Final Day

Posted on May 7, 2026 by Janette Silverman

Often when I attend a conference in an interesting place not only do I arrive a few days early, and leave a few days late, but I pick and choose conference sessions to attend, and spend time each day wandering around. Many days, evenings are spent at museum, shopping, and wandering around. This conference was definitely different.

To start with the sessions were covering such interesting topics with so many amazing presenters, that missing a session wasn’t even an option. I spent the two days I was here before the conference began wandering around, getting a feel for small parts of the city. I discovered that just about everything was closed (except for restaurants, grocery stores, and souvenir shops) on Sundays and after 6 PM Monday-Saturday. Does this mean that everyone who lives and works in the city can only shop on Saturday?

On Wednesday I opted to head back to the hotel after the last session, do some shopping on the way, work for a couple of hours, and have an early evening. I was on a shopping mission. My amazing grandson is very much into soccer and I promised to find soccer cards and maybe something else while I was here. Thanks to search engines, and Patrick, a fellow attendee at the conference, I located a shop where I found (what I hope is) the perfect soccer fan gifts.

On the way, I passed a dancing bear – every city should have one.

The streets and alleys were really charming, but on this trip, I was careful about how many photos I was taking – I only had my phone and its storage, not my camera with the huge sd card. What was I thinking when I packed. My camera always goes with me, but strangely for this trip, I took it out of my computer bag. Definitely not a smart move.

Wednesday’s dinner was quiet, on my own – pizza and a salad, with a lovely pinot grigio to accompany.

Well, it is what it is – the photos are clear, but not as well framed as I would have liked.

Thursday I am off to the Jewish Museum, and then a special dinner with conference attendees. Friday morning I have a 7 AM flight which means leaving the hotel at 3:30 AM (ugh – another sleepless night), a quick plane change in Amsterdam and then on to New York where I will arrive around 1 PM.

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Exhausted

Posted on May 5, 2026 by Janette Silverman

I didn’t write anything yesterday, which didn’t mean that nothing was going on – it was more like I was completely overwhelmed by the end of the day. My primary reason for being here is to attend a conference on the confluence or genealogy and history. For the most of the day I am sitting still and listening. There are 4 panel sessions each day – two in the morning and two in the afternoon with a half hour break between sessions and 90 minute lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions.

This is a small conference with only about 100 attendees. It’s probably the best conference I have been to in years. Participants and presenters alike are all expert historians or genealogists, or both. I know many people here, and am meeting many more. The amount of information being imparted is intense and amazing. I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a conference more.

A short train ride each morning followed by a 10 minute walk brings us right to campus. My hotel is cute and simple, and right in the heart of shopping and restaurants. Nothing here is open late, which is good, because after dinner, I am fit for nothing but sleep.

Last night, after the last session was over around 6:30 PM, we went to a dinner hosted by the mayor of Vienna at the Ratskellarhaus (I think I have that right – I keep mixing up syllables).

Presentations during the day have covered documents, research techniques, case studies, of Galicia (Austrian Empire), Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Germany. Although all the sessions are in English – there are so many languages being spoken all around and so many accents.

The ice cream is great, the food is wonderful, and tonight I had a slice of the famed sacher torte for dessert.

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Sights, sounds, smells make memories

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Janette Silverman

Today was another day of not so aimless wandering, but once again, over 18,000 steps. I admit, I am often challenged when attempting to follow GPS directions. The miracle is that I actually get where I’m going, and get back to my starting point at the end of the day.

Today I had a mission – I was going to find my family’s home in the 1930s on Bäuerlegasse, and then locate one of the many kosher restaurants, and have lunch there.

My walk took me across a bridge over a canal. It was so weird – when I got to the end of the bridge, the wind picked up and I stopped and stared: the wind was blowing tiny little leaves around and it looked like a shower of gold. I tried to take a photo but the leaves were tiny and blowing pretty quickly, and every effort failed. I guess it was one of those “you had to be there” moments.

