The work on collecting historical facts and reconstructing the genealogical path of the Falken family did not take too long. I obtained information about them from Latvian archives, local history museums and libraries.
Initially, I turned to the origins of the name Falken. I managed to discover that this surname comes from the medieval Germanic name ‘Falcon’ several centuries ago. The name belongs to a number of patronymic Jewish surnames, originated on behalf of the father. After examining the archival data, I established that the first mention of the Falken family dates back to 1855. This was when Boris Falken was born. Thus, the head of the family is Boris Falken who was born in Dinaburg.
The formation of the city of Dinaburg was influenced by three periods of its history: German, Polish and Russian. Hence, the city has had three names: Dinaburg, until 1893, Dvinsk, from 1893 to 1920, and Daugavpils, since 1920. Currently, Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia.
Having studied historical facts and archival documents, I found that the first Jewish community was formed in the city of Daugavpils in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the city had become one of the centres of traditional Jewish scholarship. As a result, at the end of the 19th century, approximately half of the city’s population were Jews. At the same time, most of the inhabitants were employed in the match, tanning and button factories.
Gathering information about this family was extremely difficult due to historical documents about the Daugavpils city dwellers being almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. Nevertheless, I did manage to detect that Boris (Baruch) was born in Dinaburg in 1855. His main activity was sewing, the income from which fully provided the family with all their needs. His wife was Slava (1857 / b.) and she was also a native of Dinaburg. The couple lived in St. Sadovaya, house 20, apt. 2. After some time, they realised that it was unsafe to stay in Dinaburg, especially given the proximity of the gunpowder factory. Therefore, on the eve of the First World War, the entire Falken family was evacuated to Vyatka.
Subsequently, Boris and Slava had five children. The eldest daughter Dvera was born in 1878 when Boris was 23. In adulthood, she worked in a matchbox factory. Five years after the birth of Dvera, daughter Zelda was born. Then, in 1885, they had daughter Hannah, and in 1887 a son, Hersch. The youngest child was daughter Hai-Sora who was born in 1895 when the head of the family was 40.
On the basis of established facts from the biography and archival sources, I can tell you more about the fate of two daughters of Boris and Slava, Hannah and Hai-Sora.
Hannah was born in 1885 and married Abram Weiner. She was a housewife, and her husband made household items. Hannah and Abram had four children. The eldest son Mark was born in 1911. Sadly, he had not been in good health since childhood and was ill quite a lot. In the difficult post-War period, he could not get a higher education and got a job as a labourer. In 1915, our years after the birth of their eldest son, the Falken couple had a second son, Joseph, and then in 1922 another son, Boris. I was able to determine that Boris studied hard at school, after which he worked with his father for a long time and was known as a good master of shoe production.
After the birth of their three sons, Hannah and Abram had a daughter, Rivka-Levin. She was born in 1922 when Hannah was 37. Before the War, Rivka entered the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the Leningrad educational institution. Unfortunately, the War made its own adjustments and she couldn’t complete her studies. Returning to Kirov (formerly Vyatka), Rivka got married, gave birth to a daughter and become a housekeeper. Later, the whole family moved from Kirov to Poland, and later to Israel.
Hannah and her husband refused to leave Russia, staying to live in Kirov to a ripe old age. Abram left this world at the age of 79, and Hannah outlived her husband by nine years, passing away in 1973 at the age of 88.
Now, let’s return to another daughter of Boris and Slava – Hai-Sora. I learned that she was born in 1895 in the same city. As a child, she lost her left eye in an accident. She subsequently married, but having lived with her husband for a short time, she was widowed in 1939 as he died when he was only 44. They had a son in their marriage but he died in 1941 during the Second World War. After the end of the War, Hannah, together with her husband Abram and their children, moved to be with Hai-Sora in Kirov. For about a year, the sisters lived together. Then, Abram got a house and the whole family moved out of Hai-Sora’s. Hai-Sora lived for a long time, surviving the First and Second World Wars and eventually dying at the age of 87.
After 1941, during the occupation of the city of Daugavpils in Latvia, Jews were forcibly resettled in a ghetto, resulting in thousands of lives being lost.
Let’s now return to Hannah and Abram Weiner. I was able to determine the sequence of birth of their four children. The eldest son Mark was born in Daugavpils in 1911 when his father Abram was 26 years old. Subsequently, Mark took Venera as his wife and they had three children. Mark passed away at a ripe old age of 89.
Son Joseph was born in Kirov in December 1915. He was married twice and in fact his wives were twin sisters. His first wife Sonya was born in August 1924 and she was nine years younger than Joseph. They had three children together. In the summer of 1958, Sonya was hit by a car while crossing the road with her one-year-old child in her arms. At the very last moment, she managed to throw the child aside, saving her life. A few days later, Sonya died in hospital at the age of 34. After this tragic accident, her sister Tamara became Joseph’s second wife. They did not have any children together but instead they raised Sonya’s children. Tamara died in the summer of 2007 at the age of 87. Joseph outlasted his second wife by only one year and died at the age of 92.
Boris, the son of Hannah and Abram, was born in 1922. Like the son of Hai-Sora, he died shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War. Unfortunately, Boris had never married again and was unable to continue his genes.
Rimma, Hannah and Abram’s daughter, was born in Kirov on May 30, 1922. In adulthood, she married Salek Levin and they had two children. They both lived to a ripe old age; Rimma died when she was 97 and Salek when he was 79.
It took me one month to research the Falken family. Most of the data I was able to find in the memoirs of relatives and databases on the internet. Based on the results of the research, I created a family tree that includes 47 members. It can be viewed HERE.
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