The Danenberg Family

Mārtiņš Vilhelms Sirlaks 1883–1942

Peter's great-grandfather.

Also recorded as Martin Wilhelm Sirlak (1883, 1911, 1912); Mārtiņš-Vilhelms (1943 death notice); Martins V Sirlaks (1951).

Mārtiņš Vilhelms Sirlaks was born on 11 Nov 1883 in Vīstuči farm, Jaunrauna, Rauna, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia1,2,3,4, the son of Pēteris Sirlaks and Marija Gibboja2,18,19,20. He married Emma Smukule on 5 May 1911 in St Martin's church, Rīga, Rīga, Vidzeme, Latvia19. He died on 30 Dec 1942 in Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia12,13,14 and was buried at Lejas kapi (Lower Cemetery), Cēsis, Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia13,15.

Family

Parents
Pēteris Sirlaks 1847–1896 and Marija Gibboja 1853–1925 documented
Wife
Emma Smukule 1886–1970 · married on 5 May 1911 in St Martin's church, Rīga, Rīga, Vidzeme, Latvia
Children

Life events

EventDatePlace and details
Born11 Nov 1883Vīstuči farm, Jaunrauna, Rauna, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia
Old Style (Julian) date: 30 Oct 18831,2,3,4
WorkFeb 1912Rīga, Vidzeme, Latvia
Described as a trader/merchant (торговецъ) at his daughter Elvīra's baptism; married to Emma née Smukul by Dec 1911.7
Lived1914Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia6
Work1924Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia
Food-goods merchant (pārtikas preču tirgotājs) at the memoir's own address, l. Katrīnas iela 13. The same Cēsis list (p. 436) has 'Smukuls, E., pārtikas tirgot., Palasta ielā 12', a Smukulis food shop (Emma's family?); the branch list on p. 438 has both again, under 'Kolonialpreču tirgotavas'…8
Work1927Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia
A Cēsis merchant (tirgotājs) named Sirlaks kept a food shop ('Sirlaka … pārtikas bode'). In April 1927 a 'Smukulis' kept a food shop next to it. The memoir says Mārtiņš kept a tavern/shop and the family ran a tea house; Emma was born Smukule. NOT verified to be Mārtiņš: first name not given.9
Died30 Dec 1942Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia12,13,14
Buried3 Jan 1943Lejas kapi (Lower Cemetery), Cēsis, Cēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia13,15
OriginLatvia
According to the family's 2015 tree5
WorkCēsis, Cēsis district, Vidzeme, Latvia
"Cēsu Mārtiņš, kā mēs viņu saucām, bija cienīga izskata, korpulents, ļoti omulīgs kungs." Grocer in Cēsis.10
Worktavern keeper (Rīga)11
NoteImplies Pēteris’s other children (Mārtiņš among them) were co-heirs of Vīstuči and were paid out by Dāvis with a Land Bank (Zemes banka) loan, probably 1920s–1930s.16
Noteparents: Biruta Zeltīte Sirlaka's Social Security application (Feb 1951) names her parents as "Martins V Sirlaks" and "Emma Smukulis". This is the first record evidence for Mārtiņš and for Emma's maiden name (here in the masculine/US form Smukulis, rather than Latvian feminine Smukule). Mārtiņš also has a…17

Photographs

Marija Sirlaka with her sons Kārlis, Mārtiņš, Dāvis and Augusts and Mārtiņš's wife Emma, c. 1911–1913
Marija Sirlaka with her sons Kārlis, Mārtiņš, Dāvis and Augusts and Mārtiņš's wife Emma, c. 1911–1913. Seated, right (white suit): 'son Mārtiņš with his wife Emma'. Family photograph, Peter Danenberg's collection.
The same portrait in the family album, with its handwritten Latvian caption
The same portrait in the family album, with its handwritten Latvian caption. “Mana tēva māte Marija Sirlaks, pa kr. viņas vecākais dēls Kārlis, pa labi dēls Mārtiņš ar sievu Emmu, stāv no kr. dēls Augusts un dēls Dāvis. Trūkst meitas Anna un Erna.” (My father's mother, Marija Sirlaks; on the left her eldest son Kārlis; on the right son Mārtiņš with his wife Emma; standing, from the left, son Augusts and son Dāvis. Missing are the daughters Anna and Erna.). Family photograph, Peter Danenberg's collection.

