The only facts knowable about this “forefather” are his first name
“Josef”, the origin of his family
“Schaffhausen”, and the name of his son
“Moshe”, who was often mentioned as the
Goldsmith “Mostel” or
“Mosse” in the councilbooks of the south-german town
Nürnberg, of the years 1461 untill 1499 —
[followed hereafter] — while it may be assumed that Josef also is the father, or at least the close relative, of three other [possible] sons (all born between circa 1435 and 1455):
# Moshe/Mostel b’ Josef Schaffhausen Goldschmidt segal z goldene Schwann (d. 1531 Frankfurt)
®38, ®31, ®27, ®48 [mentioned a.o: 1461 citizen of Nürnberg, 1515 citizen of Mainz, 1422 citizen of Frankfurt] — >>
[unlike Moshe’s, for the other three the knowledge about their paternal names is lacking]# Salomon/Zalman b’ ? Schaffhausen segal z Kanne (d. ca 1513 Frankfurt)
®38, ®31, ®27 [mentioned ao: 1478 residing in Weissenburg, later in Nürnberg, and 1496 in Frankfurt —
“der alte Salman Rabe” (Rabbi, 1504)] >>
# Samuel/Smohel b’ ? Schaffhausen segal (d. aft 1499 ?)
®38, ®31 [mentioned: 1464 citizen of Nürnberg —
“Smohel von Schaffhausen Meyr Pymans aiden ist burger worden….” [aiden or eidam = son-in-law] — 1498 amongst the jewish citizens expelled from Nürnberg]
# Abraham b’ ? Schaffhausen segal z Roten Rose (d. ca 1497 Frankfurt)
®27 [mentioned: 1483 in Frankfurt (married to Belchen) — Baumeister/Parnas (1492) — he is
“Eidam Joselins z Kessel” [Eppstein segal]
[NB: The exact relations between some of the first Generations are based upon scarce information and are often worked out in just a reasonable assumption — JG]NB: in 1401 a most horrible riot had occurred in Schaffhausen
®34 — as circa 30 adults, the major part of the Jewish population, were foltered and burned. Few did escape, dispersing in the region. Since 1411 some had started settling again in Schaffhausen. Josef, Moshe and their relatives must be descending from the survivors.
[The catastrophe made a deep and longlasting impression allover — still at the end of the century it was a topic, e.g. in the famous Incunable “
Die Schedelsche Weltchronik — Liber Chronicarum” (= “History of the World”), published in Nürnberg 1493]