Gesher Galicia has recently completed the indexing of the 1910
Tarnopol Jewish Census. The data will be uploaded to the All Galicia
Database in late January.

We have posted the list of surnames found in the census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/tarnopol-1910-jewish-census-surname-list/

Names are listed as they appear in the index, transcribed by our
indexing team >from the handwritten census which, itself, was probably
re-copied >from the Austrian original.

(The original Austrian Empire census records had many more fields.
The communities or districts sent the records back Vienna so the data
could be extracted and statistics on the Empire's holdings created. An
article by Johnathan D. Shea, founding president of the Polish
Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, "Austrian
Census Returns 1869-1890," will appear in the next issue of "The
Galitzianer." He goes into depth about the history behind the
creation of these censuses, including instructions given by
high-ranking local officials to the paid enumerator and the meticulous
way the entries were checked for accuracy.)

Interpreting handwriting can be tricky. In most cases, the handwriting
is correctly transcribed, but the enumerator making the original entry
misspelled a name. We plan to issue corrections to errors in
transcription as they become evident, and possibly add annotations,
provided by researchers, of what the correct name probably was, despite
a misspelling in theofficial record.

Many "double names" (or hyphenated names) typically found in
Galician metrical records are here: the result of the Habsburg
Empire's non-recognition of Jewish religious marriages, as opposed to
civil marriages registered with the government, which the majority of
Galician Jews resisted.

Children >from these marriages were registered in birth records as
"illegitimate" and there were numerous variations in surnames were
assigned. Most of the religiously-married women -- listed as "ritual
wife" in the census -- retained their maiden names and children were
assigned the mother's name unless - sometimes - the father showed up
in person where vital records were registered to make a legal claim to
be the father. Even then, with large families, researchers will notice
great variation in how names were entered in the record books. Within
one family, the first child might carry the mother's name, a later
sibling, the father's name and sometimes no surname would be listed at
all for many of the children.
As these children married and had their own children more double names
would crop up, much to the frustration of researchers.

A few such examples are:

BERLAS f. FRAUENGLASS ,
BURSTIN f. SILBERMANN
KOHN recht HALPERN
WOLFZAHN f. HIRSCHHORN
DERFLER vel THUMIN

?Vel is >from the Latin, which translates to ?also known as.? The
resident was known by both names, probably as a result of a religious
marriage where the person might carry the mother?s name and, at other
times, by the father's name. (If appearing between two given names,
this usually represents the Jewish versus secular surname, or a
nickname/kinnui,versus legal given name.)

"Recte" translates to "legally" and would mean that this surname was
the "legal" name.

'False' or (?f?) implies a name change by usage, not by legal means.
This term might also be considered the reverse of "recte."

All of these notations are subject to various interpretations,
however, given the complicated system of registering Jewish births,
deaths and marriages in Galicia.

I cannot provide more information on these entries now, but you can
read about the project in more detail -- and view examples (annotated)
of the actual census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census/

Note that an earlier version of this list had many names missing, so
it's worth taking a second look at the list now.

Pamela Weisberger
President, Gesher Galicia
pweisberger@...
http://www.geshergalicia.org
http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census
http://www.geshergalicia.org/galitzianer/

Gesher Galicia has recently completed the indexing of the 1910
Tarnopol Jewish Census. The data will be uploaded to the All Galicia
Database in late January.

We have posted the list of surnames found in the census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/tarnopol-1910-jewish-census-surname-list/

Names are listed as they appear in the index, transcribed by our
indexing team >from the handwritten census which, itself, was probably
re-copied >from the Austrian original.

(The original Austrian Empire census records had many more fields.
The communities or districts sent the records back Vienna so the data
could be extracted and statistics on the Empire's holdings created. An
article by Johnathan D. Shea, founding president of the Polish
Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, "Austrian
Census Returns 1869-1890," will appear in the next issue of "The
Galitzianer." He goes into depth about the history behind the
creation of these censuses, including instructions given by
high-ranking local officials to the paid enumerator and the meticulous
way the entries were checked for accuracy.)

Interpreting handwriting can be tricky. In most cases, the handwriting
is correctly transcribed, but the enumerator making the original entry
misspelled a name. We plan to issue corrections to errors in
transcription as they become evident, and possibly add annotations,
provided by researchers, of what the correct name probably was, despite
a misspelling in theofficial record.

