Dear Genners,

I recently came into the possession of some old Russian letters >from a
cousin who found them in his deceased mother's papers. I have no idea what
these letters say, who wrote them or who they were written to. The first
letter is three pages and two images have been upload to View Mate. They
can be seen at:
VM 9104
http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/ALL/viewmateview.asp?key=9104
VM 9105
http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/ALL/viewmateview.asp?key=9105

Any help in translating this letter would be much appreciated. Please
respond by private email to me.

If for some reason you have trouble reading the images as posted on
Viewmate, please let me know and I will email you a higher quality jpg image
file. I realize that my relative cut off the bottom line when he sent me the
copy of the letter.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dave


David Fox
Mail to: davefox73@earthlink.net
Belarus SIG Founder and Past Coordinator
Arnold, MD USA
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus
http://www.davefox73.com

Dear Genners,

I recently came into the possession of some old Russian letters >from a
cousin who found them in his deceased mother's papers. I have no idea what
these letters say, who wrote them or who they were written to. The first
letter is three pages and two images have been upload to View Mate. They
can be seen at:
VM 9104
http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/ALL/viewmateview.asp?key=9104
VM 9105
http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/ALL/viewmateview.asp?key=9105

Any help in translating this letter would be much appreciated. Please
respond by private email to me.

If for some reason you have trouble reading the images as posted on
Viewmate, please let me know and I will email you a higher quality jpg image
file. I realize that my relative cut off the bottom line when he sent me the
copy of the letter.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dave


David Fox
Mail to: davefox73@earthlink.net
Belarus SIG Founder and Past Coordinator
Arnold, MD USA
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus
http://www.davefox73.com

JewishGen ID: 169578
Dear Genners:
Its been some time since my last posting, do to a dear loss in my family,
so I have been out of touch with your great work.
You might recall I was looking then to complete my Dads history that I had
started a good many years ago, starting with no records and no knowledge of
Genealogy, to-day I have completed 90% of that task.
What I seek is My Dad Nathan SPOLANSKYS ships manifest, >from South Hampton,
England 1904 arrived New York City 1904 at age 19 single, and listed as
carpenter.
Did find something close, in name, but much older and married and a tailor

When I had started, the first documentation I did find on my Dad was his
1907 Naturalization Papers. In 1906 Nathan had sponsored and brought over his
Mother, younger Brother and sister, that is documentation that I do have.
What I am unable to understand is after arriving, he received his
Citizenship, in N. Y. C. was married, was issued a WW1 draft card, worked
in the Brooklyn ,Navy Yard in WW2, had two sons in the army, all documented
I have located his 1930 census ,and his Social Security card
Also have a copy of his death certificate Feb. 11,1955.
What I am unable to find, is a ships manifest that made him a great citizen
of this country. There has been no statement in all the time that I have
been searching, stating his records have been lost or destroyed. and so I go
on looking.
As far as finding his 1910 census go, I can see him being single and
moving around, and he was missed. Can not understand, not being able to locate
his 1920 New York census, being married and having a 4 year old son.
Thanks for listing and appreciate any guidance and or direction in locating
these missing items needed.

Mart Florida
Martin Spolansky

JewishGen ID: 169578
Dear Genners:
Its been some time since my last posting, do to a dear loss in my family,
so I have been out of touch with your great work.
You might recall I was looking then to complete my Dads history that I had
started a good many years ago, starting with no records and no knowledge of
Genealogy, to-day I have completed 90% of that task.
What I seek is My Dad Nathan SPOLANSKYS ships manifest, >from South Hampton,
England 1904 arrived New York City 1904 at age 19 single, and listed as
carpenter.
Did find something close, in name, but much older and married and a tailor

When I had started, the first documentation I did find on my Dad was his
1907 Naturalization Papers. In 1906 Nathan had sponsored and brought over his
Mother, younger Brother and sister, that is documentation that I do have.
What I am unable to understand is after arriving, he received his
Citizenship, in N. Y. C. was married, was issued a WW1 draft card, worked
in the Brooklyn ,Navy Yard in WW2, had two sons in the army, all documented
I have located his 1930 census ,and his Social Security card
Also have a copy of his death certificate Feb. 11,1955.
What I am unable to find, is a ships manifest that made him a great citizen
of this country. There has been no statement in all the time that I have
been searching, stating his records have been lost or destroyed. and so I go
on looking.
As far as finding his 1910 census go, I can see him being single and
moving around, and he was missed. Can not understand, not being able to locate
his 1920 New York census, being married and having a 4 year old son.
Thanks for listing and appreciate any guidance and or direction in locating
these missing items needed.

