Czernowitz, capital of the Bukowina,
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1800 - 1917
The first mention to date of the Poras family in Czernowitz was that of my great great grandfather Israel Poras, who resided there and was a merchant in the early 1800's. His son , Hermann Poras was born , May 1, 1835, raised and went to gymnasium in Czernowitz. Hermann was then accepted to medical school in Vienna and graduated December 23, 1859. The medical school records show that upon his entrance he was looked after by a Guardian, meaning that his father had died some time before 1853.
Hermann returned to Czernowitz and was appointed as K.K.district II physician. He practiced in Czernowitz and married Henrietta Weiss of L'vov in 1865. Their first child, Rosa was born in 1869. In that year his interest turned to politics. Hermann ran for member of the state parliament, representative from Czernowitz, and served as such from 1870 to 1871.
The family then took up residence in Radauti, where the family grew to include Edward, Richard, Josef and Frederica. In the year 1876, Hermann built a health sanatorium in Solka and ran it during the summers. The girls attended the Lyceum and the boys the K.K. Ober-Gymnasium in Radauti. My grandfather, Josef, graduated there in 1892 and attended the University of Vienna Medical School, receiving his MD degree in June 1898.
Josef married Eleonora Wender of Vienna in 1900 and had two sons, Fredrick(1903) and Hermann (Harry 1901, my father.) They then moved back to Czernowitz in 1904 where my aunt Thea was born in 1906. Josef was able to run the sanatorium in Solka during the summers for Solka was just three hours away. During the winter he had a private E.N.T. practice in Czernowitz and wrote many medical articles and a book on the Sanatorium in Solka. The family lived there till the outbreak of WWI when they moved permanently to Vienna. (Well for Jews permanently was only temporarily!)
Framingham, MA USA
