Ephraim Beer

He was born to Abraham and Elle in 1844 in Brody and died in 1909 in Vienna. He often went by the name Bernhardt.

He was about 4 years old when his mother died, so he was also raised by his step-mother, Sarah.

Ephriam married Rifka Artel (d. 1913 in Vienna) in 1878 in Ardel Temple in Okkakring, a part of Vienna, and they settled there. Once in Vienna, he went by the name of Bernhardt. He worked as a security guard under the Hapsburg dynasty, probably for Franz Joseph.

Ephraim (Bernhardt) and Rifka had at least 9 children who would have been half-nieces and half-nephews to Bertha. At least two of his children (Elise and Minna) had children who were baptized into Catholicism, and his daughter, Ernestine, was murdered in the Holocaust. You can read more about their stories below, as well as the rest of the information on Ephraim. The children of Bernhardt and Rifka that we know of we

• Elise Charipper Gebell,
• Fritzi Charipper Strasser
• Adolph
• Kubi
• Charlotte
• Minna
• Ernestine
• Arnold

Ephraim (Bernhart) lived to be 65 years old. He was buried in the Wiener Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria on March 24, 1909. His wife was also buried there on April 16, 1913.

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The Children of Ephraim (Bernardt) and Rifka

Elise Charipper Gebell

She was born around 1874. She married Edourd Franz Jacob Gebell and they had a son named Rupert Martin ( also knwon as Richard) born in 1897, and a daughter named Margaretha Hermine Maria born in 1898. Both children were baptized in 1903. From the Baptismal Record we also learn that Margaretha died in 1951.

This records is from Citation information Diözesanarchiv der Erzdiözese Wien; Vienna, Austria; Katholische Kirchenbücher; Pfarre: St Florian (Matzleinsdorf); Signatur: 9035; Laufendenummer: 01-65aEdit source, Vienna, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1600-1998 AuthorAncestry.com. pub. 2019

Fritzi Charipper Strasser

She was born around 1876. She married Franz Strasser and they had a son named Otto. That is all we know about her life.

Adolph Charipper

Adolph was born around 1878 and died in 1950. He emigrated to the United States when he was 17 sailing on the same ship as his half-aunt Bertha. He married Hannah and they had three children: Harry Adolph, Ph.D., Florence, and Madeline Natalie

Adolph Charipper

Hannah Charipper

Adolph’s and Hannah’s son Harry became a professor at New York University

Natalie Charipper

1942, Helen and her granddaughter, Carol

In 1946, Adolph was a registered voter in New York City living in a rented an apartment. From the slant of his signature, I wonder if he was left-handed?

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Kubi

a son born about 1880 – we do not know anything about him

Charlotte

a daughter born around 1882 – we have not been able to find any information about her

Minna

a daughter born around 1886

On August 16, 1905, Minna gave birth to a baby girl she named Olga. According to documents, Minna was not married (at least not legally) and the father of the child was in the military. From Olga’s birth record Minna was listed as “mosaisch”, a term used for Jewish, and the father as Catholic. His name was listed as Wladimir Johann Kampf, born in 1878 in Kremisier to Leopold Kampf and Maria born Tiriech.

Although the baby was born in 1905, she was not baptized until 1911, when Minna gave permission.

Another document shows Minna was baptized in July of 1919. Her new godparent is listed as G. Gebell. Could this be a cousin her Aunt Elise’s marriage (Elise Charipper Gebell)?

Although she was baptized, the hand-written text in the 4th column says that as of May 4, 1943, Minna would be forced to use the name Sara along with her given name which was now the law for all Jewish women. This was ordered by The Reich Governor of Vienna with correspondence I.A. P. 32157/40.

From Google Translate, we learn that Taufe means Baptism and Ehelich means Honest which probably mean she was the legitimate child of Bernhard and Mari Regina. The Baptism took place at Altlerchenfelder Church in Vienna, Austria.

We don’t know what happened to Minna during the war. However, we do know that Olga, who was raised Catholic, survived and married Friedrich Heu. Olga died in 1972 and is buried in Kommunalfriedhof der Stadt Salzburg Cemetery. Following are a few documents about Olga as a married woman.

Their original marriage record is below in the first row.

Note that from at least 1935 through 1965 they lived at the same address. In 1935, Friedrich was employed as a secretary while in1965 was he an insurance director. There is no indication if they had any children.

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Ernestine 

1888 – 1942 (daughter) – Ernestine was murdered in the Holocaust. During the war she was in Wien, Austria. She was deported with Transport 23, Train Da 204 from Wien, Vienna, Austria, to Blagovshchina (Maly Trostenets Area),forest, Murder Site, Belorussia (USSR) on 27/05/1942.

Her brother Adolph in the United States was trying to get her out, but her papers arrived too late and she had already been deported. Below are 3 pages of papers that were started for her emigration process. Note that her middle name is listed as Sara, the name that all Jewish females were forced to add to their given names.

The application papers were found in MyHeritage.com at:

They were translated by ChatGPT 4Plus, April 19, 2025

Below is a Page of Testimony for Ernestine list in Yadvashem.org

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Arnold

Arnold was the youngest of Abraham and Sarah’s children.

1879 – 1889

He was married and had the following children:

• Klara – b. 1891 (daughter)
• Louis – b. 1893 (son)
• Gisela – 1894 – 1895 (daughter)