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What the Karlsbad/Karlovy Vary Postcards Revealed

27 Aug
Postcards from grandma to grandpa.
Grandpa’s one postcard.

The Cigar Box discovered in our Catskill house is beginning to reveal its secrets and memories.

There are seven postcards written from my grandmother in Karlsbad  (Karlovy Vary) to my grandfather in Linden, New Jersey.  

The first discovery is the address of my grandfather’s bakery, where he lived above the store.  We now know exactly where it was located.  The building still exists, and I even have a photo of the building that I found online.

This building was my grandparents’ bakery in Linden. From Google maps.
Google maps of where bakery was located.

We knew that when my grandmother went to Europe my grandparents were in the process of opening their own bakery.  My grandfather had been in business with his uncle since he moved to the USA. The bakery in Linden mainly served restaurants and grocery stores and had a small retail presence.  This store closed a few years after my grandmother returned to the USA when they purchase a building and opened a bakery in West New York, New Jersey.

We often wondered if or how they communicated when grandma was in Europe, now we know.  Postcards.  My grandparents saved these seven. These all are from the month that she spent at the spa trying to heal from her illness, kidney disease brought on by eclampsia and the termination of her pregnancy in early 1931. Luckily, she had a great doctor who saved her life.  (See blogs below.) The postcards date from June 30 to July 22, 1931.

Now we know what she was thinking while she was there.  She was 25 years old, the mother of two children who were staying with her in-laws in a small shtetl outside of Mielic, and she was horribly ill.

I must thank Leslie T., who was gracious to translate these postcards for me.  Leslie is someone who also belongs to the Jewish Genealogy Portal Facebook Group.

The first postcard dated June 30, 1931, asks for $100. And informs my grandfather that the first treatment did not help, but the second treatment is helping.  She also told my grandfather that there was someone at the mineral waters who was 58 years old.  I think that gave her hope that she could and would survive.

There is another postcard written on the same day in English.  Thanking my grandfather for the money he has sent.  And asking him to please write, as she is worried about him. 

Grandpa was 31. I know exactly what he was thinking because I asked him.  Why did you let grandma take the children to Europe.  “She was a sick woman.  I had to let her do what she thought was best..”  But what would have done if she died? The children would have been left in Austria.  “As soon as she died I was going to get on a boat and return with my children. I would never leave them there.”    End of discussion. 

The postcard correspondence continues.

July 6, 1931:

Most beloved husband:

I’m very surprised that I’m not getting any letters from you. I write to you so often and yet no answer. Anyway, how are things by you? Hopefully, still good. No news forthcoming from my part. Everything is the same as always. Well then, I send you greetings and kisses; also, the very best greetings and kisses from the dear children.

I remain your faithful wife who hopes to see you as soon as possible

July 14, 1931:

Dearest husband Nisan,

I’m letting you know that I got your card from Sharon Springs

 I’m very happy that you went to ‘take the waters’ but dear Nisan, see to it that you get some rest after the mineral baths else you could become very weak. I’ve experienced something like it. I’m still staying at Carlsbad this week – see that you send me some money. And don’t worry about the house because I get very frequent letters [from there]. Everyone is OK and the children really yearn for you – as do I. I send you heartfelt greetings and kisses from your faithful wife who hopes to see you as soon as possible. Thelma Amsterdam

July 21: 1931

Dearest husband: In this picture you can see the guest house where I live in Joachimsthal [now called Jachymov Czechia]. Just looking at it is enough to make you cry, but it is the stuff of memories. Well, Nisan, I’m begging you to send me some amount of money by telegraph to Carlsbad to the same bank – and immediately, as soon as you get this card, because I am left without a cent. Other than that, there is no news, at least, nothing good to report. Just know that I send hearty greetings, and you should get much pleasure from your dear children as well.

I feel worse now than at home.

Write an answer to your children.

July 22, 1931

Dearest husband:

I have taken 3 bath treatments already and feel like all my bones are breaking. There are people here from all over the world and everyone says that the treatments work but that you have to come at least several times. I believe that I’ll go from here to Vienna to see a heart specialist. Please send money to the same bank as before. No other news. Your faithful wife sends her regards – and the best greetings are from your children. Thelma Amsterdam

July 24, 1931

Dearest husband,

I received your letters from Sharon Springs. I’m writing you another postcard because yesterday I sent you a telegram asking for money. I want to go to Vienna to see a professor about my heart. The children are fine, but they miss us very much. I hope to be seeing them soon. Dear husband, here in Joachimsthal things are going well for me. There is a heat wave here and the baths aren’t sapping my strength, but everyone says that one course of treatments won’t do it; one has to come here at least 3 times to get cured. Other than that, there is no news to write. I’ll write you a letter soon – your faithful wife Taube

And then one from my grandfather from Sharon Springs.  I am assuming this one is from mid-July because on July 14 grandma says she got a postcard and found out that he was taking spa treatments.  But I do not know the definite date. Later, July 24, she also mentions getting letters from him.

Much beloved wife: I’m writing to let you know that I’ve had two spa treatments already. Dear Taube, write and let me know how you’re feeling and what they’re writing to you from Auntie.

How are the children doing? Otherwise, I have nothing else to write to you. I send you my regards and kiss you and the dear children. Your faithful husband Nisan

Honestly, I was al ittle disappointed by these postcards. I wish these postcards had more information. But then they were postcards.  You really cannot be intimate or give out real information that anyone could read.

But I have questions:  How did he get the money to afford all of these?  I know his bakery was doing well. But really, 1931, was during the Depression.  He was supporting himself and my grandma in Europe.  Plus paying for all the Spa fees!  I know they did well, but that really surprised me.

