If you have ever puzzled about the Kreis -
administrative districts - of Bohemia, Moravia and
Silesia, this website should be a great help:

http://ekeil.gmxhome.de/vwe-a-m.htm

Even if you do not read German, you will find a Table
"Liste G", which shows that the number and names of
the Bohemian Kreis changed constantly >from 1350 to
1862.

At the time of the 1793 Jewish census of Bohemia,
there were 16 Kreis - the highest number ever.

"Liste L" gives the Kreis names for Moravia from
1529-1860. Here you can clearly see that in the period
1850-1855, the number of Moravian Kreis was reduced

from a high of six Kreis to only two, namely Brunner

and Olmutzer. I wonder if this radical reorganisation
had anything to do with the apparent muddle in the
location of Moravian records? Records >from one
Moravian administrative centre many have been
transported to another - and then never returned when
the six Kreis were reintroduced in 1855.

"Liste M" has details of the Silesian Kreis and some
historical information about the Silesian situation.

This website should solve many of our Kreis problems.
There are maps to identify the location of the Kries -
names of the administrative centres for each Kreis are
given; area and population statistics are also
included.

Celia Male [UK]

If you have ever puzzled about the Kreis -
administrative districts - of Bohemia, Moravia and
Silesia, this website should be a great help:

http://ekeil.gmxhome.de/vwe-a-m.htm

Even if you do not read German, you will find a Table
"Liste G", which shows that the number and names of
the Bohemian Kreis changed constantly >from 1350 to
1862.

At the time of the 1793 Jewish census of Bohemia,
there were 16 Kreis - the highest number ever.

"Liste L" gives the Kreis names for Moravia from
1529-1860. Here you can clearly see that in the period
1850-1855, the number of Moravian Kreis was reduced

from a high of six Kreis to only two, namely Brunner

and Olmutzer. I wonder if this radical reorganisation
had anything to do with the apparent muddle in the
location of Moravian records? Records >from one
Moravian administrative centre many have been
transported to another - and then never returned when
the six Kreis were reintroduced in 1855.

"Liste M" has details of the Silesian Kreis and some
historical information about the Silesian situation.

This website should solve many of our Kreis problems.
There are maps to identify the location of the Kries -
names of the administrative centres for each Kreis are
given; area and population statistics are also
included.

Celia Male [UK]

I am interested in getting pictures of two graves in the Home of Peace
Memorial Park, Los Angels, California. I have the locations for each
grave. If you can help please respond privately.
Barry Chernick
Bellevue, WA

I am interested in getting pictures of two graves in the Home of Peace
Memorial Park, Los Angels, California. I have the locations for each
grave. If you can help please respond privately.
Barry Chernick
Bellevue, WA

The digital database of The Times of London has been widely available
at libraries for several years. Because of the expense, subscribers
tend to be university and big city libraries. These on-line, keyword
searchable newspapers are terrific. Sure saves a lot of time and
drudgery. The search engine turns up citations I'never would have found
otherwise.

Since you didn't tell us the town or country where you live, I can't
help you find The Times archive in your area.

TO find libraries in your area that subscribe to The Times, ask the
reference libarian for assistance. They know about directories to
locate these kinds of resources. (e.g., WorldCat). If you have a
specific library in mind, you can nowadays search their catalog on-line.

Alternatively, you can write Gale's sales department and ask for the
names of libraries in your area that subscribe to the service. (That's
the best department to contact. I did this with ProQuest to locate
subscribers to their American newspapers.)

regards,
Pat Weinthal (a well-trained, reference librarian's daughter)
Boston, MA USA


Caroline Faunce-Brown wrote:

<<I'm now trying to find out how to access it via subscription or at
a local library and it doesn't seem possible.

Libraries don't yet have a searchable digital version, only microfilms
with
indexes, so you can't do word or phrase searches.>>

The digital database of The Times of London has been widely available
at libraries for several years. Because of the expense, subscribers
tend to be university and big city libraries. These on-line, keyword
searchable newspapers are terrific. Sure saves a lot of time and
drudgery. The search engine turns up citations I'never would have found
otherwise.

Since you didn't tell us the town or country where you live, I can't
help you find The Times archive in your area.

TO find libraries in your area that subscribe to The Times, ask the
reference libarian for assistance. They know about directories to
locate these kinds of resources. (e.g., WorldCat). If you have a
specific library in mind, you can nowadays search their catalog on-line.

