Kurenets Guestbook Archive: part 2

Kurenets Guestbook Archive: Part 2

Thank you for visiting our pages. We would like it if you would add to our new guestbook. Please return to Kurenets Home Page and click NEW GUESTBOOK.

I talked to Chaya Esther Nee Gurevitch/ Horwitz-Raich in New Haven, Connecticut. She was known in Kurenets as Chaya Gurevitch, the daughter of Chayim Israel Gurevitch. Chaya Esther (first cousin of my grandfather; Meir son of Mordechai gurevitz) had five much older brothers and two older sisters who were related to her only from her father’s side. Chayim Israel was married to the daughter of Shmuel Malach Alperovitz. She died in 1917. From her mother’s side she had a sister and a brother from her mother’s marriage to a Pilskin. Her mother was originally from Miadel and she would visit the cemetery there where her parents were buried. Her paternal sister Leah Nee Gurevitch-Benes lived in Kurenets. Her husband was Zusia. They didn’t have any children. They perished on 10-9-1942. Her other paternal sister, Rachel nee Gurevitch-Mula lived in Svir. She had a son Volvel, and two daughters. Her maternal sister Sonya lived in Dolhinov. She was married to Kaminkovitz. They had four or five sons. They all perished in Dolhinov. Her maternal brother was Rabbi Pilskin, who lived in Baltimore. He had a son who was a rabbi in Israel. From her five paternal brothers, one lived in Minsk — Yehoshua. He survived the war and returned to Minsk. One of his sons perished and the other’s whereabouts is unknown to Esther. Her other four brothers moved to New Haven, Connecticut many years before the war. Chaya Esther was hiding with her neighbors in Kurenets. Leibe and Freida-Bilka Ziskind and their three daughters, Dvora, Rivka, and (?). On that day, the Germans came to kill the residents of Kurenets. They hid underneath hay piles for a few days and then they were able to escape to a nearby village, where a Christian farmer who knew the Ziskind family told them how to reach the Narutz forest, where other people from Kurenetz were hiding. They were able to reach the forest and they spent two years hiding there with many others from Kurenets. Today Chaya Esther is responsible for the meetings of the Holocaust survivors in the New Haven area. She told me about other survivors, such as Sonya from Dolhinov and her husband Baruch Markman from Kurenets, and Charles Gelman (who was known as "Chetzkel Tzimerman) and his sister Dishka (who lived in New York).

Gurevitz family pictures;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/gurevitz.html
Many other families pictures could be found if you scroll down the page;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/kurenets.html
for pictures of the Gurevitz/ Horwitz family click here

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I would like to thank Roger Rice for the beautiful pictures of the KRIVITSKY
Family and for the two books that his great uncle David Krivitsky wrote c 1948.
David dedicated the one of the books to his sisters Liba (Rice) and Chana and I think to the memory of his brother Harry (It is written in Yiddish)
One of the poems is dedicated to his sister Liba Rice another to his brother; Harry Kamin. Many poems are dedicated to friends. Amongst them childhood friends from Kurenitz; To Moris Cohen who also wrote in the kurenitz Yizkor book;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_matia.html.

Another was dedicated to His childhood friend; Chaim Zalman Shulman.
Aharon Meirovitz was very kind and translated it to Hebrew and asked me to post it here. You could find it in two parts;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pix/israel/61101_23b_heb_b.gif

http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pix/israel/61101_23c_heb_b.gif
Aharon chose the poem for the love that David had for his hometown Kurenitz that he left so many years before. Most of the krivitsky family lived in New Haven. Some (Like Alexander) changed their last name to Winik.
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/krivitsky.html
click for pictures of the Krivitsky family
USA -

Dear Eilat:

Shalom, while doing a search for EINBINDER I found (see below) a message that you left in a guestbook........

I just had a new discovery. I had been reaching a branch of my

Mother’s family with the surname, Skolnik or Shkolnik, all this time.

I have now learned that the family name in the beginning to mid 1800's

Was changed from EINBINDER.

<blockquote type=cite cite>Vetter Mendel Einbinder was Dovid's brother. Another brother was Chatzkle Alperowitz. The original family name was Einbinder. In order to avoid conscription into the Russian army, Chatzkle and Dovid took different surnames. Chatzkle changed surname to Alperowitz and Dovid changed surname to Skolnik

Dovid Skolnik was my great great grandfather. He was from a place not far from Vilna called Vileika / Wileika. His brother Chatzkle Alperowitz lived in a small town called Dunilowitz.

The many of my Skolnik and Alpert(owitz) family are located in New Haven CT.

This is all I know at the present. I've just started looking into my

Einbinder family.

Does any of this information sound familiar???

All the best,

Jay Lenefsky -Israel

hotdog@netvision.net.il

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

EilatGordn@aol.com wrote:

Shalom,

I am starting a shtetl page for Krasne, Belarus.

in the eidb I found; ;Anbinder,Chaje Krasne, Russia 1913 63y

54 Anbinder,Schame Krasna 1906 35y

55 Anbinder,Zyzic Krasne, Russia 1913 18y

Also my relatives are the Einbinder family of New Haven who came from Kurenets in the 1920s' (next to Krasne, in the area of Vileyka). Is ;Krasne; in today Belarus? . Thank you. Eilat

Thank you very much it is most interesting,

Welcome to the Kurenets Site http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/kurenets.html

Welcome to the Vileyka Site

http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/vileyka/vileyka.html

I created pages for Vileyka and next-door Kurenitz; some notes that I have;

Jenny nee Zavodnick Koslow Daughter and son-in-law; Stanley and Sylvia Katz wrote me that their Zavodnick family was from Kurenets and about Jenny's father; Skolnik from Vileyka. They live in New Haven

In a message dated 2/14/02 10:35:02 AM Pacific Standard Time, hotdog@netvision.net.il writes:

<< Sylvia Katz and I are 3rd cousins.

Ashka nee Kremer from Kurenitz married Meir Skolnik who perished in 1942. Picture of the children of his sister who were killed as partisans; http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pix/scenes_old/112901_kos_b.gif

Another note I received; "Amazing and wonderful website. My maternal grandmother Scolnik was from Kurenetz and she said half the town was named "Alperovich". . . As I look at your webiste, this seems very true. I hope to post some of her stories about Kurenetz c. 1900 when I get a chance. "

Laura Miner <76233.3413@compuserve.com>

NYC, NY USA

In a message dated 2/14/02 4:02:58 AM Pacific Standard Time, hotdog@netvision.net.il writes:

<< Chatzkle Alperowitz >>

In Kurenitz lived; Zalman, Mendel, and Moshe Alperovitz. they were the sons of Chatzkle the son of Binyamin

Zalman, Mendel, and Moshe were born c 1870. could their father Chazkle born before 1850 be your great great grandfathers' brother? you could find some of that family pictures in; Alperovitz http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/alperovitz.html

In a message dated 2/14/02 10:35:02 AM Pacific Standard Time, hotdog@netvision.net.il writes:

<< Stu Einbinder's family is from a place in Poland called , Mlawa. (as persome web page

I found). It is a great distance from the Vileka district so I am notsure right now that there is a connection. >>

Stu is related to me, and my family is from kurenitz his grandmother Perl (the sister of my great grandfather Mordechai Gurevitz and his grandfather, Nathan Einbinder, lived in Kurenits. his grandmother came from Kurenitz

so there must be a connection to the vileyka area if they found each other and lived and had children in Kurenitz!!! There were a few other Einbinder families in Kurenits as in Dolhinmov- Yitzhak Einbinder was a well known partisan from Kurenitz - read the story of Zalman Uri Gurevitz (my mothers’ first cousin); http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_gurevitz.html

"Amongst us were Benjamin (Nyomka) Shulman, Shimon Zirolnik, Yitzhak Einbender, Mordechai (Motik) Alperovitz, Nachoom Alperovitz, and I. Our original troop leader was Kopel Spektor, a man of all seasons- an athlete, a bookworm, a mathematician, and a generous and dedicated person. He was like a father to us. During the days of the Soviets, he was a technician and a cartographer in the central train station in Molodechno, 30 kilometers from Kurenets. He was graduate of a technical institution in Vilna and an extremely capable man......One of Vlodia's men dressed as a policeman and took Noach Dinnerstien, Eliyahu Alperovich, Yitzhak Einbender, Nyomka Shulman, Yankale Alporevitch and I . We pretended we were prisoners going to work in the Vileyka camp, the partisan was very convincing in his roll as a cop. When we arrived we had to hide for many hours till nighttime came. All together there were about 40 people at the meeting. They pretended that it was a dance party. Inside everyone was armed. Berta introduced Vlodia as the commissar of the partisan Otriad. Vlodka said we must forget each other’s names; each one will get a nickname. We would work secretly, and most importantly make sure that no traitors infiltrated our group"

michaelp55@hotmail.com writes:

<< Shalom!

My mother's maiden name is Kurinets, and we come from Bobruisk, Belarus, but my mother always said that family came from the town of Kurinets. Do you have any idea how to search for relatives?

Mike Perkelvald

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Subj: Alperowitch
Date: 1/23/02 3:07:43 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: alperowitch@yahoo.com.br (Fernando Alperowitch)

Below you'll find the answers for the questions you ask my grandfather,Yitzhak Alperowitch (son of Israel Hakatzav);
His Mother's maiden name is Chaya Swirski.
His grandfather, father of his mother, David Swirski,
and father of his father, Abrão David Alperowitch,
both died of old age.

He knows some living relatives:

S.Paulo:
Emilio Levinson, was born in Brazil, son of Shmerl
Swirski (brother of my granpa`s mother) with his
second wife. Changed the last name.
Chana Himelfarb, Emilio`s sister.

US: Zalman Alperowitch (Alpert) - cousin
Yacob(Jack) Alperowitch - cousin

Israel:
Yeoash Alperowitch (engeneering)- cousin
Shimon Cimerman-Riva Cimerman`s husband - cousin

The reason he came to Brazil: his uncle, Shmerel
Swirski, his mother’s brother, lived in SP.

He has some pictures, especially of his brother. He
will look for it to put on the site.

.
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I am posting a note from the Dolhinov guest book because there were many family relations between the two shtetls.
21 of January 2002

Here is an updated list of donors for the Dolhinov Cemetery Project:

