Czech Jewish families before the Holocaust; parade in Prague

Franticek (Frantzi) Stein is the sister of Steffi (Stein) Guttmann. Frantzi and his wife Mitzi did not survive the Holocaust,

Zuzanna (Suzi) Guttmannova was born on August 4, 1925. She lived in Prague at Vězeňská 9 and was deported to Terezin on May 7, 1942. She was transported to Sobibor on Transport AAi on June 13, 1942 and murdered.

Sylvie Guttmannova was born on April 7, 1929. She lived in Prague at Vězeňská 9. Sylvie kept a diary in the years 1941-1942, when she was aged 12 - 13, until her deportation with her family to the Terezin ghetto on May 7, 1942. From there she was sent one month later to the Sobibor death camp, from which she did not return. Also on that transport were her sister, Zuzana, and their parents, Simon (b. 16 February 1888) and Stepanka (b. 10 June 1895).

Štěpánka (Steffi) Gutmann (nee Stein) was born on June 10, 1895. Steffi lived in Prague at Vězeňská 9 and was deported to Terezin on May 7, 1942. She was transported to Sobibor on Transport AAi on June 13, 1942 and murdered.

Simon Guttmann was born on February 6, 1888. He lived in Prague at Vězeňská 9 and was deported to Terezin on May 7, 1942. He was transported to Sobibor on Transport AAi on June 13, 1942 and murdered.

Pavel (Paul) Mahrer (1900-1985), a professional soccer player, represented Czechoslovakia on the national soccer team in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. He travelled with the Jewish 'HaKoach' soccer team. Paul was married to Betty Guttmann (1900-1990). They had two children, Peter (b.1926) and Jerry (b.1929). Paul was imprisoned by the Nazis in Terezin after the German occupation of the Sudetenland. Though already over 40 when he was brought to the ghetto, he was still a well-known sports figure and ended up playing in Liga Terezin (the camp's soccer team) with other Jewish workers. His “salary” as a player was the ability to obtain better food portions. He survived the war and ended up in the United States, where he died in 1985.

Baruch Guttman (1863-1950) was a cantor at the Pincas Synagogue in Prague. He had five children (Max, Simon, Julius, Willie, and Betty). Julius was an opera singer and well-known in Europe at the time. Betty married Paul Mahrer and is the mother of Peter and Jerry.

Jerome (Jerry) Mahrer was born in New York in 1929 to Betty (Guttmann) Mahrer and Paul Mahrer, a soccer star on Czechoslovakia’s Olympic team who was playing for American leagues. The family returned to Prague. When businesses stopped serving Jews, Jerry, as an American citizen, was still allowed to go to stores and to the movies. When the family was deported, his father Paul was sent to Terezin. Jerry was interned at Tittmoning camp in Germany where he shared a dank room on the medieval castle’s top floor with his older brother, Peter, and 20 other Jews. Jerry and Peter survived the Holocaust. Jerry, now a retired guidance counselor, lives in Manhattan with his wife Carolyn.