In 1967 I visited a peasant home near the border of (now) Southern
Russia and Romania. It was a simple wooden structure, perhaps stuccoed
on the outside. The inner walls were wooden. A large brick fireplace
took up most of one wall in the main room, which served as kitchen,
eating room, and sleeping room. It held a planked wooden table, large
enough to seat 10, benches running it's length on either side, and a
chair at each end. Benches lining the walls were used for sleeping. A
single high shelf ran around the room, holding icons in one corner, an
old photo or two, and a few decorations made of braided wheat and
garlic. The adjacent room was for animals and storage for farm tools,
hay and other feed.

A wedding had just taken place. The bride and groom drove away in a
wooden cart pulled by donkeys, in peasant costume, the groom with a
pillow hanging >from his belt in back. A second cart held the band and
their instruments. Food was served on the table in several large bowls,
and each place was set with a bowl, a spoon or a fork, and a glass for
vodka. The homemade vodka was incredibly strong.

There was no running water or electricity, no motor vehicles, none of
the comforts of modern life. They lived much as our ancestors would have
lived, by their own labor, close to the earth, and very simply.

Thanks for dredging up this memory! :

Karen Jo Rippens

In 1967 I visited a peasant home near the border of (now) Southern
Russia and Romania. It was a simple wooden structure, perhaps stuccoed
on the outside. The inner walls were wooden. A large brick fireplace
took up most of one wall in the main room, which served as kitchen,
eating room, and sleeping room. It held a planked wooden table, large
enough to seat 10, benches running it's length on either side, and a
chair at each end. Benches lining the walls were used for sleeping. A
single high shelf ran around the room, holding icons in one corner, an
old photo or two, and a few decorations made of braided wheat and
garlic. The adjacent room was for animals and storage for farm tools,
hay and other feed.

A wedding had just taken place. The bride and groom drove away in a
wooden cart pulled by donkeys, in peasant costume, the groom with a
pillow hanging >from his belt in back. A second cart held the band and
their instruments. Food was served on the table in several large bowls,
and each place was set with a bowl, a spoon or a fork, and a glass for
vodka. The homemade vodka was incredibly strong.

There was no running water or electricity, no motor vehicles, none of
the comforts of modern life. They lived much as our ancestors would have
lived, by their own labor, close to the earth, and very simply.

Thanks for dredging up this memory! :

Karen Jo Rippens

The best place for research of this kind is the Jacob Rader Marcus American
Jewish Archives, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati Ohio, 45220.
Ida

Dr. Joseph M. Schwarcz
Dr. Ida Selavan Schwarcz
Arad, Israel

The best place for research of this kind is the Jacob Rader Marcus American
Jewish Archives, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati Ohio, 45220.
Ida

Dr. Joseph M. Schwarcz
Dr. Ida Selavan Schwarcz
Arad, Israel

GerSig is in need of volunteers to help with two problems.

1. We have a new member in Jerusalem whose English is not good. If you
are fluent in Hebrew and English and would be willing to help this
new GerSig member understand our rules and learn how to write and send
questions to the GerSig Forum please reply to GerSig@... for details.

2. We have lost about 100 members who never got a JGFF researcher number
or who were subscribed to GerSig >from an email address other than the one
linked to their JGFF researcher number.

Some of our lost members are leading German Jewish Genealogists who
really should be receiving GerSig email and sending comments to our
forum.
Several are Charter members ( Joined October / November 1998 ) . These
names will be familiar to any GerSigger who reads this Forum regularly.

If you would have time to scan the list of about 100 names and email
addresses and write to any lost members whom you know, explaining how
to resubscribe please volunteer and I will send you the list and the
instructions. You will add a personal note and urge that they re-join.

(All have received one email already >from me but have not yet re-subscribed.)

Thanks for your help.

John Paul Lowens, GerSig Coordinator / Moderator

GerSig is in need of volunteers to help with two problems.

