Tombstone Tuesday - Family History Month

The closest thing to a family plot I have found is in Sharon Gardens, the Jewish section of the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Buried together there are both my paternal grandparents, my aunt, and my great-aunt and uncle.

My paternal grandfather

My paternal grandmother

Constance was my grandmother's sister. Her husband was Emanuel Victor Margand.
The story of their deaths is told in an earlier blog post:(https://whoweareandhowwegotthisway.blogspot.com/2013/10/constance-connie-kesner.html#more)

Jessica Jean Samuel Gray, my Dad's sister and the daughter of Edgar and Hortense is also buried in this plot. She passed away at the age of 78 on March 26, 2014. I really need to return to this cemetery and take a photo of her stone.

Memento Monday

Family history is not just a collection of vital records - the who, what and when. For me, it's more about the why and the how. Those items we have so lovingly saved help round out the stories of our ancestors. There's something about holding your great-grandmother's slippers that cements that family connection.

My mom was the "curator" of our family "museum" and I am privileged to continue that tradition. Luckily, my husband understands the importance of family. Otherwise, he might not be so supportive of the numerous items that reside in our home.

Today's post is about one of the first items my mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone held in her own hands after entering this country from Austria in September 1938. Here, in her words, is the story of her emigration. (Years ago, my daughter, Caitlin interviewed her grandmother for a school project. The following is an excerpt from that interview)

I left Austria in 1938 at the age of 6. The Nazis came, took over our apartment and put my father in Concentration Camp.” 

Doris' 1938 Passport photo

“I think it was night time. I remember looking out the window and seeing a big hotel on fire. Wasn't really sure where we were going. Ended up in Holland. At some relatives of people that worked for the Holland-America Line. Think he was a ship captain. Holland was great - so clean so beautiful. Had a really nice time. Next thing I knew we were on a ship. The thing was rolling. I was sick. My mother was fine – she was having orange juice. I told her to tell the captain to stop the ship because I want to get off. Think it was the channel. Stopped at England somewhere.  Then went on to United States. I don’t really remember getting off the boat. Relatives came and took us home. It was 1938. Terrible hurricane. We were in Merrick, Long Island. All I remember is being in the basement and my aunt gave me a candle-holder to hold. It was a terrible hurricane. – still have the candle-holder. Yea- that was our trip. Then we went to New Rochelle because my mother’s brother was the manager of the apartment house. And that’s where we stayed.”

It's Family History Month!!

October is a pretty good month. It starts out with my baby brother's birthday on the 1st, our adorable granddaughter's birthday smack-dab in the middle (shared with my best friend from high school - we've been friends for more than 47 years!!), and ends with one of my favorite holidays. There's also the birthdays of my big brother, one of my hilarious nephews, and my grandmother, who's been gone for 45 years.

It's also bulk pick-up month in our town. Today I decided to tackle one of the upstairs closets to see what I could toss out. I did get rid of a bunch of stuff, but I also found some long-forgotten items. One of them, the painting posted below, got me thinking about this blog which has been pretty neglected of late, I decided I would try to resurrect it, at least for this month which is Family History Month.

I am going to try to post something every day this month, even if it's just a funny cartoon or a period. (I love my nephew- when he traveled a few years back, his mom begged him to stay in touch. He did as requested. He texted her a period. Yup, just the punctuation mark 😁!)

You can help me too. If you have a question about someone/something in our family or just a general genealogy question, let me know. If I don't know the answer, I'll try to find out.

Peggy's Reverse Painting - The Owl

Doris Lichtenthal Falcone

It's been 5 years since you left us. Before you said goodbye, you told me, "I had a job to do and I did it." You sure did your "job" well, Mom. Since Dec, 2, 2011 there have been high school graduations, college graduations, two weddings, house renovations, household moves, retirements and TWO new additions to our family! I know you've been watching and probably had a hand in some of this.

A few years ago, I created these digital scrapbook pages and shared them with family. But I never posted them to the blog. I can't think of a better time to do so than today.

What I am Thankful for - The Internet!!! An Amazing Find!

This past Sunday, I attended a fabulous presentation by Glenn Kurtz sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Connecticut (JGSCT).  Glenn shared his book Three Minutes in Poland, in which he tells the story of a film he found in his parents’ closet. The film contained images of his grandparents’ trip to Europe in August 1938. He brought the film to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) where it was ultimately posted on their website.

