1. main@groups.jewishgen.org
  2. Messages
   Date   
Re: issues of DNA privacy #dna

Mashiach L. Bjorklund
 

Judy,
To be honest, there is no guarantee of absolute privacy with a DNA test. All you can do is add levels of anonymity to your test results. Examples: Do not use an identifiable name. Do not attach your DNA results to a tree. Do not make your ethnicity results publicly available. Beyond those simple actions there is not much you can do.

If someone shows up as a DNA relative to me, even with all the above in place, there are enough of my relatives who have taken tests for me use the "genetic distances" of the unknown person to them and me, to allow me to calculate with relative accuracy who they are.

In fact, recently second cousin took a test. They pretty much had done all of the above. Within an hour I was looking at their Facebook profile and pictures of their family. Coincidentally, their Facebook page had a post where they said they had just taken an ancestry DNA test and they posted their ethnicity results.

Probably the best approach is to share with the individual you want to take the test what you have done and discovered already through your test. Perhaps you can convince them to take a leap of faith and try to discover more about your shared family history.

Mash Bjorklund
Clearwater, FL
Yiddish surnames related to 'Morrison' #ukraine #names

Michele Lock
 

I have located the 1920 New York City marriage record for a great aunt who was born in Ukraine (in or near Odessa), in about 1900. In the record she lists her mother's maiden name as 'Morrison', which I am certain is the Americanized form of the original Yiddish surname. My question is - what might the original name have been? I know that here in the US, 'Morris' was often chosen for a man whose Hebrew/Yiddish name was Moshe/Mausha/Movsha, so I am thinking the surname may have been a variant of 'son of Moshe', such as Moskowitz, Moiseev, and so on. What other options might there be for 'Morrison'?

Michele Lock
Alexandria, VA

searching for:
Lak/Lack/Lock and Kalon/Kolon in Zagare/Joniskis/Gruzdziaia, Lithuania
Leybman/Leapman/Lipman in Dotnuva, Lithuania
Kalmonowitz in Minsk Gubernia, Belarus
Olitsky in Alytus/Suwalki/Lithuania-Poland
Gutman in Czestokowa, Poland
Kagan/Kogan in Odessa, Ukraine
Re: How to find UKRAINE birth and marriage records #ukraine #records #russia

Gary Pokrassa
 

Alan - there are index files available on Alex K wikis for Odessa but only from 1903-1919.....I don't see anything else on his site...the JG database does have the 1895 revision list online again not the period you need

sorry I cant find anything more on point for you
Gary Pokrassa
gpokrassa@...
Data Acquisition Director
Ukraine Research Division
JewishGen.org
Re: Need suggestions for how to search for misspelled family names #records

Mashiach L. Bjorklund
 

Wildcard searching

It’s important to remember that names are often misspelled or mis-transcribed, so doing “fuzzy” searching on names can often help you find a good match, even though the name may look wrong. In the name and keyword fields, you can do extremely fuzzy searches by using wildcards. Wildcards are special symbols (the asterisk "*" and the question mark "?") that are used in searching to represent some number of unknown letters in a word. Wildcards can be effective search tools if you are searching for words or names with alternate spellings:

An asterisk "*" represents zero or more characters (e.g., a search for "john*" might return "john, johnson, johnsen, johnathon, johns", etc.).

  • Any use of the asterisk requires at least two non-wildcard characters (you cannot search for "S*", but could use "Sm*").
  • A single character is represented by question mark "?" (e.g., "Sm?th" equals both "Smith" and Smyth").

I clipped that from Ancestry.com. It's a good description of how to use wild card searching.

It also helps to understand soundex and how the database you are using applies it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex

If you have an Ancestry.com account try this link: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Searching-with-Soundex

Mash Bjorklund
Clearwater, FL
Re: Goldkranc in Brzeziny #poland #records

Sherri Bobish
 


Relly,

Other options for finding names of parents of the original immigrants:

Circa 1910 passenger manifests for the U.S. listed not only the person the immigrant was bound for, but also closest relative left behind.  In both cases the person listed may be a parent.

Various U.S. vital records for the original immigrants may list parents names.

Original Social Security Applications (SS5) listed parents names.  Ancestry has a database of transcriptions of some of these.

