Ella Abrahmova and Jakub Abraham

This is a picture of my maternal grandparents, Ella Abrahamova, nee Aguilar and Jakub Abraham. The photo was taken in Banovce nad Bebravou 1929, before I was born. My grandfather Jakub was a watchmaker. He was born in Tarnov, then Austria-Hungary, in 1876, came to Slovakia as a businessman and settled in Zabokreky nad Nitrou. He fell in love with my grandmother Ella, they got married and lived in Banovce nad Bebravou on the village's beautiful square. He and my grandmother were both very good-looking people. He was a Nordic type, blonde with blue eyes. My grandmother was of Spanish origin. Her family left Spain when the inquisition expelled the Jews; their Spanish name was Aguilar. She had a typical Spanish appearance, black hair, big dark eyes and pale skin. In a picture of her, taken when she was fifty, she looked like Jose Careras. I think they must have had the same ancestors; in the family there were many singers, even opera singers. Many intellectuals, university professors, in Vienna and other places, were from that family. When my grandmother got married they lived in Banovce. From Banovce they moved to Kezmarok in 1942 to live near their daughter Irenka. They learned that their son was again wanted by the police and the police wanted to arrest them as hostages. So they left for Kezmarok to avoid this. Later my grandmother went to Budapest with Irenka. My grandfather Jakub died during an operation in 1948; the doctors didn't know that he had high blood pressure. He is buried in the Orthodox cemetery in Kosice.