I have a tendency to be a bit long winded. I can't quite make this a Wordless Wednesday -- or even an (Almost) Wordless Wednesday -- but I'm going to try to keep my foray into the past and present of the Kornmehl and Schmerling families as brief as possible. Kornmehls and Schmerlings, Past I wrote last week about how I was planning to participate in the family histories that
Genealogy
Tarnow Calling
I've gotten used to people contacting me through this blog because they've come across the Kornmehl name on it. Now, for the first time, Freud's Butcher has grabbed the attention of an entire city: Tarnow, Poland. Or at least the attention of Jerry Bergman, the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Jewish Culture in Tarnow, a committee that I didn't
Freud’s Butcher, Year One: Five Highlights
It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I wrote my first post here, a speculation on whether Freud ate kosher. It's been quite the wild ride since then -- a statement that might surprise those who think that genealogy is boring. But if you use the term family history -- emphasis on family -- and realize that family historians deal with people who are alive and/or who
(Almost) Wordless Wedding Wednesday
Flora Selwyn, one of my newfound cousins, sent me these pictures, writing: "I thought you might like this wedding photo of my grandparents, Barnet Goldsmith & Flora Plan, in London in 1896. I'm named after this grandmother, who died in London in childbirth when my mother Lily was 5. Both were refugees from Poland in the 1800s and met in London." Flora added,
Survival in Paradise: Southern France
Get a cup of coffee or tea and settle in. I've got a great read for you today, courtesy of one of my talented relatives. I introduced Manfred Wolf briefly last week when he added information about his uncle Paul to an earlier post about the far-flung Kornmehl family. Today the spotlight is entirely on him, with an excerpt from an unpublished memoir tentatively called
Geography Lessons: Wandering Jews
Did you know that, for a significant period of time (1795-1919), the country we now know as Poland ceased to exist, that it was divided up between Prussia, Russia, and Austria-Hungary? And did you know that, before 1795, approximately half the world's population of Jews lived in the region that was thus divided up, some 750,000 out of 1.5 million? The Southern Arizona
Fish, Fungi & Funny Jewish Words: The Schmerling Name, Revisited
I thought that my recent post about the origin of the Schmerling name had laid the topic to rest. After going through a series of logical steps, I was certain that the source of the name, handed down matrilinealy, was "loach fish," chosen from a list provided by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Jews in 1787 when they mandated the taking of Germanic surnames. I subsequently
Of Photo Identification & British-to-American Translation
I often feel deficient in the genealogy department. When it comes to tracing documents, I have been spoiled by help from others, by getting gifts of fish, as the old saying goes, rather than fishing lessons. But I recently discovered that I've learned quite a bit about my mother's family in the past year -- which was, after all, what I set out to do. So forgive a little
Was My Mother Reincarnated As My Dog?
I have e-met many new relatives this past week, which is very exciting. And so far they have known me as the (more-or-less) rational researcher of my mother's family. Today they meet Frankie and realize I am a crazy dog lady. Frankie's Birthday Frankie is a rescue so I have no firm idea of when he entered the world, but I designated the 4th of July as his birthday because
Wordless Wednesday: My Great Grandfather
Of all the pictures I've found or received from various family members in the course of my research, I don't think any one has moved me quite as much as this sketch of my maternal great grandfather. It's not only the fact that I viewed for the first time an image of the patriarch of the family of the eight brothers and sisters on whom my research has been focused; it's the man
The Mystery of the Schmerling Name — Solved!
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