Descendents of Alex Richter

Alex received religious training and may even have been ordained as Rabbi. As young man he was athletic, attractive and very much a 'ladies man'. He served in Hungarian army (WW I) as a machine-gunner on the Italian front. By his own account he was severely traumatized by his experience in the trenches and in combat. He said that towards end of the war he was wounded and left on battlefield where he was rescued by young Italian girl who ministered to his wounds and other needs. When he recovered he did not return to the army, but deserted and made his way home.

He married Malvina Roth, daughter of a prosperous tavern-keeper (he ran the tavern at the Halmi RR Station). Not long after the end of the war he left (or was forced to flee?) Karpathia (accompanied by younger brother Emil?). I am not clear as to why he left: I've heard that he was being hunted as a deserter, that he fled to avoid the persecution visited on supporters of the abortive Communist regime of Bela Kuhn (he and Emil seem to have had communist leanings - see notes for his brother Josef), also that he left simply to seek gainful employment. In any event, he never returned to Karpathia though I have heard that he and Malvina resided in Budapest for a time.

He travelled about Europe. He was in Israel (1924 or later) and is said to have visited a cousin, Avraham Drummer, who had made aliyah in 1921. At the time he may have been working on a ship (as waiter or Steward). He and Malvina were living in Paris when their third child, Yacov, was born in February 1927 (Alex never saw his son Yacov until they met some 44 years later in Israel). Malvena refused to remain in Paris. She left Alex and returned to Sevlus where she raised son Yacov and daughter Olga (their first child died young) and remained in touch with her Richter relatives. She is said to have remarried to a widower with six children in 1938, and was left with the children when he ran off about 1940. She and daughter Olga (who married a dentist?) were murdered in Auschwitz. Yacov survived the concentration camps, emigrated to Israel and met his father there (about 1970).

(the following is the translation of an extract from a seventh grade school paper on 'family history' prepared by Almog, grandaughter of Yacov Richter)

Yacov Richter was born in Paris, France on 10 February 1927. He was the youngest child of Alexander and Malvina (Roth) Richter. Shortly after Yacov's birth his parents separated; Malvena left Paris with her children and returned to her home in Sevlus, Cz, where she raised Yacov and his sister Olga (an older son, Haznal, died as an infant). Yacov attended vocational school and studied mechanics, metalworking and welding. In 1944 the family was sent to the Auschwitz death camp, where Malvena and Olga were put to death.

Yacov survived - probably due to his vocational skills. He told his children that when he learned of the fate of those sent to the death camp, including his mother and sister, he determined to get revenge. He escaped from the camp and, one night, dressed up as a girl, he managed to lure a German soldier into an alley behind a nightclub and kill him. He put on the soldier's uniform, took his papers and stole a military motorcycle. Yacov was fluent in German, the war was coming to an end and discipline in the German army was lax. Yacov was able to survive on-the-move, killing Germans whenever he could and frequently finding himself in danger of being caught. The war ended but he continued his private crusade, Sometime in 1947 he married Martel (Martha) ??, who had also survived the Holocaust, and made his way to France and from there they decided to go to Israel.

In December 1947 they left Marsielles aboard the ship 'Komemiut' (Independence) for Isreal. Once at sea it was announced that the ship carried a cargo of Phosphates and was sailing for Morocco. On the way they encountered another ship 'Atsmaut' (Liberty) which was carrying illegal immigrants bound for Israel and trying to dodge the British blockade. Both ships were stopped by British warships. They were refused permission to unload passengers in Israel and were directed to dock at Cyprus for inspection. Under cover of fog, the two ships eluded the British warships and managed to unload their passengers at the port of Haifa in the dark of night.

From Haifa Yacov and Martha made their way to 'Tel Hanan' (today called 'Nesher'). At that time there was trouble with the Arabs, mostly in the cities. Yacov joined the Hagana in Haifa. The Haganah managed to control the terror in Haifa but its response was so harsh that Arab residents began to flee.

Yacov and Martha had two children: Tzipi who was born 5 January 1949 and Meir who was born 10 September 1950. Martha left Yacov and her children when Meir was about 6 months old. From 1951 to 1954 Yacov and the children lived on Kibbutz Givat Haim where Yacov worked as a welder and the children lived in the Children's house of the kibbutz.

In 1954 Yacov went to work on construction of a Bromine plant at the Dead Sea and the family moved to Be'er Sheva. In 1956 he worked on the Eilat-Ashkelon oil-pipeline and later, on kibbutz G'vulot manufacturing chemical spray-tanks and then he worked on a construction project in S'dom. During this period (1954 to 1962) Zippi and Meir lived with various 'foster' parents in Be'er Sheva, Eilat, Jerusalem and Hadera.