1. Alperovich Tova Ramat Gan, Israel $250
2. Blum Bushke Givataim, Israel $250
3. Berzam Chaya Ramat Gan, Israel $250
4. Baranovski Chava Ramat Gan, Israel $250
5. Gitlitz Yecheskel Tel Aviv, Israel $250
6. Gitlin Avi Ramat Hasharon , Israel $375
7. Grosbein Chaim Petach Tikva, Israel $250
8. Golan (Goltz) Yechezkel Rehovot, Israel $185
9. Dr. Goltz- Doytch Miryam Haifa Israel $250
10.Chafetz Asya Tel Aviv, Israel $250
11.Chafetz Gutman Tel Aviv, Israel $250
12.Cheres Yehuda Herzelia, Israel $500
13.Finesilber Beny Haifa, Israel $250
14. Lenkin Nachum Holon, Israel $250
15. Norman Shimon Petach Tiqva, Israel $250
16. Norman Yitzhak Givataim, Israel $250
17. Fridman Moshe Kfar Saba, Israel $250
18. Koton Levi Ytzhak Holon, Israel $250
19.Kravchinski Rachel Petach Tiqva, Israel $250
20. Kremer-Sosenski Batya Ashdod, Israel $250
21.Dimshtein Lev Alfey Menashe, Israel $250
22.Perevoskin Aharon Ganey Yochanan, Israel $250
23.Shlechtman (Sosensky) Sima Ashdod, Israel $250
24.Shinuk David Rishon Lezion, Israel $250
25.Shulman Hinda Ramat Gan, Israel $250
26.Shamgar (Smorgonski) Shlomo, Givataim, Israel $250
27.Sosenski Yehuda Ganey Yochanan, Israel $250
28.Rubin Leon Ramat Efal, Israel $250
29.Rubin Arye Givataim, Israel $250
30.Rubin Victor Chedera, Israel $250
31.Rubin Israel Neveh Mivtach, Israel $250
32.Rapson/ Ekman Michael Avichail, Israel $250
33.Radashkovich Gideon Givataim, Israel $250
34.Radashkovich Mordechay Givataim, Israel $250
35.Radashkovich Roni Givataim, Israel $200
36.Podshivalov (Shpreregen) Fanya, Nesher; Israel $ 200
37.Fridman Eli Argentina $250.
38.Griner Chasya Brazil $375
39.Drewiacki Max Berlin, Germany $375
40.Mr. & Mrs. Jack Diamond Omaha, U.S.A $250
41.Eilat Gordin Levitan, Studio City, Ca U.S.A $250
42.Shmilovich Avraham Kvar Saba Israel $125
43.Tych Raja (nee Bronshtein) Ramat Gan Israel $275
44.Zolotov Zipora Lahavim Israel $250
45.Markman Sonya New Haven U.S.A. $100
46.Yofe Sima Ramat Gan Israel $125
47.Labunski Fanny(nee Ruderman) Haifa Israel $125
48. Radashkovich Eliyahu Ramat Gan Israel $100
49. Radashkovich Arie Tel Aviv Israel $125
50. Gayer Rita Petach Tiqva Israel $250
51. Rapson Dov (Melamed) Avichail Israel $250
52. Rapson Avigdor (Ekman) Herzelia Israel $250
53. Paz Yosef & Dvora Haifa Israel $250
54. Sosenski Yaakov Ashdod Israel $125
55. Sosenski Sima Ganey yochanan Israel $125
56. Ben Barak Gallia Rechovot Israel $125
57. Shor Maya (nee Sosenski) Bizaron Israel $125
58. Sosenski Eli Ashdod Israel $125
59. Kaplan Klila Tel Aviv Israel $125
60. Kanter Laura (nee Libe Rubin)Boca Raton Fl. U.S.A $500
61. Schuster Riva Kvar Saba Israel $125
62. Brant Sara Navei Mivtach Israel $100
63. Aminetsach Yehuda Herzelia Israel $125
64. Aminetsach Avraham Jerusalem Israel $125
65. Dr Shmilovich Zelig Omer Israel $125
66. Ruderman Florence New York U.S.A. $150
67. Chalifa Raya(nee Rubin)Navei Mivtach Israel $125
68. Shap Gerald & family (Grosbein)Cape-Town,South Africa $650
69. Harcavi (Furman) Meier Ramat Hasharon Israel $250
70. Harcavi (Furman) Chanan Ramat Efal Israel $250
71. Rosen Lester & Debby Glencoe , Chicago U.S.A. $250 + $50
72. Susan M. Goldsmith of Piedmont, CA ,U.S.A. $500
73. Jacob Chevlin, Florida, U.S.A $250
74. Simon Chevlin, New Haven, U.S.A $250
75. Shifra( nee Chevlin) Zamkov, New Haven, U.S.A. $500
76. Ester Telis (Dockshitzki) Cheshire, Con. U.S.A. $500
77. Prof. M. Shapiro Hod Hashron, Israel $100
78. Zipi Asafi (Grosbein) Kfar Saba, Israel $125
79. Dr. Orania Yanay Tel Aviv, Israel $250
80. Dr. Dimenshtein Victor Tel Aviv, Israel $250
81. Liberman Batya & Esar Fridman Kvar Saba, Israel $125
82. Rabani Ziva Jerusalem, Israel $125
83. Evalyn Krown New York,U.S.A.$100
84. Shamgar Giora ,Ramat Gan,Israel $125
85. Lechterman Chaim Tzahala,Israel $125
86. Malerevitch Batya (nee Lechterman) Tel Aviv,Israel $125
87. Gitlitz Orah & Tzipi, Givataim, Israel $125
88. Bronshtein Chana Ramat Gan , Israel $250
89. Doytch Israel, Petach Tiqva, Israel $125
90. Dr. Bronshtein Michael Tel Aviv ,Israel $250
91. Gutman Palant, Moshav Magshimim,Israel $250
92. Radashkovich Viera, Ramat Gan,Israel $125
93. Holland Nate, Winetka, IL,U.S.A. $125
94. Holland Bill , Chicago, U.S.A. $125
95. Garson Charllotte, Atlanta,Georgia,U.S.A. $250
96. Ben-tov Chaya, Ramat Gan, Israel $75
97. Gitlin Mordechy, Haifa, Israel $50
98. Kagan (Gendel) Malka, Haifa Israel $50
99. Adin (Eidelman) Dov, Beit Avot Efal, Israel $75
100. Rubin Elyakim, Givataim, Israel $50
101. Dr Pryss Leon, Natanya, Israel $60
102. Even Bila,Ramat Yitzchak,Israel $50
103. Prof Samuel Kassov, Hartford,USA $100

This is a list of donors who participated financially so far in the restoration of
the Jewish Cemetery in Dolhinov.
The project is estimated to cost 30000 US dollars . 23000 of the sum has been already collected.
For address of people on the list - email:
rubinlj@netvision.net.il (RUBIN LEON)
For letters:
Leon Rubin, 2 Hartsit str.,Ramat Efal, 52960, Israel
Tel. 03-6356469
.
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Today I talked with Sara (From the Norman, Kooperstooch/ Baskin family of Vileyka) and Boris Klor (from Michalishek near Vilna.) The Klors have homes in Hamden, CT and in Delray Beach; FL.
Boris was born in Michalishek in 1921. Sara was born in Vileyka. her mother was from the Norman family (a relative of Shalom and Moshe Norman) Her father was from the Baskin/ kooperstooch family of Ilja. The original last name was Baskin but some of the family changed their last name to Kooperstooch to avoid serving in the Russian army prior to the First World War. I found some Information on the Baskin family by using a search engine. I will post it in the next note.
Saras' family moved from Vileyka to Michalishek when she was still a young child.
She practically grew up with Boris Klor. As they grew they fell in love. Sara moved to Vileyka during the rule of the Soviets (1939-1941) It was easier the get a job in Vileyka that had many official Soviet offices.
In the summer of 1941, the day before the German invaded the Soviet Union, one of Saras' sister came for a visit in Vileyka as summer vacation started. Both sisters were able to get on a train to Russia during the first days of the German invasion. They survived the war somewhere in the eastern regions of Russia. Unknown to them a brother was also able to arrive in Russia. Two sisters were in German camps. One Perished and the other survived.
Boris klor is the only person who survived the war from his entire family. He was taken to ghetto Vilna with most of the Jews of his shtetl. He was able to escape in 1943with a group of 27 young people mostly from Grodno, who were helped by some Jewish partisans from the Narootz forest. It took them five days to reach the forest. they were able to bring nine pistols. He later joined Warshilov Brigade under markov. he served there with many from Kurenets, Svir, Myadel, Postov, Krivichi and more. he knew many families from Kurenets who hid in the area. For a short time he also served in the jewish unit under Yosef Glazman. He told me about rivka Gvint, Rivka Alperovitz, shimon Zimerman, Sara and Moshe Alperovitz (Rashkas'- my great grandmothers' sister) Ester Reich (Chaya Gurevitz the daughter of Israel- my great grandfathers' brother) and Zalman, Gershon, Lea and their father- Natan Gurevitz, the brother of my grandfather)
After the war Sara and Boris found each other. They came to Germany via Poland and tried to get papers to settle in Israel. Saras' grandmother from the Baskin family- was in the U. S for many years. she looked for survivors and when she found them she was able to get papers for them and they all came to America. .
I found a site with relatives of Sara; BASKIND FAMILY HISTORY
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jlevinson/moearticle.html
By Moe Baskind
As I at last begin writing a history of our family, my greatest regret is that my sister Rose is not alive. She would have given me much information of an interesting nature that I only possess slightly.

Our family came from what is now either Poland or Lithuania.(now Belarus) We are classed however as Litvoks. My father’s family lived in a village called Ilya. If you can find a large map of Russia or Poland you might spot it. I once saw it on a map, but I don't recall what book. It is somewhat south of the larger city of Vilna.

My father, born about 1861 was the second oldest of a family of six boys and one girl. The oldest although in my cousin Joseph Baskind's book he calls him Menachim Mendel. Next was my father, Avrum Pesach, then David "Cooperstock," followed by Hirschl, Itche, Rivka (who became an Arian) and Shmeul. In Russia the eldest son was exempt from army duty so somehow David was made the eldest son of a Cooperstock family. They were the only family that never came over, although some of the children came here, and some landed in Israel.

How they all made a living before coming to America, I can't tell you. Their parents names were Berel and Rashi. Their father died rather young, and they were all out on their own when youngsters. Their mother died about 1904 or 1905, and I believe at the time, only my Aunt Rivka was living in Europe.

How well I remember the peculiar custom prevailing then that when a letter came from Europe announcing the death of a parent or close relative, the news was kept from the immediate family member. Sometimes, for a year. It would seem that this would have an effect on saying kaddish, and why a death was kept secret, I don't know.

Chai Mendel who landed and stayed in New York was a shammes and part reverend. He was the father of Joseph, a prominent member and General Secretary of the ARBEITER RING, the national Jewish Labor organization. His other children were Louie, who has some children living in Miami Beach. Tillie Broida, who lived in Pittsburgh for a while, and then moved to New York, and Fannie, who also lived in New York. The other son who stayed in New York was Uncle Schmuel. The was the father of Rose Somberg, now living in Cleveland.

I believe Uncle Hirshel, the father of Dinah Slavin, Minnie Baskind, Beckie Minister, Rose Kohl, and Manny was the first to arrive in the United States. His wife, Tante Sarita, was distantly related to the Brudno family of Cleveland and perhaps that is why they came to Cleveland. The Brudno's already had a large stogie factory in Cleveland. I remember it on lower Broadway. It must have been five or six stories high. When Uncle Hirschel came to Cleveland, he immediately went to work for the Brudno's. My Aunt Sarita was very proud of her ancestor, Menasseh of Ilya, who is mentioned in the Encyclopedia Britanica as one of the five famous pupils of the Vilna Gaon. That is why there are so many Emanuel's in their family.

Tante Rivka married an Arian who was either a first or second cousin to the Baskind's. They were the last of my father’s family to come over and consisted of Ida Newmeyer, George who lived in California, Rose, now with the Blonder company and retired. Harry a druggist who passed away early in life, and Ben, the only one born in this country Ben passed away in 1973. The reason they came later was due to the inability of my Uncle Isaac Arion to enter this country on his first attempt. How well I remember his efforts, only to be turned away at Ellis Island in New York because of weak eyes. I don't remember how many times he tried but finally made it.

My Uncle Itche came over as a single man, and then brought over his future wife Sarah. I vaguely remember their wedding, although Minnie Baskind says she remembers it well. I think it about 1901 or 1902. They had four sons and one daughter. All the sons became the famous druggists of Cleveland. Harry, the oldest became the first Jewish Chairman of the State Pharmacy Board in Ohio. Perhaps the first Jew in that capacity of any state. Harry died in 1975. Next was Jack, now retired, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday. Then came Al and David, who passed away early in life, and last, the only girl Florence. Of course all of these cousins of mine have numerous children. There were many other cousins from Uncle Schmuel's family as well.

Now some information of my mother's family. She was born about 1863. They were not poor as my fathers. Her father and mother, Beritche and Pia, lived in Kablonka, a small village not too far from Ilya. My grandfather inherited the rights to the lease of a grain mill plus some small acreage of land. I call it rights because they were not allowed to own any land. However their ancestors received that right from the Poretz or Count who owned the land for many miles around.

My mother had an older sister Shana who married a specter and had one son, Abe. None of Abe's children survive today. Other children of Shana are Dinah Kline, who had several children. Gute Friedland, who had Dorothy and other daughters and sons whom I don't remember.

A younger brother of my mother Moshe Hirschel Alpert had to leave a daughter in Europe because of illness. Another daughter was Freda Rubenstein who lived in Denver and passed away in 1976. Freda had a son and a daughter. Her daughter lives in Denver and is called Mrs. Mosco. Abe, a son of Moshe Hirschel was a druggist, now passed away. How many children, I don't know....

to read Moe Baskin's story click here
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http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/collections/exhibits/tam/JLC/2origins.html
The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) was founded to provide a presence for Jewish labor in the councils of the American trade-union movement and in the Jewish "establishment," and to mobilize labor in the struggle against fascism.

Its founding meeting, at Central Plaza on New York's Lower East Side, on February 25th 1934, brought together more than a thousand delegates representing the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), Amalgamated Clothing Workers, United Hebrew Trades, Workmen's Circle, Jewish Daily Forward Association, and a number of smaller groups. Baruch Charney Vladeck, general manager of the Forward, was chosen president; David Dubinsky of the ILGWU, treasurer; Joseph Baskin of the Workmen's Circle, secretary; and Benjamin Gebiner, also of the Workmen's Circle, executive secretary. Holding that only a broad-based workers' movement could overthrow Hitlerism, the JLC emphasized its labor orientation and nonsectarian philosophy. Its aims were to support Jewish rights everywhere, support all progressive and democratic anti-fascist groups, aid refugees, and educate the American labor movement (and the general public) about the Nazi threat.