I also wonder what was going on with the children (my mother and uncle.)? They were just 2 and 5 years old.  I do have letters in Polish to both my grandmother and grandfather written by the same person, as the handwriting is the same.  I do not yet know who wrote them or what they say.  Perhaps they tell the story of the children.  I hope so.

The Mysterious Kalsbad Photos: Who Are They?
Speaking Yiddish Always Brings Me Holocaust Memories

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The Cigar Box: A New Family History Adventure Begins

14 Aug

This might be the last treasure box found in our Catskill home.  After being in our family for 63 years and after a 90-year presence in Kauneonga Lake, we are selling our home.  None of our children, who are widely dispersed, can care for it.  Our fortune is that we have cousins who still have homes near the lake, so we can visit.

But in cleaning out the house and the drawers and the closets, my niece came upon this last treasure buried in a drawer under linens: a beautiful cedar box from Montauks Cigars.  In it were postcards written from my grandmother when she was in Europe with my mother and her brother in 1931-32. Postcards written to my grandfather in Yiddish and English, The Yiddish will have to be translated. I am hoping the generous members of Tracing the Tribe will translate these, as they are just short paragraphs.

 I had to laugh because all the stamps had either been peeled off or torn.  They were given to one of the grandchildren who were collecting stamps. It might have been me.  I collected postcards as well. But these were probably too important to my grandparents to give to a child who might lose them.

There are letters written in German and Polish to my grandmother during the time she was in Europe. I know one is from her cousin Dora, who survived the Shoah and moved to Israel. Others I think were written by my great aunt Esther to my grandmother, her sister.  The German I can understand a bit. But the Polish is impossible for me.  I will need to find a translator for these letters.

There are photographs in the box.  Almost every one of them is identified in English, Yiddish or German.  The ones that are not identified, I actually recognize the people in the pictures.

I have already sent scans of two of the photos to my third cousin.  One shows her grandmother at her elementary school graduation. Her grandmother and my grandmother were first cousins.  When my grandma came to the USA she stayed with her aunt’s family.  The two girls became best friends.  The other photo shows five brothers who lived in the same building. My grandmother’s cousin married two of them. One when she was young with whom she had her children.  And later when her husband died, she married one of his brothers who also lost his wife.  My cousin was glad to see the photos.  I am going to send her the original of one.  The other my niece wants because she shares the same first name.

I have written about these people in other blogs. So below are links to their stories. 

I think this box will be giving me much more to write about.  Every time I think I have finished the story of my European family, another piece of information turns up.  I hope to start with the notes my grandmother wrote to my grandfather from Europe. I always wondered if they were able to communicate.  As well as what she was thinking when she was there, as we know she went to Europe so sick, she thought she would die.  Her plan was to leave my mother and uncle in Europe. Thank goodness she got well!

My Obsession With Grandma’s Album Leads to the Shoah
My Grandma’s Favorite Photo
Amazing What Information Two Photos Can Provide
The Mystery of Abraham Prantki
Grandma Thelma Knows What She Knows

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Learning about the Crypto-Jews/Conversos in Santa Fe

28 May

As the descendent of a Jewish family that was forced to leave Spain in 1492 or convert, I have always been interested in learning more about the Crypto-Jews/ Conversos of New Mexico.  It was in the 1980’s when the information about this still hidden group first started to be revealed. It started when a Jewish man named Stanley Hordes because New Mexico’s State Historians, and people started coming to him to tell him their stories.  To me it was absolutely amazing that 500 years after the Inquisition in Spain, that descendants were still hiding and still keeping this secret!

I had wanted to attend the Roads Scholar program: “New Mexico’s Conversos and Crypto-Jews in Santa Fe” since 2019.  Covid interrupted my plans. But finally we were able to attend. My family were also once impacted by the Inquisition and Spain’s quest to either convert or eliminate all Jews.  My family chose to move to Portugal and then to Holland.  Our story is written in an earlier blog. (See below.)

We had lectures from the authors of the top two books.

Our first speaker was Professor Ron Duncan Hart, who gave us an overview of the history of the Jews journey to New Mexico. He wrote, “Crypto-Jews, The Long Journey.” Jews were in Spain were given a choice, convert or leave.  Many stayed, they could not afford to go or they thought it would not last long and they would just hide their Jewishness, some decided they really would become Catholic.  But all were doubted because they were not “pure of blood, “meaning they were not just Spanish, they were tainted by either having Jewish or Moslem descent. Those converted in name only and still practiced their religion in secret, known as Crypto-Jews…hidden Jews. Those who were forcibly converted and known as anusim also secretly practiced Judaism.

In fact, so many of the Portuguese who came over to Mexico in the 1600s were of Crypto-Jewish ancestry, that calling someone Portuguese was just another way to say he/she was Jewish. Since my family went from Spain to Portugal, I began to wonder if some of my family made this arduous journey to escape the Inquisition. To be allowed to go to the New World, you had to show that you were purely Spanish, not tainted with Jewish or Muslim blood.  Horrifying!  People actually had their genealogy redone to eliminate their Jewish past to fit the needed requirement.

The Crypto-Jews of today still live in the mountains in northern New Mexico.  They still keep their secret.  In fact, one of our speakers, when asked how many crypto Jews there actually was, basically said, “We do not know. They keep hidden.  They do not talk about it.  They know who the other families in their community are like them. But it is not discussed”

We heard from two women who have reclaimed their Jewish identity.  They were each the child in the home who a parent said “Somos Jodios,” “We are Jews.”  Maria Apodaca told us how difficult it was to come out of hiding and join a congregation and have a ceremony of return.  How family members were not always happy about what they had done.  Many feel, with the way the world is now, it is better to stay hidden!

