Etty & Niunia

My mother Niunia (Anne) was going through some photos and came across this one of her with her cousin Etty when Etty was just less then a year old.

Max & Furma Birnbaum

Here is yet another photo from Leslie Birnbaum

The photo is from her father Jack and brother Michael's trip to Israel in February 2001

In the photo from left to right are:

Hinda Dickoff (Max's Friend)
Max Birnbaum
Michael Birnbaum
Jack Birnbaum
Fruma Krolik (nee Birnbaum)

Jack Birnbaum & Kids

Here is another photo courtesy of Leslie. It is a picture of her with her father Jack and her youngest brother David circa 1965-1966

Michael Birnbaum - Bar Mitzvah Photo

I want to thank Leslie Birnbaum for this photo of Michael Birnbaum son of Philip and Molly. Photo is from circa 1955.

The Birnbaum Family Business

Sorry for taking so long to reply to Etty’s question.

I checked with my mother who was a bit shaky on the Avrum’s occupation but here it is to the best of her knowledge.

Avrum was involved in commodities trading. He would purchase grain from farmers, arrange its transportation to the local mill and then sell the flour.

My mother pointed out that the Birnbaum family was very wealthy during the 19^th and early part of the 20^th century. She’s not sure if was Jacob or Jacob’s father Scharia-Leib who was given land by the king but one of the two was. The land encompassed much of what was the nearby town of Stolowa Vola (now Rozwadow is a neighbourhood of that city). Some time up to and possibly during WWI, the family was forced to sell off their properties and large portions of it were mostly likely expropriated by the government as well. So that by the end of WWI, the family had lost much of its wealth, but still maintained a certain aristocratic position within the community.

This is all based on what my mother remembers hearing from her father. I have no evidence to confirm it.

The Birnbaum family business?

I'm embarassed to admit this, but I don't know what my grandparents and earlier generations did for a living. How long had our branch of the Birnbaums live in Roswadov, and was there a family trade or craft that went down the generations??
My father told me thet Avrum was a highly respected man in the town, something like a mayor. Does anyone know about this, and was this position just among the Jewish community there?
When did the exodus from Poland begin? Was Leo the first to leave Poland? It's interesting how spread out Tobe and Avrum's children were, some in Toronto, some in New York and some in Israel. Of course the most haunting and distressing aspect of the family history is that Avrum, Tobe and Ruchel went back to Poland on the evev of WW2 and were killed in the Shoa. I still find it hard to get my head around the fact that they did go back at such a late date (1939 is the date I was told). It's such a terrible tragedy that they got out but went back into that inferno.

The Birnbaum's and Religion

Etty,

According to my mother Avrum and Tobe were very observant people. The family comes from a long line of Rabbis from way back when. However Avrum was a bit of shall we say a "black sheep" or renegade, as he never got his smichas (did not become a Rabbi) even after studying at the Yeshiva.

As well, instead of allowing for a match maker to arrange a sidich with someone he didn't know, Avrum had picked out Tobe on his own and insisted that she was the one. The match maker then just took care of the appropriate arrangements.

As to how he brought up his children. Yes they got to go to the public high school (the gynasium). The story that I know from my mother who was told it by her father is that the boys had to promise not to take the train or write on Shabbas when they went to school. Since the gynasium was in the nearby town of Nizko (a few km away), the boys would start walking and not go to the Rozwadow train station. However, they would frequently hop on the train as it slowly pulled out of town. If Avrum new about it, he simply looked the other way as he knew the times were change perhaps not for him, but at least for his children.