ROM-SIG NEWS

Transcription

ROM-SIG NEWS

ROM-SIG NEWS
A Special Interest Group Journal for
ROMANIAN JEWISH GENEALOGY
Templul Neolog, sir. Marasesli 6, Timisoara, Romania (photos bySaudi Goldsmith, 1996)
In this issue. . .
...but first a word from your editor
After Paris: Ukraine, Hungary. Romania
2
3
FROM OUR READERS:
Blumenfeld; Bratu; Mendelsohn
4
Sentimental Journey: Return to Telencsht
Glasberg Grandchildren Return to Chernovitz
A Cousin is Only a Letter Away
5
11
17
Where is Miklos Reismann?
18
The Strumah Tragedy
19
The Passengers on the Strumah
24
Volume 5, Number 3
Postscript to the Strumah Tragedy
Possible Research Help in Ukraine
Onomastic Derailments: Irregular Surnames
A Cemetery of Cong. Anshei Romania, Newark. NJ
27
27
28
30
Beltsy Vital Statistics on Film
31
Romanian Restitution
31
Romanian FAMILY FINDER Supplement:
91 more researchers
Finding a Town of Origin
Templul Neolog. Timisoara (photos)
32
35
36
Spring 1997
ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol. 5, No. 3, Spring 1997
Shalom, friends,
ROM-SIG NEWS
ROM-SIG continues in good health, reaching a new high of 320
members, scattered throughout the world. Two-thirds have eMail
ROMANIAN JEWISH GENEALOGY
addresses: a sizeable third (98 members) do not. 45 members live
outside the United States, in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada (19
(ISSN 1084-3221) is published quarterly
by the Romanian Special Interest Group,
members), Denmark, England, France, Israel, New Zealand, Romania
and Russia. Our Family Finder has grown to include 2802 entries from
655 members and non-members; it is updated monthly on the Internet
and will be printed for our members this summer.
a volunteer organization.
A Special Interest Group Journal for
The purpose of ROM-SIG NEWS is to
enlighten, encourage and entertain
research in Romanian Jewish genealogy.
Annual dues are $20.00 (U.S.). Payment
can be made in foreign currency for the
The leadership of ROM-SIG and ROM-SIG NEWS is not quite so equivalent of $22.00 (U.S.). Back orders
healthy. Frankly, we're getting a little stale, and we would welcome are $15 (1 year), $40 (3 yrs), $55 (4 yrs).
some "fresh blood." We labor under the handicap of being so widely
spread geographically: eMail is great for a lot of communication but it
doesn't match the productivity and interaction of a group whose leaders
can meet and talk face-to-face. I note that the Galicia SIG, for instance,
ROM-SIG NEWS is governed by
an editorial board consisting of
Sam Elpern, Paul Pascal,
has drawn its entire steering committee from the Washington, D.C.
commuting area.
Gene Starn and Marlene Zakai.
Ruth Mayo has been doing a superb job of proofreading as our Copy
Editor and will continue to monitor this aspect of our newsletter. Joyce
All communication regarding sub
scriptions, checks, receipt of issues, and
family finders should be sent to:
Field has volunteered to handle the job of Treasurer for our group.
Rosanne Leeson could use some help with the ROM-NET Patrol, which
watches for eMail messages on the Internet regarding Romanian family
searches, and follows up by introducing ROM-SIG to these potential
members. Sam Elpern is looking for assistant coordinators, to handle
such projects as a ROM-SIG resource guide, and ROM-SIG-sponsored
research in Romanian archives.
Editor —MARLENE ZAKAI
ROM-SIG NEWS
c/o Sam Elpern
10571 Colorado Blvd, J-102
Thornton, CO 80233
303-451-6080
E-mail: samelpern@aol.com
Someone comfortable with the use of
computer programs could maintain the Family Finder in its various
manifestations: original spread sheet, monthly updates to our Internet
Finder, quarterly extracts of new postings for the newsletter and annual
publication in print. And, we could use a "Webmaster" and assistants to
set up and maintain a multiple-page web site: take a look at Sam's
preliminary work at: hl\p://membcrs.aol.com/same\pern/rshome.htm.
All editorial communication, including
articles, information, photographs, maps
and manuscripts should be sent to:
ROM-SIG NEWS
c/o Marlene Zakai
11908 Tildenwood Drive,
Rockville, MD 20852
301-231-9131
How about joining in as an assistant editor? If you would like to try
editing one issue with our guidance and assistance, please let us know.
Or you could take on the responsibility for developing, or ferreting out,
several articles for the newsletter. These could build on a single theme
like Dr. Bratu's series, or be unrelated in subject. Or you could agree to
receive original, sometimes awkward, material and edit it for publication.
For any of these tasks, or for ideas of your own, don't wait: contact me
or Sam right away.
E-mail: zakai@aol.com
Articles
and
NEXT ISSUE:
DEADLINE:
MarCene
information
should be
submitted written clearly or printed, pref
erably typewritten, double-spaced, or on
IBM or MAC compatible disk. Please do
not send original photographs or
documents: send copies. Any material
submitted will be returned upon request.
July 31, 1997
June 25, 1997
After the Paris Seminar:
Ukraine, Hungary, Romania
The normal deadlines for all of these trips are long
past, but openings may still exist.
Ukraine
Sally Ann Sack <sallyannsack%delphi.com> reports:
George Bolotenko has just spoken to the top officials
in the Ukrainian archives. They are very excited about
our up-coming research trip and willing to do
everything in their power to make it a success.
Fees for research have been established at very
reasonable rates. They are: US$10 to initiate a
request, $5 per hour of research work by archivists
and $l-$2 per page for photocopying of documents.
Genealogists going on the trip are asked to submit
research requests [to UniGlobe] NO LATER THAN
April 15. Results will be picked up and paid for upon
arrival in Kiev. Opportunities to do follow up
research in various oblast archives will be facilitated.
The head of the Kiev Historical Archives, one of the
two main archives in the country (the other is in
L'viv), will arrange a special orientation for the group
upon arrival in Kiev. The Ukrainian archives has
recently completed a thorough inventory of ALL
Jewish holdings in the country and feels that its
personnel are in an excellent position to offer
thorough services to Jewish genealogists.
Hungary
Jewish genealogists with roots in areas of Romania
and western Ukraine that were Hungary before World
War, can have "first time', access to Jewish archival
documents in that region on the post-Paris miniseminar being led by Louis Schonfeld. Schonfeld,
leader of the Hungarian SIG, was born in Hungary and
speaks Hungarian fluently.
Tte group will fly from Paris to Budapest on Friday,
July 18, arriving in the early afternoon. They will
explore Budapest and have the opportunity to attend
Shabbat services at the famous Dohanyi Street
synagogue, once the second largest in Europe. On
Sunday, they will leave Budapest by train for
Nyiregyhaza, a large town in northeastern Hungary
where Schonfeld's cousin is the vice mayor and
which will serve as the hub city for the remainder of
the trip. From Nyiregyhaza, participants will make
individual day trips to ancestral towns in
northeastern Hungary, near-by Romania and
Ukraine, including visits to Romanian archives in
Baia Mare, Romania, and Uzhgorod, Munkachevo
and Beregovo, Ukraine, archives. In each case, they
will be accompanied by a translator and guide. In
the Ukrainian archives, they will be assisted by a
professor who has worked with this material.
A few places may still be available when you read
this notice, but only if interested parties contact Sally
Ann Sack <sallyannsack@delphi.com> right away.
Romania
Meanwhile, the planning for the post-Paris trip to
Romania continues on schedule. Eighteen people
have already committed to the trip and six others are
"possible." Arrangements are being tailored to the
needs of each participant. The tour will visit
Bucharest, Bra§ov, Piatra Neamt. Suceava and Ia§i.
Trip participants will also have the opportunity to
make day-trips to ancestral villages (in Moldavia)
and to conduct genealogical research in local
archives. Prices (including airfare) are now closer to
$3,200 per couple than the $4,000 earlier quoted.
HOWEVER, if you have not yet signed up and have
been thinking of doing so, time's a wasting. Rick
needs some lead time in making those group and
individual arrangements. If you are interested,
contact Rick Bercuvitz immediately at 617-547-
1082 (rberc&Jju.edu). As for the optional individual
research offered before the group arrives, available
to all even if not going on the trip. Rick has set a fee
of $50 for any one of these options:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Search I to 4 names, one town, pre-1900
Search 1 to 4 names, one town, post-1900
Search censuses (if possible) for 1 to 4 names
Cemetery search
Your comments andsuggestions arealways welcome. Write to: Editor, ROM-SIG
From our Readers
Start Asking Questions NOW
The following is certainly not what one would call a
success story. It's more a tale of frustration and awe
at the secrets that families never reveal. When my
father-in-law died in 1973, we collected his
belongings from his second wife. They lay dormant
for many years due to the jobs and duties of everyday
living. In 1990 when I retired, I decided to search
through them and start research on the Blumenfeld
clan of which there were very few left. Among the
papers, I found a letter from Sulim Blumenfeld
written from the paralytic ward of the Israeli Hospital
(in what city or country, I do not know). Not being
able to read Rumanian and since my husband was
unaware of who Sulim was, we entreated Monica
Talmor for a translation. Imagine our surprise to
discover that Sulim was my father-in-law's father and
that as late as 1931—the date on the letter, when my
husband was 9 years old—he had a living grandfather
that he knew nothing about. Unfortunately, we still
do not know why and where he was hospitalized.
I write this for those of you fortunate enough to have
living parents and relatives. Try as hard as you can to
get them to speak. My only regret at age 72 is that we
have no one around anymore to question.
NEWS, 11908 Tildenwood Drive, Rockville,
MD
20852.
infonnation helpful to our writers, answer them directly.
If
you have
If it's of general
interest, write us.
A Few Comments
Readers may ask why my name is followed in some
places by the nameof MonicaTalmor. Theexplanation
is very simple: she is my daughter. As to the census
from Podu Doaiei, I found it very interesting; it is clear
that the translationinto English required a lot of work. I
want to make only one correction: on page 24, Roman
ardelean is not the occupation of "Transylvanian
novelist." In my opinion, this name is frequently used
to describe a Romanian from Ardeal (synonymous with
Transylvania). You say ""Roman banatean" for a Ro
manian from Banat, etc. The specification is necessary
in Transylvania just because in this territory there are
large minorities of Hungarians and Germans. However,
this construction is also used for a subject from
Moldavia {Roman moldovean) or even to describe a
Polish Jew (Evreu polonez). Being possessed in the last
months by surnames, I have to mention that by adding
the suffix "u" to these provinces you obtain a lot of
surnames, used by Romanians: Ardeleanu, Banateanu,
Moldoveanu, Olteanu (Oltenia), etc.
Marcel Bratu, M.D.
707 Mix Avenue, #58
Hamden,CT 06514
Lipkany (1915), Ia§i (1864)
Incidentally, I don't know where the Israeli Hospital
is. There was no postmark on the envelope that was
readable. I thought it might be in Czernovitz, and
someone had a map with the name Israel Hospital,
but there was no way we could find out if that's
where he was. They lived in Iasi and it is possible,
but without research from someone there, I have no
way of knowing if there was an Israeli Hospital in
Iasi in 1931 or if it's the one in Czernovitz.
Phyllis Berman Blumenfeld
2224 E. 14th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11229-4313
<plblum @amanda. dorsai. org>
Do you know of anyone who might have information
about some of the people from Lipkany, Bessarabia
between 1909 and 1920?
Also....the Iasi census of 1898 in the last ROM-SIG
NEWS notes my paternal great grandfather, Mendel
sin Alter. WHAT A FIND! Do you know of any
records that might note his arrival in Romania,
probably around 1864? I would like to know where
in Russia he actually came from and try to gather
information on his parents, etc.
Howard Mendelsohn
howmen @ ix. netcom. com
ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol.5, No. 3, Spring 1997
Sentimental Journey: A Return to Telenesht
by Irv Schoenberg
Outside Teleneshty, Moldova, July, 1996:
(left to right)
Irv Schoenberg
David Shore
Bernice Schneider
Victor Youkilis
Sandra Shore
Nancy Prostow
John Youkilis
Anatevka, Tevya's shtetl of Fiddler on the Roof, is
fiction created by Sholem Aleichem.
Irv
Schoenberg's shtetl is Telenesht. It is real, a small
town in the Republic of Moldova. Irv recently returned
from visiting his ancestral shtetl.
In 1903 and 1905, the pogroms of Kishinev shocked the
world. About ninety Jewish men, woman and children
were brutally murdered by agents of the Czar who
encouraged and permitted the terrible acts. Located only
70 kilometers (45 miles) from Kishinev, in the
Bessarabian region, Telenesht had a population of a few
thousand souls, about 80 percent of them Jewish.
Telenesht was an agricultural center in an area known for
its wheat, livestock and wine. Its vineyards produced
wine that was highlyregarded and greatly enjoyed.
Most of Irv's family lived in Telenesht. Pogroms and
bloodthirsty Cossacks were no strangers to Telenesht
either. The family's future was dark, and they could
clearly see that conditions would get much worse before
they got any better. So the family left for America, the
land where the streets were not only paved with gold, but
where religious and political freedom could make for a
better life, and certainly one much less dangerous. There
was another good reason to leave: how else would
Velvel and Charna scrape up dowries for the six
Hochmandaughters to get them properly married?
Thus it was that the oldest brothers and sisters began
the exodus to St. Joseph, Missouri. The small town
was
their
destination
because
landsmen
from
Telenesht had preceded them to that mid-America
agricultural center. And how did it happen that a
landsman would land in St. Joseph? The story is told
of a man from Telenesht who, upon his arrival at Ellis
Island was advised not to settle in the lower east side
of New York, but to go west where the opportunities
were greater. Accepting the advice, he went to the
train station, put down all the money he had, and
asked for a ticket on a train headed west. The ticket
got him as far as St. Joe, and there he found that jobs
in the meat packing houses were available to anyone
who was willing to work. When word got back to
Telenesht about the plentifuljobs, Bessarabian families
began to arrive in St. Joe in substantial numbers.
The Hochman family migration had almost reached
its final phase in 1909 when Irv's mother, Mary, the
youngest of the ten kids, left Telenesht with Velvel,
Charna and Mary's next three oldest siblings: Fannie,
Golda, and Jacob. Only the oldest of the ten, Mary's
brother Israel, his wife Hinda and their four children,
remained in Bessarabia. Israel had been drafted by the
Russian army and would serve several years before he
and his family could leave. In 1922 the family
contingent in Missouri finally saved up enough
money to bring the last six Hochmans to St. Joe. With
left there in 1930 when he was about 15 years old. He
the arrival of those six, all the Hochmans were then
said that Victor loved to talk about Telenesht.
Thus
settled in St. Joe. Hallelujah!
began a series of letters and visits which not only sealed
Victor and Irv's friendship, but created in them a
Growing up in St. Joe was truly a family affair, a large determination to travel together to Telenesht. The
family affair to be sure. There were Irv's parents, a travelers included: Victor; son John; daughter, Nancy; his
brother and a sister, his grandparents, ten sets of uncles friend Bernice; nephew David Shore (born in Telenesht
and aunts, and 25 first cousins. They were a force within and left there at age 4); and David's wife, Sandra.
the Jewish community of approximately 300 families.
