Person:Magdalena Herring (1)

Magdalena Herring (last name confirmed by my mother SSI records) died in the late 1970's. Lived in Worms, Germany.

Additional name info: Magda, Magdalena and Madeleine all come from the Aramaic Magdala, a small town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee; the Hebrew name is Migdal Kinneret, the Arabic name is Majdal. Magda, Magdalena and Madelein etc. were in fairly common use among 19th and 20th century Ashkenazim Jews.

Magdalena Herring was also Jewish. My father told me that she was Jewish and that my grandfather had to make some special arrangements to keep her safe during the time of the Jewish round up. My grandfather apparently had some influence with the German Army that was in his area. As stated above, in 1935 It became illegal for a German (my grandfather was a full blooded German) to marry a Jew. I believe they were married several years before this as my Uncle was at least a few years older than my mother. I did some research on the name Herring and found it to be a common Jewish surname with some Herrings even found in Israel. I also found several Rabbi Herrings and at least one Jewish Holocaust survivor with the surname of Herring. My father also indicated that she spoke Yiddish as well.

Rabbic Judaism determines Jewish blood line from the mother. As my grandmother was Jewish, my sister and I are also Jewish. In contrast, the Bible accepts both mother and father (which would make my children Jewish). Hitler was far more lenient and would send someone to the death camps if even one grandparent was Jewish.

[Note from Van: Mauds naturalization papers give Magalena's surname as HERIG, but I'll use HERRING from Freds research. California Death Index lists maiden name as HERIG.]