Connecting the Farkas Line, Maybe

I recently wrote about how a DNA connection to my cousin John's mother helped us to find the connection--but that the large shared segments on the X chromosome implied that there had to be another connection.  Well, I have a new theory that might trace my Farkas line further back.  But it's still very much a theory.

Ita Farkas, Death Record, 1914

Concentration Camp Death Certificates

Did you know that in the 1950s, death certificates were issued for many (not all, by any means) of those who were killed in concentration camps?  I have found several for my relatives.  And many are searchable.

Death Certificate for Salamon Fuchs; Buchenwald; 1945

When Theories Are Wrong

Sometimes naming patterns can suggest a relationship, and you can theorize how someone is connected into your family.  But sometimes those assumptions are wrong.

More than two years ago, I wrote about Ukraine's Books of Sorrow, in which various districts of Ukraine attempted to list those killed during World War II.  (If you didn't read that post and you have relatives from what is now Ukraine, it's worth checking out the post.)  In that post, I mentioned that there was a Smil-Mozesh Ruttner (born August 14, 1928) from the town of Tyachiv who was listed as having been killed in the war.  Since my great-great grandfather Shmuel Moshe Rutner had died in nearby Kolodne in the previous month, I theorized that this Smil-Mozesh was the child of one of my great grandmother's brothers--possibly one who I hadn't yet discovered.