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Our ancestors in Galicia within a context... #galicia

Peter Jassem <jassep@...>
 

Jane Foss <JLowenkron@...> wrote:

/.../ The ones who came did miss their old homes, but not the pogroms and
deeply rooted anti Semitism that always threatened to flare up and lead to
killings and rape. Of course all who remained but one were killed in the
Holocaust, so one wishes they had uprooted themselves.............

Dear Jane, I would like to continue this interesting discussion and, if
Gesher Galicia allows, make these two additional comments:

1. Pogroms did exist but not to the extent popularly believed and they were
rarely a sole cause of Jewish exodus to America.

Last year, during the 19th Annual Conference on Jewish Genealogy in New
York, one of leading Jewish-American historians Professor Michael
Stanislawski of Columbia University spoke about it in his very interesting
lecture titled "The Pale of Settlement: The Czars' Edicts & Their Impact on
Our Ancestry", an attempt to bridge the gap between the scholarly and the
popular understanding of Russian and Polish Jewry. Also it has to be noted
that while under the oppressive Czarist regime acting according to the
Roman maxim "divide et impera" (divide and rule) had intensified ethnic
tensions between all component nationalities of the empire in Galicia under
Maria Theresa a similar policy took place but her successor Joseph II
liberalized his empire, granted more civil rights to various ethnic groups
and notably to the Jews thus relieving tensions and creating better grounds
for co-existence. I do not see the history of Galician Jews as a string of
pogroms and rape.

2. Anti-Semitism.

As you realize it was present everywhere, including North America. In most
European countries it took a much more radical form then in the territories
of the Polish Commonwealth or the state of Poland. Prof. Stephen M. Berk
of Department of History of Union College, Schenectady, NY in his lecture
two years ago in Toronto presented many examples to support this thesis.
Also all scholars agree that the Polish Commonwealth was a Jewish safe
heaven for ages while most of European countries fiercely persecuted Jews,
forcibly converted them, expelled them or banned them >from entering their
borders. It is true that tensions rose in Poland after the partitions. The
Polish state no longer existed and for the Poles, retaining their
independence became a primary objective. At the same time, the
partitioning power did everything they could to promote divisions among the
ethnic groups as part of their strategy to subvert Polish efforts to
restore the Polish state. Once again - divide and rule. The large
emigration of Jews >from Galicia at the end of the 19th century was matched
by an equally large emigration of Polish Christians. In both cases the
primary reason for this was poverty. Although there was anit-Semitism in
inter-war independent Poland, it was by no means a universal sentiment.
While some nationalists wanted Poland to be entirely a Polish state and
had little tolerance for other languages and cultures, many others retained
their age-old tolerance. Pluralism is a relatively new concept. I have
examined many letters written by Polish Jews >from former Western Galicia
to their American cousins dated January to September 1939 that I found no
indication of fear of their local Polish neighbours. On the other hand a
great concern and fear of developments in Germany and fear for the fate of
their own country of Poland was evident in many letters.

In conclusion, I'd like to express my strong belief that our Galician
family histories and the history of 18th, 19th and early 20th century
Polish and Eastern-European Jewry in general should not be seen through the
filter of the Holocaust, a tragedy planned and implemented by Nazi Germany
during the Second World War that followed.

Peter Jassem
Toronto, Canada
jassep@...
Gesher Galicia SIG #Galicia Our ancestors in Galicia within a context... #galicia

Peter Jassem <jassep@...>
 

Jane Foss <JLowenkron@...> wrote:

/.../ The ones who came did miss their old homes, but not the pogroms and
deeply rooted anti Semitism that always threatened to flare up and lead to
killings and rape. Of course all who remained but one were killed in the
Holocaust, so one wishes they had uprooted themselves.............

Dear Jane, I would like to continue this interesting discussion and, if
Gesher Galicia allows, make these two additional comments:

1. Pogroms did exist but not to the extent popularly believed and they were
rarely a sole cause of Jewish exodus to America.

Last year, during the 19th Annual Conference on Jewish Genealogy in New
York, one of leading Jewish-American historians Professor Michael
Stanislawski of Columbia University spoke about it in his very interesting
lecture titled "The Pale of Settlement: The Czars' Edicts & Their Impact on
Our Ancestry", an attempt to bridge the gap between the scholarly and the
popular understanding of Russian and Polish Jewry. Also it has to be noted
that while under the oppressive Czarist regime acting according to the
Roman maxim "divide et impera" (divide and rule) had intensified ethnic
tensions between all component nationalities of the empire in Galicia under
Maria Theresa a similar policy took place but her successor Joseph II
liberalized his empire, granted more civil rights to various ethnic groups
and notably to the Jews thus relieving tensions and creating better grounds
for co-existence. I do not see the history of Galician Jews as a string of
pogroms and rape.

