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Re: The origin of the VENETIANER surname #hungary

Steve Gaffin <batgalim@...>
 

VIZNITZER does sound promising, and I used to know a Prof Viznitzer, a
dean at Tel Aviv University Medical School in the 1970s, and world
expert in sepsis and infectious diseases. Perhaps a telephone call to
him would be rewarding.

Steve Gaffin
Framingham MA USA

Researching GRACE PELLETZ JAFFE GAFFIN >from Kamajai, Kupiskis, Kaunas,
Riga


From: Dr Shimon Barak
It sounds very logic, but I would look also at variations to the name
VIZNITSER or VINNITSER that are found among families originally >from
Vizhnitsa (Wisnicz) in Poland or Witznitz (5109 1229) and Vietznitz
(5244 1238) in Germany

Shimon Barak, Israel>>
Mental Health Records #general

Ellen Lee <ellie2@...>
 

I have received a great deal of helpful information, as well as some
reports of personal success regarding psychiatric records. I intend
to follow up and see what I can find. Thanks to all who offered
suggestions. I will provide a follow-up regarding the outcome of my
efforts.
Ellen

Ellen Lee
ellie2@bellsouth.net
Obtaining mental health records of a deceased family member #general

C&M Linz
 

While I have no experience in obtaining old records >from American mental
institutions, I thought readers might be interested to know of my success
in obtaining records >from a hospital in Germany.

We were fortunate to learn that my husband's great-aunt had been
hospitalized for manic-depression at a psychiatric clinic in Jena,
Thueringen. I wrote and asked if her records were still available (not
really believing they could still exist)and explained we were trying to
find out the names of her husband and child, so we could learn their
fates. After several months, I received a reply >from the director of the
hospital. They still had her records >from 7 admissions >from 1917 until
1937. Once I knew they had these records, of course I wanted to get them.
The director told me that it is very rare (but not impossible) in Germany
for families to get the records of family members, even after the death of
that family member. I sent lots of documentation, including birth
certificates and the court declarations of deaths of this great-aunt and
her children, but it wasn't until we went in person that they agreed to
copy the records and give them to us.

These records include letters >from family members and are a real treasure.
Although we have only had some of the documents translated so far, my
husband has learned more about his grandmother's family than he ever
learned >from his grandmother or father. I would encourage others to make
the effort to obtain such records.

Maggie Linz
Okemos, Michigan
Re: Faux Jewish In-laws? #general

Nick Landau <N.Landau@...>
 

Well, what are mechutanim if they are not relations by marriage?

Nick

Robert Israel wrote
Anyone know if the practice of using the term *in-law* to designate any
relationship created by legal means, such as a 'step' relationship,
extended to Jewish families?
*In-law* is an English expression, and I suppose (without having any
actual data) that English-speaking Jews used it in much the same way as
any other English-speakers in the same place and time. Yiddish and
Hebrew have no *in-law* suffix, but have separate words for father-in-
law, mother-in-law etc, and I doubt that one would ever call a stepfather
*shver* in Yiddish or *khoten* in Hebrew.

Robert Israel
israel@math.ubc.ca
George & Alexander FONTYN #general

naomi_fellerman@...
 

Dear Genners,

Firstly, I want to apologise in advance as this will be quite long and I
hope that I do not bore anyone with my questions.

My maternal great great grandfather Jacob (Jacques) FONTYN was originally
from Leiden, Holland. He married Mary (known as Polly) ISSACS in London and
had a grocery business at 1 Wentworth Street. They had 6 children, Sarah,
Annie, Isaac (known as George), Alexander, Katie and Leopold. A mystery has
always surrounded George and Alexander as they were thought to have gone
to the USA and lost touch with the rest of the family. I have in my
possession a copy of a letter written by my great uncle George Finer
(Sarah's eldest son) to the executor's of Leopold's estate, which was
written in 1960 and gave as much information as he had at that time.

