Finding The Farbers

An international search

For the last year Freud’s Butcher has

introduced us to the members of the

Kornmehl family. The blog began with

information on 8 Kornmehl siblings, their

Vienna family butcher shop and

its association with Sigmund Freud.

Never one to leave a stone unturned, I

wanted to help complete the history of

the VK8 — the 8 Kornmehl siblings we

were introduced to in Freud’s Butcher’s

original piece.

The Farber family has been mentioned

several times in Freud’s Butcher. The

entries allude to the fact that their

family history remained a mystery.

A mystery no more….

Leopold (Leib) Farber

Leib (Leopold) Farber was born in Winiary, a

town near Poznan in Poland. He married Reisel

(Resi) Kornmehl in Vienna in 1903.

Leib moved from Vienna to France with his

wife, likely in late 1938,with passport #38900

issued by the Viennese Police. They lived in

Paris until early 1940 when they received this

entrance card to Brazil.

Leib’s profession is listed as an acougueiro,

a butcher, similar to other members of the

Vienna Kornmehl family.

Leib (Leopold) Farber was quite industrious

when he lived in Vienna . He was more than a

butcher.

According to business records in the Magistrate’s

Office in Vienna, a partnership was recorded for

a business owned by Farber and Kornmehl in

1912.

The Office produced the following information

regarding that business:

The business associates were listed as

Leopold Farber, coffee shop owner and

Sigmund Kornmehl, businessman. The

document states the purpose was to open a

coffee business in Vienna, located in the

second bezirk on Ausstellungsstrasse Street

#27.

Established in the spring 1912.

The business closed on 3/28/1941.

Reisel (Resi) Kornmehl Farber

Resi (Reisel/Theresa) Kornmehl Farber

was born in Radlow, Poland on

12/25/1877. She was granted a separate

visa to Brazil from her husband.

The Farbers arrived in Brazil on

9 March, 1940 on the ship "Formosa“

Awaiting them was……

Hermoine (Herma) Farber

Herma and Ludvik Alt had

applied to become citizens when

they arrived in Brazil . Several

years went by before they were

granted permanent citizenship.

This was noted in the newspaper:

Translation

Herma Alt, born in Austria on February 21, 1905,

daughter of Leib Farber and Reisel [Kornmehl]

Farber, resident in the Federal District (Brazil).

Ludvik Alt, born in Czechoslovakia on June 5, 1894,

to David Alt and Henrettee Alt, resident in the

Federal District.

“In 1943 the Alts became partial owners of a

company called " Decal Lumax Ltd " which

acted "in manufacturing and operating labels

decal intended for all purposes“.

P. n. 16.751-13, de Decalcomania Lumax Ltda., para efeito de aumento de capital Virti Cr$ 62.000,00 cabendo a cada sócio a sabaa•Herma Alt e Ludvik Alt, Cr$ 31.000.00 — fabrico exploração de etiquetas de decalcomania destinadas a todos os fins. Tempo ilideterminado. Arquivado sob o n. 159.038.

P. n. 16751-13, for Lumax DecalLtd., For the purpose of capital increase Cr $ 62,000.00 entitling shareholders Herma Alt and  Ludvik  Alt $ 31.000.00 - manufacturing and operating labels decal intended for all purposes. Time ilideterminado. Filed under n. 159,038.

Newspaper listing Bill of Sale

Newspaper ad for the Farber’s business in Rio

A genealogy inquiry in the newsletter of the AHJB -

The Archives of Jewish Brazil -Boletim do Arquivo

Historico Judaica Brasileiro :

Looking for the Farbers in Portuguese!

Where in the world was the missing Ernst Farber?

Ernest (Ernst) Farber

In 1945 Ernest applied for a visa to visit his mother

and father in Brazil. He was a citizen of the

Dominican Republic.

Initially it was thought that Ernest might have

been part of the Dominican Republic Jewish

community living in Sosua during the war. In

regard to that community:

In 1938, Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic

dictator, offered to take in Jews. Between 1940-

1945, Dominican visas were issued for 645 Jews.

The refugees settled in Sosua, a tiny seacoast town

near a jungle. Trujillo established the town with

funding from the American Joint Distribution

Committee.

Jewish settlers were provided with 80 acres of

land, 10 cows, a mule and a horse. Most of the

settlers were German or Austrian Jews.

In Sosua they eventually established a

successful Jewish cooperative—Productos

Sosua—which produces most of the country's

meat and dairy produce.

Further research showed that a smaller

Jewish community in the Dominican

Republic had been established in Cuidad

Trujillo (Santo Domingo) three hours from

Sosua.

Additional information on Ernest

Farber ‘s work history revealed that

he actually did live in Cuidad Trujillo

and was engaged in a familiar family

profession….

Ernest was in the meat business, like his uncles

and cousin. He was an administrator in a

matadero = slaughterhouse. 

Ernest was an administrator at Matadero Industrial, an

industrial slaughterhouse (see postcard below). It was located

in CUIDAD TRUJILLO (a city named after the dictator Trujillo,

later renamed Santo Domingo, DR)

In 1953, Ernest again applied for a visa to visit

his mother in Brazil. Padre (Leib ) was listed as

fallecido = dead

Once again, in 1956, he applied for a visa to visit

his mother in Brazil. This time he updated his

picture and used Kornmehl as his last name.

All of the visas indicate that Ernest

was married.

Accompanying Ernest in 1956 was his lovely wife,

Maria de la Conception Menendez who was born in

Spain.

Ernest and his wife, Maria, visited Brazil in 1956 on tourist visas. He was 52 and she was 43 and no children are mentioned accompanying

them. They likely never had children.

They entered Brazil on a tourist visa, then asked and were granted permanent residence.

This ends the story of the

Farbers, the final chapter

in the history of the Vienna

Kornmehl family. A

remarkable story of

survival against all odds.

In deepest appreciation to:

• Blima Lorber- Journalist, genealogy investigator and e-friend from Curitiba Brazil .

• Isaac Lalo- Secretary of the synagogue “Centro Israelita de la Republic Dominicana” (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)

• Mag. Wolf-Erich Eckstein and Irma Wulz- Curators, Vienna Jewish Records at Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien .

• Daniella Kimmich for translation of documents

In deepest appreciation to:

• Sylvia Schwarz- Sosua Jewish Museum

archivist

• The Municipal and Provincial Archives personnel, city of Vienna, Austria 

• Misha Mitsel, JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) Senior Archivist, New York

• Dr. Hillel Koren for translation of documents

• Edie Jarolim- for the inspiration to pursue the fate of lost members of the Vienna Kornmehl family

The slide show was conceived,

designed and edited by

Jill Leibman Kornmehl

based on genealogy research

THE END