My great-great-great Uncle, Solomon Hoffman

by Randy Wasserstrom, Cary, North Carolina In 2004, I went on a genealogical trip to Latvia. In Talsi, I discovered the gravestones of my maternal great great great uncle Solomon (Zalman) Hoffman (1829-1906) and his wife, Chasse (1832-1908). It was a very serendipitous discovery as I had actually been visiting nearby Sassmacken and only stayed

The Hosiassons of Sabile

The photograph above was sent to my great-grandmother, Clara Thal, from her Hosiasson cousins in Riga in 1910. It has always been one of my favorite pictures, and for years was the only evidence I had of Clara’s mother’s family. I knew from what was written on the card that Josef and Sigismund Hosiasson were

My Family in Sassmacken

The following post was generously contributed by Randy Wasserstrom. The Michaelson/Michelsohn family photo above, taken in 1893, includes the following from left to right: Sam, Louis, Yetta, Harry, John, Aaron and Rose. My great grandmother, Yetta Hoffman, (1861-1916), was born in Sabile, Courland, Russia and was one of the fifteen children of Osser and Sarah

Leaving Courland

Among my collection of interviews is this story, told by Paula Thal Aminoff in 1974, of her brother Jacob, from Talsen, and his efforts to leave Courland (now Latvia) before being drafted into the Russian Army. Ted: You know about Abraham Blumberg.. well, I’ll tell you. His father, Abraham’s father [Jacob Blumberg] was fairly well‑to‑do,

The Jordans of Talsen and Scotland

As a child in the 1930-40’s, I would often stay with my maternal grandparents, pictured above. My grandmother, Fanny, was a very tall, thin woman who looked more Scottish than Jewish. Unlike other relatives she did not speak Yiddish but German, and English without a trace of a foreign accent.  Being aware that most of my

The Thals of Sassmacken

From a 1981 interview between Rabbi Lennard Thal and my great-grandfather’s sister, Paula Thal Aminoff, I have this quote: “Sassmacken. There was full of Jews. And there were a bunch of Thals there – not related, another family, very fine people, but not related to us. Ours was a big family and they were a

Latvia Journal

The following is a brief account of my last visit to Latvia in 2003. In August of 2003, I had the incredible experience of traveling to Latvia and meeting an entire branch of my family that I had learned of just a few months before.   It was a life changing experience.  Not only did I

Talsi and Valdemarpils, 1989

I originally wrote this for an old family newsletter, The Thal Gazette. Now over thirty years ago, our brief visit to Talsi and Valdemarpils feels like a completely different time. Because of the recent “openness” of the Soviet Union, our family was able to visit our “hometowns” in Latvia this summer. The four of us