Mart Florida
Martin Spolansky

I would appreciate any discussion re. the name Minnie.
I have a great aunt whose birth record (Blume Mindie WEISSER, b. 1886) in
Galicia names her Mindie. She was called Minsche in the U.S.
Other variants I've seen are Mina and Menie.

Was this a common name in eastern Europe in the 1800s?
While so many other names had Biblical associations, Blume Mindie seems
secular.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Joan Baronberg, Denver, CO
MESTER, BODINGER, WEISSER, FRIEDMAN
Suchostow, Strusow, Ukraine

I would appreciate any discussion re. the name Minnie.
I have a great aunt whose birth record (Blume Mindie WEISSER, b. 1886) in
Galicia names her Mindie. She was called Minsche in the U.S.
Other variants I've seen are Mina and Menie.

Was this a common name in eastern Europe in the 1800s?
While so many other names had Biblical associations, Blume Mindie seems
secular.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Joan Baronberg, Denver, CO
MESTER, BODINGER, WEISSER, FRIEDMAN
Suchostow, Strusow, Ukraine

Thanks to Joe Lonstein who told us that the Steyr cemetery, Austria has now
been added to http://www.findagrave.com/

If you look in the message archives, you will see I alerted you to the
Rosenberg cemetery in August 2006, photographed by the same person - Charlotte:

"Someone living in Austria has kindly posted photographs of Rosenberg
[Bohemia] Jewish cemetery on this website:

http://www.findagrave.com/

You can find many interesting graves under Austria and Czech Republic
"Browse by Location" on the homepage.

For Rosenberg see: tinyurl.com/n9hp9"

Charlotte appears to have plans for Linz Jewish cemetery in Austria [click on
her name to read all about her and her motivation]. She has already
photographed Rosenberg {Bohemia}, Steyr and Gmunden. This work is being done
because her father was of Polish-Jewish descent.

We are very lucky she is posting them on "Find a Grave" where we can clearly
see all the names - a great bonus for any research work.

Whereas, JOWBR is a great resource, unfortunately for keen researchers, it is a
fully searchable database in order to prevent data-mining - this means you have
to enter the name before you see it is there.

We must obviously watch the site to see when Linz appears.

Celia Male [U.K.]

Thanks to Joe Lonstein who told us that the Steyr cemetery, Austria has now
been added to http://www.findagrave.com/

If you look in the message archives, you will see I alerted you to the
Rosenberg cemetery in August 2006, photographed by the same person - Charlotte:

"Someone living in Austria has kindly posted photographs of Rosenberg
[Bohemia] Jewish cemetery on this website:

http://www.findagrave.com/

You can find many interesting graves under Austria and Czech Republic
"Browse by Location" on the homepage.

For Rosenberg see: tinyurl.com/n9hp9"

Charlotte appears to have plans for Linz Jewish cemetery in Austria [click on
her name to read all about her and her motivation]. She has already
photographed Rosenberg {Bohemia}, Steyr and Gmunden. This work is being done
because her father was of Polish-Jewish descent.

We are very lucky she is posting them on "Find a Grave" where we can clearly
see all the names - a great bonus for any research work.

Whereas, JOWBR is a great resource, unfortunately for keen researchers, it is a
fully searchable database in order to prevent data-mining - this means you have
to enter the name before you see it is there.

We must obviously watch the site to see when Linz appears.

Celia Male [U.K.]

I believe we should all be enormously grateful to Louise Messik for the huge
amounts of transcription and digitisation of indices which she has
personally carried out for all of us. I should have thought that the obvious
answer is that she will get the Bevis Marks records transcribed when she has
time. To try and pin Louise down to when she will voluntarily complete yet
more hours of drudgery on our behalf seems outrageous to me!

May be those who are so inconvenienced by any delay should take on the
burden.

