# Wolf Lax (b.1750) <!-- AUTO:BEGIN — generated from GEDCOM; do not edit, overwritten on rebuild --> > 🔵 **Bernstein — Ozzy's side** · Relationship to Ozzy: **6x great-grandfather** ![[I512017.jpg|220]] **Born** 1750–1761 **Died** 05/02/1831 — [[Bełżyce]] **Parents** [[Abram (3)]] **Spouse** [[Chaja Laja (d.1831)]] **Children** [[Herszek Lax (b.1779)]] · [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]] · [[Zysla Lax (b.1790)]] · [[Chana Lax (b.1809)]] · [[Trayna Lax]] **📸 Media — from MyHeritage** ![[I512017_1.jpg|180]] ![[I512017_2.jpg|180]] ![[I512017_3.jpg|180]] *GEDCOM I512017 · Bernstein tree · synced 2026-07-01* <!-- AUTO:END --> ## Narrative Wolf Lax — Wolw — was a Jew of [[Bełżyce]], a **synagogue sexton** (*szkolnik*), born somewhere between about 1750 and 1761, the son of Abram.[^parents] He and his wife [[Chaja Laja (d.1831)]] raised a family whose branches reached across the Bełżyce–Opole district: [[Herszek Lax (b.1779)]], [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]], [[Zysla Lax (b.1790)]], [[Chana Lax (b.1809)]] and [[Trayna Lax]].[^children] Through his daughter [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]] — the first wife of the Bełżyce shopkeeper [[Chaim Winer (b.1775)]] — his line runs on toward Ozzy; his son Herszek Lax is very probably the "Hersz Lax" who signs the 1829 Bełżyce Jewish-cemetery contribution list alongside Chaim Winer.[^kin] A rare physical description of him survives. When the Jews of Bełżyce took fixed surnames about 1822, the register that recorded the change described Wolf Lax as a man of seventy-two with a round face, blue eyes, a small nose, long hair and good stature.[^description] A decade later the cholera took him: the death act of 2 May 1831 records that "Wolw Lax," a sexton of seventy, died that morning in Bełżyce **of cholera**, leaving his wife Haja in Bełżyce, his son Herszek there too, and married daughters scattered to Józefów (Trayna) and Opole (Zysla and Hana).[^death] The death was reported by two Bełżyce hucksters — Herszek Rayss, forty-three, and Wolf's own son Herszek Lax, thirty-four.[^death] [^parents]: Son of [[Abram (3)]] (GEDCOM/MyHeritage). Born ~1750–1761 — reconciling the 1822 surname-register age (72 → ~1750) with the 1831 death-act age (70 → ~1761). A **synagogue sexton** (*szkolnik*). [^children]: Married [[Chaja Laja (d.1831)]]; children [[Herszek Lax (b.1779)]], [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]], [[Zysla Lax (b.1790)]], [[Chana Lax (b.1809)]] and [[Trayna Lax]] (GEDCOM/MyHeritage; the 1831 death act names son Herszek and married daughters Trayna (Józefów), Zysla and Hana (Opole)). [^description]: Bełżyce Jewish surname-adoption register, c. 1822 (family MyHeritage biography): physical description of Wolf Lax — round face, blue eyes, small nose, long hair, good stature; age given as 72. [scan](https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/jednostka/-/jednostka/1752434?p_p_id=Jednostka&_Jednostka_delta=1&_Jednostka_cur=8) (not yet read directly). (His grandson Moszek's 1826 death record renders the surname "Bakalarz.") [^death]: Death record, [[Bełżyce]], akt No. 22, 2 May 1831, 4 p.m. (translation on the profile, family MyHeritage biography): "Wolw Lax," sexton, aged 70, died that day at 11 a.m. **of cholera**; left wife Haja (Bełżyce), son Herszek (Bełżyce), daughter Trayna (Józefów), and married daughters Zysla and Hana (Opole). Reported by Herszek Rayss (huckster, 43) and Herszek Lax (huckster, 34, the deceased's son). [scan](https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/jednostka/-/jednostka/1752434?p_p_id=Jednostka&_Jednostka_delta=1&_Jednostka_cur=8) — death-record image on the profile. [^kin]: Direct line to Ozzy via [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]] (first wife of [[Chaim Winer (b.1775)]]) → [[Manas Winer (b.1807)]] → … His son [[Herszek Lax (b.1779)]] is very likely the "Hersz Lax" who co-signs the 1829 Bełżyce cemetery-fence list with Chaim Winer (see that profile). ## Research *(your reasoning — preserved across every rebuild)* - **1831 Bełżyce death record (akta 22) translated on the profile** — "Wolw Lax," sexton, aged 70, d. **of cholera** 2 May 1831; wife Haja, son Herszek, daughters Trayna (Józefów), Zysla & Hana (Opole). Reported by Herszek Rayss + son Herszek Lax. - **1822 surname-adoption register** — physical description (round face, blue eyes, small nose, long hair, good stature; age 72). Birth ~1750–1761 (reconciling the two ages). Surname variant **Bakalarz** (grandson Moszek's 1826 death record). - **Cross-link:** daughter [[Chawa Lax (b.1781)]] = 1st wife of [[Chaim Winer (b.1775)]]; son [[Herszek Lax (b.1779)]] ≈ the "Hersz Lax" on the 1829 Bełżyce cemetery list. - Scans (death akta 22; 1822 surname register) still to **read directly**. ## Evidence ## Open questions - **Read the 1831 death scan and the 1822 surname-register scan directly** and add to Evidence (the physical description is worth a captioned crop). - **Birth year** ~1750 (1822 age 72) vs ~1761 (1831 age 70) — a ~11-year spread; unresolved. - **Surname "Bakalarz"** on grandson Moszek's 1826 death record — reconcile with "Lax."