Hello,

I've got a copy of a ship's passenger list with a group that shares my surname (and, apparently, there are DNA links). I'm trying to figure out where these individuals are from. This is the page showing the passenger list:

https://www.public-juling.de/passagierlisten/listen.php?ArchivIdent=STAB-24.10.1908_4,57/5-60_M&start=151&pers=&ankunftshafen=New%20York&abreisehafen=Bremen&lang=en

The individuals (a family) are lines 104-109. The 'State or Province' as Suwalki makes sense (a 'county' in northern Poland). Russland, makes sense, as at the time much of this region was within the Russian sphere of influence.

Jewszany is the part that is giving me trouble. It doesn't appear to be a city (at least I can find nothing). I've seen 'zhany' appear in place names throughout Central Europe, so I wonder if 'zany' might be a variant.

The more interesting part, for me, is 'Jewes'. I'm wondering whether this indicates that they were Jewish. In my family research, I've found a few things that point to the possibility that my father's family may have converted to Catholicism when they arrived in the US, but I've never found anything definitely points to this. 

 
So, does anyone know what "Jeweszany" might mean? Or where "Jeweszany" might be?

Thanks
Geoffrey Makstutis

I would like to bring to your attention a collection of letters that could be of interest to those of you who had relatives in the town of Kamianets-Podilskyi in Ukraine.

This collection called “The Unread Letters of 1941” is presently held at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, in Kiev. The Museum's goal is to return each letter to their rightful owners, surviving relatives, when they can be located. 676 letters have found their home so far, but more than 500 remain unread. Most of them are in Russian, and only about a 100 of those epistles were written by Jews, of which about 35 in Yiddish.

The Jewish part of this collection is especially significant for us, as most likely it contains the last written communications of people, many of whom, if not all, were murdered during the Jewish massacre of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Most of these Jews were from Carpathian Ukraine, but some had also been deported from Hungary. 

How did those epistles survive the war? In July 1941, shortly after Operation Barbarossa, a German officer, Gustav Olschlagër, seized mail comprised of 1.215 letters from the town of Kamianets-Podilskyi. In 1942, he sent it to Vienna and asked his colleague Dr. Riedel to keep the collection for future research. They believed the epistles would paint an accurate picture of the mood of the Soviet population at the onset of their war. The letters remained in Austria for 70 years. In 2010, they were returned to Ukraine and placed in the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, in Kiev.

The envelopes corresponding to those letters are viewable at this link: https://warmuseum.kiev.ua/_ua/projects/search  They are written in Cyrillic.

With the help of some friends, I created a list of names (addressees and senders) for you to check.
There may still be some mistake. A few of those names may in fact not be Jewish. It’s sometimes difficult to ascertain from just an address on an envelope.
I may also have missed some Jewish names, as there are 1.215 envelopes to check.

That’s why I welcome corrections from the Russian knowledgeables among you, who have time on their hands to review those envelopes.
The envelopes’ images are separated by towns of destination. One needs to click on each town to view the respective batch.

If you find an envelope that you believe to be connected to your relative, please contact the Museum at this address: info@...

I worked on the translation project for the letters in Yiddish for the Museum, so you can also reach out to me to get the English translation of your letter, once you have received the digital version from the Museum.

 

Thank you for reading my message and happy hunting!

Here is the list of names:

KAMIANETS

1 – To Lizi GULIK

5 – To Mari Gulmanov

10 – To R. L.  LURYE (in Proskurov) from O. L. BLANK

17 – To BACZYNSKI from ANDRUSZKI

20 – To BONDER Musi Mikailov

31 – To L. I. SHEINBERG (in Dunaev) from Kh. L. SHEINBERG

34 – To Dora STEINBERG from sister BERGER

35 – To Zeida UBERMAN from RIKIN

36 – To Olga Izakovna SHEVCHUK

46 – To M. KECHMAN from R. KECHMAN 

59 – To LISOVI from LISOVOY

80 – To KORBA Marusia

88 – To BLOCH G. I.  from BLOCH V. Ch.