It appears that both George and Alexander left the UK to make their
fortune, George as far as my great uncle knew has settled in New York and
married but did not have children as far as was known, Alexander was
described as "a rolling stone" who moved around and did not marry. Both of
them returned to the UK during WW1 it was thought in either the US or
Canadian Army.

I have today found information on the Ellis Island database, which seems
to bear out the facts as stated in my great uncle's letter. There are two
entries for George Fontyn, one in 1895 at the age of 21 and the other in
1919 at theage of 45. There is one entry for Alexander for 1919. The entry
for George in 1919, gave the information that he was returning to New York
to Mrs Fontyn of 378 W 125th St, NY, he had previously been in the US for
24 years and gave his next of kin in the UK as his sister Sarah (my great
grandmother). He sailed on the Caronia >from Liverpool, Alexander returned
to the US on the Mauritania >from Southampton, interestingly they both
arrived in New York on 7th April 1919.

Alexander's place of residence was given as Boston, the manifest states
that he had previously lived in the USA >from 1898 until 1917, but there is
no previous entry on the Ellis Island database, so where could he have
entered the US, could he have come through Canada? The Mauritania manifest
gives an address of a friend - a Mr J M Brown of San Bernardino,
California as his destination.

Both of the brother's passage was paid for by the British Government,
was this usual for US troops returning to the States or had they perhaps
served in the British Army? My main question is with this information I
know have how do I go about trying to find out more about George and
Alexander, i.e. when, where and who did George marry and did they have any
children? What happened to Alexander, where did he end up, did he ever
marry?

Can anyone give me some pointers as to where I go next?

On another note, in the same letter which gives these details, my great
uncle states that Jacob Fontyn combined his grocery business with a post
office and was the first Jewish postmaster. Is there any way that I could
verify this?

Thanking you all in advance for any help, advice or comments you give
me.

Regards
Naomi Fellerman
Bedford (UK)


Researching: FELLERMAN, GEPSTEIN, FONTYN, GOODMAN, FINER
Surname SCHMAUS / SMAUS #general

Daniel Gee <DanielGee@...>
 

Dear Genners,
A friend is seeking information about her surname which is SMAUS.
I believe her family may have hailed >from Germany whewas SCHMAUS.
One branch escaped the ward and settled in London, England.
I have checked the FTJP for this name and have found nothing.
Does this name mean anything to anyone?
Also can anyone sugges what the name may have derived from?
Sorry to be vague - and thanks,
Daniel Gleek
London, England
Re: nomenclature "Christian name"; first name #general

Lynne Shapiro <lynneshap@...>
 

I've certainly heard the term "Christian name" for given name, many
times, but it is not used as often now as in the past, at least not where
I would run across it. I am writing now, however, to suggest that the
term "given name" be used here instead of "first name". The meaning is
clearer. In some cultures, most notably Chinese, the family name is
placed, in common usage, before the given name. Although I would hazard
a guess that few, if any, Kaifeng Jews take part in this list, the term
"given name" is nonetheless more exact.

Lynne Shapiro
W. Mass.
Radauti organization in Israel #general

Bruce Reisch <bir1@...>
 

Dear Stephanie:

There is still a Radauti organization in Israel, along with several
other groups associated with towns in Bukovina. We're very lucky
that the Weltverbandes der Bukowiner Juden has developed a web site
with complete contact information. Here is the starting page:
http://www.bukovinajewsworldunion.org

Here you will find the list of contacts for various towns, including Radauti:
http://www.bukovinajewsworldunion.org/English/6Communities/Addres.Buk.html

The group >from Radauti is called "The Organization of Former
Residents of Radautz-Bukovina in Israel". They continue to send aid
twice a year to the few needy Jews still remaining in Radauti and in
the surrounding area. They have also been most helpful in the
development of the Radauti ShtetLinks web site, address below.

