1. main@groups.jewishgen.org
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Two Cemeteries in Olka #hungary

melody gross <melody@...>
 

I just returned >from a visit to eastern Slovakia, mainly in and around
Stropkov. I stayed at the local hotel (no hot water, but a sizeable
discount) for five days, travelling around to small villages -- all the
ones that I had ever wanted to see -- Okruhle, Medzilaborce, Havaj,
Bardiov, Bardiov Kupele (of the famed "rusty water"), Mikova, Chotca, .....

I was especially interested in Olka, as my family had lived there before
they moved to Stropkov. I had studied the LDS death records before I left,
in preparation:

We drove east to Olka, Slovakia -- halfway between Hummene and Medzilaborce
-- where my family had lived some two hundred years ago. Records in the
LDS Library show that some Olkans were buried in Kriva Olka, a hamlet about
three kilometers to the south. It does not appear on current maps,
however, so we discovered it by instinct Today, Kriva Olka is all of
seven or eight farms, tucked in a valley surrounded by hills. Speaking to
the older folks there, we heard that is indeed a cemetery there -- or
there once was.

Adults who died in Olka were taken the ten kilometers to Stropkov for
burial. Stropkov, with her chevra kadisha was "mother" to her
"daughters", small villages with a small number of Jews among the
population. But poor Jewish families of Olka buried their babies and
children beside their homes, just over the hillside, not even marking the
graves with a stone.

Today, the cemetery lies within private fields, unattended, unmarked -- but
still remembered by the locals. Just writing about it makes me feel
better, a little closer to those people then.


After the disappontment of the Kriva Olka cemetery, we searched for the
Radvan cemetery which served that nearby, larger village. Again we
stopped, speaking to the older people, and were told that the Radvan
cemetery is out in the fields, "not too far." Two elderly women
accompanied us to the edge of the village, watching as we started out. We
followed directions, but could not see any tombstones in the distance. It
was nearing sunset.

We walked and walked -- carefully navigating muddy hoofprints and other
signs that cows leave behind them. We crossed brooks and scrambled over
and under fences along the way. All the while, it was getting darker; the
women whom we had left behind looked smaller and smaller on the horizon --
and still no cemetery in sight. One of us hurried ahead into the woods --
and disappeared, while the other circled around the other side. Each
called back and forth to the other, until the cemetery was finally located.
It was deep in the woods, far beyond the fields, on a very steep hill.
The gravestones were nearly inaccessible because of the slope. Many had
succumbed to gravity; many had been displaced by tall trees. Although
isolated and neglected, this cemetery was uncommonly beautiful and
peaceful. I would choose to spend eternity here.

On the walk back, with darkness approaching, we heard a train somewhere,
whistling forlornly into the night. How easy it was to imagine the trains
that had carried Jews to the camps. Then, like now, trains passed by tiny
hamlets scattered throughout the green meadows of rural Slovakia, hardly
noticed, hardly heard.


Melody Amsel Gross




















v
Hungary SIG #Hungary Two Cemeteries in Olka #hungary

melody gross <melody@...>
 

I just returned >from a visit to eastern Slovakia, mainly in and around
Stropkov. I stayed at the local hotel (no hot water, but a sizeable
discount) for five days, travelling around to small villages -- all the
ones that I had ever wanted to see -- Okruhle, Medzilaborce, Havaj,
Bardiov, Bardiov Kupele (of the famed "rusty water"), Mikova, Chotca, .....

I was especially interested in Olka, as my family had lived there before
they moved to Stropkov. I had studied the LDS death records before I left,
in preparation:

We drove east to Olka, Slovakia -- halfway between Hummene and Medzilaborce
-- where my family had lived some two hundred years ago. Records in the
LDS Library show that some Olkans were buried in Kriva Olka, a hamlet about
three kilometers to the south. It does not appear on current maps,
however, so we discovered it by instinct Today, Kriva Olka is all of
seven or eight farms, tucked in a valley surrounded by hills. Speaking to
the older folks there, we heard that is indeed a cemetery there -- or
there once was.

