Family Story Finder
The sweep of family history across the generations
A surprising double marriage in London
Rosa Ringel married Pinkas Twiasschor in a borough of London in January 1911, at the same time that Twiasschor's sister wed another Berlin businessman. What was that all about?
Escape from Berlin—last good chance to get out
Our reconstructed timeline: How Elly and Helga Ringel were smuggled with SS escort out of Germany and across the Belgian border in October 1938
Hilda's fabulous lifestyle with Joe Liebman
After the war, Joe Liebman came back to Paris with a glamorous new wife. Oh, what a life they led
Love conquers all as Gerhard marries Ilse
Two young Berliners make a modern marriage—with lasting consequences
Motives for mercy—the consuls of Toulouse
In July 1940, consular officials from three nations conspired to open an escape route for Jews out of occupied France. Why did they do it?
Shtetl life in Russian Rezhitsa
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
Stan finds love outside of a 20-block radius
Home from the war, Stan Ruby was a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. Helga Ringel was a smart, pretty war refugee from Berlin
The Kauflers of Krakow
Our best documented family line is Feige Kaufler's ancestry among the Jewish families of Krakow.
The peculiar case of Pinkas Twiasschor
The estranged husband of Betty Ringel was one of the 1000 war evacuees who found safe haven in the only U.S refugee camp
The Rabinowitz family in Jewish Harlem
Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz were Russian immigrants who ran a corner grocery in Jewish Harlem. Their nine children were native Americans
The Wohlgemuths on the Woelckpromenade
In 1912, Isaak and Betty Wohlgemuth moved to the German capital and settled in Weißensee, where their two daughters came of marriageable age
The Yeserskys of Volkovysk
Joseph Rabinowitz’s mother was Bertha Yesersky. Was she related to Sora Yesersky, the wife of Rabbi Elchanon Spektor?
Two Ringel sisters manage on their own
The Ringel sisters, Betty Twiasschor and Rosa Schattner, lived with their children in adjacent apartments on Lothringerstraße.
When Ed Eilertsen "crossed the bridge"
In a dramatic moment while crossing the Mississippi River, he broke with his parents' austere Lutheranism for a more ecumenical approach