What are the boundaries of Russia? When was a the town within the gubernya is almost impossi- particular piece of land Polish, Lithuanian or ble. It further seems to me from reading your Russian? Did Jews register their names in any publication, that your readers who are seeking government document? For instance, my forefa- relatives often mention one town and then mention thers, like those of so many others of your towns "in the area" or ttsurrounding towns" or YAD VASHEM Irurnq7 To be an Martyrs9and Heroes' readers, were inn-keepers in Russia. "cities. Remembrance E33sil inn-keeper did one need a license from the Rus- Another topic that could be explored is the PILnlK 01% UIu'Uml'K sian government? I think all of us realize that migration of Jews to the south (i.e., New Russia) Authority ululr=rmni~u if the answer is tfyes,ttand if the document to in the 19th century. Every American understands RO.B. 84 Jerusalem, Israel A Page of Testimony flllullK nlPnlK1la prove this were still in existence, we would the migration of Americans "westward." But this stand no chance of obtaining it. But I for one migration had nothing (or little) to do with Jews. THE MARTYRS' AND understand so little concerning the Russian sys- How much more important is it to explain how the HEROES' REMEMBRANCE tem of keeping documents in the 19th and 20th southern part of the Pale was populated during LAW, 5713-1953 century, that surely articles in this field would the 19th century. determines in article No. 2 be of interest to all of us. The upheavals of the 1917-1921 period could that - be described concerning each gubernya. The task of YAD VASHEM Another avenue that could be explored con- is to gather into the homeland cerning Russia are articles devoted to the Pale I know that most of the above problems are material regarding all those of Settlement. You could have readers or experts somewhat in the nature of "historical" interest members of the Jewish people who laid down their lives, who in their field write an article on each separate rather than "genealogical" interest, but I do not fought and rebelled against the gubernya [province] in the Pale. To further ex- know if you realize how little the average Ameri- Nazi enemy and his wllabora- plain, let us pick Podolia gubernya. When did can-Russian-Jew knows about 17th, 18th and 19th tors, and io perpetuate their memory and that of the Jews first settle there? Why? Under whose con- century Russian Jewish history. And without such communities, organisations, and trol was it then? What are the natural borders basic information, genealogy in this area, which institutions which were dest- is already most difficult, becomes even more so. royed because they were Jewish. of Podolia? What have been the most significant First Name (maiden name) pnnam .2 1 border changes? What are the biggest towns? I do like your magazine very much and I wish Perhaps if a map of each gubernya could be drawn you all the success in the future. and printed, it would be of invaluable help. ffahhy P. Boonin From my experience and those I have talked to, 11 2 Poclx6a.t Road Place of birth oliwr lie U1N .4 Date of bi&h w~rr-vv'ei2ya .3 it seems that many times a person can find out PkiRaddphLa, PA I91 15 77'2 (town, colllltry) (7w ,rnWp) what gubernya a relative came from, but locating Photo I I Name of mother 1yvin 110 1YnN3 .6 i Name of father VuNe 119 lYlw .5 HOLOCAUST RESEARCff: A SOURCE AT YAV VPSHEM I I
Name of spouse ' Y,5*n~o-~wSlrl9rn1.9~ 911'15 118 1~7,~1~n119 )~nw.7 Arthur Kurzwei 1 (if s wife, add maiden name) Place of residence before the war wN3VNll l~*Nvv .8 On August 19, 1953, the Israeli Knesset mony on the chance that they contain important passed the Martyrst and Heroesf Remembrance Law family information. which established Yad Vashem as the official me- Places of residence during due ww nmnlyr nga ?yv)lwruIr .9 morial in Israel to the Holocaust victims. Since GZ VZNG YAP VASffEM INFORMA77 ON that time, Yad Vashem has become one of the most If you have information about individuals moving and important places to visit for anyone and would like to "testify" via the questionnaire Circumst!ances of death @lace, date, etc.) vwv 11~1nyvw.n9w 11N V*W I\J'IN 010 journeying to Israel. which Yad Vashem makes available, you can obtain In addition to Yad Vashemfs museum, research blank forms from two sources. The first is: center, archives, library, educational efforts, YAD VASHEM and publications department, there is a division P.O. Box 84 called The Hall of Names (also known as the Pages Jerusalem, Israel , of Testimony Department). This section of Yad Ask for "A Page of Testimony" for the purpose of vDWYI'313p relatianship to deceased ...... anan...... -....anan----.-...... -.- Vashem asks both visitors as well as anyone testifying about individuals you know. We sug- around the world to fill out a printed question- gest that you ask for one blank questionnaire hereby declare &a this besbimony is correct to the bwt of my knowledge. naire with biographical details about individuals and then photocopy additional pages as needed. ,I~YLY~IY~~NNT sun, f9N v~iinwY 97 tti-,wn~~rly5pifl who died during the Holocaust. These question- Another source for these forms is: .1v9ii lyvvyn 199n1 v*B yp9um N t9~,D*V~L Y~Mv*n naires or Pages of Testimony are kept on file at Survivors of Nazi-Camps and Yad Vashem as a memorial to those individuals who Resistance Fighters perished. At the present time, well over two 2747 Throop Avenue million forms have been collected by Yad Vashem. Bronx, New York 10469 Obviously, the Pages of Testimony Department (21 2) 231-5456 at Yad Vashem is of great interest to Jewish gen- Either write or call this "Survivorstf organiza- ealogists and family historians. Those of us who tion, who, in cooperation with Yad Vashem, makes have information to give to Yad Vashem would blank questionnaires available. You can then surely want to do so, and those of us seeking in- either send your filled-out forms to Yad Vashem formation about Holocaust victims in our own fam- ilies would want to consult the Pages of Testi- continued on page 6 Please inscribe the name of each victim of the Holocaust on a separate form. directly or send them back to the "Survivorsv Geffen will send you a brochure about Shorashim organization who will do so for you. if you send him an inquiry. He can be contacted THE JEWISH FAMT LY FINDER An additional way of obtaining blank ques- for further details at: The editors of TOLEDOT invite its readers 1854 in Budapest. First wife Rosa HECHT died 1890s. tionnaires is simply to photocopy the page which Shorashim Research Service to make inquiries about their research to the Remarried, Charlotte. Arrived NY 1900-1 with daughter TOLEDOT has included in this issue. 9 Rehov Heller, Apt. 19 hundreds of Jewish genealogists who read our Adele. Givat Mordecai j ournal . OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM YAP VASH EM Jerusalem, Israel 79-9 Cantor Don GOLDBERG, 2119 Kirkwood Ave., Merrick, For $5.00, We will print Your 25-word an- NY 11566 --- Looking for Stephen SARKANY, born in b- If you are interested in examining Yad Va- nouncement contaizing the surnames, towns, or gary. Father Adee, nephew of Karl SCHAEFER. Married shemfs Pages of Testimony for possible informa- A FINAL COMMENT ON PAGES OF TESTIMONY other information that you might wish to include and divorced Esther FELD. Would be in 60ts dr 70's. tion on family members, you can do so by visiting As you can see from the sample "Page of in your inquiry. Your name and address are The Hall of Names. However, for those of us who Testimony," there is space on the questionnaire listed free of charge. For announcements of 79-10 Cantor Don GOLDBERG, 2119 Kirkwood Ave., Merrick, do not get to Israel that often, a private for information about the victim as well as in- NY 11566 --- Seeking information: SOLOMONs of Kismen, more than 25 words, an additional 204 per word Hungary (Rumania), near Urlgvgr. Louis (Eliezer) ben researcher in Israel can do this for you at a formation about the person who testified. Cases should be added. Shlome Zalman married Mollie FEUERVERGER, 1910. Willie modest fee. are known where people have found living members To avoid inaccuracies, please type or print went to Cleveland; then Etna,, NJ. One such researcher is Dr. David Geffen, of their family by locating a Page of Testimony your announcement. Indicate surnames in capital who was the founder of the Jewish Historical So- and noticing who gave the information on the letters, as we do in the listings, in order to 79-11 Jathes D. HART, 740 San Luis Rd., ~erkeley,CA ciety of Delaware and rabbi of Congregation Beth form. The potential both for genealogical infor- 94707 --- NEUSTADTER, Henky (1829-1903), Louis, Nathan, distinguish them from place names. family from Geistingen; ~11lived in Sul'zbach, Bavaria Shalom in Wilmington, Delaware. Geffen has set mation as well as for making sure that the world Send your check along with the wording of up his own company called Shorashim, which he is aware of what happened to our families during before emigrating to New York, then to San Francisco, your query to: TOLEDOT, 808 West End Avenue, 1850 and 1851. Seeking their parentage and other infor- describes as a "Jewish roots genealogical and the Holocaust is significant in the case of Yad Suite 1006, New York, NY 10025. matibn. historical research service in Israel. " Rabbi Vashemts Pages of Testimony. **ex* 79-12 Jerome Paul HELMAN, 1407 Jonesboro Dr., Los Angel- es, CA 90049 --- Seeking any HELMAN or GELMAN from Russia 79-1 Randy DAITCH, 241 Rennie Ave., Venice, CA 90291 (Horodok) , KAPLAN from Poland (Kosov , Shedlitz) ; WINKEL- --- Correction to announcement 78-73 (Fall 1978 issue): MAN from Poland (Vijon, Suwalki), KRUGER from Odessa. The surname SILVER was originally BARRABACHIK. Would like Horodok information.