1. We have a new member in Jerusalem whose English is not good. If you
are fluent in Hebrew and English and would be willing to help this
new GerSig member understand our rules and learn how to write and send
questions to the GerSig Forum please reply to GerSig@... for details.

2. We have lost about 100 members who never got a JGFF researcher number
or who were subscribed to GerSig >from an email address other than the one
linked to their JGFF researcher number.

Some of our lost members are leading German Jewish Genealogists who
really should be receiving GerSig email and sending comments to our
forum.
Several are Charter members ( Joined October / November 1998 ) . These
names will be familiar to any GerSigger who reads this Forum regularly.

If you would have time to scan the list of about 100 names and email
addresses and write to any lost members whom you know, explaining how
to resubscribe please volunteer and I will send you the list and the
instructions. You will add a personal note and urge that they re-join.

(All have received one email already >from me but have not yet re-subscribed.)

Thanks for your help.

John Paul Lowens, GerSig Coordinator / Moderator

Hello GerSig:
I just joined the group. I have learnt >from N.Y.Census Records just retrieved
that my husband Robert JACOBS paternal grandparents origins were Germany,
town not known as yet. We are interested in learning what town/area they
came from, and where they are buried in New York - as per following data

Grandfather: Jacob JACOBSON, name later changed to JACOBS,
Grandmother: Pauline nee WASSERMAN JACOBSON/JACOBS
Children: Joseph, Abraham, Julius, Benjamin, Sadie & Ray
Year of Immigration: Appears to be 1881 (Entry fuzzy on Census Records)
Date of Birth of Jacobs varies on 1910 & 1920 Census - possibly 1862?
Date of Birth of Pauline varies on 1910 & 1920 Cenus - also 1862?
Address on 1910 Census: Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York
Address on 1920 Census: Roebling Street, Brooklyn, New York
Language: Yiddish -
Jacob & Pauline - Aliens Children born in New York,
Jacob was stated as being a 'Horse Peddlar'!
We lost touch with Jacobs family descendants many years ago when
we relocated to California. We do not know surnames of Sadie & Ray.

I consider myself to be a novice in German Jewish Genealogy Research.
My experience in using the Internet is intermediate.
We live in Southern California - relocated >from Long Island, New York.
My husband Robert Jacobs was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Ena Jacobs San Pedro, California EnaBob@...

MODERATOR NOTE: Welcome to GerSig. Good luck with your research.
In the future, type ***only*** the last names of research subjects in all
caps. All other text as normal text. Your Moderator has edited this first
message as a one-time courtesy.

Hello GerSig:
I just joined the group. I have learnt >from N.Y.Census Records just retrieved
that my husband Robert JACOBS paternal grandparents origins were Germany,
town not known as yet. We are interested in learning what town/area they
came from, and where they are buried in New York - as per following data

Grandfather: Jacob JACOBSON, name later changed to JACOBS,
Grandmother: Pauline nee WASSERMAN JACOBSON/JACOBS
Children: Joseph, Abraham, Julius, Benjamin, Sadie & Ray
Year of Immigration: Appears to be 1881 (Entry fuzzy on Census Records)
Date of Birth of Jacobs varies on 1910 & 1920 Census - possibly 1862?
Date of Birth of Pauline varies on 1910 & 1920 Cenus - also 1862?
Address on 1910 Census: Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York
Address on 1920 Census: Roebling Street, Brooklyn, New York
Language: Yiddish -
Jacob & Pauline - Aliens Children born in New York,
Jacob was stated as being a 'Horse Peddlar'!
We lost touch with Jacobs family descendants many years ago when
we relocated to California. We do not know surnames of Sadie & Ray.

I consider myself to be a novice in German Jewish Genealogy Research.
My experience in using the Internet is intermediate.
We live in Southern California - relocated >from Long Island, New York.
My husband Robert Jacobs was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Ena Jacobs San Pedro, California EnaBob@...

MODERATOR NOTE: Welcome to GerSig. Good luck with your research.
In the future, type ***only*** the last names of research subjects in all
caps. All other text as normal text. Your Moderator has edited this first
message as a one-time courtesy.