I suspect the reason I’m walking so much further than the GPS would indicate is possibly all the backtracking I have to do – it’s fine when there are street names and the map’s voice tells me to turn, but all of those times when it just says to walk and turn left after 200m where there are 5 possible places to turn that confounds me.

The family home was an apartment building – nothing special but it’s the only place in Vienna that I can say my family lived, at this point.

I have no idea if this is the same building in which my family resided almost 100 years ago, or if this building is new, or had a facelift. It’s sort of like looking at a signed document from a long time ago – they touched it, they walked here, they lived.

The kosher restaurant to which I was heading wasn’t far, and there were many others I passed like Malka’s.

I don’t know why I chose Bahur Tov but it was charming. I had schnitzel (chicken) and the serving was huge. I thought before they brought it that I would have apple strudel for dessert, but that didn’t happen.

Today was definitely not as hot as yesterday and the walk was more pleasant, even though the wind was blowing. The sand castles in the sky kept my head swiveling around – I don’t want to miss anything. Oh, maybe what I keep missing are directions to turn!

Dinner was very casual but amazing. Most of the people I met up with as Cafe Savoy were from the CEJHG conference. People from Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Israel and Vienna gathered for drinks and dinner, and the conversation was non-stop and amazing. I am so excited to learn more from these people over the next few days.

Is that the best looking bagel sandwich you’ve ever seen? Hummus and beets – so delicious. walking past bakeries makes me want to stop and sample but I think the delicious odor must have calories because I’m just not hungry! What a shame – if I’m walking almost 7 miles a day I should be able to have guilt-free pastries.

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At Leisure in Vienna

Posted on May 2, 2026 by Janette Silverman

Before I comment on my 18,000+ walk today, the food, and the sites, I need to mention the weather and clothes. If you’ve ever traveled with me, you know that no matter how carefully I pack, I never have to right clothes. This trip was no exception. In my own defense, except for a 4 day trip home, most of 5 weeks in New York. The trip home have me time to unpack and repack, and, at least theoretically, choose the appropriate clothes for New York and Vienna. I thought New York and Vienna would have about the same weather, and I knew that as cold as it was in NY, Vienna would be warmer, so I took some lighter shirts, that is, not heavy sweaters, planning to leave my puffy coat and other clothes that would probably be too warm in New York. It turns out that most of what I brought with me was way too warm and after a very hot walk to Central Europe University and back (most of those 18K steps) I was forced to shop. Several years ago when my friend and colleague Marek and I were due to meet a client in Poland, my bags didn’t show up in Warsaw when I did and the night I arrived, I wound up in a Mango shop searching for something to wear. That store had the perfect stuff at the perfect price then and now. Of course, it’s probably going to get freezing cold. Last summer my friend and colleague Lina and I were in Vilnius to meet a client and the summery August weather felt more like a rainy winter few days – I needed to buy a warmer raincoat and sweater. As I said, I never have what I need. May I should just stop traveling. Well, let’s pretend I didn’t say that.

As I walked, I noticed a sign with something familiar “Belvedere.” Last summer I visited Łazienki Park which is the location of Belvedere Palace. Now, I found myself walking past Belvedere park with two palaces in Vienna!

So many beautiful things to see. Some day I will come back and visit museums, properly see the historic sites, and eat more wonderful food (especially the ice cream). For right now, I’m just absorbing sounds, smells and sights.

As I was walking around this evening I heard a familiar clop, clop and sure enough, like in Krakow, horse-drawn carriages!

I was used to the gold in the Woman in Gold painting by Klimt and all the things sold in Vienna with that theme, but I wasn’t prepared for the gold as the light hit the buildings late in the day.

One thing I miss at home are the wonderful flower sellers in New York, and big cities all over – I was delighted to see them here.

