Discovery Notebook
Out-of-wedlock exception led to reversal of Article 116 definition of "descendants"
The more inclusive definition of the word "descendant" in Article 116 of the German Basic Law,…
1961 passport photo turns up as we ramp up German citizenship application plans
Going through the papers that Joanne had assembled in 2012 for her German citizenship…
Intermarriage with the Jacobi family from Neuteich
Were Meyer Paechter and Emilie Jacoby possibly double cousins?
Another notable in-law: Zionist artist Hermann Struck
He emigrated to Palestine with wife Amalia Streisand in 1922
Hilde Paechter's first husband was a Communist persecuted by the Nazis
Walter Ehlen was in prison when Hilde escaped Germany to England with their four-year-old son
Meyer's children all went to Berlin—one converted to the Evangelical church
Berlin directories from the 1910s through the 1930s contain listings for multiple Paechter brothers…
Meyer Paechter returned from Danzig to Tiegenhof in 1871
His first two children were born in Danzig. The next five were born in Tiegenhof.
The Jewish history of Märkisch Friedland
Jews expelled from Nörenburg in the 1500s settled in nearby tolerant Miroslaviec
The Hirsch Paechter family in Kolberg
Hirsch and Henriette Paechter had four children in Kolberg. The second son Gottschalk may have…
The Paechters of Märkisch Friedland—how are we related?
A family connection in three West Prussian towns explains not one but two long-distance marriages
The dilemma for stateless Jews after July 14, 1933
Our Ringels were not in the more dire situation of families like the Landaus
Details of the Paechter emigration story after reading the Anneliese Landau biography
Anneliese exited Berlin three months ahead of the Paechter children. She met them in London.
Emil and Helene Paechter came to New York
Helene died in New York in 1941, after which Emil went to London to be with his daughter
Hedwig Pachter was the daughter of a Protestant missionary in German East Africa
Her love for a fervent Jewish socialist was anything but convenient
Renee Paechter Cafiero was a gay rights pioneer
Still active at age 80, she carries on her family's progressive political tradition
Generational spread in the Paechter family
Carrie Paechter is of my mother's generation but she is five years younger than I am
Taking stock of our Paechter census
After recent discoveries, this is a good time to review what is known and to chart further…
Hirsch recounts her 2017 visit with the Micklems in Edinburgh
The biographer bonded with Landau's family members in the UK. Did she cross a line?
Hirsch's “I Was There” article, complete with footnotes
Anneliese Landau's life in music from Berlin to Los Angeles
Recent biography of Anneliese Landau fills in a lot of blanks
In 2012, music historian Lilly E. Hirsch published her book "A Jewish Orchestra in Nazi Germany…
Professor Carrie Paechter's approach to gender and identity
In her inaugural lecture, she asked ‘Can we move towards a post-gender world? If so, do we want to…
From a pastoral town to the halls of academe—the Paechter children in England
They were matched with families in the West England hinterlands, but their eyes were set on Oxford.
A generational Sophie’s choice for Berlin Jewish parents in 1938-39
Reflecting on the terrible choice made by Kurt and Grete Paechter in 1939 to send their children…
Carrie Paechter's tribute to her grandfather
British professor is the daughter of Gerd Paechter, who arrived on the Kindertransport
Berlin stumbling stone memorial has expanded text about Kurt Paechter's fate
The details of Kurt's deportation and uncertainty about his eventual fate.
Landau family memorial in Halle
Here is the full Stolpersteine essay about the Salomon Mendel Landau family from the Zeit…
The life and death of Kurt Julius Paechter, family man and Deutsche Bank executive
The model of a Prussian officer—correctness all over and a face set for making decisions.
Alfred Jacob submitted Yad Vashem testimonies for his parents and grandmother
The youngest child of Leo and Rosa Jacob lived in Johannesburg, New York and London.
Jacob family story preserved with Stolpersteine memorial
Rosa Paechter Jacob, her husband and mother all died after deportation to Theresienstadt.
Isaak Paechter's two children and their spouses were Holocaust victims but the next generation got out to England and South Africa
Following the Isaak Paechter branch from Tiegenhof to Crossen to Berlin.
Ernst Simonson's obituary tells his remarkable life story
He was a pioneer in multiple fields of physiology working in Germany, Russia and the U.S.
Salomon's widow and daughters survived the Nazis
These Paechter descendants got out of Berlin in 1939 for England, Brazil and America.
Druck von Emil Streisand published academic dissertations
A pro-war poster published by Emil Streisand celebrated Germany's "Big Bertha" artillery cannon.
The Paechter store succession reconsidered
I now think it was Salomon Paechter, not Isaak, who ran the family store in the 1890s.
Salomon Paechter branch leads to notable emigre physiologist Ernst Simonson
This Paechter branch went from provincial merchant to eminent scientist in two generations.
Chicago Tribune spotlights Stan Ruby in coverage of anti-ABM press conference
Stan speaks for the anti-ABM campaign ahead of a mass rally against a Senate bill
More newspaper citations for Walter Ruby in the Catrow affair and as a boxing manager—but is it our Walter?
Assessing the evidence for Walter Ruby as a boxing manager and/or bootlegger.
Grammy was a founding trustee of the Long Beach Hadassah branch
Grammy was a founder of the Long Beach, L.I. branch of Hadassah.
Walter Ruby's last enterprise was Ruby Carbonator Company
His Daily News obit reveals his final entrepreneurial idea.
Walter Ruby called "the gin king" in a 1934 advertisement
He cultivated an image as the witty, urbane man about town—the personification of his brand.
Henry Pachter's biography
Biographical sketch from the The Henry M. Pachter Papers at SUNY Albany.
Pächter relative sentenced to four months in prison for printing a Communist newspaper in 1929
Cousin Emil Paechter was caught up in the aftermath of the May Day government crackdown on…
Julius Rabinowitz is buried in a Landsmannschaft plot for Jews from Keidan, Lithuania
Does his burial location give a clue about the Rabinowitz family origin story?
Judith Rabinowitz obtained legal name change in Bronx County civil court in February 1942
Judith Naomi Rabinowitz legally became Judith Naomi Robbins.
Correcting a Rabinowitz-Robbins error
Our family members were mistakenly connected to Philadelphia lawyer Jules Robbins.
Oops! Google‘s new smart assistant spots an error in yesterday’s post
Warning: Don't trust AI for genealogy research.
Katz family history in East Prussia leads to a cemetery in the Polish village of Paslek
The headstone of Tobine Katz, our GGG grandmother, is still standing in the old Jewish cemetery
Our Paechter branch grows wider yet—all roads lead to Berlin (and onward)
There were 30 or more first cousins from the original five Paechter children.
More insights from Wohlgemuth phone listings
Betty Katz Wohlgemuth remained at Woelckpromenade longer than previously known.
Rosa Wohlemuth was an art dealer
Rosa Wohlgemuth had an artistic side and twice travelled to America
Learning more about Helga's Tante Rosa
A newly discovered death record for Rosa Wohlgemuth helps to unravel an old mystery about the pouch…
Columbia research fellow Masato Morita described Rustad-Ruby post-deadline presentation
Visiting Japanese physicist summarized the Rustad-Ruby retraction shortly after it happened.
Wu first cited the RR experiment months ahead of its publication
She reported on the result favoring tensor interaction weeks after the RR experimental work began.
Franklin's interest in the Rustad-Ruby experiment goes back to the summer of 1958
He assisted as an undergrad on an experiment related to the Ruby-Rustad matter.
Stan evaluated the feasibility of gamma-ray lasers for the Air Force in 1964
Physical limitations make Mössbauer-based gamma beam technology impractical.
Stan listed Wu as a reference in his Argonne employment application form
Papers make clear that the Brookhaven experiment with Rustad was also the subject of Stan's Ph.D.…
From Stan's CV files: "This degree was not received"
Stan's Argonne job application contains a brief explanation of his Columbia graduate work
The rise and fall of the Army Specialized Training Program
Stan's technical training ended abruptly when ASTP cadets were called into active duty
The Ruby family lived in Washington Heights in 1925
671 W. 162nd Street is the second building from the corner of Riverside Drive.
Stan's training at Clemson is recorded in Army ASTP records
Stan served in the Army Specialist Training Program in the fall and winter of 1943-44
The experiment that went wrong—from Wu's perspective
Wu's actions in the Rustad-Ruby affair are covered in her Chinese biography
Wu and her students—excerpts from Chapter 8 of the Chinese biography
Stanley Ruby is among the former students and colleagues of C. S. Wu who are quoted
Physics and family—the third rail of the experiment story
I’m reading a helpful book, Story Genius, by Lisa Cron, about narrative technique that I…
Fire at the luggage store—one last item about the other Stanley Ruby
Before I turn the page for good on the doppelganger Stanley Ruby, I can't resist this tidbit…
Yup, Stan had a doppelganger
That other Stanley Ruby who later worked at the Pentagon had a life that closely mirrored Stan's.
