We at the Israel Genealogical Society [IGS] are fairly bursting our
buttons with pride in the one day seminar [Yom Iyun] that we have
arranged for the 28th of November 2005 at Beit Hatefutzot [the
Diaspora Museum] on the Tel Aviv University campus. If you could have
one genealogical wish, wouldn't it be that you could find that
illusive document that would allow you to prove once and for all that
a tie that binds was true? We at the IGS have been feverishly working
for over a year to arrange just such a seminar that would allow you
to find the missing key.

Without fear of contradiction, I can categorically state that every
Jewish family in the world has family - known or unknown - in
Israel. Our seminar, "Family Roots in the Land of Israel and in the
World," will demonstrate what I mean. We have invited archivists >from
the smaller, but sometimes more interesting archives, to address us
with talks on their holdings. When we invited proposals, even we
didn't know details of all the treasures these archives hold, but
after reading the abstracts and talking with the archivists, it is
hard not to jump up and down with enthusiasm!

Go to our website's direct seminar access:

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/

There you can get .pdf files in Hebrew and/or in English of the
program, the abstracts and the biographies of the speakers. See for
yourself what an incredible program we have arranged for you! >from
our opening keynote speaker on Eastern European Aliyah >from the late
1800's to 1920, to a detailed description of the microfilm collection
of the Diaspora Museum, at the close of the day, you will be
enthralled for the entire time.

One caveat: regretfully, places are limited due to the number of
seats available and we can only accept reservations on a first come
first serve basis. Early registration ends on 10 November, if there
are still places available. Registration includes coffee and cake and
a chance for a greatly discounted hot lunch, but here too, places are
limited. Please register early so you will not be disappointed. When
the places are gone, they are gone and that's it.

The registration form can be downloaded at

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/YY-reg-HE-2005.pdf

You are going to love this day and we are looking forward to seeing
you there!

Martha Levinson Lev-Zion
for the Organizing Committee
Israel Genealogical Society

We at the Israel Genealogical Society [IGS] are fairly bursting our
buttons with pride in the one day seminar [Yom Iyun] that we have
arranged for the 28th of November 2005 at Beit Hatefutzot [the
Diaspora Museum] on the Tel Aviv University campus. If you could have
one genealogical wish, wouldn't it be that you could find that
illusive document that would allow you to prove once and for all that
a tie that binds was true? We at the IGS have been feverishly working
for over a year to arrange just such a seminar that would allow you
to find the missing key.

Without fear of contradiction, I can categorically state that every
Jewish family in the world has family - known or unknown - in
Israel. Our seminar, "Family Roots in the Land of Israel and in the
World," will demonstrate what I mean. We have invited archivists >from
the smaller, but sometimes more interesting archives, to address us
with talks on their holdings. When we invited proposals, even we
didn't know details of all the treasures these archives hold, but
after reading the abstracts and talking with the archivists, it is
hard not to jump up and down with enthusiasm!

Go to our website's direct seminar access:

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/

There you can get .pdf files in Hebrew and/or in English of the
program, the abstracts and the biographies of the speakers. See for
yourself what an incredible program we have arranged for you! >from
our opening keynote speaker on Eastern European Aliyah >from the late
1800's to 1920, to a detailed description of the microfilm collection
of the Diaspora Museum, at the close of the day, you will be
enthralled for the entire time.

One caveat: regretfully, places are limited due to the number of
seats available and we can only accept reservations on a first come
first serve basis. Early registration ends on 10 November, if there
are still places available. Registration includes coffee and cake and
a chance for a greatly discounted hot lunch, but here too, places are
limited. Please register early so you will not be disappointed. When
the places are gone, they are gone and that's it.

The registration form can be downloaded at

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/YY-reg-HE-2005.pdf

You are going to love this day and we are looking forward to seeing
you there!

Martha Levinson Lev-Zion
for the Organizing Committee
Israel Genealogical Society

Dear All,

Although Linda Rakoff and Gabi Svatos have already responded to the
questions that George Farkas posed about travel to Hungary, Slovakia,
and Romania, thought that I'd add my comments as well.

I spent three weeks in Hungary and Slovakia in August doing some
research but primarily just experiencing the places where my father and
paternal relatives once lived. Gabi and Linda and I coordinated our
schedules before departure and met at several locations during the
trip. In addition to 3 days in Bratislava with Linda and Gabi, my
husband and I were in Budapest for 7 days at the beginning and end of
our trip, 2 days in Miskolc, 2 days in Kosice, and 4 days in Michalovce
and the Sobrance area in far eastern Slovakia. We also took a short
side-trip to Vienna and spent a night with Pavel Simko, my second
cousin-once removed, and his Hungarian-born wife Elizabeth. Pavel and
his older brother Dusan were born in Kosice .

Based on my experience, seems very difficult to get anything >from
archives and municipal offices in Slovakia if you don't speak Slovak.
You also need to plan ahead. I was assisted by Jan Hlavinka, a young
historian >from Medzilaborce who works for the Institute of National
Memory in Bratislava. Coincidentally ( and fortunately) his
mother-in-law works in the registry office in Michalovce, which happens
to be where my grandparents and great-grandparents lived after WWI and
where my paternal grandfather Viktor NEUMAN and his MOSKOVITS in-laws
are buried.