Many "double names" (or hyphenated names) typically found in
Galician metrical records are here: the result of the Habsburg
Empire's non-recognition of Jewish religious marriages, as opposed to
civil marriages registered with the government, which the majority of
Galician Jews resisted.

Children >from these marriages were registered in birth records as
"illegitimate" and there were numerous variations in surnames were
assigned. Most of the religiously-married women -- listed as "ritual
wife" in the census -- retained their maiden names and children were
assigned the mother's name unless - sometimes - the father showed up
in person where vital records were registered to make a legal claim to
be the father. Even then, with large families, researchers will notice
great variation in how names were entered in the record books. Within
one family, the first child might carry the mother's name, a later
sibling, the father's name and sometimes no surname would be listed at
all for many of the children.
As these children married and had their own children more double names
would crop up, much to the frustration of researchers.

A few such examples are:

BERLAS f. FRAUENGLASS ,
BURSTIN f. SILBERMANN
KOHN recht HALPERN
WOLFZAHN f. HIRSCHHORN
DERFLER vel THUMIN

?Vel is >from the Latin, which translates to ?also known as.? The
resident was known by both names, probably as a result of a religious
marriage where the person might carry the mother?s name and, at other
times, by the father's name. (If appearing between two given names,
this usually represents the Jewish versus secular surname, or a
nickname/kinnui,versus legal given name.)

"Recte" translates to "legally" and would mean that this surname was
the "legal" name.

'False' or (?f?) implies a name change by usage, not by legal means.
This term might also be considered the reverse of "recte."

All of these notations are subject to various interpretations,
however, given the complicated system of registering Jewish births,
deaths and marriages in Galicia.

I cannot provide more information on these entries now, but you can
read about the project in more detail -- and view examples (annotated)
of the actual census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census/

Note that an earlier version of this list had many names missing, so
it's worth taking a second look at the list now.

Pamela Weisberger
President, Gesher Galicia
pweisberger@...
http://www.geshergalicia.org
http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census
http://www.geshergalicia.org/galitzianer/

Yad Vashem has a new online exhibit of the Story of the Jewish Community of
Bratislava. On the eve of the Holocaust, Bratislava had the largest Jewish
population in the Slovak Republic, 15,000 people. As a result of the
creation of an independent Slovak State in March 1939, the Jews of
Bratislava were subjected to discriminatory practices and persecution. By
the March 1, 1942, nearly half of the city's Jews had been evicted, and
dispersed in smaller towns across the country. Many of the Jews of
Bratislava were deported to the death camps in Poland in 1942. Most
Slovakian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The Yad Vashem story of the
Jewish Community of Bratislava is divided into four areas: before, during
and after the Holocaust and the legacies remain. Click on each area for
photographs and narrative. To view and read the exhibit go to:
http://tinyurl.com/m5xt32n Original url:
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/communities/bratislava/index.asp


Jan Meisels Allen
Agoura Hills, CA

SEARCHING:
REICH, WALD, ZUPNIK, Presov, Mestiszko, Szivdnik; Salgo, Sebes Kellemes,
Slovakia
MEISELS, SEGALLA/SIGALL, LIEBERMAN --Brody, Ukraine
KLAJNMAN, MICHELBERG, SYK, SZLANG, TYKULSKIER Sochaczew, Chorzele, and
Zakroczym Poland
FREJER, IMJAK, WILAMOWSKY, KREPLAK,-Stawiski, Poland
SZAPIRA, SOBOTKO, PIATKOWSKA, PERLA, ASZ, WAPNIARZ -Lomza ,Poland
GUTFARB --Zambrow, Poland ASZ, Nasielsk, Poland ELION, Suwalki Lithuania

Yad Vashem has a new online exhibit of the Story of the Jewish Community of
Bratislava. On the eve of the Holocaust, Bratislava had the largest Jewish
population in the Slovak Republic, 15,000 people. As a result of the
creation of an independent Slovak State in March 1939, the Jews of
Bratislava were subjected to discriminatory practices and persecution. By
the March 1, 1942, nearly half of the city's Jews had been evicted, and
dispersed in smaller towns across the country. Many of the Jews of
Bratislava were deported to the death camps in Poland in 1942. Most
Slovakian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The Yad Vashem story of the
Jewish Community of Bratislava is divided into four areas: before, during
and after the Holocaust and the legacies remain. Click on each area for
photographs and narrative. To view and read the exhibit go to:
http://tinyurl.com/m5xt32n Original url:
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/communities/bratislava/index.asp


