Ken Falkson <mokmanrs@...> wrote, Sun, 20 Jul 2014:

Does anyone know of resources for researching in Cuba >from the late
1920's onward? ...

This is not a reply to Ken Falkson's question, but an account in my
family lore that I have been unable to confirm regarding relatives who
immigrated to Cuba several years before continuing on to the U.S.

Szyja (Joshua in the U.S.) GORECKI was born in Opole Lubelskie, Poland
in 1896. He married Chewja KARPEL and they had (possibly) 3 children
before leaving for Cuba, probably in the 1930s. Joshua went ahead with
the oldest child David Gecel GORECKI, born in 1922, and eventually sent
for his wife and younger children.

The oral account is that the ship upon which the family sailed to Cuba
sank within sight of the waiting father and son just outside the harbor.
Chewja and the younger siblings perished.

It would seem that such a tragedy would be easy to confirm or discount,
but I've been unable to find a list of ships plying any of the routes
between Europe and Cuba, let alone manifests or even a maritime history
associated with Cuba.

I've searched a couple of websites dedicated to shipping or to immigrant
transport, but found no mention of Cuba.

Joshua and David subsequently immigrated to the U.S., but I have not
found a ship name or manifest for their later passage either.

Does anyone know of sources to investigate this story? David GORECKI
has since passed, but his children would like to know whether the story
is true, and also the actual fate of their aunts or uncles. As the
family genealogist, I would like additional information about these
cousins.

Thank you for your help.

Barbara Weintraub
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Researching WEINTRAUB, BROD, HAMMER/KAMER, FINK, SPINDEL in
Ivano-Frankivska oblast, Ukraine (formerly Galicia); SZNAJDER, KATZ,
FINKIELSTAJN, WAKSMAN, GORECKI, ERDSZNEKE, KREL in Ostrowiec, Opole
Lubelskie, Markuszow and other nearby towns in Poland; GORECK/GORETZKY/
GURETZKY in Montreal, Canada; BROD in New York and wherever they went

from there; SCHNEIDER in Israel, and KATZ in Paraguay