The entire Jewish community, it seemed, was either In planning for the trip, they dispatched many eMail
related to or in some way connected with the Hochmans messages, wrote letters to the U.S. Ambassador in
and the Bessarabians. Was it a close-knit family'? Without Moldova, to the Embassy of Moldova in the U.S., to
question! Two ofIrv's uncles were married to two ofIrv's the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and
mother's sisters. Irv's father and one of Irv's uncles were talked to everyone they could identify to get help and
first cousins. His 25 cousins were more like brothers and advice.
Finally, Irv departed June 26, 1996, and
sisters. The Hochman clan lived mainly on 9th and 10th arrived in Chisinau (formerly Kishinev), the capital of
Streets, which were fondly known as "Loxian" Avenue Moldova, on June 27. Victor and the other members
and "Kugel" Boulevard.
of the group would arrive in Moldova on June 30. The
four days available to Irv before the group's arrival
Every Friday night, whenalmost allof the family gathered were valuable in finalizing the group's plans.
at the house of Baba and Zeda Hochman to sit around the
table over tea and cake, the conversation was almost
always in Yiddish. Talk centered on the activities of the
family members, about the Jewish community of St. Joe,
about happenings in the world, talk of Telenesht and
Bessarabia. The youngsters sometimes also heard about
the work of the St. Joe Bessarabian society which lent
money to the needy landsmen and assisted in paying for
Jewish burials for its members.
(continued on next page)
Kishinev (ki'shlneV, kTshmeT, Rus. ldshenyof Rum. Chipnau
(keshenii'oo) city (1930 pop. 114,896; 1941 pop. 52,962; 1948
pop. estimate 102,500), capital Moldavian SSR [1991:
independent Moldova], in Bessarabia, right bank of Byk R., on
railroad, and 50 mi. NW of Odessa; 47°N 28°50' E. Economic
and cultural center in rich agr. region (wine, fruit, corn); a major
food-processing center, producing canned goods, tobacco
products, flour, vegetable oils, meat and dairy goods (cheese),
white table wine, champagne, cognac, fruit juices; sawmilling,
tanning, shoe and knitwear mfg.; cement mill, auto and motor
Genealogy is a constant search for missing clues.
Important clues can turn up very unexpectedly. Irv heard repair shops, foundry. Has 19th-cent. Orthodox cathedral, mus. of
from a distant cousin about a memorial in Pardes Hannah, natural history, univ., music school, teachers and agr. col.
Consists of old lower town, Oriental in aspect, with crooked
Israel. Adjoining the Jewish cemetery there was a streets, on Byk R. bank adjoining railroad station and of19th-cent.
memorial plaza dedicated to Jews from Telenesht who upper city,rectilinear in layout. Pop., an ethnic mixture including
hadnot survived the Holocaust. The wallof the plaza was Moldavians, Russians, Bulgarians, and Gypsies, was 40% Jewish
built of stones, with each stone bearing the name of a until Second World War. First mentioned in 1436, did not
develop greatly until its annexation by Russia in 1812 (pop.
person lost during those horrible years.
Upon inspection with a magnifying glass of pictures
taken at Pardes Hanna, Irv saw a plaque bearing the
name of the donors: the Youkilis Family of Cincinnati,
Ohio. During a visit to Cincinnati, he checked the
local telephone directory and found several names
under the Youkilis listing. It took only a call to Dr.
Marvin Youkilis to learn that Victor Youkilis, the
doctor's uncle, had been bora in Telenesht, and had left
c.7,000); became (1818) capital of Bessarabia. Residence
(1820-23) of Pushkin (commemorated by monument). City's
growth was speeded following building of railroad in 1870s. An
infamous pogrom took place here in 1903. Annexed (1918) to
Rumania and was capital of Lapusna dept. (area 1,614 sq. miles;
1941 pop. 367,890); returned in 1940 (confirmed 1947) to USSR.
During Second World War, occupied (1941-44) by Rum. troops
and suffered heavy destruction.--/rom Columbia lippincott
GAZETTEER OF THE WORLD, edited by Leon E. Seltzer.
Copyright <D 1952
by Columbia University Press. Reprinted with permission of thepublisher.
At the Chisinau airport, representatives from the JDC met good offices, messages were sent to the Mayor of
Irv. Mike, the interpreter, and Anatoly, the security man, Telenesht and to the President of the Teleneshti
would be part of his "scouting team" for the next few Region, informing them that the party of seven
days. They went on a detailed tour ofthe city, andspotted Americans would arrive on the following Tuesday.
practically every building and site related to the life and Little did any of the visitors realize what a profound
effect those messages would have on the kind of
historyofthe Jewish commumty.
reception they would receive in Telenesht.
They visited Agudath Israel, the 40-student yeshiva, run
by Rabbi Mordecai Tokarsky, across the street from the Friday afternoon, Irv visited the office of the JDC. Its
National Soccer Stadium. The yeshiva building was once furnishings were simple, but its work on behalfof allthe
a small shule. The land on which the stadium now stands Jews of Moldova was impressive. Emilia Slezinger is the
was an empty field in 1941, when 11,000 Jews were head of the office, and she was largely responsible for
rounded up and killed there. It is said that a few of the providing the 7-passenger van and a driver, the
more religious Jews were allowedto go across the street interpreter and the security man. All were made
to the small shule to say their last prayers. When they available to the visitingparty during their entirevisit.
returned to the field they were shot to death.
Of the 70 synagogues in Kishinev that existed before
Not far from that field of death is a building that was World War n, only one remains. There Rabbi Zalman
the focal point of Jewish life and culture in the city. Abelsky leads the Jewish community, a Lubevitcher
There they visited the State Jewish Library and Chabad congregation. The fervor and excitement ofthe
Museum. In another part of the culture center, they dovening filled the small shule. Visiting the small
saw proof that Jewish culture in Moldova was very congregation that night, in addition to Irv, were Lee, a
much alive. In the center's small auditorium, about 30
young man from the U.S., three young ladies from New
children (ages 10-15), in costume, were putting on a
show entitled "David Ha Melech" (David the King).
It was the final day of children's summer camp. The
campers sang, danced and recited beautifully. The
faces ofthe mothers in the audience glowed with pride.
In that audience were a couple of pregnant Jewish
women, signs that the size of the Jewish community
might even be increasing!
York State, who had come to help run Rabbi Abelsky's
summer camp, andJohn, a young Peace Corpsvolunteer
on vacation from his assignment in Albania.
Moishe Lemster, Chairman of the Jewish Cultural
After services, which ended at 10:30 PM, Irv, Lee, and
John were invited for Shabat dinner at the house ofAron,
the shule's second rabbi. The Shabat dinner was a feast
of food and prayer, which finally ended at close to 1:00
AM. All in all, it was an unforgettable evening.
Sunday evening, the other six members of the party
arrived. On Monday morning the party of seventook
a fast-paced tour of Chisinau based on Irv's findings
during the preceding days. They visited most of the
Jewish points ofinterest and learned a great deal about
the Jewish community. They saw evidence ofwhat the
and women and children. It was a tearful sight. Around Jewish Council, under the direction of Simeon Soihet,
the walls were photographs of large and impressive was doing to help all Jewish Moldovans. Soihet is the
synagogues and other buildings, attesting to a thriving Architect Emeritus of the Republic, and a highly
Jewish life before so much was destroyed by the Nazis respected planner. He and his Jewish Council work
closelywith the JDC. One agency which Soihet and
and the Communists.
the Council had just recently founded, and for which
they
are largely responsible, is Chesed Yehuda, an
On Friday morning, Irv met Melissa Hudson, the Vice
Consul of the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau. Through her agency which administers to the needs of the Jewish
Association, joined the scouting team in the Museum
There they saw the photographs and the documentation
telling thehistory ofBessarabian Jewry, thetragedy ofthe
1903 and 1905 pogroms of Kishinev, and the Holocaust.
Pictures taken in 1903 showing murdered Jews lying in
neat rows: men, some of them still wearing their talis,
8
elderly and handicapped. At the agency those who
conference room, Teodor Ion Lefter, President of the
need help can borrow wheel chairs, walkers, crutches,
Region, and his key staff members, welcomed the
and all sorts of health-care appliances. Interestingly,
visitors.
many of the more than 90 volunteers who staff the
Following the procedures of protocol as suggested by
the U.S. Embassy, the seven Americans presented
President Lefter with seven roses (even numbers are
considered unlucky by Moldovans) and three bottles
of Moldova's finest cognac. The President already
knew the purpose of the visit, and he indicated his
pleasure in receiving the American delegation to his
town and region. It was probably the first such visit
since long before World War II.
agency are not Jewish. One doctor is always on duty.
Much has been written about the ghetto of Warsaw, but
few Jews are aware that Kishinev also had its ghetto.
Though traces of the ghetto are no longer visible, at
what was once the ghetto entrance stands a ghostly,
stone figure, face lowered toward the ground, its being
engulfed in sorrow. Sculpted by Simeon Soihet, the
figure is a dynamic reminder of the tragic fate of
thousands of Bessarabian Jews.
Finally, the day arrived that Irv and Victor and their
party had so long awaited and planned for. It was the
day for visitingTelenesht. The seven Americans drove the
70 kilometers (45 miles) to Telenesht in slightly more
than an hour, over paved roads that years ago had been a
sea of mud. Irv's father, who as a young boy had gone to
schoolin Kishinev, made the twice-a-year trip to Kishinev
in a cart drawn by a horse or an ox. It took him two days
each way. He made one trip to return home for the High
Holidays and one trip for a short summer vacation. The
farms and vineyards along the road probably looked much
the same as they did in Irv's father's day. The farming
methods are, for all practical purposes, the same as they
were 100 or more years ago.
Introductions
all
around
were
made.
The visitors and Moldovans talked of many things,
including the need to employ a local resident to care
for the Jewish Cemetery of Telenesht. It is at least 150
years old. Another Jewish cemetery, 250 years old, no
longer exists: most likely destroyed by the Nazis or
the Romanians in the 1940s.
Following the discussion in his office, the President
led the group to the Hall of Culture, a large building
nearby on the government plaza. In the hall's fairly
large and modern auditorium, the visitors were
introduced to the Jews of Telenesht. How and why
were they there? Emilia Slezinger had twice sent Mike
to Telenesht to identify the Jews of the community,
and from those visits he had produced a list of 49
names. It is likely that the local officials issued some
kind of invitation for the Jews to come meet the
Teleneshty (ty&lymy6sh'te), Rum. Telenepi (telenSshf) town
(1941 pop. 2,468), central Moldavian SSR [1991: independent
Moldova], 23 mi. NW of Orgeyev; grain, livestock; cheese
factory. Pop. largely Jewish until Second World War.-jfam
COLUMBIA LIPPINCOTT GAZETTEER OF THE WORLD, edited by Leon E.
Seltzer. Copyright © 1952 by Columbia University Press. Reprinted with
permission ofthe publisher.
On their arrival in Telenesht, the party went to the City
Hall. Awaiting them was Mayor Dumitru Culciac,
attired neatly in coat and tie. When he noticed that the
Americans were sporting short sleeves and casual
wear, he handed off the coat and tie to an assistant. His
rehearsed words of welcome (the visitors guessed)
were passed on to the party through Mike, the
interpreter. The visitors responded appreciatively to
the Mayor's speech, and followed him to the Regional
Headquarters building. In his large office and
Americans, and almost all of the 49 appeared, young
and old alike. They were already assembled in the
auditorium awaiting the visitors' arrival. American
Jews met Moldovan Jews with greetings of "Shalom,"
and with smiles and handshakes.
Then came another surprise. A young man and a young
woman appeared, both dressed in their native
Moldovan costume. They walked among the visitors
seated in the auditorium, and offered bread and wine,
the symbols of welcome. Onto the stage came 25 or
more young men and women also in native costume
accompanied by a trio of musicians. The singing and
dancing was spirited and good. They were talented
entertainers. The half-hour show ended with the
singing of "Hava Na Geela," then the visitors were
invited on stage to have their pictures taken with the
the soups made by their mothers and grandmothers.
No one was worried about the possibility of an upset
tummy. The vegetables and bread were excellent,
The local Jews took the Americans to visit a couple of products of the rich Moldovan soil. The President
Jewish homes. They talked about Jewish life in would not tell us what kind of meat was being served.
Telenesht, and about their American and Moldovan Later the secret came out: pork!
entertainers.
friends and relatives. The visitors wanted to learn what
they could about family members who had left
Telenesht in years gone by. The Moldovan hosts
The officials had been informed that a visit to the Jewish
Cemetery was highly likely. Workmen had been sent
wanted to know if the visitors knew their relatives in there a day or so in advanceto cleanup the place. Sadly,
Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere. In each home, a table what the visitors found at the cemetery were stacks,
was set with wine, soft drinks, strudel and cake. Eating almost like haystacks, of weeds and brush, cut very
and drinking are common Jewish denominators!
recently. Hundreds of tombstones were there, but most
of them were not approachable because of the growth
The visitors felt very much at home among their fellow around them Locatingthe stones of family memberswas
Jews. Did any of the Teleneshters remember members therefore extremely difficult. What they saw made them
of the visitors' families? There may have been a few even more determined to employ a local resident to
glimmers of recognition, but the questioning produced restore and maintain the grounds. It will be a project
few if any satisfying answers. It was not surprising. requiring the help ofthe localofficials aswell as the Jews
Victor Youkilis had left Telenesht 66 years before. ofthe commumty.
Irv's grandparents and other relatives had left almost
90 years before. An 85 year old woman remembered The day was fading, but before the departure from
just one member of the Youkilis family, the one they Telenesht, the Mayor asked the visitors and many of
called "the bald one." The vivid description helped the local Jews to meet him at the Government Plaza.
David Shore identify a relative he knew. It was good Moishe Lemster, Chairman of the Jewish Cultural
for amusement's sake, but did little for genealogy.
Association of Chisinau, who had accompanied the
party from Chisinau and throughout the entire visit,
Several of the Jewish men then took the group on a was there with his microphone and camera crew. The
guided tour of the shtetl. They pointed out the streets Mayor spoke to the group, tellingthem how pleased he
where most of the Jews had lived in the past, and and the President were that the American Jews had
where the three synagogues had once stood. No trace come. He said he hoped that they had enjoyed their
ofthe shules remained. Victor was shown a spot ofland visit. He took that opportunity to make the visitors
where the men thought Victor's family had lived, but Honorary Citizens ofTelenesht, and extended to them
the streets had been so changed over the years that it an invitation to come again in 1997, when the town
was impossible to be sure. Victor tried hard to fit his would celebrate its 500th Anniversary. The visiting
memories with the sights he was then seeing. He was partyrespondedto the Mayor's words, thanked him for
shown an open field where the young men in Victor's his and the President's hospitality, and told him how
day had played soccer. It was perhapsthe only absolute meaningful the visit had been for them.
identification he made. Victor said that the outhouses
had not really changed!
