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Looking for relatives of Mangus Hirschfeld, MD #general

Judi Bartek
 

Dear All
When I was young my grandmother Hirshfield used to tell us about a German
relative who did the pioneering research on sexuality. A few years ago the
Boston Film Festival had a film telling the story of Mangus HIRSCHFELD the
father of the sexual movement.

I recently became interested in tracing my family roots and convinced that
we are related to Mangus Hirschfeld but unable to find the proof.

I did however, find out that my grandparents, Herman and Hudga who emigrated
from Germany in the 1880s originally spelled their name HIRSCHFELD and the
spelling was changed to the American version HIRSCHFIELD which is the way our
family has spelled our name.

Apparently Mangus escaped Nazi Germany in the early 1930s after a brief arrest.
He immigrated to France and died late 1930s of a heart attack. All of his
manuscripts were destroyed during one of Hitler's book burnings. He was
considered the most dangerous Jew in Nazi Germany because he knew all of the
homosexual and child molesters in Hitler's inner circle.

By any chance has anyone heard of Mangus HIRSCHFELD or know of anything about
him?

Judi Hirshfield-Bartek
Newton and Falmouth Mass
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Looking for relatives of Mangus Hirschfeld, MD #general

Judi Bartek
 

Dear All
When I was young my grandmother Hirshfield used to tell us about a German
relative who did the pioneering research on sexuality. A few years ago the
Boston Film Festival had a film telling the story of Mangus HIRSCHFELD the
father of the sexual movement.

I recently became interested in tracing my family roots and convinced that
we are related to Mangus Hirschfeld but unable to find the proof.

I did however, find out that my grandparents, Herman and Hudga who emigrated
from Germany in the 1880s originally spelled their name HIRSCHFELD and the
spelling was changed to the American version HIRSCHFIELD which is the way our
family has spelled our name.

Apparently Mangus escaped Nazi Germany in the early 1930s after a brief arrest.
He immigrated to France and died late 1930s of a heart attack. All of his
manuscripts were destroyed during one of Hitler's book burnings. He was
considered the most dangerous Jew in Nazi Germany because he knew all of the
homosexual and child molesters in Hitler's inner circle.

By any chance has anyone heard of Mangus HIRSCHFELD or know of anything about
him?

Judi Hirshfield-Bartek
Newton and Falmouth Mass
New York Looks Ups - Documents #general

A. E. Jordan
 

I am available to do some additional look ups or retrievals >from the
repositories in New York City.

I will spare the list the full email but simply say if you need help at the NY
Municipal Archives, NYC probates, naturalizations, New York Public Library
please contact me off list and we can discuss.

I am likely doing it again this Thursday - February 15th

I posted all the details about a week ago no the look ups so I will not repeat
it all today.

Allan Jordan
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen New York Looks Ups - Documents #general

A. E. Jordan
 

I am available to do some additional look ups or retrievals >from the
repositories in New York City.

I will spare the list the full email but simply say if you need help at the NY
Municipal Archives, NYC probates, naturalizations, New York Public Library
please contact me off list and we can discuss.

I am likely doing it again this Thursday - February 15th

I posted all the details about a week ago no the look ups so I will not repeat
it all today.

Allan Jordan
Brakel- Hoexter in North Rhine Westphalia? #germany

Richard <r.d.oppenheimer@...>
 

Dear Members,
Does anyone know of a website similar to Lagis for research in Hessen, for
the town of Brakel in the district of Hoexter in North Rhine-Westphalia?
Seeking information (birth,marriage,death) for NUSSBAUM family.

Best regards, Richard D. Oppenheimer r.d.oppenheimer@gmail.com

Moderator notes:
Search the SIG archives for Hoxter to find a GerSIG post including
the following:

"In the 1930's, when he was over 70, he returned to Germany
and spent time collecting all the genealogical data he could find >from
his home region. This includes the towns of Hoxter, (o umlaut) Brakel,
Steinheim, Nieheim, and more.

He collected data >from cemeteries, town records, the Jewish communities,
and wherever else he could. He typed up and cross-referenced all the data,
and it is a wonderful source of genealogical information for that region.

The original collection, including his notes, is at the Leo Baeck Institute,
with a copy available in the town of Hoexter (and possibly elsewhere)."

Also:
https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=-1798448
German SIG #Germany Brakel- Hoexter in North Rhine Westphalia? #germany

Richard <r.d.oppenheimer@...>
 

Dear Members,
Does anyone know of a website similar to Lagis for research in Hessen, for
the town of Brakel in the district of Hoexter in North Rhine-Westphalia?
Seeking information (birth,marriage,death) for NUSSBAUM family.

