I've just run across a new family link.
In 1921, Leibka (age 71) and Fraida (age 67) HENDLER came to the US
via Boston with their daughters Sura Rywka (age 26) and Cywa (age 24).
They were >from Przasnysz and listed their uncle as Srul ZYLBERMAN who
was Fraida's brother (and was married to Basia KRYMKA). The manifest
said they were going to New York.

If this sounds familiar, please contact me privately at
meyers01@comcast.net

Marty Meyers

I've just run across a new family link.
In 1921, Leibka (age 71) and Fraida (age 67) HENDLER came to the US
via Boston with their daughters Sura Rywka (age 26) and Cywa (age 24).
They were >from Przasnysz and listed their uncle as Srul ZYLBERMAN who
was Fraida's brother (and was married to Basia KRYMKA). The manifest
said they were going to New York.

If this sounds familiar, please contact me privately at
meyers01@comcast.net

Marty Meyers

Max was issued (passport?) #102280 >from Wash. DC. He was naturalized in
Jan. 1912 at the (NY State?) Supreme Court in White Plains. You could
search for his application with additional information at one of the
agencies in Washington, the National Archives or the Library of Congress.

Fanny received a (visa?) permit #262 at the (American?) legation in Prague
on April 20, 1920.

Dolph Klein
Chapel Hill, NC

Dear Fellow Genners,

Two new articles have been posted to the Belarus SIG online newsletter.
--In "A Visit to Four Villages" Howard Gilman presents a vivid photo essay
on his trip to the ancestral towns of his grandparents.
--Shana Egan's detective story of "How I Found Shimshim" is a case study
in finding a needle in a haystack when you don't even know where the
haystack is.

Please click on:

http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm

Fran Bock, Editor
Belarus SIG Online Newsletter
franbock@optonline.net

Max was issued (passport?) #102280 >from Wash. DC. He was naturalized in
Jan. 1912 at the (NY State?) Supreme Court in White Plains. You could
search for his application with additional information at one of the
agencies in Washington, the National Archives or the Library of Congress.

Fanny received a (visa?) permit #262 at the (American?) legation in Prague
on April 20, 1920.

Dolph Klein
Chapel Hill, NC

Dear Fellow Genners,

Two new articles have been posted to the Belarus SIG online newsletter.
--In "A Visit to Four Villages" Howard Gilman presents a vivid photo essay
on his trip to the ancestral towns of his grandparents.
--Shana Egan's detective story of "How I Found Shimshim" is a case study
in finding a needle in a haystack when you don't even know where the
haystack is.

Please click on:

http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm

Fran Bock, Editor
Belarus SIG Online Newsletter
franbock@optonline.net

Dear SIG Members:

This message is one of the hardest things I have had to do. However, the
time has come for me to step down as your SIG Coordinator, effective
immediately. The SIG has been a labor of love since we started with a group
of about 20 people at a late night unscheduled meeting at the Los Angeles
IAJGS Conference in 1998. After we had decided to form a Belarus SIG, I
asked for people interested in volunteering to be the SIG coordinator. No
one wanted the job, so I agreed to take on the job because I felt it was
important to have a group that was devoted to Jewish genealogy research in
what is now Belarus . It is now over six and a half years later and I am
still the coordinator because no one else was willing to take over the
leadership. It is not healthy for any organization to continue with the
same leader. An organization needs new ideas, new directions, and new
approaches to make it grow and prosper. Our organization has grown >from 20
to over 1,750 and I am sure there is someone among you who are better
qualified to take the Belarus SIG forward in the years ahead. I have been
trying to find someone to take over as the SIG coordinator for quite some
time, but have not been successful. I was hoping someone would come forward
so there could be an orderly transfer of leadership, but that was not to be.
Even so, I tried to hang in longer, but a few recent incidents have finally
driven me to step down now. One involved a former member of the SIG who
refused to be a team player and wait for the SIG to obtain all the records
for the shtetl. As a result of his selfish desire to get his own records

from Belarus for a single shtetl, he has contributed to closing down access

to the Minsk archive by the SIG. A second recent effort by a SIG member to
try and put me into a situation of choosing sides in a private dispute
finally broke the camels back.