Isabelle Medina Sandoval wrote a novel based on her family’s history: “Guardians of Hidden Traditions.”  She can trace her ancestry back to Portugal and was able to claim Portuguese citizenship based on her family history.  But she also said that coming out of hiding is a difficult process.  A poet, she has written poems about the Crypt-Jewish experience.

From these two women we learned some of the cultural/religious/cuisine that continues from their Jewish ancestry, like lighting candles on Friday night, covering mirrors when someone dies, making a fried treat at the winter holidays, cleaning the house on Friday.  It is amazing to me that these traditions continue.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti, spoke about: “The New World: Jewish Ehtnicity, DNA& Genetics.“ Schelly is the founder of Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy on FB. She explained the difference in the different DNA tests and how some do not look for Sephardic DNA, only Ashkanazi.  We were told that between 20-40 percent of people in New Mexico had some Jewish ancestors.  That there are genetic links between those living in northern New Mexico and isolated areas in Central/South America.  People who were also trying to hide away from the Inquisition.  And the final link, a rather sad one, the fact that the BRCA1 mutation that causes brest cancer in Jewish women, is also found in the Hispanic population in Mexico and New Mexico and came from those original converso/crypto Jewish arrivals from Spain in the early 1500s.   Wow.

We attended a performance of “Parted Waters,” a play written by Robert F. Benjamin about the Crypto Jewish community. It tells the story of three generations of a crypto Jewish family.  The grandfather, a crypto Jew; his son, who knows the background, but identifies with his life as a Catholic and does not want to talk about it; and his son, who has never been told about his ancestry.  When the grandson makes a racist comment to a Jewish woman, the truth comes out along with the ramifications.  It pulled together all that we had learned over the week.

Our last lecturer, Chris Herbst spoke about Outliers/Ousiders and Religion.”  He provided us some history about the area of northern New Mexico and more explanations about the genetic composition of the populations today in Spain and in New Mexico.  He said about 1/3 of the population of Spain today has either Jewish or Moorish ancestry.

Throughout all of our talks we were referred back to the book written by Stanley Hordes, who wrote an indepth book about the Crypto Jews called, “To the End of the Earth.”  The Spanish/Portuguese Crypto-Jews traveled to the End of the Earth, the mountains of New Mexico above Santa Fe, to escape the Inquisition.  It is like reading a college dissertation, but it was fantastic in the depth of the research.

The Hebrew is in the triangle.

We did not spend all of our time learning, we also had time on our own to visit museums and explore Santa Fe.  We went to the  main cathedral of Santa Fe, where over the mantal of the front door, is an inscription in Hebrew and a Jewish Star on an internal wall. 

As part of our Roads Scholar program we also ate at many different restaurants with the most delicious food, toured historic Santa Fe, with our wonderful leader, Vennetta, and went to Taos and the World Heritage Site of the Taos Pueblo.

This was just a wonderful learning experience, where we were able to learn, experience, make new friends and enjoy the true wonders of Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you have any interest in learning more about the Crypto-Jewsof New Mexico, Mexico and Spain, I highly recommend this Roads Scholar program.

I will write about the other places we visited in future blogs.

Santa Fe’s  Multitude of Museums
The Great Rio Grande River Gorge and Taos Pueblo
As Spain Welcomes Back Jews Expelled in the 1400’s, I Share my Spanish Roots
Finding My Heritage In Spain
Discovering My Amsterdam Heritage in Amsterdam

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My Genealogy Research Makes a Difference To A Distant Cousin

23 Apr

When I started my genealogy research, I did my research and wrote my blogs just for my siblings and immediate family.  Over time, I included my cousins on my blog posts.  And then it just snowballed.  I realized that by posting them on Facebook, specifically on Tracing the Tribe group, I might connect with other more distant relatives.  And it happened.  I have had people help me with my research who are not related. I am in touch with distant cousins including Evan, who has been an immense help in making connections.  I have met some of these cousins in person.  And my understanding of my family increases with each new contact.

This blog is different.  In this instance, I discovered that the information I had from speaking with my grandmother years ago helped solve the family mystery of a women who is actually my third cousin, our grandmother’s were first cousins.

It started with an email from Evan. (He really does a great job keeping in touch with all the cousins) He connected me with a distant cousin named Sherry, the granddaughter of a woman named Esther who was born about 1897/1898.  He said she was part of my branch of the family and thought I could help.  I could.

A number of years ago, I wrote a blog about my grandmother entitled “Too Many Esthers” (see blog below) and “Updated Esther “(see blog below).  My Grandma Esther was one of 5 or 6 first cousins all named for their maternal grandmother, all named Esther, all born around the same time. All were given nicknames.  My grandmother was known as Curly Esther.

Sherry wrote back to Evan and me: (She has given me permission to write this blog, I have edited her emails for privacy and brevity.).  “Thank you for contacting me!  I had trouble with my grandmother, and who her parents truly were.  There were so many unanswered questions and there are no living family members in my close family that know anything more than I do.  I got pretty frustrated and sort of put it on the back burner.  I would be really interested in what you found out!”

I immediately responded: “It’s nice to be reconnected. I am the granddaughter of another Esther born in 1898.  I have been researching the family for years. In late 1970s I sat down with my Grandma and got the names of all of her mother’s siblings. The children of Elka/Esther Lew and Victor/Avigdor Wolf. Here are two of my blogs that will lead back to some of my research and introduce you to the family. The attached photo is our great great grandparents Esther and Victor Wolf(f).

