Facts and Figures
Below is a copy of the 1923 census which provides details of the whole family at that date. Each family member is listed by name, date and place of birth.
One error though – David's year of birth should be 1911, not 1913 as stated.
In 1923 Oslo was still called Kristiania. The name was changed to Oslo in 1925. The town was originally called Oslo but after a dramatic fire in 1624, king Christian IV decided that the town be rebuilt in the area below the Akershus Fortress, and he changed its name to Christiania. From 1877 the name was spelled Kristiania.
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| The Lurie family as recorded in the 1923 census |
In 1923 the family was living in an apartment at "Karl Johans 12tes gate.30IV". Karl Johans gate (not pronounced the English way as gate but as gaat'e (like "straat" with an "e" at the end, which is exactly what it means) is the main street of the city of Oslo. The street was named in honor of King Charles III John (yes Charles the third John is the correct way to present it), who was also King of Sweden (in Sweden he was Charles XIV John or Carl John). Karl Johans gate is a composite of several older streets that used to be separate thoroughfares.
The original building the family lived in 1923 is now gone, having been replaced by the new Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in recent times.
The site (in front of the hotel) is marked today by two Stolpersteine (memorial cobblestones). A cobblestone (10 x 10 x 10 cm) with a memorial plaque in brass is set in the sidewalk at locations where Jews and other Nazi victims lived until they were deported and killed. One stone commemorates one Moses Katz who died at Auschwitz. Moses Katz, his wife, and 6 children lived in the same building as the Lurie's.
The one daughter, Rakel, was friends with Mary and Selma. Here is a photograph of them together in 1930. Rakel is on the left. Mary is on the right with Selma next to her.
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| 1930. Rakel Katz (left), Mary (right), Selma (2nd from right) |
Below is the image of two Stolpersteine, one for Moses Katz, the other for Salomon Pinkowitz (as Pinkowitz only married in 1935, I am guessing that he only moved into the building that year. Selma, Mary, Rosa & Martin left Norway in March or April 1935 and it is possible that Salomon Pinkowitz moved into the Lurie's old flat.
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| Memorial stones for Moses Katz andr Salomon Pinkowitz |
Karl Johans gate was the second address that the family stayed at in Oslo. More about the other address in another e-mail.
As regards the 1923 census the following information is of interest.
- Joseph was listed as a shoemaker (I always understood that he was an orthopedic bootmaker)
- Ella is listed as a housewife.
- Jacob (20) is shown as a salesman at Selekowitz (more about this later. Mary also worked for Selikowitz – and I have photographs and, more to share with you).
- Selma (19) is listed as a saleslady at FIX Men's Outfitters.
- Robert (17) is shown as a messenger boy at David Anderson (then and now a firm of jewelers). You can check out David Anderson's current website at https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/david-andersen/363/ )
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What's in a name?
Silly question? No not really. Let's take a closer look at the name Lurie and Norway.
In the 1923 census (covered in Episode 1) the names were correctly spelled as we know them today – Lurie and all the first names. Note that our grandfather is Josef. Its spelled that way on his tombstone too.
Now the 1910 census was something different when it comes to spelling. Firstly the enumerator had his own spelling methodology. To start with the surname was recorded as Lorje. But the changes did not stop at the surname alone. In many cases, first names were distorted too. So, in 1910 (on 1st December), the family as it then was, was recorded as;
In the 1923 census (covered in Episode 1) the names were correctly spelled as we know them today – Lurie and all the first names. Note that our grandfather is Josef. Its spelled that way on his tombstone too.
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| Josef Lurie |
Now the 1910 census was something different when it comes to spelling. Firstly the enumerator had his own spelling methodology. To start with the surname was recorded as Lorje. But the changes did not stop at the surname alone. In many cases, first names were distorted too. So, in 1910 (on 1st December), the family as it then was, was recorded as;
- Josef Lorje
- Ellen Lorje
- Jakob Lorje (aged 7)
- Celma Lorje (aged 6)
- Rubert Lorje (aged 4)
- Marie Lorje (aged 2)
The family had a lodger too. His name was Isak Aberbuk. He was 24 years old, had been born in Russia. He was Jewish according to the records at the Jewish Museum in Oslo. He is listed as a tobacco worker.