Regards,

Sherri Bobish
Re: Yiddush to English from Holocaust Survivors #yiddish #galicia #holocaust #photographs

Sherri Bobish
 


Deborah,

Do you mean Tarnobrzeg?
https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=-532659

There are records for Tarnobrzeg at:
https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Poland/

Regards,

Sherri Bobish
Re: My family MANN/LICHTENSTEIN from Perleberg #names #germany

Sherri Bobish
 


Katja,

Try:  https://www.familysearch.org/search/
They seem to have some records from Perleberg.

Regards,

Sherri Bobish
Re: Need suggestions for how to search for misspelled family names #records

Sherri Bobish
 


Nancy,

Many databases allow a soundex (sounds like) search on surnames, some allow a soundex search on first names as well,

If the surname was totally mangled (either in the original document or the index) a search by first name with many parameters included can work in some instances, like FamilySearch or Ancestry. Of course, that assumes that the first name wasn't mangled as well.

For example, search first name only, and include range of possible birth year, country of birth, or state of birth, and also residence (state, if U.S.) at the time frame you are searching.  In FamilySearch & Ancestry you can put in first names (without surname) of husband / wife / children.

Check out Steve Morse's website for portals to many databases:  https://stevemorse.org/

Regards,

Sherri Bobish
Re: Translation from Russian needed #translation

David Mason
 

These are references to articles/books about Babi Yar:

 

"Memory of Babi Yar.  Book of Martyrs"  / Author V. A. Zgursky.  Kiev: newspaper "Moment of silence" and "Young Guards" 1991, page 862.

Articles about Valentin Arsentievich Zgursky (2/9/1927 - 10/24/2014), Mayor of Kiev 1979-1990

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/28/world/soviet-voters-deal-humiliating-blow-to-party-officials.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentyn_Zghursky

Longer article in Russian:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B3%D1%83%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%90%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87

 

"Babi Yar: Book of Memories"/Author I. M. Levitas 2005, page 250.

Levitas, Ilya Mikhailovich 12/11/1931 (Tashkent) - 8/3/2014 (Kiev).  Historian, journalist, teacher.  Author of works on Jewish history in Ukraine, especially WWII.    More than 220 publications.

Quote: "The main thing was victory.  We have to live tragically all our lives.  We Jews are heroic people.  We fought together with everyone and not apart."

http://www.jewukr.org/biograf/levitas_e.html

http://babynyar.gov.ua/en/memory-imlevitas

https://babynyar.org/en/news/1727

 

-David Mason, Culver City, California.

 

 
Re: How to find UKRAINE birth and marriage records #ukraine #records #russia

Alana Shindler
 

Are there birth and marriage records for Odessa going back to 1830's to 1881? I can't seem to find many.  My grandfather, his parents and siblings left Odessa from 1881-1885 for New York.  I'd love to find family records from Odessa. Oldest known ancestor is Anshel Bronstein, father of Isaac Bronstein. Isaac was b.1837, Isaac and Tzvia Mirel's ("Mary" in USA) children born in Odessa from 1860-1878 include Victoria, Fanny, Emma, Jacob, Mollie, Abi, Abraham, and William. Lillian born in the USA.  I'm open to hiring a researcher in Ukraine.

Thanks,
Alana Shindler
BRONSTEIN/BRAUNSTEIN/BRANSTEN/BROWNSTEIN, BERSHAD/BERSHATSKY/BERSHADSKY, TSHOGEL, SCHINDLER/SVINDLER, KAHAN/COHEN
Seeking descendants of Cila/Cirla IGEL (married name FENIG) #ukraine

Jeff Lieberman
 

I have a 1920 photo postcard with a handwritten greeting from Cila/Cirla IGEL (my grandfather's niece from the family that adopted him) that I'd like to share with any descendants of her family. Cila was born in 1899 in Mosty Wielkie, Galicia (30 miles north of Lviv). Her parents were Isak David IGEL and Ryfke FRIEDEL. Her maternal grandparents were Hersch FRIEDEL and Perl SPRING of Lubella and Zolkiew. She had a number of brothers and sisters. In 1929, Cila married Anselm FENIG in Mosty Wielkie. Anselm was born in 1898 in Zolkiew. His parents were Hersch Chaim FENIG and Deborah SOBEL. I believe that Cila and most of her family were killed in the Holocaust.

