Jews of Cuba 1920s #hungary #latinamerica #records #photographs #general


ebachert@...
 

Paul and Johana Seidner, Ashkenazi Jews, arrived in Cuba in the 1920s. Paul, from Budapest, and Johana (Ella), from Timisoara, Romania, are believed to have sailed into Havana on the same ship. The data on the Cuban Jews in the early 20th century is extremely sparse; it seems most of the general Jewish data is related to WWII. Of the many Jewish research websites, where should I search for their departure port, ship, or sailing date? There's no disembarkation data anywhere and I don't know the route their ship may have taken. The last evidence of Paul (Pal) in Hungary comes from advertising for his electrician services. He was in the miliary prior to that (1918). In Havana, I do have photos of them from the 1930s onward (below right).

Please spell out organization names rather than give acronyms. Thank you!
   


Adam Cherson
 

The only thing that comes to mind vis a vis Cuban records is to contact the Patronato in Havana for further guidance:
Synagoga Beth Shalom
Calle I Esq. 13, Vedado, Ciudad de la Habana, CP 10400, Cuba.
Tel: (537) 832 8953, Fax: (537) 33 3778
E-mail: beth_shalom@... or
patronato_ort@...

I believe the main contact person would be Adela Dworin, but I cannot guarantee the currency of the contact person.

I hope you can locate the Cuban archives holding such documents, because there  are many descendants of Cuban-Ashkenazim in the USA who would be interested.

--
Adam Cherson, NY, NY
Benyakonski, Kherszon, Rubinovich, Solts, Grodsinski, Levine, Cohen, Kaplan, Lubetski, Karchmer, Horwitz, Rabinovich, Zussman (Lida, Voronova, Dieveniskes, Konvaliski, Smarhon, Vilna)
Genomics Publications and Presentations: https://independent.academia.edu/AdamCherson

 


David Cherson
 

Hello Adam,
Is the Patronato somewhat analogous to a landsleit?

David Cherson


Adam Cherson
 

David,

'Patronato' is the vernacular name given to the new Ashkenazi synagogue, built I'm guessing sometime in the 1950s, and it is the largest on the island. I don't think the Patronato is comparable to a landsleit because it serves the entire Ashkenazic community, regardless of origin, whereas landsleit organizations tend to focus on specific towns or regions. In Cuba, Jews were either Polacos (Poles) or Turcos (Turks), corresponding to Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The Sephardim mostly arrived during the WWI era and the Ashkenazim during the interwar years. I recently learned that the earliest Jewish community on the Island consisted of Jews from the USA who came during the Teddy Roosevelt era. I believe the cemetery at Guanabacoa is on land formerly held by US Armed Forces during Roosevelt.

--
Adam Cherson, NY, NY
Benyakonski, Kherszon, Rubinovich, Solts, Grodsinski, Levine, Cohen, Kaplan, Lubetski, Karchmer, Horwitz, Rabinovich, Zussman (Lida, Voronova, Dieveniskes, Konvaliski, Smarhon, Vilna)
Genomics Publications and Presentations: https://independent.academia.edu/AdamCherson

 


Debra Price
 

My father immigrated to the US via Cuba in the 1920’s.  He left from Liverpool on the Victoria of the Pacific Steamship Navigation Company. From Cuba he entered the US via Tampa on the S S Cuba owned by the Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company.  His address in Havana is given as Centro Maccabeo.

 

 

Debra Kfare Price

Researching Kfare, Kvar, Konovitch, Chunowicz


Bob Silverstein
 

Does anyone know anything about the Fridzon's from Pinsk and who settled in Cuba?
--
Bob Silverstein
bobsilverstein@...
Elk Grove Village, IL

Researching Kaplan (Krynki, Poland) Tzipershteyn (Logishin, Pinsk, Belarus), Friedson/Fridzon (Pinsk, Cuba, Massachusetts), Israel and Goodman (Mishnitz, Warsaw, Manchester).


Meryl Menon
 

A friend who grew up in Cuba, George Alexander, sent me this message with a link that may be of interest:

People tracing Jewish roots in Cuba should approach the archives of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The following article provides what I believe  is an unbiased history, shines on an overall view and provides hints and cautions regarding sources. https://www.jewishcuba.org/shadows.html

Meryl Blau Menon
Researching Blau, Weinstein, Cunea, Segall, Lobell


ebachert@...
 

I emailed the Patronato (in Spanish) asking about immigration records but there was no reply. I did see that Facebook has a page for the Patronato but the information about it is sketchy. I tried posting on that but nothing happened. I don't think the contact person mentioned in this discussion group for the Patronato is the contact anymore (I used the organization's email address, not a person's).

There are articles out there about the Cuban Jews but they speak generically about the immigration experience and don't provide clues to where there may be data. I've tried researching the potential ports of embarkation (Bremen, Hamburg, etc.) but so far no luck. None of the major genealogy portals have their names as immigration ship passengers. The portal called Cubagenweb only has Havana disembarking passenger lists from ships prior to 1900s. I've also looked at collections of Cuban newspapers, most notably the major publication El Diario de la Marina, which is digitized but not indexed so that one cannot search within the collection nor within each edition. 

If disembarkation lists are lost, I have to believe that embarkation lists still exist somewhere. However, it's been like searching for a needle in a haystack. I wish some of the scholars or leaders of the Jewish community could take up the search for the 1920s. Many of those Jews immigrated twice in their lifetimes (1) out of Europe in the early 20th century and (2) out of Cuba in the 1960s mostly into the U.S.

Eugenia Bachert


Adam Cherson
 

A new idea just occurred to me. There is a renowned professor who is here in the USA and therefore more accessible, I hope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Behar If anyone can help surely it will be Professor Behar.
--
Adam Cherson,NY, NY
Benyakonski, Kherszon, Rubinovich, Solts, Grodsinski, Levine, Cohen, Kaplan, Lubetski, Karchmer, Horwitz, Rabinovich, Zussman (Lida, Voronova, Dieveniskes, Konvaliski, Smarhon, Vilna)
Genomics Publications and Presentations: https://independent.academia.edu/AdamCherson

 


ebachert@...
 

Well, Adam Cherson, it was worth a shot. Ruth Behar could not help. She referred to a historian in Israel, Margalit Beharano, who could not help either. At least they were kind enough to respond very promptly.

There are so many of us looking for Jewish immigration into Cuba that there's got to be a way. I'll continue looking at ports in Europe.... As I said previously, I wish some of the major Jewish organizations dedicated to preservation of information would jump in to help us! If any of you are on here, let me know what you think.

Eugenia Bachert


Adam Cherson
 

Thank you Eugenia Bachert. If neither of these historians know anything about Jewish immigration records in Cuba then I must conclude that these records are either lost or archived in some unknown location in Cuba. Although I'm sorry about that, I'm glad you pursued the matter with these experts.
--
Adam Cherson,NY, NY