Volozhin Guestbook Archives: part 2
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Subj: Fw: Vishnive Project
Date: 1/20/02 10:01:28 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: helberg@netvision.net.il (helberg)
To: eilatgordn@aol.com (Eilat & Danni Levitan), cbmail@earthlink.net (Zane
Buzby)
VISHNIVE CEMETERY RENOVATION PROJECT
Dear Vishnive descendants, Shalom,
List of Donors for the Vishnive Project
Zvi Abramson Israel
Zane Buzby U.S.A
Ellen Bell-Gelt U.S.A
Ester Bogomilski Israel
Nathan & Galia Drori Israel
Lisa Dudman Israel
Matti Gal Israel
Dvora Rogovin Helberg & Uri Helberg Israel
Eilat Gordin Levitan U.S.A
Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister of Israel, Former Israeli Prime Minister )
Moshe Porat Israel
Geula Rabinowitz (Widow of Yehoshua Rabinowitz, of blessed memory, Former Israeli
Finance Minister, Former Mayor of Tel Aviv)
Zvi & Judy Rogovin U.S.A
Mina Steiner Israel
Charles Straczynski U.S.A
This is only the beginning.
Your donation is requested. Any amount will be thankfully accepted.
Please join us.
The address for donations is:
Ms. Zane Buzby
3446 Troy Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Tel: (323) 876-5566
Sincerely yours,
Dvora & Uri Helberg
.
-
Subj: SREBNIK research
Date: 1/21/02 4:38:31 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: bernie06@sprynet.com (Bernie Hirsch)
To: cmazzeo@si.rr.com, EilatGordn@aol.com
Hello,
I am a descendant of Samuel SREBNIK and Jankel SREBNIK, both sons of
Hirsh/Girsh SREBNIK, who is the son of Eli SREBNIK. They were all from Novogrudok,
Minsk, Belarus. Jankel married and moved to Vasilishki, Lida, Grodno, Belarus.
Samuel was born about 1855 in Novogrudok. He died 1923 in Brookyn.
Jankel never immigrated.
I can provide a complete descendancy, but I would like to know if you have any
information on my SREBNIK ancestors or if you think you are related.
SREBNIK means silversmith, as you know, in Polish and otherlanguages. I have
managed to trace 4-5 generations of my SREBNIKs who were tinsmiths/tinners and
then all became plumbers (common skillset)
after immigrating to the US. I have more info on that.
I also have photos of Samuel and Jankel.
Kind regards,
Bernie
.
-
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 -
Tuesday, January 15, 2002
Eilat Shalom,
I'm writing it over the Russian E-m and hope you may at least see it if not
read and understand. If possible pls place it on line.
Shalom, to our Volozhin descendants,
I was surprised to receive today an E-Mail answer in Russian to my New Year
greetings. Mr. Bielavski from Volozhin Executive Committee is thanking us for
taking care on making very much to preserve the Volozhin history and for placing
on line some fragments & pictures from the Volozhin Region Pamyat' Book.
O > > > > http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/volozhin1/volozhin1.html
At the Region Authorities office they have now a way to the World Web, they
are able to read our translations. They are very glad to see Volozhin on-line.
Mr. Bielavski writes: there are visiting many Rabbis but no one is making an
effort to do something useful for the Yeshiva.
(It is an excellent huge, ancient, centrally situated building suitable to locate
a School/Museum/library for the Region Litvak-Yiddish History)
This winter is very snowy and cold (up to minus 30 Centigrade). The Memorial
to the Volozhin Kdoshim, we edified at the ancient Graveyard in 2000 is now
covered with snow.
They are inviting us to come and visit the birth and living town/region of our
ancestors. He's asking us to come and visit Volozhin again. He's sure we would
be cordially welcomed.
I'm writing it over the Russian E-m and hope you may at least see it if not
read and understand.
Moshe Porat Original Message -----
From: ïÔÄÅÌ ÏÂÒÁÚÏ_ÁÎÉÑ
÷ÏÌÏÖÉÎÓËÏÇÏ
òéë
To: poratm@netvision.net.il
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 1:38 PM
Subject: Moshe PORAT
volozhedu@user.unibel.by
BELARUSIAN STATE ARCHIVES-MUSEUM
OF LITERATURE AND ARTS
Address: 4?, Kirilla and Mefodiya St., Minsk, 220030, Republic of Belarus
Tel: (375-17) 227-47-81, 227-25-83, 227-11-88
Director: Anna V. Zapartyko
Previous names:
State Archives of Literature and Arts (1960-1976),
Central Archives-Museum of Literature and Arts of Belarus (1976-1993)
Amount of holdings: 407 fonds (310 of which are personal collections of prominent
figures of literature and arts), 77,961 items
Chronological period: from 1820 to the present
Brief holdings description: The automated retrieval systems "Name index" and
"Personal archives " are working in the archives.
