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… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: 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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