Alternatively, you can write Gale's sales department and ask for the
names of libraries in your area that subscribe to the service. (That's
the best department to contact. I did this with ProQuest to locate
subscribers to their American newspapers.)

regards,
Pat Weinthal (a well-trained, reference librarian's daughter)
Boston, MA USA


Caroline Faunce-Brown wrote:

<<I'm now trying to find out how to access it via subscription or at
a local library and it doesn't seem possible.

Libraries don't yet have a searchable digital version, only microfilms
with
indexes, so you can't do word or phrase searches.>>

While in Israel this past February, I met with my Mother's second cousins
and discovered a new sister of my ggm who evidently left Romania in 1906 and
went to Montreal.

Descendants are supposedly still living in Montreal. Would someone in
Montreal be kind enough to help me with a lookup.

Please reply to me directly.
Thank you,
Desiree Gil
Boston, MA

Desiree, unfortunately, Lazar/Lazare is a rather common name here - there
are over 100 listed in the online directory for Quebec
(http://canada411.ca). To make it more interesting, Lazare is a rather
common Mohawk/Iroquis surname - many, but not all, of these will be listed
as living in the Kahnawake Mohawk community.

The JGS-Montreal has an extensive collection of Jewish vital records (see
http://jgs-montreal.org and http://jgs-montreal.org/vital ), and I will
e-mail you privately regarding what we have for these names.

Alan Greenberg
Montreal, Canada

While in Israel this past February, I met with my Mother's second cousins
and discovered a new sister of my ggm who evidently left Romania in 1906 and
went to Montreal.

Descendants are supposedly still living in Montreal. Would someone in
Montreal be kind enough to help me with a lookup.

Please reply to me directly.
Thank you,
Desiree Gil
Boston, MA

Desiree, unfortunately, Lazar/Lazare is a rather common name here - there
are over 100 listed in the online directory for Quebec
(http://canada411.ca). To make it more interesting, Lazare is a rather
common Mohawk/Iroquis surname - many, but not all, of these will be listed
as living in the Kahnawake Mohawk community.

The JGS-Montreal has an extensive collection of Jewish vital records (see
http://jgs-montreal.org and http://jgs-montreal.org/vital ), and I will
e-mail you privately regarding what we have for these names.

Alan Greenberg
Montreal, Canada

Hoping to establish a couple of connections to some names I've been able to
tie into the main branches of my family research:

In 1891, my great uncle, Samuel Maltinsky, living in Braddock PA, married
Gittel Kunst. I have found the Hamburg and NY port references to Gittel Kunst:
she lived in Grodno, was born about 1870, and arrived in NY in December 1890
on the Rhaetia out of Hamburg. By spring 1891, she has relocated to PA.
The marriage certificate says she was living on Townsend Street, in Pittsburgh.
A search of microfilmed directories for Pittsburgh yielded no Kunst references
(or Kunsht, or Kunzt names either). It's possible that she could have been
boarding, and just wasn't listed? Interestingly, the 1930 census for
Pittsburgh does show a "Kunsty" family living at 34 Townsend, close to a Zak
family (Yad Vashem mentions a Kunst/Zak marriage, indicating a possible
connection for the Pittsburgh family). Gittel changed her name to Gertrud
after her marriage to Sam Maltinsky; the last I've been able to gather about
her is in the 1930 census, where, two years after Sam's death, she is running
a boarding house; and her death in about 1944. Would be happy to work on any
connections between Kunst families and this Gittel/Gertrud Kunst >from Grodno.

Following a lead on my grandfather's (Polish) side of the family, I have
established a connection for Frank Levy, born in Brooklyn. He was the son of
Kalman Levy and Betsy/Bessie/Beile Pomerantz. Both were >from Poland, town
uncertain, but Betsy appears to have been related to my great grandmother,
which indicates that she would have lived around the Przedecz area. Son Frank
married and passed away in Louisville, and I have just discovered a couple of
facts about his wife's family: she is Lillie, born Yoffe, in Missouri. Her
father was Henry Yoffe, >from "Lithuania", according to the 1930 census for
Louisville. He and his wife Sara, also >from Lithuania, seem to have come to
the US about 1908. Lillie, born around 1914 and sister Bessie, born around
1918, were both born in Missouri; their brother Edward was born in Louisville
in about 1923. Henry Yoffe was in the tobacco business while in Missouri,
and ran a retail store in Louisville, which Frank seems to have inherited.
Would be happy to pursue facts and leads with anyone with any connections.

