Visiting Prague
The final place I traveled to on my trip was Prague, Czechia. Prague was the residence of my Great-Great grandmother, Rebecca, when she was a young girl. As her father was an important brewer in the Czech beer industry, he had the family moving around a lot. Prague was a beautiful place. The architecture was amazing. The food was delicious. And it was absolutely not a place I would mind living in. Until my next trip!
The Spanish Synagogue, Prague
The Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague
Visiting Mauthausen Concentration Camp - Part 2
Although they were the primary target of the Nazis, Jews were not the only victims of Nazi oppression. Throughout the walls of Mauthausen names can be seen, but not just the names of Jews. The names of Spaniards, Italians, Croats, and Serbs can all be seen throughout the mining complex. The Nazis not only hated people because of their race but because of how they thought, how they talked, how they walked, and how they lived. And in a time like now with such political division rampant, we must focus not on what divides us but what we have in common and how we can all come together to make the world a better place than it already is.
The cemetery at Mauthausen
Graves at Mauthausen
Visiting Mauthausen Concentration Camp
Although a miserable sort of place, it is impossible to visit central Europe without visiting one of the many former Nazi concentration camps that are scattered throughout. This was the place of death for thousands, including many of my grandmother’s great-uncles. It was not one of the high-tech killing centers like Auschwitz, it functioned as a stone quarry during the war with it’s inmates being worked to death or dying of cholera or typhus before.
The barracks at Mauthausen
The entrance to Mauthausen
Visiting Vienna
Vienna is certainly one place where I think I could have used just a bit more time. A gigantic city with only three days is not an ideal combination. The Schönbrunn Palace, for it I have no other words except for impressive. It was amazing, comparable to any palace in western Europe, I think even better. The food was delicious in Vienna. I went one night to the hotel Sacher for dinner which I quite enjoyed. This was the origin of my grandmother’s entire paternal family. A city where in the early 1900s, people moved from all regions of the Austrian Empire to live here, the City of Music.
Vienna, Austria
Schonbrunn Palace
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Visiting Bratislava, Slovakia
Today I visited Bratislava, Slovakia, where some of my grandmother’s family is from.
I visited Bratislava, Slovakia, where some of my grandmother’s family is from. I found it to be a very interesting city. The city itself felt much less central European than Vienna and gave off what seemed to be a more Hungarian vibe. I saw many of the beautiful local sites such as the blue church and of course, some castles. I must say that before this trip I had an extremely low castle count and after it it skyrocketed. Bratislava is a severely underrated city that I would recommend to many.
The center of town in Bratislava
The Blue Church, Bratislava
Devin Castle, Bratislava
Bratislava Castle
Visiting Schloss Planegg
This private home was once a brewery, where my great, great, great grandfather was the brewer.
Although there was quite little to see, this relatively insignificant mansion housed the Paulaner Brewery for a short while, where my great-great grandfather, Ignatz Adolf Schlüsselburg worked. He was a brewer of Czech Jewish origin who worked around Central Europe. He died in Vienna, Austria in 1933 at the age of 83.
Schloss Planegg
Visiting Augsburg - Part 2
Today I visited the synagogue that my family attended when they lived in Augsburg.
In Augsburg there are two synagogues, one downtown in the center of the city and one in the Jewish and Industrial area across the river. My family attended the latter. It was very interesting to see the history of the Jewish community in Ausgburg as there had been a continuous Jewish community in the area that had not began to pick up again until after the war. This was quite interesting and I learned a lot after going here. I visited both synagogues, but photography was not allowed in the larger synagogue, since it is still an active congregation.
Kriegshaber Synagogue, now the Jewish Museum, Augsburg
The inside of the Kriegshaber Synagogue
The synagogue is now a museum dedicated to the Yiddish language
Visiting Augsburg - part 1
My maternal grandmother’s family came from Augsburg, Germany in Bavaria.
When I did my research, one part of my family that was a complete mystery to me was that of my great-grandmother, Florence Schwaber (1917-2007). I learned quite quickly that all four of her grandparents were born in Germany. Her father’s parents being from Saxony and her mother’s from Bavaria. Her maternal grandfather , Abraham Hirsch was born in 1870 to parents Sigmund (Tzvi) Hirsch and Ida (Chaya) Tabor-Wertheimer. His family had a long and notable history in Augsburg, being traceable back to the 1750s.
Augsburg, Germany
The Garden at the Augsburg Palace
Fuggerei Housing Complex, Augsburg
Visiting my Family’s Paris Roots
After doing an in-depth study of my own paternal grandfather’s family, I learned that many of my ancestors on that side lived in Paris. The Paternal Grandmother of my Paternal Grandfather, Berthe Rose Pritzker was born Berthe Rose Brandon to Sephardi Jewish parents in Paris. Her father, Jules was of Portuguese Sephardi and German Ashkenazi descent while her mother, Marguerite was of Provençal Jewish origin. Her family had been living in Paris since the 1800s, and before that, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Belfort. This discovery was of particular interest to me as I have always been a bit of a Francophile and finding out that I had ancestors who came from France was a joy to learn.
What might seem odd is that my grandfather, a Romanian of Ukrainian and Russian parentage would have a French grandmother. I too find it odd. His grandfather, Mikhail, the owner of a prosperous textile mill in Russia left Russia at the age of 18 in 1872 to avoid being kidnapped into the Russian army. He traveled eventually to France, an industrialized country, unlike his native Russian Empire. He saw the industry of western Europe which must have spurred him to build a textile mill in his hometown. It was there he met the abandoned Berthe Rose Brandon, her father having been killed during the Paris Commune, her mother having moved to live with relatives near Tours. Although it is uncertain how the two met, they were married and they returned to live in the city of Vinnytsia in eastern Ukraine where my father’s family originates.
Walking through history
I learned that part of my family lived in France
After doing an in-depth study of my own paternal grandfather’s family, I learned that many of my ancestors on that side lived in Paris. The Paternal Grandmother of my Paternal Grandfather, Berthe Rose Pritzker was born Berthe Rose Brandon to Sephardi Jewish parents in Paris. Her father, Jules was of Portuguese Sephardi and German Ashkenazi descent while her mother, Marguerite was of Provençal Jewish origin. Her family had been living in Paris since the 1800s, and before that, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Belfort. This discovery was of particular interest to me as I have always been a bit of a Francophile and finding out that I had ancestors who came from France was a joy to learn.
The address where my family had their business, now the Ukranian Embassy
The Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris
My Journey Begins Here
My great-great grandparents with my great-grandfather, Max, and his siblings
I have always been interested in genealogy. The more I learned about my family’s history, the more I wanted to see the places where my family lived. This summer, I will have the opportunity to visit some of the places where my family lived. Please follow along with me on my journey.