In the mid-1990s, when I first started to do research on the Latvian branch
of my family, the only options available for research were to hire a
professional researcher, and, somewhat later, to write directly to the
Latvian State Historical Archives (LSHA). JewishGen was in its infancy, and
was basically a mailing list. Records had not been digitized or indexed, and
it took months for the Archives to locate and translate them. I estimate
that I spent somewhere between $800 and $1200 on my Latvian family alone, at
prices which have only gone up since then.

I was also involved with the Latvia SIG >from its inception at the 1995
Washington, DC conference. I was an officer and volunteer during the early
years of the SIG, and worked very closely with Mike Getz during that time.
When my term was over, Arlene Beare assumed the presidency, and she worked
tirelessly to establish a relationship with the LSHA archivists. Even though
Arlene's term ended many years ago, work on the 1897 census project
continued in the background for many years, and its recent release marks the
culmination of her efforts. The terms of the agreement with the archives
stated that they would only include data on the heads of families and adult
children, and that if further research were needed, the JewishGen
subscribers could write to the LSHA for additional information.

Now that the database is available on JewishGen, there have been a number of
negative comments expressed on the Latvia SIG mailing list. In the first
place, it takes a huge amount of effort, both financial and otherwise, to
obtain, translate and reformat records so that they can be loaded into a
database, not to mention the ongoing costs of maintaining the JewishGen
servers and renting space in the co-location facilities that house them.

Unlike the Litvak SIG, which pools researchers into research groups after a
minimum (usually $100, renewable every few years) donation, the Latvia SIG
has never charged for databases. Whether this model is sustainable over the
long haul and whether it should be continued is certainly a legitimate issue
for debate; however, to demean Arlene's sponsorship of the 1897 census
project because it is somehow "not complete", is unfair.

I also disagree with the statement that "you either translate the entire
list or none of it." Any researcher who would take an abstract of a record
as authoritative, whether on JewishGen, a SIG or any other website, has not
done his or her due diligence as a genealogical researcher. At the very
least, I would always write to the originating source for a copy of the
record with a translation, and in the case of the LSHA, which continues to
accept individual research requests (unlike the Lithuanian State Historical
Archives, for instance, which no longer does so), I would also ask if there
are any other related records that are not available online, and happily pay
for the results of that query.

As a genealogical community, we have become lazy and expect indexed and
digitized records to fall into our lap for free. We happily pay for an
Ancestry.com membership, but don't bother to support the SIGs or JewishGen.
And then we have the nerve to complain about a project that we never
contributed to - what's wrong with this picture?

If people are truly concerned with the future of the Latvia SIG, by all
means, become more involved, but please, people, don't just sit back and
complain when you haven't made any effort either to make a donation or
volunteer your services.

Marion Werle
<werle@linkline.com>

In the mid-1990s, when I first started to do research on the Latvian branch
of my family, the only options available for research were to hire a
professional researcher, and, somewhat later, to write directly to the
Latvian State Historical Archives (LSHA). JewishGen was in its infancy, and
was basically a mailing list. Records had not been digitized or indexed, and
it took months for the Archives to locate and translate them. I estimate
that I spent somewhere between $800 and $1200 on my Latvian family alone, at
prices which have only gone up since then.

I was also involved with the Latvia SIG >from its inception at the 1995
Washington, DC conference. I was an officer and volunteer during the early
years of the SIG, and worked very closely with Mike Getz during that time.
When my term was over, Arlene Beare assumed the presidency, and she worked
tirelessly to establish a relationship with the LSHA archivists. Even though
Arlene's term ended many years ago, work on the 1897 census project
continued in the background for many years, and its recent release marks the
culmination of her efforts. The terms of the agreement with the archives
stated that they would only include data on the heads of families and adult
children, and that if further research were needed, the JewishGen
subscribers could write to the LSHA for additional information.

Now that the database is available on JewishGen, there have been a number of
negative comments expressed on the Latvia SIG mailing list. In the first
place, it takes a huge amount of effort, both financial and otherwise, to
obtain, translate and reformat records so that they can be loaded into a
database, not to mention the ongoing costs of maintaining the JewishGen
servers and renting space in the co-location facilities that house them.