79-2 Michael DRISSMAN, 28941 Ramblewood Dr., Farmington 79-13 Gerald KAHAN, 9813 Tolworth Circle, Randallstown, Hills, MI 48018 --- Looking for DRISSMAN (with variants) MD 21133 --- Lo0kin.g for MICHALOVITZ from Friedrichstadt A FAMILY PORTRAlT and STOLOW/STOLOFF all from Shirvint (near Vilna). Pos- (Jaunjelgava); LIPAVSKY from Kursenai; KUSHER from Lomza, sibly from L'vov. Also, KHAIT from Shirvint, possibly Poland; FRIEDMAN from Petrikov; ENGEL from Hajdudorog; Riga. PARIS (with variants) originally Bobroysk, Russia. KANAN from Khust.
79-3 Mclvin FLITTER, 1144 Tabor Plaza, Philadelphia, PA 79-14 Alexander SISKIND KOHANSKI, 10 Ball Ave., Passaic, 19111 --- Seeking Russian German FLITTER family. Beryl NJ 07055 --- Were in USA in 1910: Calveria: Malka, d. of (Dov) Great-grandfather. Mizocz, Ukraine. Grandfather Isaac Ezekiel SHKLONBERG; Lazdei : Dov, Isser Mend1 , Moses Morris emigrated 1890? Siblings died Holocaust. A. BERMAN of Pittsburgh, Zacharia RANDWIT; Yair, Rachel, Christian FLITTER origin Bromberg, Posen, Germany. Bezalel Nissan, Zacharia, Abraham Mordecai, Meir Aryeh HAKOHEN, Alexander Siskind ben Zecharia LEVIN, David 79-4 James A. GALINSKY, 2912 Beverly Dr., Des Moines, Mordecai SISKIND (LEVIN?); Suvalk: Shlomo Eliezer ben IA 50322 --- I am searching for descendants or family Meir Zvi ABRAMS, Yehudah and Isaac ben Rabbi Moses Abra- members named CALINSKY or GALINSKI, specifically Yudle ham GOLUSTEIN, Sheine Feigel bat Zalman HAKOHEN; Serheia: and Cherna FEINBERG GALINSKY (b. approx. 1870) or sons Mordecai Ozer ben Abraham Moses, Yehudah and Malka of David, Avraham and Motke (b. approx. 1895-1900). These Jacob BROMBERG (BRUMBERG); Dushniza: Abraham ben Pesach people were farmers living near Kovno, Lithuania, a few MYERS. miles from Sakiai (Sakee) and Griskabudis. 79-15 Mrs. Dorothy DELLAR KOHANSKI, 10 Ball Ave., Pas- 79-5 Stephen R. GLAZER, 565 St. Clements Ave., Toronto, saic, NJ 07055 --- KOLEKANDT, Vilkamere, VINEBERG, Zidu- Ont., Canada M5N 1M5 --- Seeking information and descend- gira near Kalvarya. From Odessa: DILLER, GERTZMAN, ants: POTASIEWICZ and SZYFF (SCHIFF) from Czestochowa and GERSTMAN, WEINSTEIN. From Budapest: GREENWALD, GORDON, Radomsk, Poland; KROCZ (KROCH) from Ludmir or Szdzary, KOHN, STERNBERG, all to USA or Canada before 1900. Volynia, Ukraine; TEITEL from Ustilla, Ukraine; BRANDFELD (BRONDFIELD) from Pienkowicz, Lyszowicz and Mielec, Gali- 79-16 Celia HALPER KUPFERSTEIN, 280 Cornwall Rd., Glen cia; HOLLANDER (Kohanim) and KUKUK (COOK) (Kohanim) from Rock, NJ 07452 --- Information on KOVARI, Ignaez, born Tarnow and Dombrowa, Galicia; GLASER and ALLWEIL from 1865, Debrecen, Hungary. Wife Szera ROSH, born 1877, Przemyslany and Bobrika, Galicia; SERLES from Vienna. daughter of Yosef Ros'h and Rosa NEUMANN, Miskolcz (Szerencs), Hungary. Arrived N.Y.C. 1910. 79-6 Cantor Don GOLDBERG, 2119 Kirkwood Ave., Merrick, NY 11566 --- Looking for information on Julia FRIEDLAND, 79-17 Celia HALPER KUPFERSTEIN, 280 Cornwall Rd., Glen 49 Riverdale Ave., Yonkers, NY. In 1907, she sponsored Rock, NJ 07452 --- Information on Beny HALPER (GALPERIN) Adolf GOLDBERG(ER)'s immigration. Possible sisters born Dec. 1882 or 1889 Zincov or Kamenets Podolski, Rus- Leopoldina LINZER and Charlotte SCHAEFER. sia. Father's name Sigmund. Mother's name Mili. Wife Ida GLICKMAN born Sept. 1894. Came to U.S. 1907. 79-7 Cantor Don GOLDBERG, 2119 Kirkwood Ave., Merrick, Father, Harry. Mother, Lena IWAN KOWITZER WEINER GLICK- NY 11566 --- Seeking information on Adolf GOLDBERG(ER), MAN. Ida, grandmother Sura, grandfather Ersh Label Szerencs, Hungary. Arrived NY in 1907. Married Adele KOWITZER? Ida alive and well. WEINSTEIN FAMILY, PlNSK, CA. 1895 SCHAEFER: 1913. Children, Ruthie and mrray. Father- Moshe, MotherJennie KOHN. 79-18 Arthur KURZWEIL, c/o Toledot, 808 West End Ave., Suite 1006, New York, NY 10025 --- Looking for any infor- 79-8 Cantor Don GOLDBERG, 2119 Kirkwood Ave., Merrick, mation on the Jewish communities of Borg6prund in Tran- NY 11566 --- Seeking information on Karl SCHAEFER, born sylvania, MStBszalka, and Nyirbhor in Hungary.