Adults who died in Olka were taken the ten kilometers to Stropkov for
burial. Stropkov, with her chevra kadisha was "mother" to her
"daughters", small villages with a small number of Jews among the
population. But poor Jewish families of Olka buried their babies and
children beside their homes, just over the hillside, not even marking the
graves with a stone.

Today, the cemetery lies within private fields, unattended, unmarked -- but
still remembered by the locals. Just writing about it makes me feel
better, a little closer to those people then.


After the disappontment of the Kriva Olka cemetery, we searched for the
Radvan cemetery which served that nearby, larger village. Again we
stopped, speaking to the older people, and were told that the Radvan
cemetery is out in the fields, "not too far." Two elderly women
accompanied us to the edge of the village, watching as we started out. We
followed directions, but could not see any tombstones in the distance. It
was nearing sunset.

We walked and walked -- carefully navigating muddy hoofprints and other
signs that cows leave behind them. We crossed brooks and scrambled over
and under fences along the way. All the while, it was getting darker; the
women whom we had left behind looked smaller and smaller on the horizon --
and still no cemetery in sight. One of us hurried ahead into the woods --
and disappeared, while the other circled around the other side. Each
called back and forth to the other, until the cemetery was finally located.
It was deep in the woods, far beyond the fields, on a very steep hill.
The gravestones were nearly inaccessible because of the slope. Many had
succumbed to gravity; many had been displaced by tall trees. Although
isolated and neglected, this cemetery was uncommonly beautiful and
peaceful. I would choose to spend eternity here.

On the walk back, with darkness approaching, we heard a train somewhere,
whistling forlornly into the night. How easy it was to imagine the trains
that had carried Jews to the camps. Then, like now, trains passed by tiny
hamlets scattered throughout the green meadows of rural Slovakia, hardly
noticed, hardly heard.


Melody Amsel Gross




















v
Yizkor Book Project update #yizkorbooks

JoyceField <jfield@...>
 

Time for another update. This one is a bit late because of the JG server
problems.

Despite summer vacations after the L.A. Seminar and insufficient htmlers to
process all the documents that were submitted >from June-August, we have put
some very extraordinary material on the Yizkor Book web site in August.
And the pipe line is very long, indeed, meaning that you will be treated to
a significant increase in yizkor documents online in the next few months.
You can now find the following recent additions:

*More material on Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine has been added. See it under
ARIM and Lists of Victims. Susannah Juni has created a beautiful web page
for the Hebrew tables of contents and Martin Kessel constructed a
handsome, easy to read format for the Lists of Victims culled >from the
Russian Commission which investigated war crimes.

*Sczuczyn, Poland: translation of the Yiddish part of HURBAN KEHILAT
SZCUCZYN. This translation, made many years ago, was in a typed
manuscript. Dr. Stone wished it to be on the yizkor book web site, but
until a friend came along to scan it and edit the names, this was an
impossibility. See this magnificent donation to our site. In addition,
the head of the landsmanschaft was so delighted that people were interested
in what happened to his shtetl that he contributed his own history of the
shtetl to our web site.

*Transnistra, Ukraine: reminiscences by Mendel Halpern. Now 88 years old,
Mendel Halpern wrote two stories in German about his life during the
Holocaust which his daughter translated and donated to us. We think you
will find these stories and his daughter's introduction very moving.

In a few weeks you will also see material--now in the html queue--on
Kybarti, Bobruisk, Gorodenka (Horodenka), Obertyn, Deliatyn, Berezhany,
Siemiatycze, Kozienice, Sadagura, and Dabrowa-Gornicza. We also have some
interesting database materials that are awaiting special treatment by the
database team. In fact, there is so much fascinating material coming in
that we anticipate an exceedingly busy fall and winter.

We have been receiving many compliments on the Translation Project. The
long manuscript on Popervale, for example, has elicited interest >from the
Latvia SIG. Compliments on SCZUCZYN and TRANSISTRA have already come in.
We do love to hear >from our readers, so keep the comments rolling in.

In order to process all the material in the pipe line, we published a
request a few weeks ago for volunteers to help us create web pages. The
response was so overwhelming that an online course has been designed to
train a cadre of volunteers to help the Yizkor Book Project, Shtetlinks,
and JewishGen. Watch for the announcement after Labor Day.