The JLC was the brainchild of B.C. Vladeck, a brilliant writer and organizer who was known for the elegance of his Yiddish oratory and who was adept at navigating the perilous waters of New York immigrant politics. Vladeck, like most of the early generation of Jewish American labor and socialist leaders, had served his political apprenticeship in the famous "Bund" or General Jewish Workers' Union of Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.

The Bund was a Jewish social-democratic party (legal in Poland, illegal in Russia), which sustained its own network of schools and cultural/fraternal institutions devoted to the strengthening of Yiddish culture and socialist values. Generally hostile to both Zionism and Communism, it was associated with the social-democratic Second International. In many areas, the founders of the JLC were translating and adapting lessons learned in the ranks of the Bund for use in the very different social milieu of America.
Workmen's Circle

HS 2330.W6 B3 1951 Y. Baskin: tsu zayn 70-yorikn yubiley. Nyu-York: Aroysgegebn durkhn Natsyonaln ekzekutiv-komitet fun Arbeter-Ring, 1951

.
USA -

From;
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jlevinson/interview.html
FREEDA HURWITZ:
Shevanovik was a farm. We lived on a farm.
SYLVIA LEVINSON: We are recording some
reminiscences on Sunday, March the 10th, 1980,
some of Mom's and Aunt Bea's reminiscences of
what life was like when they lived in Europe.
BEA WEINBERG: Seventy-six years ago.
BEA WEINBERG: Well, I lived all my childhood on an estate which belonged to a Polish count. His name was Shizdevski (phonetic spelling). It was a beautiful surroundings; hills, wood-covered, nuts that we used to go in the summer and gather them, dry them and have them for the winter.
There were lakes where my brothers used to get up at four o'clock in the morning and go fishing and were always successful. There was a beautiful stream that ran right through the estate; clear water, not like what you see here. Wildflowers on the hills and meadows, an orchard full of pears and plums and apples within a few steps of our kitchen door.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: Well, now, you rented this land; why did you have to rent it?

BEA WEINBERG: Jews in Russia were not permitted to hold any kind of land.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: Did you pay the count money, or did you give them part of the --

EEDA HURWITZ: No. We paid him. on the farm, we raised cows.

BEA WEINBERG: We had a dairy.

REEDA HURWITZ: We had a dairy. And we had chickens. We had geese. And we had ducks and our own --- the chickens laid, we had our own eggs and our own vegetables. We had a garden. We had all kinds of vegetables for making pickles and sauerkraut and all the edible vegetables; potatoes, carrots.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: Who worked the farm and

raised the vegetables and took care of the cows

and chickens and everything?

BEA WEINBERG: We had the mujiks, what were known as the mujiks, the Russian peasants who lived right in little houses on the farmland.

BEA WEINBERG: They were paid and they were given enough of the vegetables, the fruits and all.... SYLVIA LEVINSON: What would they be

equivalent to what we know? Is there anything equivalent to that in this country?

BEA WEINBERG: I don't think so.

BURTON LEVINSON: We have tenant farmers.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: Would that be like that?

FREEDA HURWITZ: No. We used to give them

shares of the --
Now, we had a dairy, as was mentioned before. And the milk would be sent over. There was a boy that was also, probably, a Jewish boy that would get fifty or sixty dollars a year.

And the milk would be loaded in tremendous vats, like, see, and he would take it to the market. There was a market on certain days in the little town; what was it?

FREEDA HURWITZ: Danilovich.

BEA WEINBERG: Danilovich it was called.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: And that was the closest

little town to you?

BEA WEINBERG: Yes. Yes.

9 FREEDA HURWITZ: Yes.

10 SYLVIA LEVINSON: So when you are talking

11 about little, how many people lived there? Was

12 it like a --

13 FREEDA HURWITZ: Like a village.

14 BEA WEINBERG: I wouldn't say, because I

15 don't know, and I wouldn't want to speak as to

16 how many.

17 FREEDA HURWITZ: It wasn't as big as

18 maybe, maybe as big as Lebanon or those little

19 places around.

BEA WEINBERG: Well, we don't know how big Lebanon is.

22 SYLVIA LEVINSON: But it was where the farmers would bring their --

BEA WEINBERG: It was small. It is what you call, what is known in Yiddish literature as a shtetl.

FREEDA HURWITZ: Yes, a shtetl. There were a lot of Jewish people there, a lot of Jewish people.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: About how far would you

imagine your --

BEA WEINBERG: I would say twenty miles.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: About twenty miles from

there?

BEA WEINBERG: Yes.

SYLVIA LEVINSON: And then he would sell

the milk?

BEA WEINBERG: He would sell the milk and bring the money. And we had I don't know how many cows, a lot of cows and sheep and geese; not ducks much because we didn't have any water ....
SYLVIA LEVINSON: And those were the

2 Alberts, then.

3 FREEDA HURWITZ: Yes. Alperovich was

4 their name in --

5 BURTON LEVINSON: You see, these places

6 where they lived was what was known as the Pale

7 of Settlement. And that was the land that was

8 set aside where only Jews could live and where

9 only Jews could trade. That was the Pale of

10 Settlement in Russia.

11 SYLVIA LEVINSON: So that was where Aunt

12 Sonny and what, the Fettershimmin (phonetic

13 spelling).

14 FREEDA HURWITZ: Yes, the Fettershimmin.

15 BEA WEINBERG: When we lived --

16 SYLVIA LEVINSON: Whose brother was that,

17 Grandma's brother?

18 FREEDA HURWITZ: It --

19 SYLVIA LEVINSON: Papa's sister.

20 FREEDA HURWITZ: Papa's sister.

21 SYLVIA LEVINSON: Oh, she was grandpa's
BEA WEINBERG: Yitzhak didn't live -- he

13 lived in Postov.

14 FREEDA HURWITZ: In Postov.

15 SYLVIA LEVINSON: Where was Postov.

16 BEA WEINBERG: Postov was, I suppose,

17 about forty miles away
22 sister.

click here for the rest
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I am searching for my great grandfather Harry Simon. He was born in the small town of Horodok Russia and left in 1914. If any of you knew who he was or are from Horodok please EMail me.

Doron WRITER7416@aol.com
F.H. , MI USA -

Through great research by M.L. Anderson and her friend Charlotte, I believe my grandfather came from your town. His name was Samuel Sassinsky/Sossinsky/Sosinsky (one of those last names. He had a brother Julius and sister Dina. He was born October 7, 1883. I understand that he had relatives murdered in the holocaust, Sossensky(i). What I need to know if there are any documentations or by knowledge when he came to America. It had to be before 1910 when my aunt was born. He was married to Rose. I don't know if it occurred there or here.

Thanks Les

Lester Solnin sollest49@nyc.rr.com
Queens Village, , NY USA -

I would like to thank Carlos Glikson for the note I found;
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 13:36:13 -0300
from: "Carlos Glikson"
Subject: Re: Family roots in Kurenets
Haim Bar Levav is tracing his Swirsky family roots possibly to "the town of
Korenitz". May I suggest a link for (probably) Haim's Korenitz?

Eilat Gordin Levitan has worked very hard to offer the results of her
research on-line. A very interesting web page for Kurenets/ Kurenitz/
Kureniec - Latitude: 54 deg 33' Longitudes: 26 deg 27' - may be found at

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/kurenets.html

Eilat has been equally generous with other places of interest for her.
Links to Dolhinov, Krasne, Krivichi, Kurenets, Radoshkovichi, Vashki,
Vileyka, Vishnevo, and Volozhin may be found at the home page

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/

Haim may find mentions in the Kurenets guestbook of a David Swirsky's
family (from nearby Dolhinov) arriving to the US in 1912

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenetsguestbook/kurenetsguestbook.html

Or links to Kurenets descendants home pages at

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/descendants.html

Also information about the Kurenetser Memorial in Israel (in Hebrew - no
problem for Haim!) at

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/mon.html

Hope this helps!

Carlos GLIKSON
Buenos Aires, Argentina
e-Mail cglikson@iname.com

Searching for

GLIKSON, GLICKSON, GLUCKSOHN, GLUECKSOHN: Marijampole, Suwalki, Augustow,
Sejny,Sopotkin,Koenigsberg. POKROISKY, POKROJSKI, POKROY: Suwalki, Seirijai.
ALPEROVICH, ALPEROWICZ: Kremenchug, Vilnius. HOLLANDERSKY, HOLLENDERSKI,
HOLLANDER: Suwalki, Seirijai, Lomza. TARNOPOLSKY, TARNOPOL: Kremenchug,
Kharkov. FELCHINSKY: Kremenchug, Vilnius. KARP: Grodno.
SMELIENSKY(?),KRASNAPOLSKY(?), BLUMIGDAL (?), GOLUMBIEWSKY, GOLOMB(?)

.
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I am looking into my grandfather's heritage. He came from Wisoki (not sure of the spelling) Russia/Poland in 1909. His name was Hersh Len. Would like to know the area and any family.
roberta zimmerman robertazim@yahoo.com
Colonia, NJ USA -

In a message dated 1/14/02 9:50:13 AM Pacific Standard Time, Fernando.Alperowitch@bra.dupont.com writes:

Dear Ms. Gordin

I had scheduled to meet my grandfather (Yitzhak Alperovitz the son of Israel hakatzav- Yitzhak was born in Kurenets c1910) on Wednesday, to talk about our
conversation and get all the answers you had asked me. If you need more
information, please let me know. He lives in another city (Santos) and I
will meet him here, since Mauro, my cousin who lives now in Israel is visiting
us.

I had asked a professional to translate and print out your web site
content, and I will give him to read. I believe after that I can record
some testimonies and even make a conference call with you, as me the
mediator. I just ask a couple of weeks to have this print out ready.

Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Best Regards

Fernando

Fernando Alperowitch Fernando.Alperowitch@bra.du
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I called Michael Gibelman (Gable) in Florida.
Michaels’ maternal grandfather was Velvel Alperovitz of kurenitz. Velvel had thirteen children (with more then one wife) most of his children came to the U.S c 1900 and settled in New York. Some if his children were:
1. There was a son Motel — Morris Alperovitz who lived in New York and changed his last name to Alpert. He had two children.
2. A daughter Chaya Zipa married.. Taryevitz. They had four children. Two of them never came to the U.S. —Motka and Zalman lived in Gorki after the war. 3.
3. There was a daughter Ester Goss who lived in New York and had a son and a daughter.
4. Another daughter was liza Dimond of New York
5. Michaels’ mother was Gitel who was born c 1895. She married Chaim Gitelman and moved to Krivich to open a shoes manufacturing business. In Krivich Michael and his sisters were born. (Michael 1920?). Later own the family returned to Kurenitz. From 1934- 1937 michael attended the "Tarbut" School in Dolhinov. In 1939 Michael left the Kurenitz area and lived in Gorki. During the war he was in the far southeast region of the Soviet Union. After the war ended he was in germany and tried to get papers to go to Israel but was not able to. During that time he found out that both his mother and his father had a large family in the U.S that was looking for any relatives who survived. In 1949 he came to the U.S. The only other relatives who survived were the Norman brothers.
6. Meir Aharon Alperovitz died in Kurenitz before the war. See end of text post for information about his family.

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Today I called Shalom Norman in Israel. He told me that every year he attends the memorial meetings for the Jews who perished in Vileyka. The meetings are held during Purim since most of the residents of Vileyka and other Jews who worked there from near by shtetls, were killed during Purim of 1942. In 2002 the meeting will be held on the 28 of February.
Most of Shaloms' family was able to escape from Vileyka by train to Russia during the first days of the German occupation. Shalom thinks that hundreds of people from Vileyka were able to escape by trains, and most of the towns’ Jews survived.
From reading the Yizkor books of other communities in the area and talking to people I know that it is not so in other communities. At the most about 10% of the Jews survived and very few of them were able to escape during the first days. Most who tried were turned back when they reached the old Polish-Russian border. Many did not try because they had no idea of the coming horrors.
In 1939 when the Russian invaded they sent people to Siberia but did not kill any.
So most people in other communities were then under the impression that only the communist Jews would be in danger from the Germans and others, especially women and children would be safe.

