Fanning out. Contracting back. In my last post, I explored the story of a family member who fled halfway across the world from Vienna to escape Hitler--only to have to escape another dangerous dictator in his adopted home. Here I look back to my ancestral roots in a town I'd never heard of until I started this blog, and certainly never knew most of my mother's family came from:
Tarnow Poland
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
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