KARFUNKEL FAMILY

My great-grandfather Alexander Karfunkel grew up in Sečovce. He was born in nearby Ungvar (Uzhgorod) in 1875, but his father Adolf (Avraham) Karfunkel lived in Sečovce most of his life, apparently having been born there in 1849. Adolf's father was Ahron Dovid Karfunkel, born in 1820 or so, who seems to have been the town mohel. He and his son Avraham also ran a dry goods store in the town, according to my great-grandfather. Adolf's wife was Hermine née Rosenbaum of Ungvar, born in 1850 (Hermine's grandmother is the center of a family mystery), so maybe Adolf moved to Ungvar for a while after he married her, and Alexander was born there.

Ahron Dovid's gravestone indicates that he died around 1903. It also states that he was the grandson of Moshe, the famous Av Beis Din (head of the Rabbinical court) of Mihailovitz, presumably the nearby town of Michalovce. I have not been able to figure out who Rav Moshe really was, but he must have lived from around 1770 to 1840 or 1850 or so, I assume that Moshe's last name was not Karfunkel or the gravestone would have said that; instead it just indicates that Ahron Dovid was the grandson, probably meaning the son of Moshe's daughter.

Ahron Dovid married two or maybe three times, and the records are not clear; the ones I've seen are contradictory as the children all seem to be born around the same time. My great-great-grandfather Adolf/Avraham was the son of Josephine née Politzer, seemingly from Sečovce too. She was born around 1824. They had three other children, according to census records, Moshe (presumably named for the famous Rabbi), Joseph, and Yitzchak. I don't know anything about them. I'm guessing that Josephine died at some point but I have no record of it.

Ahron Dovid was also married to Rebecca née Grosz, and they had several children, seemingly including Phillip, Isidore, and Joel. Isidore emigrated to the US (New York City), married Sarah Helfgott, and had 7 or 8 children. There are many surviving family members in the US today. Phillip died young. I don't know what happened to Joel.

A third wife was Peppi née Falkenheim, and they had a daughter Pauline, born in 1853 or so. She seems to have lived a very long life. She married David Grosshandler and traveled back and forth to the US. They had several children and multiple surviving families in the US today.

Adolf died around 1935 in Sečovce. His gravestone has toppled so I can't read it. To the left is a photo of Adolf and his family from shortly before his death. It's the only one I have of the family in Sečovce.

The photo shows my great-great-grandparents Adolf (Avraham) and Hermine (née Rosenbaum) Karfunkel – Alexander's parents – at the center of the photo (Hermine on Adolf's right). On Adolf's left is his daughter Josefine, Alexander's sister. In the back row, the couple on the left is Josefine's daughter Erzsike (Elizabeth) and her husband Michael; the couple on the right is Josefine's son Joska (Josef) and his wife Magda (née Sharman). The front row shows Erziske and Michael's daughter Olga, and Joska and Magda's son Imre. The photo was taken in the courtyard of Adolf and Hermine's home. Josefine's husband Moritz Kalman had died many years earlier.

Joska, Magda, and Imre died in the Holocaust. Adolf died about a year after this photo was taken, Josefine in 1938, and Hermine around 1941, all of natural causes. Erzsike, Michael, and Olga survived the war and eventually moved to Michigan.

Alexander magyarized the name from Karfunkel to Kemeny around the turn of the century and moved to Vienna where he became something of a dapper and successful businessman. In 1905 he married my great-grandmother, Helen née Kohn of Vienna. My grandmother Elise was born in 1908, two years after her brother Ernst. Alexander and Helen moved to New York City in 1939. He died in 1964.

Compiled by Judy Petersen Created by JP 4 October 2021 Last updated by JP 26 November 2021 copyright © September 2021 Judy Petersen Email: Judy Petersen Email: Martin Swartz

 

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