Friends Find Common Ancestral Ground

One day, Nick Hoffman was living his life as a non-Jew. The next day, he was not so sure.

Andre Schnabl and his wife, Denny Marcus, had been close friends with Nick and Lisa Hoffman for nearly 40 years. Nick, Schnabl’s financial advisor, was unaware that he was Jewish because his parents fled the Holocaust, settled in England, and denied their Jewish roots.

Now, in amazement, the newly discovered cousins marvel at a serendipity that brought them together — how a single word, “Frisia,” sparked the revelation.

“Would you like to join us for a cup of Frisian tea?”

This simple question, asked by friends of Schnabl as he stepped into Nick Hoffman’s office for a meeting, set events in motion that none of them could have foreseen. The mention of the words “Frisian tea” opened a door that they had never suspected existed.

When Andre heard the word, “Frisia,” he was struck by coincidence. He explained, “That’s funny, because I am just doing some genealogical research on my family, and on my father’s side, his mother came from Frisia, and she was a Hoffmann!”

This sparked recognition in Nick, who replied, “That’s funny because my family came from Aurich, Ost Frisland, in the northwest corner of Germany near the Dutch border. ‘Hoffmann’ is a common name in Germany, but regardless … ”

Andre sent Nick an extract from his family tree to discern if there was anything noteworthy. That night, as Nick examined it, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. He found himself looking at an entire branch of his own family, all from Aurich. Nick spread out his entire collection of family photos, letters, and books about Aurich for Andre and Denny to explore. The connection was confirmed:

Andre’s great-grandfather, Jacob Hoffmann, and Nick’s great-grandfather, Joseph Hoffmann, were brothers. Andre’s branch of the family, which had been living in Hannover, fled Germany before the war for South Africa. Nick’s family, who had been living in Braunschweig, also fled, ultimately settling in England. Here decades later, they were reunited in Atlanta — almost a century after their families had separated.

To make a formal gesture, Andre and Denny, and Nick and Lisa embarked on a historic trip to their shared hometown of Aurich in October. There, they visited the old Jewish cemetery and paid homage to their ancestors. During their visit, they were hosted by Gerd Seele, a longtime close friend of Nick’s family. Through a twist of fate, Gerd had been instrumental in helping the Hoffmans piece together their family history, researching both the roots in Aurich and the fates of family members lost in the concentration camps.

Gerd has established a research department dedicated to collecting and analyzing historical documents, with the goal of reconstructing the stories of these families and sharing his own experiences as they relate to the broader narrative of displaced families finding their way back to Aurich. Aurich, once the capital of Ost Frisland, had one of the highest concentrations of Jewish residents in Germany prior to 1933. Tragically, it also became one of the first towns in Germany to declare itself “Judenfrei” after Hitler rose to power.

L’dor v’ dor, Anna Imperial, the daughter of Nick and Lisa, embarked on a profound personal journey before the birth of her first child. In a heartfelt decision, Anna chose to convert to Judaism and join The Temple, to revitalize this connection to Judaism.

She said, “Growing up, I had so many Jewish friends and felt very comfortable with the Jewish faith and traditions. It was as if it were always deep inside me. The history of our family resonated, and I felt a deep desire to rekindle that heritage and embrace what has been a part of our family for so many centuries.”

This significant step not only honored her family’s history but also ensured that the legacy of their faith would be passed down to future generations.

Despite the challenges and tragedies of the past, fate, serendipity, and the miracle of life have led to an extraordinary family reunion. The adventure of the Schnabl-Hoffman family, rediscovering their roots and forging new connections, has only just begun.

A cup of tea, the great connector.