Yesterday I posted about how the film "The Sound of Music" gave a distorted image of Austrian complicity in Nazi policies, suggesting the Austrians were victims rather than enthusiastic participants. Apparently show music isn't the only type of music that gives a distorted picture of Austria's role in the war. Today, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Anschluss, the full
Auf Wiedersehen, Pt. 2: Why “The Sound of Music” Doesn’t Play Well in Austria
The history of my mother's family -- of the Rosenbaums, in particular, and the Jews of Vienna, in general -- only came to me in fits and starts, if it came at all. As I explained in Part 1 of my discussion of the film, "Auf Wiedersehen: 'Til We Meet Again," my family, like that of filmmaker Linda Mills, kept lots of secrets. I suppose I could have gone off on my own to try
Auf Wiedersehen, Pt. 1: Breaking the Silence
When I first began researching my mother's family, even before Freud's Butcher the blog was born, I heard about a film called "Auf Wiedersehen: 'Til We Meet Again." I knew little about it, but was intrigued by the synopsis on the site that I found for ordering it: In this compelling and often funny tale of recovery and renewal, author and activist Linda G. Mills is propelled
Coming Attractions!
I'm back. Yes, I needed a break after the daily deadlines of February's Family History Writing Challenge, but I miss the structure and accountability that the challenge provided. I thought if I told you what's upcoming on my blog I would be committed to write about those topics or, as you'll see, shame others into providing promised guest posts. If I say so myself, there's
7 Takeaways from the Family History Writing Challenge
If Lynn Palermo, The Armchair Genealogist and host of the Family History Writing Challenge, had been able to channel my thoughts over the last 27 days, she would have heard me say some bad words. She would also have heard some philosophical mutterings, along the lines of "What does not kill you makes you strong." Today I offer aloud and in public my final summation: Thank
Genealogy Gehenna: The Hebraization of Jewish Surnames
Today I'm wrapping up the tale of the two Doktors Kornmehl, Ezriel and Viktor, the dual subjects of this family history writing challenge, with kudos -- and a mild kvetch. It's one thing to find out that your relatives' surnames were changed through transcription errors in records, illiteracy, etc. It's quite another to discover that they made the changes on purpose -- and en
Foreshadowing — and Forelightening
You've heard of foreshadowing. A character in a novel feels a cold chill or, in a film, ominous music plays while a man drives along in a car, a much-too-happy grin on his face (yes , I'm thinking of you Downton Abbey, Season 3, and damn you not only for killing off Matthew but for doing it in such a goofy way, with such a clumsy use of foreshadowing, that I was almost tempted
Viktor Kornmehl Wishes Professor Freud A Happy Birthday
May 6, 1931, was Sigmund Freud's 75th birthday. He was hoping to avoid a fuss, especially since he had been in the hospital since late April, undergoing a painful operation on his jaw, and had only returned home to 19 Berggasse the previous day. Freud Feted No such luck. According to biographer Peter Gay (Freud: A Life for Our Time, pp. 574-5): [Freud] could veto festivities
Richard Tauber: “How Can I Be a Jew?”
A few days ago, I wrote about a June 24, 1932 antisemitic incident at the University of Vienna that Viktor Kornmehl tried to quell. Only a few months later, on October 26,1932, another incident brought Viktor back into the international Jewish press. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA): JEWISH PHYSICIAN SERIOUSLY INJURED; JEWISH STUDENT DELEGATION COMPLAINS TO
The Whole Megillah: A Purim Mystery & Hamentasch Digression
I've saved the story of this genealogical mystery, which holds clues to the interactions of the entire Vienna Kornmehl family, until today because it involves a megillah, a scroll of the biblical Book of Esther, and today is Purim, which celebrates the events told in that story. It takes place in Persia and involves a clueless (sometimes drunken) king, two queens, two
Happy 100th Birthday, Henriette (Rita) Rosenbaum Jarolim
I've taken to writing posts in the late afternoon and then finishing them in the morning when I'm clear-headed. Good thing. I had a post prepared that was only tangentially related to Viktor Kornmehl, the subject of this part of the family history writing challenge. It was interesting in a look-what-I-found-I'm-so-clever kind of way, but it was bloodless. I'd veered pretty far
Dr. Kornmehl, Prof. Freud & Jewish Activism
It's been interesting to speculate about Viktor Kornmehl and his brushes with the other, more famous doctors of Vienna. As Anna Redsand wrote in her wonderful guest post, there's a very strong likelihood that he was acquainted with Viktor Frankl in high school: It was a small institution and they were there at the same time. It's possible too that they bonded because both were
Viktor Kornmehl, Viktor Frankl & Sigmund Freud
Today I'm turning Freud's Butcher over to a guest blogger. You'll soon see why. I was amazed at the serendipity when I realized I knew the author of a biography of the latest psychologist to turn up in the life of a Kornmehl family member. *** Guest post by Anna Redsand "The more exciting part is that I may have discovered a link between Viktor Kornmehl and another, more
In Memoriam, Neil Leibman (for Jill)
Family history blogging is a little odd, when you think about it. You spend a lot of time contemplating departed relatives and burial places, taking mortality in stride. But it doesn't provide a cushion for reality. When a loved one dies, even someone elderly, it still comes as a shock. I felt a jolt even though it wasn't my loved one who died this past weekend, but the
Viktor Kornmehl & Sigmund Freud’s High School
I've been circling around Viktor Kornmehl, the intended subject of this second part of this family history writing challenge, for a while now. I first looked at his mother, Kamilla, who was buried in a group crypt, married in a synagogue that was later destroyed, and misidentified in a picture; and then at his brother, Bertschi, who helped organize Zionist transports to