I don't know how to search these records, but I can tell you that my grandfather and his family had passports when they traveled from the area in the late 1890s to the US.  
--
Barbara Sloan
Conway, SC

First two ViewMate:

In Russian:

 

Состялось в городе Люблин 18-го декабря 1886-го года, в 12 часов дня явились евреи Моник Фридман, торговец, 46-и лет и Шимен Мандел, 34-х лет, жителей города Люблин и объявили, что сего числа, в 4 часа утра, в городе Люблин, в доме под номеро 638, умерла Маня Вайсблех  (возможно) 30 лет от роду, жительница города Люблин, дочь Гавриела и Рухли-Леи супругов Штайн, оставив внука Мордку. Настоящим удостоверяю о кончине Мани Вайсблех.  Акт сей присутствующим прочитан и подписан.

Подпись Подпись Подпись Подпись

 

Translate into English:

 

It took place in the city of Lublin on December 18, 1886, at 12 o’clock in the afternoon the came Jews Monique Friedman, a merchant, 46 years old and Shimen Mandel, 34 years old, residents of the city of Lublin, arrived and announced that this date, at 4 o’clock In the morning, in the city of Lublin, in house number 638, Manya Vaisblekh (possibly) 30 years old, a resident of the city of Lublin, daughter of Gabriel and Ruhli-Lei Stein spouses, left her grandson Mordka. I hereby certify the death of Mani Weisblech. This act has been read and signed by those present.

Signature Signature Signature Signature

 

 

 

 In Russian:

 

Состоялось в городе Люблин, 22-го ноября (4 декабря) 1895-го года, в 6 часов вечера, явился еврей Нусин Райфман, верующий, проживающий в городе Люблин, вместе с Борухом-Мордкой Вайсблехом, вдовцом, по метрическому акту о рождении 37-и лет, родившемся и проживающим в городе Люблин, сыном Герша и Витли, урожденной Фушель, умерших, и Хаю Фрим, девицею, по метрическому акту о рождении 26-и лет от роду, родившейся и проживающей в городе Люблин, дойерью Израиля и Марии, урожденной Аспис, живых, и в присутствии свидетелей Берки Тухмана, домовладельца, тридцати трех лет и Израиля Вайнберга, сапожника, 23-х лет от роду, жителей города Люблина, и объявили, что сего числа, верующие, совершили в городе Люблин, по моисееву закону, регилиозный обряд бракосочетания, между Борухом-Мордкой Вайсблехом, вдовцом и Хаей Фрим, девицею, что таковому предшествовали три оглашения опубликованные в Люблинской синагоге, в суботние дни: пятого (семнадцатого), двеннадцатого (двадцать четвертого) и девятнадцатого (тридцать первого) августа сего года, что препядствий к совершению сего брака не встретилось и что лица, вступившие в брак не состояли между собой в родстве.  Новобрачные заявили, что они предбрачного договора не заключали.  Акт сей присутствующим прочитан и ими, кроме новобрачных, не грамотных, и нами собственноручно подписан.

Подпись  Подпись  Подпись

 

Translate into English:

 

Held in the city of Lublin, November 22 (December 4), 1895, at 6 p.m., a Jew Nusin Raifman, a believer living in the city of Lublin, appeared together with Boruch-Mordka Weissblech, a widower, according to the birth certificate 37 -years old, born and living in the city of Lublin, son of Gersh and Witley, nee Fushel, dead, and Haya Freem, a girl, according to the metric act of birth of 26 years old, born and living in the city of Lublin, the daughter of Israel and Mary nee Aspis, living, and in the presence of witnesses Berka Tuchman, a homeowner, thirty-three years old and Israel Weinberg, a shoemaker, 23 years old, residents of the city of Lublin, and announced that this number, believers, committed in the city of Lublin, according to the Mosaic Law, a regilious ceremony of marriage, between Boruch-Mordka Weissblech, a widower and Haya Freem, a damsel, which was preceded by three announcements published in the Lublin Synagogue, on Saturday days: the fifth (seventeenth), twelfth (twenty-fourth) and nineteen (thirty-first) of August of this year, that there were no obstacles to this marriage and that the persons who entered into the marriage were not related to each other. The newlyweds stated that they did not conclude a prenuptial agreement. This certificate was read to those present and by them, except for the newlyweds, who are not literate, and we personally signed.

