Can you believe it’s Tuesday already? This week the calendar turns to June. My mind is boggled by how quick it all goes by. Welcome back! I’m so glad you’ve returned for more RWW hopping.

This week Brenda Margriet want to know about our past. She asked: Are you interested in genealogy? Have you traced your family generations back? If so, how far have you gone? And what fascinating stories have you discovered?

Did you miss Jenna Da Sie?  Hop on back after this…

First, I love genealogy. I love the stories we all carry with us. In fact I love all stories. Sometimes, when

I’m watching a baseball game and hear a last name I’ve never heard before, I have to look the guy up and find out where his family came from. If it’s not available, I might search the name for some information.

I have never looked up my family genealogy with one of those sites. However, I do know back to my great grandparents. Most of my information is about my mother’s family. Though I know a bit about my paternal grandmother too. My favorite stories came from my maternal grandmother. Grandma Rose use to tell dozens of stories about where she came from and what her mother and father did to survive WWI. You see  my Great Grandmother Pearl and Great Grandfather Abraham lived in Austria Hungary in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains. If you look at a map today, that area is in Romania. However, in the early 1900’s it was part of Austria Hungary. They lived in a town called Unta Stanesti, which means Upper Stanesti, from what I’m told. I have not been able to find Unta Stanesti on a map and can only go by what Grandma Rose said.

Abraham was the butcher and did quite well, but when war came he was drafted into the army. At that time, Jews had to flee the Russian troops. Pearl gathered her Mother and seven children and walked them from town to town to escape. They walked all the way to Vienna. I’m guessing this was about 500 miles. Quite a hike. Great Great Grandmother died on the trip. I’m not sure if she died because she was old, or if there was some other tragedy. Rose would have been between 10 and 14 during the war so all my knowledge comes through the eyes of a child. They endured a lot of troubles, including Pearl being raped by Russian soldiers, but all seven children and Pearl survived the war.

Once the fighting was over, they headed back home to find Abraham. He was in the hospital after being shot through the face from cheek to cheek. He lost all his teeth, but he was alive. Since Jews were still not welcome in Europe, Abraham and Pearl began to send their children to America. One by one they sent each one over by ship. Grandma Rose came over in 1920. She was 16 and traveled alone. It was many years before the entire family was reunited save one. The youngest son could not gain passage before Ellis Island was closed to immigrants. He took a ship to South America with plans to rejoin his family via another route. However, he landed in Buenos Aires, fell in love, married and lived his life in Argentina.

That’s it for me today. I sure hope you enjoyed a little snippet of where I come from. p.s. My father’s mother, Grandma Johanna was raised with four sister and their mother ran a boarding house in Queens, NY. No idea about my great grandfather. Johanna was not that big on telling stories of her past. 🙁 I should have nagged more. I’ll bet there were some juicy ones.

Keep on Hopping and see where Leslie Hachtel comes from. And don’t miss her latest book The Jester’s Dance!

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