Actually, I knew immediately who her grandmother had to be, which is why I sent her the blogs about the Esthers.  There was one cousin known as Meshugannah Esther.  Her mother Chamka came to the USA pregnant with three children.  Her husband had passed away before she came.  After their daughter, Esther, was born and weaned, she was given to a different sister, Sarah, who could not have children, to raise as her own.  To make things more confusing, Chamka was known as Anna in the USA, but her Hebrew name was Nechama.  Her family called her only Chamka/Chamky.

I must say I was truly happy to receive a reply from Sherry.  Her response filled me with joy to know that my research and pictures helped her.  Here is an edited version of her response.

“Wow!  I am so overwhelmed and thrilled with this connection.  I was getting so frustrated with trying to figure out my grandmother’s story and had no one to ask.  

I did hear that “grandma didn’t find out until the day she was engaged that her aunt was her mother and her mother was her aunt”.  So I knew that there was information that I was missing in order to fill in the blanks.  

“Meshuganah Esther moved in with my family when I was 10 years old. We lived next door to Aunt Lenore and her family.  Grandma was married 5 times!  She felt she needed to do that in order for her to care for her children. My grandmother passed in June of 1993.

“Ellen, you spoke of the cousins’ club meetings.  I remember them although I think I spent most of the time hiding behind my mother’s skirt…

“I actually gasped out loud when I opened the picture of Esther and Victor Wolf.  I have that picture and I had no idea who they were.

Thank you, dear cousins.  This is a gift.”

My initial response to this was just as excited. I was elated that I could help.

“I am so glad that you were able to make connections about the family through my blogs. I am so glad that you have that photo as well, and now know who it is.  It is amazing to have photos of great grandparents, but great great grandparents is really special. 

“Did you see the picture of Chamka and Lenore?  I am not sure which blog it is in.

I can understand a bit why she wasn’t told which sister was her mother.  But I am sure it was a big shock at the time. It was one of those open secrets that everyone knows but does not discuss.”

Since she did not have nor seen the photo of her great grandmother Chamka with her granddaughter Lenore, I sent her the photo and the information that was written on the back. “Tante Chamky and Lenore. Lenore was Meshuggana Esther’s daughter. Esther was raised by Tante Sarah, but was really Chamky’s daughter.”

I am currently looking for the photo so I can send her it for her family records.

Thanks to Tracing the Tribe, over the years, I have connected with a number of cousins.  But this connection honestly made me immensely happy.  

Too Many Esthers!
Updated Esthers
The Descendants of Esther (Lew) and Victor (Avigdor) Wolff/Wolf

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 Finding Answers About My Paternal Great Grandmother

17 Apr

In Ashkenazi Jewish custom we name our children for those beloved family members who have passed away. I was always told that I was named after three of my great grandmothers:

Chava was for my maternal grandfather’s mother, Chava, who was murdered in the Shoah.

Sara was for my maternal grandmother’s mother Sara/Sura, who died in the 1920s in Poland, and for my paternal grandfather’s mother as her name was Sarah as well.

I knew about my two maternal great grandmothers, because there were family stories about them.  But I knew nothing about my paternal great grandmother even though she  lived in the United States and is buried in New York.  I have recently realized there is more to the story about her and my name. 

I have been searching for information about my paternal great grandmother  for years.  The first real clue was when we first saw a photo of her about five years ago.  We did not even know we had one!  But my first cousin was searching through her family’s old photos and discovered one of her with my uncle.  (See blog below.)

More information followed when my distant cousin, Evan, who is a great researcher, found my grandparent’s marriage license.  They were married in January of 1923.  It contained my great grandmother’s maiden name which we never knew: Ritt.

Evan also found a puzzle piece for me when he found her death certificate, which was packed with information. The final link was when Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York, where she was buried on January 29, 1938, sent me a photo of her matzevah (tombstone).

I now can tell my family more about my mysterious great grandmother, who I now know is named Chaya Sarah, so close to my own name of Chava Sara, that I think I was bound to have this name.

My great grandmother did not have an easy life.  She gave birth to 11 children. Eight survived to adulthood.  She lost her oldest daughter, Celia, to swine flu when she was in her 20s.  Her oldest son, Samuel, was mentally ill and spent most of his adult life institutionalized.  She and her husband, Abraham, were divorced in the 1930s.  A very unusual occurrence for a Jewish woman, well for any woman, in that time period.

My Great Grandma Sarah died on January 28, 1938, from cancer of the panaceas at Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, when she was 68 years old.  My grandfather, then the oldest living child signed the death certificate and made the arrangements.

I have three thoughts about this information.  First, the line through my grandfather is cancer free.  But I have since learned that the line through his youngest sibling, Jacob, was not as kind. We all thought Jacob had disappeared after he moved to England when my dad was a child. But in fact he died when he was in his fifties from cancer, as did his son Rufus.  The cancer gene followed them. (See blog below.)

Second, I think I know why I was named for her.  She died in late January.  Years later, I was born in late January.  It made sense.  Finally, I am currently close to her age when she died.  And that touches me that I found out now.

I know that she was born about 1870, in France.  That she and her parents lived in France surprised me. But her father and mother, Hirsh and Flora Ritt, were from Poland.  So I think they were in transit from Poland to the USA when she was born.  I have no proof, but it seems right.  I also know that her father died before 1892 because my grandfather was named for him. Zvi Hirsh.  I now know that she was about 22 when she had her third child, and her other children were toddlers when my grandfather was born.

She died when my Dad was just 9 years old.  He really did not have many memories of her or information.  But now we know her name and also the names of my great great grandparents: Chaya Sarah Ritt, the daughter of Hirsh Zvi and Flora Ritt.  We now can add their memories to our family.