2. Anti-Semitism.

As you realize it was present everywhere, including North America. In most
European countries it took a much more radical form then in the territories
of the Polish Commonwealth or the state of Poland. Prof. Stephen M. Berk
of Department of History of Union College, Schenectady, NY in his lecture
two years ago in Toronto presented many examples to support this thesis.
Also all scholars agree that the Polish Commonwealth was a Jewish safe
heaven for ages while most of European countries fiercely persecuted Jews,
forcibly converted them, expelled them or banned them >from entering their
borders. It is true that tensions rose in Poland after the partitions. The
Polish state no longer existed and for the Poles, retaining their
independence became a primary objective. At the same time, the
partitioning power did everything they could to promote divisions among the
ethnic groups as part of their strategy to subvert Polish efforts to
restore the Polish state. Once again - divide and rule. The large
emigration of Jews >from Galicia at the end of the 19th century was matched
by an equally large emigration of Polish Christians. In both cases the
primary reason for this was poverty. Although there was anit-Semitism in
inter-war independent Poland, it was by no means a universal sentiment.
While some nationalists wanted Poland to be entirely a Polish state and
had little tolerance for other languages and cultures, many others retained
their age-old tolerance. Pluralism is a relatively new concept. I have
examined many letters written by Polish Jews >from former Western Galicia
to their American cousins dated January to September 1939 that I found no
indication of fear of their local Polish neighbours. On the other hand a
great concern and fear of developments in Germany and fear for the fate of
their own country of Poland was evident in many letters.

In conclusion, I'd like to express my strong belief that our Galician
family histories and the history of 18th, 19th and early 20th century
Polish and Eastern-European Jewry in general should not be seen through the
filter of the Holocaust, a tragedy planned and implemented by Nazi Germany
during the Second World War that followed.

Peter Jassem
Toronto, Canada
jassep@...
Photos #galicia

DBelgray@...
 

Can anyone advise me?
I am going on a trip where I will see numerous cousins whose photos I would
like to copy. Lacking a portable copying machine, could anyone suggest a
good way to copy photos, e.g. a specific type of camera? Maybe a WWII type
of small spy camera which you whip out of your shirt pocket?
Thanks.
David Belgray, NYC
Gesher Galicia SIG #Galicia Photos #galicia

DBelgray@...
 

Can anyone advise me?
I am going on a trip where I will see numerous cousins whose photos I would
like to copy. Lacking a portable copying machine, could anyone suggest a
good way to copy photos, e.g. a specific type of camera? Maybe a WWII type
of small spy camera which you whip out of your shirt pocket?
Thanks.
David Belgray, NYC
Help child survivors of Holocaust find information #galicia

Eva Floersheim <evaflor@...>
 

On Monday night starts Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day.

Among the children who survived Holocaust, many are still looking for
information about their past.
Some were so young, they don't even know their own original names nor
the names of their parents.

Please enter the Missing Identity website:
http://www.jewishgen.org/missing-identity/

Perhaps you will be able to help some of the forty child survivors
featured on this site, some of them with the following family names:
ABRAHAM, BRAVER, BROJTMAN, DAVID, EINHORN, DUBINSTEIN,
FINKELSTEIN, GELBFARB, GOLUBCZYK, HILFERDING, HIRTH, HUTTERER, KCIEL,
KZIAZENICKI, MISHURES, REISS, ROSNER, ROSENFELD, SANDAK, SCHECHTER,
SEIFERT, TEITMAN, TENNER, WAGMAN/WALDMAN, WALDBAUM, WIESNIEWSKA
Some, without family names, may perhaps be recognized through their
photos.
In addition you can read the requests of others who are searching for
relatives who disappeared in the Holocaust.

Eva Floersheim
Shadmot Dvorah
Israel
Gesher Galicia SIG #Galicia Help child survivors of Holocaust find information #galicia

Eva Floersheim <evaflor@...>
 

On Monday night starts Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day.

Among the children who survived Holocaust, many are still looking for
information about their past.
Some were so young, they don't even know their own original names nor
the names of their parents.

