Thal – There are three large Thal families that have ties to Valdemarpils. Through Y-DNA testing, there has been no connection found between the families of Moses and Sara and Auzer Jankel. Other connections have yet to be checked.
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 wasContinue reading “My great-great-great Uncle, Solomon Hoffman”
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 bornContinue reading “My Family in Sassmacken”
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 aboutContinue reading “Leaving Courland”
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 fineContinue reading “The Thals of Sassmacken”
Charlotte, Frieda and Minnie Himmelhoch, daughters of Mendel. Sassmacken, between the World Wars.Gutman and Yente Weinberg Himmelhoch. Sassmacken, late 19th-centuryPossible Lemchen family photo