I want to thank the personnel of Beth David Cemetery. I now have photos of the graves of four of my great grandparents.

The Gift of a Photo Becomes a Gift of Genealogy
Did Great Aunt Celia Die From the Spanish Flu?
Update About My Grandfather’s Mysterious Brother Jacob

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Great Aunt Minnie was Basically Another Grandma

17 Mar

I have written about my Grandmother’s two brothers who died relatively young: one as baby, the other in his early 60s.  I did not know them that well.  I decided I should write more about my Aunt Minnie, my grandmother’s older sister, because she was important in our lives. 

Aunt Minnie is in many of my blogs because she was always with us.  When my grandmother moved to Co-op City in the Bronx in the late 1960s, Aunt Minnie moved to Co-op City in the Bronx, in an apartment directly under my grandparents.

When my grandparents came up for the summer to the Catskills, Aunt Minnie came up for the summer to the Catskills and stayed in the same bungalow with my grandparents.  I honestly do not know how they did that.  My grandparents had the bedroom, Aunt Minnie slept on trundle bed in the kitchen area.

Every holiday, Aunt Minnie was there.  She was basically another grandmother. She gave us gifts for our birthdays and Hanukkah, $5 each.  She hugged us, she scolded us sometimes, and she told us what to do, just like my two other grandmothers.

My father was the youngest boy. He is the lower right.

Aunt Minnie’s married in 1918. Her husband, Uncle Eli or Uncle Al, died before I was born, in 1949.  They had two sons, who were older than my uncle and my dad. But, in reality, the four boys, and then my aunt who was the youngest, were basically raised together.  Part of the reason is that my great grandparents lived with my grandparents.  My grandfather and great grandfather worked together in a tailor shop they owned. (See blog below.) Family gatherings were always at their apartment in the Bronx.

With all that togetherness, what amazed me is that one of Aunt Minnie’s sons, Victor,  married and moved to New Orleans.  He left the fold.  The other, David, met a lovely woman in England during World War Two and brought into the family a British war bride who was not Jewish, but by the time I can remember she was a loved member of the family.   In our family these two men were known as Cousin Victor and Cousin David.  They weren’t uncles, but they were not to be called by their first name alone.  And their wives were also referred to as cousin, before their first names.

Cousin David had two children, who I won’t name because they are still living.  However, I will tell you one story about Cousin David.  He had a very bad stutter growing up and into his adulthood.  When he was anxious he would stutter then slowed his speech till it stopped.  As a child, I had a bad speech impediment.  I started meeting with a speech therapist before I even started school and continued through eighth grade.  This made me very shy and wary of speaking to strangers.  Cousin David was my advocate.  At every family event we both attended he would stop to talk to me to give me coping skills which I still use today.  I am very adept in the middle talking to switch words because a word I can say today, I might now be able to say tomorrow.  I have a thesaurus of words sitting in my mind  waiting for an emergency.  Cousin David’s advice has been well used over the decades.

Another little Cousin David story.  My father is also named for the same person David was named for. But my dad had a different first name that began with D, only his Hebrew name was David.  This goes back to my Grandma Esther’s dislike of being one of five girl first cousins named Esther. (See blog below.)

Cousin Victor and his wife lived in New Orleans and had three children.  I did not know them at all. I remember meeting them at my wedding, when they came up for the celebration.  My Aunt Minnie had died about two years before when she was in her early 80s, and I think the cousins decided that they needed to celebrate together not just go to funerals.  One spring break we took our children to New Orleans and spent time with Cousin Victor and met his son and his family.  Once again, I won’t name them.

 But I will say that Cousin Victor’s son died late last year.  He and I kept in touch over the years as I sent him updates on my family discoveries.  When my daughter went through a pregnancy crisis, he was so supportive as his daughter had gone through a similar crisis several years previously.  He spent hours on the phone with me one day helping me sort through all the emotions this caused.  I always enjoyed my contact with him.  And I will miss him.  We often would say how much our dads and grandmothers would like knowing that we continue to keep in touch.

Aunt Minnie and my Grandma Esther are forever entwined in my mind and in my heart.

Sisters: Grandma Esther and Aunt Minnie

https://zicharonot.com/2015/10/10/12-delancey-street-and-my-family/

https://zicharonot.com/2017/11/16/too-many-esthers/

https://zicharonot.com/2024/02/25/uncle-sammy-presents-a-surprise/

Baby Jacob is Found

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An Unexpected ‘Grave’ Mystery

3 Mar

With the uptick in anti-Semitic events, with masked college students attacking Jewish students at colleges, with a Hamas murderous pogrom in Israel, I am still amazed when events from the Shoah are revealed in present day. I feel like I am in a time warp.  Reading about the events at the UC Berkley campus and at the same time reading an email from a distant cousin telling me about a mass grave found in Poland that contains members of my extended family.  Don’t college students learn anything about history? 

My newest journey started with a email from a distant cousin concerning the Holocaust and my family. I get unusual requests now and then because I have been the family historian, trying to document all the family who were murdered during the Shoah.  A task I realize is virtually impossible with all large number of people in my family who were murdered. 

My distant cousin received a letter through JewishGen’s Family Finder.  Her great aunt, who I keep in contact with, suggested she send the email to me.

Her email contained a series of emails between two people in Europe that forced my brain back in time to all that my maternal family had suffered so many decades ago during the horrors of the Shoah.

The first was from a retired baker in London who had been contacted by a researcher who wanted information about a family named Brenner who were murdered by the Nazis and whose bones were recently found in a mass grave and in accordance with state law were re-interred in a Catholic cemetery.