Also, on our web site we have a completely revised information packet
called PROCESS FOR DONATING TRANSLATIONS, which can be downloaded or
printed >from the web site. Please take the time to read this material
which explains the process in an easy to understand format.

After Labor Day an announcement will be made on the implementation of a
new procedure for funding translations. Look for it. We are going to make
it easy for you to donate funds to the Yizkor Book Project to translate
yizkor books.


Joyce Field
Translations Manager
Yizkor Book Project
Yizkor Books #YizkorBooks Yizkor Book Project update #yizkorbooks

JoyceField <jfield@...>
 

Time for another update. This one is a bit late because of the JG server
problems.

Despite summer vacations after the L.A. Seminar and insufficient htmlers to
process all the documents that were submitted >from June-August, we have put
some very extraordinary material on the Yizkor Book web site in August.
And the pipe line is very long, indeed, meaning that you will be treated to
a significant increase in yizkor documents online in the next few months.
You can now find the following recent additions:

*More material on Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine has been added. See it under
ARIM and Lists of Victims. Susannah Juni has created a beautiful web page
for the Hebrew tables of contents and Martin Kessel constructed a
handsome, easy to read format for the Lists of Victims culled >from the
Russian Commission which investigated war crimes.

*Sczuczyn, Poland: translation of the Yiddish part of HURBAN KEHILAT
SZCUCZYN. This translation, made many years ago, was in a typed
manuscript. Dr. Stone wished it to be on the yizkor book web site, but
until a friend came along to scan it and edit the names, this was an
impossibility. See this magnificent donation to our site. In addition,
the head of the landsmanschaft was so delighted that people were interested
in what happened to his shtetl that he contributed his own history of the
shtetl to our web site.

*Transnistra, Ukraine: reminiscences by Mendel Halpern. Now 88 years old,
Mendel Halpern wrote two stories in German about his life during the
Holocaust which his daughter translated and donated to us. We think you
will find these stories and his daughter's introduction very moving.

In a few weeks you will also see material--now in the html queue--on
Kybarti, Bobruisk, Gorodenka (Horodenka), Obertyn, Deliatyn, Berezhany,
Siemiatycze, Kozienice, Sadagura, and Dabrowa-Gornicza. We also have some
interesting database materials that are awaiting special treatment by the
database team. In fact, there is so much fascinating material coming in
that we anticipate an exceedingly busy fall and winter.

We have been receiving many compliments on the Translation Project. The
long manuscript on Popervale, for example, has elicited interest >from the
Latvia SIG. Compliments on SCZUCZYN and TRANSISTRA have already come in.
We do love to hear >from our readers, so keep the comments rolling in.

In order to process all the material in the pipe line, we published a
request a few weeks ago for volunteers to help us create web pages. The
response was so overwhelming that an online course has been designed to
train a cadre of volunteers to help the Yizkor Book Project, Shtetlinks,
and JewishGen. Watch for the announcement after Labor Day.

Also, on our web site we have a completely revised information packet
called PROCESS FOR DONATING TRANSLATIONS, which can be downloaded or
printed >from the web site. Please take the time to read this material
which explains the process in an easy to understand format.

After Labor Day an announcement will be made on the implementation of a
new procedure for funding translations. Look for it. We are going to make
it easy for you to donate funds to the Yizkor Book Project to translate
yizkor books.


Joyce Field
Translations Manager
Yizkor Book Project
Re: litvaksig digest: September 06, 1998 #lithuania

Adifbey@...
 

Fascinating! Thanks for the scholarly report.

Ed Goldstein ( Yes, a Litvak! )
Lithuania SIG #Lithuania Re: litvaksig digest: September 06, 1998 #lithuania

Adifbey@...
 

Fascinating! Thanks for the scholarly report.

Ed Goldstein ( Yes, a Litvak! )
Why no International Board Members? #lithuania

DBH12345
 

In a message dated 9/7/98 12:07:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
litvaksig@lyris.jewishgen.org writes:

<<
Subject: Board of Directors
From: Allan Freedman <freedman@pathcom.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 21:40:43 -0400 (EDT)
X-Message-Number: 5

Can someone explain to me why the nomination list for the Board of Directors
contains not one name of a non-resident of the United States.