Later I called Reuven Norman in Israel. Reuven was about sixteen in 1941. I asked him if he knew if most of the Jews of Vileyka were saved. He said that hundreds escaped by taking trains and others (like him) later on, but more Jews from Vileyka perished then escaped. He said that he would try to find the numbers. He told me that hundreds escaped because Vileyka had a train station and two trains were able to go deep in to Russia during the first days of the occupation by Germany. I asked Reuven why his family did not try to escape. He told me that his father was a guard at the palace in St. Petersburg in 1914. At the start of World War I he was sent to the front and was captured by the Germans. He was a P.O.W for four years and felt that the Germans treated him very fairly during that time. He truly disliked the communists- and said "The Germans are very civilized people as far as my experience goes- why would they be different now?"
The family did not question his decision. At that time the father ruled.
A few weeks later, some time in July of 1941 he immediately volunteered to work when the Germans gave an order to all the Jewish man to come.
With another about fifty Jewish men from Vileyka he was a taken to work. All day they dug holes in the ground and at the end of the day they were shot and fell in the holes they dug. Some local Christians, who watched it, later told their families about it.
Reuven told me that he was hiding in Kurenets with his grandfather’s family during the first months of the war.
His mother was the daughter of Meir Aharon Alperovitz of Kurenitz. She was a sister to Yermiyau, herzel, Shlomo and Feyga Michla Shmukler. Meir Aharon had a sister who married an Eidelman in Krivichi and had a son Michael who now lives in Florida. Yermiyahu and Hertzel Alperovitz died in the Vileyka camp. Both were very helpful to the other people in the camp and hertzel was one of the organizers of the escape. Hertzels’ wife Leyka survived the escape, Her sister Liba was killed and her husband Mordechai and the two children survived. After the war Leyka married Mordechai Alperowitz (the father of Yeoash). The youngest brother Shlomo was a prisoner of war since 1939. (He was in the Polish army). The family received letters from him for two years until the Germans started the war with Russia. They do not know where he perished.

.
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I called Reuven Norman in Israel. His mother was the daughter of Meir Aharon Alperovitz of Kurenitz. She was a sister to Yermiyuo, herzel, Shlomo and Feyga Michla Shmukler. Meir Aharon had a sister who married an Eidelman in Krivichi and had a son Michael who now lives in Florida. Yermiyahu and Hertzel Alperovitz died in the Vileyka camp. Both were very helpful to the other people in the camp and hertzel was one of the organizers of the escape. Hertzels’ wife Leyka survived the escape, Her sister Liba was killed during the escape and her husband Mordechai and the two children survived. After the war Leyka married her former brother in law; Mordechai Alperowitz (the father of Yeoash). The youngest brother of Hertzel, Yermiyahu and Feiga( Shlomo) was a prisoner of war since 1939. (He was in the Polish army). The family received letters from him for two years until the Germans started the war with Russia. They do not know where he perished.
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you could find a poem by David Krivitsky at;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pix/israel/61101_23b_heb_b.gif
The poem was dedicated to "My childhood friend; Chaim Zalman Shulman" It was written in Yiddish long before the war and printed in the Kurenitz Yizkor book in 1954.
The poet Aharon Meirovitz translated it to Hebrew and sent it to me a few months ago.
click for the poem
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Roger Rice asked; any chance that Kribitsky and Krivitsky are one in the same?
Yes! They must be- I just misspelled the name. There was a shtetl by the name of Krivich near Kurenets the family must have come from there when Jews took last names c 1820's.
I would "love" to have pictures of David and the rest of the family. Also any stories in English or Yiddish.

"Images" by David Krivitsky

The year is 1880. My gloomy, little hometown is a hamlet surrounded by a thick forest and wide, open fields. Her lingering and winding streets converge at the vast, circular focal market. A variety of size and sorts of stores, from the "huge" mercantile enterprise of Pini, the metal goods merchant, to a tiny kiosk that belongs to Basha Beyle, the oil merchant, crowd the market. On most days of the week one would find Jews wandering around the market without purpose. The arrival of market day signals the awakening of the sleepy town and affords the poor merchants a flashing glance of prosperity. The hatters repair the hats, the tailors clean the shabby clothing, and the various peddlers prepare bags and sacks to buy all manner of produce: from chickens, to potatoes, to hay. Everyone awaits the farmers that will bring the harvest of their land and toil. My small shtetl contains 300 families; all together about 1500 souls. Some tailors, a few shoemakers, a number of blacksmiths, a small amount of butchers, three big synagogues, and two minyans. A few "melamdim" (teachers), "talmud torah", and many "chadarim". The big world is far from here, and a foreign concept to the inhabitants. They know only the neighboring towns Vileyka, Smorgon, and Molodechno. Of Vilna and Minsk: most townspeople had only heard, very few had actually traveled so far. Most of the people who had traveled had left originally to serve under the Tzar's army. These men tell amazing tales, stories that could not be believed by anybody in their right mind.

There was a young boy named Bentze Dodge's. He was the son of one of the wealthiest families in the region. His father was an agricultural merchant. They had an extravagant home in the middle of the central market. Behind the main house stood their barns and storage rooms. Bentze would never mingle with the town's children. He was a son of the "highest status family" every one else was beneath them. It was not matter that could be easily overlooked considering his uncle was the famous Mr. Bitzkovsky from Smorgon! Bentze had a little puppy, and because he had to keep it a secret from his father, he hid the puppy in one of the barns, and there he would feed and care for him. Bentze poured the affection he withheld from his peers into this little puppy. He would think constantly of new ways to please the little pet. One day he decided that he would begin warming the puppy's food. The boy put a makeshift stove in a hidden corner of the barn, and from then on, he would warm the dog's food. A day came when Bentze was not carefully watching the cooking. A fire started and spread to the hay that was next to the little stove, the flames grew and grew. The boy was very scared, and instead of running home and getting help to extinguish the fire, he escaped from the barn with the dog, dashed across the adjacent garden, and hid in the "shtable" (the torah study place) of the Chassidim. It took but a few minutes, and the whole barn was engulfed in flames. In only an hour all of the homes and the stores in the central market were in flames. The flames swallowed the little wooden shacks. Like wild beasts, they jumped from home to home, from street to street, gaining might with each new conquest, until they consumed the whole town with a red, burning rage. The little ashes flew to the farthest homes like smoldering black butterflies. Soon the town was covered with a cloud of dark smoke. The central market leapt with flames. The confused Jews deserted the town and ran first to the fields and gardens behind their homes and then in the direction of the neighboring village of Poken. They carried babies, bags, and dishes - whatever they could save. At evening time, all that was left of the community were the fireplaces and the blackened frames of the buildings that had stood only hours before. The ashes and dust had finally begun to settle. Broken plates and sacks of bedding cluttered the outlying fields. The abandoned bits and pieces appeared to the returning townspeople like open graves. As the smoke disappeared, the totality of the destruction became more and more obvious. Except for Eliyahu Yehosha's mill, and a few homes in the far end of Miyadel Street, the whole town had surrendered to the fire. Days passed, and the Kurenitz community began regaining its old spirit. Townspeople began rebuilding the stores and houses. When they had finished rebuilding the town was nicer than it had been before. Ringing the markets were modern, two story homes. The new stores were built in the fashion of Smorgon. They had even built shelves in the barns. The new synagogues were larger and more beautiful. How had the inhabitants been able to afford to rebuild a town that exceeded what they had ever had before upon the ashes of their old homes? This was a riddle that no one knew how to answer.

Bentze grew up and was a student in the high school in nearby Vileyka, and when he graduated, he went to the city of Dvinsk to further his education. In the town amazing stories about Bentze circulated. The people said that he was so successful in Dvinsk, that the governor of the whole province respected him and often invited him to his home for teatime. Others would say that Bentze was leading a movement to abolish the Tzar's authority. Yet others said that Bentze was coming to Kurenitz anytime, and would take care of abusive employers like Asher the haberdasher, that enslaved his assistants, , and Eliahu the blacksmith, who spent his days in the house of prayers, instead of working in the smithery, or the shoemaker Yerachmiel. Rumors spread that Bentze was planning to come to town to assist his relative Masha Bitzkovsky from Smorgon in dividing her father's riches amongst the laborers.

One morning Bentze appeared! Pandemonium reigned. No one had seen such a personality before. Bentze was tall, he wore spectacles and a black top hat, and carried a cane in his hand and a fancy shawl over his shoulders. A few young women who worked as tailors claimed they knew the truth about this charming and inexplicable man. This was a prince that pretended to be Bentze and had arrived to search for his lost princess. It didn't take many days until everyone had discovered the true reason for his visit. Bentze had remembered for all of his days the annihilation that had arrived at his hands, and agonized about how to pay for his crime. He swore a vow that one day he'd repay the town for the destruction he had caused. And now he had returned to fulfill his promise. Bentze gathered a group of children, boys and girls belonging to the poorest families and established a school to teach them Russian and math. His students approached their non-religious studies with the same enthusiasm as they put into their religious studies. People in town began expressing their discomfort with what was happening. The religious people started threatening|But we're talking about Bentze Dodgs', who had drank tea with the governor of the whole region! I don't know if Bentze repaid the town for the destruction he caused, but this I know for sure: Bentze helped to enlighten dozens of boys and girls, and encouraged them to explore the world passed the pale of settlement They will remember him with deep love, and I am one of them.

http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_images.html
to read another story by David click here
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To: Eliat Gordin Levitan
From: Roger Rice, Somerville, Massachusetts
re: Krivitisky family

First, thanks for all your work on the terrific Kurenets website. I have been surfing in search of family history and came across the site yesterday. Towards the end of the Read Natives, Descendants and Others link is the following "Looking for family of:" entries- Krivitsky Bessi and David, New Haven, Connecticut and also Alexander Winnick, attorney, New Haven, Father's surname: Krivitsky.

My grandmother, Lillie (or Libby) Krivitsky was from Kurenets and came to the US around 1898. Her parents were Aaron and Rose (Stein) Krivitsky. She was married to Morris Rice (or, more accurately Reis/Reiss) on June 10, 1906 in New Haven.
My great uncle David Krivitsky (Libby's brother) was a Yiddish poet and, I am told, an anarchist and political radical of his time. I remember David's periodic visits to New Haven in the 1950's (he slept on my grandmother's sofa, sometimes for weeks on end). At some point in time I asked about two volumes of Yiddish poetry and essays published by David, which sat on my father's bookshelf. I was assured that they were worthless and that I could have them. One book (1948, Grenich Printing, N.Y.) is entirely in Yiddish (which, unfortunately I don't read). The second (1959, same publisher) is entitled Fun Bagin Biz Farnacht (From Dawn to Twilight) and five of the poems are translated into English. Each book has a picture of David (taken I would guess at ages 50 and 70 more or less).

I have a clear recollection of an exchange between David and a cousin, Leo Zimmerman, in which David was describing the experience of laying on his back at night in the Arizona desert and looking up at the stars. Leo wasn't buying the wonder of David's story and replied, "We have stars in New Haven too" and suggested that looking at stars wasn't a paying job. I also recall that some time in the 1950's my grandmother received a letter from a niece who was a doctor in Novo Sibersk. I do not know her name, or what became of her.

Regarding your inquiry about Alexander Winnick and particularly the listing of "Father's surname: Krivitsky". Al Winnick was for many years the law partner of my late uncle, Milton Rice. I knew that there was a family relationship but never quite understood what that was.

I hope that this is somewhat helpful. If you or anyone else want me to copy David Krivitsky's books or pictures I'd be glad to do so. If anyone has further information about my grandmother's parents and siblings (birth dates, parents names etc.), or about David Krivitsky or the Novo Sibersk relatives I would appreciate any information, including suggestions about how to pursue such inquiries. Also, I notice that one of the translations in the stories section (entitled "Images") is by a David Kribitsky. Any chance that Kribitsky and Krivitsky are one in the same?

Roger Rice rlr@shore.net
Somerville, MA USA -

Nancy Holdan wrote;
My Svir website is up. It is just for a preview until I get more information.

http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Svir
nholden@interserv.com
I am pasting here some information from the site;
Our Small Town - Swir

Extracts from a book from the Yivo Institute in New York written in Yiddish. The extracts (ca. 8 pages on the description and history of the town Swir) were sent to Belarus SIG by Arnold H. Wolfe, who had them translated into English by a friend.

The town of Swir, where we saw for the first time in our lives the rays of the sun: the town that first heard our childish delight; the town where our first tears dropped: the town in which we played and joked throughout our childhood; this was the town that became a part of ourselves like our own flesh and blood.