Please enter the Missing Identity website:
http://www.jewishgen.org/missing-identity/

Perhaps you will be able to help some of the forty child survivors
featured on this site, some of them with the following family names:
ABRAHAM, BRAVER, BROJTMAN, DAVID, EINHORN, DUBINSTEIN,
FINKELSTEIN, GELBFARB, GOLUBCZYK, HILFERDING, HIRTH, HUTTERER, KCIEL,
KZIAZENICKI, MISHURES, REISS, ROSNER, ROSENFELD, SANDAK, SCHECHTER,
SEIFERT, TEITMAN, TENNER, WAGMAN/WALDMAN, WALDBAUM, WIESNIEWSKA
Some, without family names, may perhaps be recognized through their
photos.
In addition you can read the requests of others who are searching for
relatives who disappeared in the Holocaust.

Eva Floersheim
Shadmot Dvorah
Israel
Hagler family inquiry #galicia

Benjamin Karliner
 

Several weeks ago I saw a message >from a Galitzianer, which I promptly
forwarded to a friend, Howard Hagler. Unfortunately, my friend misplaced
the name and address of the person inquiring. If that person sees this
message, would he please contact my friend at <pamimi2@...>. He has
the social security number of his father.
Ben Karliner
Delray Beach, Florida
benkarliner@...
Gesher Galicia SIG #Galicia Hagler family inquiry #galicia

Benjamin Karliner
 

Several weeks ago I saw a message >from a Galitzianer, which I promptly
forwarded to a friend, Howard Hagler. Unfortunately, my friend misplaced
the name and address of the person inquiring. If that person sees this
message, would he please contact my friend at <pamimi2@...>. He has
the social security number of his father.
Ben Karliner
Delray Beach, Florida
benkarliner@...
Follow-up: Ancestry did not purge the name #general

Josephine ROSENBLUM <JoRose@...>
 

One red face here. The name Nathan BART that I thought had disappeared
from Ancestry's SSDI is still there. I think I must have mis-typed his
name, and that is why I could not find it recently.

However, there are new developments.

(1) The Ohio Historical finally came through last Friday and sent me his
death certificate. Yes, he did die on 14 Jan 1938. I am wondering if that
makes his death date one of the earliest to appear in the SSDI.

(2) He was President of Apex Steel and Supply Scrap Iron at the time of
his death in 1938 (and when he signed up for a SSN in 1937). I had
thought that Social Security was established in 1936 or 1937 for workers,
not officers of companies (or professional people).

(3) He had a different wife on his death certificate >from the one in the
1920 Census. Therefore, wife #1 (our relative) had died between 1920 and
1938, or they were divorced. [The death certificate gives the full name
of wife #2.]

There are several morals to all this. (a) It doesn't hurt to check the
SSDI, even if a death occurred before 1955, (b) careful typing is essential
when checking databases, and (c) a death certificate may have information
that will surprise you.

Josephine Rosenblum, Cincinnati, OH
< JoRose@... >
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Follow-up: Ancestry did not purge the name #general

Josephine ROSENBLUM <JoRose@...>
 

One red face here. The name Nathan BART that I thought had disappeared
from Ancestry's SSDI is still there. I think I must have mis-typed his
name, and that is why I could not find it recently.

However, there are new developments.

(1) The Ohio Historical finally came through last Friday and sent me his
death certificate. Yes, he did die on 14 Jan 1938. I am wondering if that
makes his death date one of the earliest to appear in the SSDI.

(2) He was President of Apex Steel and Supply Scrap Iron at the time of
his death in 1938 (and when he signed up for a SSN in 1937). I had
thought that Social Security was established in 1936 or 1937 for workers,
not officers of companies (or professional people).

(3) He had a different wife on his death certificate >from the one in the
1920 Census. Therefore, wife #1 (our relative) had died between 1920 and
1938, or they were divorced. [The death certificate gives the full name
of wife #2.]

There are several morals to all this. (a) It doesn't hurt to check the
SSDI, even if a death occurred before 1955, (b) careful typing is essential
when checking databases, and (c) a death certificate may have information
that will surprise you.

Josephine Rosenblum, Cincinnati, OH
< JoRose@... >
Re: The Name Fagel #general

Stan Goodman <geneal@...>
 

Actually, "Fegel/Feigel/Faigel" and other variants represent German "Vogel"
(=bird). It is not the diminutive of anything.

On Thu, 1 Jan 1970 01:59:59, debjkay@... (debjkay) wrote:

Yes, there is a name, Fegel, and it means little bird, it is my middle
name, and I beleive it is adiminuitive of Faiga.

Debra Kay
debjkay@...
Simi Valley, Ca


Yonasan Shapiro < shapie@... > wrote:

Is there a name Fagel or is it a variant of Fayga??? I say it is a name
by itself while someone in my shul disagrees.
Please enlighten me.