His mother was born Kornbluth and her father was born in Mielec, Poland, where many Kornbluth’s were living when the Nazis invaded. They believed the bones were those of a woman whose maiden name was Kornbluth; her married name was Brenner.

My family was from Mielec and its surrounding small towns.  I have written about the destruction of the Jewish population in this city and its surrounding in other blogs.  Brenner is one of the names in my family. Which made me think that I could have a connection with this grave.  Although the last name Kornbluth is familiar, I wasn’t entirely sure of the connection to us.  But I kept reading.

The baker then include emails from a representative of the Zapomniane Foundation that deals with locating and commemorating the graves of the Holocaust victims. He found the baker through JewishGen Family Finder.



“I represent the Zapomniane Foundation that deals with locating and commemorating the graves of the Holocaust victims (zapomniane.org or our profile on FB). I’m currently researching the case of the Brenner family murdered in 1942 and buried in a mass grave near Mielec. According to what I have learned so far among the victims probably were Lazar and Sara Brenner. Her maiden name was Kornbluth. Before the war they lived in a village called Hyki (today it is called Sarnow). They were killed together with their children and Sara’s brother. Would you happen to know this story and/or have any information about Sara Brenner nee Kornbluth?

Sincerely
A N”

Then came more information from the Zapomniane Foundation:
“ Here is the story of how I have learned about the Brenner family:

Two years ago I went to Czajkowa (a village near Mielec) to see the location of a place where the Brenner family (seven people) was killed and buried in August 1942.My guide was Robert P. who told me the story of his aunt Anna P. Anna’s real name was Ryfka Amsterdam she was Jewish, converted to catholicism before the war and married Andrzej P, Robert’s relative and became Anna P. The Brenner family were the relatives of Anna/Ryfka: perhaps Ryfka’s sister with husband and children and possibly Ryfka’s (and Sara’s?)brother. There are no names, only the last name of the father of the family i.e Brenner.”

Well now we are getting closer to my family, since Amsterdam is my grandfather’s last name. I know that any one named Amsterdam is definitely somehow related to me. This is the first time ever that I have heard about a family member who converted to Catholicism before the war.  But to be honest, if someone left the family to marry outside of the faith, it was probably not discussed. 

What the email says next really touched my soul! I could not image how this young man would have felt when he dug up the grave.


“The gravesite of the Brenner family was partially destroyed in 2003 by an excavator. Obviously the grave itself has never been marked, it was just a hole in the ground.  As a result the bones from this grave were taken by the police and buried in an anonymous grave in Tuszów Narodowy catholic cemetery. Ironically the guy who worked with the excavator and dug out the bones was the grandson of Ryfka Amsterdam/Anna P. He was interrogated by the police in 2003. Anna/Ryfka had three children, her son born in 1950 is still living in Mielec.”

Next shock!  A non-Jewish descendant of Rikva/Anna born just a few years before me, still lives in Mielec.  They stayed there even after all her Jewish relatives were murdered. I cannot understand that reality. Could you comfortably walk the streets of a city, see the houses of your relatives, know that they were murdered and that others were living in their homes?  Would you ever feel safe?

Not only that, it was Anna’s grandson who accidentally dug up the grave of people who might be his great aunt and uncle and their children, his cousins.  I could almost see this as a movie.  Could this truly be happening?  But yes, it was and it is.  So now he has not only dug up a grave 80 years after they were buried, but it is his family buried there.  I really have no words.

The researcher  continued:

“I found the information about Chaim Brenner via the Holocaust Survivor Program. Thus I knew the names of his parents and their fate that fits the story I know from the Polish archives:

Czajkowa
Aug. 15, 1942
Captured and shot by German police, beginning w/ oldest family member; gendarme Franiszek Wojtas identified as likely shooter; family did not report to ghetto and remained in hiding for approx. 3 mos.; hid in forest and empty home of Kamuda; group consisted of two families; relatives of prewar converts to Christianity, Amsterdams, who survived war in same village

So my big questions are who was buried in the grave destroyed by the excavator 20 years ago and how can we commemorate them.”


The retired baker then tells my cousin that he contacted her because she has a Nathan Amsterdam in her family tree who told Yad VaShem about the death of a niece with the maiden name of Kornbluth. Could she help? Which is how I became part of this Nazi murder/grave mystery.

I knew I really could not help, but I felt like I had to say something I emailed both the baker and the Zapomniane Foundation.  Here is a shortened version of the email I sent.

Your question about the grave and the Brenner/Amsterdam/Kornbluth murders, was sent to me as I have become an Amsterdam family researcher for a while now.

She knew I would be interested in this question.

Unfortunately, I do not know who was buried in the unmarked grave.  Not much help I know. But I can tell you that there are many named Nathan Amsterdam in our family.  My cousin’s great grandfather and my grandfather were both were named Nathan Amsterdam and they were cousins who were born in Austria/Poland in the Mielec area.

The family in Meilec and the surrounding area had four main family names: Amsterdam, Feuer, Brenner and Hollander. The family is Cohanim. Hence the names Feuer/ FIre and Brenner/ Burner. The other names came because the family did go from Spain to Portugal to Amsterdam and then a group moved to Austria/Poland. There was much intermarriage between people with these four surnames.

Almost the entire family who remained in Europe died during the Shoah. Mielec was one of the first areas that the Nazis made judenfrei. Only a few cousins survived. They are all gone now.  One moved to the USA, two went to England and two moved to Israel.

Here is the info on the family that survived and moved to England. Perhaps you might find a descendant. I met them in the early 1960s when they came to the USA to visit the family here.

Zacheriah and Elka had seven children.  Only three survived the Shoah.  Gimple Feuer married and moved to England.  They had four children.  (I then named the four children who they might be able to reach. I am not publishing their names here as they might still be alive.)