Unlike the Litvak SIG, which pools researchers into research groups after a
minimum (usually $100, renewable every few years) donation, the Latvia SIG
has never charged for databases. Whether this model is sustainable over the
long haul and whether it should be continued is certainly a legitimate issue
for debate; however, to demean Arlene's sponsorship of the 1897 census
project because it is somehow "not complete", is unfair.

I also disagree with the statement that "you either translate the entire
list or none of it." Any researcher who would take an abstract of a record
as authoritative, whether on JewishGen, a SIG or any other website, has not
done his or her due diligence as a genealogical researcher. At the very
least, I would always write to the originating source for a copy of the
record with a translation, and in the case of the LSHA, which continues to
accept individual research requests (unlike the Lithuanian State Historical
Archives, for instance, which no longer does so), I would also ask if there
are any other related records that are not available online, and happily pay
for the results of that query.

As a genealogical community, we have become lazy and expect indexed and
digitized records to fall into our lap for free. We happily pay for an
Ancestry.com membership, but don't bother to support the SIGs or JewishGen.
And then we have the nerve to complain about a project that we never
contributed to - what's wrong with this picture?

If people are truly concerned with the future of the Latvia SIG, by all
means, become more involved, but please, people, don't just sit back and
complain when you haven't made any effort either to make a donation or
volunteer your services.

Marion Werle
<werle@linkline.com>

This information is found alphabetically listed on a Russian language
site at:

http://nameandglory.spb.ru/martirolog.php?&letter=3DC1E5

or

http://tinyurl.com/brhjuaf

The soldiers are >from throughout the USSR and other areas, including Latvia.

In addition to the alphabetical lists, there is a link to the Book of Memory of
the Latvian Association of Jewish Veterans.

It includes birth/death years, place of origin, position in the armed
services, some places of burial, where records are located. A search box
is available.

A few names are: Aizikovich, Beytler, Wang, Vapne, Vertlib, Guelman, Gutia, Bailey,
Bekerman, Belenkiy, Belkin, Belotserkovsky, Ber, Abramovich, Averbukh, Avrin, Agrainoff,
Eisenstadt, Axel, Axelrod, Allot, Vladovsky/Vlodavsky, Schneider, Darling, Miller, Milutin,
Zharovsky, Chudnovsky, et al.

Use an online translator such as Bing translator (http://www.microsofttranslator.com/) if needed.

Marilyn Robinson
Searching: YUDIN, ANSELOVICH
Florida

This information is found alphabetically listed on a Russian language
site at:

http://nameandglory.spb.ru/martirolog.php?&letter=3DC1E5

or

http://tinyurl.com/brhjuaf

The soldiers are >from throughout the USSR and other areas, including Latvia.

In addition to the alphabetical lists, there is a link to the Book of Memory of
the Latvian Association of Jewish Veterans.

It includes birth/death years, place of origin, position in the armed
services, some places of burial, where records are located. A search box
is available.

A few names are: Aizikovich, Beytler, Wang, Vapne, Vertlib, Guelman, Gutia, Bailey,
Bekerman, Belenkiy, Belkin, Belotserkovsky, Ber, Abramovich, Averbukh, Avrin, Agrainoff,
Eisenstadt, Axel, Axelrod, Allot, Vladovsky/Vlodavsky, Schneider, Darling, Miller, Milutin,
Zharovsky, Chudnovsky, et al.

Use an online translator such as Bing translator (http://www.microsofttranslator.com/) if needed.

Marilyn Robinson
Searching: YUDIN, ANSELOVICH
Florida

JewishGen's Hungarian Special Interest Group (H-SIG) is excited to
announce that more than 12,200 birth, marriage, and death records from
the former Hungarian county of Maramaros have just been released as
three new databases on JewishGen. This represents the first live
searchable data >from the Maramaros/Maramures Jewish Records Project
(www.MaramarosJewishRecords.com).

