His relationship to Samuel, Rosalie, Gertrud and Herbert is given by Kaethe Danziger (geb. Halberstaedter)’s "Borinski" notes; further information on his marriage to Gertrud and Herbert's birth is provided by JRI-Poland.

The JRI-Poland record of his marriage confirms his parents, links him with Lublinitz and Koenigshuette, and says that on 01/01/1939 he took the name Israel. It also says that he was aged 25 years when he married in 1895 so he was born 1869-70; unless he was a twin of his sister Eveline, born 23/07/1869, he must have been born in 1870.

Gertrud's death certificate, of which Max was the informant, gives his residence as Berlin in 1910. The 1939 census of Berlin lists Max (born 25/07/1870 in Lublinitz) and his son Herbert at Charlottenburg, Mommsenstrasse 70.

Yad Vashem records the deportation of a Max Borinski, born 25/07/1870 in Lublinitz, from Berlin to Theresienstadt concentration camp on 13/08/1942, his subsequent transportation to Treblinka extermination camp on 26/09/1942 and his death in Minsk.

Although his son Herbert's birth certificate places him in Breslau in 1896, the 1915 Breslau address book does not mention him.

Which Max Borinski?

Owner of A. Borinski kolonialwaren and leather merchant in Sohrau
The 1892, 1902 and 1914 Upper Silesia business directories list a Max Borinski as owner of A. Borinski kolonialwaren and leather merchant in Sohrau. It is very likely that this firm had been owned by Max's great grandfather Adolf (Josef) Borinski, since a Josef Borinski is mentioned in Geshichte der Stadt Sohrau in O-S as a Sohrau merchant trading in spice and cloth in 1840, and that the business passed to his son Adolf (Jacob) Borinski, especially as three of Adolf (Jacob) Borinski's sons, Louis, Samuel and Wilhelm went on to own kolonialwaren businesses in their own rights in Kattowitz, Koenigshuette and Zabrze. He is most likely to be Adolf (Jacob) Borinski's youngest surviving son, and this Max Borinski's uncle who lived from 1850 to 1914.

Haberdashery merchant in Kattowitz
In the 1894 Kattowitz address book the only Borinskis were Louis and a retired Marie, both on Grundmannstrasse. The 1902 and 1914 Upper Silesia business directories and the 1910 and 1914 Kattowitz address books chart the appearance and establishment of a Max Borinski, businessman, living at Johannesstrasse 8, owner of Josef Wohl's haberdashery at Johannesstrasse 4 and, by 1914, a gentleman's outfitter at Johannesstrasse 2; all three addresses share the same telephone number (1479). The business later passed to a Martha Borisnki, described as a businessman's wife. There is a record of a Max Borinski's engagement to Martha Haendler with Kattowitz connections in 1899. This Max Borinski is a strong contender (and the only one I have found in Kattowitz at that time) to be the father of Ilse and Ernst Borinski, but the timing of his engagement to Martha Haendler in 1899 and the fact that Max had been married to Gertrud from 1895 until her death in 1910 appears to preclude the same Max being married to both. Indeed, Gertrud's death was reported by Max who described her as his wife, and says that she died at his home in Berlin, which appears to preclude him being the store owner in Kattowitz.

He cannot be any of these namesakes

Leather merchant in Beuthen
The 1880 Beuthen address book does not list any Borinskis. However, the 1914 Upper Silesia business directory lists a Max Borinski as a leather merchant in Beuthen. The 1927 Beuthen address book lists only one Max Borisnki: a businessman at Hohenzollernstrasse 2 who appears under the heading of "Leather and leather goods" (part V, page 16).

The 1937 Beuthen address book lists two people named Max Borinski: a retired person at Virshowstrasse 1 whose address identifies him as Ernst Borinski's father (see above), and a businessman at Hohenzollernstrasse 3. The latter is presumably the leather trader listed at Hohenzollernstrasse 2 in previous years although neither Borinski nor the Hohenzollernstrasse address is listed under "Leather and leather goods" in the 1937 directory, suggesting that he may have retired by then. A notice in the Juedisches Gemeindeblatt fuer Oberschlesien announced the 70th birthday, on 01/10/1937, of Max Borinski, Hohenzollernstr 3. He was therefore born on 01/10/1867, which precludes him from being this Max Borinski who was born 1869-70. This is presumably the Max Borinski born 03/10/1867 who married Rosa Schott in Beuthen on 17/02/1897.



The 1936 and 1937 Kattowitz region telephone directories list Max Borinski at Beuthen, Virshowstrasse 1 (Ernst's father) but do not have an entry for another Max Borinski in Beuthen or for Hohenzollernstrasse 2 or 3. This may be further evidence that the leather business in Hohenzollernstrasse was no longer active.

Emigrant from Ratibor
Articles in Juedisches Gemeindeblatt fuer Oberschlesien mention the emigration to Palestine of Isidor Pinczower and Mr and Mrs Max Boriski of Ratibor in 1938; and, later the same year, the closure of Max Pinczower's leather goods business in Ratibor. Given his flight to safety in 1938, he cannot be this Max, who was still in Germany and subject to Nazi persecution in 1942.

Deportee from Beuthen
JewishGen provides a list of deportees from Beuthen which (on 27/05/2013) includes one Max Berinski. Enquiries of the town co-ordinator provided confirmation that the entry has been mis-transcribed: "I checked the census and the name is Borinski, born 28/06/1874 in Zabrze, resident at Humboldtstrasse 4". Zabrze's town museum's website identifies Max born in Zabrze on 28/06/1874 as a son of Elias Borinski and Rosalia geb. Faerber; however JRI-Poland records the birth of Max to these parents in Beuthen on 15/06/1874.

Leather trade
It is interesting that so many Borinskis were involved in the leather trade: as well as those mentioned on this page there is strong circumstantial evidence that Leo (Max's brother) took over Emil Pinner's shoe factory in 1902-1903 after several years as a leather trader in Berlin (see Rudolf Hugo Moos: Journey of Hope and Despair and the Berlin address books).