For researches of cultural and national renaissance and liberation movement
in Belarus of the end of the 19th-the beginning of the 20th century, the following
fonds and collections are of the greatest interest:
the collection of documents of the manuscripts' department of the Belarusian
Museum named after I. Lutskevich in Vilno (1835-1943), which contains materials
of the Belarusian Association on rendering help to the victims of the war; Belarusian
Socialist Gramada; Belarusian Party of socialist-revolutionaries; Belarusian
Social-Democratic party; the documents of the Belarusian People's Republic,
Ministry of Belarusian affairs under the Lithuanian government; materials of
the Central Belarusian Council of Vilno and Grodno regions, Belarusian Army
Committee, Youth League "Belarusian falcon" in Prague;
materials of the Belarusian cultural and educational organizations (Belarusian
Scientific Association, etc.), publishing house ("Zaglyane sontsa i u nasha
vacontsa"), journals ("Belarusky Letapis", "Kryvich", "Malanka", "Sakha"), newspapers
("Belarusky zvon", "Goman", "Nasha Niva", etc.);
personal documents of L. Dubeikovsky, K. Duzh-Dushevsky, P. Zhavrid, V. Lastowsky,
I. and A. Lutskevich, A. Smolich, A. Stankevich, B. Tarashkevich, A. Tsvikevich,
etc.;
the collection of photos on the history of Belarusian cultural and political
movement, collected by Y.Shnarkevich (1910-1940);
documentary collection of the critic and literary scholar L.A. Bende (1953-1960).
It contains creative and personal materials of the Belarusian poets, writers,
scientists, who were subjected to repression;
documents of Belarusian republican department of the All-Union Administration
on copyright protection (1917-1935);
documents of All-Belarusian association of poets and writers "Maladnyak" (1924-1927);
collection of materials of the Bogdanoviches family (1883-1975);
private collections of the writer Z. Veras (1908-1969), the musical critic,
publicist and translator Y.N. Dreizin (1879-1942), the writer and public figure
Y.L. Dyla (1899-1961), the memorialist P.V. Myadzielka (1913-1973).
Belarusian modern culture is reflected in private collections of the most prominent
figures of literature and arts: the writers – A. Adamovich, V. Bykov, Y.
Kolas, Y. Kupala, V. Korotkevich, I. Melezh, M. Tank, I.Shamyakin, etc.; the
actors and film directors – L. Alexandrovskaya, A. Kistov, A. Klimova,
P. Molchanov, E. Mirovich, B. Platonov, S. Stanyuta, V. Vladomirsky, etc; the
composers – A. Bogatyrev, G. Vagner, E. Glebov, I. Tykotsky, A. Turenkov,
N. Churkin; the ethnomusicologist L. Mukharinskaya, etc; the painters and sculptors
– A. Kashkurevich, A. Mariks, M. Tychyna.
For researchers interested in the history of the jewish culture in Belarus in
the 20th century, the interesting information is contained in the following
fonds and collections:
the fonds of the Belarusian State Jewish Theatre (1924, 1941-1949);
private collections of the actors K. Kulakov (Rutshtein), Yu. Aronchik and M.
Moin; the film directors L. Litvinov and M. Rafalsky; the writers L. Katsovich,
M. Kulbak, I. Platner, G. Reles and L. Shapira; the art critic S. Palees, etc.
The subject "Belarusian emigration" is exemplified in collections of the writer
M. Sednev (1934-1992), the singers M. Zabeida-Sumitsky (1892-1990) and Danchik
(B. Andrusishyn, 1958), the writer and public figure S. Yanovich (1944-1994).
A peculiar interest will be evoked by the Bernard Show's photos collection (1929-1930),
most of which are the original ones.
The collection of ethnographer and historian A.K. Elsky (1839-1885), and the
collection of I.I. and N.I. Grigoroviches (the 14th-19th centuries) can be useful
for researchers of Russian social, scientific and religious life of the19th
century.
http://www.president.gov.by/gosarchives/EArh/E_lit_isk.htm
click here
for the site
-
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 in other communities 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 the area, 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) escaped 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 (the father)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.
.
-
From; http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/belaroots/foster2.htm#rawicz
MINSK, WITHIN THE PALE OF THE JEWISH SETTLEMENT
From the report of Commissioners Weber and Kempster, August 30, 1891.
The information was extracted from a report commissioned by Charles Foster,
U.S. Treasury Secretary, in 1891. At the time, U.S. immigration was administered
by the Treasury Department. The purpose of the Commission was to determine "the
principal causes that incite emigration to the United States", as well as whether
current immigration laws were being followed or abused by the steamship companies
and others. The Commission members, separately and together, spent months traveling
throughout Europe and Russia, within the Pale of Settlement and outside it.
With the assistance of virtually every U.S. Consul in Europe, the commission
members had little trouble accumulating the information they wanted and interviewing
whomever they wished. To their credit, they not only met with the major players,
steamship executives, immigrant aid groups, etc., but also spent considerable
time interviewing ordinary Jews. Their (fully indexed) report runs hundreds
of pages, containing observations and an eclectic mix of raw research. The report
provides insight on the mechanics of Jewish emigration from Russia, as well
as laws regarding Jews. Among the material included is:
Various transcriptions of passport documents, steamship circulars and regulations,
and interview notes
laws of various countries, primarily those regarding immigration/emigration
and steamship operation
Source: House of Representatives Executive Document No. 235, 52nd Congress,
1st Session, Serial Set 2957
... We then visited a quarter of the city where the Jews congregate for the
purpose of obtaining employment, a sort of market square. There were hundreds
of men, women, and children of all ages and in every condition of poverty and
wretchedness; young, stalwart fellows, and people bent with age, all anxious
and many grouped and in earnest and anxious conversation. Some were in rooms
with doors open, and as the houses are built close to the very narrow walks,
the whole interior could be plainly seen. It was toward the close of the day,
and we could see the evening meal spread upon the tables, consisting generally
of black rye bread and water. Most of these were people who had formerly lived
in the interior and had been driven into the Pale. The important question with
them is how to obtain even this bitter, black bread, which constitutes their
main sustenance. Many of them were brought here by étapé, and
therefore had no clothing except that which they carried on their backs, and
most of them without money to buy clothing. Most of the children had but a single
garment, and all of them were in a condition of depression and apparent homelessness.