TOLE~OT/WINTER1978-79 Kathryn LASS, 469 Commonwealth Ave., Apt. 5, Bos- 79-29 Joan OSHLAG SANDERS, 86 Ward Dr. , New Rochelle, 79-19 NY 10804 --- Searching families of WMERANTZ, Grembov, ton, MA 02215 --- Looking for LASS'S, originally CZAR- Austria; ARONSON, AARONSON, ORENS, Neshviez; BERENBAUM, EASTERN EUROPEAN 113ENISH GEOGRAPHYu : NILAS, from Zobkowice, Poland. Any information on family Warsaw; BRAVERMAN, Brest-Litovsk; SANDERS, Russia; OSH- of Aaron LASS, possibly in Connecticut area. Also look- LAG, Poland; GIWOWSKY, Courland; BENEDICT, Darmstadt; SOME PROBLEMS ANP SUGGESTIONS ing for information on MINC (MINTZ) family from same area Abraham SIEGEL, arrived NYC ca. 1851, Prussia. in Poland, and on GROSS'S and STEINBERG's from Bialystok. (Oh, How 20 GGet &om Am~kinovko M6zczonUw IctCthouA: Moving an lnch) Information on descendants of Jacob and Abraham GROSS 79-30 Myron SEMPLINER, 12960 Talbot Lane, Huntington (brothers of Joseph), last known in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Woods, MI 48070 --- Looking for town of birth, wife and Zachary M. Baker children's names of Abram SEMPLINER from M6ramaros Coun- 79-20 Rosanne D. LEESON, 1821 Granger Ave., Los Altos, ty, Hungary. Same about Theodore KIRCHHEIER possibly PREFACE comes a formidable, time-consuming task, quite CA 94022 --- Seeking descendants Bertha (LEVY) JOACHIMSSEN This article was inspired by a recent en- aside from the extensive detective-work involved and Morris GOODHART, married NYC, May 9, 1871. Also of Mannheim, Germany. HEMMERDINGER descendants from Baden, known to have lived counter I had with a visitor to the YIVO Library in drawingLet us up consider a family the tree. geographic problem care- in Eichstltten near Freiburg. 79-31 Beverly SPECTOR, 2261 W. Kenboern Dr., Milwaukee, who complained that he had been trying for WI 53209 --- Looking for ancestors and descendants of months, without success, to locate "Boslav," his fully, for it is actually a CompLeX of interre- 79-21 William M. LIPSCHLJTZ, 18 Bobrich Dr. NO. 48, families SPECTOR, RAPPAPORT, KWASS from area of Walla- chisk, Wollenska Gubernia, Russia. Also LEBOWITZ (LEIB- grandfather's hometown in the Ukraine. Hoping lated problems. Above all, it is a problem of Rochester, NY 14610 --- Information sought: Family of to find this place, I turned first to the pre- OM;Duzn6tn&bion. Herman (Harry) GOLD, tailor (1867-1895) , born Austrian OWITZ) Abe, brother of Zelda, Jake & Nimon formerly of Geographic names as conveyed Galicia, to N.Y.C. with parents (1887), died of T.B. in Milwaukee. revolutionary Russian Jewish encyclopedia, the to us either directly, by our relatives, or in- Switzerland. Brother of Benjamin, William (died 1890?), Evn&haia En;tnikeopedLia--which is often an ex- directly, via documents (such as naturalization Charles, Louis? and two sisters. Married (1890) Bacy 79-32 Samuel STEARNS, M.D., 111 Perkins St., Jamaica cellent source of basic information about Russian papers and lists of ship passengers) may differ GRUNN (Bertha GREENE) (1870-1940) born Cracow. Children: Plain, MA 02130 --- Seeks information about the SHELO- Jewish communities--but could not identify any radically from their accepted forms. After all, William, Frances. Bertha remarried: Samuel FINGERHUT. VITSKY family which came to Chicago or Boston ca. 1905- 1910. My grandfather was Avram. Grandparents were Elye town named "B~slav.~'Upon reflection it occurred as used in the Yiddish vernacular, countless 79-22 Arthur E. LISS, 675 N. First St. #700, San Jose, and Chave (GELLER) . Their children were Toibe (SHELUP- to me that "B~slav'~was probably a Yiddishized place-names have been utterly transformed from CA 95112 --- Seeking any information on the WITASKIS and SKI), Bessie (ALPERT) , Gitel (WDEL) , Chaike (STEARNS) , form of what in Ukrainian would be called Bohu- their original forms. As Berl Kagan writes in LEVOW families from Zhitomir (Ukraine). Also, the FREI- Avram and Itche (MILLER). Surname said to be derived b&v (God's glory). And since there is no I'h" his ffehw Su6~cnip;tion Lib;t6 (a prime source for STADT and LIS, LISHENSKY or LISANSKY families of Boslov from diminutive of Shabtai, i.e. SHEFTEL, SHEFTELOWITZ, sound in Russian, I correctly conjectured that Jewish place-names, as we shall see later on), (Ukraine). Info. on B M D records from towns as well. SHELOWITZ, SHEFTALL, SHELOVITSKY, Polish form SZELO- WICKAJA. this town would be identified as Bog~&v in "The more a community was rooted in Judaism and English-language reference works (which rely on 79-23 William LOWENSTEIN, 1214 Bennington Ave., Pitts- the more alive was its use of the Yiddish folk burgh, PA 15217 --- FRANKEL, JABLONSKI, GOODMAN, BIB0 79-33 Marion KURTZ SYKES, 9 Avenue Maurice, Brussels Russian-language reference sources as their au- tongue, the more did place-names as well as (Grltz), JACKSON, ENGELMANN (Posen), LOWENSTEIN (Obrig- 1050, Belgium --- Information please on families/towns thorities for place-names in the Soviet Union). personal names become Judai~ed.~' heim) , LOWENSTEIN (Kuttenplan) , MOSER, LOEWENBAUM, MAIER PALATNIK, Kamenets-Podolski or Vinnitsa; LUNGEN, Rhubse- I was soon able to locate articles about Thus Jewish tradition transformed Indura (Lichtenstadt) , KRAUS, GERBER (Tissa) , KOHNER (Schossen- vitz, Poland; KURTZ, Husiatyn, border Russia/Poland-- Boguslav, situated 60 miles SSE of Kiev, in the into Amdur; Nowy Sgcz was known simply as Sandz, reith), SCHLEESTEIN. Isaac HIRSCH 1822-1892 (Bavaria around 1850 to 1914. Evhdhaia EntnikeopU, the Cohbia Lippin- Kazimierz as Kuzmir, Opat'ow as Apt, Mosty-Wielkie (where?) - Kingston, NY) . 79-34 Herbert C. UNGER, 4712 Homer Ave., 'Suitland, MD toe GazcCtem, the Polish gazetteer (Stownih as Most, Rzesz6w as Reysha, and 04wi~cim/Auschwitz 79-24 William LOWENSTEIN, 1214 Bennington Ave., Pitts- 20023 --- UNGAR, INGER, FEDER, STENGER from Zabolotov, Geoghadiczny Kh6L~~aPokkiego) , and both the (the ancient Polish Jewish community, not the burgh, PA 15217 --- SIDERSKY (Meretz), ZWICKLER (Lazdi- Galicia and SCHNEIDER from Oleszyce, Galicia. Also Sam German and English Encyclopaedia Juddica. This nearby World War I1 death camp) as Oshpitsin. j ai) , SAMUELS (Serijai) , KAMINSKY (Neustadt -Schirwindt) , DEWOLF born 1768 Amsterdam, Holland son of Wolf SAMUEL. was an educated guess on my part, but there are Or, to take a more complicated example, the Have Memor Book from Zabolotov. SHOR, JAFFE, TSINNES (Grodno-Amdur), NATHANSON, POTTES ways of dealing with the geographic problem sys- Ukrainian city of Belaya Tserkov (White Church) (Weksna), BACHRACH-HARRIS-LEVY (Werbelov), Rabbinical tematically. The purpose of this article is to was referred to as Sad& Lavan (White Field) in FRANKELS (province Posen) . 