My grandmother, known to us as "Granny."

Mom's Memoirs:

My mother Maize (Mina Magdalena) was the youngest of five, a brother Julep (or Julian) and three sisters, Frank (Francisco), Rosier (Rosa), and Fela (Felicities). Their father died when my mother was only ca 8 years old - the rest is again anecdotal: Aunt Franka once made some allusions, believing that I knew of the circumstances of his death; when she became aware this wasn’t so, she shut up; I am pretty sure it was suicide, but I have no idea by which means. Julek and Franka were sort of in charge of my mother’s upbringing. Whereas Franka was raised by private tuition, my mother went to a Russian public school. At home the language spoken was Polish, but the maids were always German; so my mother was pretty proficient in the three languages from an early age up. My father, who was raised in the same city (Lodz) but in a Russian-speaking home, always claimed she had a Polish accent in Russian, but I would not know that.   

When WWI broke out in August 1914 my mother’s family was vacationing in the area of Danzig and simply did not return to Lodz any more; Aunt Franka was working in Berlin, she had some job with the Royal Prussian Library I seem to remember and brought her mother and sister Madzia (she later called herself Magda) to Berlin [1]; I believe Julek was there too. Some acquaintance wanted to send a daughter to Geneva, Switzerland, and was looking for someone to accompany her, my mother eagerly volunteered[2];  and as the story goes, one of the first days there she ran into Pola Jonas’ brother, who had left Munich in a hurry, because the Russians were trying to induct him into the army. He had registered in the chemistry department of the University, the “Ecole de chime”. My mother chose pre-med so she saw plenty of him (first year of pre-med is all science, incl. lab work) and they got engaged in March of 1916.[3] When the Russian revolution broke out, my grandfather Jonas got cut off from all his sources of income and my father had to fend for himself. The professor who was supposed to have become his supervisor for his doctoral thesis (Dr. Briener), had taken a liking to him and appointed him Laboratory Assistant, with a salary sufficient to support him and his wife. He did not like the idea of his wife planning to become a physician, so she changed her field to psychology, and finished a few semesters before she became pregnant. In June 1919 she went into labor. The baby was evidently very big and she had trouble delivering; the doctor did not use forceps until the third day, and when the baby was finally born[4], a 9 lb. boy, he stopped breathing after a few hours and could not be revived. Seeing that it was a live birth he had to be named (René) and buried. The grave in Geneva was not maintained and was removed 20 years later.   

The doctor advised my mother to get pregnant again as soon as possible, which she did. When my grandmother   heard of the new pregnancy she insisted that my parents come to Berlin “where all the good doctors are” and my parents packed up and went. A mistake that was to change their lives for ever. My father could not find an academic job, neither of the families were in a position to render financial assistance, the early 20’s in Germany were tumultuous, the saved Swiss francs had been converted into German marks which soon became worthless... A return to Switzerland became impossible, and so they were stuck. 

Mom's Notes (from Geni):

• Polish speaking. Went to Russian gynasium.

• Went to Konigsberg for ש year in 1913-14 (where Ashkynazy family was). Was on vacation in Zopot[5] with her mother in 1914 and some sisters when war broke out. Julek was in Berlin, told them not to go to Lodz, but to go to Berlin, which they did. Franka was also in Berlin, was there all through war.

• Accompanied someone's child to Geneva to some boarding house where she could stay, Fall 1914 (semester not starting til October), ran into Rafal.

• First learned French, went to medical school, but got engaged and Rafal didn't want medical school for her, so that ended that.

• Had 62 first cousins on her mother's side according to some notes of Rafal.

• As you know, my mother had numerous first cousins, almost all of them lived in Germany, and no contact was maintained with any of them. I remember one family in Berlin (Krotosziner (sp)) who were fanatic Germans, didn't believe they were in any danger, and subsequently perished.

Notes:

1. See the "Passbuch" below. This is a German translation of the Russian travel documents (originally dated Dec. 22, 1903), which they must have presented to German authorities. Although issued to her father, he had in 1906. Note that the translation is dated August 5, 1914 (Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia on July 28; Germany invaded Belgium on August 4). Magalena is called just Mina on this document. [Total side amusement: the translation was presumably done at the Spanish Embassy in Berlin?!]

2. A letter from her mother shows that she must have already been in Geneva by June 1915.

3. Date? Letter from Leonore to Ralph approving of marriage is dated August 21.

4. As shown below, that was June 17, 1919.

5. Zoppot in German, Sopot is a seaside town on Baltic Sea near Danzig (Gdansk), as Mom's memoirs reference.

Geni data

Birth: January 19, 1894 Łódź, Łódź, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland

Death: October 22, 1964 (70) Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Immediate Family:

Daughter of Rafael Isek Ioachimow Baumgarten and Leonore Baumgarten
Wife of Rafal Jonas
Mother of Janina Silberman
Sister of Israel Baumgarten; Jytta Baumgarten; Freidel Francisca Tramer; Rosa Baumgarten and Felicias Baumgarten-Campetti