Jan Meisels Allen
Agoura Hills, CA

SEARCHING:
REICH, WALD, ZUPNIK, Presov, Mestiszko, Szivdnik; Salgo, Sebes Kellemes,
Slovakia
MEISELS, SEGALLA/SIGALL, LIEBERMAN --Brody, Ukraine
KLAJNMAN, MICHELBERG, SYK, SZLANG, TYKULSKIER Sochaczew, Chorzele, and
Zakroczym Poland
FREJER, IMJAK, WILAMOWSKY, KREPLAK,-Stawiski, Poland
SZAPIRA, SOBOTKO, PIATKOWSKA, PERLA, ASZ, WAPNIARZ -Lomza ,Poland
GUTFARB --Zambrow, Poland ASZ, Nasielsk, Poland ELION, Suwalki Lithuania

Bogardi.com's 1913 gazetteer of Hungary lists Sandal as being in Zemplen
County at the time, and in present-day Slovakia; transindex.ro shows
Sandal (with an accent over the s) as being the current Slovak name of the
town, in the Stropkov District of the Presov region. (note that Hungarian
would pronounce it "Shahn-dahl", and Slovak would be similar.)

It is also listed in the jewishgen gazetteer as a
"populated place", 49°11' N 21°37' E.

....... tom klein, Toronto

Bogardi.com's 1913 gazetteer of Hungary lists Sandal as being in Zemplen
County at the time, and in present-day Slovakia; transindex.ro shows
Sandal (with an accent over the s) as being the current Slovak name of the
town, in the Stropkov District of the Presov region. (note that Hungarian
would pronounce it "Shahn-dahl", and Slovak would be similar.)

It is also listed in the jewishgen gazetteer as a
"populated place", 49°11' N 21°37' E.

....... tom klein, Toronto

Gesher Galicia has recently completed the indexing of the 1910 Tarnopol
Jewish Census. The data will be uploaded to the All Galicia Database in
late January.

We have posted the list of surnames found in the census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/tarnopol-1910-jewish-census-surname-list/

Names are listed as they appear in the index, transcribed by our
indexing team >from the handwritten census which, itself, was probably
re-copied >from the Austrian original.

(The original Austrian Empire census records had many more fields.
The communities or districts sent the records back Vienna so the data
could be extracted and statistics on the Empire's holdings created. An
article by Johnathan D. Shea, founding president of the Polish
Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, "Austrian
Census Returns 1869-1890," will appear in the next issue of "The
Galitzianer." He goes into depth about the history behind the
creation of these censuses, including instructions given by
high-ranking local officials to the paid enumerator and the meticulous
way the entries were checked for accuracy.)

Interpreting handwriting can be tricky. In most cases, the handwriting
is correctly transcribed, but the enumerator making the original entry
misspelled a name. We plan to issue corrections to errors in
transcription as they become evident, and possibly add annotations, provided
by researchers, of what the correct name probably was, despite a misspelling
in the official record.

Many 'double names' ( or hyphenated names) typically found in Galician
metrical records are here: the result of the Habsburg Empire's non-recognition
of Jewish religious marriages, as opposed to civil marriages registered with
the government, which the majority of Galician Jews resisted.

Children >from these marriages were registered in birth records as
'illegitimate' and there were numerous variations in surnames were
assigned. Most of the religiously-married women -- listed as "ritual
wife" in the census -- retained their maiden names and children were
assigned the mother's name unless - sometimes - the father showed up
in person where vital records were registered to make a legal claim to
be the father. Even then, with large families, researchers will notice
great variation in how names were entered in the record books. Within
one family, the first child might carry the mother's name, a later
sibling, the father's name and sometimes no surname would be listed at
all for many of the children.

As these children married and had their own children more double names
would crop up, much to the frustration of researchers.

