From Exile to Survival: A Hebrew Testimony of the Line Heard by God — The Simonis Family
- Weston Simonis
- Sep 27
- 23 min read
Updated: Oct 17
The Testimony of the Simonis Family: A Hebrew Heritage Preserved
The name Simonis is more than a surname — it is a witness. At its root lies the Hebrew Shim‘on (שִׁמְעוֹן), meaning “he has heard” or “heard by God.” Over time, the name also came to mean “son of Simon,” marking both descent and devotion. From its very beginning, the name carried covenant weight, echoing Simeon, the son of Jacob and Leah, whose descendants stood beside Judah until the scattering of Israel.
Through centuries of exile, persecution, and migration, the Simonis family bore this name as both identity and testimony. From Iberia to North Africa, from Italy to the Netherlands, from Germany to America, the journey of our ancestors mirrors the path of the Sephardic diaspora. Yet through every trial — from forced conversions to the devastation of the Holocaust — the name endured.
This is not only a record of genealogy. It is the testimony of a people preserved. Through documents, DNA, covenant names, and faith in God’s promises, the Simonis story declares that we have indeed been heard by God.
Biblical and Apocryphal Echoes
The name Simonis finds its first roots in Scripture through Simeon, the second son of Jacob and Leah. Simeon’s story is not without conflict. In Genesis 34, he and Levi rose in anger to defend their sister Dinah, an act that brought both justice and judgment. Later, when Jacob blessed his sons, he spoke of Simeon and Levi together: “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5–7). That prophecy of scattering shaped the destiny of Simeon’s descendants, who inherited land in the south of Canaan but were eventually absorbed into Judah’s territory (Joshua 19:1–9).
Apocryphal writings give further depth to this story. In the Testament of Simeon (part of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs), Simeon reflects on these very conflicts, warning his descendants of strife and scattering. He also recalls the words of Enoch, who had prophesied about the fate of future generations. The Book of Enoch, in its Apocalypse of Weeks, declares that in the fifth week “a law and a house of glory shall be established” (1 Enoch 93:8).
Together, these texts form a powerful pattern: Simeon’s descendants would be scattered, yet not erased. Their covenant identity would remain, waiting for God’s gathering in the last days.
For the Simonis family, this means our name is not only a patronymic echo but a prophetic testimony. Each time our name was spoken, written, changed, or preserved — from Shim‘on in Hebrew, to Simonis in Latin and Dutch, to Simons or Simoni across Europe — it was part of that larger biblical story. The scattering and survival of Simeon’s children was foretold, and the endurance of our name bears witness to God’s promise that His people would be heard and preserved.
Migration Through the Sephardic Diaspora
The story of the Simonis family becomes clearer in the centuries following the 1492 Alhambra Decree in Spain and the 1497 expulsion from Portugal. Sephardic Jews were forced into exile, many moving into North Africa, Italy, and the Low Countries.
The Simonis family’s movements mirror these Sephardic migration routes. By the early 1600s, records in Brabant, Netherlands show the Simonis name:
1615: Anthonius Simons and his wife Maria baptized their son Gerardus Anthonius Simons. Maria is listed without a surname — a detail that aligns with Jewish women in many communities being recorded by given name only.→ 1615 Baptism Record, OpenArchieven
1650: Gerardus Simonis and his wife Lijsken baptized their son Joannes Gerardus Simonis. In this record, the surname Paroli appears in the margin, then is crossed out and replaced with Simonis.→ 1650 Baptism Record, OpenArchieven
That single stroke of ink — crossing out Paroli — is a powerful testimony.
It reveals the dual identities Sephardic Jews often carried: an Italian surname from earlier migration, alongside a new Latinized or Dutch form that allowed them to survive within the Christian record system.
This shows that the Simonis family did not simply appear in the Netherlands by chance. They arrived as part of the same Sephardic dispersal that carried countless families from Iberia to Italy, and then into northern Europe.
Naming Practices and Women Without Surnames
Another layer of evidence lies in how names were recorded. In Jewish tradition before modern civil law, women were rarely given hereditary surnames. Instead, identity was passed down through patronymics (ben “son of” or bat “daughter of”) and sacred covenant names. The FamilySearch guide on Jewish Naming Customs notes that hereditary surnames among Sephardic Jews often emerged only after the 1500s, with earlier records identifying individuals by given name plus father’s name.