>>

This is a good question because the LitvakSIG, while incorporated as a
nonprofit corporation in the US, is an international association, with
subscribers and dues paying members >from over twenty countries. The By Laws
of the LitvakSIG require that all Board Members hold positions which involve
the work of the SIG. Most positions require at least twenty hours a week, and
the Co-Coordinators averaged over 60 hours a week over the past 14 months. We
felt that the people who do the work should share in decision making.

Announcements of openings (with detailed job descriptions) were made
repeatedly over a two month period in the spring. Additional volunteers were
asked for at the annual meeting of the LitvakSIG at the Jewish Genealogy
Seminar in Los Angeles. This meeting was attended by about 300 people.

In addition, Davida and I invited and strongly encouraged active SIG members
from South Africa, Israel, Great Britain, Canada and other countries to
volunteer for one of the five elected and six appointed positions. We had
after all relied a great deal on Advisory Board members >from South Africa,
Scotland, England, and Israel for guidance through our first year of activity
as a SIG. While all of these people have agreed to serve on committees and
continue to serve as Advisors (should an Advisory Committee be reappointed by
the new Board of Directors), none wanted to serve on the Board. Their main
reasons were having prior commitments which would not allow enough time for
one of the Board jobs, and not being able to travel to the US to participate
in meetings at the Annual Seminar.

Please note that Idafay Mervis, of Cape Town, South Africa, has served from
the beginning -- and continues to serves as the LitvakSIG archivist.

One very important Board position remains open -- as our Webpage Manager.
Anyone with the technical skills which are required, anywhere in the world is
encouraged to apply for this position. Marion Werle has generously continued
to assist us, but has little time to spare >from her responsibilities as
President of the Latvia SIG. The website is going to develop rapidly, with a
lot of new material either ready or nearly ready to appear in the next few
weeks. Any volunteers? If you know someone who could do this, particularly
with experience and some graphic art skills, please help us recruit this
person who is so essential to our work.

David and Davida
Co-Coordinators, LitvakSIG
Lithuania SIG #Lithuania Why no International Board Members? #lithuania

DBH12345
 

In a message dated 9/7/98 12:07:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
litvaksig@lyris.jewishgen.org writes:

<<
Subject: Board of Directors
From: Allan Freedman <freedman@pathcom.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 21:40:43 -0400 (EDT)
X-Message-Number: 5

Can someone explain to me why the nomination list for the Board of Directors
contains not one name of a non-resident of the United States.


>>

This is a good question because the LitvakSIG, while incorporated as a
nonprofit corporation in the US, is an international association, with
subscribers and dues paying members >from over twenty countries. The By Laws
of the LitvakSIG require that all Board Members hold positions which involve
the work of the SIG. Most positions require at least twenty hours a week, and
the Co-Coordinators averaged over 60 hours a week over the past 14 months. We
felt that the people who do the work should share in decision making.

Announcements of openings (with detailed job descriptions) were made
repeatedly over a two month period in the spring. Additional volunteers were
asked for at the annual meeting of the LitvakSIG at the Jewish Genealogy
Seminar in Los Angeles. This meeting was attended by about 300 people.

In addition, Davida and I invited and strongly encouraged active SIG members
from South Africa, Israel, Great Britain, Canada and other countries to
volunteer for one of the five elected and six appointed positions. We had
after all relied a great deal on Advisory Board members >from South Africa,
Scotland, England, and Israel for guidance through our first year of activity
as a SIG. While all of these people have agreed to serve on committees and
continue to serve as Advisors (should an Advisory Committee be reappointed by
the new Board of Directors), none wanted to serve on the Board. Their main
reasons were having prior commitments which would not allow enough time for
one of the Board jobs, and not being able to travel to the US to participate
in meetings at the Annual Seminar.

Please note that Idafay Mervis, of Cape Town, South Africa, has served from
the beginning -- and continues to serves as the LitvakSIG archivist.