Hazel Dakers, London UK

Researching: NORDEN (London & South Africa); HEIMANN (Luegde, Germany and
South Africa); GOLD (Zgierz and Lodz, Poland), BIRNBAUM (Zgierz and Lodz,
Poland)








Subject: Re: Bevis Marks Marriage Records

From: "Jackye Sullins" <jsullins@san.rr.com>

Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:40:22 -0800

X-Message-Number: 1

Would the moderator please explain what "the fullness of time" means? Is
this years or months or weeks? Suggestions re: what researchers might do in
the meantime?

Jackye Sullins

San Diego

I believe we should all be enormously grateful to Louise Messik for the huge
amounts of transcription and digitisation of indices which she has
personally carried out for all of us. I should have thought that the obvious
answer is that she will get the Bevis Marks records transcribed when she has
time. To try and pin Louise down to when she will voluntarily complete yet
more hours of drudgery on our behalf seems outrageous to me!

May be those who are so inconvenienced by any delay should take on the
burden.

Hazel Dakers, London UK

Researching: NORDEN (London & South Africa); HEIMANN (Luegde, Germany and
South Africa); GOLD (Zgierz and Lodz, Poland), BIRNBAUM (Zgierz and Lodz,
Poland)








Subject: Re: Bevis Marks Marriage Records

From: "Jackye Sullins" <jsullins@san.rr.com>

Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:40:22 -0800

X-Message-Number: 1

Would the moderator please explain what "the fullness of time" means? Is
this years or months or weeks? Suggestions re: what researchers might do in
the meantime?

Jackye Sullins

San Diego

This is a one-time mention of a new resource available for locating UK
outbound passenger lists. It is a for pay site with which I have no
financial or other connection.

Unfortunately, the for pay sites are a trend which is increasing in the
genealogy world and cannot be ignored. Unlike JewishGen which mainly
depends on volunteers and the Jewish-Generosity of their subscribers, other
entities established as commercial concerns have to hire researchers which
is a costly proposition.

Doing this enables an enormous amount of data to be processed quickly which
might not otherwise be done via the volunteer method or might take years to
do.

Ancestry.com has been among the very first to take advantage of this new
trend and their holdings have been rapidly increasing month by month. As a
result, they are becoming a standard research tool for Jewish genealogists.

The for pay sites allow the researcher access to many new resources
previously inaccessible and that is their draw.

This latest for pay site is:

ancestorsonboard.com

It is affiliated with findmypast.com and they have just announced that they
will have their first decade of the UK outbound passenger lists (1890-1899)
ready next year. In the meantime, you can check their test database.

I tried it out by plugging in the family name of LAPIDUS and received six
entries which gave the name, sex, year of departure, departure port,
destination country and destination port.

In order to see the image of the entry, it was necessary to purchase 10
units to view a transcript and 25 units for an image.

As a further example, I tried some other general Jewish names:

BALKIN which produced nineteen names, one of which was to South Africa, the
rest to America.

BLATT which produced six names, two going to South Africa, the others to
America.

CANTOR which produced seven names with destinations for South Africa,
America and India!!!

LEVER which produced twenty names many of which were headed for South
Africa.

SACHAR which produced one name going to America.

TOBIAS which produced twenty-five names going to South Africa, Canada and
America.

VAN DER HORST produced three names, two going to South Africa.

The last name I tried was COHEN which is the buggaboo and the hardest Jewish
name to find information for. There were innumerable listings which I did
not care to count. However, the amazing number of destinations that the
COHEN families went to will astround you. Some of which were America,
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Jamaica, New Zealand, Panama, and South
Africa.

The COHEN search proves the efficacy of utilizing such a database as it may
include destination ports which are not covered by other databases whether
free or paid. Or, it specifies specific ports within a country, such as in
South Africa or Canada, which may not be found in other existing databases
or at all.

Of course, the test database which is on-line has limitations as all of the
data has not been input yet. There were many family names which I did not
find that I knew to have sailed during the specified time period.

So, this is one database which you should keep track of in order to see what
new data they are inputing.

Ann Rabinowitz
annrab@bellsouth.net

This is a one-time mention of a new resource available for locating UK
outbound passenger lists. It is a for pay site with which I have no
financial or other connection.