Next the party was taken to the Telenesht Hotel where
they found a long table set in their honor. Lunch was
hosted by the Mayor and the President. Many toasts
were offered and many glasses of Moldovan wine,
cognac, and champagne were drunk. The visitors
agreed that the chicken soup tasted almost as good as
Irv was struck hard by the thought that he had walked
the land where his ancestors had lived, where they had
fought to survive the ordeals of anti-Semitism so
prevalent in their time. Could Irv's ancestors have
ever imagined the treatment he would receive in 1996
from the gentile officials of Telenesht? Irv felt an
overwhelming thankfulness and indebtedness to his
grandparents who had had the wisdom, courage, and
10
determination to leave their shtetl and their possessions
to begin a new life in the United States. They had not
only saved him from the Holocaust; they had given
him the freedom and the opportunities that came with
democracy in the U.S.
from greater efficiency would, of course, be most
welcome to her and her staff.
The visitors' last official stop in Chisinau was at the
JDC office. Emilia Slezinger had assembled Simeon
Soihet, Moishe Lemster,
and others to listen to the
Americans' impressions of what they had seen and
done. The JDC was congratulated on the good work
they were doing for the Jewish community. Each of
the seven U.S. visitors handed Emilia a contribution
check, and asked her to see that half of the total went
to Chesed Yehuda. The other half was to go toward
helping the Jews of Telenesht. The decision on how
the money for Telenesht was to be used was left to
Simeon Soihet. He promised that the Council would
first thoroughly investigate the needs of the Jews of
Telenesht, and would then inform the contributors
exactly how the money was used.
In the Archives at Kishinev, July, 1996:
Michael Finkle (interpreter, JJDC), John Youkilis,
I'ictor Youkilis, Prof. Antonina Berzoi
Allofthese proceedings, recorded by Moishe Lemster and
his assistants, were to be made a part of the documentary
covering not onlythe visit to Telenesht, but to Chisinau as
well. The documentary was to be shown on Lemster's
weekly TV show called "On the Jewish Street." Moishe
promised to send at least two copies of the video, one to
Irv and one to the Youkilis family.
On the last full day of the stay in Moldova, the
Americans visited the National Archives where all
genealogical records of Moldova are kept. No records
are to be found in the small towns or regional offices.
The Director of the Archives, Professor Antonina
Berzoi, was hospitable and promised to provide as
much research help as she and her staff could. She was
given copies of the family trees from which to begin the
search.
Much to everyone's surprise and disap
pointment, they discovered that all research is done
manually. The Archives' staff has no computers and
only a small budget. When Professor Berzoi was told
that Dave Shore might be able to send her a couple of
"386" computers, a broad smile came to her face and
her eyes sparkled. With the computers, requests for
family data that come to her would be more quickly and
thoroughly answered. The added fees resulting from
Was the trip worth all the planning and expense?
Absolutely! Would any of the seven Americans ever
forget the experience or the emotions that it aroused?
Never!
EPILOGUE
There is no such thing as too much planning. I doubt
that the trip would have been anywhere near as
satisfying had I not done a lot of writing, asking
questions, and following up on every lead I could
identify. Perhaps the most helpful of all the planning
efforts was my connection to the U.S. Embassy in the
capital city of Chisinau. You will have read how
Melissa Hudson caused messages to be sent ahead to
Telenesht in advance of our arrival. They allowed the
officials of the town of Telenesht and the Region
of Teleneshti to prepare for our coming. Those
messages augmented the letters I had written to the
Mayor long before we got there. Letters (asking that
we be received and assisted) from the CEO of our
DeKalb County and the Mayor of Atlanta certainly
didn't hurt either—I delivered them in person to the
Mayor and the President.
Readers who are interested in contributing to thefund
for maintenance of the Telenesht cemetery should
write to Irving Schoenberg, 1018 Winding Ridge
Court, Dunwoody, GA 30338-3950.
Glasberg Grandchildren Return to Chernovitz
by Jerry Lapides
This was planned as a cousins trip. We are the children
the capital of Bukovina, and we are the grandchildren of
Fanny and Samuel Glasberg. Chernovitz, now Chera-
For this trip the grandchildren of Fanny and Sami
Glasberg, two from France, two from Israel, and me
from the U.S., with our spouses, met in Budapest,
Hungary. On October 18, 1996, we flew to Kiev,
ivitsi, Ukraine became part of Austria-Hungary during
Ukraine. We all knew each other from various
the Russo-Turkish war (the war of the Charge of the
Light Brigade). The Austrians made it a commercial and
cultural outpost ofthe Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was
and still is a city of elegant neighborhoods, tree-lined
boulevards, an elegant opera house and beautiful palaces
(the residence of the Bukovinian Metropolitan) that are
now the campus of the University of Cheraivitsi.
gatherings over the years. What was significant was
ofthree sisters who were bora in Chernovitz when it was
Fanny and Sami Glasberg, 1937
The last time I visited Chernovitz was as a 7-year-old in
the summer of 1938, the year Hitler marched into
Czechoslovakia. My mother and I came from Palestine
as we had since 1934 to spend summer vacations with
my grandparents Fanny and Sami GLASBERG. Our
grandfather was a principal in the thriving lumber
business of ENGLER and GLASBERG. My grand
parents had three daughters, my mother Teka the oldest,
Rita, and Ruth the youngest.
that this was the first time we had all met at the same
time in one place.
This note about languages shows the dispersal of the
three sisters. The French cousins were Jean and Claude,
the sons of Rita. They spoke French, English and some
German. The Israeli cousins were Yael and Shmuel, the
sons of Ruth. They spoke French, English and Hebrew.
I spoke English and Hebrew, and discovered later that I
had not forgotten German and I was able to speak
Yiddish. Jude, the spouse of Shmuel, was born in
Hungary; she spoke French, English, Hebrew, Hungar
ian and German. Two spouses were monolingual: my
wife Arlene spoke only English but knew a bit of
Russian and could read the Cyrillic alphabet; Jean's wife
Eoe spoke French. On our long drives we divided
ourselves into French, English, and Hebrew-speaking
cars. At meals we had to be reminded to speak English.
It was enlightening to hear the family history from our
diverse perspectives. This gave us an opportunity to
dispel myths and perceptions about each other and our
parents.
The organizer of the trip was cousin Jean, a
businessman who trades with the C.I.S. (successor to
the former Soviet Union). He contracted with a Kiev
agent, Karina, a lovely intelligent marketing specialist
who arranged for knowledgeable English-speaking
guides and recruited three drivers with three reliable
cars. They chauffeured us in Kiev and drove us the
700-800 kilometers to Chernovitz.
Ruth Tal, Teka Lapides, Fanny Glasberg, Rita Markovits 1970
After touring Kiev for a day, we left on Sunday,
October 20 for Chernovitz. We traveled through the
Ukrainian countryside in a southwesterly direction.
After about 100 kilometers of a four-lane highway we
continued on a two-lane highway toward KamenetsPodolskiy, a medieval fortification which at one time
12
was the largest fortress in Europe.
Before we left, I rebelled against the subtle denial of
our Jewish heritage and the guides/interpreters' real or
feigned ignorance of Jewish history of the region. At
our request, we stopped in Berdichev, a once thriving
Jewish community, and looked for a synagogue. Yael,
were attempting to preserve a Jewish cemetery on which
an apartment building was planned. It seems, that with
Ukrainian independence and the dismantling of central
planning, each local authority and municipality makes its
own rules for land utilization, often if not always
disregarding Jewish interests and traditions.
Arlene and I recalled a Rehbe or Tzadik from
From the synagogue we were guided by one of the
Berdichev. so we sought the town's Jews. We located
the only remaining synagogue. Before World War II
congregants to the cemetery and the tomb of Rabbi
there were over sixty schules in the city. The
synagogue was set off the road, a relatively large
square building painted blue and white.
observed the various requests left by previous visitors.
We left Tzadka (charity) with the Rav and at the tomb.
Levi Isaac of Berdichev, where we lit a candle and
From
Berdichev
Chernovitz.
we
continued
to travel
on
to
Around late lunch time we found
ourselves in Chmelnick. Our guide Nikolai and chief
driver Yuri sought out and found the only restaurant in
town. The meal they negotiated for us was enormous.
It started like most Ukrainian meals with Zakuski:
salads, stuffed vegetables, smoked fish, gefillte fish
(actually stuffed in their skins) and various pickles.
The next course was borscht with sour cream,
followed by stuffed cutlets with excellent Georgian
wine. The meal lasted close to two hours. We were
glad that our drivers ate more sparingly and didn't
drink wine.
From Chelmnick to Chernovitz most of
us saw little of the countryside; we were napping.
The synagogue in Berdichev
I entered the courtyard and asked (in Yiddish) one of
the people milling about, if the Rabbi was in. I was
invited into the synagogue, and saw a traditional
Eastern European room with benches and tables and
about twenty men who were receiving crisp U.S. onedollar bills from a distinguished bearded man, wearing
We arrived in Chernovitz at dusk and looked for the
also met his wife. . Both are Americans from New
Hotel Cheremosh. It was in a newer section of the city
in an area with tall apartment blocks and some
shopping strips. The Hotel Cheremosh is an Intourist
hotel built in 1985, a ten-story two-wing hotel with
about three hundred rooms and a dining hall that seats
six hundred people. We were expected, and were
greeted by a hostess who helped us get registered and
settled in. The hotel lobby was very large and cold,
Square, New York who are living in Ukraine and
colder than outside. We were told that the hotel had
serving the Jews of Berdichev. We also met two
visiting rabbis, a Rabbi Chaim M. Stauber, the
no heat and no running hot water. The old Soviet
planned economy had not been able to survive
Executive Vice President of the World Council of
independence. In the Soviet system, the state had
provided heat and hot water through a centralized
boiler system for every 15,000 people. However, after
independence and privatization, it seems that no one
figured out how to pay for the fuel and maintenance of
this system, so it just ceased to function, which meant
a black coat with a fur hat.
He introduced himself as
Rabbi Shlomo Breuer, the Rav of Berdichev. Later we
Orthodox Jewish Communities, from Brooklyn, NY
and a Professor Sharf (I think), Chair of Classic
Studies at Bar Han University, also representing the
Council of Orthodox Jewish Communities.
Both
rabbis explained that they were in Berdichev to assist
the Rav in his dealings with the local authority. They
cold showers and lots of covers.
Our French cousins
pointed out the aptness of the name "Cheremosh" in
French: cher = expensive, mosh = ugly. The first night
our guide Nikolai taught us how to ask for hurashi wada
(hot water). The floor hostess responded by filling an
enamel bucket with water and inserting an electric heating
element. When the water was hot, she knocked on the
As we entered the older part of the city we observed
the elegant architecture of the Austro-Hungarian era.
The apartment buildings had small yards and/or
gardens in the back, just as I remembered it. What a
delightful contrast from the square apartment blocks
around the square Cheremosh Hotel.
door to notify us that it was ready. We were also
cautioned not to drink the water. How do you like to
brush your teeth with seltzer?
We stopped the cars near a large Orthodox church
close to the area we were going to explore on foot. I
I want to add here that the meals were excellent and
well-served. Apparently, the Hotel Cheremosh was the
"hot spot" of Chernivitsi, with a band that played "cha
chas" and tangos and made attempts at rock-and-roll.
Arlene and I took advantage of the situation, dancing
alongside the Chernovitzers.
The next morning we assembled for breakfast. Thanks
to Jean's organization, the hotel treated us like VIPs, so
we had a designated area just for us. At breakfast we
decided to seek out the places our mothers knew: the
house where they lived and I was born, houses of aunts
and uncles, the "Big Temple" where my parents were
married, the smaller synagogue where our grandfather
recalled the church and its proximity to my
grandparents' house. I pointed out to my cousins that
our uncle Mendel Engler had lived near the church.
From the church we walked on Herren Gasse toward
Neue Welt Gasse, now Shevchenko Street. Walking
down the street I recalled that our grandparents'
house was down the hill. I looked for an apartment
house with a gate that led into an archway about 4-5
meters long, opening into a courtyard with a garden.
We found the house at #49 met the criteria I recalled.
prayed every day and Shabbat, and the Hoffman
Gymnasium where our mothers went to school. We
also agreed to look for the office building where Engler
& Glasberg did business. We agreed to go to the old
ghetto to see if I could locate the Lapides family house.
I had a vague memory from 1938.
We met Tanya, the guide provided by the hotel. She
spoke German and a little English, and of course
Russian and Ukrainian. Those of us who understood
German translated for the others and Nikolai would
translate from Ukrainian to English. I explained our
"mission" and our interest in visiting the area that our
mothers frequented as children and youths. I named
the streets I remembered, like Herren Gasse and Ring
Plaatz and Neue Welt Gasse. Tanya knew all the
streets and the area we sought to visit. One of my
Internet acquaintances, Harry Glanz, sent me a map his
father brought from Chernovitz, a German Luftwaffe
map. I showed it to Tanya who pointed out that all the
street names were Rumanian. Now the streets have
Ukrainian names. She knew the old German and
Rumanian names and the current Ukrainian names.
The house of our grandparents
We debated whether this was the right house, since
some of us were told the house number was 31.
(Thanks to Ruth Glasberg Gold and Sheneur Elgar,
our Florida cousins, who told me that the house was
opposite Vinarovitz street). Our guide confirmed the
street, and Jude pointed to an emblem above the gate
inscribed with "SG" for Shmuel Glasberg, our
grandfather. Jean and I explored the outside of the
house and I pointed out my memories of the
architecture. Our grandparents lived on the second
floor according to the American orientation, or on the
14
ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol 5, No. 3, Spring 1997
first floor according to the French orientation (they count
the ground floor as zero). They had the whole floor.
Below them lived the family of Genya Lipson, a cousin,
including their daughter, Litty. Also on the ground floor
in a large apartment lived "the General," a Rumanian
officer who rented or was given the apartment by our
grandparents. Tanya suggested that we go up the stairs
and see if the current resident would let us look at the
apartment. We were fortunate that the young woman
who answered the door agreed to let us in and look at the
place. I recognized the sun porch where, on Yom Kippur,
my grandfather conducted tCapparot with a live chicken.
After all our sins were transferred to the chicken my
grandmother and I went to the shochet (the ritual
slaughterer) to kill the chicken. We brought it home and
I watched the maids clean it and place it in the pot, to
make chicken soup for the meal before Yom Kippur. I
also recalled the big terrace. The current resident told us
that the original apartment was divided into two smaller
units. Jean spotted the blue ceramic tiles of the stove in
the kitchen that his mother talked about, and I spotted the
gold ceramic tile stove that graced the main hallway, now
turned into a bedroom. The rose garden, where I played as
a youngster, was gone.
When we walked out I told Tanya that if we went straight
down the street, opposite the house, we would reach a
parallel street. A right turn should lead us to a synagogue.