A long street with two squares and a few small alleys actually made up the whole of Swir, and despite the description it was, in our eyes, the children of Swir, nicer than any other town. Truthfully speaking there were no brick houses in Swir. It was only one side wall and all the other parts of the house were built of wood. The roofs were covered either with shingles, metal or plain straw. Throughout our lifetime many houses grew old. There were houses which were practically sunken in the earth up to the windows. Some homes did not even have wooden floors.

It was a rarity to have plumbing in the town of Swir. Most of the water was derived from a well quite far away, and yet it seemed a wonder that no one hated this place. On the contrary, everyone was tied to this town with their very lives.

Anywhere a person of Swir was to be found, be it in New York or Los Angeles, in Buenes Aires or in Cuba, in Paris or in Brazil, in London or Tel-Aviv, in that place the one same heart was beating. All of them are bound like brothers and sisters, their lives like one, and all this because of the forlorn little town in a section of Vilna.

The town was very friendly. Even the nature around us was a witness that our grandparents knew where to build their homes. From one side a stream, and from the other side a lake, and the stream actually flows out of the lake near the houses of the town. Around and around were forests, fields and small towns. The town was not dipped in milk and honey, rather in green fields and flowers and as far as the eye could see were various fruit trees. There were apple and pear trees, plum and cherry trees, and blueberries without end.

During the summer the town was surrounded by ears of corn and stalks of wheat. In the winter is was covered with a big white blanket of snow. The Jews of Swir , therefore, lived a very contented life. In the old huts there lived good people and devoted friends. Everyone felt secure in their homes, like a bird in its nest, that is, until the wild barber came and the nest together with is birds was broken and destroyed. Woe! Woe unto the faithful and devoted birds of Swir! Woe! Woe unto their burned and destroyed nest.

Highlights of the History of Swir
Unfortunately, a lot of historical material and documentation is missing, thus making it difficult to relate the exact history of Swir. Not only was our whole city destroyed, but also our cultural and social life was uprooted. We were physically uprooted from our very origin, as well as geographically lost. The sources for further basic knowledge are lost to us today. Unfortunately, the generation that could have enriched us with its knowledge has perished. Yet we made an effort to relate the history of this town in a concise form.

It is clear that the town carries the name of the great Duke Swerski. His dynasty ruled for hundreds of years over all the surrounding areas. It is also said that on the peak of the mountain there stood a beautiful castle. In his honor not only was the town named after him, but also tens of families named themselves after the great Duke. It was extremely difficult for us to confirm with certainty if the families today named Swirski spread throughout the world originated from Swir.

According to all estimations the Jewish community was is existence for hundreds of years. The old cemetery can be a witness to this as most graves are sunken in the earth. The few monuments whose engraving was still legible dated back one hundred and fifty years. The ledger that had all the deaths recorded on it, and their place of burial was passed from one generation to the next, and was an important historical document.

Most Jews of the town wandered in from surrounding towns or close cities. It is difficult to know today whether they came of ther own free will or because of the decree from the Czarist regime that Jews must leave the towns. Therefore, many families who were forced to leave carried the name of their town. The Fuzileher, Shpialer, Dubnikirer according to the origin of their town, for example, the Kurgatkes originated from the town of Kureniaz, Miadler and Shuentzianer. The big fire that broke out at the end of the century practically wiped out the city. Therefore there are no old historical buildings or antiques left. The synagogue was rebuilt after the fire in a modern style.

The town endured many wars. Napoleon and his army reached there. There is a legend that the Swirer hills thinned out through him. Through the First World War the town practically remained unharmed because the fighting front was further away by several kilometers. Later however, by the Polish-Bolshevik War in 1920 there was a battle before the town was captured.

The stronghold of the Polish Army was on the hill of Swir, while the yet stronger Bolshevik Red Army was located at the other side of the river. During the fierce battle between the two armies which heavily destroyed many homes, the Jews escaped to the cemetery. The cemetery was in close proximity to the city. The day after the surrender of the Polish Army the Jews returned to their homes.

They later found out that it was a coincidence that they were saved because they all hid behind the trees of the cemetery. The Russian Army saw that there were large groups of people hiding there and mistook them for the Polish. They were prepared to fire with their artillery when they heard the cry of a child and the sound of animals. They realized then that they were only civilians. In that war an eleven year old boy was wounded. He was Velvel, the son of the Chassid.

The people who remained alive claimed that after the Second World War the greatest majority of the town was destroyed. The synagogue became level with the earth. The whole area was virtually uprooted. The Christian neighbors made the area into gardens. No vestige of Jewish life, as it was, remained. Most tragic of all, was that from approximately 200 families who lived there, remained only 100 survivors. These people were scattered all over the world, but the majority of them are in Israel.

Geographical and Economic Situation
Even from a distance of 5 to 6 kilometers the contours of the town are visible in the blue sky and extend long and narrow. Especially visible is the hill, the Swir Everest in the middle of the market place, and the Swirer skyscraper the Yedes wall.

The German occupation of the First World War extended the railroad to Constantine.

Swir is geographically located in west White Russia. The neighboring towns and distances are as follows:

Kabilnik - 20 Kilometers
Michlisbak - 21 Kilometers
Sventzion - 37 Kilometers
Kurenetz - 49 Kilometers
Smargon - 42 Kilometers
Aside from the fact that the town was above sea level and the paths were cemented, it was still very muddy on rainy days.

In back of the town there were lots of mud puddles. The farmers used to go to town through the mud as a short cut. In a dry summer they picked up their pants to their knees and splashed through the mud. During the fall and Spring it was impossible to pass through the mud.

On the other side of town the ground was normal.

There were 1900 people in the town of Swir - 1100 Jews and 800 non Jews. Among the gentiles there were White Russians and Poles. It was difficult to differentiate who belonged to which nationality, because many rich people found it below their dignity to admit they belonged to the White Russian nationality. They broke their teeth in order to speak like Poles and claimed they belonged to the Polish nationality. They let these people have their way, in letting them think they were Polish.

The Jews lived in "The Street of the Third of May", which starts at the cloister and goes till the horse market, a length of about one kilometer. That marked the boundaries of the town. Many Jews also lived in smaller streets.

The people called Staravieren and tens of families built a village at the side of the river and called Sloboda.

Most of the Jewish people in Swir were merchants. In front of every house on the main street where goods were sold, there were many different types of stands. There were textile, dry goods, hardware, building materials, bakeries, butcher and other stands as well. For many people these stands were not their only means of sustenance. In many families it was the job of the wives and daughters to take care of these stands.

The men were the dealers, and dealt in many different trades. Some dealt with wheat in large scale production. They used to purchase the wheat at the market and exported large quantities to Vilna. Another dealt in the same manner with potatoes, with fruit, with poultry, with eggs, with leather skins, with pig hair and many others. There were many merchants who were occupied only during certain seasons of the year, like fruit gardeners. Besides this, there were many peddlers, and those who worked with their hands like shoemakers and tailors. The Jews of Swir received the main financial help from the bank and the town's Jewish Charity Organization. According to a report from Vilna, there were a total of 140 members who belonged to the Jewish Charity Organization.

The greatest majority of the Jewish congregation lived very modestly, and yet they were very satisfied and happy. Unfortunately, when the Second World War broke out this contented life was utterly destroyed.

for the site http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Svir click
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Szlesinger,Bejle Kurenice, Poland 1921 16y 12 Szlesinger,Chaye Kurenice, Poland 1921 10y 13 Szlesinger,Frzuk Kurenice, Poland 1921 15y going to their father; Solomon- in New York

.
USA -

Dina and Julius Sassinski were brother and sister
Dina was born June 15, 1881 in Kurpnitz
She married Abraham Levine born 1895 in Bialystok, Poland and married 1913 at Kurpnitz, Vilno, Poland. (she was quite a bit older than Abraham according to relatives) They had two daughters born in US Sara and Ann. Sara was my mother in law.
Julius Sassinski married Ann (not sure of her name) and had 2 sons. William and David.
David was a prisoner and I have his number and Stalag number and a couple of letters written in 1933 written in Yiddish Hebrew script.
William migrated to Canada via Liverpol to relatives. A cousin Louis Bast (spelling?) lived in Detroit area.

William and Sara married (1st cousins) and had two children
Jules and Melvin. Jules is my late husband.
William and Sara went by the name William and Sara Leon.

for 17th & 18th century maps, the best place is

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Death Year: 1960
File Number: 05459
Surname: EINBINDER
First Name: NATHAN
Middle Initial:
Sex: Male
Month of Birth:
Day of Birth:
Year of Birth: xxxYOB
Race: White
Hispanic Origin:
Age Units: Years
Age: 82
Month of Death: March
Day of Death: 30
Death State: Connecticut
Death County: New Haven
Death Town: New Haven
Birth : RUSSIA
Birth Town: KURENETS
Marital Status: Married
Decedent's Last Spouse: PEARL
Education:
State of Residence: Connecticut
County of Residence: New Haven
Town of Residence: New Haven

--------------
Death Year: 1964
File Number: 23785
Surname: EINBINDER
First Name: PEARL
Middle Initial:
Sex: Female
Month of Birth:
Day of Birth:
Year of Birth: xxxYOB
Race: White
Hispanic Origin:
Age Units: Years
Age: 85
Month of Death: December
Day of Death: 12
Death State: Connecticut
Death County: New Haven
Death Town: New Haven
Birth State: RUSSIA
Birth Town: KURENETS
Marital Status: Widowed
Decedent's Last Spouse: NATHAN
Education:
State of Residence: Connecticut
County of Residence: New Haven
Town of Residence: New Haven
Father's Surname: GUREVITZ ZALMAN- URI
Residence House Number:
Residence Street Name:
Residence Street Type:
Residence Zip Code:
Usual Occupation:
Industry:
-------------------------------------
Death Year: 1991
File Number: 25454
Surname: EINBINDER
First Name: ELI
Middle Initial: H
Sex: Male
Month of Birth: December
Day of Birth: 27
Year of Birth: 1913
Race: White
Hispanic Origin: No
Age Units: Years
Age: 77
Month of Death: December
Day of Death: 09
Death State: Connecticut
Death County: New Haven
Death Town: Branford
Birth State: Poland
Birth Town: KURENETS
Marital Status: Married
Decedent's Last Spouse: JEAN
Education: Unknown
State of Residence: Connecticut
County of Residence: New Haven
Town of Residence: New Haven
Father's Surname: EINBINDER NATHAN
Residence House Number: 1307
Residence Street Name: BLVD
Residence Street Type:
Residence Zip Code: 00000
Usual Occupation: OWNER
Industry: ELI PAPER CO
----------------------------------------

Death Year: 1982
File Number: 03545
Surname: EINBINDER
First Name: JACK
Middle Initial:
Sex: Unknown
Month of Birth: April
Day of Birth: 04
Year of Birth: xxxYOB11
Race: White
Hispanic Origin:
Age Units: Years
Age: 70
Month of Death: February
Day of Death: 19
Death State: Connecticut
Death County:
Death Town: New Haven
Birth State: Non-Western Hemisphere
Birth Town:
Marital Status: Married
Decedent's Last Spouse: BEATR
Education:
State of Residence: Connecticut
County of Residence:
Town of Residence: New Haven
Father's Surname: EINBINDER
Residence House Number: 451
Residence Street Name: NORTON
Residence Street Type: PKWY
Residence Zip Code: 06511
Usual Occupation: WHOLESALE PAPER GOOD
Industry: WHOLESALE PAPER

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USA -

Red Cross 1942.

Bela nee Kramnik (her father was from Kurenets) Saliternik (see her story http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/vol_stories_eve.html) sent me two documents. Scanning attached.

The first one is an enquiry she had submitted to The Red Cross in Jerusalem on December 11th 1941. It is printed in Polish language on a Red Cross official form as follows: "Salitenik Bela, from Tel Aviv, 7 Nezah Israel St., Palestine is asking the Red Cross to find out and to let her know the whereabouts and of her mother Freyda Kramnik and family, from Volozhin, Market Square 7, Novogrudek District, Occupied Poland - Belarus" . The enquiry bears several stamps "Jerusalem Postage office", "Palestine Censor pass", "Red Cross Committee — Geneva" and "January 9 1942".

The second document is the Red Cross in Geneva official answer, typed in Minsk, dated September 23th 1942. It tells in German language that the Gebits comissar in Vileyka could not find out Freyda Kramnik’s whereabouts.

It was all the Red Cross in Minsk agents had to tell.

