It's amazing how much we can learn by actually listening to our old relatives. You know, the ones who go on and on despite pleas to stop.
I called my grandmother's (older?) sister today to see what I could learn about the family. Actually, it started a few weeks ago when I asked my mother some random questions about the family history, mostly out of curiosity, not to open up this whole can of worms.
My mom told me that her sister had a bunch of family documents, but when I e-mailed her, she refered me to Aunt Catherine (my great-aunt). So I called a woman I haven't spoken with since my grandmother's passing in 1998 when I was 16 and had more important things to think about than my ancestry.
So I finally got a moment to talk with Aunt Catherine and here's what I was able to find out. Wait: first a preface. My family is largely atheist/secular/Christian/Jewish, in that order. Of course my matrilinial ancestry is all Jewish; in fact, I'm pretty sure my grandmother set the precedent in marrying a goy. How I learned it, two (unrelated) families came here from Germany in the 1800s, and stayed very close. So close, that the two families intermarried (all kosher here).
Today's conversation with aforementioned aunt brought the following news: A woman named Ann, who survived the Holocaust along with her older sister, was married to a Wallerstein (great-grandfather's family). So she was sent to the U.S. to live with the family here in order to escape Nazi death camps (I'm filling all this in) and brought with her information about the rest of the family, both in Germany (I'm not sure if there are too many) and in Israel.
Apparently my uncle, while traveling to Israel not too long ago, met someone on the plane with the family name, and figured out that the guy is related! My uncle, by the way, was studying medicine in Germany when the Yom Kippur War broke out, and he went to Israel to volunteer as a medic in the army!
On my great-grandmother Ruth's (my namesake)side, the history is in good hands with Ruth's great-neice, who married a man from the other family I mentioned.
My great-aunt, in the meantime, is going to send me copies of family documents, which there are boxes of. The other stashes of goodies are housed in L.A., Kentucky and Philadelphia. Looks like my road trip might be worthwhile afterall.
At age 23, here's what one phone call told me about my rich ancestry and modern whereabouts:
1. I have extended family in Israel and possibly Germany.
2. We have a lot of practicing Jews still! And Zionists! Basically, my grandmother's family is the only major Goy-esque branch.
3. Three people hold documentation to the family history.
4. The family name was a result of Napoleon forcing people to take last names to make it easier to tax them. My G-G-G-G(or whatever)-grandfather chose to honor his hometown, and was evermore called Wallersteiner.