In 1910 the Lurie family lived at Rosteds gate 14. They lived on the first floor. The apartment was number 15. There was a side entrance and they had three rooms plus a kitchen. No bathroom. The rent was 18 kroner (don’t know if this was per month or per year).
Here is the building as it was in 1936. The building was demolished in 1966.
Who were their neighbors? There were 112 people living in the building, mostly Norwegian born, some Swedes, Danes and Germans. From the names none appear to be Jewish except for the Luries and the lodger. Most of the men seem to have regular jobs – greengrocer, fireman, electrician, messenger, goldsmith, coal merchant, brewery worker, mill worker, apprentice tailor, advertising agent, waiter, barber, seamstress (I guess a female), mechanic and so on. Lots of housewives and even more children.
Now back to the name Lurie. In 1930 Mary (who was into amateur theatre) appeared in a production of a play called "Uriel Acosta". The Jewish monthly magazine “Hatikwho” carried a review of the play and Mary is referred to as "Mary Lurje". So we have yet another variation of the name
There was also a Salomon Lurje in Norway (no relation). Born in1888 in Kaunas, Russia, he was a business owner in Oslo. Married 1912 in Oslo with Lisa Levin, (b. 1889 in Russia). Came to Norway in 1912. Was arrested during the Jewish persecution in Norway in 1942 and deported to Germany on board "Gothenburg" on February 25, 1943 and killed in a gas chamber immediately after arriving in Auschwitz on March 3, 1943. (Source: "Holocaust in Norway" by Bjarte Bruland). His name is memorialized on the Holocaust Monument in the Jewish cemetery in Oslo.
The Norwegian archives and the shul membership list have no other records of any other Lurie's apart from ours.
In 1910 the Lurie family lived at Rosteds gate 14. They lived on the first floor. The apartment was number 15. There was a side entrance and they had three rooms plus a kitchen. No bathroom. The rent was 18 kroner (don’t know if this was per month or per year).
Here is the building as it was in 1936. The building was demolished in 1966.
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| Rosteds gate 14 in 1936 |
Who were their neighbors? There were 112 people living in the building, mostly Norwegian born, some Swedes, Danes and Germans. From the names none appear to be Jewish except for the Luries and the lodger. Most of the men seem to have regular jobs – greengrocer, fireman, electrician, messenger, goldsmith, coal merchant, brewery worker, mill worker, apprentice tailor, advertising agent, waiter, barber, seamstress (I guess a female), mechanic and so on. Lots of housewives and even more children.
Now back to the name Lurie. In 1930 Mary (who was into amateur theatre) appeared in a production of a play called "Uriel Acosta". The Jewish monthly magazine “Hatikwho” carried a review of the play and Mary is referred to as "Mary Lurje". So we have yet another variation of the name
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| Salomon Lurje recorded on the Holocaust Memorial in Oslo |
There was also a Salomon Lurje in Norway (no relation). Born in1888 in Kaunas, Russia, he was a business owner in Oslo. Married 1912 in Oslo with Lisa Levin, (b. 1889 in Russia). Came to Norway in 1912. Was arrested during the Jewish persecution in Norway in 1942 and deported to Germany on board "Gothenburg" on February 25, 1943 and killed in a gas chamber immediately after arriving in Auschwitz on March 3, 1943. (Source: "Holocaust in Norway" by Bjarte Bruland). His name is memorialized on the Holocaust Monument in the Jewish cemetery in Oslo.
The Norwegian archives and the shul membership list have no other records of any other Lurie's apart from ours.
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| The Lurie Children circa 1916 |
