Johann and Zofia had three children:

1. Franz, born in 1797.
2. Antoni, born in 1799, died in 1851.
3. Anastazja, born in 1798 (?).

1. Franz

Franz Frischman

Franz was born in 1797 in Zurin, in Bukovina, near Czerniowce. The place where his father worked.

In August 1990, I wrote to the archives in Vienna asking for information about Franz Frischman.

Franz Frischmann.

Here is the reply I received:

Letter from the archives in Vienna concerning Franz Frischman.

In response to your enquiry dated 3 August 1990, the Directorate of the Austrian Court Treasury Archives informs you that, according to Court records Nos. 2512 and 77 of May 1834, your ancestor [Franz Frischman] was born in 1797 in Zurin, Bukovina.

After completing his grammar school education, he began training for a career in public administration. On 23 July 1818, he was employed as a clerical trainee at the district office in Zaleszczyki. On 19 March 1830, he was promoted to the position of subordinate commissioner for taxes on foodstuffs at the Property Inspectorate in Zaleszczyki.

He spoke German, Polish, Ruthenian [Ukrainian?] and Romanian. Reports described him as a very diligent employee whose moral conduct was beyond reproach.

In 1834, he applied for the position of head of the post office in Czerniowce, without success.

In 1840, he was proposed for promotion to the position of deputy inspector, but the higher authorities blocked the appointment. He was alleged to have committed numerous “irregularities” and to have “acted on the criminal suggestions of his wife”, and was therefore considered unsuitable for the post.

The following year, he was removed from his position and legal proceedings were brought against him. As the father of six minor children, he received a state allowance while the matter was being investigated.

The principal accusation was that, in his capacity as a revenue official, he had collected insufficient taxes from distilleries.

His employment was probably terminated during these proceedings. According to the record, he sought reinstatement in May 1842, apparently without success, since the subsequent files contain no further mention of him.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any additional information about him in the remaining records.

Directorate of the Treasury and Court Chamber Archives
[Illegible signature]

This document is as fascinating as it is puzzling.

Who was this man who had spent more than twenty years building a career in the imperial administration, spoke four languages, was regarded as diligent and honest, and was then suddenly dismissed from the service?

And what exactly did it mean that he had “acted on the criminal suggestions of his wife”?

For now, these questions remain unanswered.

His wife was Marcjanna Fuchs.

They married in Zaleszczyki on 23 September 1824.

Marcjanna was born on 22 November 1808.

Her father was Bernard Fuchs, a surgeon, born on 14 March 1780. Her mother, Rozalia, was born on 1 November 1786.

The matter needs a little more explanation.

As I have mentioned, Franz was accused of collecting insufficient taxes from distilleries.

This concerned the right of propination.

Today, the term “right of propination” means little to most people, but in nineteenth-century Galicia it was a matter of considerable importance.

It covered the production and sale of alcohol, and the charges associated with it were a significant source of revenue.

Between 1830 and 1840, there were 4,981 distilleries operating in Galicia, with production exceeding 600,000 hectolitres when measured as pure alcohol.

Franz was therefore responsible for far more than some trivial administrative fee. He oversaw state revenue from an activity of great economic importance.

The accusation that he had collected insufficient taxes from the distilleries was a serious one.

Yet a much more personal question remains:

It seems highly likely that, as a result of these events, Franz and his daughter Leontyna Anna moved to Janów Gródecki.

It was there that Leontyna died in 1852. She was only twenty, and the cause of death was consumption, as was so often the case in those days.

What became of Marcjanna, Franz’s wife, is unknown.

Did she remain in Zaleszczyki? Did she even remain Franz’s wife? I have no answers to these questions.

The date and place of Franz’s death also remain unknown.

It is possible that he died in Janów Gródecki.

2. Antoni

Antoni, Franz’s brother, is not our direct ancestor. Still, I do not wish to leave out his story, for whatever else one may say, it is part of the history of the Frischmans.

All the more so because it involves an almost unbelievable incident, which I describe in Appendix II.

He was born in 1799 and died on 11 November 1851 in Lwów. He was married to Magdalena Scheller, or “Selley” in the Hungarian spelling, the daughter of Józef.

They had two children.

The first was Juliusz de Frischmann, born on 18 August 1818 in Zaleszczyki. Juliusz married Alojza Guznar.

Their children were:

• Juliusz Honoracy Antoni de Frischmann, born on 25 May 1858 in Sibu, Romania;
• Adolf Alexander Karol Frischmann, born on 1 November in Sibu, Romania;
• Maria Alojza de Frischmann, born on 29 December 1866 in Alba Julia, Alba, Romania.

The second child of Antoni and Magdalena was Antonina Emilia Frischmann, born on 30 October 1819 in Zaleszczyki.

Her husband was Maksymilian Nowicki, the son of Józef and Józefa, née Pociechańska. They married on 15 November 1840 in Śniatyn.

Interestingly, both Maksymilian and his father Józef were pharmacists.

This profession keeps appearing throughout the various branches of the Frischmann family.

3. Anastazja

The third child of Johann and Zofia was Anastazja Frischman, born around 1798, who later married Bazyli Lewicki.

She was the mother of twins, Herman Leon and Albert Rudolf, born on 7 April 1838 in Stryj. Albert died on 12 September 1839.