91 – To KUSHNIR from I. M. KUSHNIR

95 – To Anni KULCHISKI from KULCHISKI

106 – To L. LACHTERMAN from TRACHTENBERG

107 – To Z. Kh. FAITENZON from FAITENZON

110 – To Ita TZIFERMAN

114 – To Fani FINGERET Srulivich from Itzko FINGERET

115 – To Rosalin KLEINMAN from KLEINMAN

116 – To YAMPILCHUK from Lyub GAVRILOV

122 – To A. E.  ? from TRACHTENBERG

128 – To GERNISHKOV E. Ia.

135 – To S. CHANKIV

136 – To SMOTRICH from Paia KAIMAN

139 – To KRASILOV from Adel VAISBURG

142 – To SMOTRITZKI from TZIMBALIST KALLIN

146 – To KOMARNIUK

152 – To S. G. MELNIK

154 – To Sonia SOBOLEV from G. N. SOBOLEV

157 – To S. CHANKIV Yosel

159 – To Blima SHERMAN

160 – To VINOKUR

165 – To S. SAVITZI

176 – To RUBIN STEINBERG from I. I. ?

178 – To BRICHAK Vera

179 – To Riva ZEKEL Aronovna from R. M. ZEKEL

180 – To Fani FINGERET Srulivna from Itzko FINGERET

181 – To Maria Alterovich SPOKOINOY from SPOKOINOY

183 – To Gita GOYKHMAN from S. M. GOYKHMAN

184 – To Chantzi TKACH (in Dunaev) from FEFERMAN

185 – To Meir VINOKUR

191 – To P. Z. FAITENZON from FAITENZON

192 – To LECHTZIR From ROTENBER

193 – To Riva VOMORDUNI from Sh. VOMORDUNI

194 – To S. MARTINOVSKI from Isaak ROTENBERG

196 – To MELNIK

197 – To Chantzi TKACH (Dunaev) from Abram FEFERMAN

198 – To Yankel VISOIKOY (Dunaev)

199 – To ? from Etel Roza CHEMEROVICH

202 – To Fane KADESH from KADESH

204 – To I. M. GRINBERG

206 – To Aron BABICH

207 – To Ch. M. KATZ

208 – To Yankel TABACHNIK from M. L. NAIMAN

209 – To Peysach SIDILKOVER from SIDILKOVER

210 – To R. L. LURYE (Proskurov) from O. L. BLANK

211 – To Gutzalik Fishnovna SAMIELENKO

213 – To VOZNIUK Mari from VOZNIUK G.T.

218 – To O. YAKOVLEV

219 – To Yozek GRUSHKEVICH (Dunaev)

238 – To Maruse SIRAIT

245 – To SHNAIDER REKHMAN

268 – To Eta BRONFMAN Abr.

271 – To M. SOLOBKOVICH from Mordku KATZMAN

285 – To Mari EFRIMOVICH KOTIK from Mikola KOTIK Pavl.

298 – To Riva VAISMAN (WEISMAN)

302 – To Mane Efim EPSTEIN

308 – To Mani FELDMAN

310 – To GAVRILOV

320 – To P. GINSBURG

322 – To M. A. ZAIDMAN from Ch. U. ZAIDMAN

331 – To Miki BILENKOY from Mani BILENKI

333 – To Itzku STUDNER (Horodok) From Kh. R. SCHWARTZMAN

336 – To M. L. VEKSLER (Frampol)

342 – To ? (Dunaev) from E. DAICHMAN

343 – To MOKHLOKH Ekatarina Aronovna from M. T. PETRIUK

345 – To T. T. KOTIK and Z. M. KOLOSOVSKOY from SHUSTER

367 – To Yosel BARENBOIM (in Dunaev)

368 – To KOLESNIK from KOLESNIK

372 – To SLOBODANIUK Yakovlev

373 – To KARAKUL from BERKUN A.

