19 May 1916, Friday

Vienna. Funeral of Jonasz Kuhmärker, Bruno Schulz’s uncle.

Jonasz Kuhmärker was buried in the Israeli part of the Vienna Central Cemetery at noon1. The ceremony was attended by his daughters: Lotte Kiesler and Albine Polturak, sons-in-law: Adolf Kiesler and lawyer Dr. Emil Polturak, sister Klara Weissberg with her husband Adolf Weissberg, brothers-in-law: Max Hoch and Julian Sussmann, sister-in-law Laura Sussmann, Dr. Arnold Ehpreis, Henryka Ehrenpreis, grandsons: student of the Imperial-Royal Officer School, future lawyer Marian Polturak, student of the Imperial-Royal Officer School, aspirant Felix Polturak, two-year-old Ina Polturak2, and great-grandson Viktor Ehrenpreis. Bruno Schulz, who was in Drogobych, could not attend the funeral3, but if he already knew about his uncle’s death, he mourned twice. There are many indications that after the recent departure of his father, he lost a relative on whom he could count during his stay in Vienna4. (js) (transl. ms)

  • 1
    Information based on the obituary of Jonasz Kuhmärker (Neue Freie Presse, 19 May 1916, no. 18585, p. 16).
  • 2
    Bruno Schulz portrayed Ina Polturak many times during her family visits to Vienna in 1923. Information obtained from her daughter, Schulz’s relative, Dr. Ina Söllner (née Polturak)*.
  • 3
    It is possible, however, that the Schulz family was represented at the funeral by his older brother Izydor, who had already returned from the front line in Kosmacz.
  • 4
    Jonasz Kuhmärker, Bruno Schulz’s mother’s cousin, stayed in Vienna, as almost the whole family, since the beginning of the war. Schulz probably often visited his uncle and cousins who lived nearby. He still kept in touch with his family in 1923. It is also possible that his mother’s cousin helped him financially in 1914–1915.