russia. One son survived, residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil);

6.4.2.6 Chaie (married Mr Mesiwitzky of Libau, Latvia.. Victims of the Nazis);

6.4.2.7 Rochel (married Rabbiner. Her sons were victims of the Nazis. One daughter resides in Russia, another in Tel Aviv)

5.4.3 Rivke Samunov married her cousin Shmuel Gershon Behrman

5.4.4 Rabbi Elijah Aaron Mileikowsky-Samunov. He was firstly Rav of Grayeve and later of Kharkov, Russia. In the 1920s he moved to Israel and became Dayan of Tel Aviv.

5.4.5 Mere Leah married David Hirsh Klazov of Tukom, Latvia and had one son and six daughters,

6.4.5.1 Dvore (married Zvi Traub of Kadan, Latvia in 1892, moved to Tel Aviv in 1925. Two sons and two daughters, Israel Traub, Zalmen Traub, Chana Yaver, Hinde Motelev);

6.4.5.2 Frieda (married her cousin Leib Samunov);

6.4.5.3 Chava (married Mr Jacobson and resides in Riga, Latvia with two sons);

6.4.5.4 Minnie (married Mr Rashall and died in Riga childless);

6.4.5.5 Sarah (married Mr Drubkin and lived in Letland, where together with her father, one daughter and grand-daughter, she was killed by the Nazis, Another daughter married Dr Shenkman and have two children in the USA. Sarah`s son Yoel resides in Riga, Latvia);

6.4.5.6 Channe (married Mr Courting and has a son and daughter in San Francisco, USA);

6.4.5.7 Mordecai Klazov (married Emmy Hurshman of Libau, Latvia).

Channa, daughter of Gershon Behrman, married the noted Talmudist, Reb Avremel Mark. They lived and died in Krottingen. Reb Avremel was a descendant of Elijah, Gaon of Wilna, famed Talmudist, Cabbalist, grammarian and mathematician, 1720-1797. There were five children of the marriage:-

5.6.1 Beresh Mark studied at the Wilna Talmudic Academy. He married the daughter of a Chassid from Dvinsk and embraced Chassidism. He became a well known Chassidic Rabbi, affectionately known as 'Rebbe Behrzig'. He emigrated to Rochester in the state of New York in about 1900. His seven children reside in the USA,

6.6.1.1Gershon Mark (who had Harry, Sarah Meltzer, Molly Epstein, Martin, Aaron, Ida, and Adele Geltner);

6.6.1.2 Chia Glickman (who had Isidore, Max, Anne Erder, Jeanette Greyer, Evelyn Glickman and Sylvia London);

6.6.1.3 Rose Kurtin ( who had Morris, Harold, Ruth Whire, Sylvia Lewis and Adele);

6.6.1.4 Miriam Safren ( who had Mike, Louis, George, Sylvia Krine and Anne Klein);

6.6.1.5 Celia Rogoff (who had Edith Kurtin, Sylvia Slonim, Lilian Sara, Isidore and Aaron);

6.6.1.6 Bella Pearlman (who had Anne Glickman, Shirley Weiss, Mike, Abe and Sidney);

5.6.2 Hirsh Markhad four children,

6.6.2.1 Dora (Mrs Nathan Taylor and daughter Sarah Yudkin);

6.6.2.2 Abraham Mark (who had Beatrice Bloom);

6.6.2.3 Rasha (Mrs Gershon Sussman) and

6.6.2.4 Sarah (Mrs Mayer Zaitz).

5.6.3 Zipe married Wolf Charles Behrman (see Wolf Charles Behrman)

5.6.4 Leibe Eise - No details available

5.6.5 Chaie Sore married Yossel Drucker and had two sons and one daughter.

Zipe, daughter of Gershon Behrman, married Berrel Sussman of Krottingen. Berel's brother Moushe changed his name to Berelson. Moushe's son Yanke married Mary, daughter of Shmere Behrman. Zipe and Berrel had a number of children, the one that is still remembered by a few and whose children settled in England is