The story of Glenn’s efforts to identify and locate the people in the film was so inspiring.  He was able to share photographs with survivors who might never have seen images of their family again had he not made that one decision to examine his grandparents’ film.  

When I arrived home after the presentation, I wanted to view the film again. I googled "Three Minutes in Poland." A few links down the page was the link for the video at the "Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive." One click brought me to the archive's home page and I was immediately “distracted” by the search box.

I decided to type in “VIENNA” – hey, you never know! I’m always on the search for images of my grandfather’s hat shop, Lital.

The search term returned a list of 166 titles; “Nazi propaganda decorations in Vienna”, “Hitler bust in Vienna; Nazi propaganda”, “March of Time -- outtakes -- Hitler speaks in Vienna after annexation of Austria.”

Too depressing. I kept scrolling. Film # 22:  “Children playing in prewar Vienna.” That looked pleasant enough. I clicked on it.

 

The image that appeared on my screen completely shocked and amazed me. There, running around and playing with her best friend, was MY MOTHER! Most likely filmed around 1937-38, there was my mom, at about 5 or 6 years old. I was actually shaking. (Note: Sadly, Mom passed away on Dec. 2, 2011. She would have LOVED knowing she was on the Internet!)

On the right is my mother. Doris Lichtenthal. Her best friend, Lucy is on the left. Vienna, circa 1937-38.

My mother (Doris Lichtenthal FALCONE), her mother (Rose Spiegel LICHTENTHAL) and her grandmother (Sophie Weiss SPIEGEL) left Vienna for America in mid-1938 shortly after her father, (Paul LICHTENTHAL) was imprisoned in the concentration camp, Dachau. This film shows perhaps one of the last happy times my mom experienced in her homeland. 

 

When my pulse returned to normal, I sent the link to my siblings along with a few pictures I had of my mother’s friend from that time period. Within minutes, the phone calls, emails, and texts came rolling in:

 

One sister pointed out that the woman our mom ran to 47 seconds into the clip is most likely our grandmother, Rose Spiegel LICHTENTHAL.

 

Could that be my grandmother? Very likely.

As a genealogist, I have learned not to make a decision based solely on one source. But – here were FOUR more people all saying, “It’s our mom!” Of course, we might be biased. Not 100% convinced yet, I searched through my photo archive and found a picture of our mother wearing the SAME snowsuit! Okay- that’s pretty good proof.  But, again, I might be swayed by my own feelings. You know – we SEE what we WANT to see.

Mom - Vienna 1937-38

This certainly looks like the same snowsuit worn in photo above.
Note the high waist in both shots.

I decided to try and locate my mother’s friend, Lucy. Luckily my mom had shared some stories with me, including Lucy’s married name and profession. It didn’t take me long – maybe 30 minutes. I called her and shared the story. We had a fabulous 10-minute conversation during which she confirmed that the woman who took the footage was the mother of a childhood friend. Despite being 84 years old, Lucy is versed in technology.  I sent her the link to the video and awaited her opinion. The next day, I received an email:

Hi Deb,

Really enjoyed our conversation too and admire your effort to put together the many parts of your family history… Yes, your Mom is in it.

 

Concerned about privacy (and rightly so, considering how quickly I was able to locate her!) Lucy felt the names of the children on the video should not be posted publicly on the website. I will honor that request as well as not identifying her any further than her first name.

 

I had some luck locating Peter, the son of the woman who took the video. He apparently donated several reels of film in honor of his father, Max Schur. If that name rings a bell it is because Dr. Max Schur was a psychoanalyst and Freud's personal physician. I found only Peter’s office numbers and am a little reluctant to contact him that way. Instead, I contacted the UHSMM in search of more information. Should I receive any, I will update this blog post.

 

Well, that’s my amazing story! One never knows what a click on a link might lead to. I am truly grateful to those who decide to keep, examine, restore, and share their finds. It may take years (the film was originally donated in 2009) but when found, these moments are truly precious.