Most Slovaks do not speak Hungarian and, as others have pointed out,
many Slovaks bear some animosity to the Hungarians so trying to
communicate in Hungarian is not advised. We found taxi drivers, some
waiters, bank tellers, train ticket sellers,and hotel staff who did
speak English but many others don't. I carried a Slovak-English phrase
book and dictionary and consulted it regularly. (The book by Sylvia
and John M. Lorinc published by Hippocrene was small enough to fit in
my fanny pack.) Some people whose work brings them into contact with
foreign visitors also understand German but I don't so that didn't help
at all. I was intrigued to find a Hungarian bookshop on Hlavna Ulica in Kosice with a window display including works by Sandor Marai and my cousin Dusan.

Yes, you should make appointments to visit archives, municipal offices,
cemeteries and Jewish community organizations. You can find municipal
addresses on-line in most cases. Write to the mayor or registrar in
Hungarian or Slovak well in advance of your arrival and identify the
records you would like to see. The clerk in Kristy, Slovakia (formerly
Kereszt, Hungary) didn't receive my letter until the day we arrived
although I sent it almost 2 weeks in advance. Be aware that you may
not be able to sit down and examine municipal record books by yourself.
Prepare a list of names, dates, and events that you can hand to the
clerk.

As Linda Rakoff noted, you should also make arrangements to visit
cemeteries ahead of time. The well-maintained Jewish cemetery in
Michalovce is identified on the city map that we got at the Jalta Hotel
and was easy to find but the cemetery is gated and locked. Jan had
to contact Rabbi Steiner in Kosice to get the name and phone number of
the elderly man in Michalovce who has both the key and burial record
book for the well-maintained cemetery in Michalovce. Mr. Haber
(Halber?) was initially wary of telling Jan exactly where he lived so
we made arrangements to pick him up near his apartment. After we got
to know one another he was very friendly and my husband even took a
picture of Mr. H. and me at the cemetery. We couldn't find a squeegee
in the variety store in Michalovce so we bought a couple of ruler to
scrape shaving cream off the stones. Bring along a good-sized bottle
of water and a rag to wipe off the headstones after you've taken
pictures. We also found the Jewish cemetery near Sobrance. As I'd
been warned by some previous visitors, that cemetery was completely
overgrown. I found a few stones but clearing the brush and brambles
will be a major job. (If you're interested in getting the Sobrance
cemetery cleared and photographed, please contact me off-list.) BTW,
be prepared to offer tips or gifts to anyone who helps you. Your guide
should be able to indicate an appropriate amount.

It will be difficult to find any records before 1800 unless you go to
national archives in Budapest and Bratislava. (Be aware that the
records in Budapest are not in the Archives building on Castle Hill but
a new building in Obuda on Becsi utca, about a 30-minute bus ride >from
the Batthyany ter Metro station. You don't need an appointment but
you should arrive with a list of film numbers and be prepared to wait
for staff to pull the films. If you want to purchase films you need to
pay the archives in advance or pay when you arrive and wait for them to
mail the films to you. I still haven't received the films I paid for
at the end of August.) Because civil registration didn't start in
Hungary until 1895, you won't find municipal records older than that.
Some Jewish communities may have older Jewish records, but in most
cases you will probably have to go to archives. Municipal archives may
be more difficult to access than state or regional archives. Remember
that they're part of a municipal government and providing records for
researchers is not really part of their charge.

In contrast to relatively cool reception we received in most of the
archives and municipal offices, we were made to feel very welcome when
we visited the old shul in Miskolc. The young rabbi, who's actually

from Sziget, pulled out old record books and let us take pictures of

the building's interior. Staff in the Miskolc library were also very
helpful. I transcribed all of the KOHN and NEUMANN names and addresses

from a 1912 Miskolcz Directory that one of the librarians found for us.

(Based on that source, appears that my grandparents had not yet moved
to Miskolc by 1912.)

We travelled by train and bus except for one afternoon when we hired a
driver to find the Sobrance Jewish Cemetery and go to Kristy and
Ostrov, little villages south of Sobrance where my father, his
brothers, and my grandmother were born and my great-grandfather had a
farm. Public transportation is inexpensive and easy to use. Even
though some of the stations are a bit grimy, the Budapest Metro is
wonderful. Line 1 (also known as the yellow line), which runs beneath
Andrassy ut and the Varosliget, Budapest's beautiful urban park, is
particularly charming and quite clean. Line 1 is the oldest subway on
the European continent and the second oldest in all of Europe after the
London Underground. Buy inter-city train tickets in advance because
the lines at the ticket booths can be rather long. We walked to the
Keleti Station to buy train tix to Miskolc and Kosice several days
ahead. Ask the ticket agent if you need a reserved seat (we did >from
Budapest to Miskolc). Travelled standard class except for the 5 1/2
hour train trip >from Kosice to Bratislava where we upgraded to First
Class. Cars are very expensive to rent and rentals may be hard to
find unless you plan in advance. We brought some maps with us,
obtained maps of Miskolc, Michalovce and Bratislava >from hotels and
tourist offices, and bought a good map of eastern Slovakia in a
bookstore.

I did not bring a laptop because we wanted to travel light and didn't
want to have to carry it around all the time. Also didn't want to
hassle with voltage converters and chargers. I printed up the family
files needed for reference and kept them in a light binder along with
hotel info, downloaded maps, etc. If you've uploaded your records to
the FTJP or one of the commercial genealogy websites you could, in a
pinch, find an internet cafe to check the details of any records you
didn't bring along.