79-35 Frances VICTORS, 249 West End Ave., New York, NY 10023 --- Looking for: 1) Isaac VICTORS, birth c1815, outline the problems that are often encountered printed Hebrew sources and, disparagingly, as 79-25 Paul L. MICHEL, 9 Woodhall Lane, Clifton Park, NY "Boston" according to 1851 British Census. 2) Susan in the process of identifying Eastern European Shv-e Twnek in Yiddish colloquial speech (i. e. 12065 --- Need information on MICHEL from Merxheim, Ger- PHILLIPS, 3 Holbourn Bars, London, England, parents de- localities, and to provide some suggestions as Black Church; Twneh literally means a ritual im- many. DE VOS and SCHILT(D) from Amsterdam, Holland. ceased as of 1845. 3) Samuel ISAACS, father of Isaac to how these problems can be resolved. purity, but is also used to refer to a "heathen VICTORS, c1845, 3 Holbourn Bars, London, England. 4) SAMUELS from Sluzewo, Poland. BICHWIT from Grodno. chapelff).Beyond that, these names often become hope- Have data to share. Francis MANGOLD, c1855-1880; daughter Elizabeth MANCOLD, c1855-1883, 86 Old St., London, England. THE PROBLEM 79-26 Joyce SCHNEIDER OSHRIN, 100 S. Hillside Ave., Of all the games that Jewish genealogists lessly garbled in the process of their transmis- Succasunna, NJ 07876 --- Looking for: BARLAS, PRILUCKI have to play, Jewish geography is just about the sion to us by intermediaries. They thereby be- (Brest-Litovsk, Domacheva) , SCHNOENERSCEJNEIDER (Kodna) , trickiest. Sooner or later, genealogical re- come transmogrified into forms that bear little ROSENBAUM (Opaline), MEIZLISH (Swinach) , NUDEL (Luck), search requires identification of the European or no resemblance either to their Yiddish pronun- OSHRIN, ORKIN (Zagaare, Lithuania), EDELBERG, ARONSTAM, places of origin of one's ancestors. Unfortu- ciation or to their accepted, official forms. VOSS (Libau, Latvia). 3EWZSff GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY nately, the place-names these forebears give us A further problem involves our own generally 79-27 Thomas R. OTTENSTEIN, 2551 Palm Aire Dr. S., Pom- The Jewish Genealogical Society held a well- often bear no resemblance whatsoever to any name fuzzy notions of the geography and recent history pano Beach, FL 33060 --- Searching for OTTENSTEIN family, attended program in New York City on February 25 that can be found on a map or in a gazetteer. of Eastern Europe. One need only consult maps originally from Yashenovke (Jasionowka) , Poland: great- So the very act of identifying these places be- dating from 1900 to realize that political bound- grandparents Shyke/Hanna; grandparents Berke/Rishke (c. at which Dr. Sybil Milton, chief archivist of the Leo Baeck Institute, spoke on "Genealogical aries involving vast chunks of Eastern European 1845); Abraham, Herschel, Dora. Also, German towns of Zachmy M. Bah~tr a TOLEPOT conttLiblLting real estate have shifted once,' twice and even Ottenstein. Research on German-Jewish Families." e&o& whwe atLtiden on &rdmansha~;trr and The Society's March 25 meeting features three or four times since then. This affects the 79-28 Agnes BRANCH PEARLMAN, 2001 N. Westwood Ave., on Xhe Rhode Ibhd J&h ffistonicat h~o- way a place-name will be cited in an English-lan- Zachary M. Baker, TOLEDOT contributing editor Wonappmed in ;the Summa and Fa&? 1978 Santa Ana, CA 92706 --- Information to exchange, north- and assistant librarian at the YIVO Institute for guage reference work. To take but one reasonably eastern Poland 1700's-1800's: PEARLMAN/PERLMAN/PERELMAN, trnues, trenpeckiv&j. Zach A a~~i~,tizM;t complicated example, Chernovtsy, in the Bukovina RACWVICH, TUCHMAN--eomza, Zambr6w, RajgrSd; KRELLEN- Jewish Research, who will speak on "Geographical Ribwan at Xhe YlVO 1wdLtate dot IWh Research for Jewish Family History: How to Find section of what is now the Ukrainian S.S.R., was STEIN/ELENSTYN--Warsaw and northeastward; LEWI/LEVI/LEVY, Rueanch, whme he handten gmdogy-trdated officially named Czernowitz (pronounced "Tsherno- SHAPIRO/SZAPIERA--Grajewo, Schuschin/Szczuczyn, Augustbw, Those Out-of-the-way Places." cotr/tespondence and in-pmon hebamce qua- Bialystock, surrounding towns. Information about membership in the Society vitsff in both German and Yiddish) while it was ;tiom. He ih a ducendant 06 a Long fine 06 still in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, up to 1918. may be obtained by writing to 748 Livingston Lithuanian bah.m Road, Elizabeth, NJ 07208. . Adohah : YIVO, 1046 Fi@h After that, Bukovina was incorporated into Roma- Avenue, New Yokh, NY 70028. nia and the city became known as Cern5ugi (pro- or between Vilkavitkis, Lithuania and Volkovisk, . nounced "Tshernauts"). In 1940 Bukovina was an- ,I~~#IYVDPI ,iit#mvn8 ,~t#~wtan)*** n~~~lw~&492 .63 - min n~n~- 482 ~ortag~nem,8720 I Belorussia. Finally, extremely small locales may ' nexed by the Soviet Union and CernSu$i became - 33Yil 111N - (311~)3#,311YWDN ,1lt#lVB8 'ND ,llN5DlDDN ,~~~SD~DDU)***~~&~D~wDM 483 Mwty Mnk, 4717 not be included on even a fairly good map. known as Chernovtsy. However, with the joint - ~"113l~lln .I1 - (3"~in)111 -137 .12 ilVD - (~>V~VDDN,~~N~D'ODND ,llN5D'~ MOay Wii,4716 German and Romanian invasion of the U.S.S. R. in nnm .1 - vnvi ~135-.1 - nw nion .1 niln3 .? 24 - (aH5in) 3il~.13 ?doti$, 4636 SOURCES - 1941, the city reverted to Romanian sovereignty, 0'151~in2 .(I)- 1-11135~1 ril~cn .(5) - "% nil5tin plan .41- pis min .(I)- (5"in) Mod, 463 8 thereby once again becoming Cern%u$i. Then, in In the course of my work as a reference li- (Y~in)nim lpi~.I - ~IDP liin~~.l- m1 -1- (nPPin)19~~11 ,niwm .I8 - 4630 1944, the Red Army re-took Bukovina and Chernov- brarian, I have often had to try to identify ob- in) nmnSn3 .2 - (n"~in)nfinp .I- .13 - a-amn YYV .24 - Sr-r~n11~95~ Mramica,* 1072 tsy was reincorporated into the Ukrainian S.S.R. scure place-names. There is no real mystery to o3nn .(I)- (in5in) wi-an ilv .7 - -it#p ,o-*iS ,~"9,n7v~n ,~lt~ir ,pv-ni :n"3 Mrozy? 1071 In the space of 26 years, one city with thee ' the search strategies that I have found myself .(I)- (nv~in) .I'PDiiD ,Y7&3N>D ,~t#~)tZ1 MlriMw, 487 names experienced changes of political pursuing. As the subtitle of this article sug- .w95~3 nnla : DVJ~~ Mstidaw, 483 sovereignty! gests, a number of sources do exist that can be .(I) - iwva 711 - yn9nn m Chernovtsy may seem a simple case to the of considerable help in solving the problems in- 1 - Mszma Doha, 48 1 person trying to find places like Ekaterinoslav volved in locating those strange-sounding places. .