It happened on the spring and summer months of 1942 when the Nazis executed hundreds of thousands Jewish families in Belarus. The mass slaughters were accomplished at daylight, in sight of the local gentiles, accompanied by music, dancing and ringing the church bells. The sondercomando expeditions acted at this time overall the entire Belarus-Litwak Yiddish Land. Frantz Karl Hess, second lieutenant of the thirty second " Zondercommando" had accomplished on may 1942 his bloody acts in Volozhin, Vishnievo, Dolginov and Ivia brutally killing hundreds of Jewish children, men and women among the thousands executed by his unit and its local assistants. (See Frranz Karl Hess Trial in Volozhin Yizkor Book, page 576)

It was done before the eyes of the entire local gentile population.

The Red Cross agents certainly knew it, but did not yell. They did not tell a word.

Porat Moshe
972-3-5230085
Byron St, 10
Tel Aviv 63411
poratm@netvision.net.il

to read Berla story click here
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My grandfather Zalman (Sam) Scolnik and his brother Jassel(?) emigrated from Kurenets to Lewiston, Maine in 1908 to join another brother Yudel (Julius) who was already there. Another brother Kalman came to the U.S. about 1890 and was married to a Mary Gurewitz.
Dave Fessler dfessler@houston.rr.com
Houston, Tx USA -

Today I decided to call the Normans who wrote to the Vileyka site.
I called the information in Israel and asked for the number for Shalom Norman in Rishon LeZion. I was told that there are two Shalom Niormans in Rishon LeZion!!
I took both numbers and one of them kept ringing busy (always on the net!).
I called the other number and the young man who answered as Shalom Norman said that he had never seen the Vileyka site but his father Eli was from Vileyka!! I called Eli Norman from Rishon and he told me that he was born in Vileyka but he does not know; Shalom or Moshe or Avi Norman. He left Vileyka as a young boy in July of 1941 when the Germans arrived. He left for Russia with his family and in the last few years- all who are still alive from his Norman family live in Israel. His fathers name was Shalom Norman and since he left vileyka as a very young child he could not give me much information.
Since the other Shalom Norman was still unavailable and it was getting to late to call in Israel, I called Shalom's brother; Moshe Norman
Woodbridge, CT USA.
Moshe had a "huge" amount of information to tell;
His father; Zvi Hirshel Norman was born in 1924 in vileyka. He was the son of Shalom and Rosa Norman. (Rosa's family owned a hotel prior to 1939.) Zvi Hershel had a sister who died of illness long before the war. He had a brother named Izik who was born in 1929.
Sometime after Vileyka became part of the U.S.S.R (September 1939) Rosa took her youngest son to Moscow, to visit her brother; Leyzer, A General!!! In the Red Army.
They found themselves in Russia when Germany invaded the Vileyka area. Zvi Hirshel Norman took a large amount of money from the store he worked as soon as the invasion started and boarded a train to Russia. The soviets were very suspicious of him for his last name that sounded German to them and for the large amount of money that he had. They decided that he was a spy for Germany and sent him to Siberia.
Later he Joined the Red Army and after the defeat of the Germans he moved to Vilna near his uncle; Zusman Norman who also survived the war by escaping to Russia.
Later zvi Hirsh Norman Married Asia and had; Mosahe who is 54 years old and Shalom who is 48 years old. Moshe remembers that during the Jewish holidays his uncle Zusman Norman took him to the synagogue in Vilna.
The uncle; Izik norman(born in 1929 in Vilyka) fell into a bad company and in his youth lived the live of a" Russian hooligan" robbing trains. As I understand now he lives in Israel with some of his children; Mote, Rya (in Moscow) and another daughter.
Other relatives of the Normans; Lived in Haifa; Chanania and his brother Zev norman,
Their cousin, Yosef Norman who owned a printing house.
Cousin Zila Navon born in Vileyka in 1911- died in Israel last month.'Children; Sara in California; Zohar, Amnon and Arik in Israel.
Zila"s sister ; Gita Ben Shem Meishi Bezprozvani Z"L had a son; Zohar.
Zusman Norman ( Batia Norman was his wife) was the brother of the
grandfather, Shalom. Their son Peisl Zentechovski (Norman born 1922) lives in Israel as well as the
daughter Sara gazkes and the grandchildren
relatives in the U.S.; The Kopershtook family; David was a barber and married Chana, his brorher reuven changed his last name to Cooper.
A sister; Sara married Boris Clor.

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I would like to know if someone knows something about Zalman Pinkus Alperowicz (Helena Alperowicz's husband).
Pedro Alperowicz salonelcano@arnet.com.ar
Buenos Aires, Argentina -

Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905

from Database of Russian Army Jewish soldiers
injured, killed or missing in action
Record No. Province City/Town/Village/District Surname
933 Vilna Iliya Gunter
Vilna Vilenskij d. Kostrul'
42 Vilna Kurenets Wolf Al'perovich (son of Yehuda)
2936 Vilna Vishnevo Zusman
.
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I would like to thank the Norman family for scanning a very important letter they received on August 3, 1944.
I will post the letter on the Vileyka site in a few days.
Here is what the son of Reuven Norman wrote me;
In 1944, My father and his brother did not know what has
happened to their families back in Vileika.
They did not know back then about the holocaust.
They were in Uzbekistan and as soon as they heard on the news that Vileika
was freed from the Nazis, they wrote a letter to the Vileika city council
asking for information about their families and other relatives.

The city (it seems) asked a man named Shmokler to send a reply to people that
asked for information about the Jews who lived in the area prior to the war.
Shmokler was one of the three Jewish partisans from Vileika that survived and stayed back then in Vileika in 1944.
The reply letter;
Dear Reuven Zusmanovitz; (Reuven, son of Zusman norman)
In reply to your two letters I have some very sad facts to tell you.
your father was killed on the very first pogrom in Vileyka on July of 1941.
Your mother and sister perished during the third pogrom on 3-3-1942.
Barash David, Metuka and Shlomo Leibe; the three sons of Zelik, perished during the first pogrom. Their wifes and children on the second pogrom; July 30th, 1941.
During that second progrom I also lost my wife, my sister Berta and her twins.
My mother, my brother in law and your aunt; Sara Mirka were killed on 3-3-1942.
The only people who survived -other then me- are;
Nany Shulman, Yosef Norman (son of Baruch)
Mulka Norman (son of David Mordechai the baker)
and Lazer Kopelovitz. We all joined the partisans during the war.Yosef , Mulka and Lazer did not return yet to Vileika.
Noach Dinerstein, the son of Yosi leibe was also a partisan. He was killed in action.
When you escaped to Russia my sister's son Aharon Shtieman was with you. I did not hear from him yet. Could you write me as soon as possible if you know where he is?
When the Germans left they burned the town - only a few homes in the outskirts are left standing.Your home is gone. your relatives home is also gone.
Itza meir Bezporzany with his wife and their daughter, Malka- perished on 3-3-1942.

A. Shmokler
Some of the other surviving partisans were:
Shmuel Norman (died 10 yrs ago in Bat-Yam, Israel.)
Yosef Norman (died 2 yrs ago in Haifa, Israel)
After surviving as a partisan during the war, Shmokler (the writer of the letter) died in 1947 on his way to Israel in a car accident at a refugee camp in Germany.

Names mentioned in the letter:
Barash David is actually Berl David (probably translation
error) who was my grandfather, Zusman Norman brother.
The mentioned Metuka is actually Moshe (probably translation error) who was
also Zusman Norman brother. (my father uncle)
The mentioned Shulman Leibe who was married to my fathers' aunt. His son "Israel
Shulman" is living today in Russia in Rostov and was in contact with my
father a few years ago.
The mentioned 3 sons of Zelik who were my fathers' uncles.
The mentioned Sarah Mirke was my father aunt.

The mentioned Itzhe Meir Bezprozbany was my father neighbor.

By the way, my father his brother and the other "old folks", are excited about the
fact that you took the trouble to upload some of their heritage to the
internet.
They feel that somehow this gives this information some form of eternity.

Warm Regards
Avi Norman
Israel
mailto:avinor@yahoo.com
.
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I ran into this page by accident while researching the name Sklar (Shkliar, Shklyar, etc). My grandparents, Aaron and Rachel Shklyar (first cousins, both named Shklyar), came from Minsk Goberniye, but I do not recall the shtetl name.

Although I have not up to this time heard of Dolhinov, I am submitting this query because I noticed long lists of the names Gitlin and Benenson. My grandmother's sister Itteh married a Benenson (also a first cousin, exact relationship uncertain), no children. Two of her other sisters, Riveh Minyeh and Guteh, married Gitlins (two brothers). Another sister, Esther, married a Henkin (Genkin, Genkind, etc). There were also two brothers, Zalman and Dodya, who remained in Russia. Both apparently were killed at Borisov.

My grandmother's mother's maiden name was Drayzin, and my grandfather's mother's maiden name was Minkoff.

Zalman Shkliar also appears in the Minsk marriage records for 1912, but I am puzzled as to why only one name is listed in each of these records, some of them obviously male and others female.

My grandfather had a brother Shimon Shklyar, who apparently died before 1898 and left a wife and two children. His sister Minyeh married an Edelkind. He also had an apparently much older half-sister (presumably paternal), name unknown. I say much older because she had a son Maileh Levine, born about 1874, who left for Israel in 1914.

Can anyone connect with any of these details? Please e-mail me if there are any connections.

Bob New York, NY
Robert L. Sklar bsklar@geo.hunter.cuny.edu
USA -

Today I talked with Eda Rosengaus Feldbaum (via her daughter) who was born in Vileyka in 1902.
her father was Hirsh Rosengaus/Rosenhouse who was born in Vileyka and her mother Rivka nee Rivlin was born in Kochanow.
During WW1 the family fled to Samara/ Russia exept for the oldest brother who was able to get false papers for the name "Margolin" to come to New York to be with his katznelson / Nelson uncle and aunt. two years later he went to Mexico.
After the war the rest of the family returned to Vileyka . By 1921 they all joined Saul/Paul Margolin (he never changed his name back to Rosengaus) in Mexico. One sister (Pola) married Shmuel Katzovitz of Vileyka in Mexico. In 1930 Eda married Sol Feldbaum in NY. Eda kept in touch with friends from Vileyka amongst them the Bunimewitz/ Benet family of New York.

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UnkWI, Ben Gross
Author: Del Hamm Date: 21 Jul 2000 12:18 PM GMT
Post Reply | Mark Unread | Report Abuse Print Message
Any connections contact Del_Hamm@msn.com
BEN GROSS was born 1864, and died December 18, 1918. He married (1) LEAH HERMAN, daughter of ZEV HERMAN and BRYNIA GOETTELMAN. She was born March 25, 1884, and died June 18, 1952 in Milwaukee, Wi. He married (2) ANNA.

Notes for LEAH HERMAN: Buried in Anshe Lebowitz under name Lena Alperovitz, Row 85, Grave 13.

Immigration: 1900, From Prussia
Children of BEN GROSS and LEAH HERMAN are:
SOPHIE GROSS.
HARRY GROSS. Never Married
MARCELLA GROSS.
MOLLY GROSS, d. Died young of colitus; m. BEN KAILEN, Molly died long ago
CELIA GROSS, b. April 01, 1902, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; d. January 14, 1988, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Married Ben Troy
MINNIE GROSS, b. September 16, 1905; d. September 06, 1985.

Children of BEN GROSS and ANNA are:
FANNIE GROSS.
IDA GROSS, b. 1898; m. LOUIS OFFENBERGER.
no Children. She was over 101 when she passed away in a nursing home in Milwaukee

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USA -

Yeshiva University
EW WORLD HASIDIM
Ethnographic Studies of Hasidic Jews in America
Janet S. Belcove-Shalin, editor

A collection of essays that examines the culture, politics, and social structure of Hasidic Jewish life.

http://www.sunypress.edu/sunyp/backads/html/belcove_shalin.html

"Hasidim in the United States is clearly an important subject. There is increasing in terest in the Hasidic community among other Jews, scholars of religion, and residents of large urban areas. This book is an excellent anthology of current research on Hasidic communities in the United States." -- Zalman Alpert, Yeshiva University
Alpert is a highly
gifted librarian and member of the talented Yeshiva University Library staff.
His articles are usually informative and enriched oft times by knowledge not
normally accessible to others. His article on Rabbi Shimon Rom, a rosh
hayeshivah , printed in the weekly Algemeiner Journal , was a three-dimen-
sional depiction worthy of inclusion in any history of RIETS, the yeshivah of
Yeshiva University. And his observations have probably disconcerted
many complacent authors.
google search for Zalman Alpert of Yeshiva U.- son of Mendel, grandson of Chaim Yitzhak, great grandson of Avraham David Alperowitz, the Katzav from Kurenitz.