Unfortunately, the for pay sites are a trend which is increasing in the
genealogy world and cannot be ignored. Unlike JewishGen which mainly
depends on volunteers and the Jewish-Generosity of their subscribers, other
entities established as commercial concerns have to hire researchers which
is a costly proposition.

Doing this enables an enormous amount of data to be processed quickly which
might not otherwise be done via the volunteer method or might take years to
do.

Ancestry.com has been among the very first to take advantage of this new
trend and their holdings have been rapidly increasing month by month. As a
result, they are becoming a standard research tool for Jewish genealogists.

The for pay sites allow the researcher access to many new resources
previously inaccessible and that is their draw.

This latest for pay site is:

ancestorsonboard.com

It is affiliated with findmypast.com and they have just announced that they
will have their first decade of the UK outbound passenger lists (1890-1899)
ready next year. In the meantime, you can check their test database.

I tried it out by plugging in the family name of LAPIDUS and received six
entries which gave the name, sex, year of departure, departure port,
destination country and destination port.

In order to see the image of the entry, it was necessary to purchase 10
units to view a transcript and 25 units for an image.

As a further example, I tried some other general Jewish names:

BALKIN which produced nineteen names, one of which was to South Africa, the
rest to America.

BLATT which produced six names, two going to South Africa, the others to
America.

CANTOR which produced seven names with destinations for South Africa,
America and India!!!

LEVER which produced twenty names many of which were headed for South
Africa.

SACHAR which produced one name going to America.

TOBIAS which produced twenty-five names going to South Africa, Canada and
America.

VAN DER HORST produced three names, two going to South Africa.

The last name I tried was COHEN which is the buggaboo and the hardest Jewish
name to find information for. There were innumerable listings which I did
not care to count. However, the amazing number of destinations that the
COHEN families went to will astround you. Some of which were America,
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Jamaica, New Zealand, Panama, and South
Africa.

The COHEN search proves the efficacy of utilizing such a database as it may
include destination ports which are not covered by other databases whether
free or paid. Or, it specifies specific ports within a country, such as in
South Africa or Canada, which may not be found in other existing databases
or at all.

Of course, the test database which is on-line has limitations as all of the
data has not been input yet. There were many family names which I did not
find that I knew to have sailed during the specified time period.

So, this is one database which you should keep track of in order to see what
new data they are inputing.

Ann Rabinowitz
annrab@bellsouth.net

Hello,

Once again I come to you with a question that I hope you can answer. Is
there an online host that will provide me with email addresses for people in
France? If you know of one or more would you be so kind as to share it with me
(us)?

Chag Semach,
Lois Segal Friedman
Bubylu@aol.com

Hello,

Once again I come to you with a question that I hope you can answer. Is
there an online host that will provide me with email addresses for people in
France? If you know of one or more would you be so kind as to share it with me
(us)?

Chag Semach,
Lois Segal Friedman
Bubylu@aol.com

Of late there has been some discussions about
the Galveston Plan, Sephardic Jews in Poland and a
missing second page for a manifest. This prompted me
to again try and research a family member Celia
HORN/GORN >from Poland whose background was unknown to
me other than what was in the Census reports. Also, I
have been researching Sephardic roots and found that
all the families I found that came to America, married
back into Sephardic families except for one marriage
which was to Celia HORN/GORN. Also what sparked a new
search was that I found that the last birth
certificate of Celia's children, she listed her last
name as HORAN instead of HORN. So I started looking
for (G|H)+O+R+(A|E)+N and finally found the manifest.

Celia's father Ei Gorn came into Galveston in 1913,
and was listed as Elja/Elga HORN. I recently found
Celia listed as ZIWJA/LIWJA GOREN who came into
Galveston in 1914. Age and immigration date match the
Census reports (amazing!). Ela listed his closest
relative as his wife Ester Horn, in Celia's case she
listed her mother as Ester Goren, both >from Lublin
Poland. They both came to the same city, and Celia
came to her father.

Now for the questions:

1) Only part of the manifest is available for both Ela
and Celia in the well-known pay-for database. I know
this because the text entry on this database lists the
person they are going to see, and the Texas Museum
Seaport database lists the city they were going to.
And this was not on the page that was viewable. Nor on
the page before or after this. So is there a person
out there who could find this second page for me and
see what other information is there? If so, please
contact me and I can give you detailed information on
the two manifests.

