Meanwhile, speaking of policy, of which Trump has none, J.D.
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lolonursereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @KarenStrickholm
Good book!
My family didn't/doesn't know Yiddish, but having been German for 700 years, French before that... there are a lot of historical family stories that happen to be about Jewish Germans, etc. My family members were shocked by Hitler, bc they saw themselves as Germans who happened to be Jewish, as opposed to Jews in Germany. -
Karen Strickholmreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @lolonurse Bookmarked it thanks ️
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@lolonurse @wdlindsy Yes that was so true. If you ever meet someone with Spanish heritage whose last name is a city name, it is highly likely they were descended from conversos, the Jews who had to convert or get out, when Ferdinand and Isabel finished conquoring the country. Interestingly there are still families here in rural New Mexico that light a candle every Friday night. They don't know why, just that it is a tradition still honored. Descendants of conquistadores.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by
@lolonurse @KarenStrickholm Yes, I'm enjoying Verghese's book very much. In traveling in Germany, again and again I've seen monuments in German villages to the fallen of WWI and noticed that they include Jewish names that would, in WWI, be dishonored, with members of those families murdered by the Nazis. One of my professors in grad school was from a Jewish family in Berlin that was totally assimliated to German culture, making real contributions in WWI — and was targeted by the Nazis.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Karen Strickholm last edited by
@KarenStrickholm @lolonurse The conversons are so fascinating, and from what I read, many New Mexico families have discovered that their ancestors were conversos who went to New Spain and faraway New Mexico to escape persecution.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Karen Strickholm last edited by
@KarenStrickholm @lolonurse I'm finding it fascinating.
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Karen Strickholmreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @lolonurse Most of my German ancestors left in the mid-1800s, there was an immigration wave of "German free thinkers" back then. Not sure they were specifically part of that but they were in NYC and in areas like music and architecture. My grandmother's side. She married a man from the deep south with heritage going back to pre-revolutionary times, owned slaves and plantations. Later divorced, rare for the time. Other half is Estonian. So interesting, America!
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@KarenStrickholm @wdlindsy
There is (was) a priest in NM who learned he was a crypto-Jew, & he helped his congregation figure out how many were Jews. One of my great-great-grand-uncles went to CA in 1849, found gold & went home, but another one moved to NM, married, lived in Albuquerque with his wife & son & daughter. He's buried in Truth or Consequences. I have a photo of them in front of their cabin. I gave their info to the NM Jewish History museum/archives. -
William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by
@lolonurse @KarenStrickholm These stories are so fascinating. I had a whole book recounting them, and after reading through it, put it out into my little free library and was glad to see that someone took it.
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@KarenStrickholm @wdlindsy
I love genealogy, family histories, all of it. I could talk about it and listen to people's stories for hours. -
William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by [email protected]
For me, the same. I hope this is not oversharing, but since we've discussed this story at some length here, I thought I'd share an encapsulation of it I wrote to share yesterday on Facebook, where I maintain a presence primarily because it allows me to keep in touch with a wide circle of relatives. Four interconnecting pieces below — l-r top and then l-r bottom.:
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lolonursereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @KarenStrickholm
Such a sad thing. Why do humans love to confirm their own ignorance? -
William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by
@lolonurse @KarenStrickholm Perhaps it's somehow engraved in our brains, a certain groove, to act that way.
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Karen Strickholmreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @lolonurse Gonna read in a bit when my tablet is charged up. Looking forward to it!
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Karen Strickholm last edited by
@KarenStrickholm @lolonurse I hope it will be of interest. Not really new information that I haven't already shared here, but it draws the whole discussion together in a single narrative.
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lolonursereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @KarenStrickholm
I got pulled away for a couple of days, but wanted to say there is a house in a small town in Westphalia that was built in about 1650, by my 8 or 9X greatgrandfather, before Jews were required to have formal last names. His name, Pinchus, was engraved in the lintel over the front door. That home still stands, with the lintel, & is occupied by a Gentile family who know the home's history. Some of my family have visited, taken modern pics. -
lolonursereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @KarenStrickholm
I enjoyed it, felt drawn in. -
William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by
@lolonurse @KarenStrickholm I'm glad it wasn't a big bore.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to lolonurse last edited by
@lolonurse @KarenStrickholm What a wonderful living "memory" of your family going back so far in time to a specific place. A number of years ago, my husband and I went to the village just outside Cologne in North-Rhine Westphalia from which his 2-g-grandparents emigrated to Wisconsin. He did research in the Catholic church records there, and had a surprising discovery: both of his 2-g-grandparents had a Jewish grandmother. This seems to have been totally forgotten in his very Catholic family.
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lolonursereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @KarenStrickholm
My entire maternal side were Westphalians, some near Cologne (Köln long ago). And pretty much every Jew in Westphalia could point to a couple of dozen others who they were directly related to, and another hundred who were second or third cousins. Maybe we're 6th cousins, thrice removed!