Every family has its own coloured thread in the margin: Family A, Grandpa Ben's, is red; Family B, Grandma Clara's, is blue; Family C, Grandma Dora's, is green.
At first the three threads run apart, each in its own town. In 1924 a wedding in Town Y knots the first two together; in 1970 a second wedding makes all three one.
A stamp after each statement shows the evidence behind it:
on record — a document says so; click the stamp to open it. family story — handed down in the family, with no document behind it. probably — our best reading of the evidence, not proof. unknown — not found yet.
The documents carry numbered boxes. Point at a number under a document and that part lights up. Click any picture to see it larger. Underlined places show their old and new names, and lead to the map.
The three towns lay within 60 kilometres of one another.
I
Three towns
Three towns, three households, before any wedding.
Thread 1 · Family A
A glazier in Town X
Window glass, a coat that crossed a border, and a son.
The earliest on record
The earliest of Family A on record is Abel A., born in Town X on 10 Adar 5631 (3 March 1871). on record A glazier by trade, he married Rosa from Town W; the date of the wedding has not been found. unknown
- Entry 14: the child, Abel, and his father, a glazier.
- The date column reads 3 March — but the clerk wrote the year as 1817, a slip of the pen: every entry around it is from 1871.
Abel and Rosa had a son, Ben, born in Town X on 5 Sivan 5659 (14 May 1899). on record He was probably named after Rosa's father. probably
- The date: written ninety years after the coat, by someone who heard it as a child.
- The story itself. It names the border, but not the year.
Abel died in Town X on 10 Kislev 5692 (20 November 1931). on record We know it from the Town X memorial book, p. 12.
Thread 2 · Family B
The mill at Town Z
A mill, a letter, and a daughter.
Upriver
Upriver, in Town Z, Bernhard B. ran the mill. His daughter Clara was born there on 16 Av 5663 (9 August 1903). on record
The mill was probably built by Bernhard's father. probably
Die Mühle gehört unserer Familie seit dem Jahr 1880. (placeholder)
The mill has belonged to our family since the year 1880.
From a letter by Bernhard B. · placeholderII
Knots
Two threads become one, and a third crosses the sea.
The first knot · Family A + Family B
Town Y, 3 Elul 5684 (2 September 1924)
Ben A. and Clara B. were married in Town Y on 3 Elul 5684 (2 September 1924). on record How the match was made is not recorded. unknown
Thread 3 · Family C
Across the sea
A girl from Town W, a port, and a new city.
Far from Town Y, in Town W, Dora C. was born on 24 Sivan 5688 (12 June 1928). on record
In 1938 her family left Town W. They sailed from Port P, where they had lodged at 12 Harbour Street. on record The photograph below was probably taken there, in the weeks before they left. probably
Ben and Clara · Town Y
Dora · Town W
Spring 1938
Ben and Clara:In Town Y. Nothing in the records for this season.
Dora:The family sells the house in Town W.
Summer 1938
Both threads are far apart; they will not cross for thirty years.
They reached New City that winter. Dora grew up there, and married there.
The next generation
A son and a daughter
Ben and Clara had a son, Eli, born in Town Y on 25 Adar 5707 (17 March 1947). on record
And in New City, Dora had a daughter, Fay, born on 4 Nissan 5710 (22 March 1950). family story
The second knot · all three
New City, 1 Tammuz 5730 (5 July 1970)
Eli A. and Fay C. were married in New City on 1 Tammuz 5730 (5 July 1970). on record From here on, the three threads are one.
Still open
- When Abel and Rosa were married, and where
- Which border the coat crossed
- Where Dora's family lived in New City before 1945
And from there — us.
Compiled from civil registers, an index, a memorial book, a court affidavit, and the family's own papers. This is the album kit's template: every person, place, date and document in it is fictional.