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New York to Amsterdam to Vienna

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Janette Silverman

It’s a good thing a trip like this covers two calendar days – it’s way too much to deal with in one day especially with a 5+ hour stopover in Amsterdam! My trip began in a most auspicious way. Car was to be returned to the rental company in NY by 4 PM. I left in plenty of time, but almost immediately had to turn around and return my dad’s credit card which I had in my wallet to him. OK, now I had 10 minutes less. And then, out of nowhere there was an immense number of cars on the street and traffic delays. Then of course there’s the maze of roads commonly known as Kennedy Airport. I pulled in at the return with 3 minutes to spare! The very kind people at Delta let me check my bags even though I was about 90 minutes earlier than policy allows, and then at the Sky Club in B concourse, Terminal 4 where they were too filled up to let me in as early as I was, they sent me to the less crowded Sky Club in Concourse A and called to ask them to let me in early. The stars are just perfectly aligned.

Of course, when I got to Amsterdam, the new visa program was in effect, and the digital machines were working imperfectly and couldn’t read my fingerprints (this was a little nutty) so I stood in line. This occurrence is why I wanted a long layover. OK, 5 hours was a bit long, but it worked. I saw something really strange in the airport.

There were these 4 doors, a little bit later, there were another 4 doors. The blue sign says “for evacuation purposes only.” So, what was weird? There was no corridor on the other side of these doors, the doors were like a divider, like a room divider. Just the walkway on either side of them. My partner, back home in Phoenix, suggested they were an art installation, but I don’t think so.

If you know any of the thousands of photos I take when traveling you might recollect the doors and alleys I like to shoot.

This is the entryway to the Pension Neuer Market where I’ll be staying for the next week.

Inside the door is a charming hallway that leads eventually to a one-person elevator. As I got in it I remembered the really scary tiny elevator in Paris that had a penchant for getting stuck between floors, with a manager who couldn’t have cared less. This elevator, in Vienna, although old, worked like a charm, and the person staffing the reception area couldn’t have been more helpful.

I probably needed sleep but I decided I needed a glass of wine and food so I left the hotel prepared to wander around in search of an appealing restaurant, and hoped I wouldn’t get lost. I crossed the street and found myself in front of a wonderful Italian restaurant. Sauvignon blanc, crusty bread and olives, gnocchi, and tiramisu. What could be a more perfect ending to the beginning of my first day (ok, only my first hours) in Vienna?

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Vienna Bound

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Janette Silverman

I’ve never been to Vienna before. Then again, I’ve never been to a lot of places. This week I will fly to Vienna to attend a fantastic conference – the first held by the relatively newly formed Association for Central European Jewish History and Genealogy (CEJHG). In addition to attending the conference I am very interested in seeing places where my extended family lived in the first half of the twentieth century.

It’s difficult to disentangle the family to introduce you to the branch about whom I want to speak because there are so many branches in which the same first and last names show up, but I’ll try. A pair of my 3x great-grandparents were Markus Schmiel Braunstein and Libe Zweifler. Their daughter, my great-great-grandmother, Gitel Tova Zweifler married my great-great-grandfather Shimon Kreisler. The families were from nearby cities in Galicia, Austrian Empire: Nadwórna and Stanisławów. My great-grandmother Chana Jetta and her older sister Devorah were the two oldest of the 10 children born to Gitel Tova and Shimon. Those of the siblings who survived infancy immigrated to the U.S., except fr Chana Jetta and Devorah – they perished in the Holocaust on the streets of Stanisławów along with many of their children and grandchildren.

Devorah married Josef Schaffer. They had several children including Benzion Schaffer. Sometime around 1935, he married Hencia Arbeit Zwirn possibly in Stanisławów. They ultimately settled in Israel. Hencia’s parents were Yehiel Jakob Zwern and Sosia Arbeit. Yehiel Jakobs parents, Hencia’s paternal grandparents were Itzig Zwirn and Rechel Zweifler. Rechel was Gitel Tova’s sister.

