It is a wonder how two photos that I did not know were related could help find a branch of the family that I had no information about.
I have a family album that we found hidden in the bottom of a closet in the attic of what had been my grandparent’s and then my parent’s home in Kauneonga Lake, NY. We found it when we cleaned the house out about four years ago. Most of the photos are from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Many of the photos are unidentified. But some have comments on the back written in one of many languages including, English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish and German. (See blog below.)
Every few months I open the book and focus on a few of the photos. It is an emotional task, as I find that many of these photos lead me back to the Shoah. And often the people in the photos perished in concentration camps or were murdered near their homes. I find it a bit terrifying.
About a year ago I posted a photo of two young girls on the Tracing the Tribe website. No one translated that one for me. I am not sure why. It probably got posted on a busy day. As usually these short messages are translated in a few hours.
Then about a month ago I posted two identical photos of a young man, but each had a slightly different note on the back, written in German. I wondered why German, although I knew that my grandmother could read and write German along with three other languages.
I knew that one of the photos of the young man and the photo of the two girls were sent to my grandmother, Tova/Thelma. And I that the other one of the young man was sent to her aunt, my great aunt Gussie. This lead me to write about the young man Abraham Prentki/Prantki. (See blog post below.)
I assumed he had to be the son of one my great grandfather’s three sisters , Esther, Sura or Leba, who we really had no information about.
By some serendipitous decision, I was looking for another post on the Tracing the Tribe Group when I stumbled upon this photo of the young girls who had never been identified. So I reposted it on Tracing the Tribe and Jewish Ancestoy in Poland. With in a few hours, I had a translation. It was to my grandmother, their cousin. There were names including the last name Granek. This postcard was also written in German.
My Tracing the Tribe friend, Amy, decided to search some more. Thank you, Amy. She found a Yad V’Shem testimony written by a Martha Granek Wynn, who wrote a page of testimony for her mother Cella Prentki Granek. Cella’s parents were Esther Schenk and Pinkus Prentki and they lived in Breslau, Germany. But originally came from Boleslaviec, Poland, where my grandmother grew up. Cella was murdered in Mauthausen. The testimony is chilling. In Place of death: it is written Mauthausen. In circumstance of death, it is written: Oven.
The pieces were now coming together. And although I cannot be one hundred percent certain. This is what I know. My great grandfather Shlomo Abraham had several sisters. Gussie moved to the United States, where she married and had four children. My grandmother moved in with Gussie and her family when she moved to the USA. (See two blogs below.). The postcards from the young man, Abraham Prentki were to his cousin Tova and his Aunt Gussie. I assumed he had to be the son of Esther, Sura or Leba, my great grandfather’s sisters who we had no information on. This leads me to believe that Abraham was the brother of Cella Prentki Granek who died at Mauthausen. And that he was also the son of Esther Schenk Prentki.
My grandmother is sitting on the right. Who are the other two women?
More information, we (my sister helps me with my research) know that my grandmother went back to Europe in 1931 with my mother and uncle. (see blog below.). We also know that she left the children behind with her father and then her in laws and went to Breslau to visit her family, her aunt, and go to the waters of Carlsbard/Karlsbard to heal. The Prentki family lived in Breslau.
My sister says she agrees that this looks right. But we are not totally sure. On the page of testimony there is an address in Melbourne, Australia. I found this address on line, in Australia. I sent a letter to the woman who submitted the testimony about her mother, but not sure the family still lives there. It was written in 1999, and Martha would be in her 90s now. She is probably one of the young girls in the photo. I am hoping that some family members live there.
However, another connection. After the war, my grandmother’s two brothers and their wives moved to Australia. They were waiting for visas to get out of Europe and went when the first visa to Australia arrived. They lived in Melbourne. Coincidence? Or did they move to be with other family who had escaped. My mother’s first cousin is still alive. She was born in Melbourne in 1955 and now lives in Israel. I have asked her if she knew this family. But she was a child when she left Australia.
We might never know the truth. My sister is right, we cannot be 100 percent sure. But in my heart, I think these were the Grandchildren children of my great aunt Esther. In my heart I believe that this was the family my grandmother visited in Breslau. In my heart I think the mystery of these two photos is solved. Still not sure about the photo from Karlsbard.
It is amazing what information two photos can lead to. And that is why I keep going back to this album and searching.
Update: I did get a message from a woman who knew my grandmother’s cousins. In fact one of the girls lived with her family in England. The girls were separated, which made me a bit sad.
https://zicharonot.com/2014/08/19/old-photographs-bring-memories-to-life/
https://zicharonot.com/2018/06/04/the-mystery-of-abraham-prantki/
https://zicharonot.com/2015/06/13/finding-katie/
https://zicharonot.com/2014/05/29/grandma-thelma-knows-what-she-knows/
https://zicharonot.com/2016/06/06/the-mysterious-kalsbad-photos-who-are-they/
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