There was an entire absence of intoxication, and we may say here that the Jew
is singularly free from this vice; not a single case of intoxication among Jews
was noticed anywhere in Russia. Conversation with some of them disclosed the
fact that the principal questions discussed are "What shall we do, and where
shall we go to get bread?" for anticipation of the terrors of approaching winter
and the certainty of starvation, which they see no means of averting, aggravate
the present misery. Willing and able to work, they are unable to obtain it;
forbidden to work outside the city, forbidden to trade in the country, unable
to leave the precincts where they now are, excluded from governmental work,
it is no wonder they wish to fly somewhere where they can breathe and have an
equal chance in the struggle for existence. The only thing which prevents them
from going en masse to other countries is their poverty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sworn testimony taken before the Select Committee on Emigration and Immigration
(foreigners); House of Commons. Exhibit A. I. Extract, page 117
Examination of HERMANN LANDAU, member of the Jewish board of guardians, vice-president
of the Poor Jew's Temporary Shelter; and one who takes a general interest in
the welfare of poor Jewish inhabitants of London.
Q: Does not the arrival of these poor foreigners (meaning Hebrews) tend to overcrowd
the labor market and make it more difficult for those who are living in the
east-end of London to get full employment?
A: In my opinion it does not affect the trade at all, or to a very slight extent
at all events.
Q: But if there is such a difficulty in getting full employment one would conclude
that the greater number that come into London from abroad would make it more
difficult to get full employment?
A: I do not think so, because the people that are here already do not and can
not get full employment, and a great many of those are sent to America for the
purpose of bettering themselves.
Q: Do you mean that they are sent after they have been some time in this country?
A: Yes; the board of guardians send a good many families away to America.
Q: After being two or three years in England?
A: Yes, and longer.
Q: Is there no objection made in America to receiving them?
A: No; it is only this morning that I have received the report of the United
Hebrew Charities of New York, in which I find that they do not complain on that
score, and there seems to be no difficulty, because they say: "We should be
wanting in our duty were we to omit to state the difficulties we encounter through
the immigration of persons incapable of work." Then they say: "With all the
sympathy for their position, we can not find the means to permanently help these
helpless people in a community that has no care for thousands of impoverished,
aged, and weakly persons. People unable to work should be warned against immigration
which must result in bitter disappointment in a foreign land, and in most cases
making their position worse instead of better from a material point of view."
But they never complain of people who are able to work.
Q: Is it correct to say that the majority of the moneyed class have from £ 2
to £ 3 in their pockets?
A: Yes.
Q: You do not suppose that that is sufficient to carry a man to America and
maintain him there until he gets work?
A: No. They originally start with an amount sufficient to carry them on to their
destination.
Q: What do you call that amount?
A: Six or seven pounds; but they first of all have to run the gauntlet of the
frontier guard in Russia. A man is obliged to have a particular passport and
he is not allowed to leave the country without it. It has happened that sometimes
there is a very good-natured (as I might call him) frontier guard who will accept
a rouble for the privilege of letting him go, whereas another will insist upon
receiving twenty roubles, and of course, if you take twenty roubles out of fifty
it makes a very large hole in it.
Q: Still you do not mean to tell the committee that men with £ 3 in their pockets
are in a position to go on to America and make their way there?
A: When they start for America they generally have a letter from America, from
relatives or friends inviting them to come.
Q: And they are provided for when they get there?
A: Yes.
Q: You have brought the report of the Shelter; will you kindly read the first
few lines in the "Constitution of the Poor Jew's Temporary Shelter" for 1875-76
and tell me whether you agree with it or not?
A: I have not brought that with me.
Q: I will read it to you and ask you in connection with the Shelter, whether
you agree with it: "The influx of homeless and helpless foreign Jews, driven
by force of circumstances to seek a livelihood in England, being sadly on the
increase and unduly pressing on their struggling brethren already here, this
society is formed with a view to prevent newcomers from either being driven
to the mission house or lapsing into pauperism and becoming a burden upon the
community;" do you agree with that?
A: Yes; but I wish to qualify this, with your permission. I think we all know
that charities are allowed a certain amount of exaggeration, by which they appeal
to the charitable. We know that the hospitals generally appeal for funds and
say that they are in a bankrupt state, and so we have to appeal to charity.
We could not enter into all the details of the work done in the institution
for the purpose of relieving England of a large number of people who would otherwise
stay here, and so we put it on the ground of charity in order to get some funds.
Q: What is the meaning of this passage in speaking of the Shelter? You are asked
"What is the exact object of the Shelter for the immigrants to this country?"
and you answered "To forward them and protect them in this way: We have often
a Belgian, or a German, or a Hungarian, or an Austrian coming to the Shelter
for a similar position, but those we send either to the consulate or certain
charitable societies of those countries, and in almost all cases, excepting
where a man is known to be an impostor (and there are some, though very few),
they are taken in hand and dispatched by those societies either to their homes
or to some destination whither they are anxious to go." You are the medium,
then, between the immigrants and those various charitable societies?
A: Yes.
Q: And those societies you mention in the conclusion of your answer do practically
the work of sending them either back to their own country, or forward them to
the United States?
