Inevitably whenever I post a message to this forum, often the only response
that greets it has nothing to do with the matter at hand, but rather a
question asking if I am related to or connected with this or that
GREENBLATT. The latest example was that my message about the upcoming
March 4, 2001 JGSNY "Beyond the Basics" Seminar was met with:

"Do you by any chance have ..."

Since I am getting at least a dozen of these type messages per year, it is
time to set the record straight about the surname GREENBLATT, which is
something I've wanted to do for some time now.

Please note that GREENBLATT was a very common name in pre-war Eastern
Europe. It was as common as the name GOLDBERG is here in New York. In the
JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) there are currently 46 GREENBLATT's listed
for Belarus, Canada, England, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,
Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and USA. There are currently 1111
GREENBLATT's listed under <switchboard.com> for what seems like almost all
50 American States. There are currently 788 GREENBLATT's listed in the
Social Security Death Index (including unfortunately my dad, who passed
away 4-1/2 months ago).

As of 1995, there were 504 GREENBLATT's listed in the Pages of Testimony at
Yad Vashem (there are even more now). The GREENBLATT's who perished in the
Shoah were >from every single country in Eastern Europe, including all those
mentioned in the JGFF listing referred to above.

The point I'm making is that one cannot assume that all GREENBLATT's are
related to each other. There are simply too many of them and they were too
widespread in area. In other words, a single-surname research group for
GREENBLATT would not be recommended, as appealing as the idea is.

My Greenblatt's hail >from Lithuania. Even there, GREENBLATT came >from many
different shtetlach (in Lithuania the surname was GRINBLAT, GRINBLIAT, or
GRINBLYAT). According to the JGFF, as well as documents in the All
Lithuania Database, plus other sources, GREENBLATT's in Lithuania were from
Akmene, Cekiske, Dotnuva, Josvainiai, Kaunas, Kedainiai, Klykoliai, Krakes,
Krevo, Kursenai, Laizuva, Panevezys, Papile, Raseiniai, Seredzius, Seta,
Vandziogala, Varena, Vegeriai, Vilijampole, Vilnius, Zagare and Zelva.
Again, because of this wide diversity of Lithuanian towns, one cannot
assume that even all GREENBLATT's >from Lithuania are related.

My GREENBLATT's were >from Seta, Lithuania only (and prior to that they were

from Vandziogala). I have no genealogical knowledge of any other

GREENBLATT's >from any other Lithuanian shtetl, not to mention any other
Eastern European country. My immediate GREENBLATT family settled in
Newburgh, NY and Chicago only.

In the future, before one posts a message to a total stranger asking about
the surname GREENBLATT or any other common surname, it is important to
first check the surname in the JGFF and see if the intended recipient of
your message is listed. In a case like GREENBLATT, it is not enough for
just the surname to match -- both the country and the town of research have
to match as well. It's not a matter of either the country or the town, but
rather both. Otherwise it is an exercise in futility and unproductivity,
both on your part as well as on the part of the person who has to take the
time to negatively respond to your message.

My primary purpose in posting this message is so that it will go into the
JewishGen Discussion Group Archives. Then whenever I get a similar message
about GREENBLATT in the future, instead of going into a whole long megilla,
with the same shpiel over and over again, I can simply refer them to this
particular posting.

Ada Greenblatt
ada.Greenblatt@...