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| Joseph Lurie |
Joseph was an orthopedic bootmaker by trade. In Norway, he dabbled in trade specifically the sale of whalebones, which were used in the making of corsets. There are several stories around this. We will never know the real one, though we do know that it certainly did not make him rich.
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| Ella Lurie (1932) |
Born in Illocki (Ylakiai), Lithuania. Village is located in NW Lithuania, 33 kilometers west of Mažeikiai. In July 1941, all 300 Jews living there were murdered in a mass execution perpetrated by Lithuanians.
Josef's and Ella's villages are 12 km apart.
Use Google Streetview (on Google Maps) to explore these two villages today. Travel the 12 km between the two. It is an interesting exercise.
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When Joseph had to flee Lithuania (which was under the Tsar) because he had deserted the Russian army he went to Norway, to his uncle and aunt, Marcus & Golda Scheer in Oslo (Josef's mother was Rochelaya (nee Scheer) was Marcus’ sister).
Marcus is the famous Motte Mende or Mottemenda. We will look at the Scheer family in a while.
Among Marcus’ and Golda’s children there was a daughter, Hanna, who married and had a child, Eva. The father, Salomon Kaldosin, abandoned the family. Details of the Sheers and Eva's father will follow in a later post.
Marcus & Golda Scheer had fled Lithuania in the 1890s going to South America. The harsh conditions there caused them to return to Europe, settling in Oslo in about 1900 or 1901. This has been recorded by Eva Sheer in ' “The Last Mohican”: Reflections on an Argentine Frontier' published in the Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1976, Pages 413–417.
Joseph Lurie must have arrived in Oslo in about 1905.
Here is a simplified family tree for the Lurie’s, showing Joseph’s siblings and their children and the connection to Marcus Sheer.
The romantic story of Ella and Josef’s meeting
"She (Ella) had a marriage arranged and when her father brought Josef – a visitor – home for Friday night supper, she took one look at him and that was the end of the arranged marriage. She probably would have had a more comfortable life had she married “Mr. Arranged” but I understand theirs was a happy marriage but then of course there was the famous Lurie temper which we would never then have inherited!”
From Ellen
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Family Trees
Lurie
Marcus is the famous Motte Mende or Mottemenda. We will look at the Scheer family in a while.
Among Marcus’ and Golda’s children there was a daughter, Hanna, who married and had a child, Eva. The father, Salomon Kaldosin, abandoned the family. Details of the Sheers and Eva's father will follow in a later post.
Marcus & Golda Scheer had fled Lithuania in the 1890s going to South America. The harsh conditions there caused them to return to Europe, settling in Oslo in about 1900 or 1901. This has been recorded by Eva Sheer in ' “The Last Mohican”: Reflections on an Argentine Frontier' published in the Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1976, Pages 413–417.
It is a fascinating piece on Marcus' and Golda's experiences before they returned to Europe and settled in Oslo.
Joseph Lurie must have arrived in Oslo in about 1905.
Here is a simplified family tree for the Lurie’s, showing Joseph’s siblings and their children and the connection to Marcus Sheer.
Spitz
Here is a simplified version of Ella's family and the Lurie children.
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Thank you, Ellen, for providing a link to a YouTube video made in 2012 which takes us on an 8-minute tour of Illocki. You can watch it HERE and get a feel of what Illocki is like.
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| Illocki (Ylakiai) and Zidikai and surrounding vilages |