One very important Board position remains open -- as our Webpage Manager.
Anyone with the technical skills which are required, anywhere in the world is
encouraged to apply for this position. Marion Werle has generously continued
to assist us, but has little time to spare >from her responsibilities as
President of the Latvia SIG. The website is going to develop rapidly, with a
lot of new material either ready or nearly ready to appear in the next few
weeks. Any volunteers? If you know someone who could do this, particularly
with experience and some graphic art skills, please help us recruit this
person who is so essential to our work.

David and Davida
Co-Coordinators, LitvakSIG
Re: LDS help #hungary

Dennis Baer <dbaer@...>
 

Hello Georges

LDS refers to Latter Day Saints and that appears as another name for Mormons
who run many family history centers and have records on microfilm.

Dennis Baer

At 09:12 AM 9/7/98 +0200, you wrote:
Dear H-Sig friends,
And, an important question: do the LDS files cover the same material as
the Mormon files and if not, what are the differences?

Thanks,

Georges GRANER
___________________________________________________________
Hungary SIG #Hungary Re: LDS help #hungary

Dennis Baer <dbaer@...>
 

Hello Georges

LDS refers to Latter Day Saints and that appears as another name for Mormons
who run many family history centers and have records on microfilm.

Dennis Baer

At 09:12 AM 9/7/98 +0200, you wrote:
Dear H-Sig friends,
And, an important question: do the LDS files cover the same material as
the Mormon files and if not, what are the differences?

Thanks,

Georges GRANER
___________________________________________________________
Re: Two Cemeteries in Olka #hungary

Dennis Baer <dbaer@...>
 

Hello Melody

Thank you for writing your story. I enjoyed reading your story.

Dennis Baer

At 06:52 AM 9/7/98 +0300, you wrote:


I just returned >from a visit to eastern Slovakia, mainly in and around
Stropkov. I stayed at the local hotel (no hot water, but a sizeable
discount) for five days, travelling around to small villages -- all the
ones that I had ever wanted to see -- Okruhle, Medzilaborce, Havaj,
Bardiov, Bardiov Kupele (of the famed "rusty water"), Mikova, Chotca, .....
Hungary SIG #Hungary Re: Two Cemeteries in Olka #hungary

Dennis Baer <dbaer@...>
 

Hello Melody

Thank you for writing your story. I enjoyed reading your story.

Dennis Baer

At 06:52 AM 9/7/98 +0300, you wrote:


I just returned >from a visit to eastern Slovakia, mainly in and around
Stropkov. I stayed at the local hotel (no hot water, but a sizeable
discount) for five days, travelling around to small villages -- all the
ones that I had ever wanted to see -- Okruhle, Medzilaborce, Havaj,
Bardiov, Bardiov Kupele (of the famed "rusty water"), Mikova, Chotca, .....
Ukranian Research Institute #hungary

Margarita <uzidog@...>
 

Maybe of interest to the group.

A friend forwarded this to me:

http://www.sabre.org/huri/abbukr/

Table of contents:
- About the Coverage
The brief coverage below, drawn >from the ArcheoBiblioBase directory and
bibliographic database for Ukrainian archives, provides an abbreviated listing
of the six current national-level state archives under the Main Archival
Administration of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Secondly, it covers
oblast- and municipal-level archives in Kyiv and Lviv. Finally it lists the
two major library manuscript repositories under the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine.

- National Level State archives
- Oblast- and Municipal-Level State Archives
- Major Library Manuscript Repositories



Margarita Lackó
Belgrano
uzidog@post1.com
Hungary SIG #Hungary Ukranian Research Institute #hungary

Margarita <uzidog@...>
 

Maybe of interest to the group.

A friend forwarded this to me:

http://www.sabre.org/huri/abbukr/

Table of contents:
- About the Coverage
The brief coverage below, drawn >from the ArcheoBiblioBase directory and
bibliographic database for Ukrainian archives, provides an abbreviated listing
of the six current national-level state archives under the Main Archival
Administration of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Secondly, it covers
oblast- and municipal-level archives in Kyiv and Lviv. Finally it lists the
two major library manuscript repositories under the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine.

