Sunday, 27 September 2026

Marcel Aron KIndler (1908 - 1972)

Marcel Aron KIndler, known as Marcus, is the husband of Esther Epstein, the daughter of Tilly Morris, born Tilly Dik, the sister-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Morris family HERE

Parents: Elie Kindler (1864 - 1944) and Valentine Pollak (1872 - ?). Elie was murdered at Auschwitz on 15 April 1944

Marriage certificate for Marcel's parents, Elie and Valentine. They were married in Bouches-Du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte D'azur, France on 12 July 1891

Born: 14 February 1908 in Marseille, Bouches-Du-Rhone, France

Siblings
  • Isidore Kindler (1896 - 1944) a physician who was murdered in the Holocaust, married Fernande Mathurine Paul (1905 - 1998) on 13 January 1931 in Allauch, Bouches du Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d''Azur, France
  • Hélène Kindler (1899 - 1991) married 1) Joseph Braunstein (1887 - 1944) on 25 October 1930, 2) Raoul Henry Goubert (1899 - ?) on 19 August 1937, both marriages were in Marseille, France
  • Lucien Kindler (1904 - 1988) married Gabrielle Clare Ernestine Rossi on 19 December 1935
  • Fanny Kindler (1905 - 1983) married Raymond Verger
  • Victorine Kindler (1906 - 1946)
  • Georgette Cecile Kindler(1913 - 1974)

Death certificate for Marcel's brother Isidore

Married: Esther Epstein on 4 July 1943, in London England. Marcel was age 35 and Esther 28

Children
Their first child was born in 1945 when Marcel was 37 and Esther 29
  • Myriam Kindler 1945 - 1965
  • Danny Kindler

World War 2
Marcel enlisted in the FAFL in Beirut on 31 August 1941, with the rank of corporal aircraft mechanic and the registration number 35.281. Appears on the personnel list of bomber group no. 1 "Lorraine" in December 1941, with the rank of 2nd class  boilermaker.

Marcel appears in two separate French archival systems. The Service historique de la Défense lists Marcel Kindler, born Marseille 14 February 1908, file GR 16 P 320172, with his service marked Homologué in the Forces françaises libres (FFL) column. 

The French Ministry of Economy and Finance has a separate personnel file for “Kindler Marcel, Aren”, born 14 February 1908, among the personnel who served with the Comité français de Libération nationale (CFLN) and subsequently the Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (GPRF) in Algiers and London. The archival reference is 1C-0005953/1. The finding aid says these files concern people who “exercised functions” with the CFLN and GPRF. The CFLN, created in Algiers in June 1943 under de Gaulle and Giraud, directed the French war effort and prepared for liberation before becoming the provisional government in June 1944.

Death
December 1972 age 64 in Le Raincy, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France

Tuesday, 1 September 2026

Esther Epstein (1915 - 2013)

Esther Epstein is the daughter of Tilly Morris, born Tilly Dik, the sister-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Morris family HERE

Parents: Isaac Epstein (1884 - 1941) and Tilly Morris (1886 - 1981)

Tombstones for Esther's parents. Isaac is buried in the Rice Lane Cemetery in Liverpool, England and Tilly (Tova) in Westpark Cemetery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Born: 5 May 1915  in Liverpool, England

Siblings

Hebrew name: Esther daughter of Yitzhak

Married: Marcel Aron Kindler on 4 July 1943, in London England. Marcel was age 35 and Esther 28

Children
Their first child was born in 1945 when Marcel was 37 and Esther 29
  • Myriam Kindler 1945 - 1965
  • Danny Kindler

Census
1921
In the 1921 census taken on 19 June 1921, Esther's parents Tilly and Isaac are living in a 6 room dwelling at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is age 37 years and four months and a travelling draper and clothier working from home. His place of birth is given as Wloclawek, Poland.Tilly is a housewife age 35 years and six months and born in Poneviezys, Lithuania. Their children are Boruch age 10 years and four months, Leah age 8 years and 10 months, Naphtali age 7 years and one month, Esther age 6 years and one month, Sarah age 1 year and one month



1939 Register
In 1939 the family are living at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is now a master butcher with his own business. Living with Isaac and Tilly are their children Leah and Esther who both work in the family butchery, and Sara. The family had moved to Palestine in the mid-1920s but had returned to Liverpool in the early to mid-1930s due to their poor financial situation


Migration to Palestine
On 25 October 1924 the family departed Liverpool, England and sailed to Port Said, Egypt on the way to Palestine aboard the California. The family was headed by Sara Epstein age 24, a sales lady, who I can only assume was an unmarried sister of Esther's father Isaac. The children were Baruch age 13, Lilly (Leah) age 11, Naphtali age 10, Esther age 9 and Sarah age 4. The family struggled in Palestine and returned to Liverpool in the mid-1930s but Naphtali remained behind.

Death
2 January 2013 in Be'ersheva, Israel age 97. She is buried in the new Beer Sheva cemetery, block 19, plot 6, Row 9, sport 12

JewishGen burial record for Esther


Gravenez tombstone and cemetery record for Esther. The translation is:
  • Top (Tombstone)
    מגן דוד
    • Translation: Star of David
  • First Line (Abbreviation):
    פ"נ
    • Translation: Here lies (Po Nitman / Po Nikbar)
  • Second Line:
    אסתר בת יצחק ויוכבד ז"ל
    • Translation: Esther, daughter of Yitzhak (Isaac) and Yocheved, of blessed memory
    • Meaning: This provides her given Hebrew name and her parents' names. The abbreviation ז"L stands for Zichrona Livracha ("of blessed memory").
  • Third Line:
    לבית קינדלר
    • Translation: of the family Kindler / née Kindler
Bottom (marble)
  • First Line:
    כ"א אדר תרע"ח - כ' טבת התשע"ג
    • Translation: 21 Adar 5678 – 20 Tevet 5773
    • Meaning: This lists the Hebrew birth and death dates of the deceased.
  • Second Line:
    "אשרי אדם מצא חכמה"
    • Translation: "Happy is the person who finds wisdom"
    • Meaning: This is the first half of a verse from the biblical Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 3:13).
  • Third Line:
    "ואדם יפיק תבונה"
    • Translation: "and the person who gains understanding"
    • Meaning: This is the second half of the same verse from Proverbs 3:13.
  • Fourth Line (In parentheses):
    (משלי ג' - י"ג)
    • Translation: (Proverbs 3:13)
    • Meaning: The scriptural source citation for the quote above.
  • Bottom Line (Abbreviation):
    ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.
    • Translation: May his/her soul be bound up in the bond of life.
    • Meaning: This is a traditional Jewish burial acronym based on 1 Samuel 25:29, standard on almost all Jewish graves.
Residences

In the 1921 census the family are living at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. The building no longer exists


In around 1936 until her marriage in 1943 Esther lived with her family at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England