Hello,

I've got a copy of a ship's passenger list with a group that shares my surname (and, apparently, there are DNA links). I'm trying to figure out where these individuals are from. This is the page showing the passenger list:

https://www.public-juling.de/passagierlisten/listen.php?ArchivIdent=STAB-24.10.1908_4,57/5-60_M&start=151&pers=&ankunftshafen=New%20York&abreisehafen=Bremen&lang=en

The individuals (a family) are lines 104-109. The 'State or Province' as Suwalki makes sense (a 'county' in northern Poland). Russland, makes sense, as at the time much of this region was within the Russian sphere of influence.

Jewszany is the part that is giving me trouble. It doesn't appear to be a city (at least I can find nothing). I've seen 'zhany' appear in place names throughout Central Europe, so I wonder if 'zany' might be a variant.

The more interesting part, for me, is 'Jewes'. I'm wondering whether this indicates that they were Jewish. In my family research, I've found a few things that point to the possibility that my father's family may have converted to Catholicism when they arrived in the US, but I've never found anything definitely points to this. 

 
So, does anyone know what "Jeweszany" might mean? Or where "Jeweszany" might be?

Thanks
Geoffrey Makstutis

You can find the Nov 3, 1908  New York ship arrival for this family on Ancestry.com.  The name is indexed as Janos Nakstutis. 
Unfortunately the handwriting on this list does not make the place of birth any clearer. 

David Rosen
Boston, MA

"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 someone's transcription of what they think the passenger list says. I suggest you look at the actual New York Passenger List  Manifest and see what is there. Everyone digitizing or indexing anything makes errors, and you might find a reasonable place name if you look at the actual list. I recommend stevenmorse.org for doing this. Since you have the name of the ship and the date, it will be easy.

Sally Bruckheimer
Princeton, NJ

Whatever's entered on the manifest is a place name. It has nothing to
do with the family's religion.

It may well have been misspelled, like many places entered on ship manifests.

You might try searching the JewishGen Gazetteer
(https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp) for localities
containing the letters ANY. Set the search so it will show distance
from the city of Suwalki and when you get results, search by distance.
Then look through the results for possibilities, paying attention to
the types of characters in the handwritten entry -- for example, there
are no ascending lower-case letters (b, d, f, h, k, l, t).

One possibility: Zwierzany, Poland.

Renee

Renee Stern Steinig
Dix Hills NY
genmaven@...

--

David Rosen <rosens@...> wrote:

You can find the Nov 3, 1908 New York ship arrival for this family on
Ancestry.com. The name is indexed as Janos Nakstutis. Unfortunately
the handwriting on this list does not make the place of birth any
clearer.

---

Geoffrey Makstutis wrote:

... I've got a copy of a ship's passenger list with a group that
shares my surname (and, apparently, there are DNA links). I'm trying
to figure out where these individuals are from. This is the page
showing the passenger list:

https://www.public-juling.de/passagierlisten/listen.php?ArchivIdent=STAB-24.10.1908_4,57/5-60_M&start=151&pers=&ankunftshafen=New%20York&abreisehafen=Bremen&lang=en

The individuals (a family) are lines 104-109. The 'State or Province'
as Suwalki makes sense (a 'county' in northern Poland). Russland makes
sense, as at the time much of this region was within the Russian
sphere of influence.

Jewszany is the part that is giving me trouble. It doesn't appear to
be a city (at least I can find nothing). I've seen 'zhany' appear in
place names throughout Central Europe, so I wonder if 'zany' might be
a variant.

The more interesting part, for me, is 'Jewes'. I'm wondering whether
this indicates that they were Jewish. In my family research, I've
found a few things that point to the possibility that my father's
family may have converted to Catholicism when they arrived in the US,
but I've never found anything definitely points to this.

So, does anyone know what "Jeweszany" might mean? Or where "Jeweszany" might be?

Wizajny is in the current Northern part of Suwalki on the borders with Lithuania. It stayed in Poland when the borders were redrawn in 1919 after WW1. It is very close to Lake Vistytis, formerly Wiestieniec, which did go into Lithuania in 1919. 

Jill Whitehead, Surrey, UK
Former UK rep on Suwalki Lomza Interest group (now defunct) 
Researching ancestral towns in Suwalki - Vistytis (now Lithuania), and in Poland - Sejny, Augustow, Raczki, Suwalki town, Krasnopol etc.
And Rajgrod in adjacent Lomza gubernia.

A little correction: Vistitis Polish name is Wisztyniec and now lake (jezioro) Wisztynieckie is shared between Poland Lithouania and Russian Federation.
Wlodek Matuszewski

Just to supplement Wlodek Matuszewski posting on Wisztyniec, the following data is extracted from the Kingdom of Poland Geographical Dictionary (Słownik Geograficzny Królewstwa Polskiego) and few other sources.

Town Wisztyniec was established in 1538, city rights were granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania in1 570, and Jewish people have been given rights to establish synagogue and cemetery on January 1,1589.
Beginning in the 1850s, a significant number of the town's Jews emigrated to Germany, the United States, and South Africa
At the end of 19th century, (I believe statistics are refer to the year 1876), in town were counted nine (9) Eastern Orthodox, 1,778 Protestants and 2,453 Jewish residents. 

During the Holocaust, all of Vištytis' Jews were murdered, mainly by local collaborators in the town.^[1] The exact number murdered is unclear; estimates range from 200 - 400 Jews (out of the town's general population of around 1000). First the men were shot, then the women - but, to save bullets, the Jewish children were killed by having their heads bashed against the trees in the town park.^[2] A memorial to the victims was later erected by the Soviets near a windmill called Grist Mill, but the plaque made no mention that those buried in the nearby fields were Jews. Later, a 'Jewish' tombstone was erected that clearly noted what happened.

References:
(1) http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/179/^ 
(2) Yad Vashem, Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities from their foundation till after the Holocaust: Lithuania (1996) pp.260–262

MASS MURDER OF THE JEWS FROM VIŠTYTIS

Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania

Alexander Sharon