Jan Hellmann, one of our rare Austria-Czech members >from Denmark, asked me
to help him find out more about his early HELLMAN ancestors, either in
Bohemia or Moravia. He had some evidence that they were originally >from
the Chrudimer Kreis, Bohemia. I have got his full permission to quote.

Abraham, 1758-1833, was Jan's gtgtgt-grandfather and was the earliest forebear
he could trace. He was living in Police/Pullitz, Moravia. The name HEILMAN
was apparently changed to HELLMAN. Abraham's children were Herman, Lea,
Sara and Sprinzl.

My first port of call was the 1793 Jewish census of Bohemia. I expected
to find a lot of similar names, but to my astonishment, there were only
two - in the Caslauer and the Chrudimer Kreis respectively.

The 1793 Prague census is not yet available so will have no way of knowing
if there are more HELLMAN or HEILMAN families residing in Prague in 1793
till much later in the year.

Manasses HELMAN >from Stadt Humpoletz {Humpolec}, Caslauer Kreis was a
wool dealer. He was married to Sara and had two sons: Gabriel and Wolf,
both single and two daughters, Luzia and Susana. We may perhaps assume
that this was a young family, with four children - teenagers or under.
There is no sign of an Abraham born in 1758 as the first-born or otherwise.

Isaak HEILMAN living in Brozan {Brozany}, Pardubitzer Herrschaft, Crudimer
Kreis sounds much more promising. He is a Schnittwarenhandler - ie selling
fabrics by the length, and is married to Juditha.

His first born married son Abraham {nb above] is apparently living/resident
in nearby Lusche {Luze}, Chrudimer Kreis. His second born, Markus, is a
school teacher in Poland. We are used to hearing of people leaving Poland/
Galicia but here is a reverse migration. Daughter Rosina is still at home,
keeping her parents company.

A close search of the census of Lusche reveals no sign of Abraham and family.
Where could they be? Could he be the gtgtgt-grandfather of our Sigger Jan,
who has emigrated to Moravia? Life in the Pardubitzer Herrschaft appears
a bit unsettled [see part II] - so perhaps the Jews were happy to find
somewhere else to live? One or two are definitely listed as living in
Moravia. Could there have been an exodus at the time?

My second port of call was Yad Vashem, where a search for HELLMAN and HEILMAN
both as family name and maiden name linked with both Bohemia, Moravia and
Vienna luckily brings up only a few hits - so it was not a common name in
those areas. I do not know if these tragic victims are relatives of Jan.
There is even a Jan HELMANN [sic] - a doctor >from Vienna - interned in
Theresienstadt who died on a hunger march >from Ceska Lipa on 7 May 1945.
The testimony was given in 1997 by Frantisek KRAUS >from Prague, a friend
and probably a companion on the March. I suspect this is Hans HELLMANN
{sic}, in the "Letter to the Stars" database. Hans was born on 26.06.1905
in Vienna. Hans HELLMANN was deported on 4.12.1941 >from Prague to
Theresienstadt and the Austrians know nothing more about his fate.

So have we found the gtgtgt-grandfather of Jan Hellman in Denmark, >from
Brozan and Lusche in 1793? I do hope so, but I have no definitive proof.

I will write further about Herrschaft Pardubitz {Pardubice} in Part II,
as interesting facts emerge when examining the data >from this area very
carefully re the Schutzjuden, with special reference to Isaak HEILMAN and
Low Jakob MAUTNER.

Celia Male [U.K.]

Databases cited:

1. Letter to the Stars http://www.lettertothestars.at
Go to *Die Opfer* - Die Liste der Opfer

2. Yad vashem http://names.yadvashem.org I prefer to use *advanced search*