No matter if you read one thousand times about Baku as Lev’s birth place – NO, Lev Nussimbaum’s birth was registered in the synagogue of Kiev and is indicated as 20 October 1905. Back then, Kiev was part of the Russian Empire.

It is astonishing how in all German official documents of the 1920s and 1930s “Kiev” is given correctly as Lev’s birth place – bureaucracy obviously can be trusthworthy.

The origin of the Baku-birthplace-blooper is not very difficult to imagine: Essad Bey himself. He might have felt that Baku fit best to his assumed Muslim identity. While Kiev, with it’s large Jewish population might not have sounded too plausible as a birthplace for the Muslim he wanted to be. But the German government knew all along where he was born – after all, he came into Germany with his passports issued in Georgia and confirmed in Paris.

Lev’s birthday on 20 October 1905 was after the old Russian (Julian) calender. That makes his birthday after our current (Gregorian) calender 2 November 1905. But Essad himself never converted  this date, so everyone is talking about 20 October.

The Russian language document reads:

” … The same time we will inform you that in the above mentioned register [the birth register of the Synagogue of the city of Kiev] we discovered an entry for Nusimbaum, Lev Abramovitch with the following content:

Nr. 684 Lev. Born 20 October (4. Heshvana), the ritual of circumcision was performed on 27 October (11. Heshvara) of the year 1905.

Parents: The Tiflis citizen Abram Lejbusowitsch Nusimbaum, mother Basja Davidowna.

Etc… “