Tanya confirmed my recollection and added that it was
the only synagogue left in Chernovitz. We followed my
directions and came upon the synagogue. We entered the
courtyard. The synagogue was open, with several
Ukrainian and Yiddish-speaking men. We entered and
industry. From the synagogue we drove to the Jewish
cemetery of Chernovitz.
The only remaining Jewish cemetery in Chernovitz is
neglected, vandalized and full of growth. However,
many attractive tombstones were still standing. Some of
them were works of art. We saw a lot of stone bases with
Bernard Reder's name. Reder is a sculptor of renown
with several pieces in the Billy Rose sculpture garden at
the Israel Museum. Sharon, my daughter, has one of his
prints in her home in Ramat Aviv, Israel. We toured the
cemetery to locate names of people we knew and to
photograph the stones. There was no map and no locator.
In fact the vegetation was so dense that a visitor could be
lost for hours.
We did find stones with some names
familiar to our family, namely Krauthammer and
Slotchover.
Rehabilitating the cemetery would be a
great mitzvah. Maybe a national youth group will make
it a summer project and cut the grass, erect the fallen
stones and map the cemetery?
From the cemetery we drove to the area of the old Jewish
neighborhood, or ghetto, where the Lapides house had
stood. Our guide Tanya told us that the area was
destroyed and rebuilt. I could not locate the Lapides
house, but we did locate a state-supported Hebrew day
school. The school had 300 children. To our question
whether they were all Jewish, the director responded that
many were in the school because their grandparents were
Jewish or one of their parents is Jewish. It was nice to
see a beautiful school in the heart of Chernovitz that had
a Hebrew sign and many Hebrew posters inside.
explained who we were and our quest. We spotted a
plaque with the names of the builders of this synagogue
on the western wall, opposite the Aron Hakodesh, which
is always on the eastern wall. Sure enough the name of
Samuel Glasberg (Yiddish spelling), our grandfather, was
on this plaque. We found what we were looking for! We
talked with the men in the synagogue and were told to
come back in the evening to meet the Rabbi. We also
learned that the men we talked with were not native to the
city. They came from other parts of the Soviet Union and
Ukraine to live in the city. Tanya explained that
Chernivitsi was a major military manufacturer before
independence. It could be that the Jews who came to the
city after World War II came to work in this defense
The Hebrew Dax School
15
From the old Jewish neighborhood we toured the
former residence of the Bukovinian archbishops, now
the campus of the University of Chernivitsi. The
buildings were erected between 1864 and 1882,
designed by the Czech architect Josef Glavka. It is a
very attractive campus that, according to one of my
Internet sources (Igor Portnov), resembles Oxford
University in England. I wonder if Claude agrees?
From the university we toured downtown Chernovitz
and located the temple where my parents were
married. Now it is a movie house.
"••N, • .
As we walked downtown we observed many vendors
selling baked goods. The smell and looks of the
cakes, rolls and breads reminded Arlene and me of
Zeman's, the Kosher bakery in Oak Park, Michigan.
We also noticed that the pedestrians were more
fashionably dressed than in Kiev. There was also more
traffic on the sidewalks and streets. We were unable
to locate the Engler-Glasberg office.
After lunch, we headed west toward the foothills of
the Carpathian Mountains. Passing Beregomet, we
entered the foothills and climbed up the Carpathians.
My wife Arlene. who reads Cyrillic, is convinced that
we went through the town of Miliye, that Ruth
Glasberg Gold wrote about in her book, Ruth's
Journey: a Survivor's Memoir. We saw nothing
special and continued on. We stopped at a closed
resort in the mountains and walked about. Our Israeli
cousins were enthralled by the fall colors, the fallen
leaves and crisp cold air. Our chief driver, Yuri,
stopped in a nearby house and came out to invite us to
partake in real fresh milk, just milked and still warm.
We all declined graciously. I could not help boasting
about the Michigan fall colors, our reds; oranges,
The former Temple, now a movie house
We visited the old Juden Haus or "Jewish Community
Center." The building is no longer a Jewish center
except for the "Israel Center," a one room library. We
also saw the Chernivitsi Opera House, built between
1869 and 1875 by the Austrian architects Fehlner and
Helmer, who designed the Vienna Opera House.
yellows, greens and browns. In Ukraine, the colors
were either yellow, green or brown. We left the
mountains to head back to our very cold Cheremosh
Hotel.
We arrived after dark.
Jean, our host and
leader, commissioned our guide Nikolai and our
driver Yuri to find us a good Chernovitzer restaurant.
They located two restaurants and we drove to town.
Both were close to "the old neighborhood." When we
arrived at the highly recommended one, the nine of us
could not get in so we defaulted to the next best, the
"Charm." It was nearly empty, which should have
given us a clue. We ordered and experienced a
"charm"ingly bad dinner. Again we returned to the
cold Cheremosh, ordered our hurashi wada (hot
water) and, dressing warmly, we went to sleep.
Early the next day we started toward Kiev. We
stopped at the fort city of Kamanets-Podolskiy. We
toured what may be considered the most outstanding
sample of Ukrainian medieval fortification.
The Opera House
The
Khotyn fortress (12th-16th centuries) was the biggest
fortress in Europe. Since 1977 the whole town has
16
been a national historical and architectural preserve.
We toured the museums and observed what appeared
ravine, German soldiers went down with hand guns to
exterminate any still alive. Few escaped, though some
to be Middle Eastern minarets. We discovered that in
did.
1621 the Slavs defeated a 150,000 strong Turkish
army, thus stopping their advance on Western Europe.
the city but it was right in the city. When we asked
why no one interfered, our guide suggested that
although people heard the shooting that went on for 24
hours, they were afraid to be swept into this holocaust.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, Turks and other
Moslems
lived
in
the
town
and
influenced
its
architecture. Lunch was at "Smotrych's" restaurant in,
the fort with a perfect view of the Dniester River.
The continuation of our trip to Kiev was uneventful; as
usual, most of us napped. However, unlike in the U.S.
and Europe, there are no public restrooms along the
highway. We had to contend with the side of the road
and the abundant woods.
On the last day, October 23, 1996, we again toured
Kiev. Nikolai returned to his regular job. This time
we were again accompanied by a very knowledgeable
guide. We had agreed that our first stop would be Babi
Yar, the place where the Nazis slaughtered 100,000
Jews before they built the gas chambers and
crematoriums. A stark and impressive monument, and
plaque, now mark the mass graves. Our guide took us
to a ravine nearby to show us the topography of the
place. We saw a deep ravine covered now with
vegetation. She explained to us that the Jews in groups
of hundreds were lined up on one side of the ravine,
while Nazi squads were lined up in back with machine
guns. The Jews were shot in the back and toppled into
the ravine.
When all the victims had fallen into the
We all had believed that Babi Yar was outside
After a lengthy Ukrainian lunch we left for the Kiev
airport to fly to Budapest. Departure from Kiev was
not as easy as leaving other places. Those of us who
had jewelry had to go through a special inspection to
demonstrate that they did not sell their valuables.
After all formalities, including security inspections,
we boarded our Malev Hungarian Airlines flight to
Budapest.
Budapest is a very friendly city with little or no
communications limitations. The scenery is magnif
icent and the food excellent. It was a good city to rest
in after our arduous journey in Ukraine and to
celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime cousins trip. Jean
arranged a banquet for us and his Hungarian partners
and staff to celebrate the successful completion of our
trip to our roots in Chernovitz. The banquet was at the
Restaurant Vadrozsa, located in a baroque villa in the
Rozsadomb district in Budapest. The large oval
dining table, with its immaculate linen and table
settings, reminded me of the Glasbergs' Shabbat and
holiday table the last time I was there in 1938.
The tour group, left to right:
Arlene Gorelick Lapides, Jerry Lapides. Claude Markovits
J tide Meisel-Tal
Yael Tal-Meidan, Shmuel Tal, Roe Markovits, Jean Markovits
The memorial plaque at Babi Yar
A COUSIN IS ONLY..,.
A LETTER AWAY
by Gary Fitleberg <fitleberg@aol com>
I haveresearched the paternal lines ofboth my father and
my mother with great success: the FEITELBERG and
HTJLLMAN family surnames. I attribute my success to a
letter writing campaign thathasincluded correspondence
with relatives worldwide.
Unfortunately, my parents' maternal lines have been
more difficult becausethere are no living relatives who
are ableto share their knowledge with me. It seemed
absolutely impossible to make any progress with my
maternal (mom's mom) KASTNER family surname,
for instance.
My great-grandparents were Samuel "Zisse" and
Mariam Zlate (nee Schechter) KASTNER. They had
five children (of whom I am aware): Abraham,
Regina, David, Rebecca, and Bryna. This family was
from Radauti, Bukovina, Romania (formerly, part of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire).
Abraham has long been deceased. My grandmother
Regina has Alzheimer's disease. David, who is quite
intelligent, extremely knowledgeable and sharp as a
tack has thus far been elusive and has demonstrated
absolutely no interest in family history. Bryna has
never responded to my inquiries. Rebecca is deceased.
17
094397 (Netty Kastner) Radauti; Jakobokritz,
Krizhopol, Transnistria." I knew from my previous
contact with a cousin in Israel that many members of
the KASTNER family perished in this concentration
camp. At long last, I had found a possible KASTNER
connection (and cousin). It is highly unlikely I would
have ever located her or ever looked under the
surname Moses, her married name.
Because of personal family obligations, I did not
follow up on this lead immediately, putting the
information in my desk drawer and attending to my
daily responsibilities. But in the back of my mind this
spark of knowledge was burning more and more. I
finally decided to write because I did not want to lose
a possible opportunity to gain valuable information
which might otherwise be lost by age, death and time.
The U.S. Holocaust Museum sent me a "Request for
Third Party Contact" form which they will happily
forward to a survivor. It is their policy to protect the
survivor's privacy. No survivor's address or telephone
number is ever released to the public. I figured the
odds were certainly better than playingthe lottery. At
most, it would cost me less than five minutes of my
time, an envelope, and a meager32-cent postage stamp.
Within less than a week, a great miracle happened.
My mother received a telephone call from Netty (nee
KASTNER) Moses! Netty is the granddaughter of
Mechel KASTNER. Mom is the granddaughter of
"Zisse" KASTNER. Two brothers from between
With no one left to give me information, I was forced
to stop researching the KASTNER mishpocha, or at
least that is what I thought at the time. However, a
small clue—that my grandmother used to send CARE
packages and money to members of her family fortunate
to survive the Shoah—has paid offwith big dividends!
10-14 children. During their telephone conversation
Netty provided Mom with another resource: longlost cousin Morris DALFEN, who is quite
knowledgeable about our family history.
A second letter came providing yet another miracle
with respect to the KASTNER genealogy, previously
About a yearago, in a desperate attempt to obtainany
information about my elusive KASTNER mishpocha,
a dormant dead-end mystery. Merle Kastner
Choquette of Montreal, Quebec, Canada read an
I wrote to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, requesting a
search of the National Holocaust Registry for the
KASTNER surname. Much to my pleasant surprise,
there was an individual listed "Kastner, Netty 094397
see Jeanette Moses." Naturally, my curiosity was
aroused and I found the entry "Moses, Jeanette
article I wrote about mamaliga and my grandmother
Regina (nee KASTNER) Hillman of Radauti. (Note:
this article was published two andone-half years ago in
ROM-SIG NEWS, Volume 2, Issue 4, Summer 1994).
Merle is researching her grandfather, DavidKASTNER
of Radauti. After providing me with some details, she
18
concluded her letter: "Couldyou be a relative?"
David turns out to be "Fetter Duddle," youngest
brother of Mechel and "Zisse." In Merle's letter, I
learned two new important pieces of information.
First, that the name of my great-great-grandmother
was Shamdel. Secondly, another KASTNER family
historian livesclose by in Berkeley, California.
This time I did not procrastinate. I immediately sent
Merle a very detailed response of my branch of the
family complete with a family tree chart. Within
another week, I received a package from Merle with a
treasure trove of useful information. She supplied me
with a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers
of KASTNER descendants, old maps of Romania, and
family tree charts.
A DALFEN family tree, supplied by another family
historian, was very complete. Mechel's, Zisse's and
David's sister, Toba Devorah, also known as "Mima
Toba" married Menachem Mendel DALFEN. They
had nine children. I now have the details of this
previouslymissingbranch ofthe family.
The most exciting hems ofthis package were copies of
photographic portraits of my great-great grandparents,
Meyer Moishe and Shaindel Kastner.
I have learned the following important lessons from
doing my genealogy, especiallyfrom recent events:
1) Never EVER procrastinate. Follow up every lead.
Time is of the essence!
2) Whenyour research seems to reach a dead end, try
somethingnew. Dont despair.
3) Join a SpecialInterest Group. Make sure to enter
all known surnames in the Family Finder.
4) Join other family historians and work together as a
team. Don't reinvent the wheel.
5) Patience and persistence always pay off in the end.
As they say, 'Two heads are better than one." With
four (and perhaps even more) family historians/
genealogists, the overwhelming size of my maternal
KASTNER familyno longer seems impossible.
Where is Miklos Reismann?
/ think this is an interesting item for our newsletter,
even if slightly outside our geographic area. Also,
printing this would be a mitzvah.
Deanna Tachna
Do you know any man from Hungary who was born
on February 8, who would now be about 60 years
old? He may be your co-worker, neighbor, friend,
husband, father, or even your grandfather.
He may not remember that he was Jewish, or that his
name was Miklos Reismann. He was born in Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhgorod, part ofthe Ukraine) on
February 8, 1937, but after the War, he may have
been given a different year or date ofbirth. Today his
name could be any variation of "Miklos," such as
Michael, Mike, Mickey, Nicholas, Moshe, Mordechai
or Miki. He could be in Hungary, the former Soviet
Union, Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, or
anywherein the world.
In 1942, his father, Jeno Reismann, disappeared from
a Hungarian Jewish Labor Battalion. Miklos might
remember, that for a time, he lived in Budapest with
his aunt, Margit Reismann (Margit neni) and his
uncle, Menyhert Reisman, (Moni bacsi) at VII. Istvan
ut 36. In 1944, his mother (flona Stern-Reismann)hid
him with a Christian family in the Kobanya area in
Budapest (in the vicinity of Onodiutca, in District X).
Dona was deported, and after the liberation in 1945,
she returned to Budapest to reunite with her son, but
Miklos and the family hiding him had vanished with
out a trace. We have contacted numerous agencies in
Hungary, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S.,
but [have not been able to find him].
If you know anyone with a Hungarian background,
please tell them of our search. Miklos's mother
searched for him her entire life. We, his family, have
never given up our hope of finding him. If you think
you may know Miklos, or if you recognize yourself
from the above data, please contact us. Thank you.
The family of Miklos Reismann
<lenkelO@aol.com>
From, and with the permission of, The Turkish Times, via
EEJH@ort.org, an Internet forum for Eastern European
Jewish History
The Strumah Tragedy
byAyhanOzer(1992)
19
Arab factor was a sensitive issue for both the Allies
and the Axis blocs. Hitler coveted the rich oil fields in
the Middle East, and aggressively sought the Arab
alliance. He made a pledge to the Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem (the highest religious figure ofthe Palestine
Arabs) that no Jews would be allowed to escape to
Palestine. His notorious anti-Semitism won enormous
This is a true story of the Jewish exodus from
Romania to Palestine via Turkey during World WarH.
sympathy in the Arab world.
