Notes from Francis Mechner, by email to John Ziegler:
Francis recalls that “Leon Erdstein was my piano teacher from the time I arrived in the U.S. (February, 1944) until around 1948. He had been married to our cousin Marianne who had died of cancer a few years before that. He often spoke about what a wonderful person she had been and how much he missed her. Before the war, in Vienna, Leon had been an acclaimed concert pianist and composer. He had studied under Theodor Leschetizky (pupil of Carl Czerny who had studied with Beethoven). Things I remember about Leon are that he was born in Odessa, was a redhead when young, was well versed in German poetry and literature, and had a devoted nephew Paul Bruell who had emigrated to Boston where he worked as an accountant and was a savant in literature and music.”
Francis added: “As I read the account of the lives of Leo Ziegler and Ella, some memories came together. I now understand the connection between the Leo and Ella Ziegler who moved to California and about whom I learned as an adult in the U.S., and a childhood memory of mine. The summer after the Anschluss, my parents kept arranging getaways from Vienna for me for the sake of my safety. One of these was a stay in Weidlingau with Leo and Ella. Leo came to Vienna to pick me up and took me to their summer house in Weidlingau. To encourage me to go, Mother told me that Leo was a professional artist (he was actually a lawyer) who would teach me some things related to drawing—my main passion at that time. Leo was kind and jovial. On the bus to Weidlingau, he pretended, with accompanying sound effects, that he was making the bus start and stop by pressing on a screwhead in the seat in front of ours. In Weidlingau, he did, in fact teach me how to make a hemlock tree look three dimensional by shading the right or left half of it—a brilliant concept, I thought. I also recall Ella as having been very kind and warm. I now also understand why Paul Bruell always referred to Leon Erdstein as Onkel Leon. They shared an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and music.
I had also not realized that my father had taken over Moritz Ziegler’s Krankenkasse position, and that Moritz, whose name I had heard constantly as a child, was also a doctor (in addition to all the other things he had done). He must have been an impressive person. And David, you may note that like you, Moritz had hired a live-in teacher for the early education of his children. I didn’t know that there is a gene for that. Makes me wonder whether the Armonk and Queens Paideia schools had anything to do with it. Oh, yes, and he was a serial entrepreneur. Hmm.”
From Francis: “Dear John, I now recall clearly that my father Adolph took over the Krankenkasse position from our grandfather Benjamin, not from a Moritz, although it is certainly possible that one of the Moritz’s also had a Krankenkasse position at one time. Eva Baker’s account needs correction in that regard. But in spite of the many inevitable inaccuracies, her biographies of the 18 Ziegler siblings in nonetheless impressive. I read through the whole thing this morning. I remember many of the names and in many cases also the people to whom they belong…
The confusion seems to be due to my initial incorrect assumption that when Eva Baker referred to the Krankenkasse Moritz, she meant Moses, the father of the 18 siblings. I quickly realized that this was chronologically impossible. My conclusion is that Eva meant to write “Benjamin” when she wrote “Moritz.”
Notes from Francis Mechner, by email to John Ziegler:
Francis recalls that “Leon Erdstein was my piano teacher from the time I arrived in the U.S. (February, 1944) until around 1948. He had been married to our cousin Marianne who had died of cancer a few years before that. He often spoke about what a wonderful person she had been and how much he missed her. Before the war, in Vienna, Leon had been an acclaimed concert pianist and composer. He had studied under Theodor Leschetizky (pupil of Carl Czerny who had studied with Beethoven). Things I remember about Leon are that he was born in Odessa, was a redhead when young, was well versed in German poetry and literature, and had a devoted nephew Paul Bruell who had emigrated to Boston where he worked as an accountant and was a savant in literature and music.”
Francis added: “As I read the account of the lives of Leo Ziegler and Ella, some memories came together. I now understand the connection between the Leo and Ella Ziegler who moved to California and about whom I learned as an adult in the U.S., and a childhood memory of mine. The summer after the Anschluss, my parents kept arranging getaways from Vienna for me for the sake of my safety. One of these was a stay in Weidlingau with Leo and Ella. Leo came to Vienna to pick me up and took me to their summer house in Weidlingau. To encourage me to go, Mother told me that Leo was a professional artist (he was actually a lawyer) who would teach me some things related to drawing—my main passion at that time. Leo was kind and jovial. On the bus to Weidlingau, he pretended, with accompanying sound effects, that he was making the bus start and stop by pressing on a screwhead in the seat in front of ours. In Weidlingau, he did, in fact teach me how to make a hemlock tree look three dimensional by shading the right or left half of it—a brilliant concept, I thought. I also recall Ella as having been very kind and warm. I now also understand why Paul Bruell always referred to Leon Erdstein as Onkel Leon. They shared an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and music.
I had also not realized that my father had taken over Moritz Ziegler’s Krankenkasse position, and that Moritz, whose name I had heard constantly as a child, was also a doctor (in addition to all the other things he had done). He must have been an impressive person. And David, you may note that like you, Moritz had hired a live-in teacher for the early education of his children. I didn’t know that there is a gene for that. Makes me wonder whether the Armonk and Queens Paideia schools had anything to do with it. Oh, yes, and he was a serial entrepreneur. Hmm.”
From Francis: “Dear John, I now recall clearly that my father Adolph took over the Krankenkasse position from our grandfather Benjamin, not from a Moritz, although it is certainly possible that one of the Moritz’s also had a Krankenkasse position at one time. Eva Baker’s account needs correction in that regard. But in spite of the many inevitable inaccuracies, her biographies of the 18 Ziegler siblings in nonetheless impressive. I read through the whole thing this morning. I remember many of the names and in many cases also the people to whom they belong…
The confusion seems to be due to my initial incorrect assumption that when Eva Baker referred to the Krankenkasse Moritz, she meant Moses, the father of the 18 siblings. I quickly realized that this was chronologically impossible. My conclusion is that Eva meant to write “Benjamin” when she wrote “Moritz.”