Lazar Feuer also lived in England after the war, I never met him.  He had three children: (I named these three as well.)

I am sorry I cannot tell you or the researcher there who exactly is buried in that grave.  But I can tell you that several hundred members of the family were murdered in the Shoah in many different places and methods.  But as the names were Brenner and Amsterdam, I can tell you that they are my distant relatives and that the men were probably Cohanim.”

Because I think finding a way to commemoriate these people is important, I am posting this on Tracing the Tribe Facebook page to see if anyone else has a connection that could help.

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Uncle Sammy Presents A Surprise!!

25 Feb

Of my paternal grandmother’s two brothers, I must admit I liked Uncle Sammy more. He was always jovial and happy.  But he also had a bit of scandal attached to him.  Whenever he was around or came to family events, my grandma would get a bit agitated, waiting for something to happen.

I know she was not great friends with his wife, who I always assumed was his second wife.  I even wrote about her a previous blog. (See blog below.).  But Uncle Sammy always had a smile.  He was the youngest sibling and just seemed the most relaxed. Being around him made me happy.  But then I also loved my great uncle Lenny, who taught me how to bet on the horses. (See blog below)

Uncle Sammy worked as a bus driver from the Port Authority in New York City.   I actually remember one time waiting for a bus with my Mom at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a giant bus hub in Manhattan, when I actually saw my great Uncle.  It was such a surprise.  He beeped his horn and stopped his bus for a moment and to say hello to us. I was so excited!

I vaguely remember that he eventually became a supervisor at the Port Authority.  But, although I can find a docuent stating he was a bus driver, I have been unable tto confirm the promotion. When I ask my older cousins, they do not remember much about him at all. I might have been the only fascinated by him.

My Uncle Sammy died young, in his early 60s.  I do not know the exact date, but I was probably 13 or 14. So around 1968 – 1969.

I knew he was married at least two times.  He married his first wife, Adele, in 1932, when he was in his 20s.  They had one daughter, Vesta.  (Thanks to her unusual name, it is easy to find him!)  I never knew Adele, although I did meet Vesta once or twice.  She was 20 years older than me.  When I knew Uncle Sammy, he was married to Sylvia, who I assumed was his second wife.

But my view of Uncle Sammy changed just a little while searching for my Grandmother’s young brother who died as a toddler.  (See blog below.).  While searching for Jacob, EW (my distant cousin and excellent researcher) found a startling fact about Uncle Sammy.  It seems he had a third wife!!! 

When he was 43 years old, in the 1950 census, he had a wife named Gloria who was 14 years younger, jsut 29.  His then 16-year-old daughter was living with them.   But this  entry in the 1950 census is important because it confirms that he was a bus driver.

I have not been able to find any other documents about Uncle Sammy, not his death certificate or where he is buried.  Although I do know that his widow Sylvia remained in Kew Gardens after he died.  She stayed in touch with our family and came to family events.

EW did find one more item for me.  Uncle Sammy’s daughter, Vesta Jean got married in 1969. He told me that she is listed as Vesta Goldman on her marriage license   But as you can see here, in the announcements she took her stepfather’s last name, Saltzman. 

I think Uncle Sammy had passed away by then.  Because I cannot imagine she would have written her dad out of her marriage if he was still alive. But I do not know for sure, as here it says that she was married by a Reverend. And marrying someone who was not Jewish might have been an issue, because I never knew that Vesta had married.  And I do not think anyone in the Goldman family went to the wedding. As far as I know, Vesta and her husband Clifford, did not have children. 

I hope I can one day find where Uncle Sammy is buried. With the name Samuel Goldman, he is difficult to find. There were many Samuel Goldmans in New York City. EW checked the Bialystoker lists, as other members of my family are listed there. But no luck. With this blog I hope to keep Uncle Sammy’s memory alive for our family.

Grandma Thelma Knows What She Knows

https://zicharonot.com/2015/02/18/the-littlest-gambler-learning-about-horse-races-in-the-catskills/

https://zicharonot.com/2024/01/12/baby-jacob-is-found/

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Baby Jacob is Found

12 Jan

I recently expanded my spiritual care volunteering to include women who have lost a pregnancy or an infant.  (See blog below.). While I was taking seminars and webinars to learn about my new role, I was reminded that my grandmother always mentioned her brother Jacob, who died when he was a child, whenever she listed off her siblings.  She always told me that she was one of five; four living and one who died.

I always assumed that Jacob, who had been named for his paternal grandfather, Yankel, my great great grandfather, had died as a young boy.  Old enough for my grandmother to remember him.   I did not know how Jacob died or how old he was when he died.  My grandmother spoke about him as if she knew him.  So I figure he was a child of 5 or 6 when he passed. 

Now I know she did not know him at all. That the memory she had of him came from her mother, my great grandmother. I can imagine that whenever someone asked her how many children she had, she always remembered and counted Jacob. How could a mother forget her own child? I know now that you never forget the pain of losing a loved one, especially a child. What you can do is to learn to live with it and move forward while remembering.

Jacob has been on my mind lately.  So recently, when my distant cousin, Evan W., who is the best genealogy researcher I know started texting documents one day, I realized I could find out what happened.  Or rather Evan could.  I asked if he was again at the Mormon Center doing research.  He was.  That was fortuitous for me.  I told him about Jacob.  Honestly, within minutes I had my answer. I was stunned.  And when I looked at the dates on the death certificate, I realized I was looking at documents registered almost exactly 126 years ago.

(Once again thank you to Evan and to Tracing The Tribe group that has helped me so much over the years with my mysteries.)