Wait a minute! Now I am finding another Dr. Stanley Ruby
Deeper searches for "Dr. Stanley Ruby" are returning some hits related to the Advanced Research…
The uranium recovery project was ramping up just as Stan finished his graduate studies
Working on surface chemistry for Professor Hassialis was as close to weapons work as Stan ever got
Was there a different Stanley Ruby who was a chemist?
When working in genealogy, you learn never to rule out the possibility of coincidence
Stan’s employment at Brookhaven is recorded in the lab’s annual and quarterly reports
Lab annual reports show Stan on staff at Brookhaven from July 1951 to June 1953
About Professor M.D. (John) Hassialis
Hassialis, a Columbia professor in the School of Mines, played a key role in the Manhattan Project.
When I first discovered Stan's 1954 doctoral dissertation
Surprise! Stan submitted a doctoral thesis on an altogether different subject
Action At a Distance: Stan's later work and speculations will be collected in a new family story
A new project to present highlights from Stan's 2000-2004 Mathematica notebooks
The nature of the interaction
Do human interactions follow their own laws of physics?
Franklin's career path from particle physics to philosophy of science
The AIP Oral History interview with science philosopher Allan Franklin
Rustad studied under nuclear pioneer Alfred Nier in Minnesota—that’s what brought him to Columbia in 1942
Rustad came to Columbia to work on a classified research project involving uranium isotope…
Walter's take: Fumigate the basement, but don't neglect Stan's achievements
Whatever happened back then matters so much less than all the wonders that came later.
The doctorate that wasn't to be
Stan Ruby was not awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Physics by Columbia University.
My reasons for posting CU-173, the Wu-Schwarzchild report, as a public download
Open publication of scientific results is integral to the scientific process. Why was CU-173…
Brookhaven scientist Brice Rustad's untimely death in 1965 at age 43
Rustad was also denied his Columbia doctorate in the aftermath of the experiment
Brice Rustad remained at Brookhaven before and after the experiment reversal
He collaborated with Wu and her associates in the 1950s and '60s.
Stan played a community organizing role in the Mössbauer world
He acted as a gadfly to spark the formation of needed resources like conferences and publications
"Scientific legacy of Stanley Ruby"—a longer version of Gopal's tribute
Stan was honored at the 4th Nassau Mössbauer Symposium, held in Garden City, NY in January 2006.
Never-published images of Rustad-Ruby apparatus
Five views of the Brookhaven reactor and the Rustad-Ruby experimental setup.
Stan's academic leave from Westinghouse was reported in Physics Today
Stanley L. Ruby will hold a nuclear-research fellowship at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission's…
Stan encountered Wu at the first big Mössbauer meeting at Urbana in July 1960
This could have been the first time they had met since the events of 1957-58. There is no record of…
Ruby-design corkscrew was advertised to retailers in trade journal The Billboard
A version of Walters three-in-one corkscrew reached the market as a promotional novelty.
Ratner descendants reunion in East Quogue
Not everyone could attend. But Curt Decker, grandson of Pyser, updated us about his branch in a…
Hermann's tragic death in Marienbad—what we know and don't know
Walter ponders Hermann's last days. His death record has now turned up.
Life in Nice—our personal Sitzkrieg
In Nice, we rented an apartment in a three story walk-up building on the west side of the city.…
Antwerp reunion and onward to France
From Liege, we headed to Antwerp, a raucous port town near Holland with a large Jewish…
Across the Siegfried Line
When we were ready to go, an official SS car came to pick us up at the door. Some SS officials…
Sisters had differing results in love
Actually, around that time, Ogi acquired a suitor. His name was Herr Repper, and he was a…
Helga found a mentor at Julia Richman High School
At the end of that first summer, I was set to go back to school, where I hadn’t been in three…
Helga embraced American culture
I really became an all-American girl and embraced American culture in a big way. I loved the…
Helga met Stan in Long Beach before he shipped out
I was one of hundreds of kids who used to hang out on the beach in front of the Nassau Hotel,…
Seaside escape from the sweltering city
When we got to New York, we found a place to live in a rather shabby apartment building at 101st…
Departing Berlin as if for a weekend trip
I must say that my mother performed magnificently in that crisis. As already pointed out, she…
Marienbad "holiday"
My father died suddenly in June of 1938 after developing blood poisoning (sepsis) during a…
The Ringel house number in Rzeszów was not new information
A 1856 birth record lists the Ringel family at house number 299.
Rzeszów market square then and now
Views of the rynek through the years.
Ringel house number 299 was in the heart of Rzeszów's Jewish quarter
A house number listed in several family birth records is located on three historical maps—smack dab…
Hermann may have been wounded in battle on the WWI Eastern Front
One line in a daily casualty report helps to pinpoint the context of a grandfather's military…
Theodor Herzl School memory project
A 2006 reunion of former students of the Theodor Herzl School in Berlin produced a trove of content…
Testimony part 3 — labor camps and the Bochnia ghetto
Margot's family avoids placement in the Bochnia ghetto with voluntary imprisonment in a Krakow…
Ttestimony part 2 — uprooted in Krakow
Margot describes her experiences as a new Polish immigrant in 1939 and '40
Testimony part 1 — the Berlin years
Margot describes her family history and privileged upbringing in Berlin
Images from the Dränger testimony
Images from the Margot Dränger interview on the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive web…
Dränger testimony metadata
Following is the USC Shoah Foundation database metadata for the Margot Dränger testimony,…
First read of the Margot Dränger Holocaust testimony
Margot was a Ringel cousin from Berlin whose family fled east when ours went west—a big mistake.…
Walter's book about personal peacemaking
We Refuse to Be Enemies: How Muslims and Jews Can Make Peace, One Friendship At a Time, by…
Schija Ringel identified as "fish dealer" in a 1902 record
Besides Hirsch Ringel in Nisko and Jakob Ringel in Hamburg, Schija had one other brother, Juda…
Margot Dränger, granddaughter of Hirsch Ringel, gave Holocaust testimony
As I mentioned, at least four of the children of Hirsch Ringel and Perl Jacoby were…
Contact reestablished with Tami Beck
An Australian Ringel cousin defends her research about the family presence in Nisko
A Ringel branch in Nisko
The oldest Ringel brother, Hirsch, raised his family in Nisko on the River San, 50 miles north of…
Rosa Ringel's wedding was also at the Whitechapel registry office
The details of Rosa Ringel's 1908 London marriage, provided in a certificate…
Copy of Ringel-Weinstock marriage certificate arrives from the GRO
Solid evidence of a Ringel family precedent for destination marriages in London
Ringel photo animations
Deep Nostalgia photo animations of my grandparents Hermann and Elly Ringel.
Animated photos from MyHeritage
I tried out the Deep Nostalgia photo animation technology with photos of my grandparents.
Illegals then and now
Walter invoked Helga's refugee story in a protest at the U.S. Supreme Court
Found! Another case of a London double marriage
After several days of unsuccessful Google searches for mentions of London marriages by German…
New market halls were opened in Berlin in the 1880s
The trend toward covered markets for food distribution in Berlin, already underway beginning in…
Another Ringel cousin married in Whitechapel
Rosa Rachel Ringel was married in London in 1908, three years before her first cousin Betty Ringel…
Schija was a fishmonger?
Learning about Jewish fish markets in Berlin
The Twiasschor party lodged at Langdale Mansions in the slums of Whitechapel
I neglected to mention one important fact gleaned from the Twiasschor-Ringel marriage…
Twiasschor marriage certificates contain some surprises
After five weeks, I received the two Twiasschor marriage certificates I ordered from the…
Marriage records on order from the UK General Register Office
For the past week or so, I have been zooming and tweeting with an international bunch of…
Twiasschor roots in Kolomiya
I am trying to sort out the various Twiasschor lines and locations.
