The Lurie Family

Mary Epstein (nee Lurie), my late mother, was born in Oslo in Norway. She and her six siblings grew up in Oslo in the early part of the 20th century. Their parents, Josef and Ella Lurie, were refugees from Tzarist Russian persecution in Lithuania, where they had been born, raised and had been married.

They sought refuge in Norway because Josef’s uncle Marcus Scheer was already living there with his family.

The Lurie family was a simple, average normal everyday family like millions of others. Josef was an orthopedic bootmaker, Ella a housewife and they raised seven children; Jacob, Selma, Robert, Mary, David, Rosa, and Martin.

This blog is the story of Josef and Ella Lurie and these seven children – from Lithuania to Norway and then, for the seven siblings, onto South Africa.

This blog is a collection of stories, photographs, and memories of the Lurie Family of Norway.

The information for this endeavor is an amalgamation of material, memories and photographs provided by the surviving children of those seven siblings – myself, Dawn, Ellen, Jeffrey, Juliet and Ruth. Marion’s (z”l) extensive correspondence with myself on these matters was another source.

Stanley Epstein

December 2019

The Lurie Family. Oslo circa 1924.