Maramaros megye (county) was located in far northeastern Hungary until
1920, but the territory is today split up between Zakarpattiya
(sub-Carpathian) oblast in southwestern Ukraine and Maramures judet
(county) in northern Romania. Because the official languages and
spellings used in the area have changed dramatically over time, as did
the borders, all of the town names in these databases include both
their original Hungarian town names and their modern-day Romanian or
Ukrainian town names, to make searching the data much easier.

These books were kept by rabbis in the Jewish community from
approximately 1851 until October 1895, at which time the Hungarian
government started keeping new civil records that recorded the events
of everyone in each town, regardless of their religion. A few of
these solely-Jewish record books continued being kept after 1895, but
only unofficially. And a few record books, not yet online, actually
date back to the late 18th Century, predating the Hungarian
government's requirements (and in some cases predating local Jews
having surnames).

These record books are today stored in a regional branch of the
Romanian National Archives in the city of Baia Mare, Maramures county,
Romania. Between 2009 and 2011, the books were digitally photographed
by a fabulous Romanian photographer and researcher named Dan Jurca,
who traveled to Baia Mare -- first on behalf of Maramaros researcher
Brooke Schreier Ganz and then on behalf of this newly-formed H-SIG
project -- to digitally photograph every surviving Jewish record book
stored at the archives, all 113 of them.

The photographs he took are being transcribed by a host of volunteers,
and these three new databases represent approximately one quarter of
the eventual record total -- more than 12,200 completed records out of
an eventual estimated 52,000 records. Given that each record has at
least three to six names in it (parents, spouses, the Sendak at each
Bris (!), witnesses, etc.), we think there will be about 200,000
indexed names when the project is eventually completed.

Because the borders of this area have changed so much over the past
century, there are even some records in these databases >from a few
towns that were formerly located in Szatmar (Satmar) megye, Hungary
but which are now located in Maramures county, Romania.

But unfortunately, most records for the towns >from the northwestern
part of Maramaros megye -- the areas in and near the city of Huszt
(now Khust, Ukraine) and westwards -- were not found in the Baia Mare
archives and therefore are not in this records set. We assume that
those records, if they still exist, are stored in one of the Ukrainian
archives.

You can search these three new Maramaros databases in their entirety

from JewishGen's Hungary Database, here:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary/

Furthermore, for the record books where the "town of registration" is
today in Ukraine, you can also search those as part of JewishGen's
Ukraine Database, and for the record books where the "town of
registration" is today in Romania, you can also search those as part
of JewishGen's Romania Database. But if you want to make sure you can
see all of the data, regardless of the town's modern location, use the
Hungary Database interface.

To see which towns and which years are included in this first release,
you can check out the data table here:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary/Maramaros.htm

That link also has a few sample photos of what the old record books look like.

Finally, for the most up-to-date project updates and listing of what
records survived >from which towns and which years, and which ones are
available for transcribers, or have a transcription in progress, or
have a transcription completed, the project's official website is
located here:

http://www.MaramarosJewishRecords.com/

Much thanks and gratitude go to our tireless volunteers who have
worked on these old records for quite a while now, and to the more
than thirty volunteers still working on indexing books at the moment.
(We're always looking for more volunteers, so if you like pretty
pictures of old vital records, feel free to join!) Thanks also go to
project co-coordinator Sandy Malek and to H-SIG leader Vivian Kahn for
their help and forbearance. And thanks also go to Romanian researcher
Dan Jurca for photographing all the records, to Budapest-based
researcher Beth Long for originally putting me in touch with Dan and
for all her good advice, to all the generous people who made donations
to the project's fund at JewishGen to help pay for the photography,
and to Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias and everyone at JewishGen for
helping to make this possible.


- Brooke Schreier Ganz
Los Angeles, California

JewishGen's Hungarian Special Interest Group (H-SIG) is excited to
announce that more than 12,200 birth, marriage, and death records from
the former Hungarian county of Maramaros have just been released as
three new databases on JewishGen. This represents the first live
searchable data >from the Maramaros/Maramures Jewish Records Project
(www.MaramarosJewishRecords.com).