397 – To Musi BONDER Mikhalovna

RIVNE/LVIV

1 – To Zina VINIK from S. V. VINIK

KHARKIV

1 – To ZIVERT

9 – To Tani PLATONOVOY from ABRAMOVICH

42 – To PRESHMAN

43 – To M. NUSINOV

KHARKIV Region

5 – To LUGOV Semkhaievich

9 – To Mari Yakovlevna NEDORUBKI

12 – To KARNOVI Moiseienkovoy

BELARUS

15 – To Prokhor Alexeievich ABRAMOVICH

17 – To Mor VOLKOVOY

44 – To RUBASHENKO Lizi

45 – To RUBASHENKO Lizi

CHERNIVTSI

6 – To Zissel FINGER

CHERNIHOV

2 – To Anne BARANOVOY

TERNOPIL

2 – To Berta VANGARTEN (WEINGARTEN)

3 – To Berta VANGARTEN (WEINGARTEN)

ZHITOMIR

7 – To Yudel Leib KATZ from Ch. E. GEYKHMAN

9 – To M. Sh. ZILBERMAN

10 – To SPIVAK

VINNYTSIA

40 – To TARNAVSKI Katerina

 

KIEV

2 – To GERSTEIN from Kh. P. AVERBUKH 

11 – To BONDAR

13 – To ORLOVETZKAIA from Lyubi NARUTZAK

16 – To GERSTEIN

22 – To GERNER

26 – To KATZ

31 – To A. S. SCHWARTZ

KIEV CHERKASSY

50 – To KOMARNIK

56 – To GERNER

60 – To KATZ (Kiev)

CRIMEA

4 – To Raye ROYZEN

KHERSON

17 – To STEINGART (Stalin Donbas / Donetsk)

ST PETERSBURG / LENINGRAD

3 – To A. NUDELMAN

SARATOV

2 – To Grina A. NUDELMAN

VORONEZH

9 – To SOKOLOV Tamar Lwowi

MOSCOW

2 – To P. I. TUTELMAN from A. M. TUTELMAN

3 – To AKERMAN from SHENKER

MOLDAVIA
4 – To Chaim FURMAN

 

--
Geraldine Tsiporah Trom
Antwerp, Belgium
gtrom@...

Hi all! I’m new to messaging, but been researching, on and off, for about 10 years. My current brick wall involves my maternal great grandmother’s family, Mendelso(h)n. Like everybody else, I’m trying to see how far back I can go. Right now, I have confirmed my g-grandmother, Nellie. According to a census, she was born in Kovno, Russia; whereas her brother, Albert, shows being born in Kiev, Ukraine. (Births would have been 1864-1867). Not confirmed are parents Harris and Betsy Mendelson, who lived in Prestwich, England..and died there. The headstone of Harris says “Mr. Tzvi, son of Mr. Mendel Gershon”. Betsy’s headstone says “Mrs. Peshe, daughter of Mr. Tzvi”.

I have received quite a bit of help from the FB groups I joined, just thought I would try here to see if I can get more information. If not, I will most likely be done with this part of my family.

TIA!
Nancy Newmark Smith

The 'E' for race stands for European (i.e., white).

The address for the woman looks like 29 Winter Street in Yeoville.  The certificate also lists that she was divorced, so maybe you can find another marriage certificate for her.

There is a facebook group called Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy, and they might have more information about rabbis in the country in the 1930s. 
--
Michele Lock

Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock and Kalon/Kolon in Zagare/Joniskis/Gruzdziai, Lithuania
Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock in Plunge/Telsiai in Lithuania
Rabinowitz in Papile, Lithuania and Riga, Latvia
Trisinsky/Trushinsky/Sturisky and Leybman in Dotnuva, Lithuania
Olitsky in Alytus, Suwalki, Poland/Lithuania
Gutman/Goodman in Czestochowa, Poland
Lavine/Lev/Lew in Trenton, New Jersey and Lida/Vilna gub., Belarus

My grandfather, Israel Druse, also settled in St Louis for a few years and then returned to NYC.  I do not know why.  Barbara Hacker Berman

Ustilug was located in Wolynia region of the Russian Empire

Alexander Sharon

Thank you all so much for the validation that Chiena is really the name. 

So it is three syllables, right?

And the first syllable is KHY like the first syllable of Chaya?

or is the first syllable KHEE like maybe chiyuv and chinuch?

Susan Slusky
Highland Park, NJ

I have my grandmother’s and grandfather’s original Romanian passports. One was from Viseu de Jos and the other from Carei. They were not issued locally and would probably not be in the local archives so you would need to first figure out where they would have been issued. I will tell you they have great information such as their actual address, their father’s name ( which I already knew) and their pictures. It is a precious piece of history. Since I have the original it is stamped with exactly where they left from and the dates. The archive wouldn’t have that as it is after the fact. 

please let us know if you are successful in getting the copies. 

