פורום שורשים משפחתיים

MY FIRST SUGGESTION FOR BATYA IS THAT SHE NEEDS TO READ AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF JEWISH LIFE IN THIS REGION AT THAT TIME. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, SHE SHOULD READ THE CHAPTER ON "POLAND-GALICIA" IN THE AVOTAYNU GUIDE TO JEWISH GENEALOGY. ANOTHER IMPORTANT SOURCE IS SUZANNE WYNNE'S BOOK "FINDING YOUR JEWISH ROOTS IN GALICIA"--BOTH IN ENGLISH, BOTH PUBLISHED BY AVOTAYNU. AND, OF COURSE, OVER THE 20 YEARS OF OUR PUBLICATION, AVOTAYNU HAS PUBLISHED MANY, MANY ARTICLES ABOUT RESEARCH IN THIS REGION. THE INDEX TO OUR ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE: WWW.AVOTAYNU.COM
> Question from "Batya4":>
> 1. Is it possible to know when families got their surnames and from which
> country or district they are originaly?  Example: Hafter &  Eisner from Galicia.
> In JRI most of the registrations of Hafter members are found in the
> village  Tyszkowce (Stanislawow district, Galicia) and almost nowhere else.

>ALEXANDER BEIDER'S JUST-PUBLISHED BOOK ON JEWISH NAMES IN GALICIA  IS THE SOURCE FOR SURNAME INFORMATION. IN HIS INTRODUCTION HE DESCRIBES THE PROCESS (AND YEAR) OF NAME ADOPTION. HE ALSO TELLS THE MEANINGS OF THE NAMES AND WHERE THEY WERE MOST COMMONLY FOUND IN WHAT YEARS.  IF HE FOUND HAFTER AND EISNER IN TYSZKOWCE AND DOES NOT MENTION ANY OTHER PLACE, THEN IT MAKES MOST SENSE TO LOOK THERE. OF COURSE, IF YOU KNOW THAT A SPECIFIC HAFTER OR EISNER RELATIVE LIVED SOMEWHERE ELSE, YOU CERTAINLY SHOULD TRACE THAT PERSON SPECIFICALLY.


> 2.  Feiwel Hafter (1815-1890) owned land in the village: Tyszkowce
> (Stanislawow district, Galicia).
> In JRI the earliest registration of Hafter is from 1866. Is it possible to
> find (and how) when he became a land owner and where he lived before that?
> LAND OWNERSHIP RECORDS (NOT INDEXED BY JRI-POLAND) ARE HELD IN THE L'VIV  ARCHIVES. YOU SHOULD WRITE TO THEM AND INQUIRE HOW YOU CAN RESEARCH OWNERSHIP IN THIS VILLAGE.

REGARDING JRI-POLAND, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND JUST EXACTLY WHAT IT IS (AND IS NOT). THIS LIST MERELY REFLECTS INDEXING THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE.
IT SAYS NOTHING AT ALL ABOUT RECORDS THAT MIGHT EXIST BUT ARE NOT INDEXED.
THUS, THE THOROUGH RESEARCHER ALWAYS CHECKS ALL SOURCES.

FOR THE MOST EXTENSIVE, UP-TO-DATE ONLINE LIST OF JEWISH GENEALOGICAL VITAL RECORDS HELD IN ARCHIVES IN THIS AREA, CONSULT MIRIAM WEINER'S WEBSITE AT www.rtrfoundation.org.  IT MAY WELL BE THAT THE L'VIV ARCHIVES OR AN ARCHIVES IN WARSAW HOLDS EARLIER RECORDS. YOU ALSO NEED TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE "CACHEMENT" SYSTEM OF RECORDING 19TH CENTURY JEWISH RECORDS IN THIS AREA DESCRIBED IN THE GENERAL SOURCES MENTIONED ABOVE. IN BRIEF, JEWISH RECORDS FROM SMALL VILLAGES WERE RECORDED IN NEARBY LARGER TOWNS. IF WEINER DOES NOT LIST ANYTHING FOR TYSZKOWCE, POST A MESSAGE ON THE [ENGLISH-LANGUAGE] GALICIA SIG AND ASK IF ANYONE KNOWS.

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, CONSULT THE YIZKOR BOOK FOR TYSZOWCE. YAD VASHEM HAS A COPY. MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, SOME OF WHOM UNDOUBTEDLY LIVE IN ISRAEL, MAY BE ABLE TO TELL YOU WHERE THE RECORDS WERE COLLECTED.

> 3. Is it possible to find (and how) who were the families (surnames) that
> were resettled as farm workers (agriculture workers) in the villages in
> east
> Galicia in the middle of the 19th century?
>RECORDS DO EXSIT, BUT  DO YOU KNOW THE SPECIFIC AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENT?
>THAT WILL BE NECESSARY FOR FURTHER RESEARCH.

CHAIM FREEDMAN WHO LIVES IN PETAH TIKVAH HAS DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THESE AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENTS AND MAY BE ABLE TO DIRECT YOU FURTHER.
>
SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN MOSCOW ALSO HAS DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC.
AVOTAYNU PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE BY HIM [WITH REFERENCES] A FEW YEARS AGO.
CONSULT THE ONLINE INDEX FOR THE TITLE , YEAR AND ISSUE. THEN YOU CAN EITHER ORDER THE ISSUE FROM AVOTAYNU OR LOOK FOR IT IN A LIBRARY IN ISRAEL.

sadly Yad Vashem made a mistake of mixing 2 places Tyszkowce & Tyszowce , which are in different regions.   Tyszkowce, (between Horodenka & Obertyn)acording to Pinkas Hakehilot , had 129 jews pre war, and no one sirvived. there is no Yizkor book.

Thank you again.

If the mailing address is there, send a letter the old-fashioned way.
If it is not there, try looking in the JewishGen digest archives. Sometimes
people have written subsequent to changing their e-mail addresses. Or send a
message to the JewishGen digest. If that fails, try Google or Yahoo if the
last name is fairly unusual.  If you
think that the person may live in the United States, look for a telephone
listing at www.switchboard.com

You may also contact the LostNFound Desk
for help locating missing JGFFers. Their e-mail is
< LostnFound@jewishgen.org >.