2) Were there Sephardic Jews in Poland in the early
1900s with the name GOREN? I have seen the name HORAN
on a list of Sephardic names, but not for Poland.

3) I have never found an entry in the Poland database
for Celia's birth. It should have been in 1899 or 1900
in Lublin Poland. Her parents were Ela GORN and Estera
Ruchla BRAFMAN/BRYFMAN. I have found records for her
parents marriage and of their parents marriages. And
even a record for Celia's brother David for 1898, but
nothing for the name Celia, Cywiia (her grandmother),
ZIWJA, or anything like it, with a parent of either
Ela or Estera. Any help finding this entry would be
appreciated.

Shalom Shalom,
Yehudah ben Shlomo

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please respond privately.

Of late there has been some discussions about
the Galveston Plan, Sephardic Jews in Poland and a
missing second page for a manifest. This prompted me
to again try and research a family member Celia
HORN/GORN >from Poland whose background was unknown to
me other than what was in the Census reports. Also, I
have been researching Sephardic roots and found that
all the families I found that came to America, married
back into Sephardic families except for one marriage
which was to Celia HORN/GORN. Also what sparked a new
search was that I found that the last birth
certificate of Celia's children, she listed her last
name as HORAN instead of HORN. So I started looking
for (G|H)+O+R+(A|E)+N and finally found the manifest.

Celia's father Ei Gorn came into Galveston in 1913,
and was listed as Elja/Elga HORN. I recently found
Celia listed as ZIWJA/LIWJA GOREN who came into
Galveston in 1914. Age and immigration date match the
Census reports (amazing!). Ela listed his closest
relative as his wife Ester Horn, in Celia's case she
listed her mother as Ester Goren, both >from Lublin
Poland. They both came to the same city, and Celia
came to her father.

Now for the questions:

1) Only part of the manifest is available for both Ela
and Celia in the well-known pay-for database. I know
this because the text entry on this database lists the
person they are going to see, and the Texas Museum
Seaport database lists the city they were going to.
And this was not on the page that was viewable. Nor on
the page before or after this. So is there a person
out there who could find this second page for me and
see what other information is there? If so, please
contact me and I can give you detailed information on
the two manifests.

2) Were there Sephardic Jews in Poland in the early
1900s with the name GOREN? I have seen the name HORAN
on a list of Sephardic names, but not for Poland.

3) I have never found an entry in the Poland database
for Celia's birth. It should have been in 1899 or 1900
in Lublin Poland. Her parents were Ela GORN and Estera
Ruchla BRAFMAN/BRYFMAN. I have found records for her
parents marriage and of their parents marriages. And
even a record for Celia's brother David for 1898, but
nothing for the name Celia, Cywiia (her grandmother),
ZIWJA, or anything like it, with a parent of either
Ela or Estera. Any help finding this entry would be
appreciated.

Shalom Shalom,
Yehudah ben Shlomo

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please respond privately.

Hi,

I just joined the group. I've been researching my family extensively for the
past six years.

My main problem is to find records >from the former Prussia. My ALEXANDER
family lived in what used to be the Prussian MEMEL, today KLAIPEDA.
I've identified my g-grand father Sanio and his four brothers: Bernhard,
Morris, Siegfried and Leopold, all born in MEMEL.
Bernhard born 1842 died in NEW YORK 1898
Morris born 1843 died in NEW YORK 1928
Siegfried born 1851 died in KONIGSBERG (O Umlaut) today KALININGRAD
Sanio born 1850 died in BERLIN 1913
Leopold dates unknown to me.
Leopold was chairman of the MEMEL community for 20 years, active at the
hospital, etc. I can trace him there till about 1911.

I would like to find out information on my gggrandparents, as well as
Leopold and his wife.

Where and how can I access archival information.
Has anyone recommendation regarding a trip to the area.
Thanks,

Esther BLOCH
DUNDAS ON
CANADA

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please send any recommendations of guides or
tours privately. Suggestions for accessing archival information
may be shared with the list.

Hi,

I just joined the group. I've been researching my family extensively for the
past six years.

