I won't try to claim that name changes pose a greater challenge to Jewish family historians than those of other groups -- although I'm convinced they do. I just don't have a sufficient basis for comparison to prove it. Unique Genealogical Circumstances I can, however, assert that those searching for Eastern European Jewish ancestors will face some unique challenges.
A Reboot, A Rabbi & A Reunion
...walk into a bar. Just kidding. But that title cried out for it. The Reboot I had a wake up call recently, thanks in part to a comment by guest poster and Viktor Frankl biographer Anna Redsand. Who are all these people you're writing about? she asked. You need a scorecard -- or at least a family tree -- to keep them straight. Only she put it far more
In Stiches: My Family’s Sewing Tradition
I talk a lot about food on this blog -- and everywhere else, for that matter. As a dining writer, I've followed in the footsteps of the grain traders, butchers, cafe owners, chocolatiers and other food-related business folks in my mother's family... in my fashion. And fashion is what I want to discuss now. I can't claim to be nearly as savvy about another trade that I
Our Closest Kin: The Schmerlings
I've been feeling a bit discombobulated lately. When I first starting researching my family, I was startled to discover that I had a great uncle and cousin living in Queens whom I had never met, even though we lived a subway ride away in Brooklyn. Recently, another family has come into my consciousness, one-time Manhattanites as closely related to my mother as the Queens
Daddy’s Girl: An Ode to Paul Jarolim
Move over, Kornmehl family. Today is my father's day. From Vienna to Belgium and America If I thought I knew next-to-nothing about my mother's past, I know even less about my father's. I'm not sure, for example, whether my paternal grandfather died before the war or left his family -- and, in either case, when those events occurred.* My mother didn't know either. And only
Framing Sigmund: The Mystery of Freud’s Glasses
Sigmund Freud's glasses are as central to his image as his cigars are -- perhaps more so. After middle age, Freud is never photographed sans specs, but his smokes are occasionally absent. Yet while Freud's cigars are much analyzed, his eye wear remains a mystery. Maybe Moscot? My interest in the topic was piqued earlier this week when my friend Penelope Starr wrote me that
Who Put the Heads on Pez? My Cousin Curt!
One of my cousins is a pop culture icon. Or at least the source of one. Many members of the Kornmehl family have been successful. We've got doctors, lawyers, scientists, bankers, and writers in the clan, as well as a famous (on the East Coast) chocolatier. But, as far as public recognition is concerned, no one holds a candle to Curt Allina. You may not know his name but you
A Kornmehl Reunion (Of Sorts)
The genealogical adventures of the far-flung Kornmehl family continue! This week turned out to be a guest post double header. Today's contribution was written by a different Kornmehl family member, but it was also made possible by the organizational skills of Jill Leibman Kornmehl, who is as good at people gathering as she at document gathering. I'm not going to be overly
An Inspiring Woman: Frances Kornmehl
I often wondered why Jill Leibman Kornmehl, a key contributor to this blog, got so involved with researching her husband's family, the Kornmehls--rather than, say, her own family. Today I present the answer, in Jill's words. It's a story filled with miracles, large and small. An Inspiring Woman by Jill Leibman Kornmehl It was not the most opportune time to have a
Freud’s Butcher Contributor Wins Major Literary Award
I'm kvelling. My friend Lydia Davis, who is a FOFB (Friend of Freud's Butcher), just won the Man Booker International Prize. We're not talking the regular Man Booker Prize, which is prestigious enough, but a lifetime achievement award for fiction, presented once every two years. The four previous winners were Ismail Kadaré (2005), Chinua Achebe (2007), Alice Munro (2009),
Word Play: Pondering Family, Food & Freud
It's a holiday weekend. I have several posts half finished, waiting for additional historical information to arrive or, in the case of some difficult topics, for the right angle to strike me. So I decided to tinker with my blog -- specifically, with the names of my subcategories, Genealogy, Psychology & Meat. Because I didn't fuss over them enough the first time
Rewriting My Childhood: A Tale of Mystery Relatives
It boggles the mind, how little I knew about my family until I started writing this blog. My mother was an only child and, as far as I knew, everyone in her immediate family had died in Europe. I had one living uncle on my father's side, but he returned to Vienna after the war and I didn't meet him until I was 19. In effect, I grew up without relatives -- at least not the
Freud Friday: The Incredible, Edible Freud
It's been several months since I visited New York and received a delightful gift from Lothar Hoelbling, the former archivist of the Jewish Community of Vienna. Writing in advance of my meeting with him, I said he should be prepared to answer a lot of questions about the archives. Perhaps he hoped to head me off by bribing me with clever Freud candy. I was charmed, but still
Shavuot: Celebrating Dairy, Fruit & Mothers-in-Law
Today is the first day of Shavuot, a not-so-well-known Jewish holiday. I became aware of this fact because several of the sites that I follow on Facebook mentioned it (since I started this blog, I've joined the Social Media sect of Judaism). One site, What Jew Wanna Eat, started posting mouth-watering pictures of dishes like goat cheese and zucchini blintzes and mentioned
The Importance of Being Ernestine: A Mother’s Day Tribute
I never knew my grandmother, Ernestine Kornmehl Rosenbaum. She died long before I was born. And, try as I might, I can't recall a single interesting -- or uninteresting -- thing my mother might have told me about her. You can't force memory, I suppose -- and those Freudian free-association sessions are expensive. But you can work on genealogy. Although Judaism is a