Best regards, Richard D. Oppenheimer r.d.oppenheimer@gmail.com

Moderator notes:
Search the SIG archives for Hoxter to find a GerSIG post including
the following:

"In the 1930's, when he was over 70, he returned to Germany
and spent time collecting all the genealogical data he could find >from
his home region. This includes the towns of Hoxter, (o umlaut) Brakel,
Steinheim, Nieheim, and more.

He collected data >from cemeteries, town records, the Jewish communities,
and wherever else he could. He typed up and cross-referenced all the data,
and it is a wonderful source of genealogical information for that region.

The original collection, including his notes, is at the Leo Baeck Institute,
with a copy available in the town of Hoexter (and possibly elsewhere)."

Also:
https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=-1798448
ROSENBAUM descendants of R' Naftai KATZ ("Smichas Chachamim") #general

Yonatan Ben-Ari
 

Does anyone know if R' Naftali KATZ (a.k.a. "Smichas Chachomim") had any
ROSENBAUM descendants?

TIA

Yoni Ben-Ari, Jerusalem
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen ROSENBAUM descendants of R' Naftai KATZ ("Smichas Chachamim") #general

Yonatan Ben-Ari
 

Does anyone know if R' Naftali KATZ (a.k.a. "Smichas Chachomim") had any
ROSENBAUM descendants?

TIA

Yoni Ben-Ari, Jerusalem
Re: My Great-Great-Grandfather's first wife #general

rayvenna@...
 

There is a similar case in my family. One of my ancestors divorced his wife
because she wasn't able to have children, not realizing that she was actually
pregnant at the time! He moved to the U.S. and remarried. When the child (Ben
ENTES) was old enough, he presented himself to his father who acknowledged
him as his legitimate son. It would not be that unusual for a woman who was
only two months pregnant to not realize that she was carrying a child. Even
today with our better nutrition and medical care, it's not that unusual for
some women to occasionally skip periods.

One of the main reasons for divorce among Jews of that time was if the wife
was considered to be barren.

Mindie Kaplan
Montgomery Village, Maryland

From: David E Goldman lugman@verizon.net

Hello, Jewishgenners. You may remember the story I have presented about the
discovery that my great-great-grandfather had a first wife in Zhitomir
before he moved on to the Odessa area. The first wife had been previously
divorced several years earlier and was in fact years older (between 4 and 10
depending on the record).

Now I have discovered that my gggf and his first wife divorced in Zhitomir
in 1875 (1-2 years after the marriage) when the first wife was two months
pregnant with a son who was eventually born and attributed in the records to
my gggf and not to a case of adultery.

In terms of the family, no one ever heard or mentioned this child, but the
most interesting question would be what possible reason in 1875 could have
forced this divorce just after the wife became pregnant?!

The only possibility I could come up with is that although the child was the
son of my gggf perhaps his wife was "fooling around". Of course what makes
this difficult is simply that she had been previously married and divorced,
so if she had this trait it is hard to conceive that he would have married
her, **unless** possibly **he** was having a relationship with her when she
was still married to her first husband.......

This even goes beyond the question we discussed earlier about why my young
gggf would have even married an older divorcee in the first place (who had
only been married for a couple of years to her **first** husband who according
to the records was 30 years older than her!).
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: My Great-Great-Grandfather's first wife #general

rayvenna@...
 

There is a similar case in my family. One of my ancestors divorced his wife
because she wasn't able to have children, not realizing that she was actually
pregnant at the time! He moved to the U.S. and remarried. When the child (Ben
ENTES) was old enough, he presented himself to his father who acknowledged
him as his legitimate son. It would not be that unusual for a woman who was
only two months pregnant to not realize that she was carrying a child. Even
today with our better nutrition and medical care, it's not that unusual for
some women to occasionally skip periods.

One of the main reasons for divorce among Jews of that time was if the wife
was considered to be barren.

Mindie Kaplan
Montgomery Village, Maryland

From: David E Goldman lugman@verizon.net

Hello, Jewishgenners. You may remember the story I have presented about the
discovery that my great-great-grandfather had a first wife in Zhitomir
before he moved on to the Odessa area. The first wife had been previously
divorced several years earlier and was in fact years older (between 4 and 10
depending on the record).

