Here is a fascinating Jewishgen success story which links a number of
Sigger's family trees back to Klein Barchow, Bohemia in the 1700s [Peter
Lowe, Celia Male, Eytan Lederer are some - but there must be many others].
Names involved are BIACH JERUSALEM POLLAK WEISSENSTEIN KASSOWITZ DIAMANT
LEDERER - coming >from Bohemia, Moravia, Pressburg & Vienna.

Next week I am going to Israel; we will be having an exciting social
meeting of Austria-Czech Siggers, generously hosted by Dr Hans Weigl
in Herzlia. I will visit relatives >from Vienna, I have never met before.

To prepare myself, I looked at my records: The Memoirs of Edmund JERUSALEM*
born in Nikolsburg 17 September 1879 - two of his children are still very
active in Israel. They are my fourth-cousins [through my gtgtgt grandfather
Jechiel BIACH born ca 1775] but they are more closely related to Sigger
Peter Lowe through the JERUSALEM side.

Edmund's father was the much beloved and respected Wilhelm JERUSALEM who
was married to Katharina POLLAK.

http://www.onb.ac.at/ariadne/vfb/bio_jerusalemwilhelm.htm

How reliable are family memoirs? I know some genealogists question their
value but, on the whole, I find these family sagas to be invaluable and
often charming documents. In Edmund's memoir you will find indexed
KLEIN Lilli, JERUSALEM Wilhelm, JERUSALEM Markus Meir, POLLAK {Jerusalem}
Katharina, POLLAK Moses, WEISSENSTEIN Rosalie.

We learn >from Edmund's memoirs* that his maternal grandmother ie the
mother of Katharina {nee POLLAK} JERUSALEM [born 3 Feb 1856, Turnau/Turnov]
was Rosalie nee WEISSENSTEIN [born 1822, Klein Barchow] and his maternal
grandfather was Moses POLLAK [born 1810, Klein Barchow]. Rosalie and Moses
apparently settled in Turnau where at least 7 POLLAK siblings were born.

When I first read the memoirs about the WEISSENSTEIN, I had no access to
the 1793 census of Bohemia but last night I looked up Vol II and yes,
they are listed!

There are only nine families** in Guth Klein Barchow [Barchuvek]
Bidschover/Bydzovsky Kreis - in the first house we have a Moises FALTIN
who has been waiting for one year for his marriage permit, but in the same
house live *four* WEISENSTEIN [sic] brothers [apparently unmarried] - who
must by then have been teenagers, at least.

First born: Jakob; second born: Markus; third born: Matheas; fourth born:
David

Only the oldest, Jakob, is living at home. The other three have left for
Prague as "Judische Diener". see 1793 Jewish census of Bohemia Vol II p 232

So I suspect I have gone back two generations and David [unmarried] is
the grandfather of Rosalie born in 1822. Rosalie was one of at least 6
WEISSENSTEIN siblings. >from the family saga, I only have the name of one
brother: Herman born ca 1824 and Hermann had six WEISSENSTEIN children:
Betty, Edmund, Karl, Gustav, Wilhelm and Adolf born ca 1850s. I know nothng
more about them.

Once again a family saga is spot on, but we need to find out more >from
the BMD records to pinpoint Rosalie's parentage exactly.

Sigger Eytan Lederer*** of Haifa is also looking for WEISSENSTEIN >from
Klein Barchow [see Austria-Czech message archives] and so our trees must
link up via the WEISSENSTEIN of Klein Barchow in 1793!

Celia Male [U.K]

Footnotes:

1. see *Erinnerungen "Die Reise nach Palastina"
http://www.injoest.ac.at/deutsch/projekte/namensliste.i_l.html

2 **POYER, HIRSCH, KHON, MAUTNER, KRUNER [Umlaut], WINTER, PORGES,
{linked to ROSENBALK}, SPITZ [died 20 June 1793], FALTIN & WEISENSTEIN [sic]

3. *** Eytan Lederer - looking for WEISSENSTEIN >from Klein Barchow and
he also lists: Amalia WEISSENSTEIN (nee LEDERER) born in Doudleby Nad Orlicic
in 11 March 1841, died Vienna, 24 June 1928. Gustav WEISSENSTEIN, son of
Amalia, born about 1881, lived in Vienna (?).