Maramaros megye (county) was located in far northeastern Hungary until
1920, but the territory is today split up between Zakarpattiya
(sub-Carpathian) oblast in southwestern Ukraine and Maramures judet
(county) in northern Romania. Because the official languages and
spellings used in the area have changed dramatically over time, as did
the borders, all of the town names in these databases include both
their original Hungarian town names and their modern-day Romanian or
Ukrainian town names, to make searching the data much easier.

These books were kept by rabbis in the Jewish community from
approximately 1851 until October 1895, at which time the Hungarian
government started keeping new civil records that recorded the events
of everyone in each town, regardless of their religion. A few of
these solely-Jewish record books continued being kept after 1895, but
only unofficially. And a few record books, not yet online, actually
date back to the late 18th Century, predating the Hungarian
government's requirements (and in some cases predating local Jews
having surnames).

These record books are today stored in a regional branch of the
Romanian National Archives in the city of Baia Mare, Maramures county,
Romania. Between 2009 and 2011, the books were digitally photographed
by a fabulous Romanian photographer and researcher named Dan Jurca,
who traveled to Baia Mare -- first on behalf of Maramaros researcher
Brooke Schreier Ganz and then on behalf of this newly-formed H-SIG
project -- to digitally photograph every surviving Jewish record book
stored at the archives, all 113 of them.

The photographs he took are being transcribed by a host of volunteers,
and these three new databases represent approximately one quarter of
the eventual record total -- more than 12,200 completed records out of
an eventual estimated 52,000 records. Given that each record has at
least three to six names in it (parents, spouses, the Sendak at each
Bris (!), witnesses, etc.), we think there will be about 200,000
indexed names when the project is eventually completed.

Because the borders of this area have changed so much over the past
century, there are even some records in these databases >from a few
towns that were formerly located in Szatmar (Satmar) megye, Hungary
but which are now located in Maramures county, Romania.

But unfortunately, most records for the towns >from the northwestern
part of Maramaros megye -- the areas in and near the city of Huszt
(now Khust, Ukraine) and westwards -- were not found in the Baia Mare
archives and therefore are not in this records set. We assume that
those records, if they still exist, are stored in one of the Ukrainian
archives.

You can search these three new Maramaros databases in their entirety

from JewishGen's Hungary Database, here:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary/

Furthermore, for the record books where the "town of registration" is
today in Ukraine, you can also search those as part of JewishGen's
Ukraine Database, and for the record books where the "town of
registration" is today in Romania, you can also search those as part
of JewishGen's Romania Database. But if you want to make sure you can
see all of the data, regardless of the town's modern location, use the
Hungary Database interface.

To see which towns and which years are included in this first release,
you can check out the data table here:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary/Maramaros.htm

That link also has a few sample photos of what the old record books look like.

Finally, for the most up-to-date project updates and listing of what
records survived >from which towns and which years, and which ones are
available for transcribers, or have a transcription in progress, or
have a transcription completed, the project's official website is
located here:

http://www.MaramarosJewishRecords.com/

Much thanks and gratitude go to our tireless volunteers who have
worked on these old records for quite a while now, and to the more
than thirty volunteers still working on indexing books at the moment.
(We're always looking for more volunteers, so if you like pretty
pictures of old vital records, feel free to join!) Thanks also go to
project co-coordinator Sandy Malek and to H-SIG leader Vivian Kahn for
their help and forbearance. And thanks also go to Romanian researcher
Dan Jurca for photographing all the records, to Budapest-based
researcher Beth Long for originally putting me in touch with Dan and
for all her good advice, to all the generous people who made donations
to the project's fund at JewishGen to help pay for the photography,
and to Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias and everyone at JewishGen for
helping to make this possible.