@:,gl luyn : ogp.r~~x,ue 1-n .rip5p : Vpl;rn 1~ Mszczon6w, 492 or Radziwil'Zow on the map. For political reasons, However, as we shall see, the process of identi- *lp-wn: appn*~ lux:, 1-n ** .tpnrn : opya9x ,u&> lrx ** Muuony, 4812 *** the names of many cities and towns (including fication is not an automatic one. I ..'al#WB : P?p%*X THY 1% .nxSo~uon: qplllx *UtjL, 1% *** Miifit&* 4836 these two) have been completely changed by Soviet Unfortunately, no bingRe source suffices for Berl Kagan, ffebnw Subnc/tipfion Linfi. Illus- authorities. After World War I, Empress "Cather- the purpose of identifying the localities in trations of the main section (left) and index section that it is possible to ascertain that ine's glory" was renamed Dnepropetrovsk by the Eastern Europe whence many of our ancestors came. (right). In the main section, place-names are Amshinov-Mshanov is actually spelled MszczonBw Soviets, in honor of the Dnieper river, whose The .id& "Jewish gazetteer," for the English- alphabetically arranged, in Yiddish, and alter- in Polish. Finding the Polish spelling for Amt- banks the city straddles, and when the Red Army speaking researcher, would contain about 30,000 nate forms are given in parentheses, e.g., item shislav-Mstislav (Mstiszaw) is much easier. took formerly Polish Eastern Galicia from the place-names in phonetic transcription (from Yid- 483: Amtshislav (Mstislav, Amstislav, Matislav, Incidentally, the item numbers in the main Nazis after World War 11, the noble Radziwill dish, if a special Jewish name for the place ex- Mastislav, Amtshishlo) . Cross-references of a section are followed by listings of Hebrew books family found its properties confiscated and Rad- ists; otherwise, from various European languages) , sort direct the reader from the Yiddish section that had subscribers living in the respective ziwiljow became Chervonoarmeisk (Red Army-ville) , followed by the official forms the place-names to the Latin-alphabet index. Thus item 483 re- towns listed. In the days before commercial in honor of the "liberating" army. have taken since 1900, their exact locations and fers to "Mstislav" and item 492 (Amshinov) re- publishing houses were established, Hebrew books Thus geographical, political and historical their Jewish and total population before World fers to "Mshanov" (transliterations of the Yid- were normally published through the support of factors should all be borne in mind in the course War 11. Such a gazetteer would also contain dish cross-references) in the index. subscribers. The subscribers ' names and places of a search for fugitive place-names. Another cross-references from all alternate spellings to In the index it is only through painstak- of residence were mentioned in a subscription fact that must not be forgotten is that though the main one. But we live in the real world, and ing comparison with the item nmbers in the main list at the beginning or end of the books. the Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian and Romanian lacking such a source we must make do with a va- J languages use the same Roman alphabet as does riety of other geographic reference sources, each mat and language presented by the work and if one Lithuanian and Russian (in transcription) forms English, their sound systems are quite different with its particular strengths and drawbacks. succeeds in identifying a place-name in the in- of the Lithuanian Jewish place-names. from one another and from English. So a name In terms of sheer number of places listed dex, the latter gives no clue regarding the Loca- As for the Evndfraia En;tsikeoped.tia, it that sounds like uSh/tshu/tshin" when uttered (8,767 Jewish communities, mainly in Central and ;tion of the place, aside from the broad hint con- presents a serious obstacle to most potential aloud is spelled Szczuczyn in Polish. "Popilan" Eastern Europe), Berl Kagan's ffebnw Subnw;tion tained in the language in which the name is . users, by virtue of the fact that it is in Rus- is spelled Papilk in Lithuanian; SzamosGjvPr, Lin;tn comes closest to serving as a gazetteer of spelled. Nevertheless, tlebhw Sub6cnip;tian Lhfi sian. And though it provides thumbnail sketches Hungary is pronounced something like "Somoshoy- Jewish place-names, though that is not the only, represents by far the largest compilation of Jew- of many Jewish communities in and around the Rus- var"; and Hugi is pronounced "Hushiw in Romanian. or even the main purpose of the author. (He ish place-names in their original Yiddish pronun- sian Empire, it does not descend to the village It is also important to have at least a seeks primarily to document the widespread, pop- ciations. Of course, many places listed by Kagan level in its coverage. passing familiarity with the terminology of basic ular financial support enjoyed by rabbinic liter- do not have special Jewish names and are simply An important source of capsule information political units in Russia and Poland. In partic- ature throughout Europe and North Africa before given in phonetic Yiddish transcriptions of their on Eastern European Jewish communities is the ular, the term "guberniia" means "province" in the 20th century.) The main section, in Yiddish, official forms. BRachbooh 06 LocUa Whobe J&h PapWon Russian (the Polish term is "woj ewodztwo") . So, is alphabetical by place-names, and is accompan- There are several other listings of Jewish was Exte,tmina;ted by Zhe Nazin . In all, roughly to say that someone comes from Kovno guberniia ied by a Latin-alphabet index listing the accepted place-names--mainly for Poland--which can be con- 30,000 European Jewish communities are listed by means about as much as saying that one is from forms of the place-names before World War 11. sulted (see the Bibliography), but none is nearly country, under their respective provinces, to- Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, there are few cross-references for as complete as Kagan's work. These lists are gether with their pre-World War I1 Jewish popula- A fine point of Yiddish grammar relating to variant forms of names within either the main generally in Yiddish or Hebrew, so the language tions. Included are: 16,782 Polish, 769 Austrian, geographical names is that a person who comes section or the index, and in the main section the 1 and alphabet barriers remain a problem. 3,392 German, 3,013 Romanian, 2,462 Hungarian, from a particular locality is identified by the official forms of the names are seldom indicated. One Hebrew-alphabet list that does include 678 Yugoslavian, 48 Greek, 2,115 Czechoslovakian, name of the town, plus the ending "er" ; e.g. one In short, the Latin-alphabet index is linked to Polish and Russian place-names n& the Hebrew 395 Dutch, 28 Norwegian, 12 Luxembourgian, 50 Es- is a Vilner, Minsker, Strelisker, Rizhiner, Lu- the Yiddish main section, but not v&e vwa. entries is the geographic index to the Pinha tonian, 413 Latvian, 295 Lithuanian, and 1,086 bavitsher, Sigheter, etc. This form can also So one can get from Mszczon6w to Amshinov, but Va'ad hba Atra~ot[MiMuka od ;the CounciR 06 ;the Soviet Belorussian and Ukrainian place-names. serve to modify a noun: Minsker guberniia, Luba- not from Amshinov to Mszczon6w. Successful use Fo~rLaMdn], edited by Israel Halperin. This Use of the Bhchbooh presupposes knowledge of the vitsher rabbi, Strelisker Independent Benevolent of Kagan's index thus often