At that time, Palestine was a British mandate
It was written in 1992, on the 50th anniversary of a
tragic landmark event of that exodus which was a
turning point in thefate ofthousands ofJews.
It is a vivid account based on documents of the
insurmountable odds that the European Jewry was
made to face during those years. A relentless
persecution, an implacable war, petty politics, and
cowardly mass murders were the daily fares of the
Jewish life in those dark days.
In the sad story of STRUMA, there are reflections
from the dark side of the humanpsyche, which make
it timeless.
This year [1992] is the 50th anniversary of a tragic
event that took place during World War II, involving
769 Jews who perished in a ramshackle ship called
Struma while escaping from Romania.
The woeful circumstances that surrounded this event
were a grim globalwar, clumsy diplomatic maneuvers
conducted by the British to keep the Jews away from
Palestine, and also a hypocritical international
politics. Jews all over Europe were desperately
trapped in this chaos relentlessly haunted by a
pathological Nazi hatred.
In 1941, the war had already been going on for two
years. The German troops scored whirlwind victories
throughout Europe, and marched on eastward to
Russia, forcing the Jewish people to flee from Poland,
Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to Romania, on
riverboats and barges, each filled to over capacity,
traveling down the river Danube. Their destination
was the port city of Constanza in Romania, and their
dream was to travel to Palestine via the only route
open, the Black Sea and Turkey. During the war, the
administered by a British governor. Under the
circumstances, the British policy was not to offend
the Arabs. They were afraid that even a perception of
leaning toward the Jews could provoke widespread
Arab revolt. Furthermore, admitting any Jewish
refugees to Palestine would have triggered a rush of
Jewish immigration to Palestine from all over Europe
and the Balkans, which could lead to a grand scale
settlement and relief problem. Therefore, the British
blockaded Palestine to prevent any clandestine entry
by the Jews. Their excuse was possible infiltration of
German spies under the guise of Jewish refugees.
Turkey, as a neutral country in a global war and in a
geographically ideallocation, was already flooded with
refugees escaping the German invasion in the central
Europe. The pressure from the British, the Germans,
and fromthe Arabsnot to admit any Jewish refugees to
Turkey, and not to accommodate the refugee ships
coming throughthe Black Sea, was enormous.
Before World War H, Romania's Jewish population
was about 900,000. About half a million Jews
perished in Romania during the war, some of them
under the German occupation and in the territories
ceded to Bulgaria and to the Soviet Union. Some of
them were deported to Nazi death camps, but a large
majority died in the pogroms organized by the State
and the militia.
However, the persecution of the Jews in Romania
began long before the war. Under the oppression of
the Rumanian Iron Guards (the equivalent of the
German SS) the Jews began fleeing the country from
the port of Constanza to Palestine in 1938. An
Associated Press dispatch dated March 2, 1939
described the city of Constanza as a huge refugee
20
camp with thousands of Palestine-bound Jews
forming lines in front of travel agencies that sold
tickets for fly-by-night shipping companies. This
inaugurated an era of the so-called "coffin ships" as
all the vessels chartered for this purpose were rickety,
the Turkish proposal on the grounds that there were
not sufficient ships to handle the migration, and also
that it was contrary to the British White Paper
published in 1939, allowing only 75,000 Jewish
immigrants to Palestine within the next five years. He
unseaworthy boats,devoid ofamenities, crammed 5 to
further cited the Arab reaction to a Jewish exodus to
10 times their normal capacities, and their destiny
Palestine.
was, in most cases, fatal.
The Romanian authorities cashed in on this bonanza
enormously as the passengers had to ransom their
way out of the country illegally. In early December
1940, a Uruguayan registry rotten ship called
Salvador ventured a voyage to Palestine. Salvador
had no cabins or bunks, no compass, no weather
instruments, andno life-jackets. It could carryonly 30
to 40 passengers; however, 327 refugees were
packed in tightly. Salvador miraculously made it to
Istanbul. However, after she departed, a severe storm
raged across the Marmara Sea, and the dilapidated
ship sank on December 15, 1940, causing the deaths
of 204 passengers, including 66 children. Of 123
survivors, 63 were deported back to Bulgaria, and 60
managed to stay in Istanbul. They were picked up by
another refugee ship, Darien II, bound to Palestine
with 723 passengers on board. Darien II almost made
it to its destination, but the British captured the ship
near the coast of Palestine on March 19,1941, and
interned the passengers.
The tragic fate of Salvador did not discourage the
Jews of Romania from fleeing the country. Their
living conditions were unbearable, and deteriorated
by day. Many a Jew saw the handwriting on the wall,
and they wanted to get* out of Romania at all cost, and
soon.
<
Judging from the developments in the world scene,
the Turks expected more refugee ships in the Istanbul
harbor in the near future, and more calamities at sea.
In an effort to solve this problem, the Turkish
government approached the United States
government with a plan for an orderly transportation
of 300,000 Romanian Jews through Turkey to
Palestinewith the concurrence and cooperation ofthe
British. However, Cavendish W. Cannon of the State
Department's Division of European Affairs rejected
However, the Romanian Jews were quite resolute for
their salvation. Around that time, a shipping agency
began advertising a voyage to Palestine on a luxury
liner. Their posters and brochures even featured the
picture of Queen Mary. In reality, a cruel scheme was
under way. In those days, the Germans requisitioned
all ships, large and small, to transport foodstuffs and
cattle from Romania to Germany via the river
Danube. Therefore, to find an available ship was a
major problem The Germans, however, were not
impressed at all by a ramshackle riverboat, the
Macedonia, abandoned in a dock. She was too old to
risk cattle. This was a fluke for the ship owner, and he
immediately took possession of the vessel. At that
time Macedonia was 74 years old, and measured only
50 feet long and 20 feet wide (later, these measures
were confirmed in a New York Times article dated
March, 13,1942). After a cursory repair, she was put
under Panamanian registry, and renamed Struma.
Within a short period of time, 769 Jews responded
favorably to the offer: 269 women, some of whom
were pregnant, 103 infants or toddlers, several
professionals, including 30 physicians, 30 lawyers, 10
engineers, a number of businessmen, merchants,
craftsmen, students and a select group of youth
leaders called Betarim.
When all these people saw the ship, their
disappointment was beyond description. She had only
100 bunks, and not a single toilet! The ship owner
had prepared himself for that moment; he soothed the
worries of the passengers by saying that as the
advertised ship carried an American flag she had to
lay outside the territorial water of Romania;
therefore, Struma was merely an intermediate
transportation.
On December 7,1941 the attack on Pearl Harbor took
place, and the world seemed to be heading for a
widespread conflagration. The prevailing mood for the
Jews might have been not to waste any more time, and
leave as soon as possible. In that haste, Struma sailed
from Constanza on December 12, 1941. When they
reached the open sea, the passengers faced the harsh
reality. There was no luxury liner waiting for them;
yet, it was too late, there was no way they could go
21
engaged in another initiative, this time on the part of
the Romanian ambassador in Ankara, Alexandre
Cretzianu, and proposed that Struma be allowed to
return to Romania. The ambassador asserted that
those Jews had left the country in an illegal manner,
therefore, it was impossible to re-admit them to
Romania.
back to Romania.
They arrived in Istanbul on December 15, 1941. The
engine was malfunctioning, and there was leakage in
the hull. The captain of the ship requested a permit to
stay in the harbor until those repairs were completed.
The Turkish authorities, considering the recent
catastrophe that befell Salvador and its Jewish
passengers in the Sea of Marmara, generously
accorded the permission to stay beyond what the
transit regulations provided.
In view of the unbearable conditions on the ship, the
Turkish authorities were willing to permit the
passengers to disembark while the ship was in repair;
however, it became known that none ofthe passengers
had entry visas to Palestine. As a compromise, the
Turkish Foreign Office requested at least an assurance
from Mr. Adrian Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British
ambassador in Ankara, that all the passengers were to
be issued visas to Palestine. However, the British
refused to give such assurance.
Thereupon, the Turkish Red Crescent, the American-
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Turkey, and
the Jewish community in Istanbul mobilized to feed all
769 people on board.
Struma stayed in the Istanbul harbor 71 days, during
which time the Turkish government conducted intense
negotiations with the concerned states to find a viable
solution to the Struma affair. To that end, the British
were reminded that the yearlyquota of 10,000 allowed
by the White Paper was stillunfilled. Could it possibly
be allocated for the passengers of Struma'? The British
dismissed this idea, claiming that as Romanians, these
passengers were enemy aliens; as such, they did not
qualify for this quota.
Shortly afterwards, the TurkishForeign office engaged
On January 19, 1942 the United States entered the
war. Panama followed suit, and joined the Allies.
These developments affected the status of Struma
unfavorably, in that the captain and some crew
members were Bulgarian citizens, and now Bulgaria
was officially at war with Panama. The captain
declared that they could not stay on a ship that
belonged to an enemy country. Besides, he claimed,
the Mediterranean was dangerous to travel with a
crippled ship and a large number of Jews on board.
The port authorities refused to relieve the captain
from his post in such a criticaltime.
In February, the British made a vague concession.
They indicated that they might issue visas to the 70
children on board to enable them to travel to Palestine
via the land route. It was not a firm, official
declaration; in fact, shortlythereafterthey revised the
age category to include only those ages between 11
and 16. Yet, the Turkish government declared that
such a decision was never confirmed to them In fact,
days passed and nothing further was heard from the
British.
In the meantime, a communication was received from
Londonwith regard to the Jewish quota to Palestine for
the year of 1942. This triggered a new attempt on the
part ofthe British government with arenewed hope. Yet,
the British dismissed this initiative aswell, asserting that
this quota was not applicable to the persons who were
traveling under an immigrant status prior to the
announcementofthis quota.
Amidst all this turmoil, there was a case of
miscarriage in the ship. A pregnant passenger, Medea
Solomonowitz was in critical condition, and was
permitted to be taken to the Or-Haim Jewish hospital
in Balat, Istanbul. Four more passengers were
allowed to leave Struma. A Turkish businessman,
22
Vehbi Koc, interceded on behalf of a Socony Vacuum
Oil Company (present day Mobil) executive and his
family, and obtained visas for them from the British
Consul in Istanbul. Theyleftthe ship to go to Palestine
via a land route.
Two months had passed with endless negotiations,
high level contacts, and diplomatic stunts without any
remedy to the stalemate, and the Turkish government
became convinced that it had exhausted all the ways
and means to find a viable solution to this dilemma. All
the sincere and constructive efforts the Turks put forth
to bring about a happy ending to this human tragedy
were to no avail. Their frustration, and their
indignation with the profound hypocrisy that shrouded
the whole affair kept mounting. The barriers were
raised deliberately by the British to obstruct the Jewish
immigration to Palestine; theyhad resorted all along to
twisted dilatory tactics to drive the matter into the
maze of politics. The Turks finally resigned
themselves to the fact that no goodwill and
humanitarian efforts, no concession or compromise
could overcomethe Britishintransigence.
Thereupon, on February 23, 1942, the captain of
Struma was ordered to leave the harbor. A tugboat
possibility, butwasnot ruled out entirely. Sea storms
and freezing weather contributed to the fatalities, but
did not account for the explosion. Or, what was
thought to be an explosion was a sudden crack that
caused the shipto come apart at the seams. Whatever
it was, even today it is still a mystery.
The Struma incident, painful though for the Jews,
had been an eye opener for the Romanian authorities.
They figured that instead of exterminating the Jews
they could let them buy their own freedom This
option had been exercised in the case of Struma, and
proved very lucrative.
The World Jewish Congress found out about this
prospect and appealed to the U.S. State Department
to allow money to be transferred through
Switzerland to ransom Jews out of Europe,
especially from Romania. The State Department
agreed on condition that those freed would be
admitted to Palestine by the British. To raise money
for this likelihood, the Jews in the U.S. launched a
fundraising campaign to buy freedom for their
brethren. A Jewish American organization ran the
following full-page advertisement in the New York
Times on February 16,1943:
towed Struma to the Black Sea. Mrs. Solomonowitz
had lost her child, and was recuperating in the hospital
when the ship pulled out slowly, leaving her behind.
"For sale to the humanity. 70,000 Jews!
Guaranteed human beings at $50 a piece."
The following day, February 24 at 9:00 A.M., the
However, the Britishrefused any cooperationin that
respect, and the venture fell through.
tragic news came through. An unexplained explosion
had torn apart Struma while she was about four to five
miles from the Cape Igne Ada. SeveralTurkish rescue
teams were immediately dispatched to the area. They
arrived on the scene straggling with huge waves and
highwind. Alas, with the exception of one survivor, all
763 women, men and children had perished. The
survivor was David Stoliar, a 21-year old Romanian
Jew. He and Mrs. Solomonowitz were later granted
admission to Palestine.
There were speculations about the cause of the
explosion. A German, Russian, Romanian, or
Bulgarian submarine was a strong possibility. The
engine of the ship being rather small, it was ruled out
as the source of explosion. A mine was a remote
The loss of Struma provoked heated debates in the
British Parliament. Sir Harold MacMichael, the
High Commissioner for Palestine, was blamed for
deliberately delaying the information to the Turks in
regard to the admittance ofthe children to Palestine,
and was transferred to Malaysia. Josiah G.
Wedgwood in the House of Commons, and Lord
Davis in the House of Lords, accused the Palestine
authorities and the British policy with respect to
immigration to Palestine, and urged the British
government to repeal the prohibition imposed on
Jewish immigration to the Holy Land.
The most reliable and detailed account about
Struma's stay in Istanbul was chronicled by Mr.
Abraham Galante, a prominent Turkish Jew who
served
two
terms
in
the
Turkish
Parliament
(1939-1946), and who was deeply involved in the
Struma affair. He was in contact with the ship, with
the authorities, as well as with the Jewish
organizations in Turkey and on an international level
on a daily basis. Furthermore, thanks to his legislator
status he was privy to the behind the scenes efforts.
Besides being a politician, Mr. Galante was a scholar,
journalist, and a linguist. He was fluent in seven
languages. He authored several books in Turkish and
in French. About the Struma affair, he wrote: "We,
the authors of these lines, who followed closely the
events during the stay of Struma in the harbor of
Istanbul bear witness that the government of the
Turkish Republic did everything possible within its
power to alleviate the lot of those involved in this
tragedy. Besides the activities of the Work for
Refugees in Transit Committee, which was composed
of Henry Soriano, the president of the Jewish
community in Istanbul; Edmond Goldberg, the former
director of Deutsche Bank of Istanbul; and several
notable Jews, such as Simon Brod, Rifat Caraco,
Daniel Angel and others, the municipality of Istanbul,
the Health Department, and the Turkish Red Crescent
worked diligently and with solicitude to satisfy the
needs of the passengers. Therefore, we express our
gratitude to the government authorities for their
hospitality during the extended stay of the ship, as
well as for their intercession with the foreign
governments to enable the passengers to immigrate
to Palestine."