First, the…
Rabbi Hirsch Zvi Ringel burial at Weißensee
Here we have one more Ringel family member who was laid to rest at the Jüdische Friedhof in…
The sudden death of Walter Ruby
On July 22, 1939, Stan was in the bathroom shaving—having just received his first razor and…
Walter suffers a career setback
Suddenly, in 1937, things turned dramatically downhill for Walter Ruby. According to Stanley,…
Rose Ratner was a dynamo
According to all accounts, Rose was a dynamo who did everything around the house. She was an…
When Rose first met Abraham Bloch
For reasons that remain unclear, at the age of 15 or 16, Rose was set up with a boy from a…
Edith and Gina in 1945
These photos must have been sent to Helga in late 1945 by one of her cousins in London. They are…
Map of Weißensee
Last night, when I showed Joanne yesterday's posting of a photo of Helga about age three,…
Portrait of Hermann in uniform
Here from the scanning project is a second image of Hermann Ringel in some kind of military…
Helga had many admirers
There are many chapters of Helga's life that are covered in the box of photos that I am now…
Lovely portraits of Elly
Here are two stunning formal portraits of Elly Wohlgemuth before or during her marriage to…
Helga goes to work at Leo Burnett
When the Ruby family relocated to Glen Ellyn in 1964, the three children were old enough that…
Hundreds of new photos to scan
I am still plumbing our original photo archive—which is to say boxes of unsorted photo prints—…
Download Joanne's "Split Decision" article
Most of the saga of our family's German citizenship restoration was unfortunately not recounted…
Download "The Ruby Family Histories" (2006)
Our founding document is the 50-page memoir "The Ruby Family Histories: The Early Lives of…
More memories of Grammy
Marsha remembers: "When I was a kid, Grammy always took me to all kinds of wonderful places.…
Selma, the devoted grandmother
For her part, Selma Ruby responded to the tragedy of her husband’s death by continuing to give…
"The Gonif" as an archetype for Walter Ruby
It should be acknowledged that we have, at this point, no proof that the Gonif actually existed…
The Gonif — wayward son in the Crimean war
They say the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, but this crab apple landed in a whole…
Isaak and Betty may have met through a Paechter relation in Kolberg
The Katz-Wohlgemuth nuptial in 1898 may not have been brokered after all
The Bell subcommittee digs into "the barrel business"
It was after lunch on the fourth day of hearings at the Condado Hotel on the beach in San Juan,…
The German Jewish refugee community in Hampstead
2015 journal article gives flavor of refugee life in postwar London
Sidney Kessler was born Simeon Kesler
I have been looking through Ancestry's copious record collection for Sidney Kessler, primarily…
My book review of Another Time, Another Place by Sue Key
When born in Berlin in 1936, author Sue Key was already classified as “Mischling in the first…
When Stan tweaked the elephant's leg: Book chapter about "the Argonne scientists"
Nuclear experts spoke out about the dangers of ABM missile systems
We felt…
Irv Kupcinet Show coffee mug
This item from my family knickknack shelf is the coffee mug that Stan received when he appeared…
Contacted by a Kleemann descendant
The recent Paechter discoveries that showed us related to the Australian Peter Nash has netted…
Police bust up McCarthy headquarters and Walter has an epiphany
I remember feeling a great sense of relief and triumph, almost giddiness, as the two of us drove…
Amid the chaos, we deliver the McCarthy peace plank to the convention
The Ruby Brothers are entrusted to deliver a critical document
Walter's eyes are opened by Mary Travers
Not to compare to smoking pot with Phil Ochs, but here is one more related musical moment. …
Dan burns one with Phil Ochs
Nice memory, Walt. I also have a musical memory from that pre-convention period.
A year…
Before the convention, Walter staged a benefit concert with the Cryan' Shames
I also don’t remember exactly how Dan and I got the gig at McCarthy HQ during the Convention,…
Betty's favorite jewelry store was Friedländer's on Unter den Linden
In its heyday during the German imperial period, Friedländer's was the place to purchase an…
About the Abgabe Aktion when Betty was forced to sell her jewelry
In the previous post, Google Translate rendered the term "Abgabe Aktion" as "sale campaign," but…
A second Hilda declaration lists jewels that Betty was forced to sell in 1939
A couple of days ago, Joanne was rereading the Hilda affidavit and noticed this line.
…
Walt, what do you remember about our experiences at the 1968 Democratic Party convention?
Since this story from our teenage years appears prominently on Family History Machine, let's add…
The Ringels also went to Australia
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the discovery of another Ringel sibling originally from Rzeszow,…
We are starting an alpha user program
Start your private or public blog on Family History Machine. Or migrate over your existing blog…
Our story development process
Compelling stories well told don't spring from your imagination fully formed. They are crafted…
FHM demonstration: Ruby Family History Project
We built Family History Machine to tell our own Ruby family stories. Click over to the…
Our manifesto—It is all about storytelling
Genealogy is not about the names and dates of your ancestors. It is about bringing those people…
Why Congress sent a committee to Puerto Rico in 1943
Severe food shortages gripped the U.S. territory during the war. A panel from Washington came to…
St. George of the East was in London's Jewish East End
The Twiasschor siblings may have had family in London.
Pondering whether Betty knew about Elly, and vice versa
Here is a question for Ruby family members to ponder. Elly and Helga Ringel reached New York in…
Paechter's store pinpointed on a vintage map of Tiegenhof
As a boy, Otto Stobbe walked by the store on his way to the steamship landing
Resetting the Carioca Rum narrative
One of the benefits of publicly sharing the results of my research the way I do on this blog is…
Mea culpa: Isaak Paechter did live in Crossen
I was wrong. Isaak Paechter returned in 1891 from Crossen to run the family store in Tiegenhof.
Was this the Paechter's store?
In Otto Stobbe's article about Tiegenhof in which he describes the fire at Paechter's Kaufhaus,…
Both of our German branches are getting bigger
There were two significant breakthroughs in the last 24 hours. It may take me a while to write…
Elbing directories list the Wohlgemuth business and residences
The collection of West Prussian address books linked in the last post includes a substantial…
Writings on the Hommel River detail how hydro power ran Elbing's flour mills
A diverted river channel drove four mills on the Outer MUhlendamm
Julius Paechter is in the 1858 Tiegenhof address book
Rodney Down Under came through again. After I showed him the marriage record for Rosalie…
The Wohlgemuth mill was on a branch of the Hommel River
I had expected to find the Wohlgemuth's mill building near to the Elbing River that flows north-…
Louis Katz's death announcement was in the newspaper
He passed away at age 79 a few months before the end of WWI
Julius Paechter is the missing link
I discovered the vivid article about the arson at the Paechter store on the Geni web site…
We are related to the Australian Peter Nash
Several posts back, I mentioned that Rodney wrote to introduce me to an Australian contact. Now…
A department store fire in Tiegenhof
Isaak Paechter's department store in Tiegenhof was set aflame in an 1898 anti-Semitic attack.
Prominent emigre historian Henry Pachter was related
There was email this morning from Rodney Down Under, as he calls himself. He was introducing me…
The Ringel cousins we didn't know about
I googled "Kissler in New Jersey" and immediately discovered Kissler & Co., a plumbing supply…
The first of our Ringel family in America
Four of the five Ringel siblings from Rzeszow relocated to Berlin and the German capital became…
Hermann had many Ringel cousins in Berlin
I have known for a while that Schija's brother Leib Ringel also moved to Berlin because he…
The rest of the Ringels from Rzeszow
Recently we've been learning more about the two daughters of Schija Ringel and Fanny Kaufler.…
Pinkas Twiasschor's flight went through Slovenia and Italy's Asti province
The data above is given for Pinkas Twiasschor in an Italian web site …
Regina Twiasschor Scott died in April 1974
Yesterday I could not find a death record for Regina Twiasschor Schoenwald. This morning I tried…
Regina's husband changed his name
This item ran in The London Gazette on January 17, 1947.
Scott, Ernest…
Gina was Regina! The missing Twiasschor sister is found
I was looking again at the UK marriage listing for Betty Twiasschor when I saw that it was not…
Pinkas became Paul Twiasschor in the U.S.
We know that Pinkas Twiasschor was one of the 1000 specially chosen refugees who came to the U.S…
Edith Twiasschor's birthdate is given on a British security document
Edith Twiasschor was born in Berlin on December 20, 1911, a very proper 11 months after her…
What happened to the Goldstein family
The other Berlin couple that married in London in January 1911, Dina Twiasschor and Israel…
Betty Twiasschor was apparently separated from her husband Pinkas
Back in Berlin after getting married in London, Betty and Pinkas produced two…
The fate of the Belgrade Jews
I'm sure there are better sources on the German occupation of Serbia in 1941-44, but the…
The Shatner family of Belgrade
Before getting back to the Twiasschor story, let's dig deeper into the family of Rosa Ringel's…
The surprising Ringel marriage in jolly old England
The Twiasschor story is fairly convoluted, and this will be part one.