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York
--
Radautz: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radauti/radautz.html
Sadgura: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/sadgura/sadgura.html
Researching: REISCH, SCHECHTER, FEUERSTEIN - Sadgura, Bukowina, Ukraine
SCHACHTER, BRUCKER/BRUKER, HALPERN, HELLMANN, KURTZ - Radauti and
Solca, Bukowina, Romania
WEISSMAN - Brody, Galicia, Ukraine; SCHACHTER, HELLMANN - Okup, Ukraine
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen RE: The origin of the VENETIANER surname #general

Steve Gaffin <batgalim@...>
 

VIZNITZER does sound promising, and I used to know a Prof Viznitzer, a
dean at Tel Aviv University Medical School in the 1970s, and world
expert in sepsis and infectious diseases. Perhaps a telephone call to
him would be rewarding.

Steve Gaffin
Framingham MA USA

Researching GRACE PELLETZ JAFFE GAFFIN >from Kamajai, Kupiskis, Kaunas,
Riga


From: Dr Shimon Barak
It sounds very logic, but I would look also at variations to the name
VIZNITSER or VINNITSER that are found among families originally >from
Vizhnitsa (Wisnicz) in Poland or Witznitz (5109 1229) and Vietznitz
(5244 1238) in Germany

Shimon Barak, Israel>>
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Mental Health Records #general

Ellen Lee <ellie2@...>
 

I have received a great deal of helpful information, as well as some
reports of personal success regarding psychiatric records. I intend
to follow up and see what I can find. Thanks to all who offered
suggestions. I will provide a follow-up regarding the outcome of my
efforts.
Ellen

Ellen Lee
ellie2@bellsouth.net
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Obtaining mental health records of a deceased family member #general

C&M Linz
 

While I have no experience in obtaining old records >from American mental
institutions, I thought readers might be interested to know of my success
in obtaining records >from a hospital in Germany.

We were fortunate to learn that my husband's great-aunt had been
hospitalized for manic-depression at a psychiatric clinic in Jena,
Thueringen. I wrote and asked if her records were still available (not
really believing they could still exist)and explained we were trying to
find out the names of her husband and child, so we could learn their
fates. After several months, I received a reply >from the director of the
hospital. They still had her records >from 7 admissions >from 1917 until
1937. Once I knew they had these records, of course I wanted to get them.
The director told me that it is very rare (but not impossible) in Germany
for families to get the records of family members, even after the death of
that family member. I sent lots of documentation, including birth
certificates and the court declarations of deaths of this great-aunt and
her children, but it wasn't until we went in person that they agreed to
copy the records and give them to us.

These records include letters >from family members and are a real treasure.
Although we have only had some of the documents translated so far, my
husband has learned more about his grandmother's family than he ever
learned >from his grandmother or father. I would encourage others to make
the effort to obtain such records.

Maggie Linz
Okemos, Michigan
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Faux Jewish In-laws? #general

Nick Landau <N.Landau@...>
 

Well, what are mechutanim if they are not relations by marriage?

Nick

Robert Israel wrote
Anyone know if the practice of using the term *in-law* to designate any
relationship created by legal means, such as a 'step' relationship,
extended to Jewish families?
*In-law* is an English expression, and I suppose (without having any
actual data) that English-speaking Jews used it in much the same way as
any other English-speakers in the same place and time. Yiddish and
Hebrew have no *in-law* suffix, but have separate words for father-in-
law, mother-in-law etc, and I doubt that one would ever call a stepfather
*shver* in Yiddish or *khoten* in Hebrew.

Robert Israel
israel@math.ubc.ca
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen George & Alexander FONTYN #general

naomi_fellerman@...
 

Dear Genners,

Firstly, I want to apologise in advance as this will be quite long and I
hope that I do not bore anyone with my questions.

My maternal great great grandfather Jacob (Jacques) FONTYN was originally
from Leiden, Holland. He married Mary (known as Polly) ISSACS in London and
had a grocery business at 1 Wentworth Street. They had 6 children, Sarah,
Annie, Isaac (known as George), Alexander, Katie and Leopold. A mystery has
always surrounded George and Alexander as they were thought to have gone
to the USA and lost touch with the rest of the family. I have in my
possession a copy of a letter written by my great uncle George Finer
(Sarah's eldest son) to the executor's of Leopold's estate, which was
written in 1960 and gave as much information as he had at that time.