Open questions

Sources

  1. Ainas Sirlakas atmiņas ("Vīstuči"), Aina Jurciņa née Sirlaka, Priekuļi, 1998, p. 7, section "PĒTERA MĀRČA DĒLA ĢIMENE".
    Mārtiņš Vilhelms 1883.30.X … Visi dzimuši “Vīstučos”.
    Translation: Mārtiņš Vilhelms, 30 October 1883 … All born at "Vīstuči".

    parents: Pēteris Sirlaks and Marija Gibboy (4th child). = 11 November 1883 Gregorian. Second given name Vilhelms (also a pen note on p. 38). As printed in the memoir; a 19th-century church-book date, so almost certainly Julian (Old Style).

  2. Rauna Latvian congregation births and baptisms 1877–1891, 1883 no. 324, LVVA f. 235, apr. 7, l. 517, image 239 (right page), LVVA f. 235, apr. 7, l. 517, image 239.
    October, dreißigsten, nachmittags 5 Uhr | sechs u. zwanzigsten | 324. Neuhof, Lj. Wihstuz. Martin Wilhelm Sirlak. Elt. Wth Peter Sirlak u. d. Marie geb. Gibboy, beide lutherisch. Pth. Wth Dahw Bitte, Wth Kahrl Sirnis, Md. Kristine Gibboy. Get. vom Past. […] in d. Kirche.
    Translation: Born 30 October, 5 p.m.; baptised the 26th [December]. No. 324. Neuhof, Lower Vīstuči: Martin Wilhelm Sirlak. Parents: farmer Peter Sirlak and his wife Marie née Gibboy, both Lutheran. Godparents: farmer Dahw Bitte, farmer Kahrl Sirnis, maiden Kristine Gibboy. Baptised by Pastor […] in church.

    Born 30 Oct 1883 Julian (= 11 Nov 1883 Gregorian), about 5 p.m.; baptised in church 26 Dec 1883 Julian (= 7 Jan 1884 Gregorian). Legitimate son of farmer (Wirth) Peter Sirlak and Marie née Gibboy, both Lutheran. Godparents: farmers Dahw (Dāvis) Bitte and Kahrl Sirnis, and Kristine Gibboy, unmarried (probably Marie's sister; see 1884 no. 315). Last entry of 1883, filed late under December.

  3. My Life and Times (1912–1949), ¶9.
    my mother in Vecrauna (Old Rauna) and my father in Jaunrauna (New Rauna)
  4. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I67 (person-6000067), GEDCOM lines 2678–2727.
    BIRT · 30 OCT 1883

    Date: Julian (Old Style), as in the church books: = 11 Nov 1883 (Gregorian), as we have it.

  5. Peter's tree, danenberg.sql, 2007–2015, personae 3, provenance.
  6. My Life and Times (1912–1949), ¶9.
    When WWI started in 1914, they left Rīga … and went to Cēsis
  7. Rīga St Martin Latvian congregation 1912, births and baptisms no. 82, LVVA f. 3036, apr. 4, l. 68, image 15, LVVA f. 3036, apr. 4, l. 68, image 15.
    торговецъ Мартинъ Вильгельмъ Сирлакъ (Sirlak)
    Translation: trader Martin Wilhelm Sirlak

    Described as a trader/merchant (торговецъ) at his daughter Elvīra's baptism; married to Emma née Smukul by Dec 1911.

  8. Cēsis, alphabetical list, Latvijas tirdzniecības un rūpniecības adresu grāmata 1924. gads (Rīga, 1924), Cēsis, 'Alfabetisks saraksts', p. 436 (scan 490); also the branch list ('Branžu saraksts'), 'Kolonialpreču tirgotavas', p. 438 (scan 492).
    Sirlaks, M., pārtikas pr. tirgot., l. Katrinas ielā 13. … Smukuls, E., pārtikas tirgot., Palasta ielā 12.
    Translation: Sirlaks, M., food-goods merchant, Lielā Katrīnas iela 13. … Smukuls, E., food merchant, Palasta iela 12.

