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- Photo 1. From Agnieszka Kostuch’s private archive.
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- Photo 2. From Agnieszka Kostuch’s private archive.
Translation of the telegram’s content:
H. FRIEDMANN
Spirits Factory and Colonial Goods Wholesale
Potato Company and Agency Business
———————————
Telegram Address:
Friedmann, Trzemeszno
Trzemeszno, November 30, 1892
To: Mr. P. I. Landfried
in Rauenberg
According to the samples sent to me
[...] please ship:
50/10 Los Americanos [...]:[...] of these cigars.
50/20 Lito
30/10 Congo
30/10 Fortuna
30/10 Velicat
[...] , that's why the orders
are so small; when I no longer have enough,
these orders will be larger.
I only ask for one box of samples of 8-10 pieces for each kind.
How much do Rellezas cost?
I remain
Sincerely Yours,
H. Friedmann
[…]
This is an order for cigars from Rauenberg, a town in Germany (the cigar factory mentioned above still exists there today). The telegram bears a beautiful watermark in the shape of a lion. Its sender could have been Heimann Friedmann or one of his relatives from Trzemeszno.
The earliest mention of Heimann Friedmann that I have found is a note about his marriage to Fritze Citron, which took place on December 31, 1844 in Trzemeszno (photo 3).
Heimann was 23 years old on the day of his marriage, which would indicate that he had a naturalization patent. In 1833, under the special law Vorläufige Verordnung wegen des Judenwesens im Großherzogthum Posen (Tymczasowe Zarządzenie w sprawie Żydów w Wielkim Księstwie Poznańskim), Jews were divided by the Prussian authorities into naturalized, tolerated and to be expelled. The patent for naturalization was granted to those with the highest social status, the wealthiest. The tolerated Jews belonged to a poorer stratum, but were able to support themselves. They could marry only after reaching the age of 24.
Heimann was the son of Lehmann and Süsse Friedmann from Zaniemyśl, who ran a distillery. He must have been a good match, since the head of the Jewish community in Trzemeszno, Leib Lippmann Citron, entrusted him with the hand of his 18-year-old daughter. It is worth mentioning here that the matzeva of Leib Lippmann Citron survived.
In the registers of the Jewish community in Trzemeszno from 1849 Heimann Friedmann is listed as a distiller and at the same time as an office holder (photos 4-5).
Also in later accounting books, from the 1850s, he is mentioned as paying contributions to the Jewish community's coffers (photo 6).
An interesting mention of Friedmann can be found in the diary of Heymann Arzt, a Jew from Trzemeszno. He mentions in it that his brother Albert, after completing his apprenticeship in distilling, on October 1, 1885, found a job with an exporter of alcoholic beverages in Berlin named “Friedmann & Mendelssohn”. He writes: “Mr. Friedmann is our compatriot, and that’s why he got a job so easily.”
I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. Krzysztof Tomala for his help in preparing this article.
Agnieszka Kostuch
Translated by Kasia Smialkowska
Source of title photo for post: pixabay.com
Thanks for this post Hirsch Blei (photo 6 listing) who is the brother of my great-great-grandfather Ephraim Bley (Blei).