Shalom,
In my mother's family there is a story:
One of the family did a family tree search until the Spanish inquisiotion . This tree was done around or before WWI.
most of my mother's family died in the Holacost .
Those who live all know the story, nobody has the tree.
The questions are:
1.In that period has there been Geneological societies in Europe ( Austr- Hungary)
and how can one find them?
2.To who at that time would someone donate a tree like that? ( libraries,  Museoms etc.)
3.Was that at all possible to reach that information ( Till the Spanish inquisition ) or one should assume it is all based on family stories?

THank You

Nava

Dear Nava,

Sadly, your story is not so unusual. I have heard many similar ones. Let me take the easier part first. Although it certainly is not at all common for a family to research its roots back to the period of the Spanish Inquisition, there are a few families whose [mostly] oral history allows them to do this.

I don't know of any genealogical societies to whom a Jewish family might have donated a tree around the time of World War I. The earliest Jewish genealogical society in modern times was formed in Germany in the 1930s. As for museums, libraries, etc. my only advice would be to inquire perhaps of any archives and/or museum in the town where the family was living at the time.

You say that although family members have heard of the tree, none of them has it. This is the part of your story that I question somewhat. In my experience if one searches diligently for ALL distant cousins, it often happens that something is found. My advice, therefore, is to do your own genealogical research being very careful to look for all cousins, however, distant. Think about third cousins, i.e., who share the same set of great-great-grandparents with you. Your grandparents and theirs, who probably lived around the time of World War I, were first cousins. Their parents were brothers and sisters. Find these people and interview them carefully.

If the family did trace back that far in time, it probably had a fixed, hereditary last name--unusual among Jews (except for leading rabbinic families mostly) before the end of the 18th century. If you know that name, and if it is not a common one --or if it is a rabbinic family--it might be interesting and useful to contact others researching the same name. Go to www.avontaynu.com and do a search on the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index. Also check the JewishGen Family Finder and the Family Tree of the Jewish People at www.jewishgen.org. Both of these databases are included in Avotaynu's Consolidated Jewish Surname Index, but sometimes names appear on the Family Finder and the Family Tree a few months earlier.

Dear Nini,

This sounds like an almost impossible task. I suppose that if it were me, I would hire Alexander
Dunai, a non-Jewish historian and professional who lives in L'viv and who has done remarkable work for many Jewish genealogists. I have never heard a single complaint about his work or his fees. His e-mail address is dunai@dunai.lviv.ua.  He speaks good English -and I assume Ukrainian and Russian.

My thought is that you would first need to know the family name of the home where your cousin found refuge. Since you apparently don't know it, perhaps Alex would go to the village and interview the elders. Someone probably remembers something and may even know where they moved.  If books of residents are kept in that village (as they are still all over Europe) it is at least theoretically possible that there will be an etnry showing where the couple went.

Dear Uri,

Lots of us Jews have family names that also are used by Christians. My
paternal grandmother's maiden name was Shulkin. Alexander Beider, in his
Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire, says that the name
comes from the female Yiddish name Shula and most of the Shulkins I have
found are Jewish  In the course of my research, however, I found a (small)
number of Shulkins who were Christian. I don't know why, but it didn't make
me think that the family had non-Jewish roots.

In his Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia, Beider estimates the the
word comes from the German adjective "puppe" meaning "doll."   Read his
excellent discussion of the Jewish naming process in that city for more
general information.

It is known, of course, that during the time period about which you are
speaking, the population of Poland came primarily from Jews who migrated
through or from Germany. How many Jews converted to Christianity? Some did,
of course, and I am sure that there are studies that discuss this, although
I have never heard of any. Since Yiddish derives primarily from German, I am
not surprised that non-Jewish Germans would use some Yiddish expression.
Maybe they also had Jewish neighbors. We have many stories in AVOTAYNU of
Christians who worked for Jews, were friend with Jews, etc. and learned to
speak Yiddish fluently. As for the Germans giving their children names like
Samuel and Salomon--remember that these are also Biblical names and many
Christians favored Biblical names for their chidlren.

The best way I can think to estimate if your family has common roots with
the German Christian family is to do a simple, cheek-swabbing DNA test on
males (who carry the Peiper/Peyper name) in both families. I'm betting that
you don't.

When did Yehuda live?  And what do you mean when you say that "with the help
of JW you  "traved" you 7X great grandfather? What sources did you use to
obtain this information?

My Rashkes family comes from Kaunas, Lith. With the help of JG I  traced my 7t genreration grandfather. His name is Yehuda Rashkes. His father's name: Movsha,
I don't know how to proceed with my research. I applied to the historical archine in Kaunas, and they told me that they have B-M-D and divorce records for the Jews of Kaunas:

Birth - 1842- 1914, 1922 - 1939
Marriage - 1881 - 1914, 1922 - 1939
Divorce: 1913 - 1914, 1922-1939
Deaths - 1892 - 1914, 1922 - 1939

I feel I am at the end of my research. Where should I turn to ? I'll be glad for guidance.

Thanking you in advance,

Anat

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 SAVEZJEV@INFOSKY.NET . 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

Hello, Sallyann!

As for some of my family branches - all I have is family-stories. All the heroes of those stories lived about 150 years ago, so I can't say any one who told me the stories personaly knew them.

Do you use the severe attitude: nothing is to be documented in the family tree until it's prooved by a valid document, or do you use the lenient approach: all is to be documented in the family tree, unless otherwise is discovered?

10-x,
Arnon

Dear Arnon,

I'm a firm believer that there is a "grain of truth" in every bubbe
meise--but finding that grain can be like looking for a needle in a
haystack. (Too many proverbs; forgive me).

I do both. I keep track of what is documented at the same time that I keep
another section of "maybes."  For example, because my maiden name is
relatively uncommon, I long ago sent queries with every Amdur in the U.S.
telephone directory. I also "collected" Amdurs everywhere. At first, of
course, I could not connect these people to me, but over the years, I have
managed to work out many, many relationship. Along the way, I  have also
connected lots of people to others who I can't yet connect to me.

As for those long-ago heroes of your stories...The conventional genealogical
wisdom which I am sure you know is that you should work systematically
backward in time and that sooner or later you will probably connect to those
folks. Then you may, or may not, be able to verify the tales.

By the way, about 25 years ago I was told a tale about my grandmother's
eldest brother. Don't even remember who told it to me, but it stayed in my
mind. Since my grandmother died before I was born, it certainly didn't come
from her.