5.7.2 Feivel , commonly known in Krottingen as 'Feive Berrels'. Feivel was partially blind most of his life and almost totally blind towards his latter years. He carried on nevertheless. a most successful business, practically single handed. He was the largest cartage contractor in the neighbourhood and was the foremost government contractor. Though he had two sons, it was his daughters who acted as his guides and secretaries, each of the seven in turn until they married. Feivel was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him, especially so by the government officials, who, from time to time, entrusted him with the transfer of vast sums of money from one military post to another. His children were:-

6.7.2.1 Behr Sussman , died in Johannesburg, South Africa, unmarried;

6.7.2.2 Gershon Sussman, died in London;

6.7.2.3 Zipe Olswang, who had three children,

6.7.2.4 Channe (Mrs Samuel Behrman , Sunderland, who had two children.

6.7.2.5 Pesse (Mrs Philip Epstein, Birmingham, England, who had one son .

6.7.2.6 Olga Schumacher, died in Sunderland.

6.7.2.7 Minnie Schumacher, (who had three children, residing in New York, USA).

6.7.2.8 Tamar (Mrs David Simon, Cardiff, who had 6 children).

6.7.2.9 Fanny (Feige) Mrs Paul Palsitz, residing Sao Paulo, Brazil

5.7.3 ? Sussman, one of the daughters of Zipe and Berel married Yoel Krottinger, a well-to-do farmer and contractor. A son of Yoel,

6.7.3.1 Welfe Krottinger resided in Krottingen. A daughter of Yoel,

6.7.3.2 Zipe (married Shmuel Urdang, from Dorbyan and emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey in the latter part of the nineteenth century. They had three daughters and one son.

5.7.1 Sarah Sussman , one of the daughters of Zipe and Berel, married Lozer (Stalger) Span.

They had three sons,

6.7.1.2 Yankeand

6.7.1.3 Gershon and a daughter,

6.7.1.4 Zipe Epstein. All lived and died in Glasgow, Scotland, where they have many descendants.

Shmere was the youngest son of Gershon. He married Reise Braude, who bore him four children, two sons and two daughters. The last years of his life, Shmere spent at the home of his son, Samuel Behrman, who lived in Norfolk Street, Sunderland. He died in 1901 at the age of 84. His wife, 'the Mumme' Reise had died in Krottingen some twelve years previously. Their children were

5.3.1 Mary Behrman married Yankel Berlson of Libau and died there in the middle 1890s. She bore her husband two sons and several daughters.

5.3.2 Gershon (Shmere's) Behrman married Dobe Beile Rosaitzky of Neustadt, the daughter of a prominent merchant and man of learning. She bore her husband seven sons and one daughter. When Gershon died suddenly in his forties, his widow and children were left almost stranded.

6.3.2.1 David , the eldest son, went to South Africa. He married Frede Heller and had two sons.

6.3.2.2 Charles Samuel, the second son, who showed considerable brilliance as a student in Yeshivah, went to England to join his uncle, Samuel Behrman. He was later joined by his brothers, Ben and Charles. Eventually all three went to South Africa. Samuel married Minnie and had four children.

6.3.2.3 Ben married Lilly Lazarus and had one daughter,

6.3.2.4 Charles married Kreine Behrman and had three children,

6.3.2.5 Leah, the only daughter, married Solomon Krieger of Lygam and had three children,

6.3.2.7 Abe , the son of Gershon and Beile, came from Krottingen to Sunderland, England. Abe later went to join his brothers in South Africa but returned in 1919 and went with his wife and family to Glasgow. Married Ettie Naftalin.

6.3.2.6 Max married Rose Bloom and came from Kretinga to Sunderland England.

6.3.2.8 Julius Behrman Son of Gershon and Beile, came from Kretinga to Sunderland England. Married Rosie Richardson.