Nelson Gudema

Here's the oldest picture I can find of Nelson Gudema, dated 1930.

Daniel Gudema

Here's a picture of Daniel Gudema, my grandfather.  It's the oldest picture I'm able to find of him.

The First Gudema

From various sources of family research (from paid researchers to Mormon researchers and info on the web), the first person with the last name Gudema was one Arend Abraham Mozes (Aaron Abraham the son of Mozes) Gudema, born in Stolzenau, Germany around 1770.  He came over the boarder to the Pekela area in the Netherlands around 1800, around the time of Nepolean's rule and the requirement to take a last name.  He married Frouche Nochums (Frouche the daughter of Nochum) around that time and had their first son Nochum Arends (Nochum son of Arend) in 1802.

Our family (the Gudema's from New Jersey) descends from Nochum, whose official wife (there may have been an earlier non-official wife and children) was Rachel Daniels de Levie (Racheltje Daniels de Levie - Rachel the daughter of Daniel the Levite).

Interestingly, I found on the web that someone had written about the Jewish community in Stolzenau and even published pictures of all of the gravestones.  The following one caught my attention:

This grave was of a husband and wife with no last name (as was common in those times).

Mozes/Moshe the son of Elchanon Birth: Unknown Death: Apr. 21, 1797

Blumche daughter of Moshe Katz was the wife of Moshe Elchanan. 
Birth: unknown
Death: Dec. 21, 1800

Here is how I pieced together that this is most likely the parents of Arend son of Mozes. Arend's first son was named Nochum after his wife's father, Nochum.  His second son was named Mozes after Arend's father from Stolzenau.  Their third child was named Elchanon (who died around childbirth) after Arend's grandfather.  They had a total of 9 children, which also included a Blumche. So I put it all together.  Stolzenau was a small community with only a few head stones in their cemetery not associated with families that had last names.  What are the odds that in the town that Arend Gudema came from that there would be a gravestone in which he himself was named as well as several of his children? Additionally, Arend's parent's passing coincided with his arrival in Pekela, sometime after his mother's death in 1800.

Here are photos of the memorials from Pekela.  Each of these memorial stones appear to have been placed in from of each persons home.

Holocaust Memorial in Pekela

A survivor from Pekela (who I have been in contact with through the MyHeritage family tree website) and a distant relative, emailed me this link of a recent Holocaust memorial created in Pekela for every who was lost from Pekela in the war.  See the pictures at the bottom of the link - several Gudema's and a Dalsheim were listed on the various plaques around the town.

http://www.prachtigpekela.nl/nieuws/14365/Stolpersteine-in-Pekela.html

More Sophie Waag Gudema Photos

Sophie Waag Gudema and Nachum Gudema