Now I have discovered that my gggf and his first wife divorced in Zhitomir
in 1875 (1-2 years after the marriage) when the first wife was two months
pregnant with a son who was eventually born and attributed in the records to
my gggf and not to a case of adultery.

In terms of the family, no one ever heard or mentioned this child, but the
most interesting question would be what possible reason in 1875 could have
forced this divorce just after the wife became pregnant?!

The only possibility I could come up with is that although the child was the
son of my gggf perhaps his wife was "fooling around". Of course what makes
this difficult is simply that she had been previously married and divorced,
so if she had this trait it is hard to conceive that he would have married
her, **unless** possibly **he** was having a relationship with her when she
was still married to her first husband.......

This even goes beyond the question we discussed earlier about why my young
gggf would have even married an older divorcee in the first place (who had
only been married for a couple of years to her **first** husband who according
to the records was 30 years older than her!).
KIZNER/POPOVSKY of Dzygovka/Dzyhivka, Podolia #ukraine

Joseph Walder <jswalder@...>
 

I am in the early stages of trying to trace my KIZNER ancestry. My mother's father was Peter KIZNER of Dzygovka/Dzyhivka, Podolia province. He left Russia in 1913 and went to Argentina. In 1922, he came to the United States. He married Yenta (later Esther) MARCUS in 1926 in Los Angeles. They had two children, my mother Beatrice and my uncle Maurice. Peter abandoned his family in Los Angeles in about 1932 and eventually returned to Argentina in about 1940.

An important detail is that Peter became an evangelical Christian at some point in time. In Argentina, he was a missionary trying to convert Jews to Christianity. He was trained as a missionary at the Open Bible Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. A publication >from this institute states that he became an orphan at the age of 11; I have no idea as to the correctness of that statement.

An Argentine document I have seen gives the names of Peter's parents as Bertha POPOVSKY and Santiago KIZNER. Santiago is the Spanish equivalent of James or Jacob.

The passenger manifest for the ship that Peter took to the US in 1922 states that he had a sister Ana in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Joseph WALDER

Portland, Oregon, USA
MURAKHOVSKY family of Koshevatoye, Tarashcha, Ukraine #ukraine

Joseph Walder <jswalder@...>
 

I am looking for any information about my MURAKHOVSKY ancestors of Koshevatoye, Tarashcha, Ukraine. My maternal grandmother Yenta MURAKHOVSKAYA was the youngest of 10 children of Moshe Avram MURAKHOVSKY (1853-1916) and Krenie LUCHANSKAYA (1856-1919) and came to the United States in 1923, taking the name Esther MARCUS. Quite a bit is known about the LUCHANSKY clan thanks to previous genealogical research, but I know absolutely nothing about the parents or siblings of Moshe Avram MURAKHOVSKY. Records >from Koshevatoye have yet to be translated and indexed, as far as I know. Any information of suggestions would be gratefully received. To be clear, I have a general idea how to transliterate Russian names, but I do not read Russian at all.

Joseph Walder

Portland, Oregon, USA

MODER4ATOR'S NOTE: Hebrew and Russian characters are not compatible with our
mailing system.
Ukraine SIG #Ukraine KIZNER/POPOVSKY of Dzygovka/Dzyhivka, Podolia #ukraine

Joseph Walder <jswalder@...>
 

I am in the early stages of trying to trace my KIZNER ancestry. My mother's father was Peter KIZNER of Dzygovka/Dzyhivka, Podolia province. He left Russia in 1913 and went to Argentina. In 1922, he came to the United States. He married Yenta (later Esther) MARCUS in 1926 in Los Angeles. They had two children, my mother Beatrice and my uncle Maurice. Peter abandoned his family in Los Angeles in about 1932 and eventually returned to Argentina in about 1940.

An important detail is that Peter became an evangelical Christian at some point in time. In Argentina, he was a missionary trying to convert Jews to Christianity. He was trained as a missionary at the Open Bible Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. A publication >from this institute states that he became an orphan at the age of 11; I have no idea as to the correctness of that statement.

An Argentine document I have seen gives the names of Peter's parents as Bertha POPOVSKY and Santiago KIZNER. Santiago is the Spanish equivalent of James or Jacob.

