Laura Kollin, my great-grandmother (1851-1928)

Other than knowing that she was my mother's grandmother, no family lore was passed on to me. I suppose my mother never knew her.

However, we are able to see the rich history of her family from archival records. She was born in Ajka, her parents were Márton Kollin and Franciska Lázár. Both the Lázár and the Kollin families lived in Ajka for at least 3 generations. Her maternal grandfather, Leopold Lázár was born in 1791 and was recorded in a 1828 census. Leopold Lázár and Terézia Billitz had 13 (!) children. Laura's paternal grandfather, Fülöp Kollin, was born in Kislőd, also in 1791. I guess these are my great-great-great-grandparents.

Through correspondence with a Hungarian genealogist, I was able to get a large set of family records from the surviving Jewish registries of Ajka. Close to 80% of the people in this set are related to the Lázár or the Kollin families. Sadly, very few branches survived the Holocaust; however, there a few living descendants I am still trying to trace.

The Kollin name probably derives from the Czech city of Kolín. Within Hungary, this is a rare Jewish name. Traces of it our found mostly in Veszprém county and the cities of Ajka, Devecser, Veszprém and Pápa. Alternate spellings are Kolin, Kohlin, even Kholin.

A little geography and history: Ajka, Padrag and Tapolca are in Veszprém megye (county). The city of Ajka has a medieval past, but really started to develop with the start of coal mining in the area in 1836 and the establisment of the Ajka Glass Factory. It has continued to be an industrial centre based mostly around the production of aluminum, and was the scene of the 2010 alumina plant accident. Padrag was a village about 8 km to the south. It was absorbed into Ajka in 1984.