Yonasan Shapiro
Bayonne, NJ

Stan Goodman, Qiryat Tiv'on, Israel

Searching:
NEACHOWICZ/NOACHOWICZ, NEJMAN/NAJMAN, ROKITA: >from Lomza Gubernia
ISMACH: >from Lomza Gubernia, Galicia, and Ukraina
HERTANU, ABRAMOVICI, LAUER: >from Dorohoi District, Romania
GRISARU, VATARU: >from Iasi, Romania

See my interactive family tree (requires Java 1.1.6 or better):
http://www.hashkedim.com

PLEASE NOTE: Messages to the "From:" or "Reply to:" address of this posting
will be not reach me. Please remove the "NOSPAM". Messages containing
HTML-formatted text will be deleted automatically, unread; if you want to
write to me, send plain text only.
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: The Name Fagel #general

Stan Goodman <geneal@...>
 

Actually, "Fegel/Feigel/Faigel" and other variants represent German "Vogel"
(=bird). It is not the diminutive of anything.

On Thu, 1 Jan 1970 01:59:59, debjkay@... (debjkay) wrote:

Yes, there is a name, Fegel, and it means little bird, it is my middle
name, and I beleive it is adiminuitive of Faiga.

Debra Kay
debjkay@...
Simi Valley, Ca


Yonasan Shapiro < shapie@... > wrote:

Is there a name Fagel or is it a variant of Fayga??? I say it is a name
by itself while someone in my shul disagrees.
Please enlighten me.

Yonasan Shapiro
Bayonne, NJ

Stan Goodman, Qiryat Tiv'on, Israel

Searching:
NEACHOWICZ/NOACHOWICZ, NEJMAN/NAJMAN, ROKITA: >from Lomza Gubernia
ISMACH: >from Lomza Gubernia, Galicia, and Ukraina
HERTANU, ABRAMOVICI, LAUER: >from Dorohoi District, Romania
GRISARU, VATARU: >from Iasi, Romania

See my interactive family tree (requires Java 1.1.6 or better):
http://www.hashkedim.com

PLEASE NOTE: Messages to the "From:" or "Reply to:" address of this posting
will be not reach me. Please remove the "NOSPAM". Messages containing
HTML-formatted text will be deleted automatically, unread; if you want to
write to me, send plain text only.
Re: Yehudah #general

Diane Jacobs <kingart@...>
 

My ggf Yehuda Schumkav became Julius Singman
in this country. Hope this helps.

Diane Jacobs
New York

What would the anglicized equivalent of Yehudah be?

Stacy Harris
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Yehudah #general

Diane Jacobs <kingart@...>
 

My ggf Yehuda Schumkav became Julius Singman
in this country. Hope this helps.

Diane Jacobs
New York

What would the anglicized equivalent of Yehudah be?

Stacy Harris
Re: First name Ella? #general

Prof. G. L. Esterson <jerry@...>
 

Robert Fleischman of Miami Beach, FL posted as follows:

"My ggm's name was Ella. Is this a contraction? I think it was listed
on passenger lists as Elke. What is the origin of these names?"

The Given Names Data Base for Lithuania provides the following
information about this Yiddish name:

Yiddish: Ella, Elle
Yiddish nicknames: Elka, Elke, Ilka, Ilke
Origin: >from old German name Ella, Elle

European secular: Ellush, Illush

US names: Alice, Anna, Eileen, Elka, Ella, Ellen, Elsie, Emma

The US names were those adopted by female emigrants >from Lithuania to
the US.

Prof. G. L. Esterson, Ra'anana, Israel
jerry@...
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: First name Ella? #general

Prof. G. L. Esterson <jerry@...>
 

Robert Fleischman of Miami Beach, FL posted as follows:

"My ggm's name was Ella. Is this a contraction? I think it was listed
on passenger lists as Elke. What is the origin of these names?"

The Given Names Data Base for Lithuania provides the following
information about this Yiddish name:

Yiddish: Ella, Elle
Yiddish nicknames: Elka, Elke, Ilka, Ilke
Origin: >from old German name Ella, Elle

European secular: Ellush, Illush

US names: Alice, Anna, Eileen, Elka, Ella, Ellen, Elsie, Emma

The US names were those adopted by female emigrants >from Lithuania to
the US.

Prof. G. L. Esterson, Ra'anana, Israel
jerry@...
Ryazan research #general

Leon.Koll@...
 

