Earlier this week, I returned to the story of Ezriel Kornmehl, introducing his parents and siblings -- and throwing in a little celebrity glitter. Today I take him from his birth in Tarnow, Poland, to the start and completion of his education in Vienna. From high school to med school Ezriel was born in 1891 and attended gymnasium (high school) in Tarnow. Upon the completion
Ezriel Kornmehl
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 mistakes in Ellis Island, transcription errors, illiteracy, etc. It's quite another to discover that they made the changes on
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 10: A Brief Breather (with Chocolate)
It's been quite the whirlwind week. I hadn't expected to find enough information about the the first subject of this challenge, Ezriel Kornmehl, to fill more than a few days worth of postings. Instead, I ended up with a goldmine of material -- with more to come if I get answers to even a few of the many questions I posed. What I learned about the process (so far): In
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 9: Back in the USSR
It's hard to believe that, after spending eight days with him, I'm ending my journey with Ezriel. At least for now. There are many questions still to be answered, including the one I posed yesterday -- i.e., how Ezriel met his wife, Ernestyna. Another thing I'd like to know: Why did Ezriel decide to transfer from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow to the University of
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 8: When Ezriel Met Ernestyna
It turns out Ezriel Kornmehl married well. Mazel tov. His wife, the former Ernestyna Karp, didn't do too badly either. The History of the Jews of Jaslo says of the couple: [Ezriel] was the son in law of Mordechai Karp and a doctor. He was the only Jewish doctor to work for the general governmental health insurance office in the city. He was well regarded and respected by
The Family History Writing Challenge, Day 7: Fathers-In-Law
Yesterday I brought Ezriel Kornmehl, the first subject of this challenge, back to Poland from medical school in Vienna and pondered his war service. I alluded to the fact that he would have met a distressing death had he not fled Jaslo. Today I start filling in the story of Jaslo, including the question of what brought Ezriel there in the first place, when most of the
Pondering Jewish European Patriotism
I learned the other day that my current family history subject, Ezriel Kornmehl, had volunteered to serve in the Polish-Bolshevik War in 1921, and that he is listed in the Polish Officer's Year Book (as Esriel Kornmehl) for 1923 and 1924. I dutifully set out this morning to look into the details of his military service and to find out what exactly the Polish-Bolshevik war
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 5: Ezriel’s Not-So-Lazy School Days
Thanks to the excellent student files kept by the University of Vienna, Ezriel Kornmehl's academic life comes into far clearer focus than most other parts of his life -- at least so far. As a result of information that Jill Kornmehl gleaned, we know that Ezriel (I'm summarizing a bit from the original here): ...studied [at the University of Vienna] from March 1914 to June
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 4: Researcher Bait
If you're at all familiar with genealogy, you've heard the term "cousin bait": information posted expressly to attract relatives. This blog seems to attract relatives without my having had to deliberately create a particular type of post -- Jessica Klein Levenbrown was only the most recent -- and that's a wonderful thing. But I had a feeling in the back of my mind that if I
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 3: Finding Ezriel, Part 1
I decided I would start with a profile of Ezriel for this challenge because he is the older of the two Kornmehls I plan to focus on -- and also because I am waiting for permission to reproduce a document relating to Viktor. But I realized that my information about Ezriel is far sketchier than what I have about Viktor, requiring more blanks to be filled in. I also realized --
Family History Writing Challenge, Day 2: Why’d You Choose Those Relatives?
I explained on the first day of this challenge that I was going to look into the lives of Ezriel Kornmehl and Viktor Kornmehl. But neither Ezriel or Viktor is closely related to me -- or to each other. Why chose them as my subjects? Because of Sigmund Freud. As I've often mentioned, my maternal great uncle, Siegmund Kornmehl, sold meat to the father of psychoanalysis.
The Doktors Kornmehl & Professor Freud
One of the few stories my mother told about her life in Vienna was that her cousin Stella had been sent to see Sigmund Freud in the hope that her limp, resistant to traditional treatments or diagnoses, would prove to be psychosomatic (it didn't). The more I read about Freud, the more I think he was a regular guy, brilliant, but a schmoozer rather than a snob. Nevertheless, I