The sweep of family history across the generations
The Ratner family became established in the Fifth Ward of Albany, N.Y. Abe bottled soda water and Rose nurtured a brood of children.
Following Isaak's death in 1929, Betty lived comfortably in the cosmopolitan Bavarian Quarter—until the Nazi repressions made life unbearable
Sholom and Sophie Tulbowitz left their ancestral town in the 1870s to settle for 20 years in Russia near Rostov-on-Don.
How did Betty Katz meet her end in February 1942?
She made each of her six grandchildren feel special
During the Depression, families helped each other out. The Kleins moved in with the Rubys in Long Beach.
Betty’s father was a prosperous merchant who came to Pomerania from East Prussia.
Stan was smart and fresh, with something to say about almost anything
During the first five years of Hitler's reign of terror, Jewish families of Berlin faced one repression after another.
Rearing eight children in Albany’s Third Ward
Abe Blokh became Abe Ratner to avoid conscription and get out of Russia. With his young wife and her mother, they voyaged from Bremen to Leeds to New York
The Tulbowitz tavern in Novocherkassk was overrun by Cossacks during the Rostov pogrom of 1881
Today it is Rezekne in Latvia. In the 19th century, it was the village in Vitebsk Province where our Tulbowitz clan lived in the old Yiddish way
Before moving his family to Berlin in 1912, Isaak Wohlgemuth prospered as a mover in Danzig. His family roots were in nearby West Prussia.
If Sholom Tulbowitz had gone to Dvinsk instead of Rostov, as his cousin did, his Ratner descendants might have grown up in Perm instead of Albany.
During the course of my genealogy work, I have discovered and connected with cousins from all my family branches. Here are some lessons learned.
Walter Ruby hustled his way as a traveling silver salesman, with some career side trips into boxing promotion and medicinal alcohol.