My main problem is to find records >from the former Prussia. My ALEXANDER
family lived in what used to be the Prussian MEMEL, today KLAIPEDA.
I've identified my g-grand father Sanio and his four brothers: Bernhard,
Morris, Siegfried and Leopold, all born in MEMEL.
Bernhard born 1842 died in NEW YORK 1898
Morris born 1843 died in NEW YORK 1928
Siegfried born 1851 died in KONIGSBERG (O Umlaut) today KALININGRAD
Sanio born 1850 died in BERLIN 1913
Leopold dates unknown to me.
Leopold was chairman of the MEMEL community for 20 years, active at the
hospital, etc. I can trace him there till about 1911.

I would like to find out information on my gggrandparents, as well as
Leopold and his wife.

Where and how can I access archival information.
Has anyone recommendation regarding a trip to the area.
Thanks,

Esther BLOCH
DUNDAS ON
CANADA

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please send any recommendations of guides or
tours privately. Suggestions for accessing archival information
may be shared with the list.

It's been some time now since the conference in August, and so much has
happened since. I'm going back to that point in time since I have not been
posting very regularly as of late.

Aaron Roetenberg Coordinating VRT Project for Kovno gubernia towns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron Roetenberg, SIG treasurer, has also been coordinating the VRT
activities for Kovno gubernia towns with the exception of the towns of
Kovno, Vilkija and Vilijampole. I am continuing to coordinate these towns
for the time being. The message here is those of you interested in Kovno
gubernia towns should contribute as usual, using the donor form found on the
VRT website. Questions about the translations and other inquiries about
Kovno gubernia towns [with the exception of the noted towns] as they relate
to the VRT project should be directed to Aaron. Aaron can be reached at
aaronrb@comcast.net

First VRT Records online
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first VRT translations were given to Jewishgen several months ago, and
now they have been tested and released to the database. You can now view
these records via either the LitvakSIG All Lithuania Database (ALD) or
Jewish Gen Lithuania databases. The records [>from the microfilms] cover
several towns, including Keidan, Pumpenai, Rasein, Moletai, Shirvint,
Vilkija and Vilna uyezd [3rd okrug]. Other non-microfilmed records were
posted as well.

Ongoing work
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last several months has seen much progress in the way of translating
additional records. We have been steadily receiving translations for the
towns of Vilna, Vilijampole, and work was started this month on Kovno city
vital records.

Plans for 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next year will bring more challenges as we try to expand the number of towns
we can work on simultaneously. We are trying to add additional translators,
and to this end, we have several irons in the fire. Aaron has a good number
of translators available in Europe and I have been seeking additional
resources as well. Since available funding drives which records get
translated, there will be continued activity for Kovno, Vilkija,
Vilijampole, Vilna, Vilna uyezd, Mikhaliskes as well as other Kovno gubernia
towns for which Aaron has responsibility. If Vilna uyezd and Mikhaliskes
records are completed, we will be translating records for additional towns
as well.