I am looking for genners who are interested in Ryazan(Russia) research.
In the beginning of 1891 in Ryazan lived 46 jewish families including
two families of my ancestors (KULL and PRYANIKOV).
It's not clear whether the Ryazan State archive has a jewish metric
records.
Anyone interested in cooperation please reply privately.

TIA,
Leon Koll
mailto:Leon.Koll@...
Yehud, Israel

Researching:
SEREBRYANY,SEREBRENY,SEREBRENNY (Rechitsa,Loyev)
PERSITS,PERSHITS (Belarus)
POTOK (Brailov,Zhitomir) LANDAU (Brailov)
SPIVAK (Belaya Tzerkov,Radomyshl)
MILMAN (Belaya Tzerkov)
KULL,KULLE (Estonia,Ryazan) PRYANIKOV (Ryazan)
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Ryazan research #general

Leon.Koll@...
 

I am looking for genners who are interested in Ryazan(Russia) research.
In the beginning of 1891 in Ryazan lived 46 jewish families including
two families of my ancestors (KULL and PRYANIKOV).
It's not clear whether the Ryazan State archive has a jewish metric
records.
Anyone interested in cooperation please reply privately.

TIA,
Leon Koll
mailto:Leon.Koll@...
Yehud, Israel

Researching:
SEREBRYANY,SEREBRENY,SEREBRENNY (Rechitsa,Loyev)
PERSITS,PERSHITS (Belarus)
POTOK (Brailov,Zhitomir) LANDAU (Brailov)
SPIVAK (Belaya Tzerkov,Radomyshl)
MILMAN (Belaya Tzerkov)
KULL,KULLE (Estonia,Ryazan) PRYANIKOV (Ryazan)
Limiting Responses #general

W. Ellen Fleischmann & Reid A. Kneeland
 

Dear Jenners,

I just spent 2 hours deleting over 600 messages >from JewishGen. This was
one week's worth of mail.

While managing my mailbox is certainly my own concern, I thought that I
might make one small suggestion: when replying to someone's request for
information, if the request is more than a day old, please check to see if
anyone else has already responded.

I appreciate the generous spirit of all of Geners, and in no way do I
suggest that it be quelled. Rather, I would respectfully request that
unless you have something counter to or significantly different >from what's
already been posted, please just defer to the Genner-on-the-Spot.

I hope that this will help all of us find those important postings which
connect us to family then and now.

Thanks for reading this.

Please, no flames. And please, let's not discuss this suggestion endlessly!

B'shalom,

Ellen Fleischmann

FLEISCHMANN (Yanoshuk, Lithuania; St. Louis, MO), DUNIE or DUNJE,
USA/Lithuania, SALGALLER, GROSBLATT, PICKEL, LAMPERT
CYTRON, KLEIN, (Louisville, KY) COLLINS/KOLLINTZ, EPPSTEIN (Bialystock),
BACHARACH

MODERATOR NOTE: Perhaps receiving the Discussion Group messages
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The Digest includes all messages posted in a single day and goes
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http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen/DiscussionGroup.htm#subscribe
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Limiting Responses #general

W. Ellen Fleischmann & Reid A. Kneeland
 

Dear Jenners,

I just spent 2 hours deleting over 600 messages >from JewishGen. This was
one week's worth of mail.

While managing my mailbox is certainly my own concern, I thought that I
might make one small suggestion: when replying to someone's request for
information, if the request is more than a day old, please check to see if
anyone else has already responded.

I appreciate the generous spirit of all of Geners, and in no way do I
suggest that it be quelled. Rather, I would respectfully request that
unless you have something counter to or significantly different >from what's
already been posted, please just defer to the Genner-on-the-Spot.

I hope that this will help all of us find those important postings which
connect us to family then and now.

Thanks for reading this.

Please, no flames. And please, let's not discuss this suggestion endlessly!

B'shalom,

Ellen Fleischmann

FLEISCHMANN (Yanoshuk, Lithuania; St. Louis, MO), DUNIE or DUNJE,
USA/Lithuania, SALGALLER, GROSBLATT, PICKEL, LAMPERT
CYTRON, KLEIN, (Louisville, KY) COLLINS/KOLLINTZ, EPPSTEIN (Bialystock),
BACHARACH

MODERATOR NOTE: Perhaps receiving the Discussion Group messages
in Digest Form would help ease the “burden” of multiple messages.
The Digest includes all messages posted in a single day and goes
out once every day. You can change your subscription at:
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen/DiscussionGroup.htm#subscribe
589661 - 589680 of 670855