On Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 08:35 AM, <YaleZuss@...> wrote:

Do you know anyone who can speak 40 languages?  Does any of them work for the amount paid the immigration inspectors?

I think the "40 languages" meant that the inspectors collectively spoke a total of 40, including English and 39 others, meaning that there were 40 languages that were each spoken by at least one inspector.  This could simply mean that 39 of the inspectors were immigrants from 39 different countries, and those 39 each spoke two languages, English and the language of their home country.  It does not mean that any one inspector spoke all 40 languages.

I know someone who can speak English and one other language.  And I think that out of several million immigrants, there were at least 39 immigrants who spoke English and the language of their home country, but had no other marketable job skills, and would work for whatever immigration inspectors were paid.

To be a smart ass, I would like to respond as follows to everyone claiming that absolutely no names whatsoever were ever changed at Ellis Island:

There were "hundreds of immigrants were married on Ellis Island" (https://blog.eogn.com/2018/03/23/webinar-married-at-ellis-island-single-women-and-immigration-1892-1924/).  Since married women didn't keep their maiden names in those days, unless the bride and groom already had the same surname before they married (which is possible, but not common), each woman who got married at Ellis Island would have changed her name there -- to her new husband's surname.

This, I hope, will resolve the question conclusively and bring the argument to an end -- but I don't think it will.

A good friend of mine tried to explain her HOLLAND surname by telling me this "family story."  The two brothers arrived at Ellis Island on a ship from Rotterdam.  The older brother said to the younger brother, "Let me talk to the clerk; I know more English."  So, when the clerk asked, "What is your surname?" The older brother thought he was asking, "Where did you get on the ship?"  His response was "HOLLAND," and that is how they got the surname.

When I helped her find the actual passenger manifest, the surname, as written, was HOLLAND !!!!!!

I am looking for information about  Israel Jacob Schlifer who was born in Kamienka Stara Lubovna Slovakia in about 1825. I want to verify where he was born and where he lived between his birth and death in Odessa in 1890.  I would also like to find information about his marriage and any children he had. This is my Great Great Grandfather.  
I am open to suggestions for a researcher or to hear from anyone who has information about this town. Thank you for your help. Marilyn Feingold

I've posted a vital record in Russian for which I need a translation. It is on ViewMate at the following address:
http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM82774

If possible, I would appreciate a full translation but any pertinent information would be appreciated.

Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page.
Thank you very much.

Miriam Lappen
PEDRO/FRYDMAN/GELBORT

Hi,
I've posted an 1890 Ukraine birth record in Hebrew for which I need a
translation (M146 only). It is on ViewMate at
http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM82713
Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page.
Thank you very much.
Barry Chernick
Bellevue, WA

I've posted a birth record in Polish for which I need a translation.

It is on ViewMate at the following address:
http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM82720

Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page.

Thank you very much,
S. Geller
Montreal, QC, Canada

My cousin by marriage Truda Osterman, later Rosenberg was about 18 on the train to Auschwitz.  They were able to pry apart two boards so she could squeeze through.  She was red headed, which made it necessary to     dye her hair, but she survived for 2 or more years in Nazi Germany.  Sometimes she evaded capture by the skin of her tteeth.

it was quite moving going to the Holocaust museum in Washington with her,  We started out as a small family group and ended up 30 or more people listening while she pointed out on the train there exactly where she had been able to slip through.  I think she gave testimony at the museum later, so you may be able to find her story there.

 She survived, married twice, the second time to my cousin and lived a long and satisfying liife. 

It appears that Solomon Wolfson (my GF who changed his name to Samuel Wilson after arriving in the U.S. in 1906) was the son of Efriam Wolfson (my GGF).  Solomon said he was born in Poltava, Russia in 1887 (today Poltava, Ukraine).  Efriam's brother, Mayer Wolfson, married Lifsa Karachick.  Their daughter, Frade Wolfson, married Hyman Resnikoff.

I am in possession of a hand drawn Resnikoff family tree prepared in 1979 in Jerusalem by an L.A. Resnikoff and then edited in 1984 in Jerusalem by an "H.R.W." This tree is written mostly in English with some of the names only in Hebrew script.  While I can only vouch for the accuracy of this tree regarding my grandfather and his descendants, I believe that it is probably reliable and would be glad to provide a digital copy directly to those who would be interested.  I have not identified a Jacob Resnikoff on this tree but he may be there.

I am researching the WOLFSON family that lived in Russia, probably the town of Poltava, today in Ukraine.  There is some reason to believe this was a rabbinical family founded by Abraham Wolfson (GGGF) and his wife Hannah LEFSHUN (GGGM).  Other than the tree, a family photo and a few family stories, I have been unsuccessful so far in locating information about this family in Russia.  Any information or suggestions for sources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam Wilson

Searching HORNSTEIN, ORNSTEIN, MERDINGER - from Suceava

Honora Hornstein (Ornstein) DOB: 12 Sept 1882 in Suceava, Austria – present-day Romania.
Jsidor Hornstein (Ornstein) DOB: 12 March 1881 in Suceava, Austria - present-day Romania.

Honora filed a “Declaration of Intention” claiming she arrived in America June 1900. I have not been able to find her on a passenger list to America or Canada other than her 1930 travel from Washington to Hawaii back to California.

Honora and Jsidor’s parents are Simon Hornstein and Edel Merdinger. The family lived in Suceava, Austria – present-day Romania.

Simon Hornstein DOB: 1844 in Stanislau, Austria present-day Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine, DOD: 26 April 1891, buried in Suceava.

Honora and Jsidor's paternal grandparents Itzig and Hinde Hornstein lived in Stanislau, Austria, present-day Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine and maternal grandparents Moses and Chaje Merdinger lived in Sadagora, Bukovina, present-day Ukraine.

I would appreciate any information on the Hornstein (Ornstein) and Merdinger family.

Sincereley,
Trudie Stapleton
stapleton@...

Hello Rochelle,
I happened to find this old post of yours.  I believe we might have been in touch at one point several years ago.  Anyway, my grandmother immigrated to the U.S. in 1908 with her cousin or friend Chaya Shreckinger from Sprein (in the Sambor Raion).  Chaya went to Connecticut (I believe the name was Chesterfield according to the ship manifest).  Perhaps she was related to your grandfather.

Regards, 

Carol\

My father always spoke about a cousin named Magda Kessler who visited from Israel; does this name sound familiar to anyone?  On my father's side (all from Hungary) I am researching ZORN, BRAUN, SCHWARTZ, and KLEIN.

Hilary Wolf

English translations of Galician vital record forms can be found on JRI-Poland  at https://www.jri-poland.org/galicia/GalicianVitalRecords_Titles_Nov2002.pdf.

Mark Halpern

Hello,

you won't be just able to see families. If you know the region or even better a specific town, a good start is searching the documents of Jewish communities in Hessen via the following link of the Hesse State Archives, quite a few documents are accessible online:
https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/start.action?oldNodeid=

Another helpful source is the compilation of name-adoption-lists which can be accessed via
https://www.a-h-b.de/en/projects/genealogy/name-adoption-lists

And throughout Germany research via FamilySearch is a good start. Jewish birth-marriage-death-records are often to be found with the search-term "Matrikel" combined with the name of the city or village. But you will mostly need to be able to read German Script (at least basics) and persistence to be succesful.

Good luck, Corinna

Hello Florence,

if the Grundbuch-document contains just a few pages I highly recommend posting the images on ViewMate as the translation will be reviewed by several fellow Jewish-Genners.
Perhaps you could give it a try?

Regards, Corinna