The passenger manifest for the ship that Peter took to the US in 1922 states that he had a sister Ana in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Joseph WALDER

Portland, Oregon, USA
Ukraine SIG #Ukraine MURAKHOVSKY family of Koshevatoye, Tarashcha, Ukraine #ukraine

Joseph Walder <jswalder@...>
 

I am looking for any information about my MURAKHOVSKY ancestors of Koshevatoye, Tarashcha, Ukraine. My maternal grandmother Yenta MURAKHOVSKAYA was the youngest of 10 children of Moshe Avram MURAKHOVSKY (1853-1916) and Krenie LUCHANSKAYA (1856-1919) and came to the United States in 1923, taking the name Esther MARCUS. Quite a bit is known about the LUCHANSKY clan thanks to previous genealogical research, but I know absolutely nothing about the parents or siblings of Moshe Avram MURAKHOVSKY. Records >from Koshevatoye have yet to be translated and indexed, as far as I know. Any information of suggestions would be gratefully received. To be clear, I have a general idea how to transliterate Russian names, but I do not read Russian at all.

Joseph Walder

Portland, Oregon, USA

MODER4ATOR'S NOTE: Hebrew and Russian characters are not compatible with our
mailing system.
YUDIN--**Breakthrough!** #general

Marilyn Robinson <jewishgemblog@...>
 

I have been researching my paternal family, YUDIN (IUDIN) for nine
years, but have been unable to find any information about my father's
line. The other day I went back to Ancestry.com & to Jewishgen,
reviewing the 1834, 1850, 1888 All Lithuania Revision lists, as well
as the Lithuania 1875 Tax & Voters lists. I checked for my paternal
name, YUDIN (IUDIN) >from the Sharkovshchina, Disna, Vilnius area of
what had been Lithuania (presently Belarus). I hadn't looked at the
listings for a couple of years but something has always made me feel
that some of the names were my relatives, I just was not seeing the
connections----yet!

My great grandfather was Yehudah Lieb, referred to by my family as
Leyb; his common usage U.S. name was Louis. He was married to Malka
(nee SHAPIRO), known as Molly. On the Lithuania list there was a Leiba
married to a Malka, with his father listed as Mendel. That was my
starting point.

My father's birth name was Emanuel & I had often wondered who he was
named after. My uncle, his brother--Leo Marvin--, said that as kids,
they would singsong Mendrick/Shmendrik, Mendel/Shmendl, but I saw no
connection between the childish words & my father's name. I decided to
look at Ancestry's "Jewish Names Variations" list for alternate U.S.
names for "Mendel"----there it was--my connection! One of the US
alternate names for Mendel was----Emanuel! So, evidently my father was
named after his great grandfather (my gggrandfather), Mendel!! My
grandfather, Sam, was listed--as Simon (I knew his Hebrew name was
Shimon), his brother Israel was identified as Srol, his sister, Jenny,
was Zlata, etc. By checking other fathers' names I was able to trace
back to my 4th ggrandfather,Iudel/Iuda, earlier than 1797! I was also
able to identify many approximate birth years and the names of some of
the wives & children of each of the men, back through the generations.

Marilyn Robinson
Florida
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen YUDIN--**Breakthrough!** #general

Marilyn Robinson <jewishgemblog@...>
 

I have been researching my paternal family, YUDIN (IUDIN) for nine
years, but have been unable to find any information about my father's
line. The other day I went back to Ancestry.com & to Jewishgen,
reviewing the 1834, 1850, 1888 All Lithuania Revision lists, as well
as the Lithuania 1875 Tax & Voters lists. I checked for my paternal
name, YUDIN (IUDIN) >from the Sharkovshchina, Disna, Vilnius area of
what had been Lithuania (presently Belarus). I hadn't looked at the
listings for a couple of years but something has always made me feel
that some of the names were my relatives, I just was not seeing the
connections----yet!

My great grandfather was Yehudah Lieb, referred to by my family as
Leyb; his common usage U.S. name was Louis. He was married to Malka
(nee SHAPIRO), known as Molly. On the Lithuania list there was a Leiba
married to a Malka, with his father listed as Mendel. That was my
starting point.

My father's birth name was Emanuel & I had often wondered who he was
named after. My uncle, his brother--Leo Marvin--, said that as kids,
they would singsong Mendrick/Shmendrik, Mendel/Shmendl, but I saw no
connection between the childish words & my father's name. I decided to
look at Ancestry's "Jewish Names Variations" list for alternate U.S.
names for "Mendel"----there it was--my connection! One of the US
alternate names for Mendel was----Emanuel! So, evidently my father was
named after his great grandfather (my gggrandfather), Mendel!! My
grandfather, Sam, was listed--as Simon (I knew his Hebrew name was
Shimon), his brother Israel was identified as Srol, his sister, Jenny,
was Zlata, etc. By checking other fathers' names I was able to trace
back to my 4th ggrandfather,Iudel/Iuda, earlier than 1797! I was also
able to identify many approximate birth years and the names of some of
the wives & children of each of the men, back through the generations.