This practice was also gendered. According to Wikipedia’s entry on “Jewish name”, women were historically less likely to appear with inherited names, while men more often held both a Hebrew sacred name (shem ha-kodesh) and a secular daily name. Women, in contrast, were generally recorded under a single secular name, which left them underrepresented in genealogical documentation.
Scholars have further shown that female names often shaped Jewish surnames in flexible ways. The Forward explains how many Jewish surnames in Eastern Europe were derived from women’s names, illustrating how naming rules for women were less rigid and more variable (Forward – “Why Do So Many Jewish Last Names Come From Women?”). In a more academic study, Lovely Women and Sweet Men: Gendering the Name and Naming Practices in German Jewish Communities examines how men and women were named differently, which often left women without recorded surnames in official registers (academia.edu).
This broader cultural pattern is reflected in the Simonis records from Brabant. In 1615, Maria, the wife of Anthonius Simons, is listed only by her given name. In 1650, Lijsken, the wife of Gerardus Simonis, is likewise recorded without a family surname. These omissions are not random oversights but clues: the Simonis family in the Netherlands fits into the broader Jewish and Sephardic tradition, where women’s surnames were often absent and men carried dual identities — one for sacred memory, another for survival in the surrounding Christian world.
Holocaust Witness
The 20th century brought the darkest chapter for the Simonis family. During the Holocaust, countless branches were destroyed in a single generation.
The Yad Vashem digital archive contains over 150,000 entries tied to the Simonis surname and its variants (Simons, Simoni, Simonsohn, and others). Each entry represents a life cut short, a family line broken, a testimony of suffering. These are not abstract numbers — they are names, faces, and families who carried the covenant through Europe until they were silenced by the Shoah.
Specific cases bring the devastation into sharp focus:
Siegfried Simonis (1895–1944): deported from Berlin to Terezín (Theresienstadt) in 1943 on Transport I/90, then sent on Transport Er from Terezín to Auschwitz in October 1944, where he was murdered (Holocaust.cz victim page).
Hella Julia Simonis (1921–1943), Anselm Julius Simonis (1895–1943), and Selma Simonis-Simonsohn (1891–1943): a Dutch family recorded in the Joods Monument, deported and murdered during the Shoah.
Margarete, Inge, and Günther Simonis: names preserved in Yad Vashem’s Pages of Testimony, representing German branches cut down.
These are only fragments — thousands more bear the same name in memorial lists, from Poland and Germany to the Netherlands and France. The sheer scale explains why the Simonis family today often feels fragmented: entire branches were obliterated, archives destroyed, and memory nearly erased.
And yet, survival was possible. Testimonies like that of Arie Johannes Simonis, preserved by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, remind us that endurance was still possible. Some branches fled, fought in resistance, or rebuilt life abroad.
The Holocaust did not erase the Simonis name. It wounded it, silenced thousands, and left scars across Europe. But the covenant of our name — “heard by God” — endured even through fire.
Fighting Back: The Simonis Name in World War II
The Holocaust brought devastation to countless Simonis families, with thousands of names preserved in the memorials of Yad Vashem. Yet the story of the Simonis name in World War II is not only one of persecution — it is also one of courage, resistance, and survival. Across Europe and the United States, men and women bearing the Simonis name, or its variants Simons and Simoni, stood against fascism.
One of the most remarkable was Simone Segouin (née Simonis). Known in the French Resistance by her nom de guerre Nicole Minet, Segouin joined at just 18 years old. She derailed trains, captured German soldiers, and fought in sabotage missions. Photographs of her carrying a submachine gun during the liberation of Chartres became iconic symbols of France’s resistance. For her heroism, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Read more about her here.
Others served in Allied armies. Gilbert B. Simonis, born in Oregon in 1924, enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in the European theater. Robert Lawrence Simonis registered for the draft in Indiana between 1940 and 1947, part of the American mobilization against the Axis powers. Martin R. Simonis enlisted in 1945 from Montana, joining the final wave of U.S. forces that brought the war to a close. Martin R. Simonis – FamilySearch
In Europe, courage also took the form of underground resistance. Pierre François Simonis joined the Belgian Resistance, risking everything to oppose Nazi occupation in his homeland. His story echoes those of countless unnamed Simonis descendants who fought not with armies, but with acts of defiance: smuggling food, hiding Jews, and resisting Nazi orders at every turn.