requires considerable work concentrates on the domains of the historic official spellings of the place-names, as well as Society. ingenuity and/or luck. This problem is mitigated "four lands" of Great Poland, Little Poland, of the provinces to which they belonged before Sometimes, too, several towns bear the exact somewhat by the fact that Kagan singles out a Volhynia and Lithuania. The main drawback of World War 11. As if this were not enough, the same name. In Poland, for example, more than one number of the most striking Jewish place-names in this index is that only about 800 place-names are editors do not even grace the Bhchbooh with a Nowy Dwdr (Newcastle, loosely translated) had an his preface. This narrows down the guesswork a included. As a geographic source, therefore, it table of contents, thereby rendering finding even organized Jewish community. In such a case it is bit, regarding the other places listed in the is incomplete. the provinces a very tedious task. But because necessary to know in advance ~kichNowy DwSr to index. The list of Lithuanian Jewish communities of the enormous number of places listed, this look for (i.e. which part of Poland one's fore- For the researcher who is unfamiliar with contained in the 1971 Encydopaedia Juddica's can be an inordinately helpful source. bears came from). One must learn to distinguish the Hebrew alphabet, Kagan's work, being in Yid- article on Lithuania is one of the very few lists Extensive geographic indexes are also con- between Minsk, Belorussia and Mi6sk Mazowieckie dish, poses an additional problem. Yet even if of Yiddish place-names available in Latin-alphabet tained in volumes 3 and 4 of the GLLide to Unpb- (also called Nowo Miiisk), near Warsaw in Poland, one does manage to overcome the barriers of for- transcriptions. This list also presents both the Rinhed McL.teniae6 04 fie flotocawt and in the var- I ious YIVO and Yad Vashem bibliographies of Yiddish Eight volumes have appeared since 1964, reaching [4] Encydopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem: 1971-72) . [15] Piekarz, Mendel. The J&h HU~OCUU~~and and Hebrew Holocaust literature (see entries under the letter 'Trf. The place-names are given in 16 vols. Includes articles about individual com- Henohm Though the Eya 06 the ffe6ke.u Phaa; a Gar and Piekarz in the Bibliography). A sizeable Russian, with very short descriptions of the munities, together with articles about specific Bibfiogtraphy (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1966). 4 scholarly literature (much of it, too, in Yiddish places (though not their exact locations) in regions and countries (the latter usually accom- vols. Vol. 4 contains an extensive Hebrew geo- or Hebrew) on the subject of Jewish toponomy (the German. Interestingly enough, this gazetteer panied with maps and often with lists of places). graphic index. study of place-names) also exists. uses the pre-revolutionary forms of Russian [s] Evh~baiaEvttnikXopU [Jewihh Encydo- [16] Vinter, Shmuel. "A bisl poylish-yidishe If Kagants work and the Bhchb~ohdo not place-names. Thus, if one looks up Dneprope- p&] (St. Petersburg: 1906-13). 16 vols. geografye" [A little Poli sh-Jewish geography], list a particular place-name, then it is neces- trovsk, he will be sent by a cross-reference to Includes articles on many Russian Jewish communi- in F.ZoLoghhe Shtri,(tn, vol. 3 (1929), pp. 585- sary to turn to general gazetteers which usual- - the entry for Ekaterinoslav. ties. In Russian. 586. Lists 110 Polish-Jewish place-names. In ly are available in large public or university Last but not least, one cannot overstate Yiddish. libraries - for help in identifying and locating the importance of having a good, detailed, pre- [6] Gar, Josef . Bibfioghaphy 06 Aktkla on Rhe the place. The Cohb.ia Lippi~co~%Gazettem ferably pre-World War I1 (because of name changes) Catanfiophe and HmoAm in Yiddish P&o&& [17] Wunder, Meir. Meon& Gdhh: Encyclopedia Rhe Woud (in its various editions) is useful to map at hand. In my own work, I have relied heav- (New York: YIVO, 1966-69). 2 vols. Contains 06 GaAXcian Rabbh and Schoh (Jerusalem: In- a point, but not of much help in finding villages ily on a 1937 German Andtea HandaZla, which has extensive geographic indexes in Yiddish and in stitute for Commemoration of Galician Jewery and very small towns. However, an exhaustive very precise maps of all Eastern European coun- the Latin alphabet. [sic], 1978-) . Vol. 1 (A-D) contains a list of geographic tool for Poland exists, in the S40wnih approximately 225 Galician Jewish communities, tries except for the Western Soviet Union (this [7] Gar, Josef. Gbfioghaphy Yddish B~oh Geogmdiczny U~6h2wlPol6biego [Gazetteen 06 06 in Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish, along with their is indeed a distinct and inexplicable shortcoming on ;the Ca;tan&ophe and HenoAm (New York: YIVO, the Kirzgdom 06 Po&xnd], which appeared in 16 vol- of this particular atlas). The maps of Germany pre-World War I1 Jewish populations. This is wnes between 1880 and 1902 and which has recently 1962). Contains extensive geographic indexes in the first of several projected volumes. in this atlas are exceptionally detailed. Like Yiddish and in the Latin alphabet. been reprinted (1975-77). This is a general his- all good atlases Andtrea Handa;tean contains a [18] Zamet, Leyb. "Nemen un tsunemen fun shtet torical gazetteer, whose editors evidently re- complete index to its maps. On more than one, [8] Guide ;to UnpubLbhed Matem 06 Rhe Halo- un shtetlekh in Lite" [Names and nicknames of garded Poland as a highly elastic geographic en- occasion I have been able to identify a place cCUIAt (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, Institute cities and towns in Lithuania], in Yidbhe tity, stretching from sections of Prussia to simply by knowing its rough location and its ap- of Contemporary Jewry, 1970-77). 4 vols. Vols. Shpnahh, vol. 4 (1944), pp. 96-104. Lists rough- Minsk in Belorussia, Dvinsk (also called Daugav- proximate pronunciation, and then checking the 3 and 4 contain extensive geographic indexes, in ly 130 Yiddish place-names in Lithuania. In pils, Dinaburg and Diinaburg) in Latvia, and Kiev the Latin alphabet. v;aa; PI. index to the atlas, or one of the maps. 1 IUU1311. in the Ukraine. Thus this Polish gazetteer also r91 Halnerin. Israel, ed. Pinha Va'ad Atba SUMMARY r -----z serves as a gazetteer for many Ukrainian, Belo- LL;Toi--T~nu.ta06 the Cound 06 fie FOWL L~AI mssian, Latvian, Lithuanian and German places From the foregoing it should be clear that (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute of the Jewish Agency, GENERAL GEOGRAPHZ C SOURCES (in their Polish spellings), and makes occasional easy answers are not always to be had, as one 1945). Lists roughly 800 places in a Hebrew geo- [19] Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Litera- mention of the Jewish communities of the towns searches for Eastern European places. To get graphic index, together with their Latin-alphabet tur, Mainz . Rwahcha Geogtlapkincha Namubuch described, as well. Use of this source presup- from MszczonSw to Amshinov is easy; the problem equivalents. Covers the historic regions of Great (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowi'tz, 1964-) . 