- Brooke Schreier Ganz
Los Angeles, California

This information is found alphabetically listed on a Russian language site at: http://nameandglory.spb.ru/martirolog.php?&letter=%C1%E5 or http://tinyurl.com/brhjuaf The soldiers are >from throughout the USSR and other areas, including Ukraine and Belarus

It includes birth/death years, place of origin, position in the armed services, some places of burial, where records are located. A search box is available.

A few names are: BAILEY, BEKERMAN, BELENKIY, BELKIN, BELOTSERKOVSKY, BER, ABRAMOVICH, AVERBUKH, AVRIN, AGRAINOFF, EISENSTADT, AXEL, AXELROD, ALLOT, VLADOVSKY/VLODAVSKY, SCHNEIDER, DARLING, MILLER, MILUTIN, ZHAROVSKY, CHUDNOVSKY, et al.

Use an online translator such as Bing translator
(http://www.microsofttranslator.com/) if needed.

Marilyn Robinson
Florida

This information is found alphabetically listed on a Russian language site at: http://nameandglory.spb.ru/martirolog.php?&letter=%C1%E5 or http://tinyurl.com/brhjuaf The soldiers are >from throughout the USSR and other areas, including Ukraine and Belarus

It includes birth/death years, place of origin, position in the armed services, some places of burial, where records are located. A search box is available.

A few names are: BAILEY, BEKERMAN, BELENKIY, BELKIN, BELOTSERKOVSKY, BER, ABRAMOVICH, AVERBUKH, AVRIN, AGRAINOFF, EISENSTADT, AXEL, AXELROD, ALLOT, VLADOVSKY/VLODAVSKY, SCHNEIDER, DARLING, MILLER, MILUTIN, ZHAROVSKY, CHUDNOVSKY, et al.

Use an online translator such as Bing translator
(http://www.microsofttranslator.com/) if needed.

Marilyn Robinson
Florida

This information is available in alphabetical order on a Russian language site at: http://saratov.rusarchives.ru/bd/evak/ or http://tinyurl.com/6wpvyld.
It includes both Jews & non-Jews, birth year, nationality, employment, where evacuated from, family composition, etc. The individuals are >from throughout the USSR.

A few names are: AIZIN Leiba Kuselev, ALTSHULLER, Haha Hatskilev, BLUMER Mendel & Jacob, ROSINSKIY Faith Ezra, KAGAN, LEVIN, EDELMAN, et al.

This information is available in alphabetical order on a Russian language site at: http://saratov.rusarchives.ru/bd/evak/ or http://tinyurl.com/6wpvyld.
It includes both Jews & non-Jews, birth year, nationality, employment, where evacuated from, family composition, etc. The individuals are >from throughout the USSR.

A few names are: AIZIN Leiba Kuselev, ALTSHULLER, Haha Hatskilev, BLUMER Mendel & Jacob, ROSINSKIY Faith Ezra, KAGAN, LEVIN, EDELMAN, et al.

Looking for information on Rabbi Daniel David WEINBERG or also
know as Rabbi David Weinberg who was a Rabbi in Wolbrom and Ger.
The time period is late 19th early 20th Century

Hadassah Lipsius
Kew Gardens Hill , NY

Looking for information on Rabbi Daniel David WEINBERG or also
know as Rabbi David Weinberg who was a Rabbi in Wolbrom and Ger.
The time period is late 19th early 20th Century

Hadassah Lipsius
Kew Gardens Hill , NY

I recently found out my g g g grandfather was born in Damascus, Syria and
was named Heyman GOLDENBERG born c. 1820. He was married to Marhaba AFIA,
also born in Damascus around the same time. Their daughter Rosa b. 1855
was married to Elie ATTIE, both born in Damascus.

If anyone knows anything about these families, pls let me know
Thank you,
Miriam Kairey

I am researching the following families, all >from Syria:

KAIREY,ATTIE,TAWIL,SASSON,SITT,DWEK,BIJO/BIGIO,ADES,HARARI,MATALON

I recently found out my g g g grandfather was born in Damascus, Syria and
was named Heyman GOLDENBERG born c. 1820. He was married to Marhaba AFIA,
also born in Damascus around the same time. Their daughter Rosa b. 1855
was married to Elie ATTIE, both born in Damascus.