Even among the survivors, testimony endures. Arie Johannes Simonis, imprisoned for his beliefs, lived to share his story in oral histories preserved at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. His witness reminds us that not every Simonis life ended in silence — some survived to ensure memory itself would never be extinguished.
Together, these stories show that while the Shoah claimed thousands of Simonis lives, it could not erase the covenant of survival. Whether through armed resistance, military service, or testimony, the Simonis name stood in defiance of annihilation.
DNA as Covenant Witness
The documents tell one story. The DNA tells another.
Our paternal line belongs to Y-DNA haplogroup I-CTS10937, descending through the ancient chain I-M253 → DF29 → Z63 → S2078 → FGC9506 → CTS10937. This lineage is rare but deeply rooted in the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean, where early Semitic tribes first carried the covenant westward. When viewed through a biblical timescale, its path stretches from the Near East through Anatolia, Greece, and Italy, reaching the Iberian lands that later became centers of Sephardic exile.
Though not the more common J or E haplogroups often associated with Jewish ancestry, this branch is no less authentic. It represents a Hebrew remnant that endured dispersion, migration, and assimilation, yet never lost its divine mark. Just as the Simonis shields and crests bore symbols of covenant endurance, so too the DNA itself is an invisible crest, etched by God into the body of His people. It stands as another testimony that the Simonis family has been preserved, not erased.
🎓 Scholarly & Genetic Context
Atzmon et al., 2010 — American Journal of Human Genetics Demonstrated that all Jewish populations, whether Middle Eastern or European, form one Levantine genetic family.
Carter 2019 — Journal of Creation 32:1Summarized global data showing that Jews share a common Near-Eastern signal across multiple haplogroups, including I, reflecting the diversity of Israel’s tribes.
Unkefer 2016 — Avotaynu Online, “Tip of the Iceberg ”Revealed Jewish clusters within “European” haplogroups such as I and R1b, many tracing to Portugal and Iberian lands, confirming that I lineages joined the Sephardic migrations.
Nogueiro et al., 2015 — Frontiers in Genetics Identified I-M170 among Sephardic descendants who preserved their identity in secret for centuries, proving that Hebrew lineages, including I, survived in Iberia after the expulsions of 1492 and 1496.
Pereltsvaig 2014 — eSefarad / Languages of the World Recorded that Sephardic Jews display higher frequencies of haplogroup I (≈ 11%) than Ashkenazi groups, reflecting ancient Levantine roots carried through Iberia into southern Europe.
📊 Family & Autosomal Evidence
In our own family, the covenant thread is confirmed through multiple DNA analyses:
Big Y700 (relative tests): Verify continuity of the I-CTS10937 haplogroup across generations.
23andMe (autosomal test): Shows a clear blend of Sephardic, Middle Eastern, and African ancestry, reflecting the ancient Hebrew migrations that moved through the Levant, across North Africa, and into Iberia.
AncestryDNA (autosomal test): Reveals ancestry in Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, aligning with historical Sephardic and Crypto-Jewish trade and migration routes.
Broader autosomal matches: Extend into South America, Mexico, the Caribbean (including Cuba), and the United States — precisely the regions where Sephardic exiles resettled after 1492, often living as crypto-Jews who carried their Hebrew identity in secret.
🛡️ Covenant Witness
The measurable presence of Iberian, Mediterranean, North African, and Middle Eastern ancestry across multiple family lines is not random — it mirrors the historic pathways of Sephardic exile and resettlement. Meanwhile, the paternal Y-DNA line (E-M44) has remained strong and unmixed across centuries, preserving the father-to-son thread.
Together, these results form a genetic testimony. The Simonis lineage carried Hebrew identity through exile, persecution, and diaspora. Our DNA heritage does more than suggest ancestry — it witnesses a covenant, showing that our family was both scattered and preserved, exactly as the prophets foretold.