A: Yes; exactly so.
click to
read more
-
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, and 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 beautiful moving pictures
of Svir click here;
-
A post war visit to Volozhin
By Rachel & Reuven Rogovin
Translated from Hebrew; from the Volozhin yizkor book.
We left Tadzhikistan and came to live in Riga in 1946. One day we decided to
visit Volozhin. As soon as we arrived there we found out that we had nothing,
but completely nothing to see of our life prior to the war. Volozhin, the Jewish
shtetl did not exist. I recalled the words of our poet Bialik (a student of
the Volozhin Yeshiva) "Look around, my friend. On your heart are ruins,
only ruins".
On the first day we met our Christian friend; Roman Horbatshevski. With tears
in his eyes, he told us that he hid behind a fence and watched the shtetl’s
Jews marching to their death. "They walked silently, as if ignoring the
faith awaiting for them" he said. "Tell me Mr. Rogovin, why did they
accept the verdict, why did they not resist?" I left the question without
an answer.
After some days we met an old friend Mr. Katovitz the orthodox priest from Losk.
He was really glad to see us and could not hide the joy that he was ‘blessed"
to see us alive. He invited us to visit our mutual friend the priest Salizh,
who asked for the second time the faithful question: "Why did they not
resist?"
This time I could not restrain myself and answered his question with a question:
"You don’t understand why the Jews did not resist? And the fact that
from four millions Red Army captives only 3% had survived? And why did not they
show any resistance? The Soviet Communists and Commissars that were taken prisoners
by the Nazis, they knew that they would be exterminated, why did they not fight
for their lives? And the thousands of Polish Officers that were murdered by
the Soviet NKVD in the Katyn forest, - why did they not resist? Do you understand
it? The answer, your holiness you might receive only from the holy martyrs that
were terrorized, humiliated, famished by the Nazis and not only abandoned but
commonly haunted by their gentile neighbors.
The conversation farther spoiled our gloomy state of mind. We decided to go
to the Jewish Grave Yard, in which our dearests were buried. We looked at the
vast area of the common graves. They looked like small grass covered hills.
A committee inquiring about the Nazi crimes was active in Volozhin at the time
of our visit there. A grave was opened. Woe to the eyes that saw it. We looked
at the murdered. Despite the flesh that was shed from the bodies we could recognize
some of our friends. We have no words to describe it. For this reason it would
be better not to scrub the wounds and not add pain to our unbearable pain. We
mentioned here a drop of the hell we have seen and we leave the reader to imagine
it. But as horrible as it would be to imagine it, it would never resemble the
dreadful reality of what our eyes have seen while looking at the remains of
the Volozhin Jews.
We visited Volozhin again prior to our Aliya to Israel in 1958. We went again
to look at our Brothers common grave. The years diminished the tomb. The hill
sank as though it had been swallowed by the enormity of the crime committed
here. Our brothers’ blood had leaked into the very depth of the earth.
But to our sorrow it did not leave any sign and did not overthrew the world’s
foundations. Life went on like nothing had occurred here. Pigs were burrowing
inside the graves of the last of the Volozhin congregation members, the congregation
that lived there for five hundred years. I conclude with a wish that the mourning
for our fallen community will never end.
.
-
Rachel and Reuven Rogovin were born
in Volozhin, Rachel in 1906, Reuven in 1904. Their days of youth, falling in
love, getting married and having babies all took place in Volozhin. They were
successful in their escape in July 1941 from the area that just passed to Nazi
hands. They escaped with their two young children passed the Russian border
to faraway Tadzhikistan. At the end of the war the family came to Riga, from
where they went to Israel in the early fifties. Reuven Rogovin was devoted to
the memory of the people of Volozhin. He expressed his love in many stories
about the shtetl's colorful "folksy types" Jews. Some of his stories were published
in the Volozhin Yizkor Book. See: Reb Itshe der Balegole (coachman), Reb Hayim
der Shnayder (the tailor), Reb Eyzer Der Raznoshtshik (postman) etc.
Here is some of the family story (I will post the entire story in a few days
in "Volozhin stories".
Four days after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union we made our mind to escape.
We fled Volozhin at night. We left most of our valuable possessions with our
neighbor, Sholom Leyb Rubinstein, for safe keeping in his cave. We left the
town almost empty handed. Our son Grisha took his bicycle. Reuven left for the
journey wearing only his slippers. Good friends persuaded him that in soft slippers
the walking would be easier. After walking many kilometers of a rocky road his
slippers became torn exposing to the elements the bare flesh of his feet.
Our spirits lifted when we arrived to Mizheyk. Here we met with many Jews and
multiple horse-harnessed carts. Some of them transported Volozhin families who
escaped a few days before us: the Semernitski brothers, Berl Spector, Avrom
Mlot, Khatskl der Olshaner, Hershl Sheyniuk with his wife and others. Since
they left the town before us they were eager to hear the latest news from Volozhin.
We told them that although it seems quiet now, the relative calmness should
not be taken as an indication of the forthcoming days. We invited them to cross
the Russian border as one big group. However they decided to return home. Avrom
Mlot told us; "We fled, because we feared the bombings. Now that Volozhin is
in German hands and the bombing stopped, we want to go back". The entire group
went back directly into the lion's muzzle. They perished by the Nazi hands.
All of them were later murdered.
