A Bygone Yesterday: A Family Story

About the Book

A Bygone Yesterday is a remembrance written by a grandson of Samuel and Louise Freund, detailing their roots in 19th century Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and their shoots in the New World, from New York City’s Yorkville neighborhood to Chicago and Florida. It is the history of one couple that stepped aboard a train in Central Europe on a spring day in 1891 and began a journey that would transform their lives and the lives of their descendants. Yet, at the same time, the book’s broad scope creates a biographical collage, putting flesh on a broad sweep of history. A Bygone Yesterday explores the lives of Samuel and Louise Freund, their ancestors, descendants and kinfolk, as well as the social and historic context of the times in which they lived, touching on, among other things, the restrictive and discriminatory family laws of 19th century Bohemia, early 20th century life in the Yorkville enclave of New York City, the tragedy of the Holocaust and the ultimate triumph of a warm and embracing family life.

About the Author

Lawrence S. Freund is the great-great-great-great grandson of Jacob Freund of Bohemia. He was born in New York in 1940, the son of Milton Freund and Edith Blinick, and is a graduate of Queens College (CUNY) and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He was a long-time writer, correspondent, and editor for the Voice of America based in Washington, London, Belgrade, and New York. He previously published Imagine My Joy, the story of his maternal ancestors. Mr. Freund is married to Gloria L. Berkenstat Freund, great-great granddaughter of Dawid Berkiensztat and Ester Horowicz, Mordechai Berkiensztat and Kreindl Kempner, Layzer Gliksman and Hana Rozanski, Lewek Ejlenberg and Byna Lewkowicz, and Zelek and Gitl Pilcowicz (all from Poland). They are the parents of Karen L. Freund and Merrill Freund and the grandparents of Merrill’s sons Ben and Sam.