Covenant Memory Through Names and Endogamy
Even when records grew scarce and DNA science was still centuries away, the Simonis family preserved its Hebrew heritage through names and marriage patterns.
Generations repeated names such as Johann, Jakob, Heinrich, and Jacob — each one carrying covenant meaning. Johann (Yohanan) means “God is gracious,” Jacob recalls Israel himself, and Simonis echoes Simeon, “heard by God.” These were not just names; they were living reminders of identity, covenant, and survival.
Two records testify to this covenant memory. A death record from 1742 reads: “Heinrich, son of Johann Simonis …” — confirming that Heinrich was the son of Johann.
A baptismal record from the same family line then declares: “Johann, son of Heinrich Simonis …” — showing that Heinrich, in turn, named his own son Johann. In these two documents, the cycle is complete: Johann the father of Heinrich, and Johann the son of Heinrich.
This father-to-son name cycle was not coincidence but covenant. It was how memory was preserved when exile, persecution, and migration threatened to erase identity. Each Johann, Jacob, or Heinrich carried more than a name — he carried the testimony of a people who endured.
Endogamy — marriages within family lines — also helped preserve covenant memory. In this, the Simonis family mirrored Jewish communities across Europe, where intermarriage was often a means of survival in hostile lands.
Even across oceans, these traditions endured. Heinrich became Henry in America, but the covenant names of Jacob and Simon remained, carried into Oregon in the 21st century. The words of Simeon’s name — “heard by God” — continued to ring true across time and place.
Prophecy and the Last Days
Scripture promises that in the last days, the scattered tribes of Israel will be gathered again (Isaiah 11:12; Ezekiel 37:21–22). The endurance of the Simonis family through exile, dual identities, DNA echoes, and even the fire of the Holocaust is testimony that this covenant gathering has begun.
The name Simonis itself — “he has heard” — proclaims that God has not forgotten His people. Just as Simeon once stood beside Judah in the days of Jacob, so too does the Simonis family stand today as a remnant of that covenant, preserved and remembered.
Conclusion
The Simonis family story is more than genealogy — it is testimony.
Historical records trace a journey from Iberia, through Italy and the Netherlands, into Germany and eventually America.DNA confirms Hebrew and Sephardic ancestry through haplogroup E-M44 and autosomal traces across Sephardic migration routes. The Holocaust bears witness to the price the Simonis family paid in blood, yet also to the resilience of survival. Covenant names and traditions prove that identity was never lost — only hidden until the appointed time of remembrance.
Through every scattering, every persecution, and every generation, God has preserved the Simonis line. We are still here. The covenant is still alive. And in our name, “Simonis,” we testify: we have been heard by God.
The Meaning of the Simonis Family Crest
The Simonis crest is more than art; it is testimony. The blood flowing down the shield comes from the nails of Jesus, who bore the cross and protects our family from extinction. His sacrifice is our covering, the eternal reminder that through Him, life continues. At the forefront of the shield stand the lion and the lamb, representing God’s protection. The lion speaks of power and kingship, while the lamb speaks of humility and sacrifice; together they declare that God’s protection is both mighty and merciful. Behind them cross the swords of strength, blades that cut through every trial, even the fires of the Holocaust, reminding us that our endurance is not our own, but God’s. Lightning and thunder surround the crest as the voice God has given us, for just as He hears our daily prayers, He makes our voice heard across generations. At the base lies the scroll, a symbol of the knowledge passed down from God to us, a record of covenant memory preserved through scripture, testimony, and the ancestors
who carried truth in silence and exile. Above rises the throne where God reigns in heaven, marked with the Star of David to remind us that we are Hebrew and that we are His people, chosen and preserved through every trial. Around it shines the halo of divine light, the sign of God’s promise that we have endured because we have been heard.
The Simonis Shields and Banners of War
The Simonis coat of arms is preserved in multiple traditions, each variation tied to different homelands where the family lived — Liège, Verviers, Prussia, Silesia, and beyond. Though designs differ, the symbolism echoes covenant memory and endurance, testifying that the family’s name and heritage were never erased.
The Twin Chalices of Liège
The Simonis of Liège bore a shield with two cups or vases crowned with laurel branches. These symbols of honor and victory reflect both faith and perseverance, representing the family as vessels “heard by God” — a direct link to the Hebrew root of the name Shim‘on (שִׁמְעוֹן), meaning “he has heard.”