In the Ringel's…
Margot Schattner was born in 1917-18
I wrote yesterday that Ze'ev Sharon (Wolf Schattner) was born in 1913, which Walter found…
The missing husbands of the Ringel sisters are now accounted for
Yesterday I wrote that I had not yet learned the histories of the two husbands of Hermann Ringel…
There was a second Ringel son, Solomon, who did not survive
Schija and Feigl Ringel had a fourth child. Salomon Ringel was born on April 15, 1893, and he died…
The Ringel sisters and their children lived in adjacent apartments on Lothringerstraße
Both of Hermann Ringel's widowed sisters lived with their childrent in Hermann's old building on…
Hermann and Elly's marriage certificate among several major Ringel developments
The long sought-after marriage record of Hermann Ringel and Elly Wohlgemuth has become available…
Bankhaus Meyer und Gelhorn did business at Brötbankengasse 9
A closer look at the Meyer & Gelhorn encyclopedia entry reveals the bank had a secondary…
Heinrich Wohlgemuth lived on prestigious Brotbänkengasse
Rodney Eisfelder deciphers the street name on Frederike Wohlgemuth's death certificate. It is …
The Reichsanzeiger listings with Elly's record were posted just two weeks ago
JewishGen's Holocaust Database Project announced publication of the Herbert Beritt…
Elly Ringel’s whereabouts were tracked by the Charlottenburg finance office
To find out more about the Elly Ringel database listing, we click on the link behind the…
Elly Ringel listed in new Holocaust database of revoked citizenship and property seizures
A couple of days ago, I stumbled on this new Elly Ringel citation in the JewishGen Holocaust…
Hilda's marriage to Herbert Peiser
Another document that miraculously appeared on Ancestry is the April 12, 1928, marriage…
Heinrich Wohlgemuth’s death certificate and info about his bank
We learned that Heinrich Wohlgemuth died in 1917 from Hilda's affidavit. But we did not have his…
Frederike Paechter Wohlgemuth died in Danzig in 1910
Our grandmother's grandmother was Frederike Wohlgemuth, nee Paechter. She lived until age 72…
Blog restarts with a precious image of Hilda'a restitution affidavit
One of the treasures from the Berlin Landesarchiv Wohlgemuth files is the two-page typescript…
This is the book summary for Live Another Day
Michael Edelstein was headstrong and independent, a self-described mamzer. He was 10…
The clinic at Trautenaustraße 5
Entrance to the building at Trautenaustraße 5 in 2012, with nine Stolpersteine in the…
Translation of Betty's death record
Here's the full translation. Comments to follow in another post.
No. 331
Berlin-…
Wohlgemuth death certificates located in Berlin Landesarchiv
The record requests I put in last month with the Berlin Landesarchiv came through yesterday in…
Research database for Danzig Jewish marriages goes online
A comprehensive database of Jewish surnames, marriages and marriage parties collected from…
Menk names search tool
Because of my interest in the Jewish history of Danzig, I have been contributing as a volunteer…
Fanny Ringel was the familiar name of Feigla Kauffler
Also in the previous post was the question of the identity of Fanny Ringel Twiasschor, who is…
Discrepancy on Betty Ringel’s place of death
Following up the previous post to resolve discrepancies in the two Betty Twiasschor records, The…
Found! Hermann Ringel’s sister Betty Twiasschor
Until now, we didn't have much information about Hermann Ringel's sister Betty. We knew about…
Video: Scant remains - my bittersweet visit to Starogard Gdanski
Enjoy this video of my findings and thoughts after visiting the old Jewish cemetery in the…
Video: At Weissensee, graves in the overgrowth
Enjoy this video blog of my visit to Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin.
…
Video: A surprise on the Woelckpromenade
See what I discovered when I visited my grandparents' first apartment together.
…
Book excerpt with info on the Wasserreichs in Montevideo
I came across this book excerpt that gives a flavor for the life of the Wasserreich family in…
Wasserreich family shows up in a Montevideo cemetery
I think I found the final resting place of Erich Wasserreich and his wife and daughter.…
Summary of Wohlgemuth records research
Despite my earlier belief that all the Wohlgemuths in Pr. Stargardt were our family members, I…
History of the Güterbahnhof
The first railway station in Danzig was used for freight only after 1896
Urban archaeology in Gdansk
If you like maps, fire up your favorite geolocation tool and follow along as Isaak…
Cemetery headstone deciphered
There are two recognizable Wohlgemuth headstone fragments in the old Jewish cemetery in…
Leopold Wohlgemuth marriage in 1863
I'll put out the important documents one by one as I capture them. Here is the November 4, 1863…
LDS records solve the Wohlgemuth conundrum
I found another cache of specifically Jewish records from Stargardt that were filmed by the…
Post-travels blog reboot
Despite my best efforts, I was unable to resume daily posts during the three days remaining in…
IAJGS: Scars on the landscape—what is to be done?
A couple of days ago I wrote that echoes of the Holocaust pervade the present, and then I…
IAJGS: Borders and culture in Jewish genealogy
One of the challenges in researching family history in Poland and Eastern Europe is…
IAJGS: Echoes of the Holocaust
We’re going to have to talk about it. The Holocaust. It happened here 75 years ago and it still…
IAJGS: My take on three SIG meetings
One of the best things about these Jewish genealogy conferences are the special interest group (…
IAJGS: We are all from Chelm
The 38th annual meeting of the International Society of Jewish Genealogy Societies kicked off…
Shifting gears
Now that I am in Warsaw and the conference has opened, I will not be posting long daily posts. I…
Day 9: Last day in Berlin
I got an early start on Friday so I could write up and post my Thursday report and still make an…
Translation of Hilda’s restitution affidavit
The full English translation of an affidavit by Hilda Wohlgemuth Leibman in her 1958 restitution…
Day 8: Jackpot!
The Landesarchiv had two precious tranches of family history--files about our relatives'…
Day 7: Landesarchiv-Berlin
I arrived about noon at the Landesarchiv-Berlin in the north of the city, which I thought would…
Day 6: Berlin topograpies
One of the books I read before leaving on this trip was a slim but satisfying, recently…
Day 5: The cemetery records
I had kind of a down day on Monday. The heat was back and I was feeling pretty wiped out from…
Day 4: Biking in Berlin
After last night’s rain, Sunday offered more pleasant conditions for touring some of the city on…
Day 3: Judische Museum
Judging from several private responses to my last post, it seems that the prospect or reality of…
Day 2: Soundless in Weißensee
I went for most of the day to Wießensee, the suburban district in Pankow, a northern section of…
Day 1: Getting oriented
There s a heat wave in Europe, and man was it brutal in Berlin on the first day of my trip. I…
Setting the scene: Everything we know so far
To set the scene for the blog items that will follow for the next three weeks, I present here an…
Our German-Jewish birthright
In another chapter of this book, my sister Joanne describes how she was able to reclaim our…
A tale of geographies
Our mother was born Helga Ringel in Berlin in 1924, the daughter of menswear manufacturer…
Emancipation of the Jews
Isaak Wohlgemuth, the father of Elly, was born in 1865 in what was then the German town of…
Upward mobility in West Prussia
The mobility in our Wohlgemuth ancestors lives—from working class in Stargard to business…
The good times in Berlin
Isaak took this opportunity to move his family once again, this time to the cultured capital…
The Ringel side of the family
Unlike the Wohlgemuth girls, Hermann was a native Berliner, having been born in the city’s…
Jewish migration from Galicia
If this Ringel family was typical, we are getting a picture of movement of young Jewish people…
The garment trade in Rzeszow
By the time of Schija’s birth, Jews in Rzeszow region enjoyed full citizenship rights in the…
Schija Ringel in Berlin
Galitzianers who came to Berlin in the 1880s thought themselves modern and progressive relative…
Feigel Kaufler from Krakow
As a single Jewish man, Schija would have needed help to keep house and cook for him. He found…
Hermann Ringel’s citizenship status
Now let’s take a step back and look at the citizenship question for the Ringel family members in…
Hermann obtains full rights at age 21
So what Hermann was up to in 1906? Among the documentation I have there is also a fascinating…
Hermann’s war service
I don’t have in my possession any kind of German nationality document for Hermann Ringel, but…
Differences in attitude
As we’ve seen, the marriage of Hermann and Elly joined the Ringel and Wohlgemuth families first…
The first Nazi actions
As a girl, Helga was attracted more to her father’s outlook than her mother’s which she found…
Emigration as an option
Many families sought opportunities to emigrate and by the end of 1934 about 20,000 Berlin Jews…
The repressions worsen
Of course, Hermann was also planning an escape for his family and business assets, but he was…
Hermann’s sudden death
Hermann had to see the writing on the wall. In June, there would be a deadline to register all…
Betty Wohlgemuth stays behind
First we go to Betty Wohlgemuth, saying goodbye to her daughter and granddaughter, who are…
Escape from Europe
Actually, we know that Elly and Betty were somehow able to communicate through intermediaries…
Betty’s fate
Betty Wohlgemuth lived three and a half years longer after saying goodbye to her daughter and…
Betty Wohlgemuth was buried at Weißensee cemetery