Gersh can be Hersh (or Hirsh)/Tzvi, but it can also be Gershon,
as in the case of my GGF's brother, Gershon Rubenstein from
Bobruisk.

Billie Stein
Givatayim ISRAEL
Researching >from Belarus: DINNIN (Mogilev), PLOTKIN
(Bobruisk/Mogilev), RUBENSTEIN (Bobruisk)

from Galicia : LAMM, GLANTZ (Sieniawa) STEIN, JAKOB (Tarnow/Nowe

Zukowice)

from Ukraine: HOFFMAN (Yashin?)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Subject: Gersh/Hersh
From: P Concus <pconcus@...>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 05:53:51 -0700
X-Message-Number: 1

Is it generally the case that in Cyrillic documents the name
Gersh
appears as the equivalent of the Hebrew name Tzvi? (presumably
because
one can't write Hersh, the actual Yiddish equivalent -- no H in
Cyrillic?).

Thank you. Paul Concus

Gersh can be Hersh (or Hirsh)/Tzvi, but it can also be Gershon,
as in the case of my GGF's brother, Gershon Rubenstein from
Bobruisk.

Billie Stein
Givatayim ISRAEL
Researching >from Belarus: DINNIN (Mogilev), PLOTKIN
(Bobruisk/Mogilev), RUBENSTEIN (Bobruisk)

from Galicia : LAMM, GLANTZ (Sieniawa) STEIN, JAKOB (Tarnow/Nowe

Zukowice)

from Ukraine: HOFFMAN (Yashin?)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Subject: Gersh/Hersh
From: P Concus <pconcus@...>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 05:53:51 -0700
X-Message-Number: 1

Is it generally the case that in Cyrillic documents the name
Gersh
appears as the equivalent of the Hebrew name Tzvi? (presumably
because
one can't write Hersh, the actual Yiddish equivalent -- no H in
Cyrillic?).

Thank you. Paul Concus

The Federation of East European Family History Societies (an
organization that "promotes family research in eastern and central
Europe without any ethnic, religious, or social distinctions") will
be holding its annual International Conference in Detroit, Michigan,
October 1-3, 2004. The schedule includes several talks of a general
nature, and others specifically relevant to Jewish genealogy, that
should be of great interest to numerous readers of this list.

For complete information on the conference, see the FEEFHS web site at:

http://www.feefhs.org/

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York
--
RADAUTZ: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radauti/radautz.html
SADGURA: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/sadgura/sadgura.html
Researching: REISCH, SCHECHTER, FEUERSTEIN - Sadgura, Bukowina, Ukraine
SCHACHTER, BRUCKER/BRUKER, HALPERN, HELLMANN - Radauti and Solca,
Bukowina, Romania
WEISSMAN - Brody, Galicia, Ukraine SCHACHTER, HELLMANN - Okup, Ukraine
WEINTRAUB - Lublin & Zamosc, Poland

The Federation of East European Family History Societies (an
organization that "promotes family research in eastern and central
Europe without any ethnic, religious, or social distinctions") will
be holding its annual International Conference in Detroit, Michigan,
October 1-3, 2004. The schedule includes several talks of a general
nature, and others specifically relevant to Jewish genealogy, that
should be of great interest to numerous readers of this list.

For complete information on the conference, see the FEEFHS web site at:

http://www.feefhs.org/

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York
--
RADAUTZ: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radauti/radautz.html
SADGURA: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/sadgura/sadgura.html
Researching: REISCH, SCHECHTER, FEUERSTEIN - Sadgura, Bukowina, Ukraine
SCHACHTER, BRUCKER/BRUKER, HALPERN, HELLMANN - Radauti and Solca,
Bukowina, Romania
WEISSMAN - Brody, Galicia, Ukraine SCHACHTER, HELLMANN - Okup, Ukraine
WEINTRAUB - Lublin & Zamosc, Poland

In a message dated 8/20/2004 6:05:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
zen28027@... writes:

In the USA melting pot a non-European suffix was acceptable but in England
much less so. I find that one can very often follow the metamorphosis >from say
Polish to English surname - eg by straight translation of a trade-based surname
- but occasionally a new surname seems to plucked out of the air making
research in the country of origin even more problematical.