"Oshry, Churban Litta, and Gerd Korman, "Survivors' Talmud and the U.S. Army," American Jewish History 73, no. 3 (Mar. 1984): 252-85. The author is grateful to Zalman Alpert of the Yeshiva University Library for this reference."
"God's Middlemen : A Habad Retrospective : Stories of Mystical Rabbis
von Reuven Alpert, Betsalel Naor
US-Preisempfehlung*: $17.95
Preis: DM 42,53
EUR 21,74

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Gebundene Ausgabe - 124 Seiten - White Cloud Press
Maße: 15 x 20 cm
Erscheinungsdatum: März 1998
ISBN: 188399117X
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Chabad-Lubavitch, a spiritual travelogue, 4. Juni 1998
Rezensentin/Rezensent: Zalman Alpert (alpert@yu1.yu.edu) aus New York City
The 6th Lubavitcher rebbe is quoted as saying that there were 3 types of Lubavitcher chassidim,those who study the doctrines of Chabad, those of Chabad descent, and those who observe Chabad customs and pray according to the Chabad rite,may I add 1 more type , the Chabad Hassid devoted "Mekushar" to the rebbe, . In the last 50 years the latter category has dominated the Chabad scene,as Chabad became inseparable from its 7th generation leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (died 1994). This book is authored by men who fall into the first 3 categories of Chabad Chassid. Alpert descended from the well known Alperowitz clan of White Russia speaks for those who were never completely comfortable with being a follower of Rabbi Schneerson, yet were spiritual seekers, and proud of their Chabad heritage. Naor's introduction is an excellent short summary of the intellectual history of the movement, and is especially useful for its copious notes of various origin. Alpert's stories are memorable, yet a feeling of gloom, depression and death hang over them. Chabad stresses joy, celebration,inwardness but not gloom, and loss of hope, interestingly no where do Alpert and Naor discuss the role humor, joy drinking, and communal celebration play in the life of Chabad. In addition I can't understand why Naor does not discuss the role prayer and meditation play in Chabad. As a historical note, I wonder why Naor does not mention Rabbi Israel Noach Schneersohn of Nezhin as a Chabad rebbe ?Finally Naor and Alpert choose not to discuss Chabad since 1994, do they have any thoughts on the future ? The book leaves me with 2 unanswered questions : Who is Reuven Alpert ? and will there be another Lubavitcher rebbe?

.
USA -

Date: 12/17/01 7:03:53 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: alperowitch@yahoo.com.br (Fernando Alperowitch)
Reply-to: fernando@alperowitch.com.br
To: eilatgordn@aol.com

Dear Sir

First of all, I would like to congratulate you for the excellent work you have done, to put all this valuable information together. I was very impressed with the web site...my sincerely thank you.

Since you had studied a lot about Kurenets, I believe you can help me and my family to better understand what have happened with my ascendants and who knows, contact a relative. My grand father came from Kurenets to Brazil in 1929. He had studied in 2 Yeshivot in the region (Minsk and one more) and after receiving letter from a uncle that had migratted to Brazil, he came here to meet him - the anti-semitism in Polland / White Russia was already fearing the Jews.

His name is Isaac Alperowitch, son of Israel de Kassaf (the butcher) and Chaja. My grandpa had 4 brothers and 2 sisters: Shmeron, Zundel, Yoshke, Abram David, Itkha and Chana. Israel de Kassaf Alperowitch (my g grandfather) was son of Abram David and Hassia. Chaja, my g grandmother was daughter of David and Chassy.

I know there were a number of families Alperowitch at Kurenets, but I would like to know if you know this specific part of the family, and /or have any information about their fate.

I thank you in advance

Best Regards

Fernando Alperowitch

São Paulo, Brazil

Dear Fernando,
I am so happy to hear from you. About a year ago I called your grandfather in Brazil to tell him about the site.
I am in touch with the grandchildren of your great grandfather (Israel) brother; Yiza Michael who was murdered at a young age c 1910; Shimon Zimerman is the son of Zirel nee Alperovitch (first cousin of your grandfather)
You could read his story at http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_zimmerman.html
Yehoash Alperovitch is the son of Liba, the sister of Shimon Zimermans' mother.
You could read his story at;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_ghetto.html
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_blockade.html
I also talked to Zalman Alpert of Yeshiva University (New York) the son of Mendel (son of Chaim Yizhak the brother of your great grandfather; Israel)
There was another first cousin of your grandfather; Zalman. He was a very well known Chabad Rabbi;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_2kurenetsers.html
I will post your note so they will know that you are looking for them.
Many wrote about Israel the Katzav the son of Avraham David who was also a Katzav
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_3years.html
.....
How we envied the birds that were free to sing and call each other, while we were here, whispering, walking on our tip-toes, lost and fearful, not knowing what danger zone we might reach next. All of a sudden, I smelled smoke. In panic, we leapt into the bushes, fearing that there were people nearby who might see us. Our eyes were searching, our ears were listening, and our minds wondered what the origin of this smoke could be. Could it be shepherds from the neighboring village that made a bonfire in the woods? Or maybe it was Jews who had escaped? All of a sudden, I saw a group of people, gathered a short distance from the road. It was Israel Alperovitz, our town's butcher, his wife Chaya, their son Yosil, and the wife of Zondil their other son. They must have heard us approaching, because they ran into the forest. I wanted to calm them down, but I knew it was dangerous to yell, so I waved my hands and gave them signals saying that they should lie on the ground. They recognized me, and lay down on the ground, sighing with relief. When we reached them, we asked them why they had chosen a rest place so near the road. Not only were they resting there, but they had started a bonfire that could easily reveal their whereabouts. Israel replied that they were afraid to enter the deep woods. The women asked desperately, "What will happen to us? Who will be with us? Where will we go?" I was very familiar with the surrounding area and I said, "First we must go to the deeper woods, in the middle of the forest, as far as we can from the road. " I was still full of energy, and eager to fight against our bitter fate. My senses were sharpened, and in my heart I had many ideas and thoughts about how to survive. But they looked so defeated. We walked towards the deeper woods for about an hour. When I thought that we were a good distance from the road, we sat down and built a small bonfire. Israel brought out from his bag his talit and tfilin, and said, "Look, Yitzhak. God bless, I succeeded in taking this so that at least I will have a talit at the hour of my death." We sat on the ground and Israel told us how he was saved, and how he succeeded to leave town on the day of the slaughter: Early in the morning, he had walked to the minyan to pray. He made his way through the empty lots amongst the homes in the alley. While he was walking, he ran into some Jews who told him that the Germans had come into the town and were kidnapping Jews. Immediately, he ran home and led his family to their hiding place under the floor, where they sat the entire day. At night they abandoned their hiding place, and walked to Poken village, to the home of the gentile Kashtzook, who was extremely gracious. He took them under his wing, gave them a loaf of bread, and walked with them all the way to the forest. Israel was a very religious Jew. He didn't touch the bread. All he ate were the potatoes he had baked in the fire. Around three in the afternoon, a young village girl who looked about seventeen, came from the woods. When she saw us, she waved as if she was giving us a signal, and then she ran away. We still don't know how to explain the signal. A few minutes later there was a barrage of gunshots that seemed to come from the side of the road. We stomped the fire out, destroyed any signs of our having been there, and ran into the woods. I ran first, and everyone else was behind me. We ran for five kilometers, until we found a niche hidden between two small hills, where we lay until darkness came. Where Are We Going? We were three families traveling together. The Rugbin family, Israel Alperovitz family, and my family. We all wondered where exactly we were. The children were lying quietly, saying nothing. They were not a burden. It was as if they understood that we were in a world of horrible occurrences, and that they had to be responsible and acclimate themselves to the situation. We were thirsty and hungry. I estimated that we were somewhere near the village Hob. I remembered that near the village there was a little river, named Maentenna. From my estimation, we were also about three kilometers from the village Stidiyonka. The villagers from Stidiyonka were known as very cruel gentiles. So where should we go, to Hob or to Stidiyonka? In Hob I also knew there were many isolated farm houses, and that lessened the danger, so we chose to go to Hob. We held hands as we walked so that we wouldn't get lost in the darkness. It was the middle of the night by the time we reached the river. We didn't have any cups or anything else we could drink from, so we all fell to the ground and drank directly from the river. From there, we walked through the fields and headed towards the first farm we encountered. There was no light in the house. When we knocked, the farmer asked, "Who is there?" I answered, "Itzka from Kurenitz, the son of Netka from Shvashzapole". He knew me before the war. He approached the window and gave me half a loaf of bread and some onions. We went on, to another farm, and there they also gave us half a loaf. We took some vegetables from the garden, as well as a big gourd that was next to one of the fences, and with all these supplies we returned to the women and children that were waiting at the edge of the river. It was getting very late. We didn’t have a watch, but we knew it was after midnight. We entered the woods, but couldn't find our original spot. For three hours we roamed around. All of a sudden Israel said, "My dears, I have no energy to continue. I'll stay here." He was much more tired than the rest of us because he didn't eat the bread, so we stopped and lay down on the ground, bundling up with each other. When we woke up, it was already light. A plane flew over the woods, and the sound was unbearable. We realized that today was Rosh Hashanah. Israel put on the talit, stood next to a tree and prayed. He announced that we must pray for all of our townspeople. When he said this, we all started to cry, and we couldn't console ourselves. This was the first big cry after fifteen horrible months. We cried for all that had occurred to us. As the sunset, we continued our journey. We walked towards the village Tzavolitkes. When we were about three hundred meters from the village, we met with more of the towns surviving Jews. To my surprise, my sister Rivka with her husband and children, my brother Hilka with his wife, and the daughter of my other brother were among them. I never imagined that anyone of my family survived. They, in turn, had never imagined that I had survived. They lived on Mydell Street, at the spot where the murderers started the killing spree. Once again, we stood there crying, and then continued our journey. Now we had twenty-seven people among our ranks. We entered the village. It was clear to us that as Jews, we belonged to the night. The night, from now on, would be our day. The gentiles didn't dare leave their homes at night. They feared the dark. In this village, we got some bread and onions. That night, we rested in an area between the villages Varoniyatz and Tsavolitzkes, in the middle of the forest. The night was cold, the forest was very dry, and we were dying of thirst. We squeezed plants and sucked their juices. All of sudden, Rogovin remembered that in one of the farms there was a villager that owed him some money for a sewing machine he had bought. We searched for the house of this gentile, and he gave us bread and a pail of milk. We went to him before nighttime. He refused to .....
Machum Alperovitz wrote....
On those days of horrors, the Jews of the town were not allowed to have contact with each other, so we don't even know the extent of rebelling, particularly in the cases of families who did not survived. However, even the little that we know makes me feel deep respect for my townspeople. Another tale I must tell is that of Israel Alperovich.