Following her death at the clandestine clinic, Betty Wohlgemuth was buried at Weißensee by the…
Destruction and renewal
Not all the family members mentioned here were as lucky as Betty Wohlgemuth (to have died of…
Hermann Ringel’s partner is identified
A couple of years ago, I found the names of two clothing businesses owned by our grandfather…
Upcoming trip to Berlin, Warsaw and Gdansk
I’m getting ready for a journey of discovery to Germany and Poland coming up in a few weeks.…
Wohlgemuth family left Danzig in 1911-12
The Julius Wohlgemuth limited-liability freight and moving company was sold to German owners, …
The Wohlgemuths *were* in the moving business in Danzig
A vague family legend is fleshed out by century-old Danzig address directories. Our Wohlgemuth…
Betty Katz Wohlgemuth record in a Nazi card file
The Nazis kept a card file of German Jews called Reichsvereinigung der Judes in Deutschland.…
Julius Wohlgemuth death certificate
The death of Julius Wohlgemuth, business partner of his brother Isaac, is recorded in the 1911…
Leopold Wohlgemuth went to Brazil
Our previously unknown cousin Leopold Meyer Wohlgemuth received a immigration permit from the…
Julius Wohlgemuth died in Stettin in 1912 leaving a young son Leopold
I locate the business and residential addresses for the Wohlgemuths in Danzig. Then I discover…
Toolbox: Sources and download
Access books, articles and organizations referenced in the It's Legendary! article
Sidebar: Getting down to cases
This sidebar is part of an article originally published in Family Tree Magazine's special issue…
It's Legendary! Separate fact and fiction in family lore
Natural story tellers are subject to a particular bias: They want their story to be concise…
Promising Yezersky lead
I mentioned that I have been collaborating recently with Shirley Portnoy on sundry Rabbi Spektor…
The rest of the fax
I wrote in the previous posts about pages 1 and 4 of the five-page fax from Shmuel Elchonan.…
Spektor genealogy according to Yitzhak Elchanon Rabinowitz
Page 4 of the 1996 fax from Shmuel Elchonan contains the Spektor family genealogy as recorded by…
Reopening the Spektor file
Back in 2008, I wrote extensively on this blog about the family history of the famous Kovno Rav…
Another look at the Catrow conspiracy
It has been some years since I originally reported on this blog that my grandfather Walter Ruby…
Remembering Sallie West
On this day of a memorial celebration in Santa Cruz, Calif., of the life of Sallie Johnstone…
Why did the Wohlgemuths leave Danzig?
Do the changing conditions for Jews in Danzig before and after World War I help to explain the…
Gerhard Salinger study of Jewish Stargard
Available Jewish records for Preussich Stargard, the West Prussian town where our Wohlgemuth…
Wohlgemuth map, 1812-1942
I annotated this map of the northeastern section of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II…
Isaak Wohlgemuth on 1893 Elbing list
Virtual Shtetl has lists of Jewish Households and Individuals in Elbing for a few random years…
More on the 1812 citizenship law
Details of our three Wohlgemuth ancestors on the 1812 Prussian citizenship list.
Wohlgemuth gravestone in Stargard
At Virtual Shtetl, there are photos of the destroyed Jewish cemetery of Starogard Gdanski. Just…
Earlier blog posts identified Stargard as possible Wohlgemuth town
Review what was written here and…
Interpreting the Wohlgemuth headstone
The discovery that Betty Wohlgemuth is buried together with her husband in Weißensee cemetery…
Joanne discovers Betty at Weißensee
Joanne finds the Wohlgemuth grave in Weißensee cemetery. Betty is buried there together with…
Lovely photo of martyred Margot
I missed this when I posted about Margot yesterday. Her full name was Margueritte Shattner.
Margot's mother, Rosa Ringel, was a victim too
OMG! Rosa Ringel is in the Names database, too. She was the mother of Ze'ev and Margot and was…
Joanne asks, Was Bette deported?
I also re-read mom's story and saw that it was the German Red Cross who notified them of Bette's…
Margot Shattner in the Yad Vashem victims database
Yesterday, I mentioned searching for Betty Katz in the Yad Vashem Names Database, which is a…
Berlin Landesarchiv collected the new family records
Why did the Wohlgemuth-Katz records recently become available? For two wonderful reasons. …
Wohlgemuth-Katz family names and towns
The ancestral towns of our Katz and Wohlgemuth families are revealed in the marriage record of…
Found! Wohlgemuth-Katz marriage certificate
Following up on Joanne's question about Bette Wohlgemuth, I just found the March 28 1898…
Dan's quick reply: What we know of Wohlgemuth history
Jo, Great to read your reflections. Quick answer on the Wohlgemuth history. That's the one…
Joanne's reflections from Berlin
Here I am finally with some quiet time [at our house swap in Berlin], after Lani and Bill have…
Hermann in database of liquidated Berlin businesses
There are two Hermann Ringel businesses listed in…
Ruby-Rehms at Schlüterstrasse 12
Dan, it's a beautiful building. The front door was open. There is construction going on, but I…
Ringel home and business directory listing
Dan replies to Joanne questions about the synagogue:
I don't think I have…
Looking for Hermann's shul
Joanne is in Berlin, ailing from an infection she may have caught in Budapest. She is looking to…
Rabbi Spektor letters discovered in Paris
The following was posted as a comment in March 2014 on the old Ruby Family HIstory Project blog…
Recapping my two corkscrew transactions
Other than having posted an artsy image of the Walter Ruby Jim Crax corkscrew, I see that I…
This is the Jim Crax corkscrew I bought in a private sale
I should have posted this in August when I received the Jim Crax corkscrew in a private sale.…
Closing the loop with Rebe
I was embarrassed to say that a full three years had elapsed since I had met Rebe Eisenstein in…
Mark Zimkin fills in the gaps
As promised, Mark knew about my family research and eagerly took my call when I reached him…
Warren Safter discovers Mark Zimkin listed in a Las Vegas real estate transaction
In late August, after having exchanged emails with me, Warren Safter ran a Google search on Mark…
Mark Zimkin is found
When Warren and I first connected, neither of us had done a recent Internet search for new…
Blog's bait draws another Zimkin cousin
Cousin bait is a term used by genealogists to describe the tendency of public postings…
The Zimkin saga continues
Mark Zimkin has turned up alive and reasonably well in Las Vegas.
Readers will recall…
Walter salutes Rabbi Joachim Prinz on march anniversary
When we were kids, Helga would occasionally cite Rabbi Joachim Prinz as one of her heroes; one…
Knudsen's occupation in 1940 census was "making novelties"
Knud Knudsen came to America in 1906 as a laborer and hired hand and retired in 1958 as the…
Knud Knudsen obituary
To learn more about Knud Knudsen, the inventor who bought the rights to my grandfather's…
Timing of the Knudsen patent transfer and Walter Ruby's death
We don't have any information suggesting a connection between Walter Ruby's corkscrew patent and…
Walter Ruby sold the rights to his invention
New information discovered this week tends to confirm the story told by our father that his…
Walter's moving tribute to Mel Brenner
Here is the text of Walter Ruby's eulogy for Mel Brenner, delivered as part of a memorial…
What we can learn from Walter's corkscrew
One thing I find especially interesting about the images we have of two Walter Ruby patented…
Walter Ruby's patented corkscrew
Yesterday I went back to polish up my Walter Ruby story on Treelines, which recounts information…
Celebrating the life of Mel Brenner
Eleven months ago, I had the privilege of traveling with Mel Brenner to Rhode Island for the…
Walter Ruby story on Treelines
I'm trying out a product called Treelines for presenting family narratives. Here is my first…
Remembering Mel Brenner
BRENNER- Melvin Charles ("Mel"), 87, passed away on Thursday, May 30, 2013 surrounded by his…
Translation of Gissot "Irregularities" file
This is my Google Translate-enabled rough translation of the Gissot file. In several places, I…
Gissot was charged with trafficking visas
Walter and I began our investigation into our mother's refugee journey with the idea that the…
New information on Chaim Rabinowitz family
A recent contact from a younger member of the Orthodox Jewish community of Lakewood NJ has…
Czeslaw Milosz on Stanisław Dygat
I don't want to go too far off on a tangent about Stanisław Dygat, but I note that the…
Stanisław Dygat defends his actions from Capvern
This next translation tells Stanisław Dygat's side of the story as to why he departed from…
Report on the refugee crisis at the Polish consulate
Here is my first translation of a document from the Hoover Institution archive of Polish foreign…
Correction: Stanisłow Wozniak, not Dygat, is the Polish official
Now that I have begun translating the Polish documents that I harvested last week, I find that I…
Draft of "Consuls of Toulouse" research paper is prepared
I have completed a comprehensive write up of my information and analysis of the Toulouse visa…
The Polish consul identified as Stanisław Dygat
I went to the Hoover Institution Archive on campus at Stanford University yesterday. Quite an…
Schiffres family in Lisbon and after
The Schiffres family reached Lisbon about five weeks after the Ringel family. Their experiences…
Irwin Schiffres' oral history
I introduced you to Irwin Schiffres in the last post because his story of escape from southern…
More humanitarian Dutch consuls
Yesterday I decided to post a call for other Toulouse visa holders to come forward on the…
Are the Curacao cases linked?
