A response to Miri Miri
I will be glad to have responses to my questions: 1. Do all HaLevy families in Europe come from the same source, Spanish exile NOT NECESSARILY ? What is the difference between the HaLevy families and Levy families SEE MY COMMENT BELOW ABOUT THE SPELLING OF JEWISH NAMES.? > 2. What is the origin of the people bearing the family name of Vjenfeld ? ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WHEN DEALING WITH JEWISH FAMILY NAMES, SPELLING IS NOT RELEVANT. ONLY THE SOUND IS. THE WORD VJENFELD CAN BE SPELLED MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT THEY ALL MEAN [IN YIDDISH] A FIELD OF GRAPES. FOR THAT REASON, PEOPLE BEARING THIS NAME MAY HAVE COME FROM MANY DIFFERENT PLACES AND THEY ARE PROBABLY NOT ALL RELATED. 3. Where from came the Asjkenazi Jews that settled in Yugoslavia- Serbia ? FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE JEWS OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA SEE THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED AVOTAYNU GUIDE TO JEWISH GENEALOGY. IN SERBIA, JEWS LIVED PRIMARILY IN BELGRADE WHICH WAS MIXED ASHKENAZI AND SEPPHARDI. SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF JEWS BEGAN TO ETTLE IN BELGARD ONLY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THEY UNDOUBTEDLY CAME FROM MANY DIFFERENT NEIGHBORING AREAS AND NOT ONE SINGLE PLACE THE ARCHIVE OF SERBIA WAS ESTABLISHED PRIOR TO THE CREATED OF YUGOSLAVIA AND HAS MANY NATIONAL COLELCTIONS, ESPECIALLY THE CENSUSES FOR 1863, 1905 AND 1910. THE ARCHIVE IN NOVI SAD HAS A VAST COLLECTION OF RECORDS, 1826-95. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF BELGARD HAS A MICROFILM OF THE COMPLETE SET OF BRITH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH RECORDS OF THE JEWS OF BELGARD, 1866-1941. TRY THE E-MAIL ADDRESS [email protected] . IF THAT DOES NOT WORK, TRY WRITING TO THE COMMUNITY AT 110000 BELGRAD, KRALJA PETRA 71a, THIRD FLOOR. TELEPHONE: 381-11-625-359. THE U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM HAS MICROFILMED OTHER JEWISH RECORDS FROM BELGRADE CAPTURED BY THE RUSSIANS AND HELD IN THE OSOBYI ARCHIVES IN MOSCOW. THEY MAY BE FREELY CONSULTED AT THE MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON. THE WHEREABOUTS OF OTHER JEWS RECORDS FROM SERBIA ARE NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME BUT IF YOU KNOW A TOWN OF INTEREST, YOU SHOULD WRITE TO THE MAYOR AND ASK