Jossel and Sore Datnowsky
Jossel (Yossef) Meier Datnowsky.
Other spellings: Iosel Meyer, Iosel Meer Datnovsky.
Jossel was the son of Itsko (Itska, Yitzhak) and was born in 1830 in Dotnuva (Datnove), a village in Lithuania, in the Kaunas Gubernia.
Jossel married Sore, and the couple had two sons: Abraham, born in 1849, and Moshe (Moritz), born in 1860.
The couple apparently had at least two more children, who most likely didn't survive as they don't appear on a 1874 list, and no other trace of their existence exists:
- Abram Movsha BULON/DATNOVSKY, son of Yosel, grandson of Itska, and of Sora, born Jan 7, 1859, in Vilijampole*, in the Guberniya of Kaunas. "Family from Dotnuva".
- Khonon DATNOVSKIY, son of Josel Meer, grandson of Itska, and on the mother side, son of Sora, grandson of Itska, born July 25,1863 in Kaunas.
If Abram and Khonon were indeed children of Yosel and Sora, this means that Jossel, originally from the small village of Dotnuva, moved with his wife to Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. (*Vilijampole is a neighborhood of Kaunas). This in turn suggests that Sore might have originally been from Kaunas.
At some point, the family moved to Libau.
The July 15, 1886 issue of the Libausche Zeitung, advertised the offerings of a J. Porudominsky operating out of the "Datnowsky House" in Seestrasse.
Ad advertisement in the July 15, 1886 issue of the Libausche Zeitung, mentioned a "Datnowsky House" in Seestrasse.
J. Porudominsky,
Seestrasse in the Datnowsky House, opposite the old prison,
is recommended for gilding, silvering, and bronze plating of picture frames, chandeliers, lamps, candelabra, military regalia, as well as for the production of all brass work, at the lowest prices.
Based on this ad, it seems that Yossel Datnowsky had commercial space ("Datnowsky House") and that he sublet part of this store to this craftsman. This may have been a store or a factory for related products, possibly furniture. (One relative believed his son Abraham Datnosky was a furniture manufacturer.)
An entry in the 1892 Libau Address book indicates that J.M. Datnowsky lived on 22, Seestrasse (today: Juras Iela).
Although the 1886 advert doesn't include a street number, one can assume that the "Datnowsky House" and the family home were at the same location, the store on the ground floor, and the family's living quarters above.
Seestrasse appears to be on the residential side of Libau, the opposite side of the canal which connects the Baltic Sea with Lake Liepāja and separates the Old city from New Liepāja.
A photo of a cobblestone street in the family album was captioned by my father: "Old district in Libau. (Not the Datnowsky neighborhood). An inscription on the back by my grandmother simply reads "Old Libau (Latvia)".
Old district in Libau. Possibly Seestrasse.
Collection of the author
The sign on the small alley on the left reads "Todes iela" (Todes Gasse, or Toden Gasse); this is a small alley that led to Seestrasse. Unfortunately, the name on the street itself is too hard to decipher, make it impossible to confirm that this is indeed Seestrasse and not the street on the other end of Todes Gasse.
There is a 50% chance then that this was indeed the street where Yossel Datnowsky lived.
The December 9, 1904 issue of Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, lists J.M. Datnowsky as having made a small donation (40 kopeks, approximately $10 in 2024?) to the Jewish National Fund. Because the donation was made during a wedding ("Hochzeit Byckowsky-Sachs"), with more than forty people giving anywhere from 15 kopeks to 3 rubles, it is not sufficient to conclude that Yossel Meyer was a Zionist.
Jossel died on March 1, 1910 (20 Adar Alef 5670) and is buried in Libau.
| Liepaja Jewish Cemetery Burials 1909-1941 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Given Names | Father's Name | Death Date (Gregorian) |
Jewish Date | Jewish Year |
| DATNOWSKY | Jossel Meier | 1 March, 1910 | 20 Adar Alef | 5670 | |
source: www.liepajajews.org/cem/D.htm
Tombstones of Abraham Datnowsky, Sore Datnowsky, Jossel Meier Datnowsky. Libau.
Although it's impossible to read, assuming the fourth tombstone is Bassja's.
Sore
Other spellings: Sora, Sarah.
Sore was born in 1828. If "Abram Movsha BULON/DATNOVSKY, son of Yosel, grandson of Itska, and of Sora, born Jan 7, 1859" was indeed her child, then her surname must have been Bulon. Nothing else is known about her.
She died around 1908 and was buried in Libau.
- Special Thanks:
- Michael Frumkin, for providing information on the origins of the Datnowsky family
- Sources and References:
- Address of Jossel Meyer Datnowsky: www.heimat-der-vorfahren.de
- Liepaja Jewish Cemetery Book 1909-1941: www.liepajajews.org
- 1900 map of Liepaja: www.geo.lu.lv (Territory Planning Concepts and Urban Development in the Renewed Latvia Republic (1990-2015), Silvija OZOLA, 2015.)