Lia Margit (Pollak) Gál (1896 - 1943)

Born 27 Jan 1896 in Vienna, Austria

Ancestors

Wife of Hans Robert János (Grünwald) Gál — married 28 Apr 1922 in Wien-Landstraße (Pauluskirche) Lutheran, Vienna, Austria

Descendants

Died 23 Sep 1943 at age 47 in Cape Town, South Africa

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Lia (Pollak) Gál fled to South Africa

Biography

Lia was born in Vienna in 1896. On 15 January 1922 she converted from Judaism to Lutheranism. In 1934 she fled to to South Africa with her husabnd and child following the Austrian Cival War and the artillery bombardment of the Karl Marx Hof in which they lived in Vienna. For the remainder of her life she lived in Cape Town where she owned an interior decoration company located at 141 Longmarket Street in the city centre. (Address found among papers attached to her will and winding up of estate.)

She died of breast cancer in Cape Town in 1943 and her ashes are interred at the crematorium of the Maitland Road Cemetery in Cape Town.

Her Birth Certificate gives her name as 'Julie', but the name she used in official documents and elsewhere throughout adult life was the abbreviation 'Lia'.

Sources

• Israelitische Kultusgemeinde, Wien: 249/1896, Geburtsurkunde, Pollak, Julie, Official Copy issued 1 Sep 2020 (In possession of Hall-27698.)
• "Österreich, Niederösterreich, Wien, Matriken der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde, 1784-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGRC-RWB7 : 23 February 2018), Julie Pollak, 27 Jan 1896; citing p. 249, Birth, Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien (Jewish Community of Vienna) Municipal and Provinical Archives of Vienna, Austria; FHL microfilm 1,783,352.
• Gebuerts- und Tauf-Schien (Birth and Baptism Certificate) Evangel. Kirchengemeinde Augsb. Bekenntu, Wien 15 January 1922. (Original in possession of Hall-27698)
• Trauungs Schein (Marriage Certificate) Evangel. Kirchengemeinde Augsb. Bekenntu, Wien 28 April 1922. (Original in possession of Andrew Hall)
• Matricula Online, Ev. Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Wien-Landstraße, Sebastianplatz 4, 1030 Wien https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien-evang-dioezese-AB/wien-landstrae-pauluskirche/11-Trauung/?pg=96
• Death Notice, Cape Archives Repository, Cape Town, South Africa (Source: MOOC Vol: 6/9/10411 Ref: 88354)
• "South Africa, Cape Province, Probate Records of the Master of the High Court, 1834-1989", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG5S-FRL7 : 4 November 2019), Hans Robert Gal, .
• "South Africa, Cape Province, Civil Deaths, 1895-1972," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QM-ZKB6 : 13 August 2019), Lia Margit Pollak Gal, 23 Sep 1943, Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa; citing National Archives, Pretoria; FHL microfilm 1,645,218.
• Will and Estate Records: , Cape Archives Repository, Cape Town, South Africa (Source: MOOC Vol: 6/9/10411 88354 1943)
• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137638561
• "South Africa, Cape Province, Cemetery Records, 1886-2010", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPHG-C7XM : 5 November 2019), Lia Margit Gal, 1943.
• Immigration documents from Cape Archives Repository, Cape Town, South Africa, Source: PIO Vol: 111 Ref: 8027E. (Certified copies in possession of Andrew Hall). Comprises the following: 1. Letter from Secretary of the Interior to John Quail (Sponsor) confirming permission to immigrate through port of Cape Town, 28 Apr 1934; 2. Letter from Secretary of the Interior to Commissioner for Immigration and Asiatic Affairs confirming that immigration to South Africa is permitted on the Quota for Permits for Hungary for 1934 and That John Quail has given a guarantee of 250 pounds, (Date illegible); 3. Letter John Quail to The Secretary, Immigration Department, Pretoria confirming guarantee of 250 pounds.
• Recollections of Hall-27698 as related to him by Lilian Hall (nee Gál)