I think that you will find it very difficult to include Romania,
Hungary, and Slovakia in a week-long trip. Get yourself a good map and
just check the distance between Zilina and Marghita. I decided to
postpone a visit to Transylvania, where my mother's family lived, until
our next trip.

I don't keep Kosher so that wasn't a problem for us. I suspect that
it's impossible to find kosher restaurants outside of major cities
because the sad truth is that there are very few Jews left in Hungary
and Slovakia outside of Budapest and Bratislava. If you're willing to
eat a lot of cheese, eggs, pasta, and veggies you will probably do OK.
Fried cheese is a favorite lunch in Slovakia. There were vegetarian
entrees on most menus but unless you go to a vegetarian restaurant the
same restaurant will, of course, also be cooking meat including, in
most cases, a lot of pork.

Even though it was somewhat disappointing that I didn't find that many
new records, I decided early on that the primary objective for this
trip was to explore these places and find out more about this part of
my heritage. Rather than spending hours in archives looking for
records that may eventually be filmed by the FHL or turn up on line, it
was much more satisfying to see the people, buildings, and landscapes.
We also visited museums in Budapest, Kosice, Michalovce, and
Bratislava. Having seen the countryside around Sobrance where my
father was born, I better understand, for example, why he never seemed
to enjoy city life. The Carpathian foothills east of Sobrance reminded
me, in fact, of the agricultural areas that I remember seeing during
childhood visits to the Catskills. We enjoyed visiting outdoor cafes,
which abound in both Hungary and Slovakia, for an afternoon beer and to
watch the passing crowd. Except for Budapest, where the prices are
still much lower than we'd pay for comparable food and drink in the San
Francisco area, food and drink are very inexpensive. All of the
hotels and pensions where we stayed included breakfast in the price of
the room. The Delibab even packed a breakfast to go on our last day
because we had to leave before dawn to catch our flight to Frankfurt.
In addition to developing a taste for pear palinka and a rather quirky
Hungarian digestif called Unicum, we found several very acceptable
wines.

As it turned out, I did find some new family branches. I also
identified three of my paternal great-great-grandparents and added a
new surname--LEFKOVITS--to my list of direct ancestors.

All in all, an incomparable experience!

Vivian Kahn, Oakland, CA

Subject: Research in Slovakia, etc
From: George Farkas <gfarkas@...>
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 11:14:39 -0400
X-Message-Number: 5

Not long ago, I read some excellent posts by Gabriela Svatos and
others on their trips to Slovakia and Hungary to do some genealogical
research. I hope to spend a week in Slovakia, Hungary and
Transylvania in early January to try to fill in missing information
in my research. I plan to visit ancestral villages, Jewish cemeteries
as well as the archives. I would like some help in planning my trip

from those who have been there. I plan to visit the villages around

Zilina (Zsolna), Lipto Szentmiklos, Nyirbator, and Marghita (Romania)
and the archives in Bittse among others.

1. How important is it to be able to speak Slovak? I do not speak
Slovak at all; I so speak Hungarian as well as English, French and
Hebrew, and I have some German.

2. Do I have to set up appointments to visit the archives,
cemeteries, Jewish community organizations in advance? This is
problematic because I do want to be flexible if possible.

3. How easy/difficult is it to find records of events, vital
information, etc prior to 1900? 1800?

4. How can I find out where (official and Jewish community) archives
are located? How easy/ difficult is it to get access? Are tips for
civil servants appreciated? (If yes, what amounts are reasonable?)

5. How easy is it to get about? I was thinking about renting a car,
so as not to be tied to the bus and train schedules. Are good maps
easily available? How easy/difficult is it to be able to get an
Internet connection for my laptop?

6. Is a week enough time or will I have to cut out some of the places?

7. Is kosher food available at all?

Thank you. I am sure that I have more questions, but I'm sure that is
enough for the moment.

george

George Farkas
Montreal, Quebec

Searching: FARKAS, FRIED, ALTMANN, FRIEDMANN, GROSS, KLEIN,
WEISZ, VIDOR, STEIN, LINKS, KNOPFELMACHER, LUSTIG, SPITZER

Dear All,

Although Linda Rakoff and Gabi Svatos have already responded to the
questions that George Farkas posed about travel to Hungary, Slovakia,
and Romania, thought that I'd add my comments as well.

I spent three weeks in Hungary and Slovakia in August doing some
research but primarily just experiencing the places where my father and
paternal relatives once lived. Gabi and Linda and I coordinated our
schedules before departure and met at several locations during the
trip. In addition to 3 days in Bratislava with Linda and Gabi, my
husband and I were in Budapest for 7 days at the beginning and end of
our trip, 2 days in Miskolc, 2 days in Kosice, and 4 days in Michalovce
and the Sobrance area in far eastern Slovakia. We also took a short
side-trip to Vienna and spent a night with Pavel Simko, my second
cousin-once removed, and his Hungarian-born wife Elizabeth. Pavel and
his older brother Dusan were born in Kosice .