I have always tried to be helpful and fair in my dealings with SIG members,
translators, and researchers. While I have no personal family ties to
shtetls in Vitebsk, Grodno, and Vilna, I made efforts to push projects in
these gubernia. Over the years, I have been blessed with some great people
who helped to make the SIG what it is today: Risa Heywood, Elsbeth Paikin,
Vitaly Charny, Mike Meshenberg, Edward Rosenbaum, Nancy Holden, Fran Boch,
Paula Zieselman and Joanne Saltman (I appologize in advance for leaving
anyone off this list). What made it so wonderful for me was that we all
worked so well together. There was no acrimony or infighting, unlike many
other organizations. No one was on an ego trip and it was a great team
effort. I would also like to thank the many others who have volunteered in
one capacity or another to make the SIG so successful. In addition, I want
to thank all of you who opened your wallets so generously to allow the SIG
to accomplish it's tasks. Last but not least, I would like to thank
JewishGen and it's leadership team for all their support over the years.
The Belarus SIG organized within the JewishGen to avoid a lot of
administrative burdens and was the first SIG to be so organized. Other SIGs
have followed in our footsteps. While some people thought the SIG lost its
independence by how we organized, I still think it was the right way to
avoid the administrative headaches of having a treasurer, filing tax
returns, etc.

There is much more to do and I hope that all of the workers will continue
doing what they have been doing and try to make the transition to a new SIG
coordinator as smooth as possible. This evening I spoke with Susan King and
she will be forming a transition team. I urge anyone who is interested in
helping the SIG to contact Susan <susan.king@jewishgen.org> or Joanna
Fletcher <jfletcher@jewishgen.org> as soon as possible.

I look forward to working on documenting my own genealogy, writing a family
history, and spending more time with my grandkids and my lovely wife who
sometimes thought I was married to the SIG and not to her. She has been
most patient and considerate in putting up with my many hours on the
computer doing SIG business.

My best wishes to all and thank you again for all your support over the
years.

Dave

David Fox
Arnold, MD

Dear SIG Members:

This message is one of the hardest things I have had to do. However, the
time has come for me to step down as your SIG Coordinator, effective
immediately. The SIG has been a labor of love since we started with a group
of about 20 people at a late night unscheduled meeting at the Los Angeles
IAJGS Conference in 1998. After we had decided to form a Belarus SIG, I
asked for people interested in volunteering to be the SIG coordinator. No
one wanted the job, so I agreed to take on the job because I felt it was
important to have a group that was devoted to Jewish genealogy research in
what is now Belarus . It is now over six and a half years later and I am
still the coordinator because no one else was willing to take over the
leadership. It is not healthy for any organization to continue with the
same leader. An organization needs new ideas, new directions, and new
approaches to make it grow and prosper. Our organization has grown >from 20
to over 1,750 and I am sure there is someone among you who are better
qualified to take the Belarus SIG forward in the years ahead. I have been
trying to find someone to take over as the SIG coordinator for quite some
time, but have not been successful. I was hoping someone would come forward
so there could be an orderly transfer of leadership, but that was not to be.
Even so, I tried to hang in longer, but a few recent incidents have finally
driven me to step down now. One involved a former member of the SIG who
refused to be a team player and wait for the SIG to obtain all the records
for the shtetl. As a result of his selfish desire to get his own records

from Belarus for a single shtetl, he has contributed to closing down access

to the Minsk archive by the SIG. A second recent effort by a SIG member to
try and put me into a situation of choosing sides in a private dispute
finally broke the camels back.

I have always tried to be helpful and fair in my dealings with SIG members,
translators, and researchers. While I have no personal family ties to
shtetls in Vitebsk, Grodno, and Vilna, I made efforts to push projects in
these gubernia. Over the years, I have been blessed with some great people
who helped to make the SIG what it is today: Risa Heywood, Elsbeth Paikin,
Vitaly Charny, Mike Meshenberg, Edward Rosenbaum, Nancy Holden, Fran Boch,
Paula Zieselman and Joanne Saltman (I appologize in advance for leaving
anyone off this list). What made it so wonderful for me was that we all
worked so well together. There was no acrimony or infighting, unlike many
other organizations. No one was on an ego trip and it was a great team
effort. I would also like to thank the many others who have volunteered in
one capacity or another to make the SIG so successful. In addition, I want
to thank all of you who opened your wallets so generously to allow the SIG
to accomplish it's tasks. Last but not least, I would like to thank
JewishGen and it's leadership team for all their support over the years.
The Belarus SIG organized within the JewishGen to avoid a lot of
administrative burdens and was the first SIG to be so organized. Other SIGs
have followed in our footsteps. While some people thought the SIG lost its
independence by how we organized, I still think it was the right way to
avoid the administrative headaches of having a treasurer, filing tax
returns, etc.