A few such examples are:

BERLAS f. FRAUENGLASS ,
BURSTIN f. SILBERMANN
KOHN recht HALPERN
WOLFZAHN f. HIRSCHHORN
DERFLER vel THUMIN

'Vel is >from the Latin, which translates to 'also known as.' The
resident was known by both names, probably as a result of a religious
marriage where the person might carry the mother?s name and, at other
times, by the father's name. (If appearing between two given names, this
usually represents the Jewish versus secular surname, or a nickname/kinnui,
versus legal given name.)

'Recte' translates to 'legally' and would mean that this surname was
the 'legal' name.

'False' or ('f') implies a name change by usage, not by legal means.
This term might also be considered the reverse of 'recte.'

All of these notations are subject to various interpretations,
however, given the complicated system of registering Jewish births,
deaths and marriages in Galicia.

I cannot provide more information on these entries now, but you can
read about the project in more detail -- and view examples (annotated)
of the actual census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census/

Note that an earlier version of this list had many names missing, so
it's worth taking a second look at the list now.

Pamela Weisberger
President, Gesher Galicia
pweisberger@...
http://www.geshergalicia.org
http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census
http://www.geshergalicia.org/galitzianer/

Gesher Galicia has recently completed the indexing of the 1910 Tarnopol
Jewish Census. The data will be uploaded to the All Galicia Database in
late January.

We have posted the list of surnames found in the census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/tarnopol-1910-jewish-census-surname-list/

Names are listed as they appear in the index, transcribed by our
indexing team >from the handwritten census which, itself, was probably
re-copied >from the Austrian original.

(The original Austrian Empire census records had many more fields.
The communities or districts sent the records back Vienna so the data
could be extracted and statistics on the Empire's holdings created. An
article by Johnathan D. Shea, founding president of the Polish
Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, "Austrian
Census Returns 1869-1890," will appear in the next issue of "The
Galitzianer." He goes into depth about the history behind the
creation of these censuses, including instructions given by
high-ranking local officials to the paid enumerator and the meticulous
way the entries were checked for accuracy.)

Interpreting handwriting can be tricky. In most cases, the handwriting
is correctly transcribed, but the enumerator making the original entry
misspelled a name. We plan to issue corrections to errors in
transcription as they become evident, and possibly add annotations, provided
by researchers, of what the correct name probably was, despite a misspelling
in the official record.

Many 'double names' ( or hyphenated names) typically found in Galician
metrical records are here: the result of the Habsburg Empire's non-recognition
of Jewish religious marriages, as opposed to civil marriages registered with
the government, which the majority of Galician Jews resisted.

Children >from these marriages were registered in birth records as
'illegitimate' and there were numerous variations in surnames were
assigned. Most of the religiously-married women -- listed as "ritual
wife" in the census -- retained their maiden names and children were
assigned the mother's name unless - sometimes - the father showed up
in person where vital records were registered to make a legal claim to
be the father. Even then, with large families, researchers will notice
great variation in how names were entered in the record books. Within
one family, the first child might carry the mother's name, a later
sibling, the father's name and sometimes no surname would be listed at
all for many of the children.

As these children married and had their own children more double names
would crop up, much to the frustration of researchers.

A few such examples are:

BERLAS f. FRAUENGLASS ,
BURSTIN f. SILBERMANN
KOHN recht HALPERN
WOLFZAHN f. HIRSCHHORN
DERFLER vel THUMIN

'Vel is >from the Latin, which translates to 'also known as.' The
resident was known by both names, probably as a result of a religious
marriage where the person might carry the mother?s name and, at other
times, by the father's name. (If appearing between two given names, this
usually represents the Jewish versus secular surname, or a nickname/kinnui,
versus legal given name.)

'Recte' translates to 'legally' and would mean that this surname was
the 'legal' name.

'False' or ('f') implies a name change by usage, not by legal means.
This term might also be considered the reverse of 'recte.'

All of these notations are subject to various interpretations,
however, given the complicated system of registering Jewish births,
deaths and marriages in Galicia.

I cannot provide more information on these entries now, but you can
read about the project in more detail -- and view examples (annotated)
of the actual census here:

http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census/

Note that an earlier version of this list had many names missing, so
it's worth taking a second look at the list now.

Pamela Weisberger
President, Gesher Galicia
pweisberger@...
http://www.geshergalicia.org
http://www.geshergalicia.org/projects/tarnopol-1910-census
http://www.geshergalicia.org/galitzianer/

Join the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO)
for a program featuring Rae Price Library of Judaica at the
University of Florida (UF) Curator, Rebecca Jefferson, and
Journalism and Mass Communications Librarian at UF, April Hines,
"Jewish Newspapers in the Florida Digital Newspaper Library: an
introduction and tutorial".