Based on my experience, seems very difficult to get anything >from
archives and municipal offices in Slovakia if you don't speak Slovak.
You also need to plan ahead. I was assisted by Jan Hlavinka, a young
historian >from Medzilaborce who works for the Institute of National
Memory in Bratislava. Coincidentally ( and fortunately) his
mother-in-law works in the registry office in Michalovce, which happens
to be where my grandparents and great-grandparents lived after WWI and
where my paternal grandfather Viktor NEUMAN and his MOSKOVITS in-laws
are buried.

Most Slovaks do not speak Hungarian and, as others have pointed out,
many Slovaks bear some animosity to the Hungarians so trying to
communicate in Hungarian is not advised. We found taxi drivers, some
waiters, bank tellers, train ticket sellers,and hotel staff who did
speak English but many others don't. I carried a Slovak-English phrase
book and dictionary and consulted it regularly. (The book by Sylvia
and John M. Lorinc published by Hippocrene was small enough to fit in
my fanny pack.) Some people whose work brings them into contact with
foreign visitors also understand German but I don't so that didn't help
at all. I was intrigued to find a Hungarian bookshop on Hlavna Ulica in Kosice with a window display including works by Sandor Marai and my cousin Dusan.

Yes, you should make appointments to visit archives, municipal offices,
cemeteries and Jewish community organizations. You can find municipal
addresses on-line in most cases. Write to the mayor or registrar in
Hungarian or Slovak well in advance of your arrival and identify the
records you would like to see. The clerk in Kristy, Slovakia (formerly
Kereszt, Hungary) didn't receive my letter until the day we arrived
although I sent it almost 2 weeks in advance. Be aware that you may
not be able to sit down and examine municipal record books by yourself.
Prepare a list of names, dates, and events that you can hand to the
clerk.

As Linda Rakoff noted, you should also make arrangements to visit
cemeteries ahead of time. The well-maintained Jewish cemetery in
Michalovce is identified on the city map that we got at the Jalta Hotel
and was easy to find but the cemetery is gated and locked. Jan had
to contact Rabbi Steiner in Kosice to get the name and phone number of
the elderly man in Michalovce who has both the key and burial record
book for the well-maintained cemetery in Michalovce. Mr. Haber
(Halber?) was initially wary of telling Jan exactly where he lived so
we made arrangements to pick him up near his apartment. After we got
to know one another he was very friendly and my husband even took a
picture of Mr. H. and me at the cemetery. We couldn't find a squeegee
in the variety store in Michalovce so we bought a couple of ruler to
scrape shaving cream off the stones. Bring along a good-sized bottle
of water and a rag to wipe off the headstones after you've taken
pictures. We also found the Jewish cemetery near Sobrance. As I'd
been warned by some previous visitors, that cemetery was completely
overgrown. I found a few stones but clearing the brush and brambles
will be a major job. (If you're interested in getting the Sobrance
cemetery cleared and photographed, please contact me off-list.) BTW,
be prepared to offer tips or gifts to anyone who helps you. Your guide
should be able to indicate an appropriate amount.

It will be difficult to find any records before 1800 unless you go to
national archives in Budapest and Bratislava. (Be aware that the
records in Budapest are not in the Archives building on Castle Hill but
a new building in Obuda on Becsi utca, about a 30-minute bus ride >from
the Batthyany ter Metro station. You don't need an appointment but
you should arrive with a list of film numbers and be prepared to wait
for staff to pull the films. If you want to purchase films you need to
pay the archives in advance or pay when you arrive and wait for them to
mail the films to you. I still haven't received the films I paid for
at the end of August.) Because civil registration didn't start in
Hungary until 1895, you won't find municipal records older than that.
Some Jewish communities may have older Jewish records, but in most
cases you will probably have to go to archives. Municipal archives may
be more difficult to access than state or regional archives. Remember
that they're part of a municipal government and providing records for
researchers is not really part of their charge.

In contrast to relatively cool reception we received in most of the
archives and municipal offices, we were made to feel very welcome when
we visited the old shul in Miskolc. The young rabbi, who's actually

from Sziget, pulled out old record books and let us take pictures of

the building's interior. Staff in the Miskolc library were also very
helpful. I transcribed all of the KOHN and NEUMANN names and addresses

from a 1912 Miskolcz Directory that one of the librarians found for us.

(Based on that source, appears that my grandparents had not yet moved
to Miskolc by 1912.)

We travelled by train and bus except for one afternoon when we hired a
driver to find the Sobrance Jewish Cemetery and go to Kristy and
Ostrov, little villages south of Sobrance where my father, his
brothers, and my grandmother were born and my great-grandfather had a
farm. Public transportation is inexpensive and easy to use. Even
though some of the stations are a bit grimy, the Budapest Metro is
wonderful. Line 1 (also known as the yellow line), which runs beneath
Andrassy ut and the Varosliget, Budapest's beautiful urban park, is
particularly charming and quite clean. Line 1 is the oldest subway on
the European continent and the second oldest in all of Europe after the
London Underground. Buy inter-city train tickets in advance because
the lines at the ticket booths can be rather long. We walked to the
Keleti Station to buy train tix to Miskolc and Kosice several days
ahead. Ask the ticket agent if you need a reserved seat (we did >from
Budapest to Miskolc). Travelled standard class except for the 5 1/2
hour train trip >from Kosice to Bratislava where we upgraded to First
Class. Cars are very expensive to rent and rentals may be hard to
find unless you plan in advance. We brought some maps with us,
obtained maps of Miskolc, Michalovce and Bratislava >from hotels and
tourist offices, and bought a good map of eastern Slovakia in a
bookstore.