Israel was a deeply religious Jew. When he escaped with his family to the woods, he continued keeping Kosher. He starved for many days but did not allow himself to eat the bread and other food brought from the villagers, fearing that the food was not kosher. Israel only ate potatoes that he baked in the fire and, eventually, he died of starvation. I see much heroism in his deed: he never lost his spiritual essence and his deep beliefs. When I compare his final journey to the journey of the many thousands of Russian POW's who while passing trough our town fought each other to get to food that was thrown to them, I can particularly respect him.
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_n_alperovich.html
Nachum Alperovich: Chapters from the Underground
Israel story;
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WWI Civilian Draft Registrations
Name Birth Date Ethnicity Birth Place City/County State
Philip Alper 1890 W Kurenitz Vilna Russia NYC (Manhatta# 138 NY
Reuben Alper 20 Feb 1895 W Dolhinow Vilna Russia NYC (Manhatta# 161 NY Jacob Alper 1 Sep 1886 W Wileka Wilna Russia NYC (Manhatta# 161 NY
Morris Alper 24 Sep 1895 W Wilayka Vilna Russia NYC (Manhatta# 161 NY
Solomon Joseph Alper 23 Apr 1888 W Vilna Vilna Russia Birmingham# 3
AL Bernard Alperowitz 16 Jun 1893 W Vileka Vileka Russia NYC (Bronx)# 11 NY Alex Alperowitz 20 Dec 1895 W Wilna Schwentzen__ Russ. NYC (Brooklyn)# 85 NY
Uriah Harry Alperowitz 8 Aug 1891 W Vinala Russia NYC (Manhatta# 161 NY
Louis Alpert 5 Jul 1892 W Dokchitz Russia NYC (Bronx)# 10 N
Yoseph Alpert 5 Jul 1889 W Vilna Russia NYC (Bronx)# 10 NY
Nathan Alpert 14 Jul 1888 W Wilna Russia NYC (Bronx)# 14 NY
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I found the names of two brothers who were born in Kurenets To Nachum Castroll (Hashochet) who died c 1915.
Nachum Alperowitz was his grandson (nachum's mother Pesia was his daughter)

Costrell, Edwin. Wrote a book; How Maine Viewed the War, 1914-1917. Univ. of Maine Studies, Second Series, No. 49, 1940. A study in public opinion
Here is what Nachum wrote abour his uncles; At our house, my mother's brothers were often mentioned. Two of her brothers left for America before I was born, My mother's other brother in America was Chanan Castroll(Edwin). He was the secretary of the Communist party in New York. In 1938, he was a member of a committee that went to Moscow, and people said that he even met Stalin! Hence it must have been a familial trait the interest in political action....
ANNIE nee Alperowitz COSTRELL
SSN 373-70-9954 Residence: 48219 Detroit, Wayne, MI
Born 15 Dec 1885 Last Benefit:
Died Jan 1974 Issued: MI (1973)

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SOLOMON COSTRELL son of Nachum Hashochet and ? nee Alperovitz from Kurenets
SSN 381-32-1706 Residence: 48075 Southfield, Oakland, MI
Born 5 Jul 1884 Last Benefit:
Died Dec 1967 Issued: MI (1951)
her brothers left for America before I was born, one of them (SOLOMON COSTRELL) had a candy store. His financial situation was not great and I remember that in one of his letters he wrote, "I have a sweet business with a sour income."

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1920 United States Federal Census

Alperowitz, Harry View Image Online
Images Online #: 1158 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1218

Age: 27 Page: 5A

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1258

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Alperowitz, Jacob View Image Online
Images Online #: 118 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1226

Age: 40 Page: 8B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1478

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Alperowitz, Pearl View Image Online
Images Online #: 159 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1206

Age: 40 Page: 7B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 855

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Alperovitz, David View Image Online
Images Online #: 376 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1214

Age: 65 Page: 16B

Birthplace: RUS;Minsk Race: W

ED: 1107

Sosensky, Herman View Image Online
Images Online #: 172 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1210

Age: 33 Page: 4B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 984

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Sosensky??, Morris View Image Online
Images Online #: 811 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1183

Age: 60 Page: 8A

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 10
Dinerstein, Abraham View Image Online
Images Online #: 27 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1199

Age: 22 Page: 13A

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 592

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Dinerstein, Bernard View Image Online
Images Online #: 179 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1184

Age: 38 Page: 2B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 28

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Dinerstein, Jacob View Image Online
Images Online #: 328 State: New York
County: Kings Year: 1920
Township: Brooklyn Roll: T625_1183

Age: 40 Page: 8B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1523

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Dinerstein, Moris View Image Online
Images Online #: 171 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1217

Age: 22 Page: 10A

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1199

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Dinerstein, Morris View Image Online
Images Online #: 169 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1200

Age: 25 Page: 8B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 632

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Dinerstein, William View Image Online
Images Online #: 262 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1209

Age: 25 Page: 37B

Birthplace: Deutschland Race: W

ED: 957

Dinnerstein, Maurice View Image Online
Images Online #: 125 State: New York
County: Kings Year: 1920
Township: Brooklyn Roll: T625_1183

Age: 31 Page: 8A

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1518

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Dinnerstein, Meyer View Image Online
Images Online #: 348 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1212

Age: 46 Page: 12B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1044

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Dinnerstein, Morris View Image Online
Images Online #: 215 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1184

Age: 27 Page: 6B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 29

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Dinnerstein, Phillip View Image Online
Images Online #: 626 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1217

Age: 50 Page: 23B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1210

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Dolgow, Hyman View Image Online
Images Online #: 1190 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1216

Age: 43 Page: 30B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1194

Dimenstein, Joseph View Image Online
Images Online #: 899 State: New York
County: New York Year: 1920
Township: Manhattan Roll: T625_1218

Age: 29 Page: 18B

Birthplace: Russia Race: W

ED: 1249

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I would like to congratulate Nancy Collier Holden nholden@interserv.com and Chaya Lupinsky mailto:lupinsky@netvision.net.il for the most beautiful and informative job they have done in creating a site for Myadel
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/index.htm
From the site map;
Myadel ~ Stary Myadel ~ Miadel ~ Miadelai ~ Miadziol ~ Miadziel ~ Stary Miadziol ~ Nowy Miadziol
in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ~ Poland ~ Russia ~ United Soviet Socialist Republics ~ Belarus
The Myadel Region: Myadel ~ Stary Myadel
1. Region of Calm and Dreaming Lakes Part I (Three part article from a biography of Rabbi Eliahu Gordon)
The Myadel Region (links to maps and locators, geology, geography, industry, architecture and travel)
Aerial Map of Myadel Landscape
Print enlarged Aerial Map
2. How Miadziol adopted Family Names Part II
Surnames in Myadel

1923 Myadel Business Directory

Households in Myadel
Printable Map

Lithuanian State Historical Archives
Supplemental Lists

Miadziol 1765

Miadziol 1784

Stary Miadziol 1765

3. Jews and Lithuanians Part III
History of the Jews in the Myadel Region (links to history, timelines, Jews in the Pale of Settlement)

Life in Myadel by Arye Geskin

Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Kosczevsky of Myadel

Pandemics 1800-1900 in Myadel Region

Deaths in Myadel 1811-1831

The cemetery in Myadel 30th of August, 1941

Memorial 1993

To my dear friends Miadler (An open letter from Sarah and John Alper of Canada)

Memorial and names from the murder site, September 21 1942

Deaths in Myadel 1941-1944

4. Photographic Portraits of the Myadel Region
5. Contacts
From the Visitors Journal;

I have always tried to form a picture of the towns in the Myadel Region, especially Myadel and Kobylnik.

I wanted to walk on the streets of our past. I longed to see the stream where the fish were caught; the river where my great great grandfather set the cut trees adrift; the lake when the sun set; the dusty roads that led to Vilna and the forests where the wolves howled. My grandmother was born there. My great grandfather ran the mill nearby. My great great grandmother had a store on the Jewish Street. My great great great grandfather was the box tax collector. My family lived in Myadel for at least seven generations before coming to America in 1894.

This site is my patchwork. It longs for your stories and your family names. It will be richer for the memories of all our ancestors. In hopes that I have been able to bring you some of what I longed for, please contribute your comments.

What kind of comment would you like to send?
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/Journal.htm
Please visit the site at http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/index.htm and click here to write a note to Nancy.
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FROM;
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/How%20Myadlers%20chose%20Names.htm

HOW MYADSIOL ADOPTED FAMILY NAMES

Part II

One of the Myestetchkos in that region is that of Myadsiol. Its history goes back more than eight centuries and is quite prominent on mediaeval geographical maps. Local legends ascribe to it great prominence in the period of the ancient Lithuanian monarchy. Its Jewish community, numbering about 200 souls, is also of very remote beginnings. Most of them bear the family name Gordon, while the remainder of the surnames are Hodosh. Gordon and Hodosh are still predominating names in the membership list of the Myadsiol Benevolent Association of New York City, the president of which is Mr. L. Gordon, a brother of Rabbi E. Gordon. According to local tradition the surname Gordon was suggested for adoption by one of the Jewish burghers of Myadsiol, a business woman, who on her travels met venerable merchants by that name. But, as a matter of fact, the Gordons seem to be related to the reputed Gordons of Bialystock. The surname Hodosh is said to have been bestowed upon the latter settlers of Myadsiol to denote their recency; Hodosh, meaning "new" in Hebrew.

ELIAHU’S PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD

One of the most esteemed citizens of Myadsiol was David Zeeb Gordon (d. Oct. 24, 1913),*(all dates are according to the Gregorian Calendar) who with his wife Esther Hayah (d. April 12, 1917) represented the ideal type of Lithuanian Jewry. Well versed in the Bible and Rabbinical lore, virtuous and upright above all praise, with almost saintly piety and meekness and with the ever hopeful endurance that sweetened and gladdened their toilful life, they were living examples of the righteous and pious eulogized in the Psalms. On February 27th, 1865, Esther Hayah gave birth to her first child, Elijah, who was immediately consecrated to a divine life. Elijah entered one of the local Heders at the age of five and his unusual intelligence very shortly won for him the fame of a prodigy. The facility with which he acquired the difficult parts of the Hebrew Bible and the keen pilpul (casuistry) of the Talmud, was above any precedent in his birthplace and in the neighboring Jewish towns. After he had been transferred from one Melamed (teacher) to the other, they finally decided that he exhausted their erudition and by their advice he was sent to the Rabbinical school of Smorgoni, about 60 viersts north of Myadsiol, under the presidency of Rabbi Loew Lichtmacher, His preciosity amazed his new masters and when he reached the age of thirteen he was transferred to the Mayleh Yeshiva of Vilna, founded in 1832.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SITE
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from Marriages in Minsk in 1912, registered by Rabbi Khanelis (Khaneles)
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/minsk_marriages.htm
Abraham- Shimon Alperovitz son of Aizik from the Jewish community of Kurenets age 26 (in 1912)Vitness; Tankelevich
Anta Cherny son of Girsh from the Jewish community of Dolhinov age 38 in 1912 was married before to Guttman? divorced vitnessed by Kharlip Abram
Marysia Dinerstein daughter of Khaim from the Jewish community of Kurenets age 29 in 1912 vitness Movshe Rubinstein
Dimenshtein L:eiba father; Rafael, from the Jewish community of Kurenets age 25
vitness Pogorlski Shimon
click here for the entire list
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Tikhon Bykov is my third cousin (I am almost sure). My great grandmother; Frada nee Alperovitz had a brother Solomon- Yitzi who moved to Gorki and had two daughters. Tikhon great grandfather was Solomon Yitzhak Alperovitz http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pix/russia/r1_big.jpg - he moved from Kurenets to Gorki and had two girls.
Tikhon visited with us last year and I gave him some pages from the 1816, 1834 and 1850 revision lists of Kurenets that I received from Ed Anders and Ronnie Greenberg (both Alperovitz of Kurenets descendants)

Today I received an email from Tikhon;
... I am sending these files with translations to you. Some of
those papers are very hard almost impossible to read, so if I could not
read it, I just put "..." in the file. Sometimes I could read, but I was
not sure that I read it correctly, in that case I just used a gray
color for those names. Also about spelling, sometimes it is very
different to find an appropriate translation of those Russian letters and
sounds to English, maybe it will be even easier to translate this to
Hebrew. Anyway I was trying to have them sound in English approximately
like in Russian, so it may be different from traditional English
spellings of these names. You can change it. All second men's names are
names of the father (according to Russian tradition), I just removed
from all of them Russian ending "ovich" which "means son of" .
Unfortunately those papers are just a small part of complete lists of
1816, 1834 and 1850 revisions. If we only could have all of them, I am
sure we could trace several generations for all families.
I would like to thank Tikhon. I will post what he sent me on the Kurenets site in a few days. I am pasting here a copy.
Revision list of 1816, August, Vilna guberniya, Vileyka district, Jewish community of Kurenets.

family Male age according to the last revision (1811) Time of death, if any age now family female absent since age now
4 Shimon Minushmo Reyztein His son Abram… 5618 1812 23 4 His wife R…na His wife Leya His daughter Roha 46246
5 Arvi Heshmon Z….Leyzer Vigdor Rubinowitz Izrail Shimon Alperowitz His son ...shba 51515923 1814 1813 Escaped 1813 64 5 His wife Tzirla His wife Sherra His daughter Rivka. 405312
6 Shimon Shmual Gararu..ein His son Abram His grandson Boruh 60355 1814 4010 6 His wife Gada His daughter Leya 405
7 Movsha Itzik Galperowitz His son Meylah Boruh Itzik Galperowitz 491830 Escaped 1813 5435 7 His wife Leya His daughter 1. Liba 2. Shprintza His wife Ester His daughter Lubka 4014123512
8 Neuh Itzik Rabinovitz 41 Escaped 1814 8
Revision list .of 1816, October, Jewish community of Kurenets