I believe there is a scam going around, as readers have deduced, but there are
also cases where similar emails, phone calls, or letters are legitimate. I have
two examples of the latter.

The first case is instructive because it shows why people may be suspicious of
*our* letters and phone calls. My great grandfather's brother (I'll call him
Saul) in NYC remarried early in the last century after his wife died, and had
more children with the new wife. The children >from the two marriages were never
close because they differed in age greatly and they drifted apart. I finally
found a descendent of that second marriage (I'll call him Tom) and he told me
the following story. When a son of Saul died in the 1980s without a will, it was
incumbent on the executor to find all potential heirs who could stand to
inherit some of the estate (i.e., to exercise due diligence in searching). The
executor, himself an heir, did not track down the descendents >from the second
marriage. One day, Tom's mother called him and said a lawyer had contacted her
to say that she could inherit some money >from a distant relative and if she
agreed to give him 1/3 he'd arrange it. No money was asked for up front. It
sounded fishy. Then Tom remembered he'd met a genealogist at the National
Archives a few years earlier and that women had been very nice in helping Tom,
who was a complete beginner. She had given him her business card. So Tom called
her to ask if it made sense that there could be a distant relative who died
intestate and that his mother could be entitled to a share of the estate. It
turns out - small world - that the genealogist had been the one to do the
research for the lawyer. This lawyer would regularly comb the newspapers for
notices of people dying intestate and, if the estate was large enough, he'd
have the genealogist look for heirs. In this case, Tom's mother was happy to
share the inheritance with the lawyer because if it hadn't been for the lawyer
she'd have gotten nothing. (Note: I am not passing judgement on what happened,
just reporting what I heard.

My other example concerns a scientist in Italy whose hobby is Jewish history. He
contacted me because he saw an article I had written in a genealogy magazine
about cousins that were deported to Auschwitz >from Italy. He told me he knew
what happened to my cousins. I was extremely agitated by this and suspected the
worst. But, it turns out he had stumbled across a collection of letters
retrieved >from a dentention camp in Italy and those letters were written to my
cousin. It's been an awesome experience to receive those letters.

So, yes, I think we should all exercise caution with unsolicited communications.
There are creeps out there. But, there are also some nice people who might have
amazing things to tell you.

John Hoenig
Virginia

I believe there is a scam going around, as readers have deduced, but there are
also cases where similar emails, phone calls, or letters are legitimate. I have
two examples of the latter.

The first case is instructive because it shows why people may be suspicious of
*our* letters and phone calls. My great grandfather's brother (I'll call him
Saul) in NYC remarried early in the last century after his wife died, and had
more children with the new wife. The children >from the two marriages were never
close because they differed in age greatly and they drifted apart. I finally
found a descendent of that second marriage (I'll call him Tom) and he told me
the following story. When a son of Saul died in the 1980s without a will, it was
incumbent on the executor to find all potential heirs who could stand to
inherit some of the estate (i.e., to exercise due diligence in searching). The
executor, himself an heir, did not track down the descendents >from the second
marriage. One day, Tom's mother called him and said a lawyer had contacted her
to say that she could inherit some money >from a distant relative and if she
agreed to give him 1/3 he'd arrange it. No money was asked for up front. It
sounded fishy. Then Tom remembered he'd met a genealogist at the National
Archives a few years earlier and that women had been very nice in helping Tom,
who was a complete beginner. She had given him her business card. So Tom called
her to ask if it made sense that there could be a distant relative who died
intestate and that his mother could be entitled to a share of the estate. It
turns out - small world - that the genealogist had been the one to do the
research for the lawyer. This lawyer would regularly comb the newspapers for
notices of people dying intestate and, if the estate was large enough, he'd
have the genealogist look for heirs. In this case, Tom's mother was happy to
share the inheritance with the lawyer because if it hadn't been for the lawyer
she'd have gotten nothing. (Note: I am not passing judgement on what happened,
just reporting what I heard.

My other example concerns a scientist in Italy whose hobby is Jewish history. He
contacted me because he saw an article I had written in a genealogy magazine
about cousins that were deported to Auschwitz >from Italy. He told me he knew
what happened to my cousins. I was extremely agitated by this and suspected the
worst. But, it turns out he had stumbled across a collection of letters
retrieved >from a dentention camp in Italy and those letters were written to my
cousin. It's been an awesome experience to receive those letters.

So, yes, I think we should all exercise caution with unsolicited communications.
There are creeps out there. But, there are also some nice people who might have
amazing things to tell you.