We continued to walk and arrived in Rakov. There we met some acquaintances,
who received us very cordially. Khayke Rubentshik (Guetsl Perski's sister) invited
us to leave the children with her family. She promised to guard them. "The Germans",
she said,"They are after Communists and their assistants only; they will not
do any harm to innocent Jews and especially not to Jewish children." We did
not trust the kind woman's "German proficiency"; we left Rakov taking our children
with us.
At night we arrived to the 1939 border with Russia. We found there a big crowd
of refugees on the Polish side of the border prior to 1939. (In 1939 during
the partition of Poland the area became Soviet until the German invasion of
July 1941) But the Soviet military guards closed the passageway to all former
Polish citizens and forbade us from passing.
Having no other choice we returned to Rakov. On the way we met Leybke Hayim
der Slovensker's son. He was wearing a soviet military coat; he told us that
he carried in his cart women and children of Soviet Officers across the border.
He advised us to try the borderline passing in Volma, 15 Km from Rakov. We joined
himt in this direction. To our sorrow we found that also this passage blocked
for us. At noon we heard firing and saw people advancing on carts eastward.
Leybke harnessed his horse and we succeeded to pass the Russian front.
We arrived in the town of Derzhinsk. To our disappointment Leybke announced
that he's returning home. All our arguments did not help to change his mind.
He left with us his horse-harnessed cart and returned into the lion's muzzle,
where he perished with all of our shtetl's inhabitants.
After some days of travel Leybke's horse ran out his vigor and was not able
to advance any more. We stood there perplex not knowing where from whom we could
be helped. After a short time help appeared in the form of a gentile boy riding
on a horse. He was ready to exchange his horse for Grisha's bicycle. Grisha
agreed.
We harnessed the new horse and arrived swiftly to Mstsislav (near Mohilev),
where a Soviet mobilization office was active. It was announced that all men
under the age of 50 should report to military service. I (Reuven) reported myself
and was at once nominated as Politrook (Political Supervisor) of the third battalion
in the Soviet Red Army.
I obtained two hours leave to separate from my family. We did not know where
our fate would takee us. We agreed that if we survive we should search each
other at my aunt's home in Stalinabad, now Dooshambe in Tadzhikistan.
Rachel with the children Etele and Grisha did arrive to Stalinabad after a long
jorney. In Stalinabad they were provided with an apartment. Rachel obtained
a job and the children went to school.
I participated in many battles that took place in Crimea: in Perekop, Simferopol,
Feodesia and Sebastopol. In the last town I was wounded and sent to a hospital
in Uzbekistan. Major Dumin, a wounded officer, who was hospitalized with me,
helped me to find my aunt and through her my family. My wife and children visited
me. Two months later I was strong enough to leave the hospital and join the
family.
My son Grisha volunteered into the Red Army at the age of fifteen. At the end
of 1942 he was heavily wounded in the Stalingrad battle.
.
-
The Red Cross 1942.
Bela nee Kramnik 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
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/vol_stories_eve.html
to
read Bela story click here
-
Finally, in response to a request
for records that I made to the Grodno State
Archives, I just received an actual birth certificate, presumably of some
relative, although, since I can't read Russian, I'm not sure which one. The
actual response consists of three pages: a cover letter, which hopefully
provides information about the status of the remainder of my search request;
the birth certificate itself; and an "apostille," which appears to be some
sort of official certification of the vital record. I've posted the three
pages to the JewishGen ViewMate web site at
. The particular file numbers
of the cover letter, birth certificate, and apostille are, respectively,
VM1155, VM1156, and VM1157, which can be accessed directly by going to
,
, and
, respectively.
Would anyone be willing and able to translate these for me? Any help would
be greatly appreciated. Please e-mail any responses directly to me at
rmandelbau@aol.com.
Thank you very much,
Robert Mandelbaum
New York, New York
rmandelbau@aol.com
.
-
Our family visited Volozhin on autumn
1998. The Volozhin authorities received us very friendly. They offered each
one of us the memory book of the Volozhin region. It is written in Belarus.
I found it interesting data about Volozhin, Vishnevo, Rakov, Ivianits, and Zabrezhe,
about those Shtetlah and the Jews that lived there and were exterminated. We
translated some chapters and placed in the JewishGen site by the Volozhin region
Mayor’s permission. I recommend to read it in order to have some understanding
how the gentiles see us.
M. Porat
The address: http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/volozhin1/volozhin1.html
Memory to Volozhin Region (Volozhin, Belarus)
54°05' / 26°32'
Translation of Pamiat-Volozhinski Rayon
Published in Minsk, 1996
Our sincere appreciation to V. I. Malishevski, Regional Executive Committee
Chairman and the Region Editorial Commission for the creation of the History-Documental
"Pamiat" Book Chairman, for permission to put this material on the JewishGen
web site.
.
This is a translation from: Pamiat-Volozhinski Rayon (Memory to Volozhin Region).
Minsk "Mastatskaya Literatura," 1996. Litsenzia LV No 3, 220600 Republique Belarus,
Minsk, 11 Masherov Avenue
Table of Contents
(partial)
Article Author Page
Introduction
The Volozhin Region area
Islotsh (Brook of the Berezina River)
New order in Vishnievo K. Pobal <TD&NBSP;< td>164
The destruction of Volozhin's Jews M. Batvinnik 164
The destruction of Rakov Jews 165
Memories from Vishnievo Ghetto Ema Mikhaylovna Murtshanka 166
Vishnievo Slaughter Witnesses Gelanovo & vicinity peasants 167
The Town Volozhin Martyrs of Hitler's terror 253
Zabrezhe - Jewish Martyrs 261
Moshe Porat <poratm@netvision.net.il>
Tel Aviv, Israel -
ID: I307
Name: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Sex: M
Note:
EUROPEINFO: Letter from Fannie Friedman 1977
The town we came from was Volozin, Poland. Smargon and Vilna was the county
seat. I hear mention of other Sepswnwols but there was little communication.