Marilyn Robinson
Florida
Re: Restrictions on Mailing Letters in Nazi-occupied Poland #general

Peter Lebensold
 

On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 2:04 AM, Carol Arshoff <carol.arshoff@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Does anyone know if there were restrictions on writing letters when Poland was
occupied by the Nazis? If so, what were they? I have a translation of a
postcard/letter written in 1941 >from Plonsk where my aunt has written that they
were limited to 1 page. In another postcard, written in 1940 >from Plonsk the
stamped portion where one would write a return address is written in German.
Hi Carol:

When my aunt in the U.K. passed away several years ago, her son (my cousin)
found a cache of letters that she'd received >from her parents (my grandparents)
while they were confined within the Warsaw ghetto (and before they were
transported and never heard >from again).

The first restriction seems to have been that of paper: The letters are written
on both sides of a single sheet of thin airmail paper, with the text sometimes
continuing up the sides and even running upside down - covering every square
millimeter of available space.

With the multiple directions, the tiny handwriting and the bleed-through >from
one side of the paper to the other, they are very difficult to read, let alone
translate. No letter is more than a single sheet. (There are postcards as well.)

It's also clear that the letters were censored: Several are rubber-stamped with
swastikas.

And, finally, yes, there appear to have been restrictions (implicit or explicit)
on what information could be shared: There is no mention of conditions within
the ghetto, there is no explanation when my grandparents changed return address
(having had to move out of their home when the ghetto started being shrunk), and
my grandmother seems to show an unusual concern that her three children - safe
outside Poland - have enough "socks". She mentions "socks" several times in
multiple letters, with the clear (to her grandchildren, at least) implication
that she's writing in code: "Socks" = money.

A great deal remains to be imagined.

Peter Lebensold
Toronto
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Restrictions on Mailing Letters in Nazi-occupied Poland #general

Peter Lebensold
 

On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 2:04 AM, Carol Arshoff <carol.arshoff@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Does anyone know if there were restrictions on writing letters when Poland was
occupied by the Nazis? If so, what were they? I have a translation of a
postcard/letter written in 1941 >from Plonsk where my aunt has written that they
were limited to 1 page. In another postcard, written in 1940 >from Plonsk the
stamped portion where one would write a return address is written in German.
Hi Carol:

When my aunt in the U.K. passed away several years ago, her son (my cousin)
found a cache of letters that she'd received >from her parents (my grandparents)
while they were confined within the Warsaw ghetto (and before they were
transported and never heard >from again).

The first restriction seems to have been that of paper: The letters are written
on both sides of a single sheet of thin airmail paper, with the text sometimes
continuing up the sides and even running upside down - covering every square
millimeter of available space.

With the multiple directions, the tiny handwriting and the bleed-through >from
one side of the paper to the other, they are very difficult to read, let alone
translate. No letter is more than a single sheet. (There are postcards as well.)

It's also clear that the letters were censored: Several are rubber-stamped with
swastikas.

And, finally, yes, there appear to have been restrictions (implicit or explicit)
on what information could be shared: There is no mention of conditions within
the ghetto, there is no explanation when my grandparents changed return address
(having had to move out of their home when the ghetto started being shrunk), and
my grandmother seems to show an unusual concern that her three children - safe
outside Poland - have enough "socks". She mentions "socks" several times in
multiple letters, with the clear (to her grandchildren, at least) implication
that she's writing in code: "Socks" = money.

A great deal remains to be imagined.

Peter Lebensold
Toronto
Re: Where is "Reslawa", Russia? #general

Emily Garber
 

**Emily Garber wrote:
"Perhaps, after the JewishGen Discussion Group has posted several
alternative notions regarding the location of a place identified as
"Reslawa" in an emigrant's passenger manifest, it is time to talk
methodology.

"It is never good to rely on only one record to "prove" something
about one's ancestors. Consider each piece of evidence as a clue.
Search high and wide for other records."

**Alexander Sharon responded:
"It is always a good idea to talk about a methodology. But before one
has committed efforts to search through other documents, have anyone
review manifest record for the elusive town Reslawa."

If I understand Alex Sharon's comment correctly, we are in agreement.
My comment on methods for locating one's ancestral community did not
include a comprehensive list everything a researcher should consider.
I am glad Alex reminded us that we must squeeze as much information
out the manifest as we can.