Many thanks to all,

Maria Torres
elena@pipeline.com
MALTINSKY, RUBINSTEIN, MOSTOW, IMONITOFF, ZELLAT/ZELOTUKHIN (Latvia, PA, GA, NY)
NOTIS (Kovno, NY) KUNST (Poland, PA), PADEREWSKI (Poland, Savannah)
SABLODOWSKY (Poland, PA) ROSKOPH (Bohemia, OH, PA, NY)
PHILLIPS (PSCHEDESKI, PRZDECKI, DADACZ), LEVY, POMERANZ, ZEPLINSKY, FRANKEL
(Poland, NY, KY) RYBINSKI (Poland, UK)
TOBIAS (Poland, UK) DANIELSKI (Przdecz Poland)

Hoping to establish a couple of connections to some names I've been able to
tie into the main branches of my family research:

In 1891, my great uncle, Samuel Maltinsky, living in Braddock PA, married
Gittel Kunst. I have found the Hamburg and NY port references to Gittel Kunst:
she lived in Grodno, was born about 1870, and arrived in NY in December 1890
on the Rhaetia out of Hamburg. By spring 1891, she has relocated to PA.
The marriage certificate says she was living on Townsend Street, in Pittsburgh.
A search of microfilmed directories for Pittsburgh yielded no Kunst references
(or Kunsht, or Kunzt names either). It's possible that she could have been
boarding, and just wasn't listed? Interestingly, the 1930 census for
Pittsburgh does show a "Kunsty" family living at 34 Townsend, close to a Zak
family (Yad Vashem mentions a Kunst/Zak marriage, indicating a possible
connection for the Pittsburgh family). Gittel changed her name to Gertrud
after her marriage to Sam Maltinsky; the last I've been able to gather about
her is in the 1930 census, where, two years after Sam's death, she is running
a boarding house; and her death in about 1944. Would be happy to work on any
connections between Kunst families and this Gittel/Gertrud Kunst >from Grodno.

Following a lead on my grandfather's (Polish) side of the family, I have
established a connection for Frank Levy, born in Brooklyn. He was the son of
Kalman Levy and Betsy/Bessie/Beile Pomerantz. Both were >from Poland, town
uncertain, but Betsy appears to have been related to my great grandmother,
which indicates that she would have lived around the Przedecz area. Son Frank
married and passed away in Louisville, and I have just discovered a couple of
facts about his wife's family: she is Lillie, born Yoffe, in Missouri. Her
father was Henry Yoffe, >from "Lithuania", according to the 1930 census for
Louisville. He and his wife Sara, also >from Lithuania, seem to have come to
the US about 1908. Lillie, born around 1914 and sister Bessie, born around
1918, were both born in Missouri; their brother Edward was born in Louisville
in about 1923. Henry Yoffe was in the tobacco business while in Missouri,
and ran a retail store in Louisville, which Frank seems to have inherited.
Would be happy to pursue facts and leads with anyone with any connections.

Many thanks to all,

Maria Torres
elena@pipeline.com
MALTINSKY, RUBINSTEIN, MOSTOW, IMONITOFF, ZELLAT/ZELOTUKHIN (Latvia, PA, GA, NY)
NOTIS (Kovno, NY) KUNST (Poland, PA), PADEREWSKI (Poland, Savannah)
SABLODOWSKY (Poland, PA) ROSKOPH (Bohemia, OH, PA, NY)
PHILLIPS (PSCHEDESKI, PRZDECKI, DADACZ), LEVY, POMERANZ, ZEPLINSKY, FRANKEL
(Poland, NY, KY) RYBINSKI (Poland, UK)
TOBIAS (Poland, UK) DANIELSKI (Przdecz Poland)

Dear Group,

Joan Parker, quoting Gary Mokotoff's "Nu? What's Nu?" wrote:

New York Law May Make Vital Records More Accessible

There is a trend in the United States and elsewhere toward limiting access
to vital records under the guise of reducing identity theft and combating
terrorism. New York Assembly Bill 7209 [my note: it is A07209] is moving
in the opposite direction. The bill would reduce the current cost to
obtain vital records for genealogical purposes by half, and for applicants
who show current membership in a genealogical society, review of vital
records will be at no charge.

A summary comment of the bill makes the statement that "the fear that has
been voiced that vital records could provide information which could lead
to identity theft is unfounded. In a recent survey of 500 victims of
identity theft, not one was due to information gleaned >from vital
records."

Additional information can be found at
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A07209.

