# Laja Frajdla Mendelsberg (b.1849) <!-- AUTO:BEGIN — generated from GEDCOM; do not edit, overwritten on rebuild --> > 🔵 **Bernstein — Ozzy's side** · Relationship to Ozzy: **3x great-grandmother · also 1st cousin 5x removed *(2 ancestral lines)*** ![[I506682.jpg|220]] **Born** ~06/23/1849 — [[Żółkiewka]] **Died** aft 1915 **Parents** [[Josef Mendelsberg (b.1812)]] · [[Prywa Szajman (b.1808)]] **Spouse** [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]] **Children** [[Moszek Michel Balter (b.1866)]] · [[Chaja Brajndla Balter (b.1873)]] · [[Szol Aron Balter (b.1874)]] · [[Chana Marjem Balter (b.1879)]] · [[Berek Balter (b.1882)]] · [[Abraham Balter (b.1883)]] · [[Prywa Balter (b.1886)]] · [[Zysla Balter (b.1894)]] **Siblings** [[Zelik Mendelsberg (b.1835)]] · [[Ela Mendelsberg (b.1837)]] · [[Ayzyk Hersz Mendelsberg (b.1840)]] · [[Izrael Chaim Mendelsberg (b.1841)]] · [[Szloma Lejbusa Mendelsberg (b.1844)]] · [[Abram Mendelsberg (b.1847)]] · [[Szulim Mendelsberg (b.1852)]] · [[Marya Brandla Mendelsberg (b.1855)]] **📸 Media — from MyHeritage** ![[I506682_1.jpg|180]] ![[I506682_2.jpg|180]] ### How you're related — 2 distinct paths *These are genuinely separate bloodlines (the family intermarried), not the same line counted twice.* - **3x great-grandmother** — [[Laja Frajdla Mendelsberg (b.1849)]] → [[Szol Aron Balter (b.1874)]] → [[Gittel Balter (b.1911)]] → [[Sara Hamerman (b.1943)]] → [[Gila Barbanel (b.1977)]] → [[Azriel Yosef Bernstein (b.2000)]] - **1st cousin 5x removed** — [[Laja Frajdla Mendelsberg (b.1849)]] → [[Josef Mendelsberg (b.1812)]] → [[Zelik Mendelsberg (b.1783)]] → [[Brandla Mala Mendelsberg (b.1803)]] → [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]] → [[Szol Aron Balter (b.1874)]] → [[Gittel Balter (b.1911)]] → [[Sara Hamerman (b.1943)]] → [[Gila Barbanel (b.1977)]] → [[Azriel Yosef Bernstein (b.2000)]] *GEDCOM I506682 · Bernstein tree · synced 2026-07-01* <!-- AUTO:END --> ## Narrative Laja Frajdla — named simply **Fraydla** at her birth — was born in **[[Żółkiewka]]**, a small town in the Lublin region, on **23 June 1849**, at six in the morning.[^birth] Her father, [[Josef Mendelsberg (b.1812)]], was a **tradesman** (*handlarz*) of the town, who registered the birth a week later, on 30 June, before two witnesses who were both **Żółkiewka *szkolnicy*** (synagogue functionaries/teachers); her mother was [[Prywa Szajman (b.1808)]].[^birth] She married [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]] and bore a large family — eight children are recorded, among them [[Moszek Michel Balter (b.1866)]], [[Chaja Brajndla Balter (b.1873)]], **[[Szol Aron Balter (b.1874)]]**, [[Chana Marjem Balter (b.1879)]], [[Berek Balter (b.1882)]], [[Abraham Balter (b.1883)]], [[Prywa Balter (b.1886)]] and [[Zysla Balter (b.1894)]]. Through her son Szol Aron — father of [[Gittel Balter (b.1911)]] — the direct line runs down to Ozzy. Her marriage also folded the Balter and Mendelsberg families back together: both she and her husband descend from [[Zelik Mendelsberg (b.1783)]] (she through her father Josef, he through Zelik's daughter [[Brandla Mala Mendelsberg (b.1803)]]), so the couple were cousins and Laja stands in the tree along two paths. The records lose sight of her after 1915; her date and place of death are not established. [^birth]: Birth act no. 32, Żółkiewka civil register, dated **30 June 1849**, read directly from the scan. Father **Józef Mendelsberg**, tradesman (*handlarz*), aged 37, of Żółkiewka, presented a female child born in Żółkiewka on **23 June 1849 at 6 a.m.** of his wife **Prywa**, aged 36; the child was named **Fraydla**. Witnesses: **Eyzyk Berenfelt** (35) and **Moszek Lichtsztajn** (63), both *szkolnicy* (synagogue teachers/functionaries) of Żółkiewka, who signed the act. (Record image "Freda Mendelsberg birth" on this profile; the MyHeritage translation reads the second witness as "Izzak Lichtsztajn.") ## Research - **Birth, 1849, Żółkiewka (birth act no. 32).** Read directly from the scan. **Fraydla Mendelsberg**, female, born **23 June 1849 at 6 a.m.**; father **Józef Mendelsberg**, tradesman (*handlarz*), 37; mother **Prywa**, 36; named Fraydla; witnesses Eyzyk Berenfelt (35) & Moszek Lichtsztajn (63), Żółkiewka *szkolnicy*. Father's age 37 → b. ~1812 (matches [[Josef Mendelsberg (b.1812)]]). (Image I506682_2.) - **Parentage** confirmed by the birth act: daughter of [[Josef Mendelsberg (b.1812)]] & [[Prywa Szajman (b.1808)]] (recorded here as Prywa, 36). - **Name:** the birth act names her only **Fraydla**; the vault head-form "Laja Frajdla" adds a first element not in this record. - **Family:** husband [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]]; eight recorded children incl. [[Szol Aron Balter (b.1874)]] (→ [[Gittel Balter (b.1911)]]). A photo captioned "Srul & Laja Frajda Balter?" (I506682_1) may be the couple (uncertain). ## Evidence - **1849 birth act (Żółkiewka, no. 32)** — Fraydla Mendelsberg, b. 23 June 1849; father Józef Mendelsberg (tradesman), mother Prywa. Her own birth record; fixes her birth date, place, and parents. ![[I506682_2.jpg]] *Birth act no. 32, Żółkiewka civil register, 1849 — Józef Mendelsberg, tradesman, registers the birth of his daughter Fraydla, born 23 June 1849 of his wife Prywa.* ## Open questions - **Death.** "After 1915" only — no death record located; a Żółkiewka/Krasnystaw-area death record would fix it. - **The name "Laja."** Her birth act names her only Fraydla; where the "Laja" prefix comes from (a later record, marriage act, or family usage) is unconfirmed. - **Couple photograph.** I506682_1 ("Srul & Laja Frajda Balter?") is tentatively identified — worth confirming.