Photos of Constantinople
Photos from the family archive taken in Constantinople.
Balkan War and World War One
Wounded Turks in the Balkan War, 1913
My grandmother, Ronya Datnowsky, was a volunteer nurse during the Balkan War in Constantinople.
Mrs. Abramowitz and two other war nurses, 1913 or 1915
Either Balkan War, 1913, or World War One, 1915.
Dr. Feinstein, of the Red Cross, September 1914.
The calendar on his desk helps date this photo to Wednesday, September 23, 1914. The Ottoman Empire would enter the war a little over a month later, on 29 October 1914.
Dr. Feinstein, of the Red Cross.
Wearing the Red Cross uniform, carrying a sword.
Dr. Feinstein, of the Red Cross.
Wearing a Red Cross uniform, holding a sword.
B'nai B'rith, Constantinople
"Ouvroir des Dames du B'nai B'rith" - B'nai B'rith Ladies' Embroidery Club, Constantinople, 1916.
Comite des Dames du Bnei Brit (Ronya, standing, second from the left), 1917.
Bnei Brit Ball (Gedeon/Gisy Abraham with black shorts and white collar), ca 1920
Members of the Jewish Community in Constantinople
Rabbi Dr. David Markus (Marcus), date unknown.
Dr. David Markus was an active member of the Zionist community in Constantinople.
Administrator of the Goldschmidt German-Jewish school in Pera at the time of Herzl's visit in 1901.
Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazi community of Constantinople.
Social Circle
Dr. Baruch Kahane, 1917
To my dear Mr. Moritz Abraham and Mrs. Ronya, in memory of my military service during the Great War. Loschitz, May 1917.
Territorial Army. Rabbi Dr. Baruch Kahane. Imperial and Royal Army (kaiserlich und königliche Armee, or K & K), Regional Command #19, Loschitz (Moravia).
My father added the following information: "Professor at the Rabbinical Seminary of Berlin. Friend of the Auerbach family; [his home is] where we went to celebrate the Passover Seder, where we [Uriel and his brother Gisi] would fall asleep, because it was very long. The meal was prepared by Frau Hase, his non-Jewish landlady who was completely familiar with all the Jewish customs and the complete ritual."
Friends of the Abraham and Datnowsky family in Constantinople
Olga Mizrahi, Ronya Abraham, Dr. Feinstein, Fuchs, Teora (?), 1916.
This appears to be a picnic with friends on the beach. Aside from the people identified on the photo caption, the man in the back with the spectables and mustache seems to be Moritz Abramovitz. See photos of Dr. Feinstein with his uniform above.
Perlmutter, Magnlnik (sp?), Fanny Rubin, Mrs. Abramowitz, Dr. Biram, Ronya Abraham, M. Abramowitz, Moritz Abraham, etc.
This appears to be another picnic with friends, this time in a field. Aside from some familiar faces and names (Perlmutter, Rubin, Abramowitz) are a couple of fez-wearing gentlemen and an unknown man dressed in the English fashion in the back with a cap. Undated, assuming it's around the same time as the beach photo, ca 1916.
Beach party with friends. Constantinople, 1916.
The woman throwing the ball may be Ronya. A man with a sailor cap is playing a Turkish mandolin.
Groups
Ronya Abraham with Vladimir Jabotinksy's mother and Dr. Katznelson. Cospoli.
The only inscription next to the photo is "Ronya A. with Vladimir Jabotinksy's mother and Dr. Katznelson. Cospoli."
Ze'ev Jabotinsky's mother is holding Ronya's arm, suggesting some familiarity, I assume from Moritz and Haim's work within various Constantinople Zionist groups. Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the Revisionist Zionist leader, was in Constantinople between 1908 and 1914 on the behalf of the Zionist Organisation (ZO), so I assume this photo was taken during that time, most likely closer to 1914.
I assume "Dr. Katznelson" is not Berl Katznelson, but another the Zionist figure, possibly the person with the beard on the far right, based on the similarity with this photo
I also assume that the other people on the boat are not random passengers, but belong to a group of Zionist leaders. In particular, the man with the white goatee and spectacles (fourth from the left) bears a rather striking ressemblance with Ahad A'ham, founder of "cultural Zionism".
Since Moritz does not appear on the photo, I assume he was the photographer.