The history of the Jewish people is complex; it is a history spanning centuries of migration after expulsion from Jerusalem and Judea by Titus in 77 AD. The Jewish people spread and settled throughout the entire Roman Empire and stayed after its collapse. Large Jewish populations are known to have settled in the regions along the Upper Rhine valley, close to the former border of Germania. They had their settlements, their trade, their temples and their rabbis. One of the most famous was Rashi who lived in that area in the 11th century, preaching and teaching the Talmud. This story follows a branch of the descendants of Rashi through the turbulent times of the Crusades, which eradicated most of the Jewish communities in the Alsace and along the Upper Rhine valley. Many found refuge in the Ghetto of Frankfurt, the Judengasse, where for centuries and many generations they lived under the protection of city and emperor. One of these descendants broke with Jewish tradition during the time of the Enlightenment and converted to Christianity, adopting a new name and becoming the pedigree of a new family branch, the Rottensteins.

While the first Rottenstein generation emerged as early revolutionaries, fighting for freedom and liberty in Germany, they were exiled and spread across Europe with one branch emigrating to the United States. The fate of the Rottenstein family reflects the history and development of their times. This book follows the different family branches, leading in some cases to scientific and cultural fame and in other cases to false claims of origin and heritage, but in most cases to success in the emerging modern world.