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freud's butcher

Freud’s Butcher

A blog about Genealogy, Psychology, and Meat

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Welcome to My Family Albums

These family albums currently focus on family members with a strong Vienna connection: My mother’s eight aunts and uncles (whether by marriage or birth) and their children. The Schmerling family was the closest to my mother — see the picture of my mother as a little girl with her cousin Stella Schmerling and Stella’s dog —  and they’ve generously provided a great many photos, much to the benefit of this album.

Ernestine Kornmehl Rosenbaum Family

The only photos I have of my mother and her parents in the early years in Vienna, these not only give a glimpse of a way of life, but tell a bit of a story, though they pose more questions than they answer. It’s clear, for example, that my grandfather, Hermann Rosenbaum, served in World War I and that he sent his brother-in-law, Siegmund Kornmehl (Freud’s butcher), a postcard of himself while he was away. But I wonder: Did Siegmund give the postcard to my grandmother, Ernestine Kornmehl Rosenbaum, as soon as he received it — he was eight years older than my grandfather, which would explain why he stayed behind in Vienna rather than going to war — or did he give it to my mother later on, as a keepsake when she was leaving for America?

For a larger view, please click on the photos.

I’ve circled the names in black of those in the family who did not survive the war. Sadly, there were more than I realized.
Chaim Heinrich Kornmehl (1842-1913)
Ernestine Rosenbaum with her daughter Rita 1915 or 1916
My grandmother and my mother, ca. 1915
My grandfather, 1916, front of postcard sent from Poland
Postcard sent by my grandfather to Freud’s butcher
Flooki, my mother and cousin Stella
My mother, summer 1938
Rosenbaum family, Summer 1938, probably the last family picture taken together.
My mother's passport picture, 1938 or 1939
My mother’s passport picture, 1938 or 1939
My mother's passport picture, 1938 or 1939
Back of passport photo; Jewish women were required to take the name “Sara”

David and Mitzi Kornmehl Family

The only family that I heard about when I was growing up was the Schmerling family. My mother used to talk about her aunt Mitzi and her first cousins Stella, Mimi (Hermine or Herma) and Ditte (Edith). I met all four of them, Mitzi and Stella in Vienna, where they returned after the war, and Mimi and Ditte in London.

Brothers David and Heinrich Schmerling, 1906
Edith and Hermine Schmerling, my mother’s first cousins, age 1 1/2
Schmerling and Kornmehl families, ca 1920
Mizzi Schmerling, Stella and husband Theo, Tel Aviv, 1951

Heinrich and Lilly Schmerling Family

My great uncle David Schmerling’s brother, Heinrich, looked quite a bit like him, causing some confusion, but these pictures, provided by Heinrich’s family members, prove they got sorted out.

Lily and Heinrich Schmerling, engaged, 1920
Erwin, age 3, with mother Lily and father Heinrich Schmerling
Erwin Schmerling, 1937
Erwin Schmerling, 1937
Erwin, Lilly and Flora, Zemmering holidays 1936
Erwin, Lilly and Flora, Zemmering holidays 1936
Erwin and Flora Schmerling, Weymouth 1939
Erwin and Flora Schmerling, Weymouth 1939
Erwin, Lilly, Heinrich and Flora Schmerling, Zurich, 1948
Erwin, Lilly, Heinrich and Flora Schmerling, Zurich, 1948
Erwin, Lilly, Uncle Lewis, Heinrich
Erwin, Lilly, Uncle Lewis, Heinrich
Flora, Heinrich, Erwin, Lilly 1950
Flora, Heinrich, Erwin, Lilly 1950
Erwin Schmerling, Cambridge graduation 1950

Kornmehl-Schmerling Family Butcher Shops

There’s a reason that this blog is called Freud’s Butcher. Here are a few of the pictures of the businesses in Freud’s time — as well as of later businesses that continued the tradition.

Rudolf Kornmehl’s Butcher shop on Siedengasse 41
Siegmund Kornmehl’s butcher shop, in Sigmund Freud’s building
Nathan and Frances Kornmehl in front of their kosher butcher shop in Buffalo, New York
Selwyn kosher butcher shop, Leeds, England

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michael Kaplan says

    August 18, 2014 at 8:01 am

    What you have gathered is fantastic; Have you been able to find ot anything about your father’s family? I remember your mother (when they returned from their trip to Vienna) that Your father had a brother in England and they spent some time with them. He coveted to Catholicism or married a catholic women to escape the Nazi’s.
    Many weird things occurred @ Ellis Island: My Grandfather (Mother’s side) and his brother had different last names; as a kid I never understood that but finally nagging my father he told me @ Ellis Island they went through 2 different lines and My grandfather became MINK and his brother (different line) was renamed Minkowitz. They were from Minsk Russia. But the Ellis Island employs were from NYC so the nmaes were ‘familair’ to them And neither Ruben (Ruven–my grandfather) spoke English.
    I am currently writing a bio/novel about my Fathers–his 3 brothers AND My Grandmother. She was really something and was always 1 step ahead of them. Fortunately the stories my father and uncles told painted a difficult life BUT rip-roaring Funny. And the Humor DNA passed down to me and my brother.
    I’ll send you a sample chapter and photo of me, my brother and 1st cousins. I still lol @ the knickers she made us wear!

    Reply
  2. Minda brenner says

    December 12, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    Cambridge. 1950
    Minda nee Brenner remembers irwin
    Now living in Surrey
    Do you remember. Me ??

    Reply
  3. Elaine Schmerling says

    December 12, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    Minda, my father Erwin Schmerling passed away December 2009. Were you a classmate of his?

    Reply
  4. Shantel says

    December 8, 2016 at 9:17 am

    Were parents apart of the Kosher Meat Boycott? I am doing a project on it.

    Reply
  5. Rena Blatt (nee Weiss) says

    April 26, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    I have been tracking information on the Korhmehl family and found your article about Curt Allina who was my cousin. I can fill you in on family information that you indicated you wondered about. I am Helena Kornmehl Neugasser’s granddaughter.
    I remember your parents: Paul and Rita and that they had 2 daughters.
    People did stay in touch by mail in the 1930’s. Ervin didn’t just disappear. He went to work on ships crossing to America. He made several crossings. When he came to New York in about 1938, the family told him to stay. That he shouldn’t return because of the Anschlus. So, he did. He lived with our family until the early 1950’s when he remarried. They also made strong attempts to get the rest of his family out of Europe but were unsuccessful.
    Yes, they tracked the refugee ships to ensure that if there were relatives on them, they were welcomed. Both Hettie Kornmehl Sternberg and her family and Egon Kornmehl and his wife were also shoe horned into the family apartment in Brighton Beach.
    Until the mid-1960’s when my grandmother died, there were always cousins over for coffee and her fabulous baking.
    It would be nice to get in touch with you.

    Reply

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