Productive. Well, sort of.

[ysobelle]

So tonight I had a nice long chat with my aunt, and asked her some family history questions. I managed to track down her father's family! My grandfather, Oscar, was one of six children. They came over in 1905 from Grein, Austria. I looked up some pictures of the town, and it's utterly adorable. I can't help but think, however, that it probably wasn't so adorable to Jews in 1905. The 1910 Census lists them as being from Austria Germany-- which I take to mean they were from Austria and spoke German while there, though they're listed as speaking English at the time of the census. Except for William (Wilhelm), my great-grandfather. He's listed as speaking German. They lived on a street of immigrants from Austria, Russia, and Ireland, who spoke German, Yiddish, and "Irish," respectively. Oh, and "Magyar," like my father's mother's parents.

I also discovered that my Uncle Irving, of whom many of you have heard me say so...er...much, was one of the soldiers who liberated Dachau in WWII. I wish I'd known that when he was alive. He told my aunt stories of jumping into trenches only to find the guy he'd been jumping with dead beside him, or without an eye or a limb. She said, "Maybe that, well, not excuses him, but...." I didn't argue that it probably had nothing to do with his later dementia, or the way he treated her. But still. Things I'd never known....

If only I'd spent today working so hard on my corsets.

Comments

[hennepin.livejournal.com]

I love delving into family history! I find it to be an incredibly rewarding hobby, and always gives me a sense of my place in this crazy world and an idea of why I react to things the way I do. It's incredibly fascinating.

What an interesting history you have! Maybe one day you can visit Grein and walk where they walked!

One of my favorite movies is "the Mortal Storm" with Jimmy Stewart... where they try to flee Austria for Switzerland in the late '30s. It's difficult to watch, but brilliantly acted and directed.

[eponas-pen.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous of you right now! I'm having a hard time getting further than my grandfather growing up in South Jersey... you know, where I used to live! Ugh. My family was not into keeping the history. But, I like to try.