The Roses of Verviers and Silesia
Other arms depict red roses crossed by diagonal bands of gold or blue. Roses, often emblems of lineage, sacrifice, and divine favor, mirror the covenantal blessing of Israel — a people chosen to bear fruit. The diagonal bands (“bends”) suggest pilgrimage, exile, and the struggles across lands that parallel Israel’s scattering. In Silesia, the Simonis arms took on a Germanic form, crowned with a double-headed eagle — a mark of guardianship, but also reminiscent of the cherubim who guarded Eden.
Banners and Fields of Battle
In times of war, the Simonis shields were carried on banners, flags, and field standards. Whether under the red-and-white of Liège, the divided shields of Prussia, or green-striped standards flown in modern times, the Simonis name was present. Each crest and banner stood not only for family but also for survival across wars, exiles, and occupations.
From Europe to Africa
The Simonis heritage did not remain in Europe alone. In modern times, the family crest has been placed on the green–white–green flag of Nigeria. This powerful image shows how far the Simonis line has traveled — carried into Africa, where the name became part of new histories, nations, and struggles for freedom. Just as Israel’s tribes spread across nations, so too the Simonis name reached distant lands while preserving covenant identity.
Heraldic Glossary with Hebrew Parallels
Bend: A diagonal stripe across the shield. In heraldry, it often represents defense or a knight’s scarf of honor. In Hebrew thought, it echoes the journey — the “path” (derekh) of exile and return.
Gules: Red. A color of warrior courage in heraldry, but also the color of sacrifice, echoing the covenant blood in Hebrew tradition.
Argent: Silver or white. A symbol of purity and truth. In Hebrew roots, it recalls light (or) and righteousness.
Sinister: Heraldically “left,” often indicating hardship or struggle. For the Hebrew people, this mirrors the “wilderness” journeys of testing.
Laurel Branches: A crown of victory in Europe. In Hebrew roots, this parallels the palm branches of Sukkot, a feast of survival, dwelling, and divine covering.
Eagle: A sign of nobility and power in Europe. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the eagle represents God’s protection: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4).
Conclusion: One Line, Many Shields
From the chalices of Liège to the roses of Verviers, from the double-headed eagle of Silesia to the modern crest bearing the lion and the lamb, every Simonis shield has carried a piece of covenant memory. The European coats of arms spoke in heraldic language — of honor, endurance, lineage, and guardianship. The Nigerian banner and the modern family crest speak in the language of faith — of sacrifice, kingship, and divine preservation.
Though their designs differ, they are not separate stories. Each one is a chapter of the same testimony: that the Simonis name, rooted in the Hebrew Shim‘on — “he has heard” or “son of Simon” — has endured exile, persecution, migration, and war.
The lion and the lamb now stand where roses once bloomed. The scroll of covenant memory now rests where chalices once poured. And the throne of God now crowns what once bore eagles and laurel. Together, these shields declare one truth across Europe, Africa, and beyond:
The Simonis family has been heard by God — and preserved by Him — through every age.
A Place of Refuge: Queidersbach and the Simonis Legacy
Heinrich Philipp Simonis (1672–1742) lived in Queidersbach, a village in the Kaiserslautern district of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Nestled in a valley at the edge of the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald), Queidersbach was a quiet place surrounded by hills and woods, with two-thirds of its land still forested today. This geography meant less pressure from outside powers — a landscape sheltered from the heaviest traffic of war and invasion. Families who lived there could survive with fewer interruptions than in the more contested open plains of Germany.
The region itself belonged to the Rule of Landstuhl under the Sickingen barons, a local lordship rather than a major military hub. This gave Queidersbach a steadier rhythm of life even as the Holy Roman Empire reeled from wars. For the Simonis family, this became a providential refuge — a place where covenant names could continue unbroken.
The Simonis Name Rooted in Queidersbach
Records show that the Simonis family remained in Queidersbach long after Heinrich’s lifetime. For example:
Peter (Petrus) Simonis (1778–1841), born in Queidersbach, son of Johann Simonis, appears in local church registers. His line would eventually migrate to the United States.