John Hoenig
Virginia

21 JULY 2006

SUBJECT: MR. JOEL BINNES OF LIVERPOOL (UK)

Dear fellow SIG members

My uncle Mr. Joel Binnes of Liverpool(UK) spent nearly two years as a 22
year old in South Africa between the years 1922 to 1924.

I'm wondering if there is anyone in South Africa who knows anything
whatsoever about his stay.Being 75 years ago it's going to be hearsay or
something like that.

All I know is that he worked for relatives which are likely to have been the
Brodie family who established the Plate Glass company in Cape Town.

Wonder if Joel needed an entrance Visa and if so where I might find details
of it.

For further details of my family please refer to my posting on SA SIG
Digest 20/08/2006

from Mr. Richard Casson

Cheadle(Near Manchester UK)

To Dennis Kahn and to other members of SA Sig,

This is a long shot...........but who knows?

Ludwig BERGMAN(n) [born 1835, in Germany, and died in
Germany] was married to Rosa ROSENFELS (1851-1893 -
died in S. Africa)] certainly had a 'winkel' in
Rouxville (OFS).
They had no children.

I wonder if Ludwig had any shop as you describe in
Heidelberg (E. Transvaal )???????

I'd be very interested to know what you find out in
answer to your question,Dennis.

Adam Yamey, London, UK <adamandlopa@yahoo.co.uk>
--- Kahn <denmor@xs4all.nl> wrote:

21 JULY 2006

SUBJECT: MR. JOEL BINNES OF LIVERPOOL (UK)

Dear fellow SIG members

My uncle Mr. Joel Binnes of Liverpool(UK) spent nearly two years as a 22
year old in South Africa between the years 1922 to 1924.

I'm wondering if there is anyone in South Africa who knows anything
whatsoever about his stay.Being 75 years ago it's going to be hearsay or
something like that.

All I know is that he worked for relatives which are likely to have been the
Brodie family who established the Plate Glass company in Cape Town.

Wonder if Joel needed an entrance Visa and if so where I might find details
of it.

For further details of my family please refer to my posting on SA SIG
Digest 20/08/2006

from Mr. Richard Casson

Cheadle(Near Manchester UK)

To Dennis Kahn and to other members of SA Sig,

This is a long shot...........but who knows?

Ludwig BERGMAN(n) [born 1835, in Germany, and died in
Germany] was married to Rosa ROSENFELS (1851-1893 -
died in S. Africa)] certainly had a 'winkel' in
Rouxville (OFS).
They had no children.

I wonder if Ludwig had any shop as you describe in
Heidelberg (E. Transvaal )???????

I'd be very interested to know what you find out in
answer to your question,Dennis.

Adam Yamey, London, UK <adamandlopa@yahoo.co.uk>
--- Kahn <denmor@xs4all.nl> wrote:

There was a Doris Hersman, a Dermatologist at GSH many years ago. A
family member as well as a professional connection???
Haim P

To Denis Kahn and other SIG members who are
interested in finding information on South African Jewry.
Click on the Rootsweb site i.e.

http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/CGI/cgi_Rootweb.exe

which is the South African Jewish Rootsbank
Centre for Jewish Migration & Genealogy Studies
at the Kaplan Centre at UCT.

Communities are on the following site:

http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/CGI/cgi_Rootweb.exe?entry_point=Communities

Hope this helps..

Beryl Baleson
Israel.
balden@zahav.net.il

There was a Doris Hersman, a Dermatologist at GSH many years ago. A
family member as well as a professional connection???
Haim P

To Denis Kahn and other SIG members who are
interested in finding information on South African Jewry.
Click on the Rootsweb site i.e.

http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/CGI/cgi_Rootweb.exe

which is the South African Jewish Rootsbank
Centre for Jewish Migration & Genealogy Studies
at the Kaplan Centre at UCT.

Communities are on the following site:

http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/CGI/cgi_Rootweb.exe?entry_point=Communities

Hope this helps..

Beryl Baleson
Israel.
balden@zahav.net.il

A few years ago, I was contacted by someone who got my name >from the Jewish
genealogy listing. They asked if I was related to a certain party. I was.
My mother's cousin died intestate without any apparent heirs. They wanted
the names of my first line relatives who would have been related to the
deceased's mother. Everyone >from my mother's level and above was deceased.
I contacted all cousins who then gave me permission to provide their names.
There were many heirs on my side (her mother's) and a few heirs on her
father's side, (not related to us).

The "searchers" took, I believe , 25% of the estate. It was an unexpected
inheritance for many of my cousins who never met the deceased. ( I knew her
when I was a kid.) It was a well deserved fee since we would never have
known about the estate had I not been contacted.