Learn about the Jewish newspapers in the newly created Ethnic
Newspapers Database within the Florida Digital Newspaper Library
at the University of Florida, and find out how to navigate this
important new resource. The new database was created thanks to a
Library Services and Technology Act grant (The Florida Digital
Newspaper Library: Broadening Access and Users) enabling the
digitization of one of Florida's longest running ethnic
newspapers, The Jewish Floridian. This database is online and
there is no charge for access. The Jewish Floridian was the first
ethnic newspaper of note to be published in Florida. Founded in
1927 by J. Louis Shochet, its editorship was taken over by his
son Fred K. Shochet until the paper was disbanded in 1990.

The one hour presentation and training will include: an overview
of the newspapers within the Ethnic Newspapers Database,
comprising 7,526 items with over 139,000 pages; a history and
survey of The Jewish Floridian newspaper, 1928-1990; a tutorial
on how to access these materials: searching, viewing results,
saving images etc.,; and a Q&A session. Prior to the program,
starting at 6:30pm, there will be time for newcomers to network
and to receive free consulting assistance or mentoring >from a
Jewish genealogy maven.

Rebecca Jefferson is the Curator of the Isser and Rae Price
Library of Judaica at UF's George A. Smathers Libraries. With
holdings of over 100,000 volumes, the Price Library is
considered the foremost Jewish studies research collection in
the southeastern United States. In terms of its scarce late 19th
and early 20th century imprints, it ranks among the top 20
academic libraries in the world. Jefferson is the project
investigator on the LSTA grant The Florida Digital Newspaper
Library: Broadening Access and Users, and has been involved in
numerous digitization projects at UF. Jefferson's background is
in special collections: prior to moving to the U.S., she was the
bibliographer for a large collection of medieval Hebrew
manuscripts in Cambridge University Library, England.

April Hines is the Journalism and Mass Communications Librarian
at UF's George A. Smathers Libraries. Her areas of responsibility
include research assistance, instruction, outreach and collection
development. A Southwest Florida native, she received her
bachelor's degree in journalism >from UF in 2004. Hines did
freelance work for the Gainesville Sun before completing a
master's degree in library and information science >from the
University of South Florida. She has more than a decade of
academic library experience, having worked at the UF Law Library
and UF Education Library.

DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 2014
TIME: 7:00pm - 9:00pm (6:30pm for networking and mavens)
ADMISSION: Open to the public. Free admission.
LOCATION: Maitland Public Library, 501 S. Maitland Ave., Maitland,
FL 32751.

About the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is a not
for profit organization dedicated to sharing genealogical
information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested
in Jewish genealogy and family history. Anyone may join JGSGO.
Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a family. For
more information visit our blog at www.jgsgo.blogspot.com , "like"
us at www.facebook.com/jgsgreaterorlando or call us at 407-494-4230.

# # #
Contact Information:
Marlis Humphrey
JGSGO VP Programs & Publicity
jgsgo.programs@...

Respectfully submitted,
Lin Herz
JGSGO Publicity Chairperson

Join the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO)
for a program featuring Rae Price Library of Judaica at the
University of Florida (UF) Curator, Rebecca Jefferson, and
Journalism and Mass Communications Librarian at UF, April Hines,
"Jewish Newspapers in the Florida Digital Newspaper Library: an
introduction and tutorial".

Learn about the Jewish newspapers in the newly created Ethnic
Newspapers Database within the Florida Digital Newspaper Library
at the University of Florida, and find out how to navigate this
important new resource. The new database was created thanks to a
Library Services and Technology Act grant (The Florida Digital
Newspaper Library: Broadening Access and Users) enabling the
digitization of one of Florida's longest running ethnic
newspapers, The Jewish Floridian. This database is online and
there is no charge for access. The Jewish Floridian was the first
ethnic newspaper of note to be published in Florida. Founded in
1927 by J. Louis Shochet, its editorship was taken over by his
son Fred K. Shochet until the paper was disbanded in 1990.

