Comments on: Mystery in a Polish graveyard http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html This Blog Sits At the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:43:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jacek http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2985 Jacek Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:02:29 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2985 Hi all, I have visisted this cementary a week ago (August 2009). This grave stone is still there. But it looks worse than 2 years ago. Jacek Hi all,
I have visisted this cementary a week ago (August 2009). This grave stone is still there. But it looks worse than 2 years ago.
Jacek

]]> By: Nicole Whitmire http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2984 Nicole Whitmire Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:58:54 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2984 I'm curious... has anyone attempted to help those (all over the world) who are the post-holocaust generation, by cataloguing these headstones and their details? The generation that survived the Holocaust is aging. They are often taking their horrific stories, as well as the stories of their lineage and lost family members to the grave with them. In Judaism, genealogy is extremely important. It links one to the past, givibg anchor to their future. I should hope the Polish government would pay for this... if not surely someone locally should have a heart and preserve this history... entire family trees that may not be traced any other way, because of the gap in oral tradition created by the nazis. I’m curious… has anyone attempted to help those (all over the world) who are the post-holocaust generation, by cataloguing these headstones and their details?

The generation that survived the Holocaust is aging. They are often taking their horrific stories, as well as the stories of their lineage and lost family members to the grave with them. In Judaism, genealogy is extremely important. It links one to the past, givibg anchor to their future.

I should hope the Polish government would pay for this… if not surely someone locally should have a heart and preserve this history… entire family trees that may not be traced any other way, because of the gap in oral tradition created by the nazis.

]]> By: Martin Litinger http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2983 Martin Litinger Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:39:49 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2983 I am the real Martin Litinger living in Monroe Township, NJ The accurate date is 1932. I designed the tombstone and the inscription at age 11, and I thank each of you for your interest. Marty Litinger I am the real Martin Litinger living in Monroe Township, NJ
The accurate date is 1932. I designed the tombstone and the inscription at age 11, and I thank each of you for your interest.

Marty Litinger

]]> By: adam litinger http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2982 adam litinger Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:06:42 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2982 That is my great-grandfather. I was named after him. Amazing to see a headstone that we had only been told about by our grandfather. That is my great-grandfather. I was named after him. Amazing to see a headstone that we had only been told about by our grandfather.

]]> By: Tara Salman http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2981 Tara Salman Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:31:20 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2981 Thank you for solving the Nat Litinger mystery! I didn't realize I had taken a picture of that tombstone until after I uploaded the photos to my computer back in Montreal. This is also bizarre - I might have been in the cemetery on May 20, when you posted this! Pics will be up shortly on Flickr, or you can email me and I will send them to you. Thank you for solving the Nat Litinger mystery! I didn’t realize I had taken a picture of that tombstone until after I uploaded the photos to my computer back in Montreal. This is also bizarre – I might have been in the cemetery on May 20, when you posted this! Pics will be up shortly on Flickr, or you can email me and I will send them to you.

]]> By: Grant http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2980 Grant Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:21:06 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2980 Mayo, brilliant, mystery solved looks like, thanks! Best, Grant Mayo, brilliant, mystery solved looks like, thanks! Best, Grant

]]> By: Mayo http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2979 Mayo Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:58:29 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2979 I read this post a while back, found it interesting, filed it away in the back of my head, and then kind of forgot about it. Until, last week, I was wondering through the Altstadt ("old town") of Dusseldorf, Germany, and saw this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotx3/535037556/ . The house number on this building is exactly the same as the number on the grave you describe. I think, although I am not sure, that the building is 29, so it would seem Nat Litinger did indeed die in 1932. It looks very deliberate - I don't see how it could really be an accident, and the cost of a house number is such that if a mistake was made, I expect you would simply start again. I can only imagine that it was a specific style of writing the number (be it a 2 or a 9), perhaps in central and eastern Europe, that has since gone out of style. Books were written in gothic type until much more recently than they were in the UK (as far as I know), and German handwriting has also changed. I certainly cannot read most handwritten documents from my grandmother's generation, even though I can see that it is written extremely neatly. So maybe the written style of numbers changed at a similar time? So while there may not be a mystery as to when Mr Litinger died, and the imagined slipup of the stonecutter may simply be imagined, I still find the number fascinating, and it throws up new and different questions. Where was this alternative style used? when, and why, did it change to 'normal' numbers? I read this post a while back, found it interesting, filed it away in the back of my head, and then kind of forgot about it. Until, last week, I was wondering through the Altstadt (“old town”) of Dusseldorf, Germany, and saw this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotx3/535037556/ . The house number on this building is exactly the same as the number on the grave you describe.
I think, although I am not sure, that the building is 29, so it would seem Nat Litinger did indeed die in 1932. It looks very deliberate – I don’t see how it could really be an accident, and the cost of a house number is such that if a mistake was made, I expect you would simply start again. I can only imagine that it was a specific style of writing the number (be it a 2 or a 9), perhaps in central and eastern Europe, that has since gone out of style. Books were written in gothic type until much more recently than they were in the UK (as far as I know), and German handwriting has also changed. I certainly cannot read most handwritten documents from my grandmother’s generation, even though I can see that it is written extremely neatly. So maybe the written style of numbers changed at a similar time?
So while there may not be a mystery as to when Mr Litinger died, and the imagined slipup of the stonecutter may simply be imagined, I still find the number fascinating, and it throws up new and different questions. Where was this alternative style used? when, and why, did it change to ‘normal’ numbers?

