There is a substantial co-hort of Rudy/Ruda surnames from the shtetl of Jalowka/Yaluvka, some 30 miles east of Bialystok. Todd P. Leavitt Santa Monica, CA (USA)

#names

My wife's paternal/maternal side were all "Deutschs" who originated from the shtetl of Kraysk, Belarus (https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/jgcd.php) which is 43 miles North of Minsk. The alterheym

#usa

I am seeking relatives of my Sopenaru/Klein lineage from Bucecea (a small shtetl outside of Botisani) Romania. My paternal gm, Anna Sopenaru (later Helen Leavitt of Detroit) immigrated through NY to P

#romania

Mandy: You may well be aware, but be certain to take a look at the KehillaLinks site for Jalowka administered by Brock Shamberg/Ron Killian. I am a Serlin/Rudy descendant from Jalowka. You can e-mail

#records #belarus #poland

My "Levitsky" family co-hort apparently originated from a shtetl that is referred to in several passenger manifests as "Neustat" (which would be close to Minsk based on Naturalization Papers of those

#poland #names

My Levitskys were from a shtetl outside of Minsk referred to by them as "Neustadt" (Novagrudek or Negnivici???) in their passenger manifests. Immigrants were Joseph, Hyman and Harry Levitsky. Joe and

#belarus

I have not been able to determine the home shtetl of my "Levitsky/Lewicki" co-hort despite years of trying. The sole documentary clue I have is Hyman Levitsky's 1909 passenger manifest citing "Neustat

#belarus #lithuania #poland

mtDNA certainly serves a purpose, but one must be cautious about reaching any conclusions regarding its actual value. My 92 year old mother belongs to haplogroup K1a1b1a, likely the most common group

#dna

My wife and I share 85 cMs of DNA. The likely MRCA would be someone from Bialystok, where both of our maternal lines resided. I concur with the challenges created by Ashkenazi endogamy. One of my FTDN

#dna

My family name is "Levitsky", but Big Y DNA testing (haplogroup/terminal SNP R-YP6547) apparently does not qualify (per Meir HaLevi Gover) as consistent with the Levite genetic signature(s). So it goe

#dna

Helen: I knew a Francis Soyka who was an olympic level tennis player and fine artist. For many years he was the tennis counselor at the summer boys camp I attended (Camp Androscoggin).I have sent you

#usa