Popper family forebears

Our earliest known ancestor on the Popper side was Zsigmond Popper (1845-1926). Zsigmond lived in Padrag, Veszprém county, Hungary. Padrag is now part of the city of Ajka, and lies about 30 km north of the Lake Balaton and Tapolca. He was listed as a grocer and an inn keeper in contemporary gazetteers. His wife was Laura Kollin (1851-1928). Zsigmond moved to Tapolca with some of the family members around 1895-1900 and was registered there as a land owner. He died in 1926 in Tapolca. Laura survived him, moved to Budapest with daughters Emma and Ilona where she lived until 1928 and is buried in the Budapest, Kozma u. cemetery.

(My theory is that Zsigmond's ancestors immigrated from Bohemia (the Czech lands) due to the Familianten laws. There are records of a Zsigmond born 1847 in nearby Csabrendek. The Kollin family seems to come from Ajka. This is a relatively rare name in Hungary, and I found most references clustered around the Veszprém region. Subject of other articles.)

Zsigmond and Laura had a large family. Klára used to say that the oldest and youngest children were a generation apart. This is how Vilma, her first cousin was 23 years older. They were: Albert (1875), Gyula, Gizella (1883-1929), Emma (1882-1941), Ilona (1884-1944), Károly (1887-1944), Irén (1889-1944), Márton (1891-1944).

Gizella Popper was married to Albert Krausz who lived in Veszprém. Lali and Vilma were their children. Lali (Louis Krausz) emigrated to New York in the 1930's, where he married Sarah and worked as a jeweler. Vilma Hoffmann (1907-1984) survived the concentration camp in Auschwitz, but lost her first husband, József Kertész, and her son, Árpád (1931-1944). She emigrated to the USA in 1957 with John, her son from her second marriage. John lives in New Haven with his wife Susan.

Emma Popper lived in Budapest, Szondi utca 19. She was married to Gyula Deutsch and had one son, István (Pista). Emma néni died around 1941 due to natural causes. Pista served in the labour battalions during WW II. He disappeared in the spring of 1945 around Szekszárd while he was searching for Laci and Klári.

Ilona Popper also lived in Budapest, and married József Krausz. József died around 1939. Having lost all her relatives, Ilona néni committed suicide rather than subjecting herself to the move into the Pest ghetto in 1944.

Károly Popper and his family lived in Tapolca. He and his wife (Ilona Schlesinger) perished in Auschwitz. Their children were Imre and István.  István (who changed his surname to Polgár) lived in Budapest after WW II, married Éva, and had two sons, István and Tibor. His last address known to me was Budapest, 1118, Regös köz 1.

Irén Popper married Adolf (Dali) Popper in Tapolca, 1912. They were first cousins, and they had no children. Adolf was the son of Mihály Popper and Teréz Singer. Mihály must have been the brother of Zsigmond. For quite a while they lived in the house next door to Márton and Jolán in Kölesd. They both perished in the Holocaust.

Márton Popper (1891-1944) was originally named Móric, but he always used Márton. He started his career at the Postal Savings Bank ("Postatakarékpénztár") where he achieved a distinguished position before retirement. In 1924, he married Jolán Engel, daughter of Frigyes Engel who had an established business in lumber, firewood and building materials, in the village of Kölesd, Tolna county. They settled in Kölesd. He took over the business of his father-in-law, to which he added a Vacuum Oil Co. franchise. Márton and Jolán both perished in Auschwitz. Their children were Laci (1925-2004) and Klári (1930-2000) who emigrated to Canada; the grandchildren from this side are George Popper and myself.

There are two more grandchildren of Zsigmond which we are still trying to identify.

Martin Popper lived in New York, and he was a lawyer. He had visited us in Budapest cca. 1967. He was the son of Albert Popper and the same as Martin Popper (1909-1989) a prominent lawyer who was active in left-wing causes in the years after WW II and who was executive secretary of the National Lawyers Guild. More details here.

George Polgar is a cousin who got in touch with our family in the 1990's from Australia. He is probably a descendant of Gyula Popper.  Gyula was as a witness to Márton's marriage, lived in Kaposvár, and had a registered business there in 1939. Based on correspondence, George had two children and several grandchildren. Last known address was Darling Point, NSW, Australia (2000).