- National Level State archives
- Oblast- and Municipal-Level State Archives
- Major Library Manuscript Repositories



Margarita Lackó
Belgrano
uzidog@post1.com
Re: 1928 Zemplen Census #hungary

korman3@...
 

melody gross wrote:

If anyone has access to the 1928 Census for Zemplen, could you please check
if any people >from Stropkov appear? Do I understand correctly that this
census is a landowner's census, for tax purposes? So that means that any
other Jews in the town would be renting?
----------------
Do you actually mean the 1828 census? If so, it is a tax census. I have
used the ones for Ung and Nitra with some success. If your ancestor had
taxable property - including servants, animals and fuit bearing trees,
he should be listed at least by surname. In the Ung 1828 census, Jews
are listed as "Jud" and the surname. But with that I could place my
family in ancestral towns since my Bergida name is unusual.

Debbi
Hungary SIG #Hungary Re: 1928 Zemplen Census #hungary

korman3@...
 

melody gross wrote:

If anyone has access to the 1928 Census for Zemplen, could you please check
if any people >from Stropkov appear? Do I understand correctly that this
census is a landowner's census, for tax purposes? So that means that any
other Jews in the town would be renting?
----------------
Do you actually mean the 1828 census? If so, it is a tax census. I have
used the ones for Ung and Nitra with some success. If your ancestor had
taxable property - including servants, animals and fuit bearing trees,
he should be listed at least by surname. In the Ung 1828 census, Jews
are listed as "Jud" and the surname. But with that I could place my
family in ancestral towns since my Bergida name is unusual.

Debbi
Re: LDS help #hungary

korman3@...
 

Georges.Graner@lpma.u-psud.fr wrote:

Dear H-Sig friends,
It is not too easy to look for one's hungarian ancestors >from France,
since there are very few "colleagues" here. Nevertheless, I made many
discoveries through the Mormons' files which are rather easily accessible
in several places.
In your messages, I read often a reference to LDS files. Could somebody
tell me what are these files and where they can be found?
------------------

I think that most of our references to Mormon or LDS files are
references to the LDS microfilms or microfiche. You would get access to
these materials at the same places you have used before.

Debbi
Hungary SIG #Hungary Re: LDS help #hungary

korman3@...
 

Georges.Graner@lpma.u-psud.fr wrote:

Dear H-Sig friends,
It is not too easy to look for one's hungarian ancestors >from France,
since there are very few "colleagues" here. Nevertheless, I made many
discoveries through the Mormons' files which are rather easily accessible
in several places.
In your messages, I read often a reference to LDS files. Could somebody
tell me what are these files and where they can be found?
------------------

I think that most of our references to Mormon or LDS files are
references to the LDS microfilms or microfiche. You would get access to
these materials at the same places you have used before.

Debbi
WIMENITZ from Vitebsk #belarus

Hilmis@...
 

My Grandmother's maiden name was WIMENITZ. She grew up believing that her
family was the only Wimenitz's left. Through "switchboard.com" I found other
Wimenitz's. Their ancestors all came >from Vitebsk. One person said they came
from a town called ( I'll spell it how it sounds) Beshenkovitz.
All these people remember names of cousins, but no one seems to know how
they were cousins. Does anyone have any clue as where I am to begin my
search? I don't need to go back too far, only to the late 1800's.
These people I found were very excited to hear >from me. I would love to
find the "missing link" that would tie our families together. Any
suggestions?

Leslie Moser
Hilmis@aol.com
Belarus SIG #Belarus WIMENITZ from Vitebsk #belarus

Hilmis@...
 

My Grandmother's maiden name was WIMENITZ. She grew up believing that her
family was the only Wimenitz's left. Through "switchboard.com" I found other
Wimenitz's. Their ancestors all came >from Vitebsk. One person said they came
from a town called ( I'll spell it how it sounds) Beshenkovitz.
All these people remember names of cousins, but no one seems to know how
they were cousins. Does anyone have any clue as where I am to begin my
search? I don't need to go back too far, only to the late 1800's.
These people I found were very excited to hear >from me. I would love to
find the "missing link" that would tie our families together. Any
suggestions?

Leslie Moser
Hilmis@aol.com
653241 - 653260 of 657933