Funding
~~~~~~~
As stated above, the success of the VRT project is wholly dependent on
funding received >from Litvak researchers. We would like to encourage
researchers who have not contributed to the VRT project to consider doing
so. In addition, longtime supporters of the project are also asked to
maintain a level of support for the project so we can continue our
worthwhile endeavors. This being the end of the year, I can say it is a
perfect time to donate to the VRT project, given the preferential tax
treatment [in the U.S.] you receive due to LitvakSIG 501c(3) status. End of
year donations allow us to plan our activities for the next calendar year.
The donor form is available for download at
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeol99x - just go to the "Downloads" page.

Special message to Vilna researchers [city and district]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Vilna vital records translation effort has received assistance recently

from several volunteer translators. Not only does that help with the huge

cost of translating approximately 160,000 Vilna vital records, but we will
all see more data in a shorter time. I'd like to explain just how much Vilna
researchers have benefited >from the efforts of these translators - A.
Molchanov, residing in Russia, has translated the birth indexes for the
years 1854 - 1859 [over 2000 records]. This gives us a window into the
"early" Vilna vital records. Bruce Zatz has been working on the death
records >from the 1880s and has completed indexes for the years 1886 - 1889
[over 4000 records]. Bruce will be continuing this work, going on to the
death records >from the 1890s. Although these are indexes, the names are
extracted much faster than complete translations allow. In fact, the only
mikssing information in these death indexes is the cause of death. Solly
Radowsky in S. Africa is trying his hand at translating as well, and he has
been working on some 1885 death records. Diane Kriwicky in Argentina is
translating the vital records for the town of Podberezhe. These records are
not in a particularly easy to read handwriting, yet every once in awhile, I
receive a message >from Diane stating she continues her work and has no
questions! These people are all providing valuable assistance to the
project, saving the project thousands of dollars. I would like to ask Vilna
researchers to consider contributing a little more at this time to show some
appreciation for out volunteer translators. This drive is also aimed at
ensuring there is sufficient funding to keep the paid translations going
when the 1861 - 1865 records are completed in the late spring.

For Vilna researchers who have not found their families in the vital
records, the translation of the Vilna okrug records beginning in the spring
of next year will expand our knowledge beyond the city limits of the old
town of Vilna. The possibility exists some families actually hailed >from
other towns in the area. These okrug records require separate funding, but
are not as numerous as the Vilna city records. All researchers with an
interest in Vilna district towns should consider some level of support for
the Vilna okrug records. These towns include Novygorod, Snipishok, Antokol,
Nemenchin, Podberezhe, Shirvint, Moletai, Sheshol and others. Researchers
with questions about the okrug records should contact Joel via the VRT
website at http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeol99x or by e-mail.

Kovno gubernia researchers [towns other than Kovno, Vilijampole and Vilkija]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron has several VRT projects going for his Kovno towns. Please contact him
regarding translation plans for 2007. Concerning funding for these towns,
the short answer is yes, funds are needed. Several towns, although not at
the $500 threshold to allow translations to begin, are closing in on this
target. All Kovno gubernia researchers are encouraged to help shore up the
finances to allow more towns to reach this threshold and allow translations
to scheduled.

The VRT website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who have followed the blog on the VRT website, you must
have noticed the blog ceased to function in mid-October. The addition of all
the surname lists with separate pages significantly increased the size of
the site to the point where I am out of room! LitvakSIG is seeking to take
over the content of the VRT website however, the blog will be lost. I would
like to hear privately >from Litvak researchers to see if the blog is deemed
useful in presenting near real-time information on VRT project status. Also
of interest is knowing if the VRT site as a whole is appreciated. Please
send your comments on the VRT website content [it wasn't meant to be pretty]
to Joelrat1@hotmail.com

Finally.....

The VRT project was on the road in Syracuse, NY last week. I met with Prof.
Allan Mazur and we are now collaborating on some genealogical research
regarding his Vilna ancestors. The VRT project will be on the road this week
in NYC and Washington, DC next week.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy Chanukah,

Joel and Aaron

It's been some time now since the conference in August, and so much has
happened since. I'm going back to that point in time since I have not been
posting very regularly as of late.

Aaron Roetenberg Coordinating VRT Project for Kovno gubernia towns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron Roetenberg, SIG treasurer, has also been coordinating the VRT
activities for Kovno gubernia towns with the exception of the towns of
Kovno, Vilkija and Vilijampole. I am continuing to coordinate these towns
for the time being. The message here is those of you interested in Kovno
gubernia towns should contribute as usual, using the donor form found on the
VRT website. Questions about the translations and other inquiries about
Kovno gubernia towns [with the exception of the noted towns] as they relate
to the VRT project should be directed to Aaron. Aaron can be reached at
aaronrb@comcast.net

First VRT Records online
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first VRT translations were given to Jewishgen several months ago, and
now they have been tested and released to the database. You can now view
these records via either the LitvakSIG All Lithuania Database (ALD) or
Jewish Gen Lithuania databases. The records [>from the microfilms] cover
several towns, including Keidan, Pumpenai, Rasein, Moletai, Shirvint,
Vilkija and Vilna uyezd [3rd okrug]. Other non-microfilmed records were
posted as well.

Ongoing work
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last several months has seen much progress in the way of translating
additional records. We have been steadily receiving translations for the
towns of Vilna, Vilijampole, and work was started this month on Kovno city
vital records.

Plans for 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next year will bring more challenges as we try to expand the number of towns
we can work on simultaneously. We are trying to add additional translators,
and to this end, we have several irons in the fire. Aaron has a good number
of translators available in Europe and I have been seeking additional
resources as well. Since available funding drives which records get
translated, there will be continued activity for Kovno, Vilkija,
Vilijampole, Vilna, Vilna uyezd, Mikhaliskes as well as other Kovno gubernia
towns for which Aaron has responsibility. If Vilna uyezd and Mikhaliskes
records are completed, we will be translating records for additional towns
as well.

Funding
~~~~~~~
As stated above, the success of the VRT project is wholly dependent on
funding received >from Litvak researchers. We would like to encourage
researchers who have not contributed to the VRT project to consider doing
so. In addition, longtime supporters of the project are also asked to
maintain a level of support for the project so we can continue our
worthwhile endeavors. This being the end of the year, I can say it is a
perfect time to donate to the VRT project, given the preferential tax
treatment [in the U.S.] you receive due to LitvakSIG 501c(3) status. End of
year donations allow us to plan our activities for the next calendar year.
The donor form is available for download at
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeol99x - just go to the "Downloads" page.