In 1962 Yacov and a friend of his opened a welding shop in Eilat. Yacov bought a house and brought the children to live with him in Eilat. In 1968 the partnership was dissolved. Yacov left Eilat and went to to work in Be'er Sheva; the family relocated again. In Be'er Sheva he met Irma, a divorcee and mother of a son and a daughter. The families were lived together in Be'er Sheba until Yacov's death.

Yacov met his father, Alex, and his half-brother Donald (who had come on Aliyah to Israel in 1969) in 1970; Alex had not seen Yacov since he was an infant. Later, he met other siblings - Marilyn and Paula - who were visiting Israel. Yacov died in an industrial accident in 1972; he was electrocuuted when a crane he was operating hit a high-tension wire.

(the following is the translation of an extract from a seventh grade school paper on 'family history' prepared by Almog, daughter of Meir and Tamar Richter)

Meir is the son of Yacov and Martha Richter. He was Born 10 September 1950 (28 Elul 5710) in 'Imaot' hospital, Haifa. At the time of his birth the family was living in Acco. About six months after his birth Martha left Yacov and her children. Neither Meir or his sister have any memories or knowledge of her. After Martha left, Meir, his father Yacov and sister Zippi moved to Kibbutz Givat Haim, where Meir and Zippi lived in the Children's House of the Kibbutz. On the Kibbutz they were 'adopted' by a Kibbutz family, Naoma and Zvi Keel who had three children of their own.

In 1954 Yacov went to work on construction of a Bromine plant at the Dead Sea. Zippi and Meir went to live with 'foster' parents, Yoska and Klara Miller, in B'er Sheva. In 1956 Zippi and Meir went to live with another 'foster' family in Eilat and through 1962 (while their father worked at various jobs in the South of Israel) the children lived with 'foster' families in Jerusalem, Hadera, B'er Sheva, Kibbutz G'vulot and other places. In 1962 the children returned to living with Yacov when he opened a Welding shop and bought a home in Eilat. Meir completed grade school in Eilat and then attended the Eilat Maretime Acadamy where he studied to become a Ship's Engineering Officer.

Meir finished his studies in 1968, and was asked to defer his military service and sign up for Maratime sea-duty because of the shortage of qualified seamen for the Israeli Merchant fleet. After the six-day-war arms were frequently transported by Israeli merchant vessels so they did not wish to use foreign seamen. In those years Meir served aboard Zim Line ships and sailed to many parts and ports of the world. On 17 February 1970 Meir was inducted into the IDF and served in the Naval Service. After basic training he was trained as an undersea weapons technician and served as torpedo-man on a submarine. Later, he worked on weapons instalations for the Torpedo Boats that had been 'hijacked' from Cherbourg. After his father Yacov died he asked to be transferred to Eilat and completed his military service there on 14 March 1973.

During Meir's service in Eilat he met Sarah Yahamovitz and they were married on 25 March 1973 at Bet Hamehandes in Tel Aviv. They lived in Ramat Gan and Meir worked as a welder in the Nerost-Kur plant which produced stainless steel milk containers for T'nuva. In 1974 they moved to Ra'nana and Meir went to work for Israel Aircraft Industries as a flight mechanic. In 1985 Sarah and Meir were divorced and he left Ra'nana and went to live in Tel Aviv.

Sarah and Meir had two sons: Yacov (Kobi) was named after his father and was born On 22 September 1975 (17 Tishri 5736) at the 'Sheba' hospital in Tel-Hashomer, Ori, was born on 11 September 1981 (13 Elul 5741) at the 'Meir' hospital in Kfar-Sava.

Elizabeth was the eldest of three children - David Peter b 27 Oct 63, Mary Margaret b 18 Sept 64. On mother's side they were the fourth generation to be born in Rochester MI. Her grandparents were among those responsible for building the town of Rochester; most of her relatives still live in Michigan. Bets maternal grandmother, Selma Adele (LaCroix) (DeBaene) Case was Ms Senior Michigan of 1988; she won the talent award at a pageant in Atlantic City same year; her husband Walter Thomas DeBaene Sr died in 1961 (emphysema and liver cancer). Mother's family ancestry (we're talking real mutt!) is Belgian, German and English; on father's side French, Canadian and and American Indian. Bets is 1/32nd Blackfoot indian; ancestor George Drouillard (member of the Lewis & Clark expedition) sired children with a Blackfoot squaw.