The box of papers my dad left behind contain many documents that illustrate our Austrian links. It’s not always entirely easy as most of the documents are either in German or Hebrew and unfortunately I can’t speak either. But using google translate I’ve managed to find out what they are.
The vast majority of the documents belong to the Markovits family. There are hardly any Grunwald documents.
However I do have this – Otto Grunwald’s birth certificate (below)
The certificate shows he was born in Vienna on the 8th of May 1909. However it appears to have been issued at a later date – in 1927. It was issued by the registry office at the Israeli Cultural Centre in Vienna. It also appears to have been used as a document when Otto became a British citizen in 1947 by naturalisation.
So above we have another of the oldest documents from my family in Vienna, my great, great grandparents’ wedding certificate. The wedding took place in Vienna in December 1878 though this certificate appears to have been issued in 1919.. Adolf Schubert (DOB 13th August 1850) married Franziska Brandl, (born ??/ 1849). There are some details on the certificate that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
It says Adolf was the son of Leopold Schubert, and Rosalia Fischer. It says he was born in Czajla – which unfortunately I can’t find online.
It says that Franziska Brandl was born in Deutschkreutz, which is an Austrian market town. It says she is the daughter of Lazar Brandl and Hani (not very legilble) Tauber.
The document is stamped by the registry office at the Israeli cultural community in Vienna.
This document shows that I have family living in Vienna going back at least five generations – before we were forced to leave by the Nazis.
Below are two more very old and rather tattered documents – these are the birth certificates for my great grandparents (Tom’s grandparents) Rudolf and Helene Markovits. You’ll see below that Helene’s maiden name was Schubert and her mother’s maiden name was Brandl. They are the ones whose wedding certificate you see above.
So above we have Rudolf Markovits’ ‘Heimat-Schein’ or homeland certificate. It seems to be proof of his Austrian residency. It says he was born in Vienna on the 19th of August 1874. It was issued in 1911.
Above we have another wedding certificate, this time Rudolf and Helene’s. They got married in Vienna on the 3rd of May 1904. It shows that Rudolf was born in Vienna on 19th August 1874, and that he is resident there. It says his father is Jonas Markovits, and his mother Marie Singer.
It says Helene Schubert was born in Vienna on 17th September 1879, and is resident there. It confirms her father is Adolf Schubert and her mother is Franziska Brandl. Again the certificate is stamped by the registry office of the Israeli Culture Centre in Vienna.
Above we have Otto and Sylvia’s wedding certificate. it confirms that Otto is a manufacturer and was born in Vienna on the 8th of May 1909. It says he’s the son of Ignaz Grunwald and Franziska Eckstein. It says Sylvia Renee Markovits was born on 17th June 1910 in Modlen (?). The witnesses were Rudolf Markovits (Sylvia’s dad) and Dr Ernst Schubert. Again the stamp is from the registry office of the Israeli culture centre in Vienna.
Above we have character references, with Nazi stamps, for Helene and Rudolf, I think to allow them to travel, Helene to Holland and Rudolf to England. I’m not sure why they have different destinations marked. Perhaps Helene was planning to see Fritzi and her family while they were living in Holland? It lists their address as Wien XIII, Heitzinger Haupstrasse 95, (Tom, Johnny and Louisa visited this address in 2015). It’s the house where they lived with Otto and Sylvia, Tom when he was born, plus their housekeeper.
Also below is a character reference for my grandparents, from the Rabbinat of the Israeli Cultural Centre of Vienna which reads: ‘The pastoral care is thus confirmed that nothing disadvantaged is known against the spouses Otto Grunwald and his spouse Sylvia Grunwald and that both enjoy the best reputation’ They presumably thought they might need it in England.
Also we have their naturalisation certificate from the UK Home Office from June 1947.
Just to be neat and have everything in one place – a reprise of Rudolf’s passport is below with J stamped on to show he is Jewish:
Recently Isabelle sent me my father Tom’s birth certificate – sadly only a photocopy. Hopefully the original will turn up at some point and I’ll upload it here.
Sorry this isn’t in any particular order I’m just going through the documents as I find them in a file! I will maybe reorder all of this at some point.
Greenwood family history 