Vienna — family center before the Anschluss

Vienna became the central family city for both the Kessler and Barber branches. David Leib Kessler moved to Vienna as a teenager and became involved in knitwear and textile manufacturing. Pauline Barber came to Vienna through her sister Mina and brother-in-law Adolph Nussenblatt. David and Pauline married in Vienna on 5 July 1919, with Josef Wistreich and Yakov Safran as witnesses. Their daughter Edith Kessler was born in Vienna on 13 April 1920. The family lived first in the 16th Ottakring District and later in the 6th District. Vienna was also home to many related families: Wegner, Safran, Weintraub, Nussenblatt, Sachs, Schatten, Tarler and Kornblau. After the Anschluss in March 1938 and Kristallnacht in November 1938, Jewish families were expelled from homes, dismissed from work and forced into desperate efforts to emigrate.

Vienna, Austria