The Struma was not the end of the expeditions from
Romania to the Holy Land via Istanbul. Rather, this
outrage brought the predicament of the Jews to the
attention of the world, whereby admittance to
Palestine was considerably relaxed. Furthermore, the
land route via Syria, which was under Allied
occupation at that time, was also established;
therefore, the sea-crossing was needed only between
Romania and
Istanbul,
which was
shortened
considerably. Thus, even smaller ships could be used
for that purpose.
23
The Presidential archive in Hyde Park, N.Y. records
an initiative by President Roosevelt in early 1944 that
coincides with that newly adopted relaxation policy
for the Jewish immigration to Palestine. According to
On the Record, November 1979 issue, published by
the General Services Administration, President
Roosevelt authorized a cloak-and-dagger mission to
rescue 50,000 Jews from Nazi-occupied Southern
Europe. The plan was to transport them with Turkish
boats to Istanbul, and then to Palestine via the land
route. For that purpose, President Roosevelt sent a
department store executive, Mr. Ira Hischmann, to
Turkey as his special envoy to make a deal with the
Romanian ambassador to Turkey, Alexandre
Cretzianu. Mr. Hirschmann had $5 million in gold
sovereigns at his disposal to be used as needed. He
met with the ambassador in the woods outside
Ankara, and told him that the Soviet army was
advancing, and not only his life but his family's life
was also in danger. If he helped to get the Jews out of
Romania on Turkish boats, in return, he and his family
would be granted visas to the United States.
According to Mr. Hirschmann, both sides kept their
part of the bargain, and the deal worked. Around that
time, eight ships carried 2,936 Jewish refugees from
Romania to Istanbul, and the Turks provided transit
visas and trains to transport the Jewish refugees to
Syria. In that period of time, some rather small,
enterprising boats were shipwrecked or ran aground
near the Turkish coasts; however, all of them were
rescued by the Turkish coast guards without any
fatality; they were taken care of and sent to Palestine.
This operation ran successfully until August 1944, at
which time, a Turkish ship, Mefkure, was charteredto
carry 350 Jews from Romania to Istanbul. The ship
flew a Turkish flag and also a Red Cross banner.
Unfortunately, Mefkure was dastardly torpedoed in
the Black Sea by an unidentified warship. All the
survivors were machine-gunned in the water while
they were struggling to escape. Only five passengers,
but none ofthe crew members, were able to survive in
that carnage.
This incident closed shut the only escape route for the
Jews from Europe, leaving behind thousands more
Jews abandoned to their grim fate.
24
The Passengers on the Strumah
by Joel Ives <jives@jcris.com>
It is believed that, of the survivors listed below, only Medea Salamovitz and David Stollar boarded the ship.
Medea was allowed to leave when she went into labor with a child. David was the only person to survive the
explosion. The other 10 people never sailed into the Black Sea.
The Struma passenger hst has been provided to us by the CentralZionist Archives in Jerusalem, item LI 5/143.
Since this list was apparently translated from the Romanian language to Hebrew and then to English, many
variations in spelling of both given and surnames exist. The researcher is cautioned to consider this fact.
STRUMA SURVIVORS
Brettschneider, Theodor Benjamin
Frenck, David
Frenck, Israel
Frenck, Tiwia (wife)
Ghefner, Emanuel
Ludovic, Eduard
Ludovic, Emanuel
Salamovitz, Medea
Segall (child)
Segall, M.
Segall, (wife)
Stollar, David
STRUMA P>
Last Name
First
Age
Last Name
First
Aurielian
Alexandru
Avner
Berthold
Avner
Mesalina
Avram
Saie
Bach
Age
Last Name
Fiifi
31
Butter
Bertina
34
Cahan
Hie
28
Calihman
24
JusterOctav 24
Calihman
Age
LatfNam?
FJesJ
Afl£
27
Edelstein
Jean
25
22
Edelstein
Leon
32
Avram
50
20
45
Eisig
Eislg
Louis
BelaLiuba
Mircea
18
Camerman
Solomon
23
Elcovici
Naftuli
24
27
Baculu
Ichil
33
Caneti
Virginia
35
Elias
Barat
Baculu
Miriam
01
Canetti
Isak
40
Elias
Avram Bernard
10
37
Canetti
Jose
07
Elias
Josef
37
34
Baculu
Banek
Sena Tivia
Jose'
20
Caufman
Saine
27
Elias
Medea
Banek
Debora
50
Chessel
Mordhai
27
Elias
Roji
13
Barber
Lita
21
Ciobataru
Alfred
34
Elias
Sofia
21
Seigfried
Matias
37
Sara Rebecca
26
Barber
37
Ciovanile
Jean Marcel 38
Baron
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David
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Richard
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Adelina
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14
Schatcher
Francisca
20
Simon
Josef
30
Tzimand
Jacques
24
Platzman
Moritz
43
Schattner
Beno
30
Simon
Lucian
19
Albert
20
Abraham Leo 53
Ungar
Veisberg
Veisberg
Vogel
Hedwig
33
Platzman
Sophie
39
Schattner
Simon
Moise
26
Pomerantz
J Carol
28
Schechter
Cudris
11
Simon
Pesia
32
Poplinger
Alfred
18
Schechter
Ruca Pau
46
Simon
B. Simon
42
Rabinovici
Rabinovici
Arnold
28
Schechter
Ruchla
40
Sin Smaia
Smil
34
Wachtel
JoJo
21
Ida
21
Schemnitz
Ernest
28
Sloimovici
Emanoil
19
Wagner
Reghina
39
Rudolf
39
Carol
43
27
Age
Last Name
Eirst
Wagner
Wagner
Walter
21
Wilheim
49
Mauriciu
33
05
31
22
30
21
22
29
30
22
18
52
51
23
25
25
38
Walter
Walter
Walter
Wasserman
Wecsler
Wecsler
Weinberg
Weinberg
Weinberg
Weingarten
Weingarten
Weingarten
Weingarten
Weinstein
Weinstein
Weinstein
Weintraub
Mignon
Israel Strauss
Tobi
Elias
Etty
Clara
Natan
Rubin
Avramide
Benjamin
Meyer
Tifra
Josif
Moritz
Simon
Julius
Last Name
Eirst
Weintraub
Weiss
Weiss
Weiss
Weissler
Weitman
Leo
Avram
Maria
Paul
Marcu
Avram
Simon
Hans
Marcu
Bendit
Rebeca
Sara
Wittenberg
Woifshaut
Zaharia
Zaitz
Zaitz
Zeitz
Zeller
Zeller
Zilberman
Zissman
Zissu
Zolkiver
Age
Mayer Carol
Mayer Gusta
Penchas
Sura
Avram
Louis
19
29
26
03
26
23
28
28
34
44
17
45
38
36
24
58
30
21
Strumah was sunk by a Soviet submarine (and the
Soviet history added the names of their "heros" who
demonstrated "exemplary courage in action").
The article by Ayhan Ozer is obviously written from a
Turkish perspective. Although the Turks may not have
had any other choices because of the politics of the
times, when they saw that the world had abandoned the
Jews aboard the Strumah and the situation had reached
a stalemate, the Turks towed the helpless,
overcrowded, ramshackle vessel into the cold waters of
the Black Sea and just left it there to find its own fate.
Perhaps the truth will never be known but as Jews and
genealogists we have an obligation to remember these
people whose lives ended in such a horrible way.
Postscript to the Strumah Story
by Joel Ives <jives@cris.com>
It is more than 55 years since that fateful day when the
Strumah was blown up in the Black Sea, but the tragic
event has not been forgotten. In my search for my
father's great uncle JANCU, who I believe was aboard
the shop, I have found that a concrete model of the ship
exists in the Jewish Cemetery on Giorghi Road in
Bucharest, with the names of all the passengers inscribed
on it. The U.S. Holocaust Museum has a file on the
incident. Israeli journalist Simion Saveanu, who was
born in Romania, recently requested that the Israeli
government investigatethe circumstancesthat caused the
ship to explode and suggested bringing the ship up from
the bottom ofthe sea. Saveanu self-published a book on
the incident, entitled Save the Honour of Civilization,
written in English and Romanian. The Israeli Maritime
Museum has information about the Strumah as does a
book written in Hebrew entitled, Illegal Immigrant
Ships from 1934 to 1948, by MordechaiNaor. There is
a "Struma" Synagogue in Beer-Sheva and a Struma
monument exists in Cholon, one of Tel-Aviv's suburbs.
In Jerusalem at the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum
there is also an exhibit.
Possible Research Help in Ukraine
by Martin Horwitz
<105365.500@compuserve. com>
My organization has ties with an archivist in Vinnitsa
who is willing to do searches for individuals. The
problem is that the archive has very little equipment
(no computer, no copier). In order to do the searches,
some fee must be charged so that the archive can get
some value from the time thus spent. If anyone is
interested, please send information direct to Martin
Horwitz, Director, Jewish Commumty Development
Fund in Russia and Ukraine.
Include information on search desired, plus what you
would be willing to pay for: 1) unsuccessful search; 2)
additional fee for successful search plus copies of
documents. Payment would be in form of donation to
the Vinnitsa community. This is an experiment. If it
works, we can also use ties that we have with
communities in one other Ukrainian town and a few in
Russia. We can be contacted at jcdf@jws.org.
History has a way of distorting the truth: the [Editor's note: we have no report on the validity,
monument in Bucharest contains an inscription value or veracity of this offer. Ifyoufollow up on it,
blaming "capitalists" for the deaths of the refugees. please let us knowthe results].
The latest version of this event asserts that a Soviet
naval history has revealed that the "unguarded"
28
Fourth in a seripx
Onomastic Derailments: Irregular Surnames
by Dr. Marcel Bratu
As I mentioned in my first three articles on the origin
of Romanian Jewish surnames, there is a myriad of
peculiar deviations from the standard patterns. To
illustrate some of these aberrations, I will draw on my
own family's history. Certainly, these aberrations
happened in almost all Jewish families from Romania.
The first known forebear of my father's family was a
young man named §mil Grin§pan, born in Moldavia
(perhaps) around 1780, in the village of Stani§e§ti near
Barlad. Not having a profession or business, he was
forced by the local authorities to leave his birthplace,
to go God knows where. He crossed the Prut River
eastward into Bessarabia, at that time Romanian
territory, to find a wealthy wife and a business. Very
soon, he found both items. But, two years later in
1812, Bessarabia was occupied by Russia after the
defeat ofthe Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish war. The
Bessarabian Jews, frightened by the Russian pogroms
and the military colonies of Czar Alexander the First,
started to send their boys to Moldavia, where life was
much safer for the Jews. Many of the boys had
relatives in Moldavia and the others were to be raised
by the Moldavian Jews until better times would allow
reunion with their families.
But how to send these
boys to Moldavia?
The Bessarabian Jews
rememberedthat Moses, as an infant, crossed the Nile
in a small boat in Egypt andthey decided to sendtheir
infant boys over the Prut Riverinto Moldavia. In this
way, §mil's first boy, like others, crossed the Prut
with the help of a peasant paid for the job. The
Moldavian Jews were waiting for them. In the small
boat where §mil's boy was lying, they found a piece
of paper written in Yiddish: "This is §loima Zalman,
Grinspans. Among them, Herscu Zalman was my
grandfather. Her§cu Zalman married my grand
mother in 1874, and they had seven children, five
boys and two girls. The first two boys bore the
surname of Grinspan, the other three were Zalmans.
In between these first two Grin§pan boys, a girlwas
born but her surnamewas Zalman. Isn't that funny?
Neither my father—who was a Zalman—nor my
grandmother could explain to me these patronymic
derailments.
My mother's father was known as Moritz §tern.
But his parents' last name was Pincas. To escape
from military duties they changed their name to
§tern. The Pincases disappeared mysteriously from
Ia§i, in exchange for a generous baksheesh (a very
precious Turkish word entered in the Romanian
dictionary and meaning a bribe or kickback).
Another story is about an aunt of mine, Sofi
Zalman, married to Herman Volfeon. On their way
to America in 1903, my aunt delivered their first
child, a boy, on a vessel in Britishterritorial waters.
Herman went to the officer in charge of birth
certificates, asking him to write the name ofhis son,
Haim Ber Volfeon. The officer, unused to these
peculiar names, yet very impersonal and not asking
again, wrote what he heard: Humbert Wilson. His
parents adopted the name of Wilson but they
obtained American naturalization.
Thus, the
parents were American while Humbert was British.
Unfortunately, in 1912 Herman died oftuberculosis
in Denver, Colorado, and Sophie (not Sofi
anymore) with her son Humbert returned to
the son of §mil Grin§pan. Please bring the boy to
Haim Tvi (Herscu) Vainigher in Stani§esti, a cattle
merchant and my relative."
Dorohoi as the Wilsons, the only American citizens
in town, to live with her mother, §eindle Zalman.
§loima Zalman grewup and Herscu gave him a bride,
his daughter Leia. But his surname "Grin§pan" was
lost and a new family with the surname of Zalmanwas
born. §loima's children were Zalmans, not Grin§pans.
Among them, Her§cu Zalman was my grandfather.
(Gruenspan in German) suggests an origin from
German-occupied territory (see my last article in
I want to note that the name of §mil Grin§pan
ROM-SIG NEWS, Winter, 1996-97) while Zalman,
a Yiddish derivative from §loima, is in no way a
clue for the place of origin of my family. The same
29
confusion occurs with my mother's family. Pincas is a
does not suggest a German origin, while the changed
name, §tern, does (it means star, in German).
Therefore, she had a name suggesting the origin of her
family was Germany, while her family actually came
Zalmans were killed in the Romanian holocaust. My
father survived and didn't change his name. The
Sterns had no casualties, and those remaining in
Romania changed their name to Stefan. The few
remaining Rabinovici, the maternal family of my
father, are in Israel. They left Moldavia before World
from Russia.
War I.
After the first World War, the Jews of Romania
In other words, at the present time it is very difficult
not only to establish the origin of the Jews by their
name but to identify them. As you know, in Romania
there are now only a few thousand Jews, the majority
being very old, from over 800,000 before World War
II. They went back to their ancient homeland of Israel
after 2,000 years of Diaspora or they dispersed (again)
Hebrew name for an account book or index, which
obtained citizenship. The young Jewish aristocracy—
doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, teachers and rich
businessmen—tried to break away from the rigid
Jewish religious laws and to socialize more with
Romanians, in order to close the gap between Jews and
non-Jews. They enjoyed the euphoria of gaining
political and religious rights, becoming more patriotic.