Handwriting on manifests can be a challenge. It is possible that the
town name "Reslawa" had been misconstrued by the clerk who wrote it on
the passenger manifest page, by the person who indexed the entry for
whichever company placed the index online, or by the researcher,
herself. In addition, there may be other information on a manifest
that may provide more clues to community location. These could include
location of family member left behind, birth place of passenger,
country of origin, etc. These should be reviewed in light of
historical and political context at the time of emigration.

JewishGen, of course, provides ViewMate, a wonderful resource for
sharing images of records in question. It would be another good piece
of information if those posting town name questions would place an
image of the record online for all helpful JewishGen Discussion Group
participants to examine.

In addition, JewishGen has a nice write-up on "Finding Your Ancestral
Town." It should be required reading for those trying to pin down
family origins in the Old Country. Go to Get Started > Frequently
Asked Questions > 11. Finding Your Ancestral Town. The direct URL is
https://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/faq.html#Towns

Those who know my work also know that I have taken the above process
several steps further, suggesting that researchers check additional
records for an immigrant's family, friends, neighbors (and especially
landsman), that may provide information bearing on the questions at
hand. I also suggest researching origins of information found in some
of the most useful compiled works, such as the comprehensive
gazetteer, "Where Once We Walked." My most recent article on this
topic appeared in Avotaynu 32:3 (Fall 2016): "Beyond the Manifest:
Applying the Genealogical Proof Standard to Confirm One's Ancestral
Origins."

Genealogy is a research discipline. All of us, those new to the field
and those experienced, should push ourselves beyond only one record as
a source of information. If we select one location >from among several
possibilities, we need to understand and document the reasons we made
that decision. The question of one's family origin is to too important
a way-point in one's research to risk getting it wrong.

Emily Garber
Phoenix, AZ
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Where is "Reslawa", Russia? #general

Emily Garber
 

**Emily Garber wrote:
"Perhaps, after the JewishGen Discussion Group has posted several
alternative notions regarding the location of a place identified as
"Reslawa" in an emigrant's passenger manifest, it is time to talk
methodology.

"It is never good to rely on only one record to "prove" something
about one's ancestors. Consider each piece of evidence as a clue.
Search high and wide for other records."

**Alexander Sharon responded:
"It is always a good idea to talk about a methodology. But before one
has committed efforts to search through other documents, have anyone
review manifest record for the elusive town Reslawa."

If I understand Alex Sharon's comment correctly, we are in agreement.
My comment on methods for locating one's ancestral community did not
include a comprehensive list everything a researcher should consider.
I am glad Alex reminded us that we must squeeze as much information
out the manifest as we can.

Handwriting on manifests can be a challenge. It is possible that the
town name "Reslawa" had been misconstrued by the clerk who wrote it on
the passenger manifest page, by the person who indexed the entry for
whichever company placed the index online, or by the researcher,
herself. In addition, there may be other information on a manifest
that may provide more clues to community location. These could include
location of family member left behind, birth place of passenger,
country of origin, etc. These should be reviewed in light of
historical and political context at the time of emigration.

JewishGen, of course, provides ViewMate, a wonderful resource for
sharing images of records in question. It would be another good piece
of information if those posting town name questions would place an
image of the record online for all helpful JewishGen Discussion Group
participants to examine.

In addition, JewishGen has a nice write-up on "Finding Your Ancestral
Town." It should be required reading for those trying to pin down
family origins in the Old Country. Go to Get Started > Frequently
Asked Questions > 11. Finding Your Ancestral Town. The direct URL is
https://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/faq.html#Towns

Those who know my work also know that I have taken the above process
several steps further, suggesting that researchers check additional
records for an immigrant's family, friends, neighbors (and especially
landsman), that may provide information bearing on the questions at
hand. I also suggest researching origins of information found in some
of the most useful compiled works, such as the comprehensive
gazetteer, "Where Once We Walked." My most recent article on this
topic appeared in Avotaynu 32:3 (Fall 2016): "Beyond the Manifest:
Applying the Genealogical Proof Standard to Confirm One's Ancestral
Origins."

Genealogy is a research discipline. All of us, those new to the field
and those experienced, should push ourselves beyond only one record as
a source of information. If we select one location >from among several
possibilities, we need to understand and document the reasons we made
that decision. The question of one's family origin is to too important
a way-point in one's research to risk getting it wrong.

Emily Garber
Phoenix, AZ
42041 - 42060 of 656641