Bertha Loewenberg, born on 24 May 1884, in Posen, Prussia (now Poznan, Poland), was the third child of Abraham Albert Loewenberg and Henrietta Jenny Schottlander. Her father, originally from Poznan, Poland, migrated with his family to San Francisco, California, where his brother Isidor had established a successful mercantile trade. Abraham later relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii, as a partner in the firm M. Phillips Co. It was during this time that he married Henrietta, possibly a cousin, and brought her to Hawaii to start a family.
In 1888, the Loewenberg family returned to Posen due to Henrietta’s homesickness. They subsequently moved to Berlin, Germany, where Abraham continued his career as a merchant. Berta was one of six children: Alice (1881-1939), Albert Valentin (1882-1914), Harry Richard (1887-1971), Alfred Ludwig (1889-1981), and Paul Kurt (1892-1925).
On 13 May 1911, Berta married Jacob Chaskel, a dentist in Charlottenburg, Germany. They had two daughters, Sara, who passed away shortly after birth in 1912, and Ruth Selma Johanna, born on 24 March 1917 (d., 3 Oct 2004).
Following Henrietta’s death in 1932, Berta and Jacob relocated to Haifa, Palestine. In 1947, they moved to New York City to live with their daughter Ruth, who had been living in the United States for nearly eight years, having obtained her master’s degree in social work from the University of Washington, Seattle. Ruth was involved in various social causes, including roles with the Bureau of Social Planning and Children’s Aid Society in Brooklyn (1954) and the Council on Illegitimacy in New York City (1966).
Berta and Jacob became naturalized citizens of the United States in 1953. Jacob passed away on 24 July 1957, and Berta died on 18 Nov 1969. They are buried together in Mount Mariah Cemetery, Fairview, New Jersey.
Sources
1950 U.S. census, New York City, New Yor, sheet 8; digital images, Ancestry.com, citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T628.
Abraham Albert Loewenberg biography, written by Dorene Nowatzke.
Ancestry.com, New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949=1965 (database online), Lehi, UT, USA.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
Birth certificate, Polish archives.
Chaskel-Loewenberg marriage certificate, accessed via Ancestry.com.
Death certificate no. 379, digital image, Ancestry.com, “Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1955”, accessed 27 Jan 2024.
New York, Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989, Ancestry.com, accessed 14 April 2024.
New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (Including Castle Garden and Ellis Island, 1820-1957, online images, Ancestry.com, accessed 28 Jan 2024, manifest, Transcontinental and Western Airways, 2 July 1947.
Ruth Selma Johanna Chaskel biography, written by Dorene Nowatzke.
The Budding Genealogist 