This is an astonishing story! Your great grandfather translated the Talmud into Hungarian! I can’t believe how you found his grave. Another great-grandfather of yours, Ernest Jarvis, also led a congregation. His church, Wellington Church in Glasgow, is an also an imposing neoclassical edifice, strikingly similar architecturally to Rabbi Klein’s !
We were talking about the similarities between Wellington Church and the synagogue when we visited Óbuda! I just looked up the date and Wellington church was constructed a little later, in the 1880s -- just about the time that Klein became chief rabbi in Óbuda. Such interesting parallels.
Fascinating - love how all the parts came together (especially Peter's connections) to make it possible to find the gravestone!
On the translation, I dropped the photo into OpenL.io (https://openl.io/translate/image/hebrew) to get the Hebrew off the picture, then put that into Google Translate. Here's what I got... not sure if this clarifies or muddies things ;)
-- Rabbi Moah. Shalom Yehuda Klein, the late Rinaldi, has been with us for eight years. He was gathered to his people at the age of forty-five on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. He was buried on the fourth day of his new year. --
You untangled even more of the mystery of that mysterious day! And captured both the wonder and confusion we experienced throughout it. The only thing missing is the photo of Peter working on his computer on a bench in the cemetery after all that, because work doesn’t stop, no matter how many family mysteries you solve.
Izsó seems to be Hungarian for Isaac - an identifiably Jewish name. I wonder if he changed his name (which would explain why he’s so hard to find in JewGen search!). But then it would surprising that on the headstone says ‘Kutas’ but not a hypothetical new first name. Curious!
I found him -- born Izidor Klein in 1880, so 5 years older than Andor. He's also listed as Izso and changed his name to Kutas at the same time as Andor (around 1904). Will send you the birth certificate!
Well I was thinking that Klein Izidor might have been "martyred" as a soldier in WW1, but if he was born in 1880 he would have been 34 - 38 WW1 so that is still possible but not as likely as if he had been born a little later.
He was still alive in 1936 when Berta Fuchs died - he is mentioned in the newspaper announcement. So my guess is that he probably died in WW2 but I haven't been able to find any records
So if he was alive in 1936 and the inscription says that he was martyred then you are probably correct, he was most likely killed in 1944 (like Opapa's father) and the inscription was added to the tombstone after 1945.
This is an astonishing story! Your great grandfather translated the Talmud into Hungarian! I can’t believe how you found his grave. Another great-grandfather of yours, Ernest Jarvis, also led a congregation. His church, Wellington Church in Glasgow, is an also an imposing neoclassical edifice, strikingly similar architecturally to Rabbi Klein’s !
We were talking about the similarities between Wellington Church and the synagogue when we visited Óbuda! I just looked up the date and Wellington church was constructed a little later, in the 1880s -- just about the time that Klein became chief rabbi in Óbuda. Such interesting parallels.
Fascinating - love how all the parts came together (especially Peter's connections) to make it possible to find the gravestone!
On the translation, I dropped the photo into OpenL.io (https://openl.io/translate/image/hebrew) to get the Hebrew off the picture, then put that into Google Translate. Here's what I got... not sure if this clarifies or muddies things ;)
-- Rabbi Moah. Shalom Yehuda Klein, the late Rinaldi, has been with us for eight years. He was gathered to his people at the age of forty-five on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. He was buried on the fourth day of his new year. --
You untangled even more of the mystery of that mysterious day! And captured both the wonder and confusion we experienced throughout it. The only thing missing is the photo of Peter working on his computer on a bench in the cemetery after all that, because work doesn’t stop, no matter how many family mysteries you solve.
omg that photo of Peter is so good!
This is fascinating! What a trip that was. And we keep learning new things.
This was so interesting to read. I’m impressed by your skills in investigating your family history.
I unfortunately do not read Hebrew but will find out what the English translation says
Elissa
Thanks Elissa!
I loved this. 🤍
An excellent account of an amazing day in Obuda.
Izsó seems to be Hungarian for Isaac - an identifiably Jewish name. I wonder if he changed his name (which would explain why he’s so hard to find in JewGen search!). But then it would surprising that on the headstone says ‘Kutas’ but not a hypothetical new first name. Curious!
Correction to myself - Izsó is Hungarian for Joshua!
I found him -- born Izidor Klein in 1880, so 5 years older than Andor. He's also listed as Izso and changed his name to Kutas at the same time as Andor (around 1904). Will send you the birth certificate!
Well I was thinking that Klein Izidor might have been "martyred" as a soldier in WW1, but if he was born in 1880 he would have been 34 - 38 WW1 so that is still possible but not as likely as if he had been born a little later.
He was still alive in 1936 when Berta Fuchs died - he is mentioned in the newspaper announcement. So my guess is that he probably died in WW2 but I haven't been able to find any records
So if he was alive in 1936 and the inscription says that he was martyred then you are probably correct, he was most likely killed in 1944 (like Opapa's father) and the inscription was added to the tombstone after 1945.
That's my guess, but so far I can't find any proof