If anyone knows anything about these families, pls let me know
Thank you,
Miriam Kairey

I am researching the following families, all >from Syria:

KAIREY,ATTIE,TAWIL,SASSON,SITT,DWEK,BIJO/BIGIO,ADES,HARARI,MATALON

A recent message to the Sub-Carpathia discussion list inquired about where to
look for records >from Munkacs. Although it has been difficult obtaining records

from Munkacs, now Mukacheve, and other places in this part of presentday Ukraine,

some researchers may not realize is that many of the available records for
people >from the area called Sub-Carpathia, are searchable >from the JewishGen
Hungary Database http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary

Sub-Carpathia was part of Czechoslovakia between the world wars and later part
of the Soviet Union. Before the end of WWI, and for many centuries before
then, area was part of Hungary. Researchers looking for records >from Munkacs,
Beregszasz (Berehove), or other places in this corner of Ukraine, may,therefore,
find useful information in the JewishGen Hungary Database Searching on Town
Sounds Like Munkacs will, for example, bring up 4,735 references to Munkacs in
birth, marriage, and death records; census records; burial records; and various
Holocaust lists. One of the largest sets of records includes 1520 burials >from
the Munkacs Old Cemetery, which are also searchable >from JewishGen's Online
Worldwide Burial Registry. There are also some records >from Munkacs on the
Hungarian SIG website at http://www.jewishgen.org/Hungary/Data.htm under Bereg
County.

Vivian Kahn, Oakland, California
JewishGen Hungarian SIG Coordinator

A recent message to the Sub-Carpathia discussion list inquired about where to
look for records >from Munkacs. Although it has been difficult obtaining records

from Munkacs, now Mukacheve, and other places in this part of presentday Ukraine,

some researchers may not realize is that many of the available records for
people >from the area called Sub-Carpathia, are searchable >from the JewishGen
Hungary Database http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary

Sub-Carpathia was part of Czechoslovakia between the world wars and later part
of the Soviet Union. Before the end of WWI, and for many centuries before
then, area was part of Hungary. Researchers looking for records >from Munkacs,
Beregszasz (Berehove), or other places in this corner of Ukraine, may,therefore,
find useful information in the JewishGen Hungary Database Searching on Town
Sounds Like Munkacs will, for example, bring up 4,735 references to Munkacs in
birth, marriage, and death records; census records; burial records; and various
Holocaust lists. One of the largest sets of records includes 1520 burials >from
the Munkacs Old Cemetery, which are also searchable >from JewishGen's Online
Worldwide Burial Registry. There are also some records >from Munkacs on the
Hungarian SIG website at http://www.jewishgen.org/Hungary/Data.htm under Bereg
County.

Vivian Kahn, Oakland, California
JewishGen Hungarian SIG Coordinator

I am writing this message is in response to Carola Murray-Seegert who is
looking for information about Russian relatives, and I thought that my
experience may be relevant to her and to others.

For several years I had been looking for information about my great uncle,
Dr. Abraham Ber Leib Kahn (known as Dr. Boris L Kagan in Russia) and I hadn't
been able to find anything. I was told by relatives that he was a prominent,
much loved physician in Voskresensk and he died there in 1912 at the age of
42, after he contracted typhus >from a patient. He also worked at the Sydenham
Hospital in NYC >from 1908 to 1910, but I wasn't able to find out anything >from
his time there because the records seem to have been destroyed.

Last year I had the idea to ask someone who spoke Russian if they could look
his name up on the Net. I was hoping to find out if the hospital he established
there still exists. Not only did I find out that it exists, but I discovered
that last October they unveiled a plaque to his memory. Imagine my surprise
to find out that he is still remembered there. Then I discovered that it is
not too difficult to do a search using Google translate. You can find sites,
and it will do the translation. It takes patience, and it's not perfect, but
you can find out quite a bit of information.