8 vols. I poses at the very least a basic knowledge of Pol- completed to date, up to "T". Place-names given I is the reverse. This is due to the unfortunate Poland, Little Poland, Volhynia and Lithuania. ish spelling, not to mention the Polish language. fact that no cornptrehe~ivegeographic source ex- in Russian, with short German annotations. Uses When--as is frequently the case--one encounters ists, linking the researcher directly to an ac- [lo] Halperin, Israel. "Shemot geografiim shel pre-revolutionary forms of names. a place-name that is used for many locations, cepted place-name from a Jewish place-name, not Polin be-mekorot ha-ivriim" [Polish geographic Andtea HandcUa6 : I [20] (Bielef eld, Leipzig Ver- I laborious perusal of many columns may be required, even Kagan's Heb/rw Subachipfion [Lia. Never- names in Hebrew sources], in Lahonenu, vol. 4 lag von Velhagen 6 Klasing, 1937). A highly ser- as in search of the correct Nowy Dw6r. For Poland theless, in most cases an answer can readily be (5692 [1931/2]), pp. 233-240. Includes a list of viceable atlas for Eastern Europe. Not the only in its post-1945 boundaries, the Spi-5 Uiejhcowodci found, and a patient and creative use of the 100 Polish towns in their printed Hebrew forms, good atlas, to be sure. I Poaebkiej Rzeczypohpo~ejLudowej [[Lit 06 PRaca sources I have mentioned will facilitate this with a Polish index to these forms. in the PoRinh PeopLelh Repubfic] provides good kind of research. The satisfaction involved in [zl] The Cohlzia Lippinco2.t Gazetteen 06 ,the [ll] Hart, I. "Yidishe nemen fun shtet un shtet- Wodd (New York : Columbia University Press) . basic locational information. the "discovery" of an unfamiliar locale can equal lekh in Poyln" [Yiddish names of cities and towns The best general geographic source for the the joy of uncovering a long lost ancestor. Various eds. The basic English-language geo- in Poland], in Yidhhe Shpmhh, vol. 2 (1942), graphic reference work. Soviet Union is the United States Board on Geo- pp. 125-127. Contains a list of 100 Polish place- graphic Names1 GazuYecn No. 42, U.S.S. R. This BIBLIOGRAPHY names. In Yiddish. [22] S4ownih Geogha~icznyKhbLa&a Paheskiego gazetteer, in seven volumes, lists 400,000 place- [Gazetteen 06 Rhe Kingdom ob Pohnd] (Warsaw: names throughout the U.S.S.R., plus cross-refer- JEWISH SOURCES [12] Kagan, Berl. Hebnw Subacnipfion [Lia (New Wyd. Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1975-77; reprint of ences from variant spellings to current f oms, [I] Bhch600b 06 LucU~Whoae Jewhh Pop- York: The Library of the Jewish Theological Sem- the 1880-1902 ed.) . 16 vols. Comprehensive and gives their precise latitudes and longitudes. Ra;tion Ext~~mi&dby the Nazis (Jerusalem: inary of America and KTAV Publishing House, 1975). gazetteer for historical Poland. Includes ar- This listing is entirely in Latin-alphabet tran- Yad Vashem, 1965). Lists over 30,000 European Lists 8,767 Jewish comrmnities in a Yiddish main ticles on tens of thousands of- Polish, German, scription from Russian (save for the Baltic coun- Jewish communities, by country, together with section, with a Latin-alphabet index. The most Lithuanian, Latvian, Belorussian and Ukrainian tries, where names appear in their original spell- their pre-World War I1 Jewish populations. comprehensive source of purely Jewish geographic locations. In Polish. ings). Similar gazetteers exist for other East- Probably the largest single collection of names names. [23] SPA Uiejacowodci Pohebkiej Rzeczypo~po~ej ern European countries, e .g . Hungary (No. 5 2; of Jewish communities. [13] Mahler , Raphael. "Shemot yehudiim shel me- 25,000 entries) and Romania (No. 48; 36,500 en- Ludowej [[Lit 04 P&ca in the PoUh PeopLe1a [2] Chajes, Saul. "Nemen fun galitsishe erter komot be-Polin ha-yeshena" [Jewish place names in tries)' The U'S' has an Repubfic] (Warsaw: Wyd. Komunikacj i i LacznoSci, in yidishe rnekoyrim un inemfolks-loshnlf [Names ' old Poland], in R~hwnot,vol. 5 new series (5713 extensive Index *o Named on AMS 7:250,000 Ma~d06 1967). Gives basic locational information for of Galic.an placesin Jewish sources and in the [1952/3]), pp. 146-161. Lists 296 Polish place- places in contemporary Poland. EaXmn EEwrope, which concentrates on places in names in their Hebrew and Yiddish forms. the Western U.S.S.R., and is less precise in giv- Yiddish vernacularl, in Yivo-BLeten, vol. ing geographical coordinates than are the Board (1934), pp. 229-242. Lists 215 geographic names [14] Piekarz, Mendel. The tlolocCUIAt and i.12 Ad- [24] U. S. Army Map Service. Index A% Nama on on Geographic Names' gazetteers. in Galicla Poland). In Yiddish. tmath; Hehw Booh PubRinhed in Rhe Yam AMS 7 :250,000 Maw 06 Eantmn Ew~ope(Washington: 1966). 2 vols. An index to AMS maps of the Another source for Russian place-names, [3] Encyclopaedia Judaica (Berlin : Verlag Esch- 1933-7972 (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1974). 2 vols. still being published by the Akademie der Wissen- kol, 1928-34). 10 vols. (A-L). Includes many Vol. 2 contains an extensive geographic index, in Western Soviet Union. Lists tens of thousands of schaften und der Literatur in Mainz, West Germa- articles about individual Jewish communities, Hebrew, and a "conversion table" of these names place-names, with approximate geographic coordi- nates. ny, is the R~&hcha Geognapkincha Namenbuch. , with bibliographical references. In German. from Hebrew into their official Latin-alphabet forms. TOLEVUT/WZNTER 3978-79 1251 U. S. Board on Geographic Names. Gaz&eeh [26] U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Gaz&eetr No. 42, U.S.S.R. (2nd ed., Washington: 1970). 7 NO. 4b, Rumania (Washington: 1960). Contains vols. Includes 400,000 entries, listing "offi- 36,500 entries. cia1 and provisional standard names and unapproved [27] U.S. Board on Geographic Names. GazeMeetr variant names ,I' along with precise geographic NO. 52, Hungahy (Washington: 1961). Contains coordinates for each location. 7N SEARCH Of A SEPffARPTC TRAP?T7ON: 25,000 entries. A FAMlLY NAMED SHEBY ILLUSTRATIONS OF SELECTED ITEMS IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY David Sheby