I gratefully made a donation to JewishGen at the time.

Diana Weinman

A few years ago, I was contacted by someone who got my name >from the Jewish
genealogy listing. They asked if I was related to a certain party. I was.
My mother's cousin died intestate without any apparent heirs. They wanted
the names of my first line relatives who would have been related to the
deceased's mother. Everyone >from my mother's level and above was deceased.
I contacted all cousins who then gave me permission to provide their names.
There were many heirs on my side (her mother's) and a few heirs on her
father's side, (not related to us).

The "searchers" took, I believe , 25% of the estate. It was an unexpected
inheritance for many of my cousins who never met the deceased. ( I knew her
when I was a kid.) It was a well deserved fee since we would never have
known about the estate had I not been contacted.

I gratefully made a donation to JewishGen at the time.

Diana Weinman

Dear J-genners,

If I may summarize >from a Jewishgen standpoint the results of the
many responses to my query about perruque vs. sheitel, it now seems
clear that western and central Europeans, including western and
central European Jews, had simply adopted the word for "wig" >from
either French or Italian, >from which it had entered not only German
but eventually Yiddish also. Let the French and Italians now fight
it out between themselves! (And I learned something I had not known:
that even the English had adopted the French word in the form
"periwig", >from which the abbreviation "wig" evolved later.

>from the point of view of Jewish culture, this exchange seems to
illustrate a fact we already knew: namely, that western Jews
absorbed European culture much earlier than east European Jews
(because the intellectual and political effects of the Enlightenment
permitted this far sooner) and that they "lost" or rather chose to
"drop" the use of Yiddish in general earlier than in the east -- in
large part because of what someone correctly identified as their
snobbish "disdain" for what they perceived as the language of the
Jewish "great unwashed."

Which of course makes the "comeback" of Yiddish in the twentieth
century all the more remarkable! I still remember the shock of
discovering (perhaps twenty years ago or more) that Yiddish had now
become a subject that could be studied academically at Oxford -- more
or less at the very moment when that august institution had dropped
its requirement that applicants demonstrate a knowledge of either
Latin or Greek!

O tempora! O mores!

Judith Romney Wegner

MODERATOR NOTE: Perhaps Judith's response ends this thread unless there is
something new to add?

Dear J-genners,

If I may summarize >from a Jewishgen standpoint the results of the
many responses to my query about perruque vs. sheitel, it now seems
clear that western and central Europeans, including western and
central European Jews, had simply adopted the word for "wig" >from
either French or Italian, >from which it had entered not only German
but eventually Yiddish also. Let the French and Italians now fight
it out between themselves! (And I learned something I had not known:
that even the English had adopted the French word in the form
"periwig", >from which the abbreviation "wig" evolved later.

>from the point of view of Jewish culture, this exchange seems to
illustrate a fact we already knew: namely, that western Jews
absorbed European culture much earlier than east European Jews
(because the intellectual and political effects of the Enlightenment
permitted this far sooner) and that they "lost" or rather chose to
"drop" the use of Yiddish in general earlier than in the east -- in
large part because of what someone correctly identified as their
snobbish "disdain" for what they perceived as the language of the
Jewish "great unwashed."

Which of course makes the "comeback" of Yiddish in the twentieth
century all the more remarkable! I still remember the shock of
discovering (perhaps twenty years ago or more) that Yiddish had now
become a subject that could be studied academically at Oxford -- more
or less at the very moment when that august institution had dropped
its requirement that applicants demonstrate a knowledge of either
Latin or Greek!

O tempora! O mores!

Judith Romney Wegner

MODERATOR NOTE: Perhaps Judith's response ends this thread unless there is
something new to add?