Morris Schiff's mother was one of the cousins.
My cousin Carol Crane was making a genealogy chart but began with my Father
and Mother, no further back. One item I do remember was that the Sepsenwol family
did have a branch in Haradock, a village close to Volozin.
ADDRESSES: Solomon "Shlomo der Chasid" Shepsenwol in Volozhin: A Rare Chasid
in Volozhin, by David Cohen (Tel Aviv) from the Volozhin Yizkor book:
[Solomon
SEPSENWOL b: Abt. 1845 d: Bef. 1917 +FÃgel Sepsenwol b: Abt. 1845 in
Lithuania m: Abt. 1874]
There was never a minion of Chasids in Volozhin. Once there would be a second
toward the ten, the first would die. Amongst the very few was a Chasid from
Slonim Yeshiva named Shlomo Shepsenwohl. (a native of Haradok) He was also called
"the angel." He got this name because, once, when he had a sickness in his leg,
they had to operate. When he opened his eyes, and found out that they had to
amputate one of his legs, he made a joke, "Too bad I can't dance in company."
When the Rabbi heard it, he said this is the behavior of an angel. They said
his brain is bigger than his heart.
I remember one day sitting with a group of friends in our
yeshiva,
singing different songs we each knew. I started singing a typical Slonim
song. At this point, a Jew with one leg came in and asked, who is
singing
the Slonim tune? I said, it is me, I am from Slonim. I invited him on
Saturday night. As was the custom in Slonim, we would stay up all night
on
Friday and read the tunes. Especially when we reached the passage, "I
pray
for the pleasantness of the Shabat," his voice came from the depths of
his
soul. I would forget that I left the Chassidat, and my soul would be
sick
with love. The Jews of Volozhin and the yeshiva students would stand
outside
and listen and someone would say, we don't have a minion of Chassid in
Volozhin, but we do have a....
He told me one time he stood in front of the head of the
Chassidim in
Slonim, who asked him, how come you go an pray again and again with the
Migdanim in Volozhin? Shlomo answered, "Before I go to the synagogue, I
say
to myself, I'm going into the meadow; the bulls are walking around and
making
loud sounds, and I'm the only human being among them." The big Rabbi
said,
"Why do you want to see so many Jews as bulls? It would be better to say
that there are many people and only one bull among them.." From then
on he
would say whatever the Rabbi said, that he was one bull among many Jews
because he doesn't want to disrespect other people. [followed by a
comment is
by Benyamin Shafir Shishko: "When he was in Tiberia in Purim of ... I
heard
in the synagogue Kiryat Shmuel that belongs to the Chssids from Slonim
from
the elder of the community Rabbi Moshe Shelita the most wonderful tales
about
the amzing spirit of Shlomo Chassid." Then a song that Shlomo der
Chassid
wrote in Yiddish: "No lambs, no herds, no wife, no children. Only
‘happiness
in the Kingdom of Heaven.'" This was printed in a Chassidic book [title
given
in Yiddish](p. 505)
BIRTH: At 1845 he was from Solonim and then lived in Volozhin
Marriage 1 Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Children
Naach (Noah) SEPSENWOL
ID: I46
Name: Naach (Noah) SEPSENWOL
Sex: M
Birth:
Event: Hebrew Name Naach Reuven
Note:
!BIRTH: Isaac Meltzer Hyaman, Isaac Meltzer Hyman's notes on Parent's
Father: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Mother: Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Marriage 1 Bessie (Bashe) GINSBURG b: AUG 1876
Children
Fannie SEPSENWOL
Living SEPSENWOL
Emma SEPSENWOL b: 15 JAN
Rose SEPSENWOL
Isadore SEPSENWOL
Living SEPSENWOL
Issac SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Harry SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Leibe SEPSENWOL
ID: I311
Name: Leibe SEPSENWOL
Sex: M
Note:
EMIGRATION: Eilat Gordon e-mail 28 Aug 2001
EMIGRATION: Leibe or Abraham Schepsenwol was the son of Shlomo Chasid
from Volozhin. He was born in Haradok. Sailing from Bremen September 9,
1909
Schepsenwall, Leibe Male 29 Years Born in Russia, Hebrew Town Volozhin,
Going to see brother in New York
EMIGRATION: Sailing from Cherbourg, October 17, 1921 It was Leibe's
second coming to the Unted States. He was turned down the second time
for pool health and returned to Volozhin. His little girl Ziwa died and
is buried on Ellis Island. When Leibe returned to Volozhin he and his
wife Rylka had two other daughters. Francis and Lucille. Lucille lives
in New York. For pictures and stories see
http:/elatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/volozhin.html.