Two months ago, a second cousin of mine who lives in Haifa, and whom I came
to know through my research, visited me here in Washington. (We have become
good friends). She was born in a DP camp after the war. Miraculously, both
of her parents had survived although her sisters and grandmother died in
Auschwitz. Judith was telling me some of the stories her parents had told
her. I strongly suggested that she preserve them for her children---and
then, out of the blue, she told the story I had heard. But not exactly as I
had heard it. Now for the first time, my grain of truth became a whole loaf
of bread.

Hershkowitz sounds like a Maramaroser name to me. If it is, let me know.
Maybe my cousin Judith (Sziget) can help.

Sallyann

Dear Arnon,

As I was preparing lunch, I realized that I had omitted something important.
I definitely do believe that it is important for us to try our best not to
promulgate inaccurate information--and that's devilishly hard to not to do.
I also believe that it would be important for a body well-researched,
well-documented  Jewish genealogical family trees to exist--for use in such
things as genetic research. To read more about that, see if you can get a
copy of the latest {fall 2004) AVOTAYNU. Read the lead article by Gary
Mokotoff and myself, entitled "The Next Step: Jewish Genealogy Goes
Academic."  That's where you'll read my ideas about what we should [ideally]
aim for.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is important to be clear about how
we "know" what is it that we think we know--to cite references whether it is
family lore or a document from an archive.  And speaking of documents--we
all learned as children not to believe everything we read. Just because
something exists in written form doesn't mean it is true, of course.

Sallyann

Dear Sallyann,

Was it possible for a a person in Congress Poland to be born, married and died with no civil registration?

I have constructed my family tree back to the early 1700s for some of my lines. However, for one of my great-grandfathers I could not find any record. All I have found are birth records of three of his children (out of 13, in Klimontow, Poland – registered under their father’s name).

My great-grandfather was born circa 1860 in Poland, and was married circa 1885. I do have the birth record of his wife (Pinczow, 1863), as well as her death record (Skarzysko-Kamienna, 1934, where her husband name is mentioned). My great-grandfather died a few months after her, but no death record was found in the possible archives. Their marriage record was also not found in any of about 15 possible archives that I have checked.
In his son’s marriage record (Lodz, 1913), my great-grandfather is noted as a permanent resident of Gorki (near Klimontow). To my knowledge, no books of residents survived for this area.

I find it odd that none of his vital record was found in the archives where he or his wife lived. Was it possible to lead life in Poland in those years without any registration?
Any other suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot for your reply

T-A

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שלום סליאן,

האם יתכן שאדם  נולד, נישא ונפטר בקונגרס פולין ללא כל רישום אזרחי?

עד כה בניתי את עץ המשפחה שלי, עד ראשית המאה ה-18 במספר ענפים. אולם עבור אחד מסבי-הרבא שלי לא הצלחתי למצוא אף תעודת-חיים. כל אשר מצאתי הן שלוש תעודות לידה של ילדיו (בקלימונטוב, מתוך 13 ילדים).

סבא-רבא שלי נולד בערך ב-1860 בפולין, ונישא בערך ב-1885. יש בידי את תעודת הלידה של אשתו (פינצ'וב, 1863), וכן תעודת הפטירה שלה (סקרז'יסקו-קמיינה, 1934 – בה הוא מוזכר כבעלה). סבא-רבא שלי נפטר חודשים ספורים אחריה, אך תעודת הפטירה שלו לא נמצאה בארכיונים העשויים להיות רלבנטיים. גם תעודת הנישואים שלהם לא נמצאה באף אחד מכחמישה עשר ארכיונים בהם חיפשתי.

בתעודת הנישואין של בנו (לודז', 1913), סבא רבא שלי מוזכר כתושב קבוע של גורקי (ליד קלימונטוב). ככל הידוע לי ספרי התושבים מאזור זה לא שרדו.

האם יתכן שניתן היה לנהל חיים אישיים ועסקיים ללא כל רישום אזרחי של לידה, נישואין ופטירה?
כל רעיון אחר יתקבל בשמחה.

רוב תודות

ט-א

Dear Talia,

Just because no records can be found doesn't mean that none ever existed. As
you note, the records for Gorki don't seem to have survived.

Are you sure that you have checked all possible sources? Have you consulted
Miriam Weiner's website www.routestoroots.org to see if anything else such as land or census records exist)? Have you looked at Fay Bussbang's article
about Russia (Congress) Poland in the new Avotaynu Guide to Jewish
Genealogy?  From what you have written, for example,  I can't tell if you
checked  domicle books (also known as books of residents) or merely vital
(birth, marriage and death) records.

Don't forget that Jews of this era did everything possible to keep sons from
being registered for fear of their being drafted into the Russian army. The
various ruses they employed are legendary.  I for example have never found
any Polish archival records for my grandfather who was born in Congress
Poland in 1885.  Only when he was past 90 years old did he tell me his real
family name! He had bought false papers to avoid being drafted into the
Polish army and although he emigrate to the U.S. in 1904, he kept the secret
almost until his death.

Sallyann

Shalom,

First question - A question regarding Magnate:

In 1740 Yozef Potozki was one of the owners of Tarnopol. My family resided there at the time.
How canI get documents that confirm it ? Is there an address I can turn to ?

Second question

In 1700 there was a settlement of Jews in Cachtice (today Slovakia and in the past Hungary). My assumption is that my mother's ancetors already settled there and were under the patronage of Count Franz Pongratz as Protectorates.
How can I confirm or exclude this assumption ? Are ther any documents and where can I find them ?

Third question

Same as question number 2, but relating the cities Kock & Lodz in Poland.

Many thanks !

re:Tarnopol. If you don't have any documents, how do you know that your
family resided in Tarnopol in 1740? The  1765 Polish census may help--if you
can locate it. I suggest that you post your query on the Galicia Special
Interest Group digest which may be accessed from the JewishGen home page at
www.jewishgen.org.  Also look at the JewishGen Family Finder for other
genealogists who are doing research in Tarnopol. Write and ask them about
their experience getting documents.

2. Why do you assume that your relatives were living in Cachtice in 1700? Is
that oral history or do you have something in else?  Most Ashkenazi Jews did
not hav fixed, hereditary family names (unless they were rabbinic families)
until forced by law to adopt them. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was the first
to require this--in 1787. Prior to that time it might be difficult to trace
your family, although not so difficult in a small place with few Jewish
residents.

