Yes, and they are bloody good at it!You see I do love the Jews, for I was once a Jew myself.
Now I don't intend to draw any diagrams or provide any medical evidence, or affidavits, but I would like you to know that the beardy one with the fez is my great great grandfather Jacob Rosianski, or as his mates called him, Rabbi Jacob Rosianski. The Rabbi line apparently went back six whole generations. I've been dining out on pickled cabbage and matzo balls from this story for years, and have now found out a little more about the story.
BTW did I ever tell you about the time I played Jacob in my brother's night shirt and a cotton wool beard? No, well it's not much of a story anyway, but was my first leading role as a boy actor.
Oy vey!
The snippet that follows is derived from familial discussions and is not based on any proper ancestral research and so may contain nuts.
My great grandfather Mark Rosianski ‘ran away’ to England as an 18 year old. Not sure whether he jumped or was pushed. He originated from Posen which at the time I believe was Polish. Posen was a border town and had veered between Poland, German and Russia through time.
Mark was Rabbi Jacob Rosianski's only son, but he was not an only child having 3 sisters. It is possible that Mark was thought of as a disappointment, whether this was because he didn't want to follow the Rabbinical line or for other reasons linked to or resulting in his running away remains unclear. However Mark kept in touch with his family and all three sisters eventually came over to England at different times to study at Nottingham University.
Another interesting fact is that Mark's aunts had, unusually for women at the time, been translators at the early UN.
When Mark came to England he changed his surname to Highfield and became a naturalised (like semi skimmed i think) Englishman. His wife, my great grandmother, Daisy was not Jewish, hence the breaking of the line.
So there you go, just a small glimpse at the past I thought I'd share.
All the best from the west.
WHG III
2 comments:
Hello Cousin, your blog has moved me to tears, please get in touch.
Rob.
Great to have more news about great great father Mark: I know the story of the family: he had 4 sisters: Bertha, Rebekka, Else and Hanna (the one standing on the left and mother of the three children sitting in front - the youngest is the father of my husband), and also a brother Josef who died with most of his family during the holocaust.
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