Is any of this information familiar to anyone?

Jeff Lieberman
Do you know this location? #lithuania

Richard Stower
 

On my grandfather-in-law’s naturalization form he lists “Gizejikanis” as his birthplace. Could someone tell me where this is located? My guess is that it around Kaunas/Kovno Lithuania because that is what he entered as being the last place he lived before coming to America.

Thank you.

Richard Stower
Yarmouth, Maine
Re: Goldkranc in Brzeziny #poland #records

Relly coleman
 

Does it cost $180-$200 for the offline data of each town/village? 
Is there a global amount that allows access to a number of offline towns?
Thanks,
Relly Coleman
Re: towns with researchers as listed on JGFF-correction #belarus

Alexander Sharon
 

les evenchick <levenchick@...>
06/19/1999   

There are lots of problems with town names on JGFF - one is requested to use
current name as listed in a standard cartography publication at least this
was the practice when I signed up.
______________________________________________________________

"Lots of problems"?
If you really have an issue with town names changes, you should express you grievances to the Belarus government and USA military who sponsors US BGN.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Correct (modern) town names are listed in JewishGen Gazetteer at

https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/gazetteer/gazetteer.php

 Dzyarzhynsk, Koydanava, Dzerjinsk, Koydanovo, Dzerzhinsk, Kaiden, Kaydanovo populated place 53°41' N 27°08' E G Belarus 23.2 miles SW of Minsk 53°54' N 27°34' E

If you click on JewishGen icon shown on the left side on the town name you will learn that town was know last time as Koidanovo in 1932 and was renamed in Dzerzhinsk (in Russian).
It was again changed to Belarussian sounding Dzyarzhynsk, when recently all Russian sounding towns names have been "nationalized".

Alexander Sharon
JGFF editor
Re: US Visa applications circa 1948? Do copies exist? #records #usa

Alec Ferretti <al13fe26@...>
 

Visa files were started in 1924, as their own file series, and as of 1944, were rolled over into the newly-created A File series (Alien files).  Both are held by USCIS as part of their Genealogy Program.  However, the only visas that were supposed to be saved were those for permanent residents, and A files were only created for immigrants, not visitors.  It sounds like this woman was coming on a tourist visa, in which case, it is extremely unlikely that the visa would exist today.  If she actually immigrated, but then returned to her home country after the fact, it is quite possible the visa (and the A File) still exist, although technically it shouldn't, because she later left the US for good.  I have a relative who immigrated in about 1960 from Malta, and then returned to Malta a few years later.  INS (now USCIS) never purged her A File, so I was able to get copies.  The file number for the visa on the manifest is of no use to genealogists, because that number was created by the state department and does not cross reference any file.  In order to order a visa file from USCIS, one needs the visa number that they created, which can only be determined by ordering a USCIS index search.  Because visas after 1944 were filed within an A File, you do not need the visa number to obtain that record, should it exist, but you would need the A number, which also can be obtained via a USCIS index search.  This number is sometimes present on naturalization documents, or within ancestors' personal effects, but it seems exceedingly likely that in the case of this woman, her number would only be able to be found by conducting a USCIS index search.  Furthermore, I am skeptical that such a number or file even exists in her case, because as I had said, I suspect that she was not here on an immigrant visa, but instead a tourist visa.  

The only thing you can do to figure this out is to order an index search for $65, and then if they find an A file, you can order the A file for another $65, however to complicate matters is the fact that USCIS is in the midst of a fee increase, which will take effect at the end of this week, so the index search will cost $160, and the A file retrieval will cost about $300.  However, there is pending litigation that might result in a Federal Court enjoining the institution of these fees, meaning that the increase will be delayed or perhaps some day canceled. 

It is also possible that any given A File that is for a person born more than 100 years ago is at the National Archives in Kansas City.  You can search the NARA catalog for the immigrants' name to check.  While they have a few million, most are still with USCIS.  If they were to have an A File, you can order copies from them for a much lower fee, or even visit yourself (when they're open again) and look at the original documents.  

The A File, should it exist, will have a ton of information, including photos, her birth certificate, and likely pages of other documentation.