Following that, I decided to get a Russian translator to help me. On one of
the sites that we found, she was able to get in touch with the town historian,
who was very interested in my great uncle's story. He sent me wonderful photos
of my uncle, his grave, and his wife and children and we have exchanged
information. The tombstone was destroyed at some point, and we are hoping now
to get it restored. The story is told that Abraham (Boris) contracted typhus
after he found a sick woman on the street and carried her to his hospital.

So because of basic research on the Net, I was able to find wonderful
information about my great uncle. It may not be of use to everyone, but
don't forget Google and Google translate. Good luck to you all in your research.

Jo Ann Goldwater
Montreal, Canada

Researching
GOLDWASSER in Akmene, Zagare, Riga, KAGAN in Zagare, Riga, Moscow,
Voskresensk ABRAHAMS in Zagare BASKIN, in Akmene, Zagare

I am writing this message is in response to Carola Murray-Seegert who is
looking for information about Russian relatives, and I thought that my
experience may be relevant to her and to others.

For several years I had been looking for information about my great uncle,
Dr. Abraham Ber Leib Kahn (known as Dr. Boris L Kagan in Russia) and I hadn't
been able to find anything. I was told by relatives that he was a prominent,
much loved physician in Voskresensk and he died there in 1912 at the age of
42, after he contracted typhus >from a patient. He also worked at the Sydenham
Hospital in NYC >from 1908 to 1910, but I wasn't able to find out anything >from
his time there because the records seem to have been destroyed.

Last year I had the idea to ask someone who spoke Russian if they could look
his name up on the Net. I was hoping to find out if the hospital he established
there still exists. Not only did I find out that it exists, but I discovered
that last October they unveiled a plaque to his memory. Imagine my surprise
to find out that he is still remembered there. Then I discovered that it is
not too difficult to do a search using Google translate. You can find sites,
and it will do the translation. It takes patience, and it's not perfect, but
you can find out quite a bit of information.

Following that, I decided to get a Russian translator to help me. On one of
the sites that we found, she was able to get in touch with the town historian,
who was very interested in my great uncle's story. He sent me wonderful photos
of my uncle, his grave, and his wife and children and we have exchanged
information. The tombstone was destroyed at some point, and we are hoping now
to get it restored. The story is told that Abraham (Boris) contracted typhus
after he found a sick woman on the street and carried her to his hospital.

So because of basic research on the Net, I was able to find wonderful
information about my great uncle. It may not be of use to everyone, but
don't forget Google and Google translate. Good luck to you all in your research.

Jo Ann Goldwater
Montreal, Canada

Researching
GOLDWASSER in Akmene, Zagare, Riga, KAGAN in Zagare, Riga, Moscow,
Voskresensk ABRAHAMS in Zagare BASKIN, in Akmene, Zagare

Many of us in the US are familiar with City Directories--the listings of
people who paid to be included for their business and residence before
telephones and telephone directories. These have been useful in locating
family in an earlier time. It is a way to find where people lived between
censuses. Other countries had different types of directories that provided
similar information.

The National Library of Scotland digitized the Scottish Post Office
directories >from 1773 to 1911. Using these directories one can research the
family, trade and town history. You can search by place, year and
resident's name. As censuses are performed every 10 years this gives
information between the censuses--and the directories start before the
censuses began in 1841. To view the Scottish Postal Directories go to:
http://digital.nls.uk/directories/index.html

You might also find of interest other digitized collections of the National
Library of Scotland--including World War I official photographs and WWI
experiences and more. To see which collections are available go to:
http://digital.nls.uk/gallery.cfm

Thank you to Dick Eastman and the Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter for
alerting us to the digitized Scottish Post Office directories.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Looking at the passenger lists I found my great grandfather's sister (or
so I think) but on the list it shows here as coming >from Zedich, Poland.
She is arriving in New York >from Hamburg in September 1892. The handwriting
is clear as day on this passenger list (for a change) so there is no
question what was written down.

Is there such a place as Zedich in Poland? Or could this be Zidikai which
is in modern day Lithuania?

Thanks

Allan Jordan