I did not bring a laptop because we wanted to travel light and didn't
want to have to carry it around all the time. Also didn't want to
hassle with voltage converters and chargers. I printed up the family
files needed for reference and kept them in a light binder along with
hotel info, downloaded maps, etc. If you've uploaded your records to
the FTJP or one of the commercial genealogy websites you could, in a
pinch, find an internet cafe to check the details of any records you
didn't bring along.

I think that you will find it very difficult to include Romania,
Hungary, and Slovakia in a week-long trip. Get yourself a good map and
just check the distance between Zilina and Marghita. I decided to
postpone a visit to Transylvania, where my mother's family lived, until
our next trip.

I don't keep Kosher so that wasn't a problem for us. I suspect that
it's impossible to find kosher restaurants outside of major cities
because the sad truth is that there are very few Jews left in Hungary
and Slovakia outside of Budapest and Bratislava. If you're willing to
eat a lot of cheese, eggs, pasta, and veggies you will probably do OK.
Fried cheese is a favorite lunch in Slovakia. There were vegetarian
entrees on most menus but unless you go to a vegetarian restaurant the
same restaurant will, of course, also be cooking meat including, in
most cases, a lot of pork.

Even though it was somewhat disappointing that I didn't find that many
new records, I decided early on that the primary objective for this
trip was to explore these places and find out more about this part of
my heritage. Rather than spending hours in archives looking for
records that may eventually be filmed by the FHL or turn up on line, it
was much more satisfying to see the people, buildings, and landscapes.
We also visited museums in Budapest, Kosice, Michalovce, and
Bratislava. Having seen the countryside around Sobrance where my
father was born, I better understand, for example, why he never seemed
to enjoy city life. The Carpathian foothills east of Sobrance reminded
me, in fact, of the agricultural areas that I remember seeing during
childhood visits to the Catskills. We enjoyed visiting outdoor cafes,
which abound in both Hungary and Slovakia, for an afternoon beer and to
watch the passing crowd. Except for Budapest, where the prices are
still much lower than we'd pay for comparable food and drink in the San
Francisco area, food and drink are very inexpensive. All of the
hotels and pensions where we stayed included breakfast in the price of
the room. The Delibab even packed a breakfast to go on our last day
because we had to leave before dawn to catch our flight to Frankfurt.
In addition to developing a taste for pear palinka and a rather quirky
Hungarian digestif called Unicum, we found several very acceptable
wines.

As it turned out, I did find some new family branches. I also
identified three of my paternal great-great-grandparents and added a
new surname--LEFKOVITS--to my list of direct ancestors.

All in all, an incomparable experience!

Vivian Kahn, Oakland, CA

Subject: Research in Slovakia, etc
From: George Farkas <gfarkas@...>
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 11:14:39 -0400
X-Message-Number: 5

Not long ago, I read some excellent posts by Gabriela Svatos and
others on their trips to Slovakia and Hungary to do some genealogical
research. I hope to spend a week in Slovakia, Hungary and
Transylvania in early January to try to fill in missing information
in my research. I plan to visit ancestral villages, Jewish cemeteries
as well as the archives. I would like some help in planning my trip

from those who have been there. I plan to visit the villages around

Zilina (Zsolna), Lipto Szentmiklos, Nyirbator, and Marghita (Romania)
and the archives in Bittse among others.

1. How important is it to be able to speak Slovak? I do not speak
Slovak at all; I so speak Hungarian as well as English, French and
Hebrew, and I have some German.

2. Do I have to set up appointments to visit the archives,
cemeteries, Jewish community organizations in advance? This is
problematic because I do want to be flexible if possible.

3. How easy/difficult is it to find records of events, vital
information, etc prior to 1900? 1800?

4. How can I find out where (official and Jewish community) archives
are located? How easy/ difficult is it to get access? Are tips for
civil servants appreciated? (If yes, what amounts are reasonable?)

5. How easy is it to get about? I was thinking about renting a car,
so as not to be tied to the bus and train schedules. Are good maps
easily available? How easy/difficult is it to be able to get an
Internet connection for my laptop?

6. Is a week enough time or will I have to cut out some of the places?

7. Is kosher food available at all?

Thank you. I am sure that I have more questions, but I'm sure that is
enough for the moment.

george

George Farkas
Montreal, Quebec

Searching: FARKAS, FRIED, ALTMANN, FRIEDMANN, GROSS, KLEIN,
WEISZ, VIDOR, STEIN, LINKS, KNOPFELMACHER, LUSTIG, SPITZER

I have found here in Budapest a great new book :

It is 230 pages of testimonies >from 64 former members
of the Jewish Orthodox Communities in Hungary. Most of
them live now outside Hungary(the
States,Israel,etc...)

It covers the period before,during and after the war.
Among the testimonies which touched me most was one
about the refugees coming >from Poland,specially great
Rabbis,who lost all their families:

For example the szobranci rabbi and the bobovi rabbi
who begged,urged people in 1943 to "hide, to make
bunkers because there is danger,do not believe that
the hungarian authorities will help you when the
germans come"

"The voloci rabbi talked for at least two hours,
cried,begged: escape >from here,escape >from Europe
anywhere,but escape! But there was no place where to
go. Never I will forget,there everybody cried with
him,then went home..."