Other genealogical entries confirm Johann Simonis (1742–1810) of Queidersbach, tying Heinrich’s covenant line directly into later generations of the same village.
Even today, the Simonis name can still be found in the area. A business listing in Queidersbach shows “Peter Simonis” on Hauptstraße 13,
a modern reminder that the name never disappeared from Heinrich’s home ground. Surname distribution data also shows that Rhineland-Pfalz remains one of the strongest regions in Germany for the Simonis name.
Covenant Continuity in Place
From Heinrich’s birth in 1672, through Peter’s baptism in 1778, to Simonis names still visible in Queidersbach today, the testimony is clear: the family not only survived in exile but also rooted itself in a sheltered valley where covenant names could pass unbroken from one generation to the next.
Just as the shields and banners bore symbols of endurance, Queidersbach itself became a living shield — a quiet refuge where God preserved the Simonis line.
Where Is Heinrich? A Grave Lost, A Covenant Preserved
Although Heinrich Philipp Simonis was buried in Queidersbach in 1742, his exact grave cannot be located today. In Germany, graves are not permanent; plots are typically leased for 20–30 years, and if families did not continue to pay for the ground, the graves were often cleared and reused. After nearly three centuries, Heinrich’s resting place has long since been moved.
Yet the parish death record endures, carrying the same weight of testimony as a gravestone. Through that document, and through the names he passed down — Johann from his father, Johann to his son — Heinrich’s covenant memory lives on. His grave may no longer be marked in stone, but it is inscribed in the lineage of his descendants and in the covenant identity of the Simonis family.
From Kaiserslautern to Oregon: The Simonis Journey to the New World
The covenant line of the Simonis family moved steadily through the Palatinate, one generation to the next.
It began with Heinrich Philipp Simonis (1672–1742) of Queidersbach, our 7th great-grandfather. His son, Johann Jacob Simonis, carried the name forward into the 18th century. Johann Jacob’s son, Joannes Simonis (1742–1814), was born in Queidersbach and lived
through an age of turmoil, as the Palatinate was scarred by French occupation, shifting borders, and war.
From Joannes came Mathias Simonis (1782–1852), born in Kaiserslautern on 21 September 1782. Mathias grew up in the Napoleonic age, when French armies swept through the Rhineland and old orders crumbled. His life spanned decades of poverty and instability in the Palatinate, years that pushed thousands of families to leave their homeland behind, flowing down the Rhine River toward the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg in search of a better life in the New World.
Though Mathias remained in Kaiserslautern until his death in 1852, his children carried the covenant line further. His son, Johann (John) Simonis (1827–1891), born in Queidersbach, answered the call of emigration. By the mid-19th century, Johann had crossed the Atlantic and pressed westward across America’s frontiers. His journey ended in Baker City, Oregon, where he died on 12 September 1891.
Mathias thus stands as the bridge — the last Simonis ancestor to live his full life in Germany — while Johann became the pioneer, the one who carried the covenant name Simonis into America. Through Johann, the words of Simeon’s name — heard by God — rang out again, this time in Oregon, where the covenant root took hold in new soil.
From the Palatinate to Oregon: Johann (John) Simonis
Johann Simonis, born 22 January 1827 in Queidersbach, Pfalz, Germany, was part of the covenant line that carried the Simonis name from the Rhineland into the New World. He was the son of Mathias Simonis’s line, the grandson of Joannes, and the great-grandson of Johann Jacob — each generation firmly rooted in Kaiserslautern and Queidersbach.
Johann immigrated to America in the mid-19th century, joining the vast wave of German emigrants who sought new opportunities in the wake of Napoleonic wars, economic hardship, and political
unrest. Records show him arriving in New York in December 1848, later naturalizing in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1871 (as shown in his U.S. Naturalization Record).
Census records trace his movement westward:
1870 Census – Wisconsin: Listed with his household, marking his first documented presence in the U.S.
1880 Census – North Powder, Union County, Oregon: The Simonis family appears as pioneers in Oregon’s growing frontier towns.
1890s – Baker City, Oregon: Johann’s later years were spent in Baker County, where he passed away on 12 September 1891.