==The phrase "melting pot" was devised by Israel Zangwill, the British (and
British-born) Jewish author of "Children of the Ghetto." But he used the term
in reference to the USA. Britain was (certainly in my days there, 1938-1955)
much less accepting of things foreign, >from names to dress, to food and
language.

Among the name changes I'm familiar with there, these stick in my memory
Ichenhauser to Ingram
Schwarzwald to Sherwood
Cohen to Caine
? to Kennedy
? to Montgomery
Koenigshoefer to Kaye
Schajowitz to Sheldon
Osterman to Austin

The last gave rise to a game I used to play with my friends. We knew that the
French Citroen car was named after its Jewish founder, Citronenbaum. Now we
understand that the British Austin automobile must have been named after a
Jew, Osterman. Hence the Austen-Siddley car was named after Aaron Sidlewitz, the
Rolls Royce after Raphael Rottenberg, the Bentley after Bernstein, the Morris
after Moishe (obvious! what else?), the Vauxhall after Volksmann, the Rover
after Reuven, and so on. The game was who was the first to "recognize" the
Jewish name of every car we wncountered on our walk home >from schul. There were
probably at least 30 British brands at the time

Michael Bernet, New York

In a message dated 8/20/2004 6:05:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
zen28027@... writes:

In the USA melting pot a non-European suffix was acceptable but in England
much less so. I find that one can very often follow the metamorphosis >from say
Polish to English surname - eg by straight translation of a trade-based surname
- but occasionally a new surname seems to plucked out of the air making
research in the country of origin even more problematical.

==The phrase "melting pot" was devised by Israel Zangwill, the British (and
British-born) Jewish author of "Children of the Ghetto." But he used the term
in reference to the USA. Britain was (certainly in my days there, 1938-1955)
much less accepting of things foreign, >from names to dress, to food and
language.

Among the name changes I'm familiar with there, these stick in my memory
Ichenhauser to Ingram
Schwarzwald to Sherwood
Cohen to Caine
? to Kennedy
? to Montgomery
Koenigshoefer to Kaye
Schajowitz to Sheldon
Osterman to Austin

The last gave rise to a game I used to play with my friends. We knew that the
French Citroen car was named after its Jewish founder, Citronenbaum. Now we
understand that the British Austin automobile must have been named after a
Jew, Osterman. Hence the Austen-Siddley car was named after Aaron Sidlewitz, the
Rolls Royce after Raphael Rottenberg, the Bentley after Bernstein, the Morris
after Moishe (obvious! what else?), the Vauxhall after Volksmann, the Rover
after Reuven, and so on. The game was who was the first to "recognize" the
Jewish name of every car we wncountered on our walk home >from schul. There were
probably at least 30 British brands at the time

Michael Bernet, New York

The background.....
At the end of July 2004 I submitted a question about a place mentioned
on my greatgrandfather's UK naturalisation forms. According to these
forms my ggfather was born "in Lito in the province of Courland." I had
assumed that Lito is/was a town; however, several people (thank you)
suggested that the word may have been Lita (which means Lithuania).

My new question......
If the place of birth should have read "in Lithuania, in the province of
Courland", does this make historical, geographical and political sense
for the time? My ggfather was born in 1848 and he applied for
naturalisation when he was living in Liverpool, UK in about 1895.

I have tried to read up on this topic but the complexity of it makes me
dizzy! Thank you.
S.Barton.
Alberta, Canada.

The background.....
At the end of July 2004 I submitted a question about a place mentioned
on my greatgrandfather's UK naturalisation forms. According to these
forms my ggfather was born "in Lito in the province of Courland." I had
assumed that Lito is/was a town; however, several people (thank you)
suggested that the word may have been Lita (which means Lithuania).