The Mormons have been given permission to film birth, marriage and death
records (including Jewish records) in Slovakia. Consult their online catalog
at  www.familysearch.org. Unfortunately, searching the catalogue properly is
not easy. Instructions for doing it may be found in the Avotaynu Guide to
Jewish Genealogy chapter on the Mormon Family History Library.

Slovakia has a well-developed system of regional archives. The Guide chapter
on Slovakia offers details of how to access them.

These questions require a good knowledge of Polish history.  Although I
am not expert on that, I can give you some general answers and suggest
places to look further.

1. For some years early in the 19th century (after the partitions of
Poland at the end of the 18th century), Krakow was a free and independent city.

Congress Poland, sometimes called Russian Poland, was of course, part of
the Czarist Russian Empire.

As a general rule, Jews (and probably others) were not allowed to leave
any  part of the Empire without satisfying three requirements: showing proof
that they (if men) had satisfied their military requirements, that they had
paid their taxes and that they were in "good standing" with the authorities."
Of course, what was legally required and what was actually done were not
always the same. Witness, the so-called "Jewish underground"  by which so many
Jews fled Russia.

What rules Russia had for allowing people into its realm I don't know.
What I do know, however, is that before the partitions Russia had a
long-standing prohibiton against Jews living in its country.

I don't know anything about the rules that independent Krakow might have
had for movement across its borders, but just on the basis of what we know
about Russia, I would assume that a family could not move "freely."

2. I am aware of limitations on Jewish families in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but not particularly in Galicia. I suggest also that she pose these questions to JewishGen's Galicia SIG, but specifying the exact towns of interest to you.. For most of the
period between 1772 and the end of World War I Krakow was part of Galicia and
thus of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Congress Poland, of course, belonged to
the Russian Empire. I don't know how a family could register the birth of
its children in two different empires unless one son was born while the
family lived in one place and another son was born after the family moved
across the border. But much depends on details. I assume from your question
that you have reason to think that such registrations did occur? Where and
when?

Since I have never heard of a situation such as you describe, I don't
believe that it was common

It is well known that in order to avoid the abduction of children to the Tzar's army in the middle of the 19 century, Jews named their children (except the eldest) - with different family names.
Did anyone succeed in establishing a kink between the original family name and the fake name ?
Did people return to their original surname later ?
What research paths are available ?

What you describe is only one of the many tactics Jews used to protect their sons from the Russian army. Over the years AVOTAYNU has published many articles on this subject. If you are comfortable reading English (or can get someone to do this for you), obtain a copy of AVOTAYNU on CD which contains every word every published by AVOTAYNU and is fully searchable by any word.

The czarist government exempted the eldest son from military service. Thus some Jewish families to tried to register subsequent sons as if they were firstborn sons. One tactic was to have someone else in the family (maybe a sister) who had no sons register the baby as if he were the sister's son. I know one family where three sons were registered as Evans, Shapiro and one other name. These men emigrated to the U.S. with the three different names--and kept them.
Sometimes we find registers where an elderly woman, obviously past childbearing age, is registered as the mother of a newborn baby. Other times, a baby is given the name of a child who has died. I even know of cases in one Lithuanian family where two sons were registered as if they were one!

Clearly, all these antics required bribery and the connivance of local authorities.

Did they return to their original family names? I am sure that different people did different things, but I do not know personally of any who took the original family's name. Remember by the way, the Jews of this region did not have fixed, hereditary family names until the government forced the adoption of them early in the 19th century (so that the government could keep track of Jewish men for draft and taxing purposes!).

How do you find their original names? Unless there is family history on the subject, it is probably going to be a difficult to impossible task. If you are determined to try it, my best suggestion is to read all of  those AVOTAYNU stories and see if they suggest any strategies.

Dear Batya,

Czarna is the Polish word for black. Charne, of course, is a Yiddish female name. Perhaps the name began with a woman or perhaps the man who first adopted it had a dark complexion.

I have two suggestions for further research into rabbinic families and yeshivot. One is to contact Chaim Freedman who lives in Petah Tikva. Chaim wrote the chapter on rabbinic research in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy and also published his chapter as a free-standing book --in English, I think. His e-mail address is chaimjan@zahav.net.il.  

Also post your question on JewishGen's RAV-SIG (rabbinic special interest group) You can reach it by going to www.jewishgen.org. On the home page look for "special interest groups.''

The fact that Rovno is far from Brest may, indeed, suggest that the two families were related--or might it suggest that your grandfather --if he was a rabbi--found a job there.It's not clear to me from what you have written if your grandfather also was a rabbi. Rabbis tended to move around a great deal more than might be expected.

Registration of Jews in Moravia in the 18th century
---------------------------------------------------
Carl IV (Habsburg) wanted to rule the Jews in his country, hence he issued an Order in 1726 allowing marriage to one spouse only (Familianten Ordnung).
In order to monitor the execution of the Order, the Jewish families in all the communities were registered.
It is not clear to me what was regitered in the books; was the registration a one-time registration or was it done along a period of time; where are these books, and are they accessible to researchers.
I am interested in Moravia.

Thank you

Registration of Jews in Moravia in the 18th century
---------------------------------------------------
Carl IV (Habsburg) wanted to control the Jews in his country, hence he issued an Order in 1726 allowing marriage of one son only (Familianten Ordnung).
In order to monitor the execution of the Order, the Jewish families in all the communities were registered.
It is not clear to me what was regitered in the books; was the registration a one-time registration or was it done along a period of time; where are these books, and are they accessible to researchers.
I am interested in Moravia.

Thank you

The best place to start probably is with the Austrian-Czech Special Interest Group. Go to www.jewishgen.org. On the home page look for "special interest groups" and follow the prompts. Register with this SIG and post your question on its digest.

The chapter on the Czech Republic in the newly published Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy details the Familianten Law of 1724. To limit the number of Jews in his realm, Carl IV firs required that a census be taken of the Jews. The census, listed by village and by family all Jews who lived in the Czech Lands. This did not include Prague where the census was not conducted until 1729.  After the 1724 census, a fixed number of Jewish familes was established: 8,541 for Bohemia and 5,106  for Moravia. The so-called Family Law was passed to maintain this number. Families were given a "family number" that brought with it "domicile rights" equivalent to citizenship. Only  the eldest son in each family was permitted to marry; families with daughters only were destined to die out. Younger sons remained single or emigrated. In some cases, religous marries were beformed but not registered officially. This resulted in many so-called illegitimate births on the official birth registers. Registers were kept listing the familiant--that is, the head of the family--and his sons in order of birth. Girls were not listed in the familianten books although wives might be.

These registers often were not actually compiled in written form until many years after the event and were backdated. Naturally, there were times when false information was given. Upon their marriage, some families "adopted" the wife's surname, especially if that family only had daughters. Generally, however, the registers are accurate and correspond with the vital statistics records.

The vital statistics and familianten records now are held in the state archives in Prague.

This chapter in the Guide, like all of the other chapters, has an extensive bibliography and details on how to access genealogical records.

Dear Udi,

I wish that I did, but my Amdurs apparently adopted the name after they left Amdur (Indura). They first show up in Braslav, today in northeastern Belarus, in the third quarter of the 18th century.

Dear Sally.

Thank you so much for your reply.

Best wishes,
Udi

Dear Sallyann.

My question below is a result of your surname
My ancestor Hayim Hayke'l was born to Shmuel in Karlin.
Hayim became "The Admo"r of Amdur" (Indura).
Do you happened to have any material with regard to him and / or his family, descendants, relatives etc.

Best wishes, Udi Cain

This question is a follow up to the question by Hadass:

Can you answer the same question as Hadass'es on the Jews of Casablanca on the 19th  and 20th centuries, and if possible prior to that...

Osnat Chazan

Dear Hana,

It is unlikely that the Soviets took local archives to Moscow unless you have some information that the collections were evacuated there. It is more probable that records were lost due to war, fire, etc.

Miriam Weiner's website, www.rtrfoundation.org lists two record collections for Svir. One is in the Lithuanian State Archives in Vilnius: it is a 1849-50 census; the other is a list of aliyah passports to Palestine and it is held at the  Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

Given the paucity of known documents, your best research bet would be to join the Belarus SIG and ask others what they have learned about records for Svir. Also check the JewishGen Family Finder to see who else is researching family from that location. Perhaps they have learned things that would be useful to you. Both can be accessed from the JewishGen home page at www.jewishgen.org.  

Again, for questions about the Jews of Morocco, the best person to consult is Mathilde Tagger in Jerusalem.

The best person to contact is Mathilde Tagger who lives in Jerusalem and who is active in the Sephardi Special Interest Group. Her e-mail address is tagger@actcom.il.

dear Sallyan,
My maternal family name is Rachman (Rakhman in Russian), Ukrainian origin.
As far as i know, mostly emigrate to the US continent at late 19th, early 20th century, and anglicized their name to Richman and Richmond.

Till today i found nothing of any descenders/kin's.

therefore, i would like to know if there is any possibility to find out a census of Uman,Kiev,Zhitomir, circa 1800-1900?
Kindly Regards,
Raheli

According to Miriam Weiner's website, www.rtrfoundation.org, censuses and
other types of  for Uman, Kiev and Zhitomir do exist, but I am not certain
why you are seeking them. From what you have written, it sounds as if you
would like to find some of your Rakhman relatives, but assume that you can't
since most emigrated  to the United States and changed their names.

If that is what you would like to do, then I am not certain how censuses
from these Ukrainian cities will help you. Since you know that some
relatives changed their names to Richman and Richmond and that they came
originally from Ukraine (those specific cities), it might be more helpful
for you to post a search message on the JewishGen digest (at
lyris@Jewishgen.org) and ask if anyone has this background.  You also should
search the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index at www.avotaynu.com  for
Rachman, Rakhman, Richman and Richmond and see what leads this provides.
Also look at the JewishGen Family Finder (www.jewishgen.org) for anyone
searching those names plus anyone from the towns of interest to you.

As Jews wandered frequently, and with no computers in the old days - when and how officials cross-checked vital data?

For example, if a person born in a certain town, moved to a distant town and wanted to get married there – was it enough to bring witnesses, or did he need some documents from his place of birth?

And if there was a need – was it possible to bypass those procedures?

Please refer to both civil and Jewish practices in Congress Poland in the 19th century.

Thanks again

T-A

Dear Talia,

I'm afraid that these questions are too broad and general to answer. Much would depend, I imagine, on the specific time and place.

I don't know what you mean when you ask me to "refer to Jewish and civil practices"  in Congress Poland, but I sugges that you read the very comprehensive chapter on Russian Poland (also known as Congress Poland) in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy. That gives the best overview and includes an extensive bibliography.

Have you in fact read the chapter on Russian-Poland in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy? It is extremely comprehensive and includes bibliography and addresses for places that hold recoreds.

Have you checked www.rtrfoundation.org?  That site, maintained by Miriam Weiner, is the most comprehensive, up-to-date listing of what is known about Jewish records in Poland, the Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.  You don't say, but I assume that you also have looked at the JRI-Poland website to see if it has indexed any records for towns of interest to you. Reach that at www.jewishgen.org.  

Have you looked at yizkor books for the major nearby cities? They usually include information about near-by places. See if you can find landsleit-members of the committee that wrote the books. Also see if the Ostrolenka landsmanschaften still exists. Ten years ago the contact person was Yehuda Chmiel, 12  Bavli Street, Tel Aviv. These people usually know about records and where they are kept.

Ostrow-Mazowiecka has been well-researched by Stanley Diamond, head of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland. Why don't you write and ask him for advice? His e-mail is smsdiamond@aol.com  If you can afford it, also ask him to recommend a local researcher to go into the archives that would hold records for the places of interest to you.

Have you checked the JewishGen Family Finder to see if anyone else is researching the places of interest to you? If you find any, write and ask what success they have had.

Finaly, be sure to write to the JewishGen digest (at lyris@jewishgen.org ) and let others know that you are looking for information from these places.

Actually, Alexander Beider lists the name Moneta in his Dictionary of Jewish
Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, so I guess it is a Jewish name.

You don't say what kind of information you are seeking. That makes a
difference. Are you looking for information who lived there before the
Shoah? If so, have you checked Yad Vashem's online database? The official
spelling is Dabrowa Gornicza.

