"The The Shared cM Project 4.0 tool v4 gives 73 cM as the average for a 3rd cousin relationship. Jewish cousins might well be higher given endogamy, " My closest match, other than my nephew, at 450+ c

#dna #ukraine

"Surely the only method common to all or most Jewish religeous groups of deciding whether someone is a Jew is whether their mother was accepted as a Jew" Not so. most temples and synagogues don't care

#general

"What would be your "scientific" reply to "who is a Jew"?" It isn't a scientific question. It is philosophical or religious, depending on your point of view. I have a friend, born Catholic, who told m

#general

"I’m looking for Hena Tarant, who died in a Vilnius, early 20th century and was able to find Gena Tarant , who died in Vinius,in 1911. Could this be the same woman?" Russian has no H-sounding letter,

#names

Widowed was common, lots of women were widowed, and it was nobody's 'fault'. Although divorce was not very uncommon in Eastern Europe, it was somebody's 'fault', and because Jewish law says only men c

#usa

"I have been trying to contact the Suwalk-Lomza Interest Group to join and purchase copies of the publication of their journal the Landsmen, to learn more about my great-grandparents who emigrated fro

#poland #russia

Janeček is now in Slovakia. In 1893, most of Eastern Europe was Russia, Austria or Prussia, and this town was in the Russian Empire. The problem you had is that you used the Jewish Communities Databas

#russia

Marriages in NYC before 1900 were rarely reported civilly. Even 1900 was hit or miss. Sally Bruckheimer Princeton, NJ

#usa #records

Ramygala was a major Jewish community in Kovno gubernia, Russia when your family left. Check on Jewishgen, the FamilyFinder, and the Jewish Communities Database. Sally Bruckheimer Princeton, NJ Altern

#lithuania

"I've got a copy of a ship's passenger list with a group that shares my surname...Jewszany [the town name] is the part that is giving me trouble." There are no extant Bremen Passenger Lists. These are

#general #poland

Often marriages of Jews were banned or heavily taxed on Europe, so couples married religiously only. The government then considered their children illegitimate - but that didn't bother the Jews who kn

#poland #lodz

Women often didn't have Hebrew names in Europe. They had a variety of Yiddish and secular names, but they weren't called to Torah, so they didn't need Hebrew names. If you want to have a Hebrew name f

#translation #poland

"Neither Martynow nor Bolschowzie show up on the JewishGen townfinder." The problem is that Martynow wasn't a big Jewish Communities, and that is what the Jewishgen Communities Database has. Using the

#galicia

Women in Europe often didn't have Hebrew names, just Yiddish and / or secular ones. Furthermore, names weren't translated, but usually a new name in another language had the same initial sound. So if

#names

", opis (inventory) 1 is the Jewish vital records for Kiev city. Opis 2 contains the Jewish vital records for other towns in Kiev uyezd" I searched for ' E-Archives of the Central State Historical Arc

#ukraine #records #russia

I had a cousin who came to the US from Augustow, Suwalki gubernia, Russia, like the rest of the family. I knew a lot of the family as many kept in touch after they came to the US. Imagine my surprise

#translation #poland

Anybody can change anything on the profiles that FamilySearch has on their web site. Some people enter things in Spanish or another language, and I have to keep my fingers off the keyboard, as I want

#general

The problem is that names were rarely 'translated'. Immigrant men of any Hebrew name became Sam in the US. Men and women often used names that 'sounds like' a Yiddish or Hebrew name. There is also the

#yiddish #names #records

YAGASTOR could be a mispronounced Augustow, pronounced Yagustow, as the initial vowel includes the Y sound. It was a biggish city that is now in NE Poland. It was also the central city of Augustow dis

#russia #general

My ggrandfather and his brother went to Rocheport, near St. Louis after the Civil War. They sold stuff off of a cart, according to a cousin; they both married then, my ggrandfather in NYC, and his bro

#usa