My new question......
If the place of birth should have read "in Lithuania, in the province of
Courland", does this make historical, geographical and political sense
for the time? My ggfather was born in 1848 and he applied for
naturalisation when he was living in Liverpool, UK in about 1895.

I have tried to read up on this topic but the complexity of it makes me
dizzy! Thank you.
S.Barton.
Alberta, Canada.

Many of those interested in Jewish genealogy seek information about the
different branches and shades of Judaism. That topic is generally considered
inappropriate to the genealogical purpose of Jewishgen.

For those who wish to learn more about the many branches and shades, the
University of Calgary has created a website at

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/363_list.html

It is very comprehensive. I, personally, found a number of minor errors in my
first cursory scan, and do not necessarily endorse any specific statement or
point of view. I suggest that those interested earmark this site.

Michael Bernet, New York

MODERATOR NOTE: As Dr Bernet notes, this topic, while likely of interest to
many readers of this forum, is not genealogy. The site is posted here for its
reference value. Discussions of the site and its contents are offtopic here.
Only those with a clear and direct connection to genealogy will be considered
for posting.

Many of those interested in Jewish genealogy seek information about the
different branches and shades of Judaism. That topic is generally considered
inappropriate to the genealogical purpose of Jewishgen.

For those who wish to learn more about the many branches and shades, the
University of Calgary has created a website at

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/363_list.html

It is very comprehensive. I, personally, found a number of minor errors in my
first cursory scan, and do not necessarily endorse any specific statement or
point of view. I suggest that those interested earmark this site.

Michael Bernet, New York

MODERATOR NOTE: As Dr Bernet notes, this topic, while likely of interest to
many readers of this forum, is not genealogy. The site is posted here for its
reference value. Discussions of the site and its contents are offtopic here.
Only those with a clear and direct connection to genealogy will be considered
for posting.

************************************************************************
* Please read and save the new subscription change instructions below! *
************************************************************************

Our hosts at JewishGen are installing a new system which will identify
all JewishGen users by assigning all users a JewishGen Identification
Number (JGID).

This new system will have many advantages to us all including automatic
update of contact information in all JewishGen data bases when a change
is reported only one time to the JGID system.

The new system requires every SIG subscriber to get a JGID number.

All SIG subscribers have received two E-mails >from JewishGen informing
them of this new requirement and explaining how to easily get a JGID number
at no cost.

(The JGID number is the same as the JGFF Researcher Code that most us have
had for ages.)

Now, after announcing the JGID requirement JewishGen has begun to remove
SIG subscribers who do not have JGID numbers or JGFF Researcher Code
numbers.

If someone you know stops receiving SIG mail it is probably because that
person did not comply with the new requirement.

Such people can resubscribe to the mailing lists after obtaining a free
JGID number at the JewishGen website.

Regards -
Florence Elman
Ukraine SIG Coordinator
haflo@...

************************************************************************
* Please read and save the new subscription change instructions below! *
************************************************************************

Our hosts at JewishGen are installing a new system which will identify
all JewishGen users by assigning all users a JewishGen Identification
Number (JGID).

This new system will have many advantages to us all including automatic
update of contact information in all JewishGen data bases when a change
is reported only one time to the JGID system.

The new system requires every SIG subscriber to get a JGID number.

All SIG subscribers have received two E-mails >from JewishGen informing
them of this new requirement and explaining how to easily get a JGID number
at no cost.

(The JGID number is the same as the JGFF Researcher Code that most us have
had for ages.)

Now, after announcing the JGID requirement JewishGen has begun to remove
SIG subscribers who do not have JGID numbers or JGFF Researcher Code
numbers.

If someone you know stops receiving SIG mail it is probably because that
person did not comply with the new requirement.

Such people can resubscribe to the mailing lists after obtaining a free
JGID number at the JewishGen website.

Regards -
Florence Elman
Ukraine SIG Coordinator
haflo@...