Puzzles, Questions, Unproven Traditions

1. Who is Ranne?

On her passenger list, Roszi Binik lists her nearest relative in country of origin as "Samuel Ranne," instead of Samuel    Baum.  Why?

2. Was there an earlier wife?

In the 1869 Vidrany census, we see (on the online version) Eszter and Abraham Baum with three children - Mosko (1858), Mendel (1867) and Salomon (1869).  The full document says that Abraham was born in 1825 and Eszter in 1842.  That makes Eszter about sixteen when Mosko was born - possible, but borderline.

One Baum descendant believes that Eszter was a second wife.  If that is the case, perhaps Mosko was from the first wife.  That would explain the break of nine years between Mosko and Mendel (which could also be explained by children who died) and would fit well with the age difference between Abraham and Eszter.

It also implies that Eszter was a relative of Abraham (or of the first wife), because Mosko was born in Vidrany, yet Abraham took a his second wife from his hometown of Kurima.  (It was not uncommon for the family to "provide" a wife for a young widower with children.)

3. What about his brother?

When Samuel Baum visited the New York in 1901, it says on his passenger list that he was going to "uncle ... Weinberg."  Who is this Weinberg?  Why wasn't Samuel going to his brother Sol, who preceded him to New York by several years?  And who is nineteen year old Regina Propper, who is going to the same Weinberg?

4. Who Was on the Transport?

There are several questions about the Baums who were on the Nazi transport from Medzilaborce in May 1942 and those who appear in the files of the Red Cross International Tracing Service..  See details here.

5. Uncle Willie?

One of the US Baums recalls an uncle named Willie Baum in Pittsburgh.  No one else has mentioned this person.  Pittsburgh is my hometown and I checked my sources who found only one Jewish burial of a William Baum (1882-1944).  We have not found a death notice in any of the papers for the date in question and the tombstone does not have the father's name.  The informant on the death certificate was a neighbor, so it's mostly full of "I don't know"s.