Now we come to the crux of the matter. Is there a connection between the use of Curacao visas in…
A new clue about the Ringel journey
We knew from Helga's interview with Walter that the family was first in Lyon, with the idea of…
Spain's two consulates
Among the files sent by Paul Freudman are several with stamps from the Spanish consulate in…
Rosalia Freudman received a Curacao visa on July 8
Among the visa images sent by Paul Freudman is this one for Rosalia Freudmann, the wife of his…
Paul Freudman deciphers a signature
Pausing here in the Jan Zwartendijk story, we learned something new yesterday about the Dutch…
The origin of the "Curacao visa" in Kaunas
I mentioned that there are a lot of sources on the Zwatendijk and Sugihara rescue operation in…
Involvement of the Polish consul
Till now, we have the Portuguese consul Gissot and the Dutch consul van Dobben as the active…
What is the link between the two Curacao cases?
Any list of heroic diplomats who saved Jews during World War II would be headed by Raoul…
Gissot's role in the Sousa Mendes affair
In 1940, Emile Gissot was 58 years old, probably retired from government foreign service and…
More on Emile Gissot
Usually, when you google a historical name of someone who was not particularly famous, you don't…
Rua de Gloria 41-28
Before returning to Mssr. Gissot, we'll skip ahead a month or so to when our intrepid travelers…
Who was Emile Gissot?
Yesterday, as a result of our contact with Olivia Mattis at the Aristides de Sousa Mendes…
Portuguese consul Emile Gissot
I somehow overlooked a very interesting comment on the blog from early in January.
A…
Coordinates
This site demonstrates the functionality of Family History Machine. Given a set of dates and…
Quick experiment
Sorry to have dropped the ball on the saga of Stan's experiment. I'm working intensely on a…
Stan's Columbia transcript
The other mine of information available at my home is the rolling filing cabinet of genealogical…
Feynman wasn't joking
I managed to get seriously ill two weeks ago and had to set aside the blogging project right at…
RIP Robert Felenstein
Bob Felenstein, our dear cousin, passed away on Thanksgiving Day several weeks after learning…
Allan Franklin's oeuvre
Before I move on to the details of Stan's academic career, I realize that I overlooked…
The legend of Wu
It is time to look more closely at the famous Chien-Shiung Wu. How does a Chinese woman born in…
No, that's not why dad left Brookhaven
By the time my train arrived at Oakland's Jack London station well past midnight, late due to…
What we learn from Franklin's Inevitability paper
We pick up with the Amtrak San Joaquin pulling north out of Fresno and me struggling to absorb…
A surprising but inevitable discovery
Allan Franklin is a physics historian and philosopher of science from the University of Colorado…
A new chapter: Stanley Ruby, physicist
So far on this blog we have covered many aspects our family history: our father's family roots…
The Neuilly mansion is sold
Biney reports sale of Neuilly mansion
On May 12, 1943, Clerc provisional…
Rampant corruption in the Aryanization office
I have revised interpretations on several points in the previous post on the Clerc aryanization…
Paul Clerc objects to the sale
With our new knowledge of the timing of the Clerc sale, we return to the letter posted in a…
Docteur Blanke at Hotel Majestic
One of the interesting documents that we have courtesy of Jean-Jacques Richard is this May 1942…
JJR blog posts Neuilly floor plans
There is some notable new information in the latest posting by French blogger Jean-Jacques…
Call for a Ruby-Felenstein-Brenner Reunion in 2013
Dear Marsha, Janis, Leslie, Dan and others,
Thank you enormously for your kind words…
Walter reports from Mel's Army reunion
The second and final day of the 87th Infantry Division reunion (actually there were three days,…
Cousin love from Danny
I know that Walter is visiting Robert again this morning, and I'll will send along all my warm…
Cousin love, the sequel — a night out with Bob Felenstein
Thanks to Walter for emailing this report on the visit by cousin Marsha Fields to her ailing…
Intrigue at Neuilly as a coup is plotted
Why would Colonel Engelke move from his position as chief of SS administration in Paris in June…
Corrupt SS operations chief Fritz Engelke
The Der Spiegel article mentions SD chief Colonel Engelke as a regular at the Madame Kleinknect'…
Notorious guests at the Neuilly house
The Der Spiegel article lists several names among the guests of Walter and Laure Kleinknecht at…
We're listed by the Israel Genealogy Research Association
I noticed that we have gotten some Israeli visits and used the Blogger statistics function to…
Excerpts from 1948 Der Spiegel article about Laure Dissard
The following are excerpts from a Google translation of the article "Zielbewußte Unmoral" from…
Neuilly house was a Nazi salon during Occupation
Reviewing our recent work a couple of days ago, I noticed that our…
Two more from Arnaud's photo collection
There is not as much to say about the other two items since there is no documentation…
Arnaud's framed photos on eBay
Two weeks ago, when I was in the midst of my discoveries about Joe Liebman and his descendants,…
Liebmans were on famous refugee ship rescued by Mrs. Roosevelt
French blogger Jean-Jacques Richard checked in overnight with important new information that I…
Are these the Clerc women?
The long-legged young woman with Hilda and Elly could be Arnaud's second wife, who we see later…
Joe's Clerc and Mack descendants
I don't know the year but the Mack family is visiting in Paris. Helene and her husband are at…
The Wohlgemuth women in Joe Liebman's life
Hilda was quite the looker in 1947.
That's our parents Stan and Helga Ruby next to Joe…
Living the good life
Joe and Hilda were frequently to be found at fine restaurants and Parisian nightclubs.
…
More treasures from our own collection
All during these last days that I have been working on the Liebman-Clerc story, I have known…
Dan's fantastic work on on the Liebmans and Clercs
Dan, Thank you so much for your magnificent job on the Liebman-Clerc saga and for bringing back…
When Hilda Peiser became Madame Liebman
One of the things I have been unclear about is the date of Hilda's and Joe's wedding. Jo, did…
Reflections on living relatives of blog subjects
I waited for a few days after making discoveries about the Liebman/Clerc family to begin posting…
More on Michel Clerc
If you look closely at the top left image in the l'Officiel article (previous item), you'll see…
Arnaud's glamorous wife is featured in l'Officiel article
This one is almost too delicious. As I said in an earlier post today, sometimes these things…
Joseph Liebman's death in Monte Carlo
This very thorough report of Joe's death on March 3, 1968 in Monte Carlo by the U.S. State Dept…
Jean-Jacques checks his sources
I have been keeping our French blogger, Jean-Jacques Richard, up to date on my latest findings.…
The surprises keep on coming
It is now Saturday evening and I go to bed early feeling proud of myself for all the new…
Joe Liebman and family come to America
In the midst of making of all my discoveries on Google, the New York Times and elsewhere, I got…
Arnaud's photo gallery
Arnaud Clerc was a celebrity hound. The wonderful photos in the animated banner of Gerald Clerc'…
So who exactly is Arnaud? And Gerald?
All these news citations were leaving me more confused than ever about the man named Arnaud…
Surprise! Henry Kissinger was here
I forwarded Joanne's mail to M. Richard, who was rather astonished and unsure if what I was…
Many Liebman/Clerc developments
There is much to add and not much time. I will compress quite a bit here.
