finding the farbers: a genealogy treasure hunt
DESCRIPTION
A Jewish Viennese family was lost -- and found in South America after a year of intensive research.TRANSCRIPT
Finding The Farbers
An international search
For the last year Freud’s Butcher has
introduced us to the members of the
Kornmehl family. The blog began with
information on 8 Kornmehl siblings, their
Vienna family butcher shop and
its association with Sigmund Freud.
Never one to leave a stone unturned, I
wanted to help complete the history of
the VK8 — the 8 Kornmehl siblings we
were introduced to in Freud’s Butcher’s
original piece.
The Farber family has been mentioned
several times in Freud’s Butcher. The
entries allude to the fact that their
family history remained a mystery.
A mystery no more….
Leopold (Leib) Farber
Leib (Leopold) Farber was born in Winiary, a
town near Poznan in Poland. He married Reisel
(Resi) Kornmehl in Vienna in 1903.
Leib moved from Vienna to France with his
wife, likely in late 1938,with passport #38900
issued by the Viennese Police. They lived in
Paris until early 1940 when they received this
entrance card to Brazil.
Leib’s profession is listed as an acougueiro,
a butcher, similar to other members of the
Vienna Kornmehl family.
Leib (Leopold) Farber was quite industrious
when he lived in Vienna . He was more than a
butcher.
According to business records in the Magistrate’s
Office in Vienna, a partnership was recorded for
a business owned by Farber and Kornmehl in
1912.
The Office produced the following information
regarding that business:
The business associates were listed as
Leopold Farber, coffee shop owner and
Sigmund Kornmehl, businessman. The
document states the purpose was to open a
coffee business in Vienna, located in the
second bezirk on Ausstellungsstrasse Street
#27.
Established in the spring 1912.
The business closed on 3/28/1941.
Reisel (Resi) Kornmehl Farber
Resi (Reisel/Theresa) Kornmehl Farber
was born in Radlow, Poland on
12/25/1877. She was granted a separate
visa to Brazil from her husband.
The Farbers arrived in Brazil on
9 March, 1940 on the ship "Formosa“
Awaiting them was……
Hermoine (Herma) Farber
Herma and Ludvik Alt had
applied to become citizens when
they arrived in Brazil . Several
years went by before they were
granted permanent citizenship.
This was noted in the newspaper:
Translation
Herma Alt, born in Austria on February 21, 1905,
daughter of Leib Farber and Reisel [Kornmehl]
Farber, resident in the Federal District (Brazil).
Ludvik Alt, born in Czechoslovakia on June 5, 1894,
to David Alt and Henrettee Alt, resident in the
Federal District.
“In 1943 the Alts became partial owners of a
company called " Decal Lumax Ltd " which
acted "in manufacturing and operating labels
decal intended for all purposes“.
P. n. 16.751-13, de Decalcomania Lumax Ltda., para efeito de aumento de capital Virti Cr$ 62.000,00 cabendo a cada sócio a sabaa•Herma Alt e Ludvik Alt, Cr$ 31.000.00 — fabrico exploração de etiquetas de decalcomania destinadas a todos os fins. Tempo ilideterminado. Arquivado sob o n. 159.038.
P. n. 16751-13, for Lumax DecalLtd., For the purpose of capital increase Cr $ 62,000.00 entitling shareholders Herma Alt and Ludvik Alt $ 31.000.00 - manufacturing and operating labels decal intended for all purposes. Time ilideterminado. Filed under n. 159,038.
Newspaper listing Bill of Sale
Newspaper ad for the Farber’s business in Rio
A genealogy inquiry in the newsletter of the AHJB -
The Archives of Jewish Brazil -Boletim do Arquivo
Historico Judaica Brasileiro :
Looking for the Farbers in Portuguese!
Where in the world was the missing Ernst Farber?
Ernest (Ernst) Farber
In 1945 Ernest applied for a visa to visit his mother
and father in Brazil. He was a citizen of the
Dominican Republic.
Initially it was thought that Ernest might have
been part of the Dominican Republic Jewish
community living in Sosua during the war. In
regard to that community:
In 1938, Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic
dictator, offered to take in Jews. Between 1940-
1945, Dominican visas were issued for 645 Jews.
The refugees settled in Sosua, a tiny seacoast town
near a jungle. Trujillo established the town with
funding from the American Joint Distribution
Committee.
Jewish settlers were provided with 80 acres of
land, 10 cows, a mule and a horse. Most of the
settlers were German or Austrian Jews.
In Sosua they eventually established a
successful Jewish cooperative—Productos
Sosua—which produces most of the country's
meat and dairy produce.
Further research showed that a smaller
Jewish community in the Dominican
Republic had been established in Cuidad
Trujillo (Santo Domingo) three hours from
Sosua.
Additional information on Ernest
Farber ‘s work history revealed that
he actually did live in Cuidad Trujillo
and was engaged in a familiar family
profession….
Ernest was in the meat business, like his uncles
and cousin. He was an administrator in a
matadero = slaughterhouse.
Ernest was an administrator at Matadero Industrial, an
industrial slaughterhouse (see postcard below). It was located
in CUIDAD TRUJILLO (a city named after the dictator Trujillo,
later renamed Santo Domingo, DR)
In 1953, Ernest again applied for a visa to visit
his mother in Brazil. Padre (Leib ) was listed as
fallecido = dead
Once again, in 1956, he applied for a visa to visit
his mother in Brazil. This time he updated his
picture and used Kornmehl as his last name.
All of the visas indicate that Ernest
was married.
Accompanying Ernest in 1956 was his lovely wife,
Maria de la Conception Menendez who was born in
Spain.
Ernest and his wife, Maria, visited Brazil in 1956 on tourist visas. He was 52 and she was 43 and no children are mentioned accompanying
them. They likely never had children.
They entered Brazil on a tourist visa, then asked and were granted permanent residence.
This ends the story of the
Farbers, the final chapter
in the history of the Vienna
Kornmehl family. A
remarkable story of
survival against all odds.
In deepest appreciation to:
• Blima Lorber- Journalist, genealogy investigator and e-friend from Curitiba Brazil .
• Isaac Lalo- Secretary of the synagogue “Centro Israelita de la Republic Dominicana” (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
• Mag. Wolf-Erich Eckstein and Irma Wulz- Curators, Vienna Jewish Records at Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien .
• Daniella Kimmich for translation of documents
In deepest appreciation to:
• Sylvia Schwarz- Sosua Jewish Museum
archivist
• The Municipal and Provincial Archives personnel, city of Vienna, Austria
• Misha Mitsel, JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) Senior Archivist, New York
• Dr. Hillel Koren for translation of documents
• Edie Jarolim- for the inspiration to pursue the fate of lost members of the Vienna Kornmehl family
The slide show was conceived,
designed and edited by
Jill Leibman Kornmehl
based on genealogy research
THE END