Father: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Mother: Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Marriage 1 Rylka PERSKY
Children
Infant SEPSENWOL
Frances (Zippora Feiga) SEPSENWOL b: Abt 1922 in Volozhin
Living SEPSENWOL
ID: I309
Name: Issac SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Sex: M
Death: Died
Father: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Mother: Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Marriage 1 Rose IMMERMAN
Children
Living SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Living SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Living SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Living SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Name: Harry SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Sex: M
Death: Died
Father: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Mother: Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Marriage 1 Pauline BOBB
Children
Florence SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
Living SCHIFF
Living SCHIFF (SEPSENWOL)
ID: I312
Name: Alte SEPSENWOL
Sex: F
Note:
EMIGRATION: Ellisislandrecords.com
Alte Schepsenwolf F 19 yrs Married Russia Hebrew Walosin Sailing from
Hamburg on the Pretoria Arriving March 06, 1904
Father: Solomon SEPSENWOL
Mother: Tzvia Devorah UNKNOWN
Marriage 1 Harry GRAVER
Children
Living GRAVER
Carl GRAVER
Hyman GRAVER
ID: I23
Name: Nathan SEPSENWOL
Sex: M
Note:
EUROPE INFO: Letter from Fannie Sepsenwol Friedman to Bette Greenfield 13
Oct 1977
Our Sepsenwol family was from Volozin, Poland, Smargon and Vilna was the
county seat. There was a branch of the Sepsenwol family from Horodok, a
village close to Volozin.
Marriage 1 Ruchel
Married: in Russia
Children
Dina Rina SEPSENWOL b: in Russia
ID: I60
Name: Dina Rina SEPSENWOL
Sex: F
Birth: in Russia
Death: Abt 1931 in Atlantic City,NJ
Burial: Upper Darby,PA
Note:
Morris Shiff(his mother was Dina Rina's sister Chippa) said that they
spent the winter of 1907 on Amboy Street in Brownsville with the Schiffs.
He remembers that they also spend summers at Chippa's House in Belmar.
The children knew that she was coming because Dina Rina would have fresh
chickens sent to the house so that they could have fresh eggs.
He also remembers that Dina Rina, was the last Shepsenwol sister to
emigrate and went to Philadelphia to be with her husband Charles,
Morris's mother Chippa insisted that her family move from Newburgh, NY
to Philadelphia to be near her eldest sister. This may have been around
1898.
ADDRESSES: Federal Census 1900
405 Third Street
Philadelphia
EMIGRATION: She came after her husband Charles
BURIAL: Interview with Rose Poland by Bette Greenfield 2 July 1977
Charles Poland, Dina Rina Sepsenwol Poland, Abraham Isaac Poland and
Judah Poland are all buried in the Poland Plot at Har Jehuda Cemetary -
Upper Darby, PA Section C Line 18-C Plot 56. Neaby is the Kaplan plot
where Mollie Poland Kaplan, Thelma Kaplan and Isidore Kaplan are buried.
MARRIAGE: Interview with Ida Silverstone by Bette Greenfield 5 June 1977
"Ida gave me the names of the Poland children.
MARRIAGE: Interview with David Hyman by Bette Greenfield 12 June 1977
"David gave me the same names of the Poland children as did Ida
MARRIAGE: Interview with Morris Schiff by Bette Greenfield 22 June 1977
"Morris gave me the same names ofthe Poland children as did Ida and
David."
!DEATH: Interview of Morris Schiff 25 June 1977 by Bette
!BURIAL: Interview of Morris Schiff 25 June 1977 by Bette
!BURIAL: Interview with Rose Poland by Bette Greenfield 2 July
Father: Nathan SEPSENWOL
Mother: Ruchel
Marriage 1 Charles (Chaim) POLAND b: APR 1850 in Russia+
Married: in Russia
Children
Jacob POLAND b: 29 JUL 1871 in Russia
Abraham Isaac POLAND b: MAY 1873 in Ukraine,Russia
Meyer D. POLAND b: NOV 1879/1880 in Russia
Mollie POLAND b: AUG 1882 in Russia
Joseph POLAND b: AUG 1884 in Russia
Tzeta (Celia) SHEPSENWOL b: Abt 1859 in Russia
ID: I21
Name: Tzeta (Celia) SHEPSENWOL
Sex: F
Birth: Abt 1859 in Russia
Death: 5 NOV 1929 in Brooklyn,NJ
Burial: 6 NOV Mt. Judah Cemetary,Brooklyn,NY.
Event: Hebrew Name Tzeta
Note:
ADDRESSES: Death Certificate - Dated 6 Nov 1929
1929 - 1860 East 24th Street Brooklyn, NY
BURIAL: Death Certificate Mt. Judah Cemetary Brooklyn "Koiendenover
Society) 212-821-1060 Not Buried next to Abraham
BIRTH: Death Certificate dated 6 Nov 1929
Born 1859 Died at 70 Years old Birthplace - Russia
Father - Herman Shepsenwol - Russia
Mother - Rachel Shepsenwol - Russia
[Ed. note: We know that her father's name was Nathan. There is no
Herman in the family.]
EMIGRATION: Death Certificate dated 6 Nov 1929
In the US for 28 years calculated to 1901 arrival
! DEATH: Death Certificate of Celia Meltzer;;;22235;, City of New York,
Father: Nathan SEPSENWOL
Mother: Ruchel
Marriage 1 Abraham (Abram) MELTZER b: Abt 1858 in Russia
Married: in Russia
Children
Israel (Isidore) MELTZER b: Abt 16 DEC 1879 in Russia
Morris MELTZER
Isaac MELTZER b: Abt 1885
Fannie MELTZER
click
for the family tree
USA -
SEPSENWOL
Bessie, mother, 1876 - 1960 from Volozhin
Nathan, father, 1876 - 1947
SH-3Salem Cemetery, Sheffield Twp, Lorain Co, OH
.