Signature Signature Signature

At some point, I hope, people will focus on the name change rather
than on where it took place.

--
Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, CA

This has all the earmarks of a name-change joke:  Like the Jew whose
last name was Fergason because when his father was asked a question he
said "Ich hob fargessen..."  Never happened...

Jules Levin

Alan Gordon writes:

"My second cousin, during an interview I conducted, informed me that his
grandfather, Frank Kanserstein, had his name changed at Ellis Island. 
Frank's was the husband of my great aunt, and I never met him. 
According to my cousin, Frank's real name was "Thomaspol," but when they
asked him what his name was, he replied, "Kanserstein," or "I can't
understand."  Given your combined experiences, does this make any sense?"

No, for several reasons.

1) Nobody would have asked him what his name was, because it would have
been written on his ticket and on the passenger list; the agent's job
was to match the two.

2) In what language would "Kanserstein" mean "I can't understand?" In
Yiddish it would be something like "kann nikht verstehen." This is an
old trope--I grew up hearing stories about people who went abroad and
got the name "Kannitverstahn." And supposedly the kangaroo got its name
from an incident where an explorer or other visitor asked what that
animal was, and was told, "I don't understand."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#Terminology debunks that story.
(And what language would it have been that was not spoken at Ellis
Island? Mr. KANSERSTEIN would have to have been in a small minority of
speakers of his language on that boat for there not to have been an
agent who could help.)

Roger Lustig

Princeton, NJ USA

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Communications Director, 40th Annual IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy
chuck1@...

C Chaykin writes:

"Here's the grain of truth: Someone in the family changed their surname.
Not surprising, since many "last names" were, literally, "son of X," and
changed from generation to generation."

Surnames as we speak of them did not change from generation to
generation. The "son of" formulation is called a patronymic. All
European countries with a substantial Jewish population required fixed
surnames by 1861; most, far earlier.

Roger Lustig

Princeton, NJ USA

Trying to make contact with the family of Rav Yitzchak Abadi who
returned to live in Lakewood NJ in 2009. His wife Chaya Rivka is a
sister of Avraham Leiser and Necha (married Heschek Parnes).

I am looking for family member Sunny BERNARD who came to the United States from Amsterdam in the 1940’s.

I believe we are part of the same Reisfeld / Lewin / Kanner family of Rzeszow and later Berlin.

Sunny had been known earlier as Sonny HOFSTEDE.

I would appreciate any information that would help me find Sunny.


Carol
Surrey, UK

No, it makes no sense.

1. Names were not changed at Ellis Island. Read the previous posts which supplied a reading list.
2. The German would be "Ich kann es nicht verstehen.: or “Kann nicht verstehen”.

Hello

I was contacted by a man named Boris Makalsky from the Ukraine. He found my name in the JewishGen list of people looking for Posternak family in Zhitomir. He claims to have details of my husband's family going back to 1770. He wants to charge me for this information. I am skeptical of accepting a tree from him without proper documentation, which he wants to charge me extra if I ask for individual documents. This can get costly. His note is below:

I have a lot of documents related to your family. Approximately 40-50 documents. About births (Luser had at least 9 brothers and sisters), marriages, divorces and deaths.
Examples.
1. Record of the birth of Luser in 1878. Names of father, mother, both grandfathers.
2. Record of the marriage of Luser with Rukhlya Milman in 1904. Their age, confirmation of the names of the fathers.
3. A record of the birth of their daughter in 1905.
4. Birth records of almost all of Luser's siblings.
5. Luser's father was a retired soldier and appeared in Zhitomir in the late 1860s. Before that, he lived in a completely different city. According to the censuses of this city,

You can trace the history of the family until the 1770s. For each scan from the original document with translation I ask 25.
There is another option. For $ 220, for all the documents I have, I make a tree from the 1770s to 1900.
This is about 60-80 people. This includes 3 any scans with translation. Each additional scan for $ 20.

Has anyone else had experience with Boris Makalsky? What would you recommend that I do?

Rhonda Post
rhonda.post@...

Your second cousin may say whatever he likes, but the names on the Ellis Island ship manifests were copied from the embarkation manifests.