I counter with: Don't get your hopes up too quickly. Bills are often
proposed, and then languish and disappear. (And in New York, the
legislature is famous for doing almost nothing.) For example, there's
another proposed bill, A05641, which if passed would "authorize the
commissioner of health to issue copies and transcripts of death
certificates, which do not include the cause of death or medical
certifications, for genealogical and research purposes." Sounds great.
This is law in many other states already. However, instead of being voted
on, this bill has been referred to the Assembly's Health Committee, and
apparently that has happened every other year since 1999. Unfortunately,
the bill that Gary and Joan mentioned has also already been referred to
the Health Committee. Information on both bills is available on the New
York State Assembly's web site http://assembly.state.ny.us/

It is also unclear to me whether either of these bills, if passed,
would apply to New York City records, or only New York State records
outside of the city. These bills would not create entirely new laws, but
amend existing laws, and the web site only includes the changes. Without
the full text, it's unclear to me if the commissioner of health cited
above refers to only the state commissioner, or includes all local
commissioners in the state.

So, we will have to sit back and wait, probably for quite a while, to
see what happens. Or you can contact me privately for more information.

Ira Leviton
New York, N.Y.

Dear Group,

Joan Parker, quoting Gary Mokotoff's "Nu? What's Nu?" wrote:

New York Law May Make Vital Records More Accessible

There is a trend in the United States and elsewhere toward limiting access
to vital records under the guise of reducing identity theft and combating
terrorism. New York Assembly Bill 7209 [my note: it is A07209] is moving
in the opposite direction. The bill would reduce the current cost to
obtain vital records for genealogical purposes by half, and for applicants
who show current membership in a genealogical society, review of vital
records will be at no charge.

A summary comment of the bill makes the statement that "the fear that has
been voiced that vital records could provide information which could lead
to identity theft is unfounded. In a recent survey of 500 victims of
identity theft, not one was due to information gleaned >from vital
records."

Additional information can be found at
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A07209.

I counter with: Don't get your hopes up too quickly. Bills are often
proposed, and then languish and disappear. (And in New York, the
legislature is famous for doing almost nothing.) For example, there's
another proposed bill, A05641, which if passed would "authorize the
commissioner of health to issue copies and transcripts of death
certificates, which do not include the cause of death or medical
certifications, for genealogical and research purposes." Sounds great.
This is law in many other states already. However, instead of being voted
on, this bill has been referred to the Assembly's Health Committee, and
apparently that has happened every other year since 1999. Unfortunately,
the bill that Gary and Joan mentioned has also already been referred to
the Health Committee. Information on both bills is available on the New
York State Assembly's web site http://assembly.state.ny.us/

It is also unclear to me whether either of these bills, if passed,
would apply to New York City records, or only New York State records
outside of the city. These bills would not create entirely new laws, but
amend existing laws, and the web site only includes the changes. Without
the full text, it's unclear to me if the commissioner of health cited
above refers to only the state commissioner, or includes all local
commissioners in the state.

So, we will have to sit back and wait, probably for quite a while, to
see what happens. Or you can contact me privately for more information.

Ira Leviton
New York, N.Y.

After the partition of Poland and until the emancipation, there were several
attempts to control what seemed to the Austrians like the incontrollable
reproduction of the Jewish population. These rulings changed >from time to
time. There was a period when Jews had to present proof that they had
completed several years of elementary school (Cheder was not good enough).
Then there was a tax which was high enough to ensure that most of the
population could not marry. I believe these restrictions applied to civil
marriages only.

I don't know how they could restrict religious marriages when the Jewish
precept doesn't even call for a Rabbi to perform the ceremony. Saying the
words "At mekudeshet li ...." in front of a minyan is enough for a marriage
to be valid. They could only restrict the registration of the alliance.

Lancy Spalter
Kfar Tavor, Israel

After the partition of Poland and until the emancipation, there were several
attempts to control what seemed to the Austrians like the incontrollable
reproduction of the Jewish population. These rulings changed >from time to
time. There was a period when Jews had to present proof that they had
completed several years of elementary school (Cheder was not good enough).
Then there was a tax which was high enough to ensure that most of the
population could not marry. I believe these restrictions applied to civil
marriages only.

I don't know how they could restrict religious marriages when the Jewish
precept doesn't even call for a Rabbi to perform the ceremony. Saying the
words "At mekudeshet li ...." in front of a minyan is enough for a marriage
to be valid. They could only restrict the registration of the alliance.

Lancy Spalter
Kfar Tavor, Israel

Sam,
Although I am unable to answer your questions about Romanian archives, except to
note previous correspondence on ROM SIG about the current difficulties in obtaining
anything >from those archives, I did note among the names you mention >from Craiova
ESCHENAZI.

