Example – Identification of Relatives in Inherited Photos

Many descendants of emigrants inherited photos, letters, and documents which they are unable to associate with any particular relative.
We are able to analyze photos by deciphering the writing on the back, the place name of the studio or by determining family resemblances. In this way photos provide us with important information concerning family history.
Postcards as well supply important information via their texts, data about the sender, and the address and/or the postmark.

See the following example.

Ladies No. 1 and 2a are identical; they look alike and are wearing the same fur. The photo of No. 1 was taken in Lichtenfels. Nos. 3, 4, 8, 9 and maybe 2b are the same woman. We already knew that 4 and 8 were pictures of Frieda Isaak née Fleischmann. No. 6 and 7 is her daughter Elise, called Else.
The photo showing lady No. 5 was taken in Aschaffenburg. From mere appearances we assumed that she is a sister of Frieda Isaak and the lady in the picture taken in Lichtenfels. In fact she was later identified as Berta Löwenthal née Fleischmann, wife of Ferdinand Löwenthal of Hösbach, who was a witness at Frieda's wedding.