Joanne and Sylviane in Neuilly
So we got to 31 rue de Saussaye, and as I peeked through the openings of the very assuming gate…
French jewelry blog reveals address of Liebman villa in Neuilly
Joanne is in Paris visiting her friend Carrie, who is ill. She emailed Walter and I overnight…
Appointment set for Monday at SF German consulate
Dear Family and all Levenson-Wahls,
We did it - we have an appointment on Monday to…
Role of HIAS in the Ringel connection
Walter called to remind me that we have already written about the role played by the immigration…
Life Magazine on "Lisbon: Europe's Bottleneck," April 26, 1941
The article "Lisbon: Europe's Bottleneck" from the April 26, 1941 issue of Life Magazine is too…
Curaçoa visas were happening in Lithuania too
It turns out that another hero Dutch diplomat was issuing Curaçao visas in Kaunus, Lithuania,…
Colorful 1999 obituary for Judge William Ringel
Here is wonderful information about the man who was Elly Ringel's benefactor in 1941. Helga said…
The document chain from Lisbon to Miami
Arriving in Lisbon in the last days of July 1940, Elly and Helga, and also Elly's sister Hilda…
Following the chain of documents, with help from a runaway Nazi
The unraveling of the visa trail from Toulouse to Miami lets us now analyze how each credential…
Sealed train in Bilbao July 11, 1940
Walter is right. There definitely were sealed trains. Here is a newspaper report involving a…
Lani found Hermann's grave October 2007
Lani and Bill and I were so fortunate to have a chance to visit Berlin. It was the Toussaint…
Here are the numbers for U.S.-Germany migration—771 in 2010
Joanne found this interesting link about German migration from an Israeli perspective. …
Why is this night different from all other nights?
I am happy to be posting, finally, starting with these wonderful photos I found, while looking…
Mazel Tov, Bravo, Dan!
What a magnificent detective job Dan has done in tracing Elli and Helga's route from Toulouse to…
NYT December 12, 1940: Lisbon's Refugees Now Put at 8,000
And here is a very detailed report from the famous James 'Scotty' Reston about the refugee…
NYT July 23, 1940: Portugal Holding Delicate Position
This report from the New York Times covers the situation in Portugal the very week our travelers…
Mapping our heroines' movements
Here's my crude attempt to create a map showing Elly's and Helga's movements from May 1940 in…
Ecuador visa
This Ecuador immigration visa issued on February 27, 1941, was the credential that the Ringels…
From Toulouse to Miami — our refugee family's trek told in passport visas
Speaking with Walter earlier about Elly's travel documents, I said I would take a close look at…
Willkommen: Walter opines on citizenship opportunity
Obviously, a lot has happened to all of us in the last week or so since I called the German…
Search for Isaak Wohlgemuth centers on West Prussian towns from 1812 citizenship list
I recounted in the previous post how I discovered that we have been using the wrong name for our…
Slate article: "German Again—An American Jew reclaims her father's lost citizenship"
It is taking longer than expected to post the next Wohlgemuth installment. In the meantime,…
Family powwow leads to a new realization: our ancestor was Isaak, not Julius, Wohlgemuth
Last night, Joanne organized a wonderful sort-of seder for the three of us by Skype, or I should…
Aunt Hilda's German citizenship was revoked under the 1935 Nuremberg Laws
Since I have some momentum today and I just mentioned Aunt Hilda's citizenship annulment, here…
Germany and restored citizenship
Joanne and Walter have been talking for some time about the possibility of Helga's descendants…
What year is this photo?
I just came across this photo in my files, and have sent it on to Toby Bell and his mom Jody…
Selma Ruby census for 1940
Access to images of the 1940 census enumerations has just been made available though Ancestry…
My signed copy of Living the American Dream
Before we delve into the contents of the book, here are scans of the front and back cover and…
Contact with members of the Kessler family
Last month, I was contacted by several members of the Kimelman and Fishman families,…
Illustrated Wohlgemuth history
You may remember Eli Wohlgemuth, one of the fellow travelers we have met during our genealogical…
Revised interpretation of American Spirits
I was wrong about several things in the preceding posts. I said that Kessler owned American…
Lots more on Sidney Kessler
Note: I have been in touch with members of the Kimelman and Fishman families about my…
You be the judge
Just for fun, here is a comparison of the official Coca-Cola logo, in force as a protected…
Coca-Cola brand protection history
I'm starting to look into the history of The Coca-Cola Company's trademark protection efforts.…
Angels In the Outfield
I added this as a comment to Walter's previous post, but there's enough here to merit making it…
We had 'em all the way!
Dan, Brilliant work! I'm pretty sure thats what got him fired. That's two times Coca Cola comes…
Did Coca-Cola endorse the Carioca Cooler?
Walter just called from Savannah GA, where he is on a mixed work-pleasure trip with Tanya, to…
Wanted. Name of bon vivant who discovered new rum drink!
Believe it or not, the title of this post was one of the advertising slogans that American…
Helga's ship manifest and special inquiry
Here are a couple of fascinating new documents also discovered via Ancestry's hinting feature.…
Another Seymour Rabinowitz?
Here's one that has had me puzzled for a while but I hadn't delved into it until mentioning it…
Meet Arthur Zimkin (and Rebe Eisenstein)
Readers of this blog know that we've been trying to track down all the lines of the Joseph and…
Rattner ship manifests
Considering that both Walter and I had spent a good deal of time trying to find the records of…
Did the Ratner/Tulbowitz family really come from Novocherkassk?
Here is a belated posting, with historical records that should have been placed on the blog…
New Ratner family branch discovered
New information (for us) about a branch of our Ratner family popped up on Ancestry.com, and as a…
Graves of Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz
Here are photos of the gravestones of Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Queens…
David Zimkin lists Arthur J. Zimkin as next of kin
Ancestry has a host of records for David Zimkin, husband of our great aunt Sadie. We see census…
Freida Zimkin died in Canada
We learned from Harriet that Sadie Rabinowitz's son Arthur Zimkin married a Frieda. We have an…
Sharon family 1975
Joanne is in Israel this week visiting with younger generations of the Sharon family. Here is a…
1965 engagement of Arthur Zimkin's son is announced in a Canadian Jewish newspaper
Unlike some other names that turn up huge numbers of search results, there are not a lot of…
Meet the Yeserskys
Receipt of Joseph Rabinowitz's death certificate earlier this week provided near conclusive…
Rubys in Rehovot 1961
We spent a year in Israel in 1961-62. Here are a few shots on the balcony at our Rehovot…
Some Ruby family photos for Harriett
I have promised to supply Harriett with more family photos. Here's a few to start. First the…
Did Julius have another son?
We've always known that Julius Rabinowitz and his wife Annie had two children—Abner, born in…
Stan's prior engagement to Lorraine Sweedler
The second clipping that showed up in a search of the New York Times classifieds was this April…
The Rabinowitz sisters
Besides the five sons of Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz, there were three daughters—Sadie (b. 1881…
A priceless Long Beach photo from the Harriet collection
While we are identifying family members in old photos, here is a great one from Harriet's batch…
Ruby-Ringel wedding announcement
More on Stan and Helga's wedding. I did more NY Times searches today and found more Rabinowitz…
Stan and Helga wedding photos (for Harriet)
Harriet has been asking me to return the favor by sending her pictures of Stan and his family…
Tiffany Street in the Bronx
Update: FUBAR on this item. There was only one address where the family lived together in…
More about Harriet Berkowitz and mementos from her father
Catching up with more of the materials sent by Harriet Berkowitz, I'll begin with photos of…
Lena's NYT obituary leads to confirmation of Rabinowitz death records
Fueled with new information from Harriet Berkowitz, and by Walter's plan to visit Mt. Hebron…
Rabinowitz Yahrzeit scroll yields exact death dates for Joseph and Lena
Somehow on my first several perusals of Harriet's trove of Rabinowitz materials I missed the…
Reprint of my account of my visit to Kibbutz Afeq during the Lebanon War of 2006
I thought I would repost this account of my visit to Kibbutz Afeq in August 2006, while…
Photos of Ze'ev and Pnina from my visit to Israel in 2006
These images of Pnina, Ze'ev, Raya and Amiram (who is pictured showing me the remains of a…
Memories of Ze'ev and Pnina (first in a series)
Memories of Ze’ev and P’nina (Part One)
I have been delaying starting this series of…
Harriet's package arrives
Harriet Berkowitz followed through on her promise and yesterday I received her package…
Penina passes away two weeks after Ze'ev
More sad news from the Sharon family. Penina took ill following her husband's funeral and shiva…
Rabinowitz cousin Harriet, daughter of Seymour, discovers our blog with delight and astonishment
Our hope for living Rabinowitz relatives paid off when I got a call Thursday night on my cell…
"Dedicate peace efforts to Ze'ev's memory"
I apologize to everyone for being a few days behind in my writing about Ze'ev; I am presently in…
"Tracing Ringel family roots"
Shalom, It is Danny here adding my deep sympathies for all of Ze'ev's wonderful family. I regret…
"Meeting him last year..."