Yehiel and Sosia had ten children. Several of them settled in Vienna: their son Samuel, born in 1889, their daughter Sara born about 1897, and their daughter Chaya Devorah (Clara) born in 1902. Their daughter Lena (Lilly) likely also was in Vienna for a time.

Lilly arrived in New York sometime before her 3 July 1922 marriage to Isak (Isaac) Schechter. Isak arrived in New York in July 1921. At the time, he was single, and was born in Galicia, but his last residence was in Vienna, Austria, according to his ship manifest. His father was his closest relative still living in Europe, and he resided in Skalat, then in the Tarnopol province of Poland, now in Ukraine. Isak’s ship manifest and naturalization records say he was born in LICZKWICZ. This was probably Ułaszkowce in the Czortków district of Galicia. In Yiddish it was known as Lashkavitz. After World War I, when Isak left, it was in the Tarnopol province, and today is Ulashkivtsi, Ukraine. Skalat and Ulashkivtsi are about 50 miles apart.

It is probable that Lilly and Isak first met in Vienna. The family story says that she left Europe for New York to marry Isak. The couple traveled to Europe at least once before Lilly’s 1939 naturalization. Isaac had naturalized in 1927, after the birth of their first child in 1924, and before the birth of their second in 1929. The family story goes on to report that Lilly was responsible for getting several of her siblings out of Vienna in August 1939 including her sister Clara. Clara married Jakob Korn in Vienna in 1933. Their daughter, Henrietta was born there in 1935. Henrietta and Clara left Europe in August 1939. Jakob was incarcerated in Buchenwald where he died in 1941. The family’s address in Vienna in 1939 was 34 Bauerlegasse. When I’m in Vienna later this week, I’ll be staying just two miles from this address, which is not far from the Danube. I will definitely walk over there.

Lilly’s sister Sara, again according to family information, didn’t want to leave Europe – Henriette told me the story many years ago, and I think she stayed either because her husband was ill or he was already captured. Sara and her husband were both murdered in Auschwitz. I wish I remembered the full story, and had thought to write down or record what Henriette told me.

Henia Shaefer filled out the Page of Testimony in 1956 at Yad Vashem. This is the same Hencia who married Benzion Schaffer, the son of Devora and Josef, Devora was my great-grandmother’s sister. To make things more complex, Benzion’s brother, Shimon, married Sidonie Zwirn, a daughter of Samuel Zwirn and Helene Schneier.

Lilly’s brother Samuel was incarcerated in Dachau, and he and his wife Helene arrived in the U.S. in December 1939. A 1939 file from Europe said Samuel resided in Vienna since 1920.

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Then to now

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Janette Silverman

Last week (actually only a few days ago) I was staring off into the vast Baltic, looking towards Hel, marveling at the fairytale town, the beautiful beach and town of Sopot, and so much more. One thing that strikes me now is that for 3 weeks no matter how crowded the streets I was walking on, I was never distracted by conversations going on around me. In Lithuania and Poland, I passed few people speaking English, I would catch a random word here and there in French, Polish, Hebrew, Ukrainian. Sometimes I walked past people speaking English with an English, Irish, Scottish, South Africa, Australian, or Kiwi accent. None of what they were speaking about ever distracted me.

Today, walking on the boardwalk in Long Beach, New York, looking out at the vast Atlantic, seeing in the distance a line of container ships, and perhaps even a glimpse of the New Jersey coast, I was constantly distracted by voices. No, I wasn’t imagining the voices – they were definitely not internal. Lots of people walk, bike, and run on the boardwalk and this morning was no exception. What I heard wasn’t unusual. Perhaps the same conversations were going on around me in Poland and Lithuania but I didn’t know because I couldn’t understand the languages. What distracted me was the intimate details of peoples’ lives that were being share in voices loud enough to hear not only as I walked past people but for many more steps. Whole soap operas were being revealed, detailed pictures of people’s financial state, their divorces, affairs, medical issues.

