The Ancestors of Roger Engel
A family history from Poland to France
This website tells the story of the Engel family and the ancestors of Roger Engel, tracing the family history through Poland, France and Israel. It follows several interconnected families, including the Engel, Horowitz, Gothelf and Ajzersztejn families.
The story reaches back to the nineteenth century and, through the Horowitz family tradition, to much earlier generations.
This website describes the generations born before the war. Information on living persons is only available to family members.
Roger Engel
Our father and father-in-law, Roger Engel, was born in Paris in 1934. His parents, Abram Majer Engel and Chaja Ajzersztejn, were Jewish immigrants from Poland who had moved to France around 1930.
From that single document, the research led us to Kałuszyn, Żelechów and Kozienice in Poland, and eventually further back into the Engel-Horowitz family. Other documents revealed the Ajzersztejn family of Kałuszyn, while historical and genealogical sources opened up connections to earlier generations.
During the Second World War, Roger lost half of his family, including his father. Perhaps because of the trauma of these experiences, the past was never spoken about within the family. As a result, very little was known about the family’s origins or what had happened to those who had remained in Poland.
It was only after Roger’s death in 2021 that we discovered the family papers he had kept. Among them was the marriage certificate of his parents. This document became the starting point for a much larger investigation.
For more recent generations, family papers and information from relatives served as the basis for the search. This led to findings in French and Polish archives. The Yizkor books of Kaluszyn, Zelechow, and Ryki proved valuable in uncovering background stories. Much information was gathered from genealogical sites, although their accuracy can sometimes be challenging to verify. Finally, some mysteries were solved with the help of other researchers, to whom we are grateful.
How the Family History Was Reconstructed
We discovered Rubin Engel mentioned in the Yizkor (memorial) book of Kaluszyn. His brother-in-law, Yankev Mendl Gothelf, provided a description of him, noting that he was the uncle of the well-known Reb Shimon Engel (Reb Shimele of Zelechow). There are several extensive biographies of Shimon Engel, which also mention Shimon’s father, Meir Engel. Alexander Goldstein published information about the family.
A significant breakthrough occurred when we found a Rubin Engel listed on the family tree compiled by David Lukowiecki, the director of the “Jewish Zelechow” organization. After reaching out via email, Lukowiecki provided further insights into Rubin’s family, including information about his father, Israel Engel, and the five children of Israel Engel. It was confirmed that Rubin was born in Zelechow on January 22, 1870 and married a woman from Kaluszyn. His father, Israel Engel, passed away in Ryki.
The Yizkor book of Ryki contained a biography of Rubin’s brother, Lejb Engel -also known as Rabbi Yehuda Nachum Leibish Halevi Horwitz (Engel)- written by his son, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Halevi Horowitz. His grandson Jacob Horowitz published a family tree online.
The use of the double name Horowitz-Engel was intriguing. Next to a photo of Rubin’s brother Lejb Engel, it is written that he is a descendant, “son after son,” of Rabbi Zerahiah Halevi Baal HaMaor.
This ancestor, Rabbi Zerahiah HaLevi Baal HaMaor, was a Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived in 12th-century Spain. His nickname “Baal HaMaor” means “Master of Light” and refers to his famous work, “HaMaor,” a commentary on parts of the Talmud.
“Halevi” is an addition to a Jewish surname indicating that the person belongs to the Levites, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Descendants of Levi, a son of Jacob and Leah, the Levites held a special role in Israelite society as priests, teachers, and leaders in Jewish tradition.
This traces back approximately 1800 years before Christ to Jacob, the patriarch of the Israelite people, and Leah, one of Jacob’s wives. Levi was their third son.
The book “the Unbroken Chain” documents the descendants of Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen of Padua (1482–1565) and Rabbi Judah Lowe of Prague through 22 generations. It contains 42,000 names with genealogies of the leading Hasidic dynasties, including the Horowitz family. A part has been published on the Geni website. Hugo Gold made an overview of the Horowitz family relations.
Members of the Horowitz families have carried out extensive DNA testing. All direct male descendants share the Y-chromosome lineage R-Y2619, commonly known as the “Ashkenazi Levite” lineage. The term “Ashkenazi Levite” refers to the Jewish tradition of patrilineal descent from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah and the ancestor of the Levite tribe. A DNA test of Roger Engel’s brother revealed the same lineage, providing genetic evidence for a connection between the Engel and Horowitz families, and a descendance from a Levite who lived 1700 years ago.