It appears that both George and Alexander left the UK to make their
fortune, George as far as my great uncle knew has settled in New York and
married but did not have children as far as was known, Alexander was
described as "a rolling stone" who moved around and did not marry. Both of
them returned to the UK during WW1 it was thought in either the US or
Canadian Army.

I have today found information on the Ellis Island database, which seems
to bear out the facts as stated in my great uncle's letter. There are two
entries for George Fontyn, one in 1895 at the age of 21 and the other in
1919 at theage of 45. There is one entry for Alexander for 1919. The entry
for George in 1919, gave the information that he was returning to New York
to Mrs Fontyn of 378 W 125th St, NY, he had previously been in the US for
24 years and gave his next of kin in the UK as his sister Sarah (my great
grandmother). He sailed on the Caronia >from Liverpool, Alexander returned
to the US on the Mauritania >from Southampton, interestingly they both
arrived in New York on 7th April 1919.

Alexander's place of residence was given as Boston, the manifest states
that he had previously lived in the USA >from 1898 until 1917, but there is
no previous entry on the Ellis Island database, so where could he have
entered the US, could he have come through Canada? The Mauritania manifest
gives an address of a friend - a Mr J M Brown of San Bernardino,
California as his destination.

Both of the brother's passage was paid for by the British Government,
was this usual for US troops returning to the States or had they perhaps
served in the British Army? My main question is with this information I
know have how do I go about trying to find out more about George and
Alexander, i.e. when, where and who did George marry and did they have any
children? What happened to Alexander, where did he end up, did he ever
marry?

Can anyone give me some pointers as to where I go next?

On another note, in the same letter which gives these details, my great
uncle states that Jacob Fontyn combined his grocery business with a post
office and was the first Jewish postmaster. Is there any way that I could
verify this?

Thanking you all in advance for any help, advice or comments you give
me.

Regards
Naomi Fellerman
Bedford (UK)


Researching: FELLERMAN, GEPSTEIN, FONTYN, GOODMAN, FINER
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Surname SCHMAUS / SMAUS #general

Daniel Gee <DanielGee@...>
 

Dear Genners,
A friend is seeking information about her surname which is SMAUS.
I believe her family may have hailed >from Germany whewas SCHMAUS.
One branch escaped the ward and settled in London, England.
I have checked the FTJP for this name and have found nothing.
Does this name mean anything to anyone?
Also can anyone sugges what the name may have derived from?
Sorry to be vague - and thanks,
Daniel Gleek
London, England
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: nomenclature "Christian name"; first name #general

Lynne Shapiro <lynneshap@...>
 

I've certainly heard the term "Christian name" for given name, many
times, but it is not used as often now as in the past, at least not where
I would run across it. I am writing now, however, to suggest that the
term "given name" be used here instead of "first name". The meaning is
clearer. In some cultures, most notably Chinese, the family name is
placed, in common usage, before the given name. Although I would hazard
a guess that few, if any, Kaifeng Jews take part in this list, the term
"given name" is nonetheless more exact.

Lynne Shapiro
W. Mass.
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Radauti organization in Israel #general

Bruce Reisch <bir1@...>
 

Dear Stephanie:

There is still a Radauti organization in Israel, along with several
other groups associated with towns in Bukovina. We're very lucky
that the Weltverbandes der Bukowiner Juden has developed a web site
with complete contact information. Here is the starting page:
http://www.bukovinajewsworldunion.org

Here you will find the list of contacts for various towns, including Radauti:
http://www.bukovinajewsworldunion.org/English/6Communities/Addres.Buk.html

The group >from Radauti is called "The Organization of Former
Residents of Radautz-Bukovina in Israel". They continue to send aid
twice a year to the few needy Jews still remaining in Radauti and in
the surrounding area. They have also been most helpful in the
development of the Radauti ShtetLinks web site, address below.