I sure do miss these random windows into peoples’ lives, the smell of the salt sea, the sound of the waves, of the runners on the boardwalk, the cry of the gulls, the sight of surfers. The Baltic was nice to visit, but the Atlantic is my home even though I live thousands of miles away in the southwest desert.

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Refresh my memory!

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Janette Silverman

About five years ago, a friend was talking to me about Varian Fry, who my friend considers a personal hero. He asked if I knew of Varian Fry, and when I admitted I did not, he sent me a copy of a book, Surrender on Demand. Once I started reading it, I realized I knew of Varian Fry, but beyond the most general information, didn’t know any details. We speak of the victims of the Holocaust, we speak of the refugees who survived, and only occasionally do some of us (me included) consider all the details of how help was provided, visas acquired, and the networks that developed to get people out of Europe.

I do a significant amount of research for families searching to find out about their relatives who were murdered during the Shoah, and who may also be searching for survivors. If you’ve read my old blog postings, you know I found my own family’s survivors and those murdered through research. Finding my cousin, who I call sister, Ella, was a result of that research.

Over the decades, more and more has been written about the rescuers, the rescued, and the victims. Heroism has come to light. Thanks to the internet, so much is easily accessible. There are so many heroes who spent their lives during and after the war providing help. Chiune Sempo Sugihara, a Japanese career diplomat serving in Kaunas, Lithuania issued thousands of transit visas allowing them to leave Europe. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Hungary issued thousands of protective letters for Jews, Frank Foley working in Berlin for the British Secret Service issued thousands of visas. After the war, Father Patrick Desbois, learning his grandfather’s story embarked on work to uncover and record information about the murders of over 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine. These are of course just a few of the people who stepped up to help and make a difference.

For several years, I served on the Education Committee of the Anti-Defamation League of Arizona. One of the programs involved students writing essays about people who were heroes. I was privileged o be a reader of the essays. Many of those featured in the essays were upstanders during the Shoah. Among them was Varian Fry, who operated in Vichy France, helping people evacuate, and providing others with financial assistance or employment.

Recently, I began a project investigating someone who escaped Europe from Vichy France, by way of Lisbon. As I began thinking about the project, I realized this was exactly the work Varian Fry and his team did. I thought of him because of that long ago conversation and the book. It turns out that Fry’s papers are held at Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. I hope to have an appointment to review his papers in a couple of weeks. Even if I don’t find exactly what I’m looking for, I’ll probably gain more insight into how he worked and accomplished helping thousands of people leave.

While I was searching for his papers, I came across a fairly new (2023) series on Netflix about Fry’s work, called “Transatlantic.” It’s now on my “must see next list” as soon as I return from my next trip!

No matter how much I think I know, there’s still always so much more to learn.

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Time to return home

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Janette Silverman

I have to admit that a 6 AM flight is very early. In the U.S. when I often fly east at that hour, it isn’t awful – I know what to expect from a pre-arranged pick-up to take me to the airport which is 12 minutes away. I know what check-in at the airport will be like, and how to get through the system. It was slightly more stressful leaving Gdansk. I was staying at a hotel, and arranged in advance for a cab at 3:30 AM. Although I was assured that the airport was easy to get through, and the drive there wouldn’t take long, I was still concerned – would I even be awake enough to keep track of my passport, get coffee, etc.

The streets in Gdansk were pretty empty. Maybe I should have gone outside this early on other days. Check out at the hotel was easy, as was the drive. I prided myself on finding my flight on the big board, and locating where I should be to check bags, and went there. It looked like check-in should open at 4 but it didn’t. Concerned, I went to an agent from another airline and asked. She said what I had seen on the board was the gate, not the area for check-in. Ooops. I found the right place, and sky priority had no one on the line but there was an agent. She had me checked in and bags tagged in just a few minutes, and I got through security easily. Then I got lost in the maze of the duty free shops. It doesn’t look like it’s possible to get to the gate area ever without first going through duty free shopping. I had some Polish currency left and used it to purchase some chocolate (of course).

