Kossman/ Brenson family
(http://www.ninakossman.com/leonidkossman/ ) Leonid Kossman is a
philologist, writer, and teacher whose language textbooks have helped
millions of people. Born in Moscow in 1915, as a child in Riga, Latvia, he spoke German and Russian at home and Latvian in the
neighborhood. After graduating from a German high school he studied
law at the University of Latvia and worked as a drama critic for a
Latvian newspaper, Tsinia.

When the Nazis occupied Riga he escaped into Russia, soon joined the
Soviet army, and was severely wounded. He spent the rest of the war in
Kazakhstan where he slowly regained sight and movement.

After the war he studied English and Western literature at Moscow
State University, graduated, and taught English and German at the
Maurice Thorez Linguistics Institute (which later became the Moscow
State Linguistics University, or MGLU). During this period his two
textbooks for Russians learning German were published.
... wonder if any of the survivors of the Riga ghetto know about the
fate
of my grandmother, Ruth KOSSMAN (nee BRENSON), her brother Robby
(Robert)
BRENSON, her sister Ellen MELZER (nee BRENSON), Ellen's husband Yakov
MELZER, and their six-year old son Alex MELZER. I know they did not
survive,
but I don't know whether they committed suicide (Ellen was a doctor and
had
access to poison), or were killed in one of the Actions.
Ruth, Ellen, and Robert were offspring of doctor Isidor BRENSON
(Issidorus
BRENNSOHN), historian of medicine and author of biographical
dictionaries
"The Doctors of Courland," "The Doctors of Livland," "The Doctors of
Estland
(Estonia)", resources that are well known to many users of JewishGen.
Here is a photo of Ruth, Ellen, Robert, and Theodore BRENSON
(BRENNSOHN):
http://www.ninakossman.com/leonidkossman/brensons.html .
And here is a photo of Issidorus BRENNSOHN, the author of the
dictionaries:
http://www.ninakossman.com/leonidkossman/brenson_herzenberg.html .
I'm also trying to find out if any relatives of the GOTTLIEB family
survived
the war. Eduard GOTTLIEB, Anna GOTTLIEB, and Herta GOTTLIEB were
killed in
1941. Eduard and Anna GOTTLIEB were the parents of Volia (Voldemar)
GOTTLIEB, Herta was their daughter (Volia's sister). Volia (Voldemar)
GOTTLIEB and my aunt Nora GOTTLIEB (nee KOSMAN) moved from Riga to
London
in 1934. Here's a link to three photos; the one on the bottom shows the
GOTTLIEBs and the KOSMANs in the 1930s.
Thank you.
Nina Kossman
From Yad vashem; Ruth Kossman nee Bernson was born in Yelgava, Latvia
in 1885 to Klara. She was a ÓÒÊ'ÈÒËÈ˙. Prior to WWII she lived
in
Riga, Latvia. During the war was in Riga, Latvia. Ruth perished in
1942 in Riga. This information is based on a Page of Testimony
(displayed on left) submitted on 23/10/1972 by her son. Submitter's
Last Name KOSMAN
Submitter's First Name* LEONID