There is much more to do and I hope that all of the workers will continue
doing what they have been doing and try to make the transition to a new SIG
coordinator as smooth as possible. This evening I spoke with Susan King and
she will be forming a transition team. I urge anyone who is interested in
helping the SIG to contact Susan <susan.king@jewishgen.org> or Joanna
Fletcher <jfletcher@jewishgen.org> as soon as possible.

I look forward to working on documenting my own genealogy, writing a family
history, and spending more time with my grandkids and my lovely wife who
sometimes thought I was married to the SIG and not to her. She has been
most patient and considerate in putting up with my many hours on the
computer doing SIG business.

My best wishes to all and thank you again for all your support over the
years.

Dave

David Fox
Arnold, MD

Henry Wellisch asks about this profession:

"Kosherfleischversilberer = Kosher meat ???? (This beats me; what has kosher meat
to do with silver?)"

Henry, this appears to be an archaic phrase and if you search the internet you
will find a few examples of its "non-silver usage"!

See: [nb one long URL in German]

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gufidaun/chroniken/n/neuner_breitenegg.htm

"Ignaz Anton von Neuner born 27. August 1716 in Zirl ... rose up all the rungs
of the salt profession until in 1747 he became a Salz-Versilberer, ie
Salzverkaufs-Leiter .... "

The literal meaning of the word is obviously someone who increases the value
of their products. In the above example, the "Salz-versilbere" is the
Salzverkaufs Leiter ie the Head of the Salt Sales Force" in modern parlance!

Hence the Kosherfleischversilberer is a Koshermeat salesman - probably to
distinguish him >from the slaughterer [i.e. producer], who is lower down on the
economic chain.

Celia Male [UK]

Henry Wellisch asks about this profession:

"Kosherfleischversilberer = Kosher meat ???? (This beats me; what has kosher meat
to do with silver?)"

Henry, this appears to be an archaic phrase and if you search the internet you
will find a few examples of its "non-silver usage"!

See: [nb one long URL in German]

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gufidaun/chroniken/n/neuner_breitenegg.htm

"Ignaz Anton von Neuner born 27. August 1716 in Zirl ... rose up all the rungs
of the salt profession until in 1747 he became a Salz-Versilberer, ie
Salzverkaufs-Leiter .... "

The literal meaning of the word is obviously someone who increases the value
of their products. In the above example, the "Salz-versilbere" is the
Salzverkaufs Leiter ie the Head of the Salt Sales Force" in modern parlance!

Hence the Kosherfleischversilberer is a Koshermeat salesman - probably to
distinguish him >from the slaughterer [i.e. producer], who is lower down on the
economic chain.

Celia Male [UK]

I am helping a non-South African person living in Israel with
research on his South African family.
Is it possible for someone to go to Westpark Cemetery,
Johannesburg in order to photograph the Gravestone of Reverend Benjamin
Lipkin,
who died on 20th April, 1943 and is buried there.

Please contact me privately at balden@zahav.net.il

Many thanks.

Beryl Baleson
Israel.
balden@zahav.net.il

I am helping a non-South African person living in Israel with
research on his South African family.
Is it possible for someone to go to Westpark Cemetery,
Johannesburg in order to photograph the Gravestone of Reverend Benjamin
Lipkin,
who died on 20th April, 1943 and is buried there.

Please contact me privately at balden@zahav.net.il

Many thanks.

Beryl Baleson
Israel.
balden@zahav.net.il

Dear Larry and Genners,

Another "tool" I like to use to try and determine places of origin and
ethnicity is searching the Ellis Island database. For example, there are
1339 emigres surnamed KRUPA. Their last places of residence are listed,
variously, as Poland, Austria, Galicia or Hungary. None of the first
names appear to be distinctly "Jewish."

Stephanie Weiner
San Diego, CA

Dear Larry and Genners,

Another "tool" I like to use to try and determine places of origin and
ethnicity is searching the Ellis Island database. For example, there are
1339 emigres surnamed KRUPA. Their last places of residence are listed,
variously, as Poland, Austria, Galicia or Hungary. None of the first
names appear to be distinctly "Jewish."