The book is in hungarian: Its title is:

Az elso nap (the first day)
Publisher: Mult es Jovo
Date: 2004
The writer: Sandor BACSKAI who contributes also to the
Jewish Gen.

Happy New Year. Shana TOVA!!!

Andres Carciente
Budapest



RAPAPORT, STARK, ROTTMAN, BREUER, DICK, SCHWARCZ,
NEULANDER, ALTER, GOLDBERGER, FELDMAR, POLLAK,
JEREMIAS, ADLER, LIPSCHITZ, WEISZ, GRUNWALD, SPITZ,
HERSKOVITS, BRUNNER, SZIMKOWICZ,
WEINSTOCK:(Satoraljaujhely)
RAPAPORT,FOHN (Monostorpalyi)

Moderator: Please contact Andres or Sandor off-list if you want further info.

I have found here in Budapest a great new book :

It is 230 pages of testimonies >from 64 former members
of the Jewish Orthodox Communities in Hungary. Most of
them live now outside Hungary(the
States,Israel,etc...)

It covers the period before,during and after the war.
Among the testimonies which touched me most was one
about the refugees coming >from Poland,specially great
Rabbis,who lost all their families:

For example the szobranci rabbi and the bobovi rabbi
who begged,urged people in 1943 to "hide, to make
bunkers because there is danger,do not believe that
the hungarian authorities will help you when the
germans come"

"The voloci rabbi talked for at least two hours,
cried,begged: escape >from here,escape >from Europe
anywhere,but escape! But there was no place where to
go. Never I will forget,there everybody cried with
him,then went home..."

The book is in hungarian: Its title is:

Az elso nap (the first day)
Publisher: Mult es Jovo
Date: 2004
The writer: Sandor BACSKAI who contributes also to the
Jewish Gen.

Happy New Year. Shana TOVA!!!

Andres Carciente
Budapest



RAPAPORT, STARK, ROTTMAN, BREUER, DICK, SCHWARCZ,
NEULANDER, ALTER, GOLDBERGER, FELDMAR, POLLAK,
JEREMIAS, ADLER, LIPSCHITZ, WEISZ, GRUNWALD, SPITZ,
HERSKOVITS, BRUNNER, SZIMKOWICZ,
WEINSTOCK:(Satoraljaujhely)
RAPAPORT,FOHN (Monostorpalyi)

Moderator: Please contact Andres or Sandor off-list if you want further info.

Anne Kaiser akaiser2000@... wrote...

<I just learned, that the Mormon family research center on Columbus Avenue
and 65 Street in New York City is closed. Do any members know the reason
why?>

The Mormon Family History Center in Manhattan closed on December 1, 2002,
for what was then said to be "a period of at least several months," because
of LDS Church construction of a Mormon Temple--this area's first--in the
building. A story in the New York Times on Aug. 9, 2002, described these plans.

Some time later, nearly 2,000 microfilm rolls and microfiche formerly housed
at the Manhattan FHC were moved to a new Family History Center in Woodside
(Queens). A list of the center's microform holdings is posted at
<www.jgsny.org/fhc2.htm> along with address information and hours. Some of
the important resources available there are Viennese Jewish vital records
and indexes, the 1938 German census of minority groups, Hamburg passenger
lists, and various U.S. and European vital records.

I haven't heard news on plans to reopen the Manhattan FHC. According to
reports that have circulated over the past two years, it may reopen at a new location.

Note that the Genealogy Institute at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West
16th Street, serves as a Family History Center and there are a number of
other FHCs in the New York City area. Films >from the Family History Library
in Salt Lake City can be ordered and used at these FHCs, but most don't have
large permanent collections of films. For addresses and phone numbers, see
<www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp> . Hours that appear
on FamilySearch are not always current, so call ahead.

Renee Stern Steinig Dix Hills (Long Island), NY, USA rsteinig@...

Anne Kaiser akaiser2000@... wrote...

<I just learned, that the Mormon family research center on Columbus Avenue
and 65 Street in New York City is closed. Do any members know the reason
why?>

The Mormon Family History Center in Manhattan closed on December 1, 2002,
for what was then said to be "a period of at least several months," because
of LDS Church construction of a Mormon Temple--this area's first--in the
building. A story in the New York Times on Aug. 9, 2002, described these plans.

Some time later, nearly 2,000 microfilm rolls and microfiche formerly housed
at the Manhattan FHC were moved to a new Family History Center in Woodside
(Queens). A list of the center's microform holdings is posted at
<www.jgsny.org/fhc2.htm> along with address information and hours. Some of
the important resources available there are Viennese Jewish vital records
and indexes, the 1938 German census of minority groups, Hamburg passenger
lists, and various U.S. and European vital records.

I haven't heard news on plans to reopen the Manhattan FHC. According to
reports that have circulated over the past two years, it may reopen at a new location.

Note that the Genealogy Institute at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West
16th Street, serves as a Family History Center and there are a number of
other FHCs in the New York City area. Films >from the Family History Library
in Salt Lake City can be ordered and used at these FHCs, but most don't have
large permanent collections of films. For addresses and phone numbers, see
<www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp> . Hours that appear
on FamilySearch are not always current, so call ahead.

Renee Stern Steinig Dix Hills (Long Island), NY, USA rsteinig@...