Alec Ferretti
Re: How to find UKRAINE birth and marriage records #ukraine #records #russia

Gary Pokrassa
 

response to Bonnie Gould

This is in the Skyvra district in the Kyiv province before WW I
there are few metric records or Revision lists translated and online for Ruzhyn.   However there are several revision lists posted by Alex Krakovsky 

1875:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1875_рік._Перепис_євреїв_Сквирського_повіту_містечка_Ружин_та_інших.pdf. no town detail avaialble
1850: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1850_год._Ревизская_сказка_христиан_и_евреев_Сквирского_уезда.pdf.   Ruzhyn starts on p512
1858: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1858_год._Ревизская_сказка_евреев_Сквирского_уезда.pdf Ruzhyn starts p311
1795: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ДАВіО_521-3-35._1795_рік._Ревізькі_казки_євреїв_Сквирського_повіту.pdf. Ruzhyn is found at p 62-81, 149-156

again if you are feeling adventurous you can use the Steve Morse website above to create your family surname in Russian Cyrillic and then compare
Gary Pokrassa
gpokrassa@...
Data Acquisition Director
Ukraine Research Division
JewishGen.org
Re: Need suggestions for how to search for misspelled family names #records

Robert Hanna
 

Be prepared.  This can be a Herculean task.  I have gone so far as to check for just first names.  I have found the name "Karasik" spelled "Caress" and "Harasik."  I have found the name "Tillie" spelled "Fellie."  And many other variations of names.  Post the names you are looking for at the bottom of all your messages.  Someone may help you.  You have to use your imagination.  Keep searching and happy hunting.

Robert Hanna
NYC

Searching:  Chanan, Hanan, Hanna, Hanne, Heine, Hiney, Blumenblat, Karasik, Thomashow, Cohen, Rubinstein, Bunderoff, Pastilnik, Nemoyten, Diskin, and variations of all.
Re: How to find UKRAINE birth and marriage records #ukraine #records #russia

Gary Pokrassa
 

response to Toby Glickman

Fairy tale is the unfortunate and laughable translation by Google for a Revision List.  So a fairy tale in our context is actually quite valuable

There are no translations for Dubno revision lists at this time ....but if you are adventurous and persistent you can use the Steve Morse website I laid out in my posting yesterday to create your family surname in Cyrillic cursive.  Refer to the revision lists in that posting - Dubno starts on p1 in the 1850 RL and in the 1865 supplemental starting on pages 72, 190, and Gary Pokrassa
gpokrassa@...
Data Acquisition Director
Ukraine Research Division
JewishGen.org
Re: US Visa applications circa 1948? Do copies exist? #records #usa

Marian
 

Hello Allan,

Your question begins saying the person came to the US in 1948 "for a visit."  This may be the factor determining the answer.

US visas (as documents) date from 1924 and include both immigrant (permanent) visas and NONimmigrant (temporary) visas.  The immigrant/permanent records are for those admitted as immigrants to live permanently in the US.  The NONimmigrant visas are for those admitted temporarily, such as "visitors for business or pleasure."  And while we see the records of many NONimmigrants in the passenger lists and passenger arrival records on microfilm and digitized online, records beyond the manifests (like visas) followed a general records management rule:  Records of permanent admissions are permanent, records of temporary admissions are temporary (destroyed).

What this means is that when a visitor arrived in 1948 they were documented (by INS) at least on an I-94 showing nonimmigrant admission (usually 3 to 6 months, and could be extended).  When the visitor departed, the arrival and departure records were married up to verify departure/compliance.  The records might be microfilmed before destruction, or may have just been destroyed.  Temporary records.  

Any arrivals that had no departure record by the date they were required to leave became an "overstay" illegally in the US.  That record was retained long enough to locate the overstay and arrest/deport them.  If it came to that, since 1944, everything would go into an A-file.  

Any records of the NONimmigrant visa application process would have been generated/collected by the Department of State. I know some researchers have been having some luck searching visa issuance matters in DOS Consular records at NARA in College Park, MD, but I'm not sure those records are available for the post-WW II and later era. 

Not a complete answer to all your questions but I hope it helps a little,

Marian Smith
Re: Help with translation of birth record #translation

NTalbot
 

Dear Laurent,
Thank you so much for this translation--it will help me in researching this family branch. Kind regards,
Nina Talbot
19961 - 19980 of 670706