Family genealogy
The Szternis Family
This was the family of my Great-Grandmother Sura-Rebeca, wife of Moshe-Aron Kronental.
I proceeded as I did for all the other members of my families, by searching on JRI-Poland and supplementing by gathering family memories, in this case those of the Sternis and more particularly those of Myriam.
I found no records in the civil registry of Sura-Rebeca, neither birth nor death.
I knew through family ties that she had a brother, Abraham Sternis, whose entire family almost emigrated to France.
In Abraham's papers, we found (I associate with this research my cousin Myriam, Abraham's granddaughter, born in February 1934) the name of Abraham's and Sura-Rebecca Sternis's parents.
Their surname was written SZternis, the Z was dropped in France.
Yitzock-Leyb Szternis (I presume he was born around 1840 and died before 1897) married Chana Pasztein .
Ksiel's marriage certificate, dated 1897, states that he was deceased!
They had 5 recorded children.
Sura-Rebecca Szternis/Kronental is,
in my opinion, withe two last boy : the yougest Moszek/Max and perhaps Salomon, unknown till now, I continue to look for him.
* 2- The second known child was Moszek Szternis, born in 1870. He married Jahwet Bejn (the sister of Abraham's wife?) in 1888. See marriage certificate below.
They had 3 registered children:
- Bayla Szternis, who was born and died in 1889,
- Chana-Ryfka Szternis and
- Gershon-Pajsach Szternis .
We have no information about their descendants.
* 4- The fourth was Ksiel Szternis (1877-?)
He married Ryfka Glowisczower (1872-?) in 1897.
See marriage certificate below.
They had 3 registered children:
- Menasce Szternis (1903-?)
- Avram Szternis (1904-?)
- Salomon Szternis (1908-?)
We know nothing about this branch.
It is highly likely that this will lead to the Warsaw Ghetto and deportation, unless one of them chose the path of emigration.
* 5- I identified the fifth one through family cross-referencing.
When we were little, our family used to spend time with both "big" and "little" Charles.
You don't forget Berliners, without further details of kinship.
While talking with our cousin Madeleine Kronental, she told me she knew them.
We met the wife of "little" Charles.
I asked the National Archives for the naturalization file of Charles Berliner (the "great one") which included the name of his mother Chawa Szternis.
Chawa Szternis (circa 1880- before 1930) married Abraham Berliner (1881-?).
They had 3 children, all 3 of whom would come to Paris:
- Yitsock (1907- deported from France);
- Szlama Bachur known as Charles (1912-1994);
- Sarah (1918- deported from Drancy, after the Vel d'Hiv roundup on July 16, 1942). She was the mother of "little" Charles!
Marriage certificate of
Moszek Szternis:
Moszek was 18 years old and a shopkeeper. His parents' names are mentioned. He lived at number 2209 (Muranowska Street), (with his parents?)
His wife, Jochwet Bejn, was 22 years old; his parents were
Jock Bejn and Gitlya Munszliak. They lived at number 2209/10 (that is, also Muranowska Street).
The civil marriage was celebrated on 24/08/1888; the religious marriage on 20/08 by the rabbi of the 4th district of Warsaw: Beliany.
One of the witnesses was a broker: it is not known if it was in the jewelry trade?
Marriage certificate of
Ksiel Szternis
Ksiel, born on 24/07/1877) got married at 19.
His father had died by then in 1897.
He lived there, perhaps with his mother Chana,
14 Fraznciszkanska Street (n°1810/11).
His wife, Ryfka Glowiczower (born 10/12/1872), a 20-year-old seamstress, daughter of Manas (deceased) and Sura Laufgas (62 years old). She lived at 65 Nowomiejska Street.
The religious marriage was celebrated on 17/02/1897 by Rabbi Rozmarin and the civil one the following day 18/02/1897 in the 2nd district of Warsaw.
'The two witnesses are merchants. Ksiel's profession is not mentioned. To get married, Ksiel obtained permission from his older brother, I assume Moszek and not Abraham.'
There may have been a mistake regarding Ryfka's age; she should have been 25.
Note that the land registry consisted of numbered subdivisions in 1888, but 10 years later, the number and street appeared next to the subdivision number.
Also included were the dates from the Russian (Julian) calendar and the Gregorian calendar.
A big thank you to our cousin Myriam who had these marriage certificates translated and is a living memory of our family relationships.
This photo is the subject of a small controversy with Myriam, my cousin.
She had learned from her mother Rose, the daughter of Abraham, that her father was in the company of her brother Moshe.
Abraham is sitting on the right. The man on the left is clearly not 4 years older than Abraham in the photo.
So I'm going with Yitsock, Abraham's father.
Like my great-grandfather Moshe-Aron Kronental, he wears the Hasidic attire!