Evan found first that In the 1900 census the family can be found living in the same apartment building as one of my great grandmother’s sister and her family.  Louis and Ray have two living children, two girls one born in 1895 and one in 1898 (my grandmother.). But it also indicated that she had three children, only two living. 

Jacob died when he was just over one year old on January 2, 1898, at 4 pm in the afternoon, with the document registered on January 3 (or 8). He was acutely ill for four days, with the doctor making house calls from December 30 until Jacob died on the second.

I cannot imagine starting a new year with the death of a son.   She must have been devasted.  I can imagine that her sister, who lived in the same building, was there for her.  Jacob’s older sister, my great aunt, was only about 18 months old. My grandmother was not even born when he died.  In fact, she was born 11 months later in November 0f 1898.  So I know for sure she was not remembering him at all.  She was repeating what her mother always said. “I have five children, four living and one, Jacob, who passed away.”

The death certificate states that the cause of death was Simple Meningitis, but there was a contributing factor. Poor Jacob had hydrocephalus.  This is a condition of extra cerebrospinal fluid on the brain.  Now a baby who has this gets a shunt put in that releases the fluid, so that the child survives.

In fact on KidsHealth website it says: “Children often have a full life span if hydrocephalus is caught early and treated. Infants who undergo surgical treatment to reduce the excess fluid in the brain and survive to age 1 will not have a shortened life expectancy due to hydrocephalus.”

But for Jacob this was not an option.  His short life was probably difficult for all as the fluids put pressure on his skull and brain.  My husband, who is a pediatrician, said that meningitis is common with those who have hydrocephalus.  I can imagine the toll his condition had on the family.  I assume that his parents knew that he would not live a long life.  Jacob was unfortunately doomed to die. 

My great grandmother had three children after Jacob died, my grandmother and two more sons.  These four children really grew up not knowing Jacob at all.  But their mother kept his memory alive.   Jacob is buried at Washington Cemetery in New York, where my great grandparents are buried.  I am hoping to find his grave. Although Evan told me that often babies had no stones.

My great grandparents married on January 28, 1894.  I am writing this blog in memory of their 130th wedding anniversary, and the loss they had right before their fourth anniversary in 1898, when Jacob died. By writing this memory I hope that I am continuing my great grandmother’s wish to keep his memory alive.

Expanding my Spiritual Care Volunteer Work

https://kidshealth.org/

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The Mystery of Marjorie: Missed Opportunity Realized a Bit Too Late

13 Jul

Sometimes serendipity does not go the way you want it to go!

Over 20 years ago, a woman called our home and left a message.  My husband’s father had passed away, and the obituary mentioned his mother’s name as well.  She had died 20 years before at the young age of 59 from cancer.  The caller said that she had grown up with my mother-in-law in Leavenworth, Kansas, and really wanted to speak to my husband about his Mom.

My father-in- law died on September 1, 2001.  Ten days later was 9/11.  The message got deleted and forgotten for quite a while.  Life seemed so bizarre in the days and months following the terrorist attack. With most of my family in the New York City area, I was suffering with the rest of the country in a state of shock.  My father-in-law’s death faded into the background. But we were feeling the emotions of that loss as well as the loss of security we all felt in the USA.

Sometime after the initial phone call, I remembered the call.  I told my husband that someone named Marjorie had called about his Mom.  I no longer had the phone number or the message.  But I knew that somewhere in our Kansas City Jewish community this person existed.  And then it faded away again. But every once in a while, if I met an older woman named Marjorie I would ask if she grew up in Leavenworth.

A month ago a friend’s mother passed away.  Although I am friends with this woman, I did not know her mother.  I never met her. I never spoke to her.  But I wish I did because in her obituary, I found out her name was Marjorie and that she grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas.  Furthermore, she and my mother-in-law were born just six weeks apart.  It had to be the missing Marjorie who had called us so many years before.  She had lived to the amazing age of 97.  Almost 40 years longer than my mother-in-law.

I could not go to the shiva or funeral, but I emailed my friend and apology and told her the story of my mother-in-law and this woman who I now believed was her mother. She immediately wrote back that she had a box of memorabilia from her Mom and that she would look through it.  I know it gave her something to do, an escape from the funeral activities.  It was a search for answers.  Was her Mom my mother-in-law’s friend?

The answers came quickly. My friend emailed me a page from the Leavenworth High School yearbook.  They were in the same grade.  Then articles from local newspapers showing both of their names.  There was not much we could do then, as I was leaving town. 

I told her that I would take her to lunch when I came back because I could not go to shiva.  And she agreed to bring some of the papers.  What a lunch.  I saw my mother in law’s high school graduation program.  I saw the program from her confirmation at the Leavenworth synagogue.  Four girls were confirmed together.  My mother-in-law, my friend’s mother and her sister, as well as one other girl.   My friend told me that somewhere she has a photo from the confirmation.  I cannot wait to see it. She was excited as well because now she can put a name on each of the girls.

I found out that sometimes my mother-in-law used a different spelling for her name.  Sometimes it was Leona May, which is what we all believed was the spelling.  And sometimes it was Leona Mae.  Did she use that when she wanted to be a bit more fancy?  Who knows.  But I found it endearing.  Legally it was Leona May.

I found out in 1993 the class held their 50 high school reunion.  Of course, she was not there since she had died in 1984.  But her sister, Barbara, submitted a biography about what she did after high school, her family and of her death from cancer.  It was somewhat emotional to see this message from Barbara.

I so wish I had found Marjorie years ago.  I wish we could have gone through her box of memories together with her daughters and my husband.  But I am still glad I have finally found out who she was in the community.  Also that my friend and I can enjoy this link between our families.

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