This attitude had repercussions concerning their
names, as these Jews changed their names to pure
Romanian names. For instance, names like Ardeleanu,
all over the world. Even in Israel the Romanian Jews
changed their names again, to the old X ben Y Hebrew
format, not the Yiddish sin or zien. I had a dear cousin
in Israel whose father's first name was Leon and his
own was Beno (Ber). His Israeli name became Dov
Stelea, Balu§, Rodescu, etc. started to appear among
Jews. This was more a phenomenon of the upper Ben Ari [son of Leon, the lion]. My son-in-law
class. Also, mixed marriages became more frequent, became Talmor from the Romanian Tangiu, with the
as well as conversions to the Christian religion. only connection between the two names limited to the
Unfortunately, the Holocaust and Hitler's ideas on the first two letters.
purification of the white race sent these Jews to their
death, regardless of
their names or Christian
conversion.
After the second World War, in which 250,000
Romanian Jews were killed in Transnistria, in the
trains of death in Ia§i, and in pogroms here and there,
the Jews still alive wanted to survive and to hide their
Jewish origins. The recent past and the anti-Semitic
atrocities were too vivid in Jewish minds. Those who
did not live these atrocities have no right to criticize
this movement, especially the Jews of America, where
vessels with Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany
were returned to the Atlantic Ocean from American
shores.
A large number of the Jews in Romania changed their
In America, the changes of surnames are not as many,
because they didn't have a holocaust. The changes are
more related to differences in spelling and, to some
extent, trying to hide their origin. You readers know
better than I the examples of such changes in
surnames.
I wish good luck to the American Jews originating in
Romania. If they search for a Moscovici or a Zalman,
the name can now be Popescu, Bratu or Stefan, names
previously unheard of in Jewish onomastics.
Corrections
Issue IV-4, page25, column l....three synagogues
are listed in Gala|L There is now only one:
names. A dear aunt of mine, whose married name was
Tempul Meseriasilor
Brauhfeld, became Bratu (from the Russian for
"brother") to avoid discrimination in an academic
environment. Shortly thereafter, I too became Bratu as
Str. Dornei, 11,
a student at the Medical School in Bucharest. Three
6200 Galafi, Romania
- Georghe Mireuta
30
ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol 5, No. 3, Spring 1997
A Cemetery of the
Congregation Anschei Romania
Congregation Anschei Romania Cemetery, within
Union Field, B'nai Abraham Cemetery, Newark, NJ
Explanation of Location codes:
Row Numbers (R) start from fence by houses;
of Newark, NJ
Plot Numbers (#) start from 14th Avenue side.
by Alice Gould
Name
Last year, when police protection was provided,
several members of the North Jersey Jewish
Genealogical Society, accompanied by my husband and
me, went into the Newark cemetery where some of the
members of the former Congregation Anschei
Romania of Newark, NJ were buried. The names,
Born
Amster
Hannah
1889
Amster
Rebecca
1913(C)
Clara (Ester Hiya) 1883
Hersh (Zvi)
1873(C)
Barbarosh Marilyn
8/4/1938
Berkowitz Aaron
1884(C)
Barbarosh
Barbarosh
Berkowitz Leon
1885
the
Berkowitz Marie
1893
gravestones were copied by the volunteers. However,
Berkowitz Oscar
Bob and I were never sure where the Anschei Romania
Berkowitz Rebecca
plot ended and the adjacent congregation's plot began.
Bleiweiss
Anetta
1881
Bleiweiss
Conrad
1875
birth
dates,
and
death
dates
recorded
on
Using measurements on a tax map, we recently were
able to determine the correct boundaries.
Visitation
without police protection is not recommended, but the
following information should be useful for anyone with
ancestors from the Newark area.
This data has also
been sent to Arlene Sachs, who is in charge of the
Cemetery Project of the Association of Jewish
Genealogical Societies. Under her guidance, the
information will eventually be available on the Internet.
1886(C)
1880(C)
1883(C) 2/09/1950
R-l,#ll
R-4, #21
Chobricher Morris
1873(C) 8/21/1946
Chobricher Rose (Sarah Rachcl)1883 (C) 6/12/1960 R-4, #21
R-l,#9
1882
1953
Cohen
Anna
Harry
Sarah
Cohen
Moris
1882
1957
Davidson
Helen
1899
1969
Davidson
Isidore
1890
Diamond
Israel (Rev.)
1897(C)
1904(C)
Diamond
Lillian
Eilenberg
Annie Hacker 1892
Gralnick
Miriam
1867(C)
A (C) in the Born column indicates that the year was
calculated, because only the age was listed on the
gravestone. There were some gravestones that had
Greenstein Kate
Gutman
Jennie
1884(C)
1894(C)
Hacker
Israel
1886
fallen face down and a few others that were too
Litvak
Charlotte
overgrown by vegetation to be read.
Markowitz
after the Metro West Jewish Federation has the stones
repaired and the plots cleaned.
We would be glad to try to answer any inquiries about
this list. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed
envelope with your inquiry.
Alice Gould
21 Knoll Terrace
West Caldwell, NJ 07006-7307
R-4, #25
R-4, #24
(C) 6/24/1960 R-4, #22
1/22/1950
R-4, #23
R-4, #22
4/02/1939
6/06/1944
R-2,#3l
1969
R-l,#5
1973
R-l,#6
10/05/1964
R-l,#4
R-l,#3
6/26/1971
R-4, #28
1968
R-4, #28
1939
1/08/1960
R-l,#10
1952
Bordman
1887
information on these stones will be recorded next year
Location
6/14/1945
Bordman
Greenstein Charles
Perhaps the
Died
1948
11/02/1961
2703/1989
1989
2/05/1949
1970
5/29/1946
11/02/1949
1953
11/08/1996
Age 23 days
Age 4 months
4/15/1939
Age 69
R-l,#8
R-l,#12
R-l,#13
R-3, #20
R-3, #20
R-4, #27
R-3, #24
R-l,#14
R-l,#15
R-l, #2
R-4, #27
R-l,#l
R-l,#17
R-l,#17
R-2, #32
Markowitz Samuel
R-3, #25
Anna
1894(C) 7/10/1961
Melrod
R-3, #26
4/26/1920 5/28/1944
Melrod
Gertrude
R-3, #25
1895(C) 1/21/1967
Julius
Melrod
R-3, #16
6/01/1894 2/24/1973
Moskowitz Clara
R-3, #16
7/17/1889 9/16/1961
Moskowitz Nathan
R-l,#7
1877(C) 3/10/1960
Nath
Jacob
R-l, # 7
1882(C) 8/08/1954
Rigina
Nath
R-4, #30
Bath-Sheba
Nulman
R-l, #16
Gussie
1881 (C) 3/20/1951
Scheiner
R-l, #16
1877(C) 4/20/1946
Scheiner
Mendel
R-4, #17
1967
Harry (Zvi Leev) 1899
Schenkel
Schenkel Herman (Chiam) 1898(C) 5/26/1955 R-4, #18
R-4, #16
1987
Schenkel Laura (Leah) 1900
R-4, #15
Lillian Liebowitz
Schenkel
Marilyn Ruth
Markowitz Robert George
31
Born
Name
Schindel
Anna (Elel)
Schindel
Morris
1879 (C)
1876(C)
Died
Location
3/29/1955
R-4, #26
6/25/1975
R-4, #26
1968
R-3. #17
Schreiber
Esther
1903
Schreiber
Leo
9/16/1904
1/25/1986
R-3, #18
Schreiber
Markus
1928 (C)
6/02/1957
R-3, #17
Schreiber
Sally
11/28/1937
10/13/1944
R-3, #18
R-3, #26
3/15/1948
R-4. #32
1901 (C)
Silberner
Gussie (Hiya Gitel) 1884(C) 11/4/195.I R-4, #19
3/15/1964
R-4, #19
Silberner
Simon
1884(C)
7/15/1886 3/29/1969
Simon
Joseph
R-3, #19
7/20/1894 1/26/1943
R-4, #31
Smith
Jacob
1892(C)
9/08/1954
R-3. #22
Waton
Bonis
Waton
Lena
1896(C)
2/17/1967
R-3, #22
Ida
1/11/1947
R-2, #30
Weisman
1879(C)
Weissman Bella Kramer 1874(C)
10/25/1941
R-4, #29
Weissman Harry
1868(C)
2/17/1946
R-2, #30
Weitzner
Esther
1878(C) 3/07/1946
R-3. #23
Wietzner
Harry
1873(C)
1/11/1965
R-3. #23
Williams
1912(C)
3/31/1957
R-3, #21
Bertha
Joel
Wolff
9/17/1946
R-4, #20
Wolff
Sarah
6/25/1960
R-4, #20
Season
Siff
Abraham J.
Romanian Restitution
by Jack Schraeter
The Romanian government announced un 1I April
that it will return six buildings confiscated from the
Jewish community during and after World War II and
one building confiscated from the German
community. All the properties are in Bucharest. The
decision, which still has to be approved by the
parliament, does not extend to properties confiscated
from individual members of either group. The Jewish
community is to set up a non-profit organization to
administer the returned properties.
Beltsy Vital Statistics on Film
by Phil Kornstein <beltsy@worldnet.att.ner>
Two microfilms of church records for Beltsy District,
Moldova are now available from the Salt Lake City
Family History Center. [Editor's note: this is thefirst
film to be released by the Mormons from theirfilming,
still underway, in Moldova].
Microfilm 2009779 contains birth, marriage and death
records for 1889. The entries are in old Russian and
most names appear to be non-Jewish.
Microfilm 2009780 contains: death records for 1887-
1889. 1890, 1891; marriage records for 1880, 1885,
1887. 1888; census listings for 1879 through 1886.
The death and census entries are in old Russian, the
marriage entries in Romanian. The death and marriage
records have duplicate entries in Yiddish. This film is
obviously the Jewish "church" records. Also scattered
through the film are what appear to be copies of
official Romanian documents from the 1930s.
Moldova was under Romanian rule between the two
world wars.
A synagogue in Bucharest, Romania, 1996:
perhaps Eshia Tova
- Sandi Goldsmith
32
AD D IT I O NSjjnd CORRECTIONS
Information since January 8.
Keep this as a supplementto the Sup^mer <rV-4) Fjmleiriand &e :V.-1, V-2 additions.
EDITOR'S NOTES: Please hear in mind divergent spellings ofsurnames and of town names. Also, these are mainly additions
and corrections, NOT a complete re-publication of your search names.
SEARCHING FOR:
FROM:
WARSHAVSKY
Staryye Dubossary, Mold.
Sophie Adler (sadler@suffolk.lib.ny.us)
SEARCHING FOR:
FROM:
SCHUPARK
VEINMEN
Brichany, Mold.
Brichany, Mold.
David Doblack
FISCHER
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
John Anderson (counsel17@aol.com)
17 Com Tassle Road. Danbury, CT 06811
ROSENFELD
anywhere-Romania
Aviva Aptowitzer (aplowita @acs5.acs. ucalgary. ca)
STERN
Leordina & Sighet
Toby Aswal (taswal@earthlink.net)
985 Kendall Dr., Ste.A359. San Bernardino. CA 92407
POLOKOFF
Kishinev, Mold.
Tim Baker (tbaker@simonlaw.com)
BARASCH
Iasi
Jeffrey P. Barasch (jpbarasch@worldnet.att.net)
53 Georgian Court. Mahwah, NJ 07430
BERKOWITZ
MARKOWITZ
James C. Bard
Bucharest
Bucharest
(jbard@teleport.com)
6645 N.W. BurgundyDrive. Corvallis, OR 97330
BRAUNSTEIN
Bucuresti and Iasi
GELTZER
Bucuresti and Iasi
Ralph Braunstein (ralphb@olympus.net)
503 Brigadoon Blvd., Sequim, WA 98382
BIRNBERG
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Norman F. Bimberg (birnberglgbeach@webtv.net)
PALANKER
anywhere-Bessarabia
Ellyn Cohen ecohen@sirius.com
14 Sixth Ave., San Francisco, CA 94118
KOPSTEIN
MUSIH
Rezina, Mold, (on Dniester)
Rezina, Mold.
Jayme Copstein (jc@plug-in.com.br)
Av. Venancio Aires. 495, ap. 41,
Porto Alegre. RS. BRAZIL
FELNER
anywhere-Romania
GOLDBERG
KAPLOWITZ
Bucharest
anywhere-Romania
WEISS
Botosani
Kathleen Craine (kac522@aol.com)
3438 W. Foster, Chicago, IL 60625
GRAF
SHENDER/SHINDER
Tiraspol, Mold.
Bendery, Mold.
Debbie Critchley (dcritchley@nass.usda.gov)
401 Underbill Place. Alexandria. VA 22305
P. O. Box 7134. New York. NY 10116-7134
WEISSBERG(ER)
Jerry Escover
Iasi
553 Shenandoah St., Thousand Oaks. CA 91360
HERSHKOWITZ
Dukla (in Carpathians)
MITTLEMAN
Dukla (in Carpathians)
Julian Falk (julfalk@aol.com)
812 Ridge field Ave., Pittsburgh. PA 15216
FELDMAN
Bacau
SKALKER
Bacau
Michael Feldman (mdfnf@aol.com)
12100S.W. 100th Ave.. Miami, FL 33176
MEKSIK
anywhere-Bessarabia
NESDUCH
NESDUCH
Kalarash, Mold.
Putsuntei, Mold.
Joyce Field (jfield@nlci.com)
625Avondale. West Lafayette. IN 47906-1101
ABRAMOVITZ
anywhere-Bessarabia
Fireberg (fire@iol.co.il)
CHARITON
Banilov (Ceremus or Siret), Ukr.
LUGGIA
Banilov (Ceremus or Siret). Ukr.
Walter G. Firestone (shinbet8@aol.com)
37 Oak Springs Drive, San Anselmo, CA 94960
BRUM
Chernovtsy. Ukr.
FISCHER
Chernovtsy. Ukr.
Anita Fischer (anitwal@ibm.net)
4 Briardale Rd. Montreal. QC H3X 3N6. Canada
BRUCKER
Radauti and Roman
HONIG
anywhere
anywhere
Boyany, Ukr.
