Vilma, born in Budapest at the turn of the 20th century, was the daughter of Sigmund Wolfsthal, a military band leader who was descended from the famous Wolfsthal family of musicians of Galicia. Her siblings were born in various locations across the Austro-Hungarian empire, due to Sigmund's nature of employment in the Austro-Hungarian army.

Shortly after Vilma’s birth, the family relocated to Komarno where her younger two siblings were born in 1904 and 1907. While there’s no record of Vilma’s life in Komarno until the early 1920’s, it is quite likely that she grew up at her family’s home in Komarno .

As a young woman, Vilma attended an arts and crafts school in Budapest, with the intent of gaining vocational skills and becoming a clerk at the Komarno garrison hospital. While she was a talented student, her dire financial condition and the detachment from her family derailed her plans. By 1923 Vilma was struggling to make a living in Vienna, took and lost several jobs, got entangled in several cases of fraud, petty theft, avoided paying lodging fees and was jailed for several months.

Vilma was married twice. She married Oscar Schoenbaum in 1924 shortly after her entanglement with the law, and the couple divorced in 1926. Three years later, in 1929, Vilma married her second husband, Josef Kessler. In this marriage, Vilma’s financial standing was improved, and in 1930, the couple moved to a new home in Vienna.

Vilma/Vera and her husband moved to London where she died in 1964. According to unverified information provided by the family of her brother Dezso, she was instrumental in facilitating Dezo's arrival to the UK in 1949, after he escaped from communist Czechoslovakia with his family. Additional such unverified information describes Vilma/Vera's support for the immigration of nephew, son of her sister Lina, from Czechoslovakia to the UK.

Genealogical Research Notes

Birth
Vilma's birth in Vienna is documented here.

Naming
Vilma was referred to as Vera in the Vienna reports of her entanglement with the law.
Vilma was also referred to as Vera in her record of marriage with Josef Kessler.
She is referred to as Wilhelmine in her father's military service file.

Residence
In a guest list published by the Baden resort in May 1924, Vilma is listed as a guest from Pressburg (Bratislava).

Parents
In the marriage record of Vilma and her second husband, the parents are listed as follows:
V: (father:) Sigmund Wolfsthal
M: (mother:) Henrika geb. Messuta

Crime Stories
There are multiple reports in Vienna newspapers in 1923 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, compiled story). More information with profile owner.

Geography
Komárno (Hungarian: Komárom, German: Komorn, Serbian: Komoran/Коморан) is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers.