Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998
COORDINATORS CORNER Topic Page Membership in Gesher Galicia continues to grow as Gesher Galicia’s Projects Database- First Entries...... 2 Galitzianers everywhere reach out to discover and research their family’s roots in Galicia. Positive comments about our Jewish Vital Statistics Records in the Lviv Archive...... 4 SIG from family and friends and the JewishGen website My Experience with Alexander Dunai as provide a stream of inquiries about Gesher Galicia. Guide and Researcher by Susannah Juni ...... 5 Thanks to Peter Zavon's innovative format for our fall renewal Contacting Alexander Dunai ...... 5 letter, we were able to update members contact and research information for the 1998 Finder. Sheiala Moskow took on the Stanislawow Chapter is First Online added responsibility of receiving the renewals, deftly Translation for Yizkor Book SIG ...... 6 processed over 500 checks, and provided lists to Shelley and 18th Seminar on Jewish Genealogy - July 1998 ...... 6 Peter. Thank you! Research Chair Asks About Many of you have written to thank members of the Steering Your Current Projects ...... 7 Committee for their time and energy expended on behalf of the SIG and we, in turn, express our thanks to all who have Editor’s Message ...... 7 been supportive of our efforts as volunteers for Gesher My Trip to Poland by Lynn Wruble ...... 8 Galicia. Volunteers! Lets keep in mind that all who participate REIPP Changes Name to in the SIG are volunteers--unpaid, with no office or staff, most Jewish Records Indexing-Poland ...... 10 having full-time professional careers, and living geographically apart. At times, life gets in the way and some Trip Report on Niebylec and Konieczkowa ...... 10 of us do not respond to your requests or meet deadlines as Proposing a Przemysl Networking Group ...... 11 promptly as we would wish. We sincerely appreciate your understanding (and your patience) of our roles as dedicated Oswiecim Cemetery Inventoried...... 13 volunteers, serving Gesher Galicia in our spare time. With this Ulanow Cemetery Project...... 13 in mind, we call upon you to help us as we seek ways to expand the role of the SIG to further the interests of our Finding Your Cousins with the members. We need and encourage your feedback, your Gesher Galicia Family Finder...... 14 involvement, and your participation in many aspects of the Why My Family Finder Entry is not Precisely SIG. Write to us, let us know how you feel about what we’re as I Submitted It by Peter Zavon ...... 14 doing, what you think is important, how you can participate. Steering Committee...... 16 Contact Shelley if you would like to help but need more information on how we can best use your talents (research, indexing, administrative, secretarial, writing, editing, graphics). There are short term jobs that need to be done from time to time. IN MEMORIAM We plan to attend the AJGS Summer Seminar in L.A. In Joan Sanders of New Rochelle, NY addition to Suzan Wynne's session on Galicia, we plan a SIG Joan was a charter member of Gesher Galicia. meeting. Let Shelley know what you would like to see on the We send our condolences to Joan’s husband, agenda and/or what type of meeting would best meet your Gerry Sanders. needs. Remember to get your information for the L.A. Seminar as soon as possible! Happy winter! Think snow! (Yes, I teach high school. ) TABLE OF CONTENTS THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 GESHER GALICIA’S PROJECTS DATABASE- First Entries The following are the first entries in our database of projects that have been completed by our members. We hope that many more members will report their projects (and important material that they have obtained) and join the first five members who responded to the request printed in the Fall 1997 Galitzianer.
TOWN PROJECT - SUBJECT MEMBER HOW TO ACCESS
GORODENKA WEB PAGE Gorodenka, Lists from the Yizkor Book: Mark Heckman * http://shangrila.cs.ucdavis.edu:1234/ (Horodenka) 1. Holocaust Martyrs Davis, CA heckman/gorodenka Ukraine 2. Jewish Taxpayers, 1789-1791* Member Number OR FROM: 628 JewishGen ShtetLinks page GRAVESTONES INDEXED* 1. Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY Ada Greenblatt * The individual burials can not be Belyy Kamen, Independent Bialykaminer KUV New York, NY accessed now. Ada Greenblatt has (Bialy Kamien) 337 burials submitted all her information to the Ukraine 2. Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens NY Member number Association of Jewish Genealogical First Bialykaminer Aid Assoc. 137 Societies’ (AJGS) “Cemetery Project”. 152 burials 3. New Montefiore Cem., Pinelawn, LI, NY, Independent Bialykaminer KUV 71 burials 4. Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY First Bialykaminer Aid Society 249 burials 1. Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY The Cemetery Project will produce a CD SoloWina, First Solotwiner Sick & Benevolent Ada Greenblatt ROM with more than 350,000 indexed (Solotwina) Assoc. 666 burials individual burials . The CD ROM, which Ukraine 2. Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens, NY will include Ada’s data, will be available First Solotwiner Sick & Benevolent at the July Seminar in Los Angeles.* Association 322 burials 1. Baron Hirsch Cemetery, Staten Is., NY Nadvornaya, - First Nadworner Sick/Benev. Assoc. Ada Greenblatt Ukraine - Nodworner Young Men’s Benev. Assoc. Total 4 plots; 617 burials Stanislawow 1. Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Queens, NY (Ivano-Frankovsk), - Erste Stanislauer Lodge 92-298 burials Ada Greenblatt For more information on the “Cemetery Ukraine - 1st Knihinin Stanislauer - 2 plots Project”: - Stanislauer Progressive Benev. -1 plot 2. Baron Hirsch Cemetery, Staten Is, NY JewishGen Web page , or: Ind.Stanislauer Ldge.459-259 burials http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery 3. Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens, NY -1st Stanislauer YM Benev. 1 plot -First Stanislauer Frauen 1 plot 4. United Hebrew Cem., Staten Is., NY *See notes at the end of this table - 1st. Knihinin Stanislauer 1 plot - 1st Stanislauer Lodge 92 1 plot - Indep. Stanislauer Ldge.459 1 plot - Indep. Stanislauer Frauen 1 plot 5. Beth David Cem., Elmont, Long Is., NY - Indep. Stanislauer Ldge.459 1 plot -1st Stanislauer YM Benev. Ascn.1plot -Stanislauer Progress. Benev. 1 plot 6. New Montefiore Cem., Pinelawn, LI, NY -Stanislauer Progress. Benev. 1 plot 7. Mt. Judah Cemetery, Queens, NY -Stanislauer Ladies VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS, 1867 Buchach, Ukraine “several hundred names, listing addresses as Jim Ostrof Jim wrote, “I would be happy to search well. Most names are Jewish.” Arlington, VA for ancestors’ names for GG members, or Note: Obtained from Archives of the History Member #153 lend out the microfilms.” Some barely of the decipherable. - 2 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER
TOWN PROJECT - SUBJECT MEMBER HOW TO ACCESS
Jewish People, Jerusalem Pomortsy, VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS, 1870. (Yazlivitz) “Several score names and addresses Ukraine From Archives of the History of the Jewish People. GRAVESITES INDEXED Phyllis Kramer* Online Rogatin (Rohatyn), 2,500 burials:Mt. Hebron, Mt. Zion, Old Wilton, CT 1.
*Notes on the Projects Database:
1. Gorodenka. Mark Heckman writes, “Norman Berman 3. Rogatin (Rohatyn). Phyllis Kramer writes, “The and I are working on a web page for the town of Rohatyn Landsmanshaft in Israel, the Association of Gorodenka and the villages in the surrounding area, Rohatyn Jewry, has 200 active members, and is including Goloby). Our latest project for the page is to working with the Mayor of Rogatin to place a locate and index all the burial plots for the different monument in the town and clean up and fence in the Horodenker landsmanshaften. We’d appreciate old and “new” cemetery sites and the two areas of mass whatever help we can get from others who are graves (from the Aktions of 1942). If you are researching their ancestors from Gorodenka.” interested, checks can be sent to the Rohatyn Mark Heckman: [email protected]. For postal Landsmanshaft, c/o Fishel Kirshen, 34 Yonathan Street, mail address, see member number 628. Zahala, Tel Aviv 69081, Israel.”
2. Belyy Kamen, Solotwin, Nadvornaya, Stanislawow. Ada Greenblatt writes, “I have personally collected all the data myself directly from the tombstones, and it amounts to close to 3,000 burials to date. The information includes the Hebrew name in all cases where it was on the tombstone. Furthermore, for those who died prior to 1949 and are listed in the New York City death index, I have provided the additional information that was gleaned from their death certificate that is not found on the tombstone.”
- 3 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998
JEWISH VITAL STATISTIC RECORDS Mosty Wielkie B: 1813 1861. D: 1813-1876 IN THE LVIV ARCHIVES Nawaria B: 1877, 1879-1882, 1896-1899. D: 1879-1902, 1906, 1907 Nat Abramowitz, GG member from Westmont, NJ, Nadworna B: 1850-1865 received this latest list of Jewish vital records in the Lviv Narajew B: 1839-1869, 1878, 1883, 1884-1885 Archives from Alexander Dunai. Mr. Dunai has been 1894, 1897-1898, conducting research for many Gesher Galicia members. B 1900-1902, 1905, 1911 Information on contacting and hiring Mr. Dunai is shown B, M, D: 1925-1936. at the end of this list. Also, see Susannah Juni’s article D: 1890, 1891, 1895, 1897-1898, praising Mr. Dunai’s work following this list. 1900-1902, 1906-1907 M, D: 1913, 1920-1924 B-births, M-marriages, D-deaths, S-school documents. Oczy Wielkie (Wielkie Oczy). B, D: 1791-1853 The names of the towns are written in Polish transcription: Okopy D: 1823-1876 Olesko B: 1852-1876 Bolechow B:1844-1856,1856-1876. Podhajce B: 1854-1881, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889. D:1811-1846, 1860-1876 D: 1878-1880, 1882-1884, 1892-1897 Brody B.M.D.:1815-1819 B.M. 1819-1871 Podwoloczyska B: 1900; index 1877-1939. B. 1831-1861, 1935 D.1819-1861 D: 1896-1920, 1923-1939, 1942 Borszczew D. 1872-1876 Probuzna D: 1817-1876 Brzezany B. 1846-1864, M.1825-1874. Radziechow B: 1832-1860. S: 1925-1935 D. 1820-1870 Rohatyn S: 1923-1939 Budzanow D. 1825-1866, M.1881-1908, 1910-1939 Rozdol B: 1832-1868 Bukachowce B: 1840-1865, S:1925-1935 Rudki B: 1850-1862. D: 1850-1866 Chernelica S: 1919-1936 Rzeszow B: 1841-1866 Czortkow B, M, D: 1874-1876, M:1925 Sambor B: 1829, 1833-1851. M: 1859-1876. S: 1894; 1913 D: 1835-1852. Drohobych B: 1816-1833, 1852-1869. Skalat D: 1827-1845. B: 1897 D: 1816-1835, S: 1925-1935 Sokal B: 1831-1858 Grodek B: 1847-1869 Stanislawow B: 1816-1845. M: 1782-1871. Grzymalow M:1890-1940 D: 1845-1863. S: 1925-1935 Horodenka B: 1851-1867 Stare Miasto D: 1856-1876 Husiatyn D: 1816-1876. S:1925-1933 Stryi B: 1846-1858. M: 1827-1876. Jagielnica B: 1817-1859. D: 1817-1861 D: 1827-1876 Jezierna B: 1876-1942. Strusow B: 1837-1870. M: 1853-1870. Jezierzany B: 1826-1876. M: 1849-1876. D: 1837-1870 D: 1816-1876. Suhostaw B: 1814-1876. M: 1814-1875. Kamien Bialy (Bialykamien) D: 1823-1869. D: 1814-1876 Kamionka Strumilowa M: 1789-1861 Tartakow B: 1815-1858 Kolomyia B: 1865 Tarnopol Census of the Jewish people 1880-1940 partly Kopychynce S: 1934-1939 B, M, D: 1816-1834. Kossow B: 1842-1868. M: 1852-1876 B: 1852-1865; 1900. D: 1845-1942 Kozlow M: 1877-1939 M: 1853-1858; 1923; 1931-1942. Krzywca M: 1851-1875 Tyczyn D: 1792-1876 Krystynopol M: 1933. S: 1868-1910; 1921-1936. Turka B: 1930 Kudrynce D: 1854-1876 Witkow Nowy B: 1829-1860. Lubych M: 1880-1931 Zbaraz B: 1816-1876. D: 1805-1858; 1894-1942. Lviv B, D: 1805-1808, S: 1925-1933. B: 1808-1816, 1823-1868, 1894, 1896. Zborow B: 1838-1864. D: 1819-1849. M: 1801-1866. D: 1808-1880; 1891. Zlochow B: 1825-1894. D: 1819-1876. List of the electors 1936 Zolkiew D: 1855-1870 List of tax payers of the Jewish Community 1938 Various towns Lists of the Jews who have changed their faith: Lviv suburbs 1914-1935. Individual requests for specific towns could be researched. Winniki B:1857; 1922-1926 Zimna Woda B: 1854 Zniesienie B: 1858-1859, 1862, 1867, 1868-1869. Kozielniki B: 1859 Mielnica D: 1820-1851. M: 1858-1876 Mikulince B: 1860 , 1901. M: 1900, 1932, 1934-1936 D: 1885, 1887-1890, 1893-1894 D 1896-1899, 1929. Register of surname changes 1905-1922 Mosciska B: 1827-1882. D: 1827-1885
- 4 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER
MY EXPERIENCE WITH ALEXANDER DUNAI AS inquiry until the time that I actually got my documents. I felt it GUIDE AND RESEARCHER was worth waiting for. Dunai Highly Praised Ed Note: Susannah adds this note: (With thanks to Nat Abramowitz!) If Mr. Dunai does not answer an email in a week or so, he By GG Member Susannah Juni, New York, NY asks that you please just re-send it, as there are occasional I’m writing to publicly thank Nat Abramowitz, whom I’ve difficulties with phone lines in Ukraine. never met, for introducing all of us to Alexander Dunai, the researcher in Lviv, Ukraine. I have hired him to do extensive CONTACTING ALEXANDER DUNAI research over the past year, and I’ve been delighted with the Nat Abramowitz , GG member from Westmont, NJ, who results. I also engaged him to be my private translator, driver, made the original arrangements with Mr. Dunai, says: and guide during my September, 1997 tour of my ancestral towns in SW Ukraine. I found Mr. Dunai to be scrupulously “The following should be used in contacting Mr. Dunai, and honest, professional and diligent in every regard. After supersedes all previous published data on utilizing his services. Again, I wish to emphasize that you will deal directly with Mr. traveling with him exclusively for two weeks, I must add that Dunai in ALL regards. This data is correct to the best of my he is a very pleasant and cordial person. I felt completely safe knowledge and is being offered as an avenue of genealogical at all times, and I couldn’t possibly imagine that anyone could research. I expect no remuneration from anyone and take no have been more accommodating of my requests. responsibility for any transaction.” Dunai Opened Doors Alexander Dunai O.Stepanivny Street 17/2 Whenever I mentioned something I wanted to do, Mr. Dunai Lviv 290016, Ukraine promptly and carefully arranged every detail to make it happen. His humble nature and articulate verbal skills literally NOTE: THE MAIL IS NOT RELIABLE; SUGGEST YOU USE opened many doors, as he gained permission for us to enter HIS E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR REQUESTS & QUESTIONS. and photograph the interiors of a number of my ancestral The following are two new E-mail addresses: homes. He even arranged for me to have four hours in a [email protected] private office at the local historical museum in Ivano- [email protected] Frankivsk where I was given permission to make Phone: ( U.S. international code 011) 38 -0322-337 769 photographic copies of their entire collection of 80 antique NOTE: Call only week days between 7:00 PM & Midnight postcards of the town. At every opportunity, he read aloud Ukraine time. There is a 7 hour difference from the Eastern U.S. from his own research notes about the Jewish community of (Call between 12:00 noon & 5:00 PM astern Standard Time.) the town that he had prepared in advance for me. I tape Cost: Twelve U.S. dollars for each record. It includes all recorded as much as possible, and my mother is now research, a copy of the original record and translation from transcribing these notes. Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, or German. RETURN POSTAGE is He functioned as my local travel agent, arranged for hotel extra and shipments are usually sent via Air Express. accommodations, and even checked out where I could connect Method of Payment: (Checks in any form are NOT acceptable.) to email on my trip, in case I'd decided to try to send daily Western Union seems to be most convenient and reliable. The reports via laptop to my family. He went out of his way to money is paid in U.S. dollars within one or two days. The sender visit hotels in advance in neighborhoods of specific interest to should state to the Western Union representative that it is to be me, and even spoke to guests of the hotels to find out about sent to the Lviv Western Union branch. Call 1-800-325-6000 for cleanliness and safety before making any reservations. the Western Union branch nearest you. Manner of Presenting Research Another method is a bank transfer of payment. It should be sent to the State Export-Import Bank of Lviv, Ukraine. The money Initially, I'd hired Mr. Dunai for a small research project to must be transferred to Account # 07103 in the name of evaluate his work. He provided a complete photocopy along Alexander Dunai, whose passport number is KA 124254 and with a detailed typed translation for each document (thanks this address: Mechnikova Str 5/7, Lviv, Ukraine. In this case again to Nat, for training him so well). The typed translations Mr. Dunai receives the money in three or four days. were laid out on the page consistently with the original REQUESTING A SEARCH: Give as much information as document for clarity. He followed up with additional possible: name being searched, town, etc. Pay promptly. It will translation notes regarding any areas that he felt were at all make it easier for all of us. ambiguous, and consistently took care to look for alternative name spellings (but only charging for the documents that I wanted, unless I'd asked in advance for all documents regarding a particular surname.) .Since he only charges for documents located, and not for time spent in futile searches, I feel there is incentive for very complete results. If you're lucky (like me) and he finds many documents of interest, you could still spend a lot of money, but you may save over an hourly rate in other situations. The main point is that his rates are reasonable and fair. When I hired him for research, it did take about three or four months from the time of my initial - 5 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998
CHAPTER ON STANISLAWOW IS FIRST ONLINE LATE NEWS- Portions of the Dembitz (Debica) Yizkor TRANSLATION FOR YIZKOR BOOK SIG Book now on the Yizkor Book Translation Project page The translation of an overview, including the introduction, Stanislawow, (now Ivano-Frankivsk), is the subject of the section headings, photo captions and name lists came first online translation project by JewishGen’s Yizkor online in December. Book SIG. The translation is of the chapter on Stanislawow
- 6 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER
LET YOUR FRIENDS AND FELLOW Editor’s Message GALITZIANERS KNOW WHAT YOUR CURRENT RESEARCH IS ABOUT! This issue inaugurates Gesher Galicia’s Projects Database, a registry of projects completed by our members, as well as by Doug Slotnick, Research Chair material gathered by our members. (See page 2.) Thanks I would like to be able to share with you, our membership, go to Ada Greenblatt for sending her project of impressive extensive information on what many of you are working commitment-- walking through cemeteries and recording on. I made an appeal last time for you to share; I know thousands of individual gravesites; to Mark Heckman, for time demands on many of us are heavy, but I still would be his lists on the still evolving Gorodenka web page; to very happy to hear from you; I know that we are involved Phyllis Kramer, who also walked through cemeteries to in many different kinds of research. One of the great pluses record thousands of gravestones; another extraordinary of having a newsletter such as this one is that we can project, to Jim Ostroff for listing some unusual material he discover paths toward further research that we perhaps obtained; and to Michael Bohnen for his Rogatin web site. knew nothing about. Too often we think we are engaged privately in what we do re Galicia and ultimately, I think, The 1998 edition of the Gesher Galicia Family Finder what we learn can be invaluable to others. This has proven accompanies this issue of the Galitzianer newsletter, a big true for me on a number of occasions. And if you are just event in the life of our SIG--an up to the moment listing of starting out, it would no doubt be advantageous to hear our 600 + members, including more than 100 members about how others started. Let me know at who joined Gesher Galicia this past year. Two articles in this newsletter offer detailed information on using the [email protected], Family Finder effectively in searching for your cousins. or at Keep this Family Finder where you can refer to it during Rabbi Doug Slotnick, the next year. Updates listing new SIG members, and the 8933 Lombard Pl, #229, surnames and towns they are researching, will be printed in San Diego, CA 92122 the next three newsletters. Bravo to Peter Zavon for a What have we been involved with recently re research? We beautifully produced Family Finder. had made an initiative to be active in translation of yizkor books for towns and shtetlakh in Galitzia. We found out that Those who attend the Annual Seminar on Jewish there is a SIG active in this activity of translation, and so we Genealogy from July 12-17 will have the opportunity to have decided to cooperate with them, instead of duplicating meet many of the members of Gesher Galicia. (See effort. What many of us feel, however, is that it might simply Seminar, Page 6) (See also Shelley Kellerman Pollero’s be useful to find out what books exist for the geographical message, Page 1 about the Gesher Galicia meeting during area of Galitzia; some certainly would be more desired than the Seminar week.) others, given the population of the particular town or shtetl. I am at work at providing this information for you; let me know An exciting feature of meeting fellow researchers is the if there are particular yizkor books (i.e., locations) that you sharing of information and material. Come prepared! would like to see information about. Let’s all decide to prepare at least one project to bring to Shelley Kellerman Pollero, GG Coordinator, has made me the Los Angeles seminar to share with our fellow aware that it might be useful to all of us, but especially those Galitzianers. Start now to index those records you of us who don't have access to the internet, to know about new obtained, or to translate some material or to compile a and relevant subjects and sites that bear directly on our photo exhibit. You may not finish, but even partially research. So I have started collecting this information to completed projects are valuable provide for you. No doubt I will learn a few things along the way, too! We are hoping to see more communication from our It's also been suggested that it would be useful for me to serve members, so if you can respond to one or more of the as active link with the many agencies, libraries, societies, that requests made in this issue, we will be delighted. And we are most often made use of by our membership. It would be of will look for your comments. use, I think, to occasionally prod these groups to find out if -- Marian Rubin there are new developments. I am currently contacting these groups to serve as your liaison. Let me know about your successes and we will share!
- 7 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 MY TRIP TO POLAND On to Kasna Dolna, Bobowa & Rymanow From Tarnow, we continued to Kasna Dolna; then By GG Member Lynn Wruble, Miami, FL. Bobowa, which was once a Hadsidic center. We visited the synagogue and cemetery, both of which were in fairly Planning a trip to Poland for many months, my husband good shape. The cemetery, located on the top of a hill, has and I had wanted to go to Sokolovka, Ukraine, about 30 a memorial to the Jews who were buried there in mass miles from Lviv, to visit my mother’s hometown. After graves. phone calls to a few people who reported problems in their travel to Ukraine, I decided I would visit my husband’s We then drove to Rymanow, where the Jews settled in the father’s hometown as I had already put in about 3 years of 15th century. The synagogue has grass growing out of the research on his family. top, and my husband was situated in such a way that he was able to photograph the inside, which had inscriptions Finding an experienced guide in Poland, my primary goal, and frescoes. A lion, a tiger and a scene of its wailing wall was no easy task. Finally, after multiple telephone calls, have survived despite exposure to the elements and a faxes and e-mails, I chose Krzysztof Malczewski (Chris): nearly collapsed roof. If there is one synagogue that 29 Styrska Str. Apt,1, should stand as a memorial to the Holocaust, it is this one 04-188 Warsaw, Poland, on a hilltop at the edge of town in the southeastern corner tel-fax. 610 34-45. of Poland. We also visited the cemetery in Rymanow, e-mail [email protected] which was overgrown with grass and weeds. Chris and I formulated our itinerary, and he made overnight reservations in the towns that we planned to visit. After Chris met us at our hotel in Warsaw, our Polish adventure began. We traveled in his 1987 Camry through the beautiful Polish countryside. The first town we visited on the trip south to Galicia was Kielce, halfway between Warsaw and Krakow and site of the infamous 1946 pogrom that killed 42 Holocaust survivors. Our Visit in Tarnow (75 km. E of Krakow)
We then proceeded to Tarnow, Poland. My husband’s cousin, who now resides in Israel, was born there and lived there with his parents, Isaac and Golda Wrobel, and two The Synagogue at Rymanow sisters. I called him to help us plan our trip, and he advised My husband’s family’s town: Wis³ok Wielki me where to go and how long to stay in various towns. We Next on our agenda was my husband’s hometown of went through the entire town of Tarnow according to his Wis³ok Wielki where, before the war, there were about instructions, finally arriving in front of his apartment 1,200 families, with only 70 remaining today. Our guide, building, whose courtyard was where the Germans had Chris, started knocking on doors, questioning people who murdered his parents and one sister. Fortunately, he and his other sister were out of the country at the time, being educated, and thus survived the Holocaust. Adjacent to his home was a building that was originally a mikveh, but because the Germans used it as a bathhouse, the building stayed intact and today is a department store. We went to the cemetery, now registered as a historical site, where 20,000 Jews were buried in a mass grave, marked by a monument dedicated to those who perished. My husband’s cousin wrote the inscription on the monument commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. The gates of this Tarnow cemetery were flown to Washington, D.C. by order of Lech Walesa and are now in the Holocaust Museum. We saw the new gates that had replaced the old ones. We went to see the remains of the Tarnow synagogue, the four pillars of the bimah, which became a The Author’s husband at sign for ancestral village monument to Tarnow Jewry. When the Pope came to visit might have heard of the family name of Wruble. A 76 year Tarnow, Lech Walesa had a roof put over the 4 pillars to old lady said that she had heard of the name Wruble but preserve it. did not know any of them personally. She said that one - 8 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER
Jewish person, Moshe Gruber, still lived there, but she did which stands today as a museum. From there, we traveled not know him. She came with us to the home of an 86 year to Sandomierz, (north of the former province of Galicia) a old woman, but she had never heard of the name Wruble. quaint picturesque town located in the Polish hills. We We ended our trip to Wis³ok Wielki with a visit to two went on to Majdanek Concentration Camp, located on the people who lived in a 100 year old house. They were very outskirts of Lublin. It is shocking to see the proximity of proud of their new floor, which had replaced their dirt the camp to Lublin. floor. This house was right out of “Fiddler On The Roof” Back in Galicia--Krakow [stage show & film based on Sholom Aleichem’s “Tevye Krakow was next on our agenda. Once the capital of the Dairyman” stories] with the chickens, horses and barn Poland, and the only major city in Poland to come through attached to the house. We finally left, a little disappointed World War II unscathed, Krakow on the eve of World as it would have been nice to have found someone who War II had a population of 300,000, 56,000 of whom were knew of the Wruble family and could have shown us where Jewish. Today Krakow boasts a population of 700,000. they had lived. Although 6,000 Krakow Jews who survived the war; today, We then proceeded to Bukowsko, where my husband’s only 200 remain. Since the demise of Communism in grandmother, Zlata Bender, was born. Our next stop was 1989, some of the buildings in the Jewish quarter have Sanok, where we found a local woman, who was kind been rebuilt. We visited the Remuh Synagogue during a enough to take us to the Jewish cemetery and told us that Jewish holiday and saw 10-15 men praying. The other she had had some Jewish friends. With tears in her eyes, functioning synagogue is the Temple Synagogue. There she said that she could remember when they were being are 8-10 synagogues in the Jewish quarter which are now taken away. Of course, she never saw her friends again. museums. A new Jewish Cultural Center was opened in November 1993. Adjacent to the Remuh Synagogue is a Przemysl: meeting a Holocaust Survivor cemetery dating from the early 1500s, which suffered some Our itinerary now took us to Przemysl, Poland. I had destruction by the Germans. After the war, excavation was wanted to visit this town as the name seemed to appear started, and approximately 700 tombstones were unearthed, every time I read a book on Poland. Located on the Polish- some dating back to the 16th century. These tombstones, Ukranian border, this is the ancestral home of Arthur as well as others that were brought from other cemeteries, Kurzweil and Alan Dershowitz. We arose very early the were used to form a wall around the Remuh Synagogue. next morning to tour Przemysl because at 9:00 a.m. it Steven Spielberg filmed “Schindler’s List” in and around becomes a pedestrian town. After touring the town by car, Krakow. we went to the cemetery where, surprisingly, most of the headstones were in good shape. From Krakow we continued to Auschwitz concentration camp, about 40 miles from Krakow. At the entrance to the The first Jews arrived in Przemysl in the 12th century, and camp were the words ARBEIT MACHT FREI (Work will before World War II, 12,000 Jews lived there. Most of set you free) a chilling reminder of the atrocities that these Jews were sent to either Belzec or Auschwitz. occurred there. Auschwitz was a total shock as it looked Today, only 4 Jews remain. Chris took us to meet Rose like a college campus. Two-story brick buildings were Felner, a survivor of the Holocaust, and she invited us up surrounded by gorgeous trees, which had been planted by to her apartment for tea. During the war, she was hidden in the inmates and it had beautiful shrubbery and grass. an attic with her husband and another family’s small child, Birkenau, a few miles from Auschwitz, had long wooden and she took us to see this building which is still standing. barracks, watch towers, and the well known train tracks Rose’s parents and sister were killed in a concentration which led to the extermination camp. Before the war, camp. After the war, Rose and her husband stayed in Auschwitz was a small town, but it did have a Jewish Przemysl, where he practiced as a CPA. The small child, synagogue and Jewish cemetery. whose parents were killed, survived and now resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rose said she received the small The last Polish town that we visited was Zakopane, a amount of $300.00 as reparation from the German beautiful mountain resort, which was a sharp contrast to government. Before we left, I asked Rose why she never the death camps we had just visited. We continued our trip left Poland after the war. She said that she did not have by visiting Budapest, Prague and Vienna. any relatives in the United States, so they chose to remain there. When it was time to leave, she became quite emotional , as did we. We have continued to correspond since returning home. £ancut, Sandomierz, Majdanek We next traveled northwest to £ancut (pronounced Wine- Soot) a beautiful little town of about 15,000 people. The Jews settled there in the 16th century, and in 1939 there were about 2,700 Jews living there, which was about 50% of the population. We saw the synagogue, built in 1761,
- 9 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 REIPP CHANGES NAME TO The Niebylec market square is now a small park-like area JEWISH RECORDS INDEXING - POLAND with grass and trees covering most of the sloped grounds. The original waterwell and pump are still present in the The Board of the Russian Era Indexing Project - Poland square, directly across from the synagogue. In the old days, (REIPP) has announced that it will now be called Jewish the market day was Monday; on the Friday we were there, Records Indexing - Poland, [JRI (Poland)]. a swap meet of sorts was being held in the square and on the bordering streets. According to the Board, the new name reflects the true nature of the project and emphasizes the broadened We were fortunate to meet a couple of gentlemen who mandate of Jewish Records Indexing (Poland) to include remembered the Jews of Niebylec and Konieczkowa, and indices of all Jewish vital records of Poland, whether in could indeed point out the occupation and home of many Polish, Russian, German or Latin. Most indices that are of the former Jewish residents. We could see that many of already in the JRI database are of LDS (Mormon) the houses bordering the market square were still of wood microfilms. construction, much like what we see in the old photos of If your family name is in the index for a particular town, the Polish shtetls. you can get the number of the exact microfilm you want, instead of having to search many rolls of microfilm. Unfortunately, the Jewish cemetery of Niebylec no longer However, those researching in Galicia face the exists, and there are no borders or markers. The disappointing fact that the LDS have filmed the records of information I received in town was that the tombstones only a very few towns in Galicia. Some Jewish records for were used to pave the curbs during the war. In inquiring Krakow have been filmed. If Krakow Jewish records are about Jewish records at the local records office, we were of interest to you, please contact Gesher Galicia member told that no Jewish records are held there and their present Judie Ostroff-Goldstein, who is coordinating the Krakow location is unknown. Shtetl CO-OP project for JRI Poland. Your help is needed in indexing the Krakow microfilms. You will be provided Konieczkowa is a farming village (pop.1200) just 1 km with the material so that you can work from your home. down the road from Niebylec. It was in Konieczkowa Contact Judie at
- 10 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER The cities are very clean, the roads well maintained, and PROPOSING A PRZEMYSL the prices for food and merchandise are very reasonable. If NETWORKING GROUP you choose to take in a tour of Warsaw and Krakow, I would first recommend 2 nights in Warsaw. If you want to By GG member Barbara Urbanska Yeager, treat yourself, the Warsaw Marriott will not disappoint at Chicago, IL about $175.00 per night. A more midrange choice would be the Mercure Chopin which is located within walking For quite some time, I have been wondering if there were distance of the Nozyk Synagogue. We stayed in both more efficient ways of networking for Przemysl hotels. researchers. Many of us are often struggling with the same issues, facing similar problems and searching for the same I would recommend at least a 3 night stay in Krakow. sources of information. Is there a way for us to share our Krakow is a beautiful city with much more old world experiences in a more "organized" way? Many of us have charm and a higher level of energy than Warsaw has. You shared a lot of our experiences through The Galitzianer. I will not lack for things to see and do here, as the sights are was, however, wondering if there was a better way for us all around you. You will need to allocate a half day to take to benefit from one another's work, and to prevent our the excursion to Auschwitz. What was the most unusual efforts from being duplicated. site I witnessed in Krakow? On the street in the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz sat a Mercedes with California plates! In pursuing the idea of creating a "Przemysl networking group", I started by contacting all Gesher Galicia Przemysl If you'll be traveling in the Rzeszow area, take the time to researchers with listed e-mail addresses to get some see the old town area which is where the old synagogues feedback, and sent everybody a message asking them if are located. It would also be worth your while to schedule they were interested in sharing the results of their research. half a day to see the castle and synagogue in Lancut, just a Most of the respondents said yes. I then followed up with 20 minute drive east of Rzeszow. They are well worth another message explaining in more detail what I was seeing but call ahead to make sure the synagogue will be thinking about and asking for specific information. What open when you get there. follows is a "starter" bibliography which came together as a result of that second message. I would like to thank Rita Anti-semitic graffiti exists in Poland. You may see it Margolis for helping me put this bibliography together. occasionally on advertising billboards, on the sides of Thank you, Rita! buildings, and on the bus stop shelters. It exists in the cities and also in the most rural locales. If you want to talk to In our Przemysl networking group, we could decide what residents about the war years you will need to exercise exactly we would like to do and how to do it, keeping the patience. Most seem very uncomfortable with the subject, Gesher Galicia Steering Committee informed. A especially as it pertains to Polish/Jewish relations. I was bibliography is a good place to start. Over time, we could surprised to see this trait in younger Poles as well, who had put together a more comprehensive list of books, memoirs, been very young or possibly not even alive during the war survivor testimonies, business directories, pictures, maps years. It appears etc., that pertain to Przemysl, together with some that the Polish people have not quite come to terms with information on how this material could be accessed. It this period in their history. But at no time did I ever feel would be helpful for all of us and would also be a good uncomfortable as a visitor there. There is no doubt that way to let new researchers know about resources so that Poland is aware of the tremendous economic benefit from they would not need to "reinvent the wheel." We could visitors who come to explore their past. also collect information on what kinds of records are accessible at various archives, (e.g. in Przemysl or Lastly, when traveling between Warsaw and Krakow, try Vienna). Also, some of you may have been involved in a to take the inter-city express train in a first class car (about Przemysl project (such as translating parts of the Yizkor or $15 per person). It is very comfortable and fast, and you'll other books, or indexing records), or might be interested in enjoy the beautiful Polish countryside without worrying starting a new project. We could collect that kind of about the sometimes hair-raising road traffic. information as well.
Just to clarify, what I am interested in is a group within Gesher Galicia. There will be no need to subscribe to anything, no additional dues. For all purposes, we may not even need to become an official "group." It may just be a matter of coordinating the gathering of information and perhaps coordinating and assuming leadership in some projects. Maybe in the future we could develop a database that would be available to all of us, including those who don't have access to the Internet. I also want all Przemysl researchers who don’t have e-mail to participate. Please - 11 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 send your suggestions and comments to me by regular Polish Business Directory) Warsaw pp.756-764; directory mail, and let me know if you would be willing to is in Polish and French. Businesses listed by category. coordinate communication for the Przemysl researchers without e-mail: PRZEMYSL specific publications: Barbara Urbanska Yeager Dr. Arie Menczer, Editor: SEFER PRZEMYSL (Przemysl e-mail: [email protected] Memorial Book), Israel, 1964 (in Hebrew and in Yiddish) Get regular mail address from listing under member number 246 Publications in Polish: Wierzbieniec, Waclaw: Spolecznosc zydowska Przemysla I would be glad to assume the role of initial coordinator w latach 1918-1939 (The Jewish Community in Przemysl and collect information about Przemysl resources from 1918-1939), Rzeszow, 1996. Includes name index and a you. I would then pass this information on to The summary in English. Galitzianer for publication. Przemysl, Plan Miasta (Przemysl city map), Warszawa, So, if you are interested in taking this off the ground, let Wroclaw 1992 me know what you have been working on. And let me know if you have any other ideas. This list is only a beginning. It can grow as much as you would like it to grow. For example, I received a suggestion from Bruce Rauch, who wrote that each of us PRZEMYSL BIBLIOGRAPHY could outline all the steps we have taken and the responses we have received. This, together with a list of materials we Rita Margolis has compiled a family history book for the have gathered, could assist others in learning about various ADAM and DAVID families, entitled “Galitzianers.” The avenues available to Przemysl researchers. book was dedicated in honor of Maury (Moshe) ADAM’s 75th birthday. Mr. ADAMS is a Przemysl Holocaust Most of the publications mentioned above should be survivor and an uncle of Rita’s husband. Rita has excerpts available at your local public and/or JGS libraries. If not, of an interview with Maury ADAMS, conducted by her in ask your librarian if they could be ordered through Inter September 1985, detailing family history and events Library Loan. For example, the 1929 Polish Business leading up to World War II in which he was involved. Mr. Directory has been available through this wonderful ADAMS has also been interviewed by Steven Spielberg’s program. As for Mr. Wierzbieniec's book, I am waiting to group, “Survivors of the Shoah Visual History hear from the author whether the book is going to be back Foundation” (Interview 08896, November 17, 1995). in print. In the meantime, as I am in possession of this book, I will be happy to check if your relatives' names are PRZEMYSL has been mentioned in the following listed there. publications: Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Vol 3 Yad Vashem, PRZEMYSL, page 1201 KNOW HOW TO EXCHANGE HEBREW AND YIDDISH TEXT OVER THE Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Vol 13, PRZEMYSL, p. 1298 INTERNET? AVOTAYNU Vol. VIII, Number 4, Winter 1992 -- List of Harold Rabbie would like to know if there is a standard Jewish Cemeteries Surveyed in Poland, incl. Przemysl way to exchange Hebrew and Yiddish text over the (two cemeteries) Internet. He writes, ”There seems to be a defacto mapping of the ASCII characters in the range 224-250 into Alef Schwartz, Rosalie & Milamed, Susan :A Guide to YIVO through Tav, but I haven’t found any tools that make it Landsmanshaftn Archive New York, 1986 easy. Please send any information to Harold at: Mokotoff, Gary & Amdur Sack, Sallyann : Where Once
Books in Polish: Ksiega Adresowa Polski wraz z w.m. Gdanskiem dla handlu, przemyslu. rzemiosla i rolnictwa, 1929, (1929 - 12 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER JEWISH CEMETERY IN OSWIECIM I have contacted Jacek Proszyk, in Poland, to do the actual (AUSCHWITZ) INVENTORIED work. Jacek has successfully done similar projects in Poland for different organizations. Mr. Proszyk has recently visited --800 Stones Photographed the Ulanow cemetery (52 km NNE of Rzeszow) for the sole By GG member Daniel Vulkan, purpose of viewing the project and gathering information Harrow, Middlesex, England about the history of the town and Jewish community. He has Reprinted from JewishGen with the author’s permission: also obtained permission and approval for the project from the State Service for the Preservation of Monuments in I wrote to this newsgroup some time ago regarding the Tarnobrzeg and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, the Jewish cemetery in Oswiecim (Auschwitz / Ushptzin), Department of Preservation of the Jewish Monuments. Poland. Although the cemetery itself was virtually destroyed during the War, many of the stones survived and The project is being sponsored by the US Commission for the have been re-erected (although not presumably in their Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. They are giving original locations). no financial support. That is up to all of us with ties to Ulanow... or those who wish to help preserve a piece of our Earlier this year, the Jewish Community in the nearby town Jewish Heritage! ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX of Bielsko-Biala took over responsibility for the cemetery, DEDUCTIBLE. Checks can be made out to: US and decided to compile an inventory of the stones. This Commission PAHA. Please write somewhere on the check: task was delegated to Jacek Proszyk, a Warsaw University Ulanow Cemetery Project. student who had previously carried out similar work in the Send all donations to: cemeteries of Bielsko-Biala (Bielitz, Biala) itself, Zywiec Melody Katz, (Saybusch), Milowka, Skoczow (Skotschau), Cieszyn 13772 Almetz St., (Teschen) and Ustron. Sylmar, CA 91342. The inventory for Oswiecim has recently been completed. The checks will be held until I am sure the project can be fully I understand that a photograph has been taken of each funded. If the project cannot be fully funded, I will return stone (over 800 in total), and the full inscription (or what your check to you! remains of it) recorded and translated. A list has also been compiled, indexed by name, showing the location of each Cost estimates: stone within the cemetery. 1. 1 tombstone (full information) + photo = $10 2. travel, Bielsko-Ulanow-Bielsko = $50 Anyone wishing to find out more about the cemetery in 3. 1 day stay in Ulanow = $25 Oswiecim, or the other cemeteries mentioned, is advised to contact Jacek Proszyk himself (e-mail: [email protected]). Total: or 150 tombstones x 10 USD = $1500 7 days in Ulanow x 25 USD = $175 Przegrodka 15 travel B-U-B = $50 43-300 Bielsko-Biala 1 SUM TOTAL: $1725 Poland Mr. Proszyk can start the work when he receives $500. The Mr. Proszyk’s telephone: +48-33-146725 remainder of the cost is to be paid when the project is completed. I do not plan to have Mr. Proszyk start the project The Jewish Community in Bielsko-Biala appears to be until I have the funds available to complete it. willing to provide information to researchers in return for small donations. The Jewish Community is currently $350 Mr. Proszyk will be photographing the tombstones, writing (U.S.) short of the funding needed. down the Hebrew inscriptions, and numbering the tombstones. He will be at the cemetery for approximately 7 days. After ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ULANOW returning home, he will translate the Hebrew words from each CEMETERY PROJECT tombstone and prepare an alphabetical surnames index. He will also provide a photo of each tombstone. Melody Katz, GG member from Sylmar, California sent this detailed description of the proposed project. I hope you are able to help me with this project! If you have I have just gotten approval for a project I am very excited any suggestions or questions, I would love to hear from you! about... the Ulanow Cemetery Project! I have found a -- Melody Katz sponsor for the project and I am now collecting donations! e-mail: [email protected] The finalized details of the project are written below. I Phone: 818-362-8516 hope you will help preserve our heritage... and maybe find NETWORKING some information about your ancestors in the process! FINDING YOUR COUSINS WITH THE The Ulanow Cemetery Project's purpose is to help preserve GESHER GALICIA FAMILY FINDER our heritage in Ulanow by cataloging and translating the tombstones from the Ulanow, Poland cemetery.
- 13 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998
The Gesher Galicia Family Finder, which accompanied vital records book. Someone may have obtained a vital your January issue of The Galitzianer, is one of the most record page which records your family’s event. Let others important research tools available to our members. know if their family names appear on records you have Understanding the format of the Family Finder will make it obtained. easier for you to make connections with other members. What do I do if no one else is researching my town? ♦ Suggestion: put tabs on your Family Finder to You may be researching a very small town. It is likely that mark the various sections: some of your relatives lived in nearby towns which you will need to identify. This process recently became easier Section A with a new feature on JewishGen’s “Shtetl Seeker”. ALPHABETICAL ORDER list of members with Membership Number. New Feature on JewishGen’s “Shtetl Seeker” You can now get a list of all the towns within a requested Section B distance of your ancestral town. If you don’t already know NUMERICAL ORDER (using membership number). the longitude & latitude for your town, type the town Provides complete contact information, including e-mail name. The coordinates will be shown. Then request all address. towns within Xunits. Units refers to miles or kilometers. Section C Specify which you want. Type in 5 (miles or km) and you SURNAME SEARCH LIST. All surnames being will get a listing of towns in that range from your shtetl! searched by members, showing the town of origin. Check to see if some of the towns are listed in the Galicia NOTICE THE NUMBERS NEXT TO EACH TOWN. Finder, and start contacting researchers from those towns. These are the membership numbers of the people If you are not online, you can use the Where Once We researching that surname from that town. If you wish to Walked Companion, published by Avotaynu. Follow its contact that member, write down the number and find it in instructions for plotting grids with clusters of towns near Section B with the name & address of the person you will each other. In the United States, many public libraries contact. provide free use of computers with which you can access Section D JewishGen. PLACE NAME SEARCH. Look for a town and then find all the surnames being researched from that town. Again, WHY MY FAMILY FINDER ENTRY IS NOT the numbers in parentheses (108) lead you back to Section PRECISELY AS I SUBMITTED IT B for the name & address of the person who is the researcher for that surname in that town. by Peter Zavon, Editor, Gesher Galicia Family Finder The Gesher Galicia Family Finder can be used for many Section E Alternate Place Name Spelling. Many people know only things, but its primary purpose is to assist the members of the Yiddish, or only the German, names of places Gesher Galicia in their efforts to connect with other important to them, yet most places are listed in Section D members who share a research interest in a particular by their current names, which may be Polish or Russian. If surname or town in Galicia. With that purpose in mind, you can’t find the place name you submitted, look for it in the following are some reasons why your entries may not this section. Then look for the standard name, that is used be precisely as you submitted them. in Section D. STANDARD PLACE NAMES In the course of history, many places in Galicia have been GETTING STARTED known by a variety of names. In addition to German Start with Section C, The Surname Search List. Look for (Austrian), Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian names, there are surnames you’re interested in. Make a note of the towns Yiddish and other ethnic names for some places. The oral and the researchers’ numbers. Do the same with Section D, history handed down to one member may provide only the Place Name Search List. Use Section B to get an address Yiddish name for a town of origin, or only the Polish name. for the researcher you want to contact. In addition, the apparent spelling of the name may have been Some of the most productive genealogical research is the distorted as it was passed from native speakers of Yiddish or Polish to native speakers of Ukrainian or French, English or result of networking among those who are researching the modern Hebrew. same town, area, or surname. Researchers notify each other when they find new vital records or other material. So, A good example is the place known in Yiddish as Choliv. Its gather the names of all the researchers who share the towns Polish name was Cholojow. It has also been called Holojow and surnames of your interest from Sections C & D. and Batyu, according to Where Once We Walked (WOWW), which is a standard reference for such things. Choliv is in Send them a brief outline of your family names and dates. modern Ukraine, and its “official” name, as of 1990, was Let them know if you have indexed some records or if you Uzlovoye. have made (or received) a translation of the yizkor book for a town. During some periods in Galicia, several Depending on when a family migrated from Galicia and what marriages, births, or deaths were recorded on one page of a information was preserved in its oral history, it is as likely that - 14 - Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 THE GALITZIANER someone would know only the name Batyu as it is that they does not, it has been agreed that Jewish genealogical research would know only the name Choliv, or Cholojow. If each in Bukovina will be coordinated through the Rom-SIG place name were to be individually listed, those knowing only (Romanian Special Interest Group). Although mistakes do Batyu would probably not connect with those knowing only happen, we try not to list in the Gesher Galicia Family Finder Choliv. places that were in Bukovina. The researcher must be cautious, however, because there were at least three towns in Therefore, the Gesher Galicia Family Finder uses Galicia which were called Bukowina, a name which would be standardized names for each place. The "official" names, as pronounced the same as the name of the province, Bukovina. catalogued in 1990 by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN), were used in several reasonably accessible NOT IN THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE publications, including WOWW. WOWW is also usable as a Anyplace which was not part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire cross-reference between historical place names and the was certainly not in Galicia. Places frequently mentioned by "official" names as of 1990. Consequently, the Gesher members, but which fall in this category, include Kiev, Minsk, Galicia Family Finder has followed the lead of the Jewish Lublin and Warsawa. Genealogical Family Finder and standardized on the use of place names as defined by the US BGN and WOWW. An 1878 map showing the borders of Galicia is reprinted on the back cover of the Family Finder. This can be a help in It is the responsibility of each researcher to determine the determining whether a place was in Galicia, but it will not "current" name of each place of interest. Since anyone always provide a definitive answer. For example, there is a seeking to obtain European records of their family would have large city in Ukraine called Rovno, which was not in Galicia. to do that in any case, we do not think this an inappropriate WOWW says it was also called Rowne and Ruvne. There is expectation for a Family Finder user, especially when also a much smaller place in modern Poland called Rowne, references such as WOWW are so readily available. which was in Galicia. The names of both places could easily be pronounced the same. Unfortunately for our purposes, WOWW was published just before Ukraine became independent and altered many place RULE OF THUMB FOR PLACES NOT IN GALICIA names to reflect Ukrainian usage. Although WOWW reflects The following guides will confirm that a place was not in the Russian names of those Ukrainian places, it is still the best Galicia. They will not guarantee that a place was in reference we have. Should a more current reference become Galicia. More than half of Bukovina, for example, is widely available, we will certainly consider changing our within the guide given below. standard. Biala, on the western border of Galicia, is at 19° 02’ East In the meantime, however, we list only the "official" name as longitude. Any place west of 19° East would not have of 1990 in the Family Finder, if it can be determined. At the been in Galicia. back of the Family Finder, we include a short cross-reference listing to help users who have not yet learned the official Kamenets Podolsky was just east of the eastern most part names. of Galicia, at 23° 49’ East longitude. Any place east of that would not have been in Galicia. THE PLACE WAS NOT IN GALICIA The focus of Gesher Galicia is family history research in the The North Latitude of 50° 45’ runs through the former Austrian Province of Galicia. Places which were not northernmost tip of Galicia. Anyplace further north would in Galicia are not listed in the Family Finder. Even though not have been in Galicia. migrating Galicianers may have lived in New York, Vienna, The southernmost tip of Galicia was at 47° 45’ North Buenos Aires, Paris, or Kansas City, those places will not be Latitude. Anyplace further south would not have been in listed in the Gesher Galicia Family Finder. If we did Galicia. otherwise, the Family Finder would become very much larger and would cease to be usefully different from the Jewish Genealogy Family Finder, which does not focus on any particular geographic region.
OTHER PARTS OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE Galicia was the largest province in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but it was not the only part of the Empire in which Jews lived. Jews living in Moravia or Bohemia, for example, were in Austria but were not living in Galicia. Jews living in Hungary were not living in Galicia. Likewise, Jews living in Bukovina were living in another province of the Empire. It is true that Bukovina was administered as a part of Galicia from 1787 until 1849. However, from 1850 Bukovina was organized as a separate province, and Gesher Galicia uses 1870 as the reference point for determining what was and what was not in Galicia. To avoid duplication of effort, and because Bukovina has a history of Turkish and Romanian administration that Galicia - 15 - THE GALITZIANER Vol. 5, No. 2 Winter (January) 1998 GESHER GALICIA STEERING COMMITTEE Copyright © 1998 by Gesher Galicia
Founder The Galitzianer is intended to provide a free Suzan Wynne (former Editor) exchange of ideas, research tips and articles of 3603 Littledale Road interest to Gesher Galicia members researching Kensington, MD 20895 Jewish family history in the communities that in 1872 301-942-6149; Fax:301-942-4807 were part of Galicia, a province of the Austro- [email protected] Hungarian Empire. The Galitzianer welcomes submission of articles, charts, lists, book reviews, and COORDINATOR & MEMBERSHIP CHAIR other relevant contributions from its readers. Shelley Kellerman Pollero The newsletters of other genealogy societies may 549 Cypress Lane reproduce individual items from The Galitzianer, Severna Park, MD 21146 provided that credit is given to The Galitzianer and to 410-647-9492 Fax: 410/315-8188 the author(s) of the reproduced material. All other [email protected] reproduction is prohibited without prior written
permission of the editor. GESHER GALICIA EDITOR Marian Rubin 36 Iris Avenue CHANGE OF ADDRESS, PHONE, E-MAIL: San Francisco, CA 94118 send to Peter Zavon or Shelley Pollero 415-668-3404 [email protected] UPDATES OF SURNAMES AND TOWNS
FAMILY FINDER EDITOR & LAYOUT BEING RESEARCHED: Peter Zavon send to Peter Zavon 30 Woodline Drive Penfield, NY 14526-2414 Founded in 1993, membership in Gesher 716-586-9023 Galicia for 1997-98 is US$20 for addresses [email protected] in the US & Canada and US$27 for all TREASURER others. Sheiala Moskow 801 Cottonwood Drive To Join Gesher Galicia: Severna Park, MD 21146 Contact Membership Chair Shelley Pollero. 410-544-2113 (phone/fax) [email protected]
RESEARCH CHAIR The Galitzianer is published in October, Rabbi Douglas Slotnick January, April and July. Deadlines for 8933 Lombard Place #229 San Diego, CA 92122 submissions are September 15, December 619-552-8162 15, March 15 and June 15, respectively. [email protected] Send submissions for The Galiztianer to Marian Rubin. AT LARGE Larry Kahaner Box 2732 Alexandria, VA 22301 Back issues are available for US$4 per 703/548-1532 (h) issue from (temporarily) Suzan Wynne: 703/548-0911 (w) Fax: 703-548-3182 3603 Littledale Road [email protected] Kensington, MD 20895 USA
- 16 -