The flight was only about an hour and very smooth. The change from one flight to another was the same as on the inbound trip – a bus from the plane which felt like it was taking almost as long as the plane ride, finally got to the main terminal area. From there through passport control, where I needed to make an extra stop to get my passport stamped, and I was on my way, hiking through the Amsterdam airport, stopping for coffee on the way.

The big window told me that the heavens were overjoyed that I was on my way home!

After the very variable weather (cold, rainy, steaming hot, rainy) in Lithuania and Poland made the weather sign showing no weather changes in SLC!

Picking up bags in Salt Lake City was so smooth – about 20 minutes from landing, through passport control and customs, and then through security again. The ease of global entry is wonderful. Face recognition, acknowledgement, name called, no lines. On to the next flight and on the way home. About 19 hours after I left the hotel in Gdansk on a pleasantly cool morning, I reached the heat and dryness of a typical late summer day in Phoenix. Home to do laundry, unpack and repack for another 6 AM flight on Monday to NY.

Onward to the next adventure!

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Click your heels together three times

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Janette Silverman

Anyone that saw me hobbling around today probably would have thought I was injured. I wasn’t, but the cobblestones and my feet I think were having a serious argument. I wear a lot of barefoot sandals and sneakers. These have proven to be my favorite walking shoes all over the world. Apparently I should not have been wearing them so much on cobblestones. Yesterday’s marathon walk was followed by a rainy walk this morning, and the rain shoes I brought with me have a similar thickness (or lack thereof in the sole). I was trying not to wear any shoes I couldn’t easily dry since I knew I needed to pack. Thankfully, the rain stopped and I was able to change my shoes to something with a thicker sole.

I’m anxious to get home – I’ve been gone for a little over 3 weeks and stuff piles up that needs to be dealt with once I get back. I am sad to be leaving here though. We’ve been based in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania, and Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk, Poland. Except for Gdansk, I’ve visited the other cities several times, and spend enough time just walking around each of them to feel comfortable there. Three days into Gdansk and I’m just getting a feel for how to get around. I need another couple of weeks here!

I spent a couple of hours early this morning during the worst of the downpour working – catching up on emails, getting into some proofreading. By the time the rain had tapered off I was ready to get outside, after all, it’s my last day here.

The Motława river runs through Gdansk and there are many bridges crossing it, For several hours I wandered from one side to the other.

The mixture of centuries-old buildings and new construction is wonderfully integrated. Occasionally in this packed tourist destination I could pick out a word or two from the conversations surrounding me. I’m sure though that whatever I thought I heard, did not mean what I thought it did – I don’t know any of these languages. There are words that sound like other words and the best I can say is that I didn’t try to converse with anyone!

In addition to conversations, there are hawkers trying to bring customers into their restaurants, musicians playing guitars, accordions, trumpets, and more on the streets, canned music playing from restaurants, laughing children, yapping dogs – a cacophony of the sounds of people enjoying themselves.

The alleys here aren’t really alleys – they are thick medieval walls from the old city walls that allow passage into (and out of) the city

So much here that needs, demands, to be investigated. I guess the only thing to do is to return. Someday.

Oh, all these photos while I’ve been on this journey? About 1100 of them. I’ve only shared a few! Some of them will form the outline of presentations I’ll be designing over the next few months for upcoming programs.

Back to the U.S. tomorrow. Heading for home long enough to deal with laundry, unpacking, and repacking, and then off to NY on Monday to take care of family stuff. After seeing the Motława and the Baltic, I decided that before I head back to the desert, I need a bit more ocean sights, sounds, and smells, so I’ll be staying at a hotel on the beach!

Onward to the next adventure.

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