There are many mysteries about my paternal grandfather, including
his original name. He died in Atlantic City in 1907, 23 years before
I was born when my father was only 4 years old. The only things I
know are:
His name in the U.S. was Leon RUDELSON. >from all three
branches of my family the story passed down was that his original
surname was BALTER and he changed his name before leaving
Europe. The ship manifest arriving in the U.S. in 1896 listed his
name as Lebel RUDELSOHN. >from 2 other datum I surmise that
his birthdate was between 1861 and 1863. There are many
documents that claim he was born in Russia, which I assumed to be
Ukraine or somewhere in the Pale.
On his Marriage record to my grandmother in the U.S. he gave
his father’s name as Moses and his mother’s name as Eva
SICHERMAN and both of their birthplaces as Russia.
He had a marriage to Sheindl SHTIMER(? translated >from written
Hebrew) in Pochayev Ukraine in 1885 or 1886. She gave birth to a
son in 1886 that migrated to join his father in the U.S. in 1900. His
name in the U.S. was Morris RUDELSON. I could not find his ship
manifest so I assume that he used another name.
Leon had 3 children that came >from Braila, Romania. All 3 of
them migrated to the U.S. in the early 1900’s. Their names in the
U.S. were Max BALTER, Marietta BALTER, and Jack BALTER. I
don’t know what were their first names in Romania. The ship
manifest listed their first names as Max, Marietta, and Jancu. They
all listed their mother’s name as Frieda APPELBERG. Max listed
his father’s name in his U.S. marriage record as Leon, and Jack
listed his father’s name in his U.S. marriage record as Leib.
After searching Hebrew name translations I came to the
unverified conclusion that his probable given name was Leyb.
Possible nicknames are Leib and Lebel, among others. My only
conclusion about Leon’s birth name was Leyb BALTER, born
somewhere in Russia.
I have not been able to go any further. I don’t even know if I could
be successful going to Romania to find records and I have no clues
for where to look in the Ukraine.
Any suggestions???

Bill Rudelson
Las Vegas, Nevada
wrudelson@cox.net
MODERATOR NOTE: Private replies please.

There are many mysteries about my paternal grandfather, including
his original name. He died in Atlantic City in 1907, 23 years before
I was born when my father was only 4 years old. The only things I
know are:
His name in the U.S. was Leon RUDELSON. >from all three
branches of my family the story passed down was that his original
surname was BALTER and he changed his name before leaving
Europe. The ship manifest arriving in the U.S. in 1896 listed his
name as Lebel RUDELSOHN. >from 2 other datum I surmise that
his birthdate was between 1861 and 1863. There are many
documents that claim he was born in Russia, which I assumed to be
Ukraine or somewhere in the Pale.
On his Marriage record to my grandmother in the U.S. he gave
his father’s name as Moses and his mother’s name as Eva
SICHERMAN and both of their birthplaces as Russia.
He had a marriage to Sheindl SHTIMER(? translated >from written
Hebrew) in Pochayev Ukraine in 1885 or 1886. She gave birth to a
son in 1886 that migrated to join his father in the U.S. in 1900. His
name in the U.S. was Morris RUDELSON. I could not find his ship
manifest so I assume that he used another name.
Leon had 3 children that came >from Braila, Romania. All 3 of
them migrated to the U.S. in the early 1900’s. Their names in the
U.S. were Max BALTER, Marietta BALTER, and Jack BALTER. I
don’t know what were their first names in Romania. The ship
manifest listed their first names as Max, Marietta, and Jancu. They
all listed their mother’s name as Frieda APPELBERG. Max listed
his father’s name in his U.S. marriage record as Leon, and Jack
listed his father’s name in his U.S. marriage record as Leib.
After searching Hebrew name translations I came to the
unverified conclusion that his probable given name was Leyb.
Possible nicknames are Leib and Lebel, among others. My only
conclusion about Leon’s birth name was Leyb BALTER, born
somewhere in Russia.
I have not been able to go any further. I don’t even know if I could
be successful going to Romania to find records and I have no clues
for where to look in the Ukraine.
Any suggestions???

Bill Rudelson
Las Vegas, Nevada
wrudelson@cox.net
MODERATOR NOTE: Private replies please.

My great-grandmother was Neche PINES married Yaacov HaCohen
SCHERCHEVSKY (or other spelling).
Yaakov HaCohen SCHERCHEVSKY died in Jerusalem in 1884.
Neche PINES died in Jerusalem in 1891.
They are buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery.
They emigrated >from "Vilnius area" to Jerusalem "in the middle of the
19e century" as it was said in the family.
Between other children, they had my grandfather Samuel (Shmuel)
HaCohen CHERCHEVSKY, born about 1860 in Ruzhany (Belarus), died in
Paris in 1936. They had also probably three other children, among
whom I know about one, named Herschel (Zvi-Hirsch) and his
descendants (some are still living in Israel).
My grandfather married Hava LAZINSKSY in Hebron around 1880. She was
born in Grodno about 1864 and died in Paris in 1931.

Until now, over the last 13 years, no more clues were gathered >from my
family, nor any connection was found during my research.

The main two anchors in my story are these:
1. The SHERESHEVSKY were Cohanim;
2. The SHERESHEVSKY immigrated to Israel as early as the middle of
19th century.

Any information would be welcome.