]]> By: Mayo http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2978 Mayo Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:57:43 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2978 I read this post a while back, found it interesting, filed it away in the back of my head, and then kind of forgot about it. Until, last week, I was wondering through the Altstadt ("old town") of Dusseldorf, Germany, and saw this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotx3/535037556/ . The house number on this building is exactly the same as the number on the grave you describe. I think, although I am not sure, that the building is number 29, so it would seem Nat Litinger did indeed die in 1932. It looks very deliberate - I don't see how it could really be an accident, and the cost of a house number is such that if a mistake was made, I expect you would simply start again. I can only imagine that it was a specific style of writing the number (be it a 2 or a 9), perhaps in central and eastern Europe, that has since gone out of style. Books were written in gothic type until much more recently than they were in the UK (as far as I know), and German handwriting has also changed. I certainly cannot read most handwritten documents from my grandmother's generation, even though I can see that it is written extremely neatly. So maybe the written style of numbers changed at a similar time? So while there may not be a mystery as to when Mr Litinger died, and the imagined slipup of the stonecutter may simply be imagined, I still find the number fascinating, and it throws up new and different questions. Where was this alternative style used (Germany, Poland)? When, and why, did it change to 'normal'/'modern' numbers? I read this post a while back, found it interesting, filed it away in the back of my head, and then kind of forgot about it. Until, last week, I was wondering through the Altstadt (“old town”) of Dusseldorf, Germany, and saw this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotx3/535037556/ . The house number on this building is exactly the same as the number on the grave you describe.
I think, although I am not sure, that the building is number 29, so it would seem Nat Litinger did indeed die in 1932. It looks very deliberate – I don’t see how it could really be an accident, and the cost of a house number is such that if a mistake was made, I expect you would simply start again. I can only imagine that it was a specific style of writing the number (be it a 2 or a 9), perhaps in central and eastern Europe, that has since gone out of style. Books were written in gothic type until much more recently than they were in the UK (as far as I know), and German handwriting has also changed. I certainly cannot read most handwritten documents from my grandmother’s generation, even though I can see that it is written extremely neatly. So maybe the written style of numbers changed at a similar time?
So while there may not be a mystery as to when Mr Litinger died, and the imagined slipup of the stonecutter may simply be imagined, I still find the number fascinating, and it throws up new and different questions. Where was this alternative style used (Germany, Poland)? When, and why, did it change to ‘normal’/'modern’ numbers?

]]> By: Jeff http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2977 Jeff Wed, 23 May 2007 20:50:24 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2977 "Notice that its barrel (right term?) is much smaller than that of the unambiguous 9 in the series." The typographic term is a "counter." “Notice that its barrel (right term?) is much smaller than that of the unambiguous 9 in the series.”
The typographic term is a “counter.”

]]> By: Patricia http://cultureby.com/2007/05/mystery_in_a_po.html/comment-page-1#comment-2976 Patricia Wed, 23 May 2007 18:11:20 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=475#comment-2976 My dad was 100% Russian and my mom 100% Polish. No better way to see the fine line differences in cultural perspective than that…let me tell you! As for your take on the "take what comes" Polish perception - well, any culture that's been wiped off the map as many times as Poland, only to reappear (over the course of a thousand years) can only be assumed to know something about the value of persistence and "taking things as they come." Just my 50% opinion :) My dad was 100% Russian and my mom 100% Polish. No better way to see the fine line differences in cultural perspective than that…let me tell you! As for your take on the “take what comes” Polish perception – well, any culture that’s been wiped off the map as many times as Poland, only to reappear (over the course of a thousand years) can only be assumed to know something about the value of persistence and “taking things as they come.” Just my 50% opinion :)

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