NUMBER OF MOS~OVO~, see: MostovoJ,e SERIAL INTRODUCTION: . RECOLLECTIONS AND A CHANCE MEETING No sooner had I offered this statement of LOCALITY JEWISH Mostovoye, aansnistria NUMBER RESIDENTS One day, twenty-three years ago, as a result fact than I was rebuked with "Nonsense, no one's Mosty Wielkie, ~vovarea of some otherwise insignificant evknts, I found Aid by non-Jews grandparents come from Turkey.'' Despite my pro- Mrozy Deportations myself the recipient of a prize awarded to me by testations to the contrary, my answer (not among Escape my second-grade teacher. The prize was my choice the prize selections) was dismissed as fabrica- Mszczon6w Extermination of one of several jigsaw puzzles depicting scenes tion, and I was given the Canadian Mounties puz- Mystkatiec Stary War criminals in foreign countries (e.g., a goat herd on the zle by default. Mraznica, see: Boryslaw Swiss Alps, a band of Cossacks, a group of Cana- Despite my parents' assurances that I had Mystkowska Wola Mrozy, Warsaw area dian Mounties). I was indecisive about my pre- Police, Polish been correct, my teacher's rebuke, combined with Myszory ference. To help me make a selection my teacher my classmates' tease of "gobble, gobble1' and my Mszana Dolna, Cracow area , Nadarzyn suggested that I choose the country from which youthful apprehensions of unintelligible Ladino- Mszczonow, Warsaw area my grandparents came. A decision based on such speaking grandparents, united to form a distinct Nadma Anti-Jewish riots a criterion required some deliberation for I had preference for the more comprehensible Ashkenazi Collaborators, Polish three grandparents with two distinctly different family and culture afforded to me through my Narty pow.Sochaczew Deportations to Warsaw - backgrounds. My favorite grandparent was my ma- mother. 'Judenrat' This subsequent nonchalance toward my [l] ~&chbaoh, From the section under Poland Muchea, Braila area, Rumania ternal grandmother whom I knew came from some- Sephardic background remained for the next twen- that includes the names of towns in Warsaw woje- Forced labor where near Russia. At seven years of age I was ty years, only sporadically interrupted by minor wodzdua (province). The Jewish population fig- Resistance unable to remember the syllables required to speculations on how the family name might be re- ure is based on the 1931 Polish census. The Mhldorf, branch camp of Dachcu~ f om "Lithuania ." lated to "Sheba" (as in Queen of), or why we had serial numbers correspond to the number of com- On the other hand, I had strong mnemonic the singular entries under "Sheby" in New York munities listed in sequence, by country. In associations of "Thanksgiving" with my paternal City telephone directories. MU kachevo , Subrarpathi&n Rqssie grandparents1 place of origin. As a seven year This remained the state of affairs until Poland's case the sequence runs from 1 to 16,782. J old I thought it strange that a foreign country May, 1975, when, while a graduate student at the [8] Guide, vol. 4. The place names are given should share a name with a bird; but then there California Institute of Technology, I mailed a according to their present political status and were other aspects of my father's parents that I registered letter at the campus post office. in their current spellings. gscne (il~nsl~l.'na).('zevl~ .1fie11E, Gcr. .Ilschr.no, Thus Mukachevo is found equally puzzling. For example, they spoke The postal attendant, a man of my father's gen- villagt!. (VOW *.'li). N eentrttl IJol~r~ni:~.(:r(v.llo- placed in Subcarpathian Russia and not in Czech- dovak~a,on rurlrond nnd 23 mi. NNW of I'r:lg~~r; what I then thought was Spanish but were not eration, routinely inspected the letter for the health resort wit11 pent hnth9. oslovakia, which it belonged to before World War Puerto Rican. I could never understand them nor required return address, and said, "I spell my Mshchonov, 1'ol:intl: see hlnzc~oxow. 11. The Czech spelling is MukaCevo. Before xdda or Misida (~~lYni:'dii).~O~VII (pop. T,.Oli-l). I: did I care to speak with them. Despite these name with two B's." I asked what he meant and central Malta. at head of Mcditrrr:n~cnninlct. I>; World War I this city was part of the Austro-Hun- mi. W of V~~lIrttn.Bout ~.(,l):~iri~lg,fisl~itjg. Its misgivings my memory on the matter at hand was was dumbfounded to learn that he, Solomon Shebby, mnon~~~nc~ntsrsr:i~~r(i srverr ~:IIII:LPI.d11rill~ S(.I~OIII~ garian Empire. Then it was known as Munkac's. World W:ir: nlnortn tIl(vn :irr old troglcrrlyt(~VIIII~(.II. quite clear, and I responded to my teacher's was also a "Sheby" (albeit with two B's) and of 17th-c:e11t.aln~rell, rrrcadcd 18tl1-rrnt. 11ul)lic:l):~tl~. suggestion with "Turkey, my grandparents came Sephardic descent! He was the first Sheby I had *sta'rd (irrn~lyli'rh).torv~~ (I!J?T, ~w,:). 4.0-1?). XI: Vldi~~~irol~l:~.-t, 1tussi:t11 SI:Sl( 1w:Lr Jilv:t7111:rIt., from Turkey." ever met who was not related to me. Uad hlcrgenthcim see Mergcntheirn 13 ~ni.NW oi Vvnsniki: ntltwi 11:ill
JEWISH NAMES: QUESTIONS AM) ANSWERS
Benzion C. Kaganoff
As a continuing feature of TOLEDOT, Rabbi Slivka. Slivkin means "a descendant of Sliva" Benzion C. Kaganoff is writing a column on Jew- (Slivka plus -in suffix). ish names. Rabbi Kaganoff is the author of A Viotianmy 06 J& h Nama ad Th& tlib;tohy (Schocken Books, 1977; reviewed in TOLEDOT, Fa1 1 1977) and serves as rabbi of Congregation Ezras QUESTTON: What can you teli me about the family Israel in Chicago. name HERTZUM? My maternal relatives all live in We invite our readers to send in their Denmark. Earlier generations came to Denmark questions on the subject of Jewish names. Please from Germany, possibly from Schleswig-Holstein. include whatever information you know about the ---Mu.Jamen &nm, R.R. #I, Waubaunhwe, Ont., geographical origin of the family whose name is Canada LOK 2CO being submitted for comment. Not every question will necessarily be answered in this column. #dSWER: The provinces of Schleswig-Holstein be- came a united duchy (Herzogtum) in 1386, and the territory was continually disputed between Danes and Germans. Those who migrated from the duchy QUESTZON: What can you tell me about the names were referred to as coming from the Herzogtum, GIESKIN and SLIVKIN? The families were from and this became garbled into Herztum, Herzum, Dvinsk, Latvia. --- ffo~ahdWofi~hy, 1965 and Hertzum. Fw& #107, Chicago, 11 60626 ANSWER: The old German Gisela ("pledge") was also popularized in France as Giskle. It became QUESTION : My maiden name was MERGENTHEIMER . a popular woman's name as early as the tenth Are all Mergentheimers related? --- C0~ItaM;t century and was borne by Jewish women in the E. Vaughn, 772 Chmy Way, ffayumd, CA 94541 diminutive Giese or Gieske. Gieskin means "a descendant of Giese (Gisela)" and is a matronymic. ANSWER: Mergentheimer is a name which denotes Slava (Slawa) is a Polish name which means one who.came from Bad Mergentheim in Germany. "glory." In Yiddish the name became Slova and Jewish settlement in that community goes back Sliva, and in the diminutive form Slovka and to the 13th century. During the following cen- turies Jews continued to suffer persecutions and