    Food-goods merchant (pārtikas preču tirgotājs) at the memoir's own address, l. Katrīnas iela 13. The same Cēsis list (p. 436) has 'Smukuls, E., pārtikas tirgot., Palasta ielā 12', a Smukulis food shop (Emma's family?); the branch list on p. 438 has both again, under 'Kolonialpreču tirgotavas' (grocers). The 1927 Cēsu Avīze mentions 'Sirlaka un Smukuļa pārtikas bodes' and 'tirgotājs Sirlaks', one of 'our town's stout men' who walked daily to bathe in the Gauja. Kārlis Krūklītis's memoir recalls the little house on Lielā Katrīnas where 'the well-known Sirlaks' traded for a while. No tea-house (tējnīca) listing found yet.

  9. Olu karsch Cehsīs / Cehsneeki wasaras karstumā, Cēsu Avīze, 1927-04-16 and Nr.26 (23.07.1927), p. 2.
    pee Sirlaka un Smukuļa pahrtikas bodēm … to newar sazit par tirgotāju Sirlaku. Wiņsch tikpat dsihws un kustigs kā aukstumā. Sirlaks pee tam weenigais no muhsu pilsehtas resnajeem, kas ikdeenas apmeklē Gaujas kurortus.
    Translation: at Sirlaks's and Smukulis's food shops … that cannot be said of the merchant Sirlaks. He is as lively and brisk as in the cold. Sirlaks is the only one of our town's stout men who visits the Gauja bathing places every day.

    A Cēsis merchant (tirgotājs) named Sirlaks kept a food shop ('Sirlaka … pārtikas bode'). In April 1927 a 'Smukulis' kept a food shop next to it. The memoir says Mārtiņš kept a tavern/shop and the family ran a tea house; Emma was born Smukule. NOT verified to be Mārtiņš: first name not given.

  10. Ainas Sirlakas atmiņas ("Vīstuči"), Aina Jurciņa née Sirlaka, Priekuļi, 1998, p. 9, section "PAR PĒTERA UN MARIJAS CETURTO BĒRNU MĀRTIŅU".
    Viņš turēja nelielu pārtikas veikaliņu Lielajā Katrīnas ielā, kur palīdzēja sieva Emma
    Translation: He kept a small food shop on Lielā Katrīnas iela, where his wife Emma helped

    "Cēsu Mārtiņš, kā mēs viņu saucām, bija cienīga izskata, korpulents, ļoti omulīgs kungs." Grocer in Cēsis.

  11. My Life and Times (1912–1949), ¶9.
    then my father opened a tavern while mother stayed at home as a housewife
  12. Ainas Sirlakas atmiņas ("Vīstuči"), Aina Jurciņa née Sirlaka, Priekuļi, 1998, p. 9, section "PAR PĒTERA UN MARIJAS CETURTO BĒRNU MĀRTIŅU".
    Viņu tur novedusi cukurslimība.
    Translation: Diabetes brought him there [to the grave].

    cause of death: diabetes (cukurslimība). The date is from our data (data/people/martins-sirlaks.yaml), not the memoir.

  13. Baznīcas ziņas. Cēsu lauku draudze (in the article run headed 'Patiesības apliecinātāji'), Cēsu Vēstis, Nr.3 (22.01.1943), p. 3.
    Baznīcas zinas. Cēsu lauka [sic] draudze. … Miruši: Mārtiņš-Vilhelms Sirlaks, 59 g. v. no Cēsīm, Mārcis Jēkabsons, 80 g. v. no Cēsu Lejas Senčiem …
    Translation: Church news. Cēsis rural congregation. … Died: Mārtiņš-Vilhelms Sirlaks, aged 59, of Cēsis; Mārcis Jēkabsons, aged 80, …

    Aged 59, so born about 1883/84. Full name Mārtiņš-Vilhelms. His death is entered in the Cēsis RURAL congregation (Cēsu lauku draudze) news, the same register as Elvīra's 1941 wedding. Funeral 3 Jan 1943 at 2 p.m. from St John's church, Cēsis, to the Lejas kapi (Lower Cemetery), per a family death notice reproduced on Timenote. Timenote gives father Pēteris and birth year 1884. This explains why Mārtiņš was not in the 1944 flight.