Special message to Vilna researchers [city and district]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Vilna vital records translation effort has received assistance recently

from several volunteer translators. Not only does that help with the huge

cost of translating approximately 160,000 Vilna vital records, but we will
all see more data in a shorter time. I'd like to explain just how much Vilna
researchers have benefited >from the efforts of these translators - A.
Molchanov, residing in Russia, has translated the birth indexes for the
years 1854 - 1859 [over 2000 records]. This gives us a window into the
"early" Vilna vital records. Bruce Zatz has been working on the death
records >from the 1880s and has completed indexes for the years 1886 - 1889
[over 4000 records]. Bruce will be continuing this work, going on to the
death records >from the 1890s. Although these are indexes, the names are
extracted much faster than complete translations allow. In fact, the only
mikssing information in these death indexes is the cause of death. Solly
Radowsky in S. Africa is trying his hand at translating as well, and he has
been working on some 1885 death records. Diane Kriwicky in Argentina is
translating the vital records for the town of Podberezhe. These records are
not in a particularly easy to read handwriting, yet every once in awhile, I
receive a message >from Diane stating she continues her work and has no
questions! These people are all providing valuable assistance to the
project, saving the project thousands of dollars. I would like to ask Vilna
researchers to consider contributing a little more at this time to show some
appreciation for out volunteer translators. This drive is also aimed at
ensuring there is sufficient funding to keep the paid translations going
when the 1861 - 1865 records are completed in the late spring.

For Vilna researchers who have not found their families in the vital
records, the translation of the Vilna okrug records beginning in the spring
of next year will expand our knowledge beyond the city limits of the old
town of Vilna. The possibility exists some families actually hailed >from
other towns in the area. These okrug records require separate funding, but
are not as numerous as the Vilna city records. All researchers with an
interest in Vilna district towns should consider some level of support for
the Vilna okrug records. These towns include Novygorod, Snipishok, Antokol,
Nemenchin, Podberezhe, Shirvint, Moletai, Sheshol and others. Researchers
with questions about the okrug records should contact Joel via the VRT
website at http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeol99x or by e-mail.

Kovno gubernia researchers [towns other than Kovno, Vilijampole and Vilkija]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron has several VRT projects going for his Kovno towns. Please contact him
regarding translation plans for 2007. Concerning funding for these towns,
the short answer is yes, funds are needed. Several towns, although not at
the $500 threshold to allow translations to begin, are closing in on this
target. All Kovno gubernia researchers are encouraged to help shore up the
finances to allow more towns to reach this threshold and allow translations
to scheduled.

The VRT website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who have followed the blog on the VRT website, you must
have noticed the blog ceased to function in mid-October. The addition of all
the surname lists with separate pages significantly increased the size of
the site to the point where I am out of room! LitvakSIG is seeking to take
over the content of the VRT website however, the blog will be lost. I would
like to hear privately >from Litvak researchers to see if the blog is deemed
useful in presenting near real-time information on VRT project status. Also
of interest is knowing if the VRT site as a whole is appreciated. Please
send your comments on the VRT website content [it wasn't meant to be pretty]
to Joelrat1@hotmail.com

Finally.....

The VRT project was on the road in Syracuse, NY last week. I met with Prof.
Allan Mazur and we are now collaborating on some genealogical research
regarding his Vilna ancestors. The VRT project will be on the road this week
in NYC and Washington, DC next week.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy Chanukah,

Joel and Aaron