The Yad Vashem library has a yizkor book for the town and in 1981 at least
four survivors from there attended the World Gathering of Holocaust
Survivors in Jerusalem. Their registrations (with street addresses) are held
in the archives at Yad Vashem.

Have you looked at the Jewish Records Indexing-Poland indexes? You can reach
them at www.Jewishgen.org.
And you should look at www.rtrfoundation.org  to see what archival records
exist for the town.

Without a more focussed question, I cannot direct you more specifically.
Instead, I think you should start with the chapter on Poland in the Avotaynu
Guide to Jewish Genealogy. That will orient you to potential sources,
provide contact addresses, e-mail, etc. and give you an extensive
bibliography.

Where else can I look ?
=======================

My grandmother and her brother(s?) were born in Miecow near Kielce. Her parents most probably were born in Dzialoszyce in the same area. The family was very large, but only a few records appear on the JRI Poland site (including an advanced search for a 50 KM radius).
A search in Miriam Weiner's site for relevant documents from same shtetls, yielded no relevant listings for those years. I even contacted directly the regional archive, but got only a few documents.
Can you think of anything else I can do, where else can I search ?
Thank you !

Read Fay Bussgang's chapter on Russia-Poland in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish
Genealogy. She lists a wide array of possible sources and has an estensive
bibliography. I don't know what information you are seeking from documents.
You don't specify what documents you are seeking or what years. That all
makes a difference. One item that comes to mind are the books of residence
kept all over Poland in the 19th century. That chapter describes these books
and tells where to find them.  Contact the Jewish Historical Institute in
Warsaw (address in the chapter) and see if it has anything.

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem has
an extensive Polish collection. It has just published a complete listing of
these holdings. Check to see it they have anything relevant.

Have you checked the JewishGen Family Finder to see if anyone else is doing
research for these locations? If so, write to them and ask what sources they
have used. Similarly, post a message on the JewishGen digest at
lyris@JewishGen.org and ask if anyone knows anything about these places.

Yad Vashem's library has two yizkor books for Miechow. See if you can
contact members of the committee that wrote them. (Yad Vashem usually has a
contact address.)  While you are at Yad Vashem look also at the printout of
people who attended the 1981 World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors in
Israel. At least two different attendees listed Miechow as their place of
birth. Street addresses are included and many people came with their
children.  Also do a search by town on the online Yad Vashem database and
look at the names (and addresses) of the individuals who submitted
information for people from these places. All of these living people may be
able to provide information.


Finally, look at back issues of the Kielce-Radom Journal. The Israel
Genealogical Society probably has back issues in its library in Jerusalem

Some people say that the JHI in Warsaw holds copies of all Jewish vital records from Poland. Is this true?
I am refering to towns for which Routes to Roots  does NOT specify the availability of such records in the JHI.

Thanks once more

T-A

Perhaps the reference is to another archive in Warsaw - not necessarily the JHI.

יתכן שהכוונה לארכיון אחר בוורשה - ולאו דווקא למכון היהודי שם.

I have never heard this. The way to find out is to write and ask.
It is important also to read what Miriam has written on the home page of www.rtrfoundation.org. Her information comes from archivists themselves. It certainly is possible that JHI may have copies of something that are not in archives, but I have never heard (and seriously doubt) that it holds copies of all Jewish vital records from Poland. Remember also that some Jewish community records never were held by governmental archives because there was no legal reason for them to do so. Thus, it is possible that JHI has records not found in archives.

I should also mention--and this is important to say somewhere--the
JRI-Poland does not include all records in Poland and never has claimed that
it does. Their indexes only reflect the many (about 2.3 million) records
that it has indexed to date.

I just checked with someone who visits Poland (and the JHI ) every
year. He assures me that this rumor is absolutely untrue!
Sallyann

Dear Sallyann,
During the past ten years I have been trying to find out whether my
g-g-grandfather Rav Mordechai Eliashberg (b. 1817 Cekiskes, d. 1889 Bauska) was related to the Eliasberg rabbis from Ivenets, Minsk region. It is clear that they knew each other, since Rav Mordechai attended the Yeshiva of Volozhin (1831-1836) which was supported by the Eliasberg families of Ivenets.
I have become an "Elias(h)bergs collector" and among other things, I have various records from the archives in Kovno and Riga, and have read the relevant chapters in the books by Neil Rosenstein as well as other books.
Do you have any new creative idea what else can I do in order to verify (or reject) the conjecture that these two branches are linked?
Thank you.

Your question is a variant on the many questions that say something like "We have always heard that we are related to....[fill in any famous name] what should I do?  The answer is always the same: Do your genealogy systematically, step by step, back one generation at a time. Be sure to include the names of all siblings, cousins etc. Eventually, if you are related, you will find the connection.

In addition, some people try to "short-cut" the process by doing the genealogy of the second, famous person. In your case, that would be the Ivenets rabbis.
The "danger" in collecting information about all Eliasbergs is that you might end up hopelessly confused. But if you want to continue to do that, consult the chapter on rabbinic research in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy, written by Chaim Freedman of Petah Tikva. It includes a huge, annotated bibliography. And if you want to consult Freedman personally, his e-mail address is chaimjan@zahav.net.il.  

Dear Eyal,

It is known that some individual Sephardim who lived in The Netherlands and
originally came from Spain, did migrate eastward. I have never heard of any
records of a "block" movement and doubt that such a thing exists. It is
exceedingly difficult to trace any family, let alone a Jewish family, as far
back as the 16th or 17th century, although a few people (usually from
rabbinic families) have done it.

The only thing I suggest is that you begin to trace your family backward in
time, systematically, generation by generation, and see what you discover.
Look at www.rtrfoundation.org  to see what archival records are listed for
Tarnow. (Records for the region would have been collected there I think).
Sign up to participate in the GaliciaSIG digest at www.jewishgen.org..
Follow the prompts on the home page to "special interest groups."
Also look at the JewishGen Family Finder and Family Tree of the Jewish
People. Check to see if anyone else is researching people named Hollander
from Tarnow. Go to www.avotaynu.com.  Read the five-minute getting started
segment. Join a genealogy society in Israel and benefit from "networking"
with others.