Hatzlacha. 

Michele Farkas
Boynton Beach, FL
researching Stauber, Stober, Shtauber, Ganz, Gans, Herstik, Hershtik, Teszler, Tessler, Malik, Malik, Davidovici (all from Viseu, Also Visso), Weiszhausz, Weiszhausz, Rosenfeld (Vamospercs, Hungary)

A distant cousin (Aron Joseph Kaplan) emigrated from Lithuania to the US, circa the 1890s. He was in Savannah, Georgia by 1897 (appearing in the city directory), and in Birmingham, Alabama by 1906 (where he was married). What was the draw for Jews going to the Southern US? I haven't yet found his immigration papers, which would help know where and when he arrived--although I'm told Galveston, Texas was a point of entry for the arrivals to the South. He had family in Philadelphia and in Washington, D.C., so there must have been a draw for him to go elsewhere (he was on speaking terms with those parts of the family). Guidance welcome, and thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Marcia Segal

The attached image is of my grandfather’s index card in the Meldekartei. In the lower left quarter are details of his movements. Most of these relate to time spent in the Prussian Army. For example, he went to Darmstadt in 1909 for his national service in Infantry Regiment 115. However, I have several questions about the entries and hope someone can help with answers.

 

For most of the various recorded comings and goings two dates are shown, one above the other. In all but one instance, the first date is a few days after the second. So why are there two dates?

 

In November 1912 he appears to have gone to Landau for 10 months. But Landau at that time was in Bavaria, whose armed forced were quite separate from the Prussian Army. So why would he have gone there?

 

I cannot read the characters after ‘Landau’ or after ‘Wiesbaden’. Any suggestions?

 

The final ‘linked’ dates on the card are 21 November 1916 (midway through WW1) and 1 August 1914 (the day the Kaiser ordered full mobilisation). So these are almost two years apart and appear to be linked with a return from Wiesbaden. Perhaps he was wounded in 1916 and returned home, but that doesn’t explain the 1914 entry. Any ideas about this?

 

I have searched for answers in Offenbach and in online databases without success, so hoping someone seeing this might have encountered something similar and found answers.

 

Sohail Husain (Hampshire, UK)

Searching for Grünebaum and Reiss

Do civil registration records for mihalyfalva/valea lui mihai exist? Where would they be found?

Sarah Just

Is it possible to get an ancestor's passport or passport application from Romanian archives?

Sarah Just

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Southern Nevada (JGSSN) invites you to a Zoom meeting at 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) on Sunday, November 21: “"Oceanic Journey to America – Traveling in Steerage Class” with Nancy Levin.

 
To request a Zoom link, please complete this short form: which can also be found on our Meetings webpage.

Members of JGSSN can attend for free.  Non-members can pay $5.00 on the Donate webpage and complete the short form.

Session Description:

Nancy will discuss the experiences that passengers endured at all points of time - including actual reports from newspaper articles, interviews, etc. For those that arrived in the 1840s - the oceanic experiences were different than those that come in the 1870s, and different again, then those who arrived after the cholera epidemic in Hamburg and ensuing changes.

About Nancy Levin:

International lecturer; author; and full-time professional genealogist specializing in Jewish genealogy. Licensed by the Board for Certification of Genealogists since 1997. Speaker at annual NGS and Jewish genealogy international conferences (IAJGS); New England Historic and Genealogical Society; Hebrew College; community centers; libraries; and other venues. Author of chapters on immigration and naturalization in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy. BA, U. of Vermont; MBA, Northeastern U.  

 

Ben Kempner

Vice President,

Jewish Genealogy Society of Southern Nevada

Judith, where is your Singer surname from? Also Lithuania? If so, is it near Paneveys? My Singer family comes from Birzai, but most of the Singers who remained there were murdered in the Holocaust. Wondering if we have a connection.

Dan Singer.

Question: was Ustilug in Galicia?

Beverly Benz
Moderator Note: Please reply pruvately