The one hour presentation and training will include: an overview
of the newspapers within the Ethnic Newspapers Database,
comprising 7,526 items with over 139,000 pages; a history and
survey of The Jewish Floridian newspaper, 1928-1990; a tutorial
on how to access these materials: searching, viewing results,
saving images etc.,; and a Q&A session. Prior to the program,
starting at 6:30pm, there will be time for newcomers to network
and to receive free consulting assistance or mentoring >from a
Jewish genealogy maven.

Rebecca Jefferson is the Curator of the Isser and Rae Price
Library of Judaica at UF's George A. Smathers Libraries. With
holdings of over 100,000 volumes, the Price Library is
considered the foremost Jewish studies research collection in
the southeastern United States. In terms of its scarce late 19th
and early 20th century imprints, it ranks among the top 20
academic libraries in the world. Jefferson is the project
investigator on the LSTA grant The Florida Digital Newspaper
Library: Broadening Access and Users, and has been involved in
numerous digitization projects at UF. Jefferson's background is
in special collections: prior to moving to the U.S., she was the
bibliographer for a large collection of medieval Hebrew
manuscripts in Cambridge University Library, England.

April Hines is the Journalism and Mass Communications Librarian
at UF's George A. Smathers Libraries. Her areas of responsibility
include research assistance, instruction, outreach and collection
development. A Southwest Florida native, she received her
bachelor's degree in journalism >from UF in 2004. Hines did
freelance work for the Gainesville Sun before completing a
master's degree in library and information science >from the
University of South Florida. She has more than a decade of
academic library experience, having worked at the UF Law Library
and UF Education Library.

DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 2014
TIME: 7:00pm - 9:00pm (6:30pm for networking and mavens)
ADMISSION: Open to the public. Free admission.
LOCATION: Maitland Public Library, 501 S. Maitland Ave., Maitland,
FL 32751.

About the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is a not
for profit organization dedicated to sharing genealogical
information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested
in Jewish genealogy and family history. Anyone may join JGSGO.
Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a family. For
more information visit our blog at www.jgsgo.blogspot.com , "like"
us at www.facebook.com/jgsgreaterorlando or call us at 407-494-4230.

# # #
Contact Information:
Marlis Humphrey
JGSGO VP Programs & Publicity
jgsgo.programs@...

Respectfully submitted,
Lin Herz
JGSGO Publicity Chairperson

Levite status, like surnames and Y-DNA, is passed down through the direct
male line. While surnames were adopted only relatively recently in much of
the Jewish community, Levite status and Y-DNA go back many hundreds of
years. As a result, Levite status and Y-DNA are uniquely well suited to
Jewish genealogy.

According to Y-DNA analysis, about half of Ashkenazi Levites -- perhaps
two percent of the entire Ashkenazi population -- are descended on
their direct male lines >from a single man who lived about 1,000 to 1,200
years ago. These men, known as R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites, are descended

from ancestors who in the 19th century were scattered uniformly throughout

Central and Eastern Europe.

Thus, about half of Levites with ancestors >from Poland (including my WEXLER
ancestors >from the area of Czestochowa) are R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite on their
direct male lines. (If you have Levite WEXLER or CHALFAN ancestors, please
e-mail me privately.)

We're pleased to announce a new website devoted to the genetics and
the genealogy of these men -- www.LeviteDNA.org.

The new website posts analyses and information concerning the relationships
among R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite men. It also discusses various theories
concerning the origins of the ancestor of these men, including those
presented in a paper published this week by Rootsi & Behar et al. finding
that R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites likely originate in the Near East (rather
than in Khazaria, as one popular theory has postulated).

We hope to use Y-DNA test results to tie tested men with paper trails going
back only into the 19th century to men with known Levite family trees going
back many centuries.

Most notably, current analysis indicates that perhaps half of R1a1a
Ashkenazi Levites may be descended on their direct male lines >from the
founder of the HOROWITZ rabbinical family, who moved to Horovice, near
Prague, in the 1470s; Horowitz family tradition traces the family's direct
male line back to the year 1000, in Aragon and Provence.

Towards our goal, we plan to add Levite-specific genealogical information
to the website.

Currently, the website posts a spreadsheet, prepared by Meir Gover, that
extracts all of the surnames on matzevot in the old Jewish cemetery in
Prague, indicating the surnames that belong to Levite or Cohen families;
the spreadsheet identifies the page numbers in an 1892 book -- to which the
website links -- where the entire text of the tombstones appears.