Sallyann

Dear Moti,

The next issue of AVOTAYNU will run a story by Margarita Lacko about how she
traced her Blau family from Abaujszanto, Hungary. It  includes a reference
to work down from a now-deceased colleague of mine here in Washington, D.C.
As far as I know, they have traced the Blau family as far back as the time
when the Austrian Emperor required Jews to take fixed last names (1787).  If
this is your family, then perhaps you would like to contact Margatia. Her
e-mail address is margarita@uzidog.com.  If this is NOT your family, perhaps
she will be able to give you some research tips.

I think that you may be a little confused about the regulations concerning
Jewish surnames. To the best of my knowlege, most Jews in the Austrian
Empire (of which Hungary was a part) did not have fixed, hereditary family
names prior to the law of 1787. At that time, they were required to choose
German names. Since most did not have fixed surnames, they were not
converting from anything.

My grandmother is descended from the Rosenzweig family, that came with the Hassidic Aliya to Safed in the beginning of the 19th century. Their estimated arrival in Eretz- Israel was revealed only lately, after verification of this data in the Montefiore censuses. It turns out that the father of the family was Zelig from Orhei or Orgeyen or Orhaiv, today in Moldova.
According to the censuses, the Rosenzwig family included the father of the family, his mother Cherna (estimated dob is 1770-1780), his wife Perl and his son Moshe-Yossef.
All efforts to locate this family via Internet databases did not succeed.

What are the options to reveal information about this family, taken the fact that they left their domicile in the Diaspora so long ago, and taken the fact that we do not know exactly were they lived. It is possible that they lived in a village close by to the district capital of  Orhaiv.

Can we expect documents and other certificates from this period, and where ?

Thank you,

Eli

Dear Eli,

I am not exactly certain what you are trying to do. You say that "all
efforts to locate this family via the Internet did not succeed." Are you
trying to find other Rosenzweigs who are related to your family? Or are you
seeking documents that predated your family's aliya?  Depending on which,
the strategy is different, of course.

Your family history is unusual in at least two ways. One is that your family
apparently had a surname (Rosenzweig) prior to aliya, but most Jews in  the
region did not assume fixed surnames that early.  Also, they apparently
lived in the region earlier than most. Although Jews lived in the region
(called Bessarabia then) or centuries, the majority arrived in the 19th
century, coming principally from the Russian Empire--Podolia and Kherson
guberniyas. Jewish genealogists researching Podolia and Kherson often will
find a branch in Bessarabia. This was an important area for trade; many Jews
came--passed through or stayed--and left records.

The chapter on Modolva in the Avotyanu Guide to Jewish Genealogy gives a
good overview. The author of this chapter, a professional (non-Jewish)
researcher with considerable experience in the area says that it is quite
possible to trace most families, but through town and other similar records
(as opposed to vital statistics records). He notes "Because most of the
available resources for Jewish genealogists have not been microfilmed by the
Mormons, the best results will be obtained by an onsite visit eiter by  the
genealogist (if he or she can read the language) or by a professional
researcher.

Some Jewish documents exist for the 19th century. They are listed in
www.rtrfoundation.org under the current official spelling of Orgeyen. The
Mormons have filmed many of these, but of course, no possibility exists in
Israel to see Mormon microfilms. One either needs to ask someone in Salt
Lake City to do it or perhaps fly to a city in Europe, such as London,
having ordered the films in advance. However, even if you were interested in
these microfilms, they are fragmentary and probably would not be sufficient.

If you want a recommendation for a professional researcher, please write to
me at sallyann.sack@verizon.net.

On the other hand, if your interest is in trying to find Rosenzweigs around
the world who might be related to you, look at the yizkor book for Orgeyen
(Yad Vashem has a copy), consult the Jewish Agency's Search Bureau for
Missing Relatives database at the Central Zionist Archives, look at the
JewishGen Family Finder (at www.jewishgen.org), to see who else is
researching relatives from this town, check Yad Vashem's online database for
Rosenzweigs and for all individuals from Orgeyen, post a message on the
JewishGen digest (at lyris@jewishgen.org ) and on the Ukrainian SIG (also
reached from the JewishGen home page.) While at the Yad Vashem library, look
at the entry for Orgeyen in Where Once We Walked, revised edition. A number
of references are given, some held at Yad Vashem.

Hello, Sallyann!

Do you know anyone who can automatically build a family tree from vital records (or anyone who researches this option)

This means, that the input is a set of records of people, along with their parents' names, dates of birth, etc., and the output is the most reasonable family tree of the set, based on probabilistic reasons.

10-x,
Arnon

Dear Arnon,

Look at the article that Randy Daitch wrote in the spring 2004 issue of AVOTAYNU entitled "A Day at the Center for Jewish History."  He's come the closest to doing that of anyone I know.

Randy has made aliya and is now living in Jerusalem. He's someone who you should invite to ask as an expert on your show. His e-mail is shtetls@hotmail.com.

Dear Tamar,

Indeed, the only way to do research in Moldova (where Rezina is now), is to
hire a professional researcher. I suggest that you write to
info@RootsinRussia.com and ask for Vlad. He wrote the chapter on Moldova in
the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy. If you can get a copy of the book,
you should read that as well.

Sallyann

I've check Where Once WE Walked and see that the Yad Vashem
archives has some testimony from Holocaust survivors who mention that place.
Originally the reference was to something called the Guide to the
Unpublished Materials at Yad Vashem, book 5. These little yellow books (I
have copies) no longer are used at Yad Vashem. I believe that the material
has been "integrated" in some other way, but if she goes there and gives
that reference, it might help the librarians find the material.

Marakesh Jewry and the Atlas mountains
=============================

Where can I find material about the Tsadik Baba Yehuda and Reuven Wizman, who is buried in south Morrocco in the Atlas mountains ?

Can you direct me to people researching or lookin for the Wizman family of Morrocco ?

For information on Moroccan genealogy I suggest that you  contact Mathilde
Tagger in Jerusalem. Her e-mail is tagger@actcom.net.il

Dear Dr. Amdur-Sack,

For several years I'm trying to find the origins of the attached coat of arms (or family crest or ex-libris). The coat of arms is attached to a book cover from the 16th century. The book is one of the last remanats of my Graet Great Grandfather-Rabbi Dr. Hosea Jacobi's (who was chief Rabbi in Croatia) library.

Please be so kind as to let me know whether you are aware of a researcher who deals with Jewish coats of arms or family crests.

