[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] LACHMANN WOLF MROCH

[Jerry Frank]

You certainly have a confusing family situation.  I would caution 
against 2 things.

First, do not make assumptions about ethnicity based on skin, hair, 
eyes, etc.  That just is not reliable.

Second, do not assume Jewishness based on a surname that is 
frequently part of Jewish culture.  My FRANK surname is common among 
the Jews but there is no connection.

It would appear that the sister-in-law was either Jewish or married a 
Jew.  I am a little confused by the description.  She signs her 
surname as Israelowitz but you say she is a Lachmann.  If she was a 
sister-in-law of your ggf Lachmann, then she would sign her surname 
as Lachmann, right?  But if she was a Lachmann married to an 
Israelowitz, then she would be a sister, not a sister-in-law.

Certainly it is possible that there is Jewish background in the 
Lachmann family but it would have to be early on.  By 1865, your 
Lachmann family (and several others possibly connected) were all 
baptizing their children in the Lutheran Church.  In the 1930s, your 
ggf is not able to communicate in Yiddish.  This suggests to me a 
strong Germanic ethnicity.

Whatever Jewishness is happening here appears to be with Beile.

Jerry Frank




At 03:57 PM 17/10/2005, Kenneth Browne wrote:
>I am researching LACHMANN WOLF MROCH during the period of mid 19th to
>early 20th Century. My ggf arrived in the U.S. as an immigrant (family
>contacts say from Konigsberg, E Prussia)on the S.S. Veendam sailing from
>Rotterdam  Arriving at Port of NY  Feb. 20, 1891.
>
>According to various sources my ggf was born in Roschischtsche in Sept
>1865. His mother's maiden name was Wolf (Juliane or Juliana) and his 1st
>wife's name was Alvine (possible Auguste???) Mroch, possibly from Alsace
>Lorraine. They were married in Chicago, USA. Second wife was Mary (Koch)
>Schloman.
>
>I found my ggf's name in the Volhynia births database at Odessa Digital
>Library.
>
>Aside from normal 'brick walls' finding various other ancestors, the BIG
>puzzle for me is whether my ggf and earlier generations were Jewish. I'd
>always been told the Lachmann's were "German" and with a very blond
>haired blue eyed uncle and cousin had no reason to question that
>description...but then I got into genealogy!
>Via a second cousin, who is the namesake of my ggf, I came into
>possession of two letters, one in  Yiddish and the other in English.
>They were written in 1931 and 1937  respectively from Berlin. The
>English letter details the plight of 'we Jews' and based on a
>translation of the Yiddish letter, the author of both letters was a
>sister-in-law of my ggf named Beile Lachmann. Perhaps the sister-in-law
>was Jewish but not her husband??? My ggf apparently did not read Yiddish
>and hadn't responded to the original (Yiddish) letter. The letter in
>English was written with the help of a friend (Israelowicz, I presume).
>There may have been a third letter since I've an envelope with a 1935
>postmark as well as the Yiddish letter, 1931, and the English on dated 1937.
>The return address on the envelopes names Israel Israelowicz.
>Furthermore, the English letter states that 'back to Poland I cannot
>go'. Piecing things together, it appears that Beile and her family hoped
>to escape Hitler's Germany but none of this really proves that my ggf
>was Jewish.
>
>His grave is in Eden Memorial Park, hers in Wunders a Lutheran cem.
>
>Would a wedding photo of my grandfather and his first wife give a clue
>as to his Jewishness? I have posted the wedding photo at Viewmate. Here
>is the URL:
>http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/ALL/viewmateview.asp?key=6981
>
>The other documents mentioned are at the Viewmate Archives. These URL'S
>should work still.
>1937 envelope
>http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5175
>page 1 of English letter
>http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5176
>page 2 of English letter
>http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5177
>page 1 of Yiddish letter
>http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5178
>page 2 of Yiddish letter
>http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5179
>
>I have found someone thru the National Yiddish Book Center who has given
>me a good translation of the Yiddish letter, so I no longer need that.