Eve Line Blum-Cherchevsky
Besancon (France)
and also
Cercle de Genealogie Juive (International JGS in Paris)
http://www.genealoj.org

My great-grandmother was Neche PINES married Yaacov HaCohen
SCHERCHEVSKY (or other spelling).
Yaakov HaCohen SCHERCHEVSKY died in Jerusalem in 1884.
Neche PINES died in Jerusalem in 1891.
They are buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery.
They emigrated >from "Vilnius area" to Jerusalem "in the middle of the
19e century" as it was said in the family.
Between other children, they had my grandfather Samuel (Shmuel)
HaCohen CHERCHEVSKY, born about 1860 in Ruzhany (Belarus), died in
Paris in 1936. They had also probably three other children, among
whom I know about one, named Herschel (Zvi-Hirsch) and his
descendants (some are still living in Israel).
My grandfather married Hava LAZINSKSY in Hebron around 1880. She was
born in Grodno about 1864 and died in Paris in 1931.

Until now, over the last 13 years, no more clues were gathered >from my
family, nor any connection was found during my research.

The main two anchors in my story are these:
1. The SHERESHEVSKY were Cohanim;
2. The SHERESHEVSKY immigrated to Israel as early as the middle of
19th century.

Any information would be welcome.

Eve Line Blum-Cherchevsky
Besancon (France)
and also
Cercle de Genealogie Juive (International JGS in Paris)
http://www.genealoj.org

"Sally Goodman" <sbgoody@usa.net> wrote in message
news:C0E5AFDF.D223%sbgoody@usa.net...

and I add: in our home my parents and grandparents (>from Vienna) called it a
"Perueke", the German word for wig. I did not know the word "sheitel" until
I was older and learned to understand Yiddish on my own. I presume my family
did not want to utter any Yiddish words, even though we lived in the US, out
of fear. I am sure that is why our Mezuzah was on the inside of our
apartment door and not outside for others to see.

It is quite probable that Sally Goodman's family were not Yiddish speakers -
but only spoke German. My father's family are mainly >from Southern Germany
and it was certainly the case there.

My grandmother's parents spoke German to each other - when they didn't want
the children to understand them!

When my late grandmother went to an old people's club and the other people
spoke Yiddish, they used to think that she was being snobbish when she said
that she didn't understand Yiddish.

The first time my father heard of cholent was when he attended my cousin's
barmitzvah - he would have been about 40 then.

Nick Landau
London, UK

COHNREICH (Anklam, Germany Krajenka, Poland) ATLAS (Wielkie Oczy (near
Lvov/Lemberg), Poland) WEITZMAN (Cracow), WECHSLER(Schwabach, Germany),
THALHEIMER (Mainbernheim, Germany), KOHN/WEISSKOPF (Wallerstein and
Kleinerdlingen,Germany), LANDAU (only adopted
on leaving Russia/Belarus or later)/FREDKIN (?)
(Gomel, Mogilev, Chernigov, Russia/Belarus)

MODERATOR NOTE: This discussion is drifting away >from genealogy. Responses
*directly* related to genealogy will be considered for posting. All others
should be sent privately.

"Sally Goodman" <sbgoody@usa.net> wrote in message
news:C0E5AFDF.D223%sbgoody@usa.net...

and I add: in our home my parents and grandparents (>from Vienna) called it a
"Perueke", the German word for wig. I did not know the word "sheitel" until
I was older and learned to understand Yiddish on my own. I presume my family
did not want to utter any Yiddish words, even though we lived in the US, out
of fear. I am sure that is why our Mezuzah was on the inside of our
apartment door and not outside for others to see.

It is quite probable that Sally Goodman's family were not Yiddish speakers -
but only spoke German. My father's family are mainly >from Southern Germany
and it was certainly the case there.

My grandmother's parents spoke German to each other - when they didn't want
the children to understand them!

When my late grandmother went to an old people's club and the other people
spoke Yiddish, they used to think that she was being snobbish when she said
that she didn't understand Yiddish.

The first time my father heard of cholent was when he attended my cousin's
barmitzvah - he would have been about 40 then.

Nick Landau
London, UK

COHNREICH (Anklam, Germany Krajenka, Poland) ATLAS (Wielkie Oczy (near
Lvov/Lemberg), Poland) WEITZMAN (Cracow), WECHSLER(Schwabach, Germany),
THALHEIMER (Mainbernheim, Germany), KOHN/WEISSKOPF (Wallerstein and
Kleinerdlingen,Germany), LANDAU (only adopted
on leaving Russia/Belarus or later)/FREDKIN (?)
(Gomel, Mogilev, Chernigov, Russia/Belarus)

MODERATOR NOTE: This discussion is drifting away >from genealogy. Responses
*directly* related to genealogy will be considered for posting. All others
should be sent privately.