Please respond privately with suggestions for additional Levite-specific
materials to be posted on the website. (Note that this e-mail list is
focused on issues of paper genealogy; if you would like to discuss Y-DNA
issues, please respond to this post on JewishGen's DNA Testing digest.)

Jeff Wexler
Los Angeles, CA

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Even though issues relating to DNA are not within
the scope of this list, your moderator (herself a bas-Levite) chose to
stretch the scope a little for a one-time announcement of this new
project. This is not, however, the beginning of a thread on this list;
please respond as Jeff has requested.

Levite status, like surnames and Y-DNA, is passed down through the direct
male line. While surnames were adopted only relatively recently in much of
the Jewish community, Levite status and Y-DNA go back many hundreds of
years. As a result, Levite status and Y-DNA are uniquely well suited to
Jewish genealogy.

According to Y-DNA analysis, about half of Ashkenazi Levites -- perhaps
two percent of the entire Ashkenazi population -- are descended on
their direct male lines >from a single man who lived about 1,000 to 1,200
years ago. These men, known as R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites, are descended

from ancestors who in the 19th century were scattered uniformly throughout

Central and Eastern Europe.

Thus, about half of Levites with ancestors >from Poland (including my WEXLER
ancestors >from the area of Czestochowa) are R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite on their
direct male lines. (If you have Levite WEXLER or CHALFAN ancestors, please
e-mail me privately.)

We're pleased to announce a new website devoted to the genetics and
the genealogy of these men -- www.LeviteDNA.org.

The new website posts analyses and information concerning the relationships
among R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite men. It also discusses various theories
concerning the origins of the ancestor of these men, including those
presented in a paper published this week by Rootsi & Behar et al. finding
that R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites likely originate in the Near East (rather
than in Khazaria, as one popular theory has postulated).

We hope to use Y-DNA test results to tie tested men with paper trails going
back only into the 19th century to men with known Levite family trees going
back many centuries.

Most notably, current analysis indicates that perhaps half of R1a1a
Ashkenazi Levites may be descended on their direct male lines >from the
founder of the HOROWITZ rabbinical family, who moved to Horovice, near
Prague, in the 1470s; Horowitz family tradition traces the family's direct
male line back to the year 1000, in Aragon and Provence.

Towards our goal, we plan to add Levite-specific genealogical information
to the website.

Currently, the website posts a spreadsheet, prepared by Meir Gover, that
extracts all of the surnames on matzevot in the old Jewish cemetery in
Prague, indicating the surnames that belong to Levite or Cohen families;
the spreadsheet identifies the page numbers in an 1892 book -- to which the
website links -- where the entire text of the tombstones appears.

Please respond privately with suggestions for additional Levite-specific
materials to be posted on the website. (Note that this e-mail list is
focused on issues of paper genealogy; if you would like to discuss Y-DNA
issues, please respond to this post on JewishGen's DNA Testing digest.)

Jeff Wexler
Los Angeles, CA

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Even though issues relating to DNA are not within
the scope of this list, your moderator (herself a bas-Levite) chose to
stretch the scope a little for a one-time announcement of this new
project. This is not, however, the beginning of a thread on this list;
please respond as Jeff has requested.

JewishGen's Yizkor-Books-in-Print project would like to inform
the Jewish genealogical community that hard cover translations
of these Memorial (Yizkor) Books will be published soon:
- Antopol
- Horodenka
- Korczyna
- Lubchya

Additionally the following books are being worked on and will
be published in the coming months:

- Brest-Litovk
- Dokshitz
- Drohiczyn
- Dynow, Debica and Zareby Koscieine
- Iasi
- Kartuz-Bereza
- Kamenets
- Osiek and Nowy Zmigrod
- Stawiski, Poland

Please keep an eye out for announcements of these publications.

