KAUDERS FAMILY
The KAUDERS family was one of
the earliest Jewish families in Körmend, as well as one
of the wealthiest.
The earliest KAUDERS family member in the town was probably
Veit KAUDERS, born around 1740, probably in Bohemia, who
came to Körmend around 1760 and died there around
1810. The names Veit (and variants Feit and Vitus) and
KAUDERS were much more common in Bohemia than in Hungary,
with the KAUDERS name occurring in Prague since at least the
17th century. In the 18th century, many young Jewish
men moved from Bohemia and Moravia to Hungary.
According to a law issued in 1726 by Charles III and
designed to limit the growth of the Jewish population in
those provinces of the Monarchy, only the first-born Jewish
son was allowed to marry locally. Bohemian Jews were
mostly German-speaking and they tried to move to areas where
Jews were similarly German-speaking. This may have
been the reason Veit KAUDERS moved to Körmend.
Veit's children were Markus (Meyer,
ca. 1765-1828), Jacob (1767-1860), and Abraham
(1771-1864).
Abraham KAUDERS was a
merchant. His wife, Julia HOHENZOLLNER (1782-1854) was
the daughter of Marcus (Meyer) HOHENZOLLNER, also a
merchant. One family story claims that an ancestor of
Julia's had been an out-of-wedlock descendant of the German
royal family HOHENZOLLERN, though this is probably merely an
example of Jews trying to claim noble ancestry, if only
through wedlock.
A portrait of Julia painted in 1840
shows her wearing a black cap under a traditional
silk-flowers-ornamented tulle and lace cap. Such
headdresses were fashionable among Jewish women of the
period. The cap was worn to cover a shaved head, as
highly religious Jewish women cut off their hair when they
got married. Some women wore a wig, others a
cap. A portrait of Abraham painted the same year
depicts a wiry little man. His niece, Netty KAUDERS
recalled in 1870 "a strictly observant Jew who never
burdened himself with any sin, [and who] raised his
offspring according to the traditions of his ancestors, and
who kept him mindful of observing the Holy Laws that he
valued above everything."
Abraham and Julia had seven
children including David (1805, Körmend - 1877,
Györszighet), Philip (1811, Körmend-1888, Vienna),
Regina (1832, Körmend - 1892, Sumeg), Rosie (ca. 1819,
Körmend - ?), Miksa aka Max (1821, Körmend - 1888,
Vienna) and Netty (not to be confused with his niece,
above). Abraham must have been quite energetic and
healthy, because even at the age of 81 he decided to make
the very time-consuming train trip to Pest in order to
attend Miksa's wedding!
Abraham's granddaughter Katarina
KAUDERS (1818-1912) married Edward BARUCH (1812-1886).
A highly religious family, they moved to Györ, where
they ran a store selling ribbons, laces, embroidery and
sewing accessories. Katarina was described as "an
exceptional business woman who worked with tireless energy
and enthusiasm". She and her husband had 8 children,
one of whom was Therese/Riza BARUCH (1851-1938), who married
a cousin, Bernhard BERGER (1838-1926). They lived in
Moson. Riza is the subject of a book entitled "A Taste
of the Past: The Daily Life and Cooking of a 19th-Century
Hungarian Jewish Homemaker" written by her great grandson,
András KOERNER. It is a loving tribute, both to
Therese (fondly termed Riza néni by her family), and
the Hungarian Jewish culture that was nearly destroyed by
the Holocaust. The book, full of reminisces and
authentic recipes (slightly adapted for modern tastes and
utensils) is a captivating insight into the every day life
shared by anyone with Hungarian Jewish ancestry.
Here is a link to "A Taste of the
Past" on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Past-Nineteenth-Century-Hungarian-Jewish-Homemaker/dp/1584652098/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384284506&sr=1-1&keywords=andras+koerner
A family tree for Dr. Anton
KAUDERS, the son of Jacob KAUDERS, and Johanna (Hanni) WOLF
can be found here.
Dr. Ben-Zion KAUDERS:
A native of Körmend, Dr.
KAUDERS (1907-1974) graduated from the Law Faculty of
Budapest University. In 1943, he was the director of
the legal department of the National Hungarian Jewish Aid
Action (Hungarian acronym OMZSA), providing aid to Hungarian
Jews who fell afoul of anti-Jewish legislation.
Leaving Budapest on the "Kasztner
Train", Dr. KAUDERS was interned in Bergen-Belsen.
Notably, Dr. KAUDERS preserved a hand-written page of
prayers from the Kol Nidre service held in Bergen-Belsen in
1944. The page is currently in the Ghetto Fighters'
House Archive in Israel.
Reaching Switzerland and from
there Mandate Palestine in the late summer of 1945, Dr.
KAUDERS settled in Haifa and joined the Haganah.
In Israel, Dr. KAUDERS served in a number of public
positions and became active with the B'nai Brith and the
association of Hungarian immigrants.
Ben-Zion KAUDERS died in January,
1974 in a car accident near Hadera. A street in Haifa
is named for him.
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Ben-Zion KAUDERS
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© Copyright 2008 Judy
Petersen