Stephanie Weiner
San Diego, CA

out a cousin Rose GOTTLIEB MINTZ and her husband Abe had a deli on Coney Island
for almost 40 years. They were members of the defunked Richmond Hills synagogue.
This was located in NY. I assume Far Rollaway, the area Richmond Hills or
Brooklyn,NY. If anyone knows anything about this shul and where its members are
buried please let me know.
Yoni Shapiro

I grew up in Richmond Hill. It's a neighborhood near Kew Gardens, Hillside,
Jamaica and Ozone Park (The northern most fringe of South Queens, >from the Van
Wyck Expressway to just around 100th street or so.) Not particularly near Far
Rockaway, but closer to Brooklyn than some parts of Queens. Proximity to the Van
Wyck Expressway would make for an easy commute to Coney Island.

There were two synagogues: one on 117th street near Liberty Ave which I think was
called the Richmond Hill Jewish Center and the one we went to, the Sanhedrin
Community Center on 130th Street near Liberty Ave.

Adelle Stavis

Richmond Hill Synagogue and Jewish Center was on 102nd Street in Richmond Hill,
NY, which is in Queens. It was near 89th Avenue on 102nd St and was south of
Jamaica Ave. The Jewish Center was a block south of Jamaica Ave and the Synagogue
was still another block further south on 102nd St.

Bea Swart
bswart10@aol.com


Like Adele I was born and grew up in Richmond Hill. My family were
members of the 117th St synagogue which was called the Richmond Hill
Jewish Center. There was a smaller synagogue on 114th St between 107th
Avenue and Liberty Avenue also. There was also the synagogue which Bea
refers to on 102nd street which was used as a day school in the 50s
and early 60s.

The one on 117th St functioned as synagogue until the seventies maybe
early eighties. Then when there weren't many congregants left it was
sold to (I think) a bank but before they could tear it down there was
a fire ther and nothing was left. It had been a lovely synagogue,
built in 1926 and had beautiful stained glass windows and three huge
crystal chandelliers. Between the world wars there were a lot of Jews
in Richmond Hill (actually parts of it really are Ozone Park) as
witnessed by all those synagogues. After the second world war there
were many fewer (this is when I was growing up) but they still had a
going Hebrew School (after school) on 117th St. as late 1960.

I remember a woman named Rose Gottleib but that was her married name
and she and her son (and her husband also, but he had already passed
away when I remember) had an optometry shop (glasses) on Liberty
Avenue between 116th and 117th. None of this is anywhere near Coney
Island or Far Rockaway (which aren't near each other either).

If anyone is interested here is a link to some Richmon Hill history
(not particularly Jewish) http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/

Risa Tzohar, Rehovot
searching for RICH or REICH or RAUCH >from Souwalki Poland, IZAK,
FINKEL >from Riga Latvia, WITTELS, SCHWARTZ, DINCIN >from Greiding Ukraine,

out a cousin Rose GOTTLIEB MINTZ and her husband Abe had a deli on Coney Island
for almost 40 years. They were members of the defunked Richmond Hills synagogue.
This was located in NY. I assume Far Rollaway, the area Richmond Hills or
Brooklyn,NY. If anyone knows anything about this shul and where its members are
buried please let me know.
Yoni Shapiro

I grew up in Richmond Hill. It's a neighborhood near Kew Gardens, Hillside,
Jamaica and Ozone Park (The northern most fringe of South Queens, >from the Van
Wyck Expressway to just around 100th street or so.) Not particularly near Far
Rockaway, but closer to Brooklyn than some parts of Queens. Proximity to the Van
Wyck Expressway would make for an easy commute to Coney Island.

There were two synagogues: one on 117th street near Liberty Ave which I think was
called the Richmond Hill Jewish Center and the one we went to, the Sanhedrin
Community Center on 130th Street near Liberty Ave.

Adelle Stavis

Richmond Hill Synagogue and Jewish Center was on 102nd Street in Richmond Hill,
NY, which is in Queens. It was near 89th Avenue on 102nd St and was south of
Jamaica Ave. The Jewish Center was a block south of Jamaica Ave and the Synagogue
was still another block further south on 102nd St.

Bea Swart
bswart10@aol.com


Like Adele I was born and grew up in Richmond Hill. My family were
members of the 117th St synagogue which was called the Richmond Hill
Jewish Center. There was a smaller synagogue on 114th St between 107th
Avenue and Liberty Avenue also. There was also the synagogue which Bea
refers to on 102nd street which was used as a day school in the 50s
and early 60s.