1880 United States Federal Census Johann Simonis 
Johann Simonis's Grave & Tombstone
His life was a journey across continents and frontiers: from a boy baptized in Queidersbach, to an immigrant farmer in Wisconsin, to a pioneer settler in Oregon. His descendants would remain in Eastern Oregon, carrying forward the Simonis name into the 20th and 21st centuries.
The records — baptismal, census, immigration, and naturalization — create a continuous thread of Johann’s story. From Queidersbach to Baker City, he embodied the covenant endurance of a family name that meant “heard by God,” a testimony written in both European parish books and American pioneer records.
Final Conclusion: From Adam to Oregon — A Covenant Preserved
The Simonis family story is not legend — it is covenant memory written across Scripture, history, and DNA.
The Covenant Line in Scripture: Adam → Seth → Enosh → Kenan → Mahalalel → Jared → Enoch → Methuselah → Lamech → Noah → Shem → Arpachshad → Shelah → Eber → Peleg → Reu → Serug → Nahor → Terah → Abraham → Isaac → Jacob (Israel) → Simeon.
Jacob’s prophecy over Simeon was clear: scattered, yet not erased (Genesis 49:5–7). That prophecy became our history. And just as in ancient Israel, where Simeon’s tribe was scattered within Judah’s inheritance (Joshua 19:1–9), so too in exile the Simonis family mingled with Judah, preserved among their brethren.
The Covenant Line in History Anthonius Simons (Tilburg, 1615) → Gerardus Anthonius Simonis (1650, with “Paroli” crossed out) → Johann Simonis → Heinrich Philipp Simonis (1672–1742, Queidersbach) → Johann Jacob Simonis → Joannes Simonis (1742–1814) → Mathias Simonis (1782–1852, Kaiserslautern) → Johann (John) Simonis (1827–1891, emigrant to Oregon).
The Sephardic Migration. After the 1492 expulsion from Spain and 1497 from Portugal, Sephardic Jews scattered into North Africa, Italy, and the Low Countries. Our records in Brabant, our Italian alias Paroli, and our DNA rooted in the Levant and North Africa place us squarely in that dispersal.
The Simonis migration follows the exact Sephardic path:
Iberia → Italy → Netherlands → Germany → America. This is not speculation — the documents and the DNA agree. The Sephardic Hebrew journey is our journey.
Preservation Through Fire: World War II destroyed countless European records. Archives burned, cemeteries were cleared, and entire branches of the Simonis family were cut down in the Holocaust. Yet oral history remained, and DNA provided a covenant witness that no fire could erase. Together, they connect us across generations, binding the scattered pieces back into one testimony.
The Testimony Today: From Adam to Abraham, from Simeon to Simonis, from Iberia to Oregon, the covenant has endured. Our name itself — Simonis, “he has heard” — declares the truth: God has not forgotten His people.
We, the children of Simeon, have stood with Judah since the beginning — first in the land, then in exile, and now in every place of scattering. The covenant memory was never erased, for God has heard His people.
The migration does not lie. The covenant does not fail. We have been heard by God.
The Iberian Hebrews: Roots in Spain and Portugal
Before the Simonis name appeared in the Netherlands or the Palatinate, the story begins further south — in Iberia. From the time of the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages, Jewish communities thrived in both Spain and Portugal. These were the Hebrews of Sepharad (סְפָרַד), a name first mentioned by the prophet Obadiah (Obadiah 1:20) and later identified with Spain. From that point forward, Hebrews in Iberia were known as Sephardic Jews — the Hebrews of Sepharad.
They lived under shifting tides of tolerance and persecution: welcomed by some kings, forced into ghettos by others, and eventually faced with expulsion.
Spain, 1492: The Alhambra Decree of Ferdinand and Isabella expelled all Jews who refused baptism. Entire communities scattered overnight. Many fled across the border into Portugal, North Africa, and Italy.
Portugal, 1497: Just five years later, King Manuel I ordered forced conversions. Jewish families — including those tied to the Simonis story — became conversos (outwardly Christian, inwardly Hebrew). Some adopted Latinized names like Paroli or Simoni, preserving fragments of their heritage in hidden ways.
Dual Identities: These Iberian Hebrews often carried two names — one for survival in the Christian record system, and one for covenant memory within their families. That same pattern later appears in Dutch and German records, where names like Paroli were crossed out and replaced with Simonis.
