Interesting things can be found in the news. On the website Just the News:
“The American leader's statement (on the attack on Tehran) came shortly after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed his country had launched a "preemptive strike” on Iran and smoke could be seen billowing from numerous locations in the capital city of Tehran.”
The Israeli Minister of Defense is a man named Israel Katz.
An article on Sidelines in History on the website of the Westphalia (MO) Historical Society (whs65085.org) begins:
“In 1836, Salomon Katz, a Jew, emigrated to America from a rural German village, Erklen, Westfalen. Arriving in Philadelphia, he began an amazing adventure as Joseph Kinike. Joseph mailed an 1876 book, Geschichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft von Pennyslvanien (History of the German Society of Pennsylvania), inscribed “To my good friend and brother Bernard Bode (signed) Joseph Kinike.” Bernard had emigrated from Erkeln to Osage County, Missouri.”
So, Israel Katz rises to the level of Israeli Defense Minister.
About 200 years earlier, the person Salomon Katz came to Philadelphia in America with the name Joseph Kinike. The Westphalia Historical Society article states:
The 1876 History of the German Society of Pennsylvania describes Joseph, a member since1864:
“Kinike, Joseph, Vice-President 1876, member of the Board of Directors since 1866, was born 1811 in Erkeln, near Brakel, Westfalen, and 1836 came to America. Here in the beginning, he had to struggle with all the difficulties presented to an “unbefriended” immigrant in a foreign country. However, before any work, even the most coarse, and not shying away, he overcame all hardships and after various experiences, he was able in 1845 to become owner of a lucrative wholesale business in wines and alcoholic spirits. In 1867, he sold his business and since then has dedicated his leisure to the exercise of systematic charity.”
Is Israel Katz a blood relative of Salomon Katz? Because of the process by which names were handed down in Prussian society, we don’t know, but we could find out through research.
Norb Plassmeyer
Westphalia