The one on 117th St functioned as synagogue until the seventies maybe
early eighties. Then when there weren't many congregants left it was
sold to (I think) a bank but before they could tear it down there was
a fire ther and nothing was left. It had been a lovely synagogue,
built in 1926 and had beautiful stained glass windows and three huge
crystal chandelliers. Between the world wars there were a lot of Jews
in Richmond Hill (actually parts of it really are Ozone Park) as
witnessed by all those synagogues. After the second world war there
were many fewer (this is when I was growing up) but they still had a
going Hebrew School (after school) on 117th St. as late 1960.

I remember a woman named Rose Gottleib but that was her married name
and she and her son (and her husband also, but he had already passed
away when I remember) had an optometry shop (glasses) on Liberty
Avenue between 116th and 117th. None of this is anywhere near Coney
Island or Far Rockaway (which aren't near each other either).

If anyone is interested here is a link to some Richmon Hill history
(not particularly Jewish) http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/

Risa Tzohar, Rehovot
searching for RICH or REICH or RAUCH >from Souwalki Poland, IZAK,
FINKEL >from Riga Latvia, WITTELS, SCHWARTZ, DINCIN >from Greiding Ukraine,

Dear JewishGendom,
I am trying to find descendants or relatives of Jenc Kustanowiz, a
twenty year old male, who arrived in NY on August 16, 1910, aboard the
Kroonland. He was supposed to be going to a relative, either a Leib or a Lea
Kustanowiz.
Jenc would be related to people who lived in what is now Glusk,
Belarus.
I have tried checking census enumerations and various NYC area
naturalization indexes, looking for Kustanowiz, Kustanowitz, Kustanowicj, and
Koostanowitz, but unfortunately neither he nor his relatives are surfacing.
Jenc would be related to people who lived in what is now Glusk,
Belarus
All suggestions and leads will be much appreciated.
Shalom,
Judi Langer-Surnamer Caplan
Long Beach, NY

Dear JewishGendom,
I am trying to find descendants or relatives of Jenc Kustanowiz, a
twenty year old male, who arrived in NY on August 16, 1910, aboard the
Kroonland. He was supposed to be going to a relative, either a Leib or a Lea
Kustanowiz.
Jenc would be related to people who lived in what is now Glusk,
Belarus.
I have tried checking census enumerations and various NYC area
naturalization indexes, looking for Kustanowiz, Kustanowitz, Kustanowicj, and
Koostanowitz, but unfortunately neither he nor his relatives are surfacing.
Jenc would be related to people who lived in what is now Glusk,
Belarus
All suggestions and leads will be much appreciated.
Shalom,
Judi Langer-Surnamer Caplan
Long Beach, NY

From: "Michael and Julie Weigel" <theweigels@erols.com>
"I suspect that my mother is descended >from Portuguese Jews, but I have not
been able to prove it yet. Her maiden name is BAKKER (Baker) and is a Dutch
immigrant. Here grandmothers name was Wietske ROOS and her great grandmother
was Trijntje Cornelis SWART (same as Schwartz meaning black). Her father and
ancestors were >from the Friesian Island of Terschelling. . ."
--
On http://www.genlias.nl, I find a marriage certificate (in Dutch) issued
in Terschelling, 22.12.1887 ( Dutch dates show day-month-year, so this would
be December 22, 1887) for groom Gossen Bakker and bride Wietske Roos. If
your mother's maiden name was Bakker and her mother's name Wietske Roos,
these might be your grandparents.

In Dutch "Black" is spelled "Zwart" so I looked up that spelling as well and
there are several items under both spellings which might be of interest to
you, as well as other references to Wietske Roos. Further defining
information, particularly dates, is necessary to determine which might be
your relatives.

For instance, there is a death certificate for a Heere Zwart, died
02.08.1840, a male, whose mother was Trijntje Zwart. He died in Tappanolie
(Sumatra) at the age of 21, which may indicate a connection to the Dutch
East Indies Company.

Suzan Hamer
Nunspeet, The Netherlands

Researching: HAMER - LERMAN - RODIES - MARSCHALL - SMITH (SCHMIDT) - HASKES

Shalom!

The only information I've been able to find about R' Yitzhak FRANCES
is that 1) he was the author of Pnei Yitzhak, 2) He was the Chief
Rabbi of Larissa and 3) he died in 1740. His family was originally

from Saloniki. Does anybody know more about him or his family?

Thank you!

Claire Sztern, France
mailto:claire.sztern@gmail.com