To see the entire film clip, click on the link:

https://www.ushmm.org/online/film/display/detail.php?file_num=5136

Click on the links below to view Glenn Kurtz’s film clips:

https://www.ushmm.org/online/film/display/detail.php?file_num=5221

https://www.ushmm.org/online/film/display/detail.php?file_num=5216

Click on the link to learn more about Glenn Kurtz and his book Three Minutes in Poland:

http://glennkurtz.com/cgi-bin/iowa/three-minutes-in-poland/index.html

Click on the link to learn more about our local Jewish Genealogical Society (JGSCT):

http://www.jgsct.org/

 

 

10 Do's and Don'ts of Creating a Family History book

DO say “I’m only redoing a book my father-in-law wrote 40 years ago. How long could that take?”

DON’T be surprised when that turns out to be 8 months.

DO decide to use justified margins after you've finished the main re-edit. It’s fun to re-format a 206 page document.

DO use MS Word. Especially if you are using lots of graphics. Word’s various idiosyncrasies will provide you with hours of pleasure “chasing” pictures around your pages.

DON’T succumb to the thought of throwing yourself out the window when your landscape orientations continually revert to portrait mode upon converting your document to a PDF.

DON’T call the former “bride” asking “Who is this guy next to Aunt Peg in your wedding photo?”

DO ask guests who might remember instead. Then enjoy the expressions on the faces of people whose names you’ve screwed up in the caption.

DON’T wait until you have learned that you can upload a PDF of your original document to Google Drive and save the whole thing as editable text.

DO, instead, spend hours scanning the document to .rtf. (Added benefit: if your scanner is two floors below your office you will do lots of stair-climbing. Probably enough to burn off an entire container of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.)

And finally,

DO prepare yourself for the hours that have suddenly opened up in your daily schedule once the book is completed - make sure you have at least four more projects in the pipeline!

*This list merely illustrates my personal experience. In no way should the suggestions be construed as actual advice!

Note: To be honest, this was an extremely satisfying project. We printed the hardcover book through lulu.com and received the 22 copies within one week of submission. The copies were distributed at my mother-in-law's memorial service last week. How wonderful it was to see the younger generation excited to learn about their family history!

Mom 2.0 - Mother's Day 2015

It seems appropriate on this Mothers Day of 2015 to reflect on how many changes there have been in my life since Mother's Day 2014. 

First, and most sadly, we lost my husband's sister, Margaret "Peggy" Ross on May 11, 2014. As her beautiful soul left this earth, another came. Our first grandchild, Jack Winchester Hardy, was born on May 13, 2014. 

 

Yesterday we celebrated Jack's first year of life. A beautiful, active, funny, and strong-willed child, Jack brings back memories of the struggles and triumphs Scott and I experienced while raising his mother. Later today, we will enjoy a Mother's Day brunch in Jamestown, Colorado. I'm sure this will evoke memories of the many Mother's Days past. 

Scott's family suffered two more losses after Peggy's passing - his oldest brother, Bill, on Memorial Day, and most recently, his stepmother, Dorothy, on March 5, 2015.  

I retired from full-time teaching in June, which has allowed me to be more present in Jack's life. As he lives 2000 miles away, it has been wonderful to just "up and go" several times in the last year. I like to think my presence during the first  weeks of his life somewhat contributed to the fact he is still here to celebrate his first year. There were some tough times! Looking back on my first months as a grandmother, I recall lots of tears (mine and my daughter's), many phone calls and the ever-present wish to "make it better." This weekend, I am enjoying the fruits of the struggle. Jack is a wonderful little man. 

On October 11, Meghan ddçxccbmarried Andrew Jefts. Even though my mother wasn't there physically (She passed away Dec. 2, 2011), her presence wasthe pail t x. Bb   Optic ewe

6 hours later:

Did you enjoy reading the previous sentence? That "babble" was courtesy of Jack, as I allowed him to "discover" the touchscreen of my iPad. I'm now laying with him as he naps (hopefully for at least an hour) as I finish this post.

As I was saying, on October 11, Meghan married Andrew Jefts. Even though my mother wasn't there physically, her presence was felt. It was a wonderful "mother milestone." Both of our girls are happily married and creating their own families, adding to the blossoms of the fabulous moms that have bloomed on all the branches of our family tree.

Almost all of the matriarchs of the earlier generation have left us. But new souls are arriving! Our younger daughter, Meghan and her husband, Andy are expecting "Baby J" in October.

It's an interesting stage of life - Mom2.0. Building on the success of the past year, I feel confident that all my missteps as a mom will be dimished as I become the newest Omi in the family.