Manfred and Helene ("Lenchen") Goldmeier

Manfred Goldmeier, born on April 17, 1879 in Memmelsdorf near Ebern, settled together with his twin brother Arthur Goldmeier in July 1906 in Lichtenfels at Bamberger Straße 33.

Manfred was married to Helene Goldmeier née Kaufmann from Altenstein, they had two daughters: Hilde, born on December 26, 1904, later married to Sternberg, and Florett, later married to Nass, born on May 4, 1906.

The Goldmeier brothers operated a wide variety of businesses in Lichtenfels. Manfred opened a hop and cattle trade in 1904, a goods trade in 1905, a cattle trade together with his brother in 1908 and a real estate trade in 1914.

Business came to a virtual standstill during the First World War, and Manfred served in the war from 1914 to 1918. Initially on the Western Front, from 1917 onwards he was mainly deployed on the Romanian front, including battles on the Arges, Jalomita and Putna rivers. For this he received the Iron Cross II class.

Shortly after World War I, the Goldmeier brothers acquired a majority shareholding in the Lichtenfels glue factory, which they expanded. In 1924, Manfred registered a horse trade, and in 1927 a real estate trade. In April 1930, the Goldmeiers took over the textile and clothing business of the B. Goldschmitt family at Bambergerstrasse 69.

During this crisis, the brothers had to cope with great losses. On January 1, 1930, they had to deregister their cattle business, sell their car, and lay off their accountant and farmhand.

The business development after 1933 was of course hindered by anti-Semitic measures, but nevertheless picked up again.

At the beginning of 1938, this came to an end: the brothers were forced to sell their real estate far below its value. The businesses were dissolved; Jews were generally forbidden to trade in livestock. During the November pogroms, Manfred and Helene fled to Bamberg to avoid arrest. From December 6, 1938, they had to live with the other Lichtenfels Jews in the "Judenhaus" (Judengasse 14).

Manfred and Helene knew their children were safe in the USA and Switzerland respectively. At the beginning of April 1939, Manfred Goldmeier and his wife Helene also emigrated to Menton, France. On May 18, 1940, they finally succeeded in crossing to the USA. Their route took them on the SS Champlain from Saint Nazaire Neves in southern France to New York, where they arrived on May 27, 1940.

Building a new life was naturally difficult for the sixty-year-old couple. Manfred and Helene found a place to live with their daughter Florett in Binghamton, NY, in rural Broome County. The children of their twin brother Arthur also lived on a farm there. Life was hard work, the breadwinning hard.

But there was a subculture of emigrant Jewish cattle dealers from southern and western Germany in this area, in which the Lichtenfels families also participated. In addition, Manfred and Helene naturally had their children and their families around them.

Manfred lived in Binghamton for a total of 14 years and was "Schammes" (sexton) of the local synagogue. During the summers, he also worked as a janitor at the summer guesthouse "Sunrise Farms" operated by the families of his daughters Florette and Hilde (now "Hilda") in nearby Greene (Chenango County, NY).

Helene died of cancer in 1945 at the age of 67. Manfred suffered a fatal heartattack on September 9, 1953 at the age of 74. Both are buried in Conklin, Broome County, New York, at Beth David Cemetery.

Photo: Gravestone, https://de.findagrave.com/memorial/90859599/manfred-goldmeier