For more information about the project and all the books offered,
GOOGLE "Yizkor Books in Print"

Joel Alpert,
Coordinator of the Yizkor-Books-in-Print Project,
part of the JewishGen Yizkor Book Project

MODERATOR NOTE: Or, go to http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip.html

JewishGen's Yizkor-Books-in-Print project would like to inform
the Jewish genealogical community that hard cover translations
of these Memorial (Yizkor) Books will be published soon:
- Antopol
- Horodenka
- Korczyna
- Lubchya

Additionally the following books are being worked on and will
be published in the coming months:

- Brest-Litovk
- Dokshitz
- Drohiczyn
- Dynow, Debica and Zareby Koscieine
- Iasi
- Kartuz-Bereza
- Kamenets
- Osiek and Nowy Zmigrod
- Stawiski, Poland

Please keep an eye out for announcements of these publications.

For more information about the project and all the books offered,
GOOGLE "Yizkor Books in Print"

Joel Alpert,
Coordinator of the Yizkor-Books-in-Print Project,
part of the JewishGen Yizkor Book Project

MODERATOR NOTE: Or, go to http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip.html

Many thanks to all who replied to my immigration query re: Kopelusch
crossing the border >from Canada to the US. Through your generous help I've
discovered ship manifest entries for a family group, and a notation with a
clue to another branch of the family. A priceless gift!



Thank you,

Fern Greenberg Blood

Vermont, USA

GRINBERG, POSTILNIK, SHPENDELYUK, ROSEN/ROSETSKY >from Pyatigory / Zhashkov
Ukraine

MODERATOR'S NOTE: The best way to say "Thank You!" is a donation to JewishGen, who made it possible.

http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/

Today I obtained the naturalization documentation for my great grandmother,
Anna Chauss. On it, she states that my great grandfather, Isaac Chauss, was
born in "Pisarchini", which I cannot locate.

Anna was born, married Isaac, and last lived in Krasenivka. I believe that
this was a shtetl near Zolotonosha (my great aunt's naturalization documents
refer to Zolotonosha, Krasenivka and Yabluneve, all in or Poltava. The
nearest town that I can locate, with a name similar to Pisarchini is Pishcane,
just outside of Kremenchuk, about 130 km. >from Zolotonosha.

Can anyone provide insight or knowledge on Pishcane, and whether I might be
on the right track? I have ordered my great grandfather's naturalization
documents, but will not be able to view them until January 2 (providing he
states his precise birthplace on them).

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Michael Chauss

Researching
Czausow/Chauss: Krasenivka, Pisarchini
Kostantinovsky: Krasenivka

Dear Group

I was wondering if anyone living in Geneva (Switzerland) would be willing to
take a photo of a gravestone at the Grand-Lancy cemetery for me? I have the
deceased's full name and date of death but not the location of the grave.

Please respond privately.

Kind regards

Rose Raymen
Perth, Western Australia

Many thanks to all who replied to my immigration query re: Kopelusch
crossing the border >from Canada to the US. Through your generous help I've
discovered ship manifest entries for a family group, and a notation with a
clue to another branch of the family. A priceless gift!



Thank you,

Fern Greenberg Blood

Vermont, USA

GRINBERG, POSTILNIK, SHPENDELYUK, ROSEN/ROSETSKY >from Pyatigory / Zhashkov
Ukraine

MODERATOR'S NOTE: The best way to say "Thank You!" is a donation to JewishGen, who made it possible.

http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/

Dear Group

I was wondering if anyone living in Geneva (Switzerland) would be willing to
take a photo of a gravestone at the Grand-Lancy cemetery for me? I have the
deceased's full name and date of death but not the location of the grave.

Please respond privately.

Kind regards

Rose Raymen
Perth, Western Australia

Today I obtained the naturalization documentation for my great grandmother,
Anna Chauss. On it, she states that my great grandfather, Isaac Chauss, was
born in "Pisarchini", which I cannot locate.

Anna was born, married Isaac, and last lived in Krasenivka. I believe that
this was a shtetl near Zolotonosha (my great aunt's naturalization documents
refer to Zolotonosha, Krasenivka and Yabluneve, all in or Poltava. The
nearest town that I can locate, with a name similar to Pisarchini is Pishcane,
just outside of Kremenchuk, about 130 km. >from Zolotonosha.

Can anyone provide insight or knowledge on Pishcane, and whether I might be
on the right track? I have ordered my great grandfather's naturalization
documents, but will not be able to view them until January 2 (providing he
states his precise birthplace on them).

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Michael Chauss

Researching
Czausow/Chauss: Krasenivka, Pisarchini
Kostantinovsky: Krasenivka