I will gladly send these papers to anyone who might
need them. I was trying to find papers for my
paternal grandmother, also named Bessie COHEN, but the
lady in the subject line above is not the person I'm
looking for.

The Bessie Cohen whose papers I have was born in
London, England and was a school teacher. She was not
married at the time of her naturalization.

Please contact me off-list if you want these papers:

Debbie Cohen Skolnik
Fairview, NC (near Asheville)

Searching:

LANDY, LANDE, LONDIN -- Bialystok-Chicago (Tilly Landy)
GARBARSH, GARBAR, GERBER -- Ostrow - Chicago (Jacob Gerber)
SOLUTUSZKYN -- ??Jatyn (on Ellis Island Records)-Brooklyn, NY
Peshe (Bessie) Solutuszkyn Cohen
KISSIN -- Kiev-Brooklyn, NY became Barney or Barnet Cohen at some
point

I will gladly send these papers to anyone who might
need them. I was trying to find papers for my
paternal grandmother, also named Bessie COHEN, but the
lady in the subject line above is not the person I'm
looking for.

The Bessie Cohen whose papers I have was born in
London, England and was a school teacher. She was not
married at the time of her naturalization.

Please contact me off-list if you want these papers:

Debbie Cohen Skolnik
Fairview, NC (near Asheville)

Searching:

LANDY, LANDE, LONDIN -- Bialystok-Chicago (Tilly Landy)
GARBARSH, GARBAR, GERBER -- Ostrow - Chicago (Jacob Gerber)
SOLUTUSZKYN -- ??Jatyn (on Ellis Island Records)-Brooklyn, NY
Peshe (Bessie) Solutuszkyn Cohen
KISSIN -- Kiev-Brooklyn, NY became Barney or Barnet Cohen at some
point

Hoping someone can help me with either a mailing address or email
address for a woman named Aviva VALK who I am told lives in Jerusalem
and is related to my BLUMBERG family. If anyone knows her or could
look up her mailing address for me in Jerusalem I would appreciate it.

Please reply privately off the list *only*.

Thank you.

Allan Jordan
aejordan@...

Hoping someone can help me with either a mailing address or email
address for a woman named Aviva VALK who I am told lives in Jerusalem
and is related to my BLUMBERG family. If anyone knows her or could
look up her mailing address for me in Jerusalem I would appreciate it.

Please reply privately off the list *only*.

Thank you.

Allan Jordan
aejordan@...

Dear friends,

Please help me with this puzzle.

It is my understanding that only the
Emperor/Empress/King, etc. could award knighthood to a
commoner.

Can someone tell me how did they select the full title
to a person and by whom (the Emperor or the newly
appointed Knight)?. For example:

Name of the person awarded the Knighthood, plus the
words
"Edler von Rosenheim?"

Does this imply that the person was >from Rosenheim?

Finally, if so, was Rosenheim (now in Germany) ever a
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ca. 1765? Thanks,

Dora M. Donis-Kestler ddonis@... USA

Dear friends,

Please help me with this puzzle.

It is my understanding that only the
Emperor/Empress/King, etc. could award knighthood to a
commoner.

Can someone tell me how did they select the full title
to a person and by whom (the Emperor or the newly
appointed Knight)?. For example:

Name of the person awarded the Knighthood, plus the
words
"Edler von Rosenheim?"

Does this imply that the person was >from Rosenheim?

Finally, if so, was Rosenheim (now in Germany) ever a
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ca. 1765? Thanks,

Dora M. Donis-Kestler ddonis@... USA

Hanna,

My great-grandfather and his brothers would take business trips back to
Budapest after they became citizens, sometimes being away for many months.
You can check the US federal census through 1930 (excluding 1890), the
annual city directories for the city in which your great-uncle lived, the
National Archives for passport requests and the Ellis Island records for his
return to the US. Good luck. Regards,

Bonnie Frederics Tucson, AZ picturethisfilm@...

Hanna,

My great-grandfather and his brothers would take business trips back to
Budapest after they became citizens, sometimes being away for many months.
You can check the US federal census through 1930 (excluding 1890), the
annual city directories for the city in which your great-uncle lived, the
National Archives for passport requests and the Ellis Island records for his
return to the US. Good luck. Regards,

Bonnie Frederics Tucson, AZ picturethisfilm@...

We at the Israel Genealogical Society [IGS] are fairly bursting our
buttons with pride in the one day seminar [Yom Iyun] that we have
arranged for the 28th of November 2005 at Beit Hatefutzot [the
Diaspora Museum] on the Tel Aviv University campus. If you could have
one genealogical wish, wouldn't it be that you could find that
illusive document that would allow you to prove once and for all that
a tie that binds was true? We at the IGS have been feverishly working
for over a year to arrange just such a seminar that would allow you
to find the missing key.

Without fear of contradiction, I can categorically state that every
Jewish family in the world has family - known or unknown - in
Israel. Our seminar, "Family Roots in the Land of Israel and in the
World," will demonstrate what I mean. We have invited archivists >from
the smaller, but sometimes more interesting archives, to address us
with talks on their holdings. When we invited proposals, even we
didn't know details of all the treasures these archives hold, but
after reading the abstracts and talking with the archivists, it is
hard not to jump up and down with enthusiasm!

