Showing posts with label lithuania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lithuania. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2021
Friday, March 19, 2021
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021
A Short History of Jews in Lithuania - Episode 1
Ella and Josef both hailed from Lithuania. Ella came from Illocki (Ylakiai), while Josef was from Zedik (Zhidyki or Zidikai). But what information is there on the Jews and Lituania itself?
Shirley Lee through Temple Emanu-El in San Jose California is currently running a lecture series on Zoom called “The Jews of Lithuania”. The first part of her lecture series was run last Sunday (4 March 2021). Here is Episode 1 which looks at the history of the Litvaks up to the eve of WWII.
Monday, February 10, 2020
A Lithuanian Mystery
Among Mary's photos are two of the same couple. The smaller photo was in her photo album. The larger one is a formal portrait mounted on a dark grey card.
The smaller picture has the couple seated in a garden, next to a tree, with two small children - the boy appears younger.
The more formal portrait has three children. The older children look about two years older than they did in the earlier picture. There is a third child, about a year old seated on the mother's lap. Mother and father are seated in wicker chairs and there is a formal painted background behind them.
The reverse of the earlier picture has an annotation on the back in English (with two spelling mistakes) and that uses a Norwegian conjunction"og" (and).
The inscription reads as follows "Uncle and Ante (sic) and my cusens (sic). Lijnke (or Lynke) og Hillel. Ilokaia"
I think that these spelling errors are significant as they may help date when the inscription was made. From my exchanges with the museum in Oslo, I discovered that there was, in the early 1900s, no English tuition in primary (or junior) schools in Norway. Pupils who moved on to secondary school did get exposure to English, German and mathematics. Only primary education was compulsory. This raises a whole lot of questions - When were these photos taken? When was the photo inscribed? How much English did the Lurie siblings learn in Norway? How long the Lurie children attend school? We can only speculate.
In the family tree that Marion (z"l) compiled, she showed Ella's brother as Alter who was married to Freda. Ella's father is shown in this document as Hillel. This is the family tree that is shown on the "Lithuanian beginnings page - see https://lurienorway.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
But the ultimate confirmation is the inscription on Ella's tombstone - bat Hillel (the daughter of Hillel).
Yet the picture and its annotation clearly indicate that Ella's brother was Hillel Spitz. So was this a simple childish error in the photograph's inscription, or was there some other unaccounted for relative?
So we have a mini family mystery. Plus we have a whole lot of other questions about learning English too. Ideas or comments, anyone?
The two pictures are reproduced below.
The smaller picture has the couple seated in a garden, next to a tree, with two small children - the boy appears younger.
The more formal portrait has three children. The older children look about two years older than they did in the earlier picture. There is a third child, about a year old seated on the mother's lap. Mother and father are seated in wicker chairs and there is a formal painted background behind them.
The reverse of the earlier picture has an annotation on the back in English (with two spelling mistakes) and that uses a Norwegian conjunction"og" (and).
The inscription reads as follows "Uncle and Ante (sic) and my cusens (sic). Lijnke (or Lynke) og Hillel. Ilokaia"
I think that these spelling errors are significant as they may help date when the inscription was made. From my exchanges with the museum in Oslo, I discovered that there was, in the early 1900s, no English tuition in primary (or junior) schools in Norway. Pupils who moved on to secondary school did get exposure to English, German and mathematics. Only primary education was compulsory. This raises a whole lot of questions - When were these photos taken? When was the photo inscribed? How much English did the Lurie siblings learn in Norway? How long the Lurie children attend school? We can only speculate.
In the family tree that Marion (z"l) compiled, she showed Ella's brother as Alter who was married to Freda. Ella's father is shown in this document as Hillel. This is the family tree that is shown on the "Lithuanian beginnings page - see https://lurienorway.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
But the ultimate confirmation is the inscription on Ella's tombstone - bat Hillel (the daughter of Hillel).
Yet the picture and its annotation clearly indicate that Ella's brother was Hillel Spitz. So was this a simple childish error in the photograph's inscription, or was there some other unaccounted for relative?
So we have a mini family mystery. Plus we have a whole lot of other questions about learning English too. Ideas or comments, anyone?
The two pictures are reproduced below.
 |
| The photo with the annotation on the back |
 |
| The later, more formal portrait |
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
When did Josef and Ella Lurie arrive in Norway?
Good question. The answer is that we are not really sure.
Ellen writes; “I think Josef must have got to Norway before 1905 because my father and Selma were born in 1903 and 1904 and I know that Ella went back to Lithuania for their births, the subsequent children having been born in Norway. Or could I have been mistaken all these years and that they married and had first two children in Lithuania??? I don’t think so.”
The version of the story that I grew up with was that Josef was forced to flee Lithuania because of the charges leveled against him for deserting the Russian army; and when he fled, it was to his uncle Marcus Scheer who was already in Norway. Ella was only able to follow him some time later with the two children.
We know that Marcus and Golda Scheer arrived in Norway “shortly after the turn of the century” (Eva Scheer- “The Last Mohican”: Reflections on an Argentine Frontier' (Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1976, Pages 413–417), having themselves fled the harsh conditions in Argentina.
However, as the one son, Axel Scheer, was born in Riga in 1904, (Source – Geni.com - https://www.geni.com/people/Marcus-Scheer/6000000030761105905#/tab/timeline ), was “shortly after the turn of the century” 1900 or 1904 0r 1905? Or did Golda also return for the birth? We simply do not know.
So, which version is the correct one? Comments anyone?
Ellen writes; “I think Josef must have got to Norway before 1905 because my father and Selma were born in 1903 and 1904 and I know that Ella went back to Lithuania for their births, the subsequent children having been born in Norway. Or could I have been mistaken all these years and that they married and had first two children in Lithuania??? I don’t think so.”
The version of the story that I grew up with was that Josef was forced to flee Lithuania because of the charges leveled against him for deserting the Russian army; and when he fled, it was to his uncle Marcus Scheer who was already in Norway. Ella was only able to follow him some time later with the two children.
We know that Marcus and Golda Scheer arrived in Norway “shortly after the turn of the century” (Eva Scheer- “The Last Mohican”: Reflections on an Argentine Frontier' (Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1976, Pages 413–417), having themselves fled the harsh conditions in Argentina.
However, as the one son, Axel Scheer, was born in Riga in 1904, (Source – Geni.com - https://www.geni.com/people/Marcus-Scheer/6000000030761105905#/tab/timeline ), was “shortly after the turn of the century” 1900 or 1904 0r 1905? Or did Golda also return for the birth? We simply do not know.
So, which version is the correct one? Comments anyone?
Sunday, December 15, 2019
What this Blog is all about
This blog is all about the Lurie Family of Norway. I have created it to help the Lurie sibling’s children (that’s us) to find information about the family, to ask questions, to provide information etc.
If we do not share what we know, or still remember, in a few short years this will all be lost. And that would be such a pity.
I have deliberately kept this Blog in the public domain, because out there somewhere there are others, like us, who may be searching. This is one way to help them find us.
So please – read the entries, use them, ask questions, discuss, suggest.
If we do not share what we know, or still remember, in a few short years this will all be lost. And that would be such a pity.
I have deliberately kept this Blog in the public domain, because out there somewhere there are others, like us, who may be searching. This is one way to help them find us.
So please – read the entries, use them, ask questions, discuss, suggest.
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