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York
--
Radautz: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radauti/radautz.html
Sadgura: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/sadgura/sadgura.html
Researching: REISCH, SCHECHTER, FEUERSTEIN - Sadgura, Bukowina, Ukraine
SCHACHTER, BRUCKER/BRUKER, HALPERN, HELLMANN, KURTZ - Radauti and
Solca, Bukowina, Romania
WEISSMAN - Brody, Galicia, Ukraine; SCHACHTER, HELLMANN - Okup, Ukraine
Yeshaya Freedman. #lithuania

Allan Freedman <afreedman@...>
 

I'm trying to find information on the origins of my pgf Yeshaya
Freedman. His Hebrew name was Yeshaya ben Yeshaya, indicating that his
father had died before his birth or in the week before his bris. He
married Malka Tooch of Zhidikai (Zidik) in NW Lithuania and they lived
there until they emigrated to Ireland before WW1. However, he was not
from the general area and my father spoke of him as being >from another
country (Latvia/Belarus?). We know nothing of place or date of birth,
family, etc.

I have seen his name in various census lists in Zidik and I don't need
any information subsequent to his move to Ireland. Please reply
privately to afreedman@sympatico.ca

Many thanks,

Allan Freedman,
Toronto.
Lithuania SIG #Lithuania Yeshaya Freedman. #lithuania

Allan Freedman <afreedman@...>
 

I'm trying to find information on the origins of my pgf Yeshaya
Freedman. His Hebrew name was Yeshaya ben Yeshaya, indicating that his
father had died before his birth or in the week before his bris. He
married Malka Tooch of Zhidikai (Zidik) in NW Lithuania and they lived
there until they emigrated to Ireland before WW1. However, he was not
from the general area and my father spoke of him as being >from another
country (Latvia/Belarus?). We know nothing of place or date of birth,
family, etc.

I have seen his name in various census lists in Zidik and I don't need
any information subsequent to his move to Ireland. Please reply
privately to afreedman@sympatico.ca

Many thanks,

Allan Freedman,
Toronto.
Medical Records #general

handsome
 

This month a new law has taken effective about medical
records privacy. It has always been my understanding then
anybody can obtain their own medical records by just
requesting them. They are considered your property
(assuming all bills were paid). I keep a file on all blood
tests , other tests, surgical dictations, letters from
specialists who sent report to my physician,etc., that I
might need if I move out of state and wangt to transfer
records. Most doctors delete and storage old records so
they are hard to assess. Your doctor will send a letter
to your new doctor describing in general terms your state
of health, sicknesses and diseases and his impressions
which will be a starting point for your new doctor. I
prefer having all the records so the new doctor gets the
complete story and can see the tests. It takes a little
work but it is worthwhile. This is only in reference to
your personal records (not even your spouse or children).
Never let a doctors office deny you your rights to your
records. They may charge a fee for a large scale xeroxing
orf a big file but that is understandable.

Leonard King, Los Angeles,CA
mrhandsomeone@yahoo.com
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Medical Records #general

handsome
 

This month a new law has taken effective about medical
records privacy. It has always been my understanding then
anybody can obtain their own medical records by just
requesting them. They are considered your property
(assuming all bills were paid). I keep a file on all blood
tests , other tests, surgical dictations, letters from
specialists who sent report to my physician,etc., that I
might need if I move out of state and wangt to transfer
records. Most doctors delete and storage old records so
they are hard to assess. Your doctor will send a letter
to your new doctor describing in general terms your state
of health, sicknesses and diseases and his impressions
which will be a starting point for your new doctor. I
prefer having all the records so the new doctor gets the
complete story and can see the tests. It takes a little
work but it is worthwhile. This is only in reference to
your personal records (not even your spouse or children).
Never let a doctors office deny you your rights to your
records. They may charge a fee for a large scale xeroxing
orf a big file but that is understandable.

Leonard King, Los Angeles,CA
mrhandsomeone@yahoo.com
461701 - 461720 of 668898