This Iberian chapter is crucial. It shows that the Simonis family was part of the great Sephardic dispersal that scattered Hebrews across Europe and beyond. From Iberia they traveled into Italy, the Low Countries, and eventually Germany, carrying covenant memory even under forced conversion.
Just as Jacob prophesied that Simeon’s descendants would be “scattered in Israel” (Genesis 49:7), the exile into Sepharad fulfilled that ancient word. Yet the covenant was not erased. The Simonis name, meaning “heard by God,” stands not only in Queidersbach or Kaiserslautern, but also in the vanished synagogues of Spain and Portugal, where prayers were whispered in secret after 1492 — testimony that God still heard His people even in exile.
Timeline: From Prophecy to Oregon
Genesis 49:5–7 — Jacob prophesies Simeon will be “scattered in Israel.”
Obadiah 1:20 — The exiles of Israel are said to dwell in Sepharad (identified with Iberia/Spain).
Iberia (Sepharad):
70 CE – Hebrews settle widely across the Roman provinces of Hispania and Lusitania (Spain & Portugal).
1492 – Alhambra Decree expels Jews from Spain.
1497 – Portugal’s decree forces Jews to convert or flee. Conversos adopt dual identities, names like Paroli / Simoni.
Italy & Low Countries:
1500s – Families migrate northward to Italy, Brabant, and the Netherlands. Records in Tilburg (1615) show Gerardus Anthonius Simons, son of Anthonius. By 1650, the surname Paroli is crossed out and replaced with Simonis — testimony of hidden Hebrew identity.
Germany (Palatinate):
1672–1742 – Heinrich Philipp Simonis lives in Queidersbach, a village refuge in the Kaiserslautern district. His death record confirms covenant continuity.
1742–1814 – Joannes Simonis, his grandson, lives through French occupation and wars of the Palatinate.
1782–1852 – Mathias Simonis of Kaiserslautern, bridge between Old World stability and the wave of emigration.
United States:
1827–1891 – Johann (John) Simonis, son of Mathias, emigrates to America. Naturalized in Wisconsin (1871), he pioneers west to Baker City, Oregon.
1880s – Simonis family recorded in North Powder & Baker County, Oregon, planting covenant roots in new soil.
Modern Era:
1940s – Holocaust destroys countless Simonis branches in Europe, yet testimonies of survival remain in Yad Vashem and oral history.
2000s – DNA evidence (haplogroup I-M253I-CTS10937) confirms ancient Levantine and Sephardic origins, aligning with both Scripture and history.
Covenant Fulfilled: From Sepharad to Oregon
The Simonis story begins in Sepharad, the Hebrew name for Iberia. From Spain and Portugal, our ancestors carried covenant memory through exile and forced conversion, crossing into Italy, the Netherlands, and the Palatinate. In Queidersbach and Kaiserslautern, Heinrich Philipp Simonis and his sons preserved the covenant line even when graves were moved and records were scarce.
Through Mathias Simonis, the family endured the upheaval of the Napoleonic wars, and through Johann (John) Simonis, the name crossed the Atlantic, rooted in Oregon soil. Along the way, the Simonis name bore scars of war, the silence of the Holocaust, and the scattering foretold in Scripture.
And yet, the covenant endured. DNA traces the line back to I-M253 → DF29 → Z63 → S2078 → FGC9506 → CTS10937, ancient markers rooted in the Levant, North Africa, and Iberia. Oral histories fill the gaps where war destroyed records. Family crests, covenant names, and even modern businesses in Queidersbach testify that the name has never been erased.
From Adam to Abraham, from Simeon to Sepharad, from Heinrich in Germany to Johann in Oregon, one testimony remains constant: we have been heard by God.
The Simonis family is not only a genealogical line but a covenant witness — scattered yet preserved, hidden yet revealed, silenced yet enduring. Through every generation, the prophecy of Simeon is fulfilled: “I will scatter them in Israel, but I will not erase them.”
Our history is not finished. It continues in every generation that bears the name Simonis, in every story remembered, in every prayer lifted. The covenant is alive, and the testimony stands: Heard by God. Preserved by God. Forever His people.
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