HUBSCHER
KASTNER
KASTNER
Iasi
LEHRER
SCHNAPPS
anywhere
anywhere
anywhere
WINKLER
Radauti
SAGER
Gary Fitleberg (fitleberg @aol.com)
24106 KittridgeSt., West Hills, CA 91307
ROSENBERG
Iris Folkson
EDELSTEIN
Bucuresti. Roman. Tirgu Frumos
(iris-f@worldnet.att.net)
Bucharest & Iasi
Peter Fried/and (pfriedland@igc.apc.org)
33
SEARCHING FOR:
FRQM:
SEARCHING FOR;
FRIDMAN
Mihaileni
LAURENTOVITS
anywhere-Banat
Kathy Hodges (hodges@alaska.net)
Abe Friedman (lfriedma@obemn.pps.pgh.pa.us)
5600 MunhaB Road, Apt. 904, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
BOTOSANEANU
FRIEDMAN
Botosani and iasi
Botosani and Iasi
Jay S. Friedman
1530 September Chase, Decatur, GA 30033
FROM
HARMOLIN
Braila and anywhere-Romania
ArtHyman (artbs1sat@aol.com)
6311 Rue Sophie, San Antonio, TX 78238-1533
KAHAN/KAHANA
KAHAN/KAHANA
Dragomtresti & Kabolacsarda
Sapinta & Signet
GELOBTER
anywhere-Bukovina
GELOBTER
anywhere-Romania
LeeGefobter (mryonkef@aol.com)
1559 Famington Avenue, Wellington, FL 33414
KAHAN/KAHANA
Viseu de Jos & Viseu de Sus
GREENBERG
MARKOVITCH
FROST
anywhere-Romania
Mike Karsen (mkarsen@aol.com)
2005 Kiowa Lane, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
DovKahan (autographics@juno.,com)
122 VBage Path, Lakewood, NJ 08701-2577
BLUMENFELD
Ptatra Neamt
Piatra Neamt
Deo HartogensisGodden (dgodden@iworidnet.att.net)
4106-B MahaSa Ave., San Diego, CA 92122
COHEN
SCHWARTZ
Iasi
Iasi
Focsani
JANKOVITCH
Dorohoi
RIMMER
anywhere-Bessarabia
YANKOVITCH
Dorohoi
Jack Katz (jack@katzy.demon.co.uk)
Leon Gold
1658 Estate Circle, NapervUe, IL 60565-6791
DAVIDOFF
CAJAL/KAJAL
KAUFMANN
Roman
AlfredGoldberg (gfhw51a@fHrodigy.com)
Iasi
Iasi
EBott Kaufman (eMottk@citenet.net)
74 rue Foumel, Lac Quindon, QC JOR 1B0 Canada
GUTERMAN
KUSHNER
MUCINIC
NEEDLEMAN
Khotin,
Khotin,
Khotin,
Khotin,
Ukr.
Ukr.
Ukr.
Ukr.
Nancy Goodman (nancy.goodman@gsfc.nasa.gov)
GOTTFRIED
Edward Gottfried
Iasi
8940Krewstown Rd, Apt. 305, Philadelphia, PA 19115
MELNIC &MIHAILIUC
Boyany, Ukr.& Rostoki, Ukr.
MELNIC & MIHAILIUC
Radauti
MELNIC & MIHAILIUC
Terebteshti, Ukr.
KurtGreen (knights@aol.com)
3916 Heatherwood Drive, Swansea, IL 62226
GREENBERG
Dorohoi
ACKERMAN
GOLDBERG
HAUFMAN, KAUFMAN
RAUFMAN
Richard I. Kaufman
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
8750 Mariamoor Lane, West Palm Beach, Fl 33412-1613
KOPPEL
Sighet
ASceKern (dsenft@wS.com)
6140 S.W. Boundary, Portland, OR 97221
FULOPS
Arad and Cluj
KLEIN
Arad and Cluj
PHILLIPS
Arad and Cluj
AlanKlein (aw887@lafn.org)
51 Basswood Ave., Agoura, CA 91301
PaulE. Greenberg (greencho@user1.channel1.com)
KOHN
BECKER
MORGENSTERN
ZAZOULIA
Khotin, Kfishkovtsy, Novosettsy, Ukr.
Khotin, KUshkovtsy, Novosettsy, Ukr.
Khotin, Klishkovtsy, Novosettsy, Ukr.
Melody Gross (melody@maS.save-net.coM)
GROSS
Dej & lleanda
Reuben Gross (rgtect@aol.com)
1238 Sussex Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666
BERNSTEIN
Kishinev, Mold.
George Heister (heister@skyhigh.com)
HERCZ
Oradea
RichardHercz (spirit@spirit.no)
NEITER
CRAPRIGARIU
HIRSHMAN
Bacau & Secucesti
Bacau & Secucesti
[where is the town known as "Secucesti, Bistritade Sus, Bacau"?]
Sidney Kuperberg (kuper@earuiSnk.net)
10121 Stoneybrook Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92646
DAVIDSON
LAVER
MARKOWITZ
RANZER
Roman
Roman
Roman
Roman
Ruth Kurtz (74554.315@compuserve.com)
251 Regina St., PhSadelphia, PA 19116
Kishinev, Mold.
Dr. CraigHEman (ch221@hermes.cam.ac.uk)
3 Stretten Ave., Cambridge CB4 3ES, England
EICHWALD
GANS
Gelu
David Kohn (oJovidrio@nuB.net)
Radauti
Radauti
DAVID
GREEN/GRUN
SOROVETZ
Salonta
Salonta
Salonta
Zalman Lachman (ishplony@juno.com)
Prof. Harry J. Hirshom (hirshom@uendSne.coJ)
DAVID
Biriad
P.O.B. 114 T.D., 44851 Aire Menashe. Israel
GARTENBERG
anywhere-Romania
34
SEARCHING FOR:
FROM:
SEARCHING FOR:
GOLDSTEIN
LANDAU
MARCOVICI/MARCOWITZ
MARKOWITZ
Biriad
Galati & Podu Turcutui
Puesti Sat and Vaslui
Puesti Sat and Vaslui
AVRAMESCO
FELDMAN
FORNESCU
FORTESCU
GROPPER
KATZ
KLEINERMAN
EariLandau (2eel@woridnet.att.net)
1451 DanvWe Blvd. # 200, Alamo, CA 94507
NESDUCH
Kalarash, Mold.
NESDUCH
Putsuntei, Mold.
Jerrold Landau (landau@vnet.ibm.com)
38 Robbie Ave., North York, ON M3H1Y4
HUSS
LANDAU
LUTINGHER/LUTTINGER
RUBENKES
TURNOVSKY
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Alexandreny, Mold.
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Kishinev, Mold.
Kishinev, Mold.
Marcelo Landau (ol.roma@montreal.com.br)
Rua Marquesa de Santos 27/304
Laranjeiras 22221-080, Rio de Janeiro - R.J., BrazS
GOLDENBERG
GOULD/GULD
Galati
Galati
Aidan Langjey (aidan_langley@msn.com)
53A Cranley Road, GuSdford, Surrey GU1 2JW, United Kingdom
GHEIBEIN
Dorohoi, Rom. & Gertsa, Ukr.
Dorohoi & anywhere-Romania
Dorohoi, Rom., anywhere-Romania & Gertsa, Ukr.
OSHRY
MANDELBAUM
Dorohoi, Saveni & anywhere-Romania
MANDELBAUM
Gertsa, Ukr.
SIGAL
Cotonesti & Dorohoi
TAMUCCI
Robert Mandelbaum (rmandelbau@aol.com)
115 Fourth Ave., #3/, New York, NY 10003
ANTANIR
anywhere-Romania
Burt Masnick (bjmasnick@aol.com)
MEHLER
Chernovtsy & Sadgora, Ukr.
MILLER
Chernovtsy & Sadgora, Ukr.
ArthurJ. Miller (ajmdr@aol.com)
DORFMAN
Kishinev & anywhere-Moldavia
MOOTCHNIK, MUCHNIK
Kishinev & anywhere-Moldavia
Mrs. David Mootchnik (via dkohanski@net-star.net)
7202 Stonewood Drive, HuntingtonBeach, CA 92647
Brichany, Mold.
NEUSCHATZ
G. R. LanseS
11 TrawaUa Ave., Toorak, VIC 3142, Australia
ENGLER
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
GLASBERG
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Jerry Lapides (Sapides@umd.umich.edu)
25151 Parsons Drive, Southfield. Ml 48075
LAZAR
Bushtyna, Ukr.
LEBI
anywhere-Maramures
Larry Lazar (Bazar@smart1.net)
1213 White Pine Drive, W. Palm Beach, FL 33414
GRINBLAT
SCHACTER
FROM:
anywhere-Romania
Rich Neuschatz (neuschatzr@aol.com)
BUND
RANZER
SCHMERER
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Mel Oshins (meloshins@aol.com)
28600 Avenida MaravSia, Cathedral City, CA 92334
MARKOVICS
anywhere-Romania
Dr. Rudy PhSpp (gladysr@asv-al.magic.ca)
BERRY
anywhere-Bessarabia
Man\D. Phfflps (mvul;76a@procSgy.com)
131 Treehaven St., Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Odobesti
Odobesti
Dr. Jonathan Leavitt (jonathan70@aol.com)
LEKHTMAN
Iasi
Eugene Lechtman (eugene@wwnet.com)
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
Tirashpol, Moldova
anywhere-Bessarabia
anywhere-Bessarabia
AUSLANDER
BELMONT
GREENFELD
LITVAK
DACHTERMAN
FRIEDMAN
MEISENBERG
SHAPIRO
TAUB
Kishinev,
Kishinev,
Kishinev,
Kishinev,
Kishinev,
Mold.
Mold.
Mold.
Mold.
Mold.
Karen Lefkowitz (nutramom@aol.com)
19 S. Parker Drive, Monsey, NY 10952
BLOOM
anywhere-Romania
Sam Leon (salam@netspace.net.au)
GOLDENBERG
KESSLER
anywhere-Romania
anywhere-Romania
David M. Levy
1331 Auburn Road, Decula, GA 30211
MALOFY
Zastavna, Ukr.
Rob Malofy (rmalofy210@aol.com)
210 Buchotz Ct. Ann Arbor, Ml 48103
ROSENFELD
TRAGERMAN
WECKSTEIN
DickPiotz
(cSck@plotz.com)
104 Eleventh St., Providence, Rl 02906
BALBIERER
Rauti & Timisoara
PRINCZ
SCHINDLEBERGER
anywhere-Transylvania
SIMAI
STRAKI
Timisoara
Timisoara
Uivar
Marina Princz (mprincz@mindBnk.bc.ca)
302-2286 W. 5th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6K1S3 Canada
RADALINSKY
anywhere-Bessarabia
RADELEINER
anywhere-Bessarabia
David RadaSnsky (renrad@icanect.net)
LIPSCHITZ
SOLOMON
Galati
Galati
Linda Riesenberg Rakoff (rakoff125@aol.com)
ABRAMOWITZ
125 WinskmRoad, Newton, MA 02168
35
ROM-SIG NEWS, Vol. S, No. 3, Spring 1997
FINKLESTEIN
MAHN
REUTER/ROITER/ROTTER
ROTH
SADAGOURSKY
ERQM:
SEARCHING FOR:
Kishinev, Mold.
Kishinev, Mold.
Kishinev & Rashkov, Mold
Kishinev & Rashkov, Mold
Kishinev, Mold.
WACHS/WACKS/WACS
anywhere-Moldavia
David A. Wacks (wacks@tony.bc.edu)
Shirley R. Rose (dreame@aol.com)
816 Glenmere Way, Los Angeles, CA 90049-1304
BLOOM
BUBAS
FELDMAN
GELDMAN
GILBERT
GOLDBERG
HALPERN
KANTROWICH
WMMERUNG
RIGLER
ROSEN
SAG
SCHREIBER
SCHWARTZ
SVARTZ
Podu Turcului
Kishinev, Mold.
Galati
Botosani
Gilad (location?), Rom.
Podu Turcului
Podu Turcului
Odessa, Ukr.
Galati
Podu Turcului
Robert Wascou (robertw252@aol.com)
7148 Heather Tree Drive, Sacramento, CA 95842
SIMCHOVITZ
Beltsy, Mold.
Barbara &Steve Wasser (swass@global2000.net)
1206 Godfrey Lane, Niskayuna, NY 12309
SALMON
Iasi
PENEL
Iasi
, SOLOMON
Iasi
Suzi Solomon Yarin (suziserver@aol.com)
Galati
Tatarbunary, Ukr.
Jessica Schein (Jesshschein@woridnet.att.net)
180 West End Ave., New York, NY 10023
WEICHSELBLATT
Chernovtsy, Ukr.
Robert N. Seidman (biznesfixr@aol.com)
28 Evergreen Drive, Norm Caldwell. NJ 07006
KIJNER, KUSHNER
Kelmerrtsy, Ukr.
SHERBAT/SHERBET
Kelmerrtsy, Ukr.
YACKERS
Kelmentsy, Ukr.
Harry Sherbet (harrsher@gnn.com)
DASEVSCHI
Beltsy, Mold.
Debby Simon-Davis (disd123@aol.com)
10 White Briar, Pittsford, NY 14534
Moinesti
Bucharest
Moinesti
Moinesti
Moinesti
(wmshoss1@aol.com)
12123 Land OLakes, St. Louis, MO 63146
anywhere-Transytvania
Bob Stem (rs3@psuvm.psu.edu)
STERN
GROPPER
anywhere-Romania
TENEHOUSE
Piatra Neamt
Joseph Tenenhouse
5501 Adalbert, Apt. 1119, Cote St. Luc, QC H4W2B1 Canada
Iasi
Iasi
Giacomo Todeschlni (todeschi@univ.trieste.it)
Univ. di Trieste, Dpt. <ti Storia, viaEconomo 4, 34141 Trieste, Italy
GREENBERG
LEBNER
FAIVELOVICI
GHILTMAN/GILTMAN
SCHOENFELD
WASCOU/WASCOVITZ
WASHKOWITZ
WOLSCHKEWITZ
Botosani
Podu Turcului
HART
anywhere-Bukovina
David Schattner (davids@Jsracom.coM)
ANGHEL
MARCOVICI
Iasi
Iasi
Iasi
Iasi
Iasi
Kishinev
Kishinev
Kishinev
BERCOVICI
GOLDNER
1435 Centre St., Newton Centre, MA 02159-2469
FELDMAN
GOLDFRIED
HAIMSOHN/HAIMSON
SHOSS
WOLF
WSSam G. Shoss
ABRHAMOVITCH
Meyad (location?), Rom.
Kishinev, Mold.
Jay Sage (Jay.sage@juno.com)
LEV
ERQM:
Moinesti
Moinesti
Aharon Varady (stardust@zlpttnk.net)
3615 BaringSt., Apt. 3F, Philadelphia. PA 19104
CHERESHNYA
SHITO
Cimislia, Mold.
Cimislia, Mold.
Barbara Yeager (barbara-and-marty@msn.com)
REINSTEIN
SoWryany, Ukr.
Yves Zimelman (yves.zlmelman@ibm.net)
Research tipfrnm the Internet
Finding a Town of Origin
by Jim Yarin <jimyarin@aol.com>
For early immigration to the United States and other
reasons, many people have a tough time deterrnining
the town of origin of the family. First, one must
recognize that there may actually be several towns
where an individual and his/her family lived prior to
emigration, but sometimes just one town is enoughto
get a foothold onto some overseas research effort.
If naturalizations, ship manifests, militaryrecords, oral
histories, organizational affiliations, etc. fail you, then
another solution is to research collateral lines (more
distant cousins, and spouses who were married prior
to immigration) who arrived at a later date (or were
naturalized at a later date) until you find someone who
does have a town of origin listed for himselfor herself.
For example, if you tried everything for your ggf and
came up empty-handed, try hi brothers, brothers-inlaw (if married in the old country), the brothers of
sisters-in-law who were married in the old country,
etc. [Also] if you come across a unique name for any
of these people, try researching anyone with that
unique name.
36
Templul Neolog, Timisoara, Romania
•
photos by Sandi Goldsmith (1996)

ROM-SIG NEWS

Transcription

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