My gggrandmother Mariane (aka Marie) HASSAN nee ESKENASI died in Vienna in 1891 at the age of 78. According to the record of her
death in German she was "zustandig nach Bukarest". I interpret this as being she was a citizen of Bucharest, even though she
lived in Vienna. This citizenship of Bucharest means one of three things: either she, her father or her husband was born there
(maybe more than one of these 3). To date the follow-up action to discovering this was to place these names on the Jewish
Genealofy Family Finder (JGFF) with Bucuresti as the location, and to subscribe to the ROM-SIG mailing list ( I had already
subscribed to the Sefard SIG list).

May I sugest that you search for ESCHENAZI in the JGFF with Romania as the country and using the D-M soundex. You should find a
few entries, including one >from Craiova.

best regards

David Laufer
Sydney, Australia

Sam,
Although I am unable to answer your questions about Romanian archives, except to
note previous correspondence on ROM SIG about the current difficulties in obtaining
anything >from those archives, I did note among the names you mention >from Craiova
ESCHENAZI.

My gggrandmother Mariane (aka Marie) HASSAN nee ESKENASI died in Vienna in 1891 at the age of 78. According to the record of her
death in German she was "zustandig nach Bukarest". I interpret this as being she was a citizen of Bucharest, even though she
lived in Vienna. This citizenship of Bucharest means one of three things: either she, her father or her husband was born there
(maybe more than one of these 3). To date the follow-up action to discovering this was to place these names on the Jewish
Genealofy Family Finder (JGFF) with Bucuresti as the location, and to subscribe to the ROM-SIG mailing list ( I had already
subscribed to the Sefard SIG list).

May I sugest that you search for ESCHENAZI in the JGFF with Romania as the country and using the D-M soundex. You should find a
few entries, including one >from Craiova.

best regards

David Laufer
Sydney, Australia

I previously posted these two Yiddish letter fragments to ViewMate, but no
one volunteered to translate them. I apologize if either or both of them are
upside down.
They have been archived as VM5718 and VM 5719 in ViewMate at:

http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5718
and
http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5719

These are fragments of a letter, so I would understand if they do not quite
make sense when translated, however, my knowledge of the LANDMAN family
history may help me decipher them if someone would be kind enough to
translate them into English.

Many thanks for any assistance.

Martin Fischer
Oak Park, Illinois

-----------
The Fischer and Levin family history Web site is at:
http://mefischer1.home.comcast.net/

I previously posted these two Yiddish letter fragments to ViewMate, but no
one volunteered to translate them. I apologize if either or both of them are
upside down.
They have been archived as VM5718 and VM 5719 in ViewMate at:

http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5718
and
http://data.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/all/viewmateview.asp?key=5719

These are fragments of a letter, so I would understand if they do not quite
make sense when translated, however, my knowledge of the LANDMAN family
history may help me decipher them if someone would be kind enough to
translate them into English.

Many thanks for any assistance.

Martin Fischer
Oak Park, Illinois

-----------
The Fischer and Levin family history Web site is at:
http://mefischer1.home.comcast.net/

Thank you Joan Parker for the tip re the FTM-D-request@rootsweb.com.
source for help with any (FTM) Family Tree Maker version.

And my appreciation to all the kind, generous, and informative Jewish
Genners who have and continue to contribute to this group over the 15
years I've researched.

How lucky we are to have such a resource/staff as Jewishgen.

Many thanks,

Jeanne Blitzer Andelman
eandelman2@earthlink.net
Researching:

MODERATOR NOTE: We have the best readers in the world; it is amazing
the help they can give and the knowledge they have. Our "staff" is
made up of volunteers, many of whom are also the same people you meet
on this list. Anyone interested in volunteering can go to
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen/Volunteer.html to find out about
the many helpful skills JewishGen needs to bring these resources to you.

Thank you Joan Parker for the tip re the FTM-D-request@rootsweb.com.
source for help with any (FTM) Family Tree Maker version.

And my appreciation to all the kind, generous, and informative Jewish
Genners who have and continue to contribute to this group over the 15
years I've researched.

How lucky we are to have such a resource/staff as Jewishgen.

Many thanks,

Jeanne Blitzer Andelman
eandelman2@earthlink.net
Researching:

MODERATOR NOTE: We have the best readers in the world; it is amazing
the help they can give and the knowledge they have. Our "staff" is
made up of volunteers, many of whom are also the same people you meet
on this list. Anyone interested in volunteering can go to
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen/Volunteer.html to find out about
the many helpful skills JewishGen needs to bring these resources to you.