Dear Penina, Ahikam, Dalit, and Raya,
I am so sorry to hear that Ze'ev has passed. I…
Proud of what he accomplished
Dear Dalit, Tal, Ahikam, Gali ve kol hanechedim,
Ha leve sheli eetchem be rega atzuv…
Ze'ev liked to tease me
Dear Penina and all the family,
I have been thinking of how you and Ze'ev have been…
Ze'ev Sharon, 92, passes away surrounded by family at Kibbutz Afeq
Ze'ev Sharon, a pioneer of Israel and first cousin of Helga Ruby, passed away July 2, 2009 at…
Green Valley Gazette
With a few new viewers coming through, it is time to state the obvious. This blog, after an…
Wrong again
Phooey! The death certificate that I ordered for the Joseph Rabinowitz buried Sept. 2, 1920 at…
Two takes on the migratory narrative
I've just submitted this short article about two sessions from the recent conference to…
All our Rabinowitz names can be found at Mount Hebron Cemetery
Walt, I started looking at the Mount Hebron cemetery records again, and am feeling hopeful that…
Video: Eli Wohlgemuth
Video of Feb. 10, 2008, shloshim observance in memory of Rabbi Isaiah Wohlgemuth of Brookline MA…
Kovno ShtetLink page gets massive update
Great news today from the JewishGen ShtetLink Project that the Kovno ShtetLink page has been…
Short takes on Thursday developments
Events are moving faster than my ability to write them up, especially since I have another job.…
Photo of Zvi Hirsch Rabinowitz
Google Books is an amazing resource, the result of the online goliath's project to provide…
New details on Rabbi Spektor's early career
Here is a new-to-us document that offers many rich details on Yitzhak Elchanan Spektor's early…
Joanne, Lani, Dan skype it up with Sharons of Afeq
I spoke to Joanne a little while ago and was touched to hear of the skype phone call she and Dan…
Schija Ringel birth record image
The hits keep on coming. Marian Rubin's package arrived today with four printouts of Ringel…
Isaac Elchanan Spektor ethical will
There is much that can be said about this document. Perhaps readers will want to contribute…
Schulim Kaufler death record
Schulim Kaufler was born in 1798 or 1799, son of Izaak and Beili (Bayla) Kaufler. He married…
Bayla Kaufler death record
Bayla, also called Beili in some records, goes way, way back. She is Feigla's great-grandmother…
What we learn from Einsiedler, Part 3
In part 1, I summarized the Einsiedler papers. In part 2, I covered Einsiedler's discoveries…
What we learn from Einsiedler, Part 2
But back to Einsiedler. What is new and different that we learn from the papers? Most of the new…
What we learn from Einsiedler, Part 1
While Morris keeps feeding me more information, I am trying to catch up with his earlier fax…
Feigla birth record deciphered
It was a big day today. I will save the most exciting news for the next post. First I want to…
Playing catchup with the Spektor files
Thanks to Morris Spector and also to Jeff Spector of Colorado Springs, I now have my hands on…
New Spektor family information
These images are courtesy of Morris Spector, who I found through an old post on the JewishGen…
Katz name derivation
Oh boy, I have a lot to catch up on here. I visited the Mormon Family Research Center in Oakland…
Major breakthrough: Kaufler family tree
Yay! This is the first time one of our names has matched someone else's family tree. After my…
Ringel family birth records from Rzeszow
Rzeszow 1835,41-1866 Births
Lwow Wojewodztwa / Rzeszow Province
Located at 50°03’ 22…
Rabinowitch and Robbins deaths in JewishGen burial registry
An email update about Washington DC death records from the…
Lester Cannold registered for WWII draft
Lester Cannold was 55 and residing in a Connecticut sanitarium in 1942, but he still had to…
Cannold family confirmed
Searching NY vital records for Rabinowitz events at http://www.italiangen.org/ ...
…
Feigla Kaufler's birth record
Krakow Births 1798-1855,71-89
Krakow Wojewodztwa / Krakow Province
Surname…
Abe Ratner was from Minsk
In the 1920 census form for the Ratner family, the enumerator first wrote down Minsk and then…
Translation reveals Hermann's parents were unmarried
I should have posted this in March, but better late than never.
The German…
Rezekne Family List turns up trove of Tulbowitz kin
Walt, I just looked again at the 1900 U.S. census record for Solomon and Sophie (and Edward)…
The younger generation moved to Rostov, but the elder Tulbowitzes stayed in Latvia
More 120-year-old news about the Tulbowitz clan from the Minsk archives sent to me today by…
The context of the Tulbowitz migration story
What we learned from Maxim Mill was amazing stuff indeed! We now know the town in Latvia from…
Big News! Proof that the Tulbowitz family of Rostov originated in Rezhitsa, Latvia
Please read the back and forth between myself and geneology investigator Maxim Mill who has been…
New info on Chaim Rabinowitz's wife and daughter
I had a nice discussion this morning with our relative in Rehovot, Shmuel Elchanan. He noted…
A Few Things Are Illuminated...
This is the first draft of a piece I expect will show up soon in the New York Jewish media--…
Final resting place of Solomon and Sophie Tulbowitz
Here are photos of the grave of our great-great grandparents Solomon (Shalom-Aharon) and Sophie…
Wohlgemuths and Spektors
Ugh! Down with the flu and/or severe jetlag, so am taking it easy today. Let me use this…
Wolgemuth-Spektor connection?
One more quickie and then I have to get back to work. While we're waiting for Walter's trip…
Aborted visit to NY Public Library
I keep meaning to spend time researching microfilm of New York newspapers from the 1920s for…
288 Pleasant Ave--home of Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz in 1900
Back in mid-August, I left the following posting on RFHP:
Wow--the 1900…
Journal publishes Stanley Ruby obituary
Here is the Stanley Ruby obituary from Hyperfine Interactions, as downloaded from the…
Seven cousins
Here's another great photo from the Sandy collection, or else it is Marsha's. The photo print…
Albany 1915 census
Here is one interesting lead, a Sofie and Morris Tulbowitz in Albany Ward 3 in a special NY…
Meet Solomon and Sophia Tulbowitz--our great-great grandparents
Big news! I got a call from Beth Abraham Jacob congregation in Albany today advising me that…
German Jews in WWI
The other day I posted information about the military draft in the U.S. for World War I. Our…
HIAS documents
From Walter: here are the two scanned documents from HIAS. The first is the file filled out by…
Some questions about Rabbi Spektor's biography
Since Dan has started down the road of trying to understand our relationship with the Kovno Rav…
Joseph Rabinowitz became a citizen in 1892
This is exciting because it shows Joseph Rabinowitz gaining his citizenship in 1892 and it also…
Joseph and Lena in the 1900 census
Wow! The 1900 census has Joseph born in about 1855 and Lena in 1857, which is really getting…
A few new findings: The Bloch-Ratners arrived before Ellis Island opened
Dan gave me the password to Ancestry.com and showed me around a little bit, and I managed to…
Background on the 1917-18 military drafts
Here are excerpts from Kennedy about the 1917-18 military drafts. There will be more from him on…
Bette Wohlgemuth's maiden name
This was an unexpected small step forward. The death record for Elly Ringel lists her mother…
Hunting for the truant officer
Tracking Blossom and Meta is harder since we don't have married names for them, but the…
The Jersey City Rubys
Good news, I've found a plausible Walter Ruby in New Jersey for the 1920 census, a good bet to…
Brant Lake Camp photos
Here's a taste of how Brant Lake Camp looks in the summer of 2006, 74 years after Stan first…
Rose's name in Rostov was Raizel
Just to record here the other wonderful discovery from our visit to the Hebrew Tailor's Assn…
Walter's home movie gear
I kept wondering what kind of family had a home movie camera and projector in the late…
Visa stamps
Nice work, Walter. Too bad the full file is missing, but it is great that you found those…
Helga and Elly's arrival in NY in 1941
Valery Bazarov, the present-day historian at HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), the…
The Rubys were still in the city in 1930
Here's a snippet from the 1930 census listing Walter, Selma, Joan and Stanley Ruby.
A…
Ratner 1910 census record
I just spoke with Sandy and she said she had found an old notebook. The family name had been…
Brant Lake Camp
In June of 1932, little Stanley Ruby was packed off for his first summer away, attending summer…
21 Brands letterhead
One of the cool items in the Sandy stash was a sheet of letterhead from her father's liquor…
Dan's senior moment
Here is the longer version of how I managed to misplace Sandy and Marsha's treasured photos for…
Transliterated tailors
Walter pointed out this surprising aspect of the cemetery plaque. Though written in Hebrew…
The headstones
From the headstones, Walter determined that Rose's father was named Shalom while Abe's father…
Albany Hebrew Tailors Organization
The next few posts describe our visit to the cemetery where Abe, Rose, and Aunt Til are laid to…
16 Cuyler Avenue
Walter and Dan visited the house on Cuyler Avenue in July 2006 and found a sprawling three story…
Abraham and Rose Ratner
After returning home from New York yesterday, I found the long-lost photos that had been loaned…