Go to our website's direct seminar access:

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/

There you can get .pdf files in Hebrew and/or in English of the
program, the abstracts and the biographies of the speakers. See for
yourself what an incredible program we have arranged for you! >from
our opening keynote speaker on Eastern European Aliyah >from the late
1800's to 1920, to a detailed description of the microfilm collection
of the Diaspora Museum, at the close of the day, you will be
enthralled for the entire time.

One caveat: regretfully, places are limited due to the number of
seats available and we can only accept reservations on a first come
first serve basis. Early registration ends on 10 November, if there
are still places available. Registration includes coffee and cake and
a chance for a greatly discounted hot lunch, but here too, places are
limited. Please register early so you will not be disappointed. When
the places are gone, they are gone and that's it.

The registration form can be downloaded at

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/YY-reg-HE-2005.pdf

You are going to love this day and we are looking forward to seeing
you there!

Martha Levinson Lev-Zion
for the Organizing Committee
Israel Genealogical Society

We at the Israel Genealogical Society [IGS] are fairly bursting our
buttons with pride in the one day seminar [Yom Iyun] that we have
arranged for the 28th of November 2005 at Beit Hatefutzot [the
Diaspora Museum] on the Tel Aviv University campus. If you could have
one genealogical wish, wouldn't it be that you could find that
illusive document that would allow you to prove once and for all that
a tie that binds was true? We at the IGS have been feverishly working
for over a year to arrange just such a seminar that would allow you
to find the missing key.

Without fear of contradiction, I can categorically state that every
Jewish family in the world has family - known or unknown - in
Israel. Our seminar, "Family Roots in the Land of Israel and in the
World," will demonstrate what I mean. We have invited archivists >from
the smaller, but sometimes more interesting archives, to address us
with talks on their holdings. When we invited proposals, even we
didn't know details of all the treasures these archives hold, but
after reading the abstracts and talking with the archivists, it is
hard not to jump up and down with enthusiasm!

Go to our website's direct seminar access:

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/

There you can get .pdf files in Hebrew and/or in English of the
program, the abstracts and the biographies of the speakers. See for
yourself what an incredible program we have arranged for you! >from
our opening keynote speaker on Eastern European Aliyah >from the late
1800's to 1920, to a detailed description of the microfilm collection
of the Diaspora Museum, at the close of the day, you will be
enthralled for the entire time.

One caveat: regretfully, places are limited due to the number of
seats available and we can only accept reservations on a first come
first serve basis. Early registration ends on 10 November, if there
are still places available. Registration includes coffee and cake and
a chance for a greatly discounted hot lunch, but here too, places are
limited. Please register early so you will not be disappointed. When
the places are gone, they are gone and that's it.

The registration form can be downloaded at

http://www.isragen.org.il/NROS/YY2005/YY-reg-HE-2005.pdf

You are going to love this day and we are looking forward to seeing
you there!

Martha Levinson Lev-Zion
for the Organizing Committee
Israel Genealogical Society

On the website of the Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library (http://kpbc.umk.pl)
are volumes one (http://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=623) and two
(http://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=726) of "Geographie und Statistik
von West- Sued- und Neu- Ostpreussen : nebst einer kurzen Geschichte des
Koenigreichs Polen bis zu dessen Zertheilung," by August Karl von Holsche,
published in Berlin in 1800 and 1804. (The file format in which these
appear, .DjVu, requires that they be viewed using a special viewer.
Instructions for downloading this viewer can be found in the archives of
this group.)

I am not qualified to fully assess the genealogical usefulness of these
works, but two points struck me while perusing their contents: 1) each
begins with a list of prenumeranten (pre-subscribers), which could be useful
to genealogists, though it is not clear to me whether any Jews are included;
and 2) beginning on image 397 (p. 385) of volume two, there is a list of
census statistics that includes the number of Jews for several places near
Leczyca (e.g., Gabin).

Perhaps, someone with sufficient expertise can more closely examine these
works and apprise us of their Jewish content?

Thanks very much to Edward Luft for publicizing this Digital Library's
website (and others) in his article in the most recent issue of Gen Dobry!,
the e-zine of PolishRoots.

Best regards,

Logan Kleinwaks
kleinwaks@...
near Washington, D.C.

On the website of the Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library (http://kpbc.umk.pl)
are volumes one (http://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=623) and two
(http://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=726) of "Geographie und Statistik
von West- Sued- und Neu- Ostpreussen : nebst einer kurzen Geschichte des
Koenigreichs Polen bis zu dessen Zertheilung," by August Karl von Holsche,
published in Berlin in 1800 and 1804. (The file format in which these
appear, .DjVu, requires that they be viewed using a special viewer.
Instructions for downloading this viewer can be found in the archives of
this group.)

I am not qualified to fully assess the genealogical usefulness of these
works, but two points struck me while perusing their contents: 1) each
begins with a list of prenumeranten (pre-subscribers), which could be useful
to genealogists, though it is not clear to me whether any Jews are included;
and 2) beginning on image 397 (p. 385) of volume two, there is a list of
census statistics that includes the number of Jews for several places near
Leczyca (e.g., Gabin).

Perhaps, someone with sufficient expertise can more closely examine these
works and apprise us of their Jewish content?

Thanks very much to Edward Luft for publicizing this Digital Library's
website (and others) in his article in the most recent issue of Gen Dobry!,
the e-zine of PolishRoots.

Best regards,

Logan Kleinwaks
kleinwaks@...
near Washington, D.C.