  14. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I67 (person-6000067), GEDCOM lines 2678–2727.
    DEAT · 30 DEC 1942 · Cēsis · AGE 59
  15. MyHeritage family tree 'Dzimta' of Peter's third cousin (his family site), member GEDCOM export of 26 Oct 2026, I67 (person-6000067), GEDCOM lines 2678–2727.
    BURI · Cēsu, Lejas Kapi
  16. Ainas Sirlakas atmiņas ("Vīstuči"), Aina Jurciņa née Sirlaka, Priekuļi, 1998, p. 51, section "1997.GADS".
    Jākasē nauda procentiem aizņēmumam Zemes bankā. Tas paņemts, lai samaksātu pārējiem "Vīstuču" mantiniekiem viņu daļu.
    Translation: Money had to be scraped together for the interest on the Land Bank loan, which had been taken to pay the other heirs of "Vīstuči" …

    Implies Pēteris’s other children (Mārtiņš among them) were co-heirs of Vīstuči and were paid out by Dāvis with a Land Bank (Zemes banka) loan, probably 1920s–1930s.

  17. S-fs-6K3K-6CZC.
    Biruta Zeltite Sirlaks; AKA Biruta Balks; Birth 3 Jun 1919 Cesis Vidzem*; Death 30 Jun 2002; father Martins V Sirlaks; mother Emma Smukulis

    Biruta Zeltīte Sirlaka's Social Security application (Feb 1951) names her parents as "Martins V Sirlaks" and "Emma Smukulis". This is the first record evidence for Mārtiņš and for Emma's maiden name (here in the masculine/US form Smukulis, rather than Latvian feminine Smukule). Mārtiņš also has a middle initial, V. Emma was widowed by 1950.

  18. Peter's tree, danenberg.sql, 2007–2015, parentages 32.
  19. Rīga St Martin Latvian marriages 1911, no. 34 (summary list; main register no. 62), LVVA f. 3036, apr. 4, l. 66, image 105 (left page, fol. 98v), LVVA f. 3036, apr. 4, l. 66, image 105.
    Бракомъ сочетавшіеся въ 1911 году. | 34 | Апрѣля двадцать второго | Мартинъ Вильгельмъ Зирлакъ сынъ Петра (Martin Wilhelm Sirlak) / Эрна Смукулъ, дочь Дава (Erna Smukul) | 62
    Translation: Married in 1911. No. 34, 22 April: Martin Wilhelm Sirlak, son of Pēteris; Erna [Emma] Smukul, daughter of Dāvis. Main register no. 62.

    Married 22 Apr 1911 Julian (= 5 May 1911 Gregorian). Groom Martin Wilhelm Sirlak, son of Pēteris; bride written 'Erna' (Эрна / Erna) Smukul, daughter of Dāvis (Дава). The register here is only the year's summary list (no., date, names, fathers, and a reference to no. 62 of the main register, which is not in this volume), so no ages, residence, witnesses or banns. 'Erna' is taken as a clerk's slip for Emma: same clerk writes 'Эмма' plainly at no. 27. Confirms Emma's father's name Dāvis (her US SS record: Dāvis Smukuls) and places the marriage eight months before Elvīra's birth, in the same congregation that baptised her. Corrects the memoir's 'married young': he was 27, she 26.

  20. Studio portrait of Marija Sirlaka (née Gibboja) with her sons Kārlis, Mārtiņš, Dāvis and Augusts and Mārtiņš's wife Emma, c. 1911–1913; mounted in a family album with a handwritten Latvian caption.
    seated right: 'son Mārtiņš with his wife Emma'

See in the family tree