Many Thanks,
Ohad

What is the origin of the Holdenberg family (there are a few families from Kimolung Moldovni, a shtetl in Bukovina, Romania.
From what is told in the family, the family's origin is from Holland ? Is that correct ? Are there any records concerning his family ?

Thanking you,

H.

Although Alexander Beider, the leading expert on Jewish family names, has
not written anything about names from this region, he perhaps can tell you
something. His e-mail address is abeider@yahoo.fr.

The only listing for your name in Avotaynu's Consolidated Jewish Surname
Index (at the Avotaynu website www.avotaynu.com) is for a record in Jewish
Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland).  Perhaps you should obtain that record
and see if it gives you any clues. JRI-Poland can be accessed from the
JewishGen website.

Dear Ohad,

I'm very sorry but I don't know anything about this. Given that, I wonder if
you have consulted the Jewish National and University Library for the name
of an expert on Jewish coats of arms? And what about the Hebraic Section of
the U.S. Library of Congress. The person to consult there is Dr. Peggy
Perlman. Her e-mail is ppea@loc.gov.

Sallyann

Shalom,

Where can I find records over Jews from Osmolda, or today Osmoloda in the
Carpathians it the Ukraine ?
In JRI-Poland there are only two records from there, both not our family.
One is from Zloczow and the other is from the Passports registry in the
institute for Jewish History.
Where can I find materila on Jewish lifr in Osmolda ?
Friends directed my to Yizkor book on Carpatho-Ruthenia but I could find a
specific reference to this town.
Where can I find ot if anything survived there (like tombstones) ?
Thank you very much.

Unfortunately, this is a region from which it is extremely difficult to find
any records. Apparently the Jewish population was extremely small because I
do not find it listed in either Where Once We Walked or Miriam Weiner's book
on archival resources in Ukraine. Can you tell me the nearest largest city?
And was this town in Ukraine before World War I? What sovereign rules there
during the interward period? That might make the difference.

Have you looked at www.rtrfoundation.org for any listings? What about
JewishGen's Family Finder? Is anyone seeking family from there?

If Osmolda was once part of Hungary, register your question on the Hungarian
SIG which you can access from JewishGen.

Dear Sallyann,
Thank you for your response.
As far as I know Osmoloda WAS once part of Hungary. However, I know that the family classified themselves as Polish Jews.
The JewishGen's Family Finder did not allow to write the name Osmoloda thus I could not find any inquiries.
Thank you,

Hi  Sally-ann,

We are  looking for  our Fraenkel ancestors in the region of  Kolomyya, Galicia (Incl.: Zablotow, Viznitz etc.). We found all the Info needed about  2 other Gr-parents, until 1770 (approx.). But,
now we have a problem to look for more information about the ancestors and family of  our Gr-Grand-Father Wolf Fraenkel, Born around 1830.
Because:

A - We found 4 different Wolf Fraenkel  in JRI registrations at the same period of time, in Kolomyya only.

B – The names of his descendents are "simple" names and repeat themselves in other branches of the family, not on the Fraenkel side. So, we cannot be sure if he named his parents.

We bought some relevant registrations from JRI;
Our relatives in the US looked for Info in Salt-Lake City;
We tried together to contact different Frankel researchers from all over the world - no results;
And we learned about the Frankel branch who went to Austria and Galicia, but cannot find if and how we are related.

We feel like we met a wall and cannot continue with this important side of the family. Where can we look for more Info ?  

Thanks for your time.

At this point I would hire a researcher who lives in the area and who can go
into the L'viv archives and look at such things as land records, tax records
and other municipal records that are not indexed by JRI-Poland nor
microfilmed by the Mormons. My recommendation is that you hire Alexander
Dunai, a non-Jewish researcher who speaks excellent English (probably not
Hebrew though) and has worked for many Jewish genealogists--all of whom give
him the highest recommendation.

And I am here. And thank you Arnon.

Sallyann

Dear Omri,

According to Dr. Alexander Beider, author of A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames
from the Kingdom of Poland, the Jewish name Pankiewicz (common in Zamosc,
Lublin, Nowo-Minsk and Skierniewice) comes from the village of Pankow. Both
Tomaszow district and Tarnopol district had villages with this name at about
the time that Polish Jews were required to adopt fixed last names.
Alternatively, Beider says, it may also have come from the village of Panki
in Czestchowa district).  What this likely means is that the ancestor who
adopted this name probably came from one of those villages.

For a detailed explanation of how Beider termines the etymology of Jewish
surnames, see his detailed article which will appear in the next issue of
AVOTAYNU, the International Review of Jewish Genealogy

It sounds as if you are just beginning your genealogical research. There is
so much to say that I can't say it all in this forum. Instead, I suggest
that you join a Jewish genealogical society near where you live. You can
find them listed at www.JewishGen.org. On the home page look for "Hosted
societies" and follow the IAJGS prompts until you see societies in Israel.

Also go to www.avotaynu.com  On this home page read the five minute getting
started section.

I just edited a huge book entitled Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy
exactly for those people who are just getting started (and also for those
who have been tracing for a while.) If you are comfortable reading English,
I suggest that you get the book and do everything it recommends.

Finally, you might want to contact Dr. Chanan Rapaport who lives in
Jerusalem. Dr. Rapaport is the head of the Rapaport Family Foundation and
perhaps could give some advice.

Dear Rina,

Castro (or Kastro in Turkey) is well known as a Sephardic surname. The book What's Behind a Name about Jewish names in Turkey by Baruh Pinto lists Kastro families from Salonika and Cairo in addition to Istanbul.

Yes, it is possible trace Jewish families from Bulgaria. Mathilde Tagger who lives in Jerusalem wrote the chapter on Bulgaria in the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genelaogy. Get in touch with her. She is also your link to the Sephardic Special Interest Group where you may learn more about the name Castro. Mathilde's e-mail is Tagger@actcom.co.il.  

P.S. For more about the name Castro, see Dicionario Sefaradi de Sobrenomes (
Dictionary of Sephardic Surnames) by Guilherme Faiguenboim et. al, published in Rio de Janeiro in 2003.

Dear cousin Sallyann,

We were delighted to have you as our guest.
Thank you so much for your wonderful and enlighting advice. We have all learned from your esponses.

I know how much effort and time you have put into it, and I wish to thank you on behalf of all the members of the Tapuz Family Roots Forum.

Yours,

Rony