Photograph

The photograph was taken on a paved street in front of a wooden fence, behind which a tree and bushes can be seen, and further on two storeys of a tenement house. The woman is sitting in a white blouse, the man - dressed in a suit, with a cylinder and umbrella - is standing. Halina née Baruch decided that this could be a photograph of people from her husband's side. We know almost nothing about Józef Mamelok's family. What Halina from the Baruchs wrote on the reverses of some of the photographs, when compiling notes on the photographs for this part of the collection, was used to search for possibly available archival sources and attempt to reconstruct the branches of the family. On the reverse of this photograph, we read that it shows probably Ewelina and Gustaw Paproccy. Even if they are not the Paprocki's, the mere mention of Ewelina's name and surname by Halina Mamelok (Kamińska) points us in the right direction. For it certainly concerns Ewelina, née Mamelok, elder sister of Józef Mamelok, born in Praszka in 1865. (see note to photo MPOLIN-A25.1.44). Ewelina Paprocka's gravestone has survived, with Mamelok listed as the family name on it (see her gravestone: https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/id_31649/size_normal/photo.jpg, accessed 19.07.2021). Ewelina's spouse was undoubtedly Gustaw Paprocki (1844-1909), a son of Abraham Paprocki (1813-1852), pedagogue and prose writer, and Julia née Eisenbaum (1817-1886, see her gravestone: https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/id_107298/info/, accessed 3.09.2021), founder of the Warsaw private school for girls in the 1850s. Warsaw private school for girls (the first for Jewish girls), which from the beginning of the 20th century functioned as the Cecylia Goldman-Landau Gymnasium and Lyceum (see https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/w/18-warszawa/102-oswiata-i-kultura/138812-gimnazjum-i-liceum-cecylii-goldman-landauowej-w-warszawie; see also notes on the POLIN Museum collection of Felicja Blumental memorabilia). The marriage certificate of his parents has survived in the State Archive in Warsaw - they were married in Warsaw in 1836 (see Akta stanu cywilnego wyznań nierześcijańskich w Warszawie [Civil records of non-Christian denominations in Warsaw], ref. no. 21, act no. 40, https://metryki.genealodzy.pl/metryka.php?ar=1&zs=0180d&sy=1837c&kt=2&plik=039-042.jpg#zoom=1&x=614&y=2296, accessed 3.09.2021). | Any doubts that in the case of Ewelina Paprocka there was no coincidence of surnames and that she descended from the Mamelocks of Praszka, as well as that her husband was Gustaw Paprocki, son of Abraham and Julia - are dispelled by an advertisement from one of the archival issues of the Warsaw-based 'Nowa Gazeta' (the periodical was published by the Assimilationist Party from 1906 to 1918). In No. 320 of 17.07.1909, under the heading Sacrifices, i.e. information about charitable donations, it is mentioned that in connection with the anniversary of the death of Bronislawa Paprocka (1845-1908), Gustav's sister, donations were made to the scholarship named after her by the Paproccy, Landau, Mamelok and Goldman families, among others: In memory of Bronislawa Paprocka. Cecylia and Józef Landau, Helena Okrętowa and Julia and Adolf Peretz each rub[el] 10, Ewelina and Gustaw Paproccy and Róża and Norbert Gross each rub. 5, Marya and Mieczysław Wolpert and Bolesław and Franciszka Mamelok each rub. 3. | Ordering flowers for the grave of the former Mrs Bronislawa Paprocka, Antoni and Stanislawa Goldman rub. 10. The Franciszka Mamelok mentioned here was obviously Josef's sister, born in 1875. (see photo notes MPOLIN-A25.1.44, 47, 48; we do not know the date of her death), and Bolesław Mamelok is the father of Józef and Franciszka (which is why they were not referred to as: the Mameloks - to indicate that they were not married). By the way, the family name of Bolesław's (Baruch's) Mamelok's mother is recorded in the records (see the note to the photo MPOLIN-A25.1.44) as Lindau or Lind. Is this another version of the Landa surname? | PK