USA -
http://www.eagleman.com/sugihara/
The Sugihara Database
Searching for Surname SHEPSENWAL
(D-M code 474678)
Number of hits: 1
Run on Tuesday 11 December 2001 at 22:10:10
Number Nationality Surname Givenname Visa Date
1609 Polish SZEPSENWOL Fejga 12 August 1940 from Volozhin also her tounger sister
came with her.
VISAS FOR LIFE
For 29 days, from July 31 to August 28, 1940, Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara unflinchingly
sat for endless hours signing visas with their own hands. Hour after hour, day
after day, during three weeks, they wrote visas. They wrote over 300 visas a
day, which would normally be more than one months work for the consul. Yukiko
also helped him register these visas. At the end of the day, she would massage
his fatigued hands. He did not even stop to eat. His wife supplied him with
sandwiches. Sugihara chose not to lose a minute because people were standing
in line in front of his consulate day and night for these visas. When some began
climbing the fence to get in on the compound, he came out and calmed them down.
He promised them that as long as there was a single person left, he would not
abandon them.
After receiving their visas, the refugees lost no time in getting on the train
that took them to Moscow, and by the trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivostok.
From there, most of them continued to Kobe, Japan. They were allowed to stay
in Kobe for several months. They were then sent to Shanghai, China. All of the
Polish Jews who were issued visas survived in safety, under the protection of
the Japanese government in Shanghai. They survived, thanks to the humanity and
courage of Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara. The visas they issued turned out to be
passes to the world of the living. When Sugihara had to leave Kaunas for his
next post in Berlin, he handed over the visa stamp to a refugee, and many more
Jews were granted life.
In 1945, the Japanese government unceremoniously dismissed Chiune Sugihara from
the diplomatic service. His career as a diplomat was shattered. He had to start
his life over. Sugihara was without a steady job for over a year. Once a rising
star in the Japanese Foreign Service, Chiune Sugihara worked as a part time
translator and interpreter. For the last two decades of his life, he worked
as a manager for an export company with business in Moscow. This was his fate
because he dared to save thousands of human beings from certain death.
Today, 50 years after the event, there may be 40,000 or more people who owe
their lives to Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara. Two generations have come after the
Sugihara survivors, and they owe their lives to the Sugiharas. All the survivors
call him their savior, some consider him a holy man, and some think he was a
saint. Yukiko Sugihara recalled that every time she and her husband had met
or heard of people they had saved, they felt great satisfaction and happiness.
They had no regrets.
After the war, Mr. Sugihara never mentioned or spoke to anyone about his extraordinary
deeds. It was not until 1969 that Sugihara was found by a man whom he had helped
to save. Soon, many others whom he had saved came forward and testified to the
Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) in Israel about his life-saving deeds. The Sugihara
survivors sent in hundreds of testimonies on behalf of their savior. After gathering
the testimonies from all over the world, the committee at the Yad Vashem realized
the enormity of this man's self-sacrifice in saving Jews. Before his death,
he received Israel's highest honor. In 1985, he was recognized as "Righteous
Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem Martyrs Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.
He was too ill to travel; his wife and son received the honor on his behalf.
Further, a tree was planted in his name, and a park in Jerusalem was named in
his honor.
He said that he was very happy with the honors. "I think that my decision was
humanely correct."
The above text was written by Eric Saul
click for the site
-
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.
-
I am interested in contacting anyone
who knows of a Jacob Persky who immigrated to the US with his wife Sarah (nee
Zviny) Persky in the early 1900's. They married young (he 17; she 16). I believe
they were from around Kharkov (Ukraine). They had four daughters - the oldest
was born c.1896 in Russia or the Ukraine. The youngest was the only one to be
born in the US in 1915, in Torrington, Connecticut. Jacob worked as a contractor
in Torrington. He died in the late 1930's of a heart attack in NY (possibly
Brooklyn Kings County Hospital). Sarah, his wife, died in 1953 of a heart attack.
Their four daughters were Lee, Ann, Fan and Mae. Does anyone know anyone in
this family?
If so, please either respond on the message board and/or please e-mail me.[]
Thanks
Hi to all!! Does anyone out there
have a Persky family tree going back more than two generations? My father was
Hyman from Pittsburgh Pa..... his father was Jacob from Wolozin Poland......
Thanks
Jackie Persky
.
-
. Sherman, Moshe D.
Orthodox Judaism in America:
A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook.
Westport, Conn., and London: Greenwood Press, 1996. 291 pages.1
Table of Contents
http://www.huc.edu/aja/fw96-11.htm
Moshe Sherman’s interesting book is the last of three biographical dictionaries
about some of the most central people and organizations that influenced the
major religious denominations within American Jewry: Conservative, Reform, and
Orthodox (in the order they were published). The significance of this series
is that it is the first of its kind and will probably remain a main source of
reference for years to come, particularly vis-à-vis Orthodox Judaism
in America–the denomination that has received the least scholarly attention
among the three. Furthermore, these volumes seem to lay the groundwork for numerous
issues relating to American Jewish religious history, a topic that has yet to
be adequately researched. ......
..Certain characteristics that emerge from the lives and activities of the notables,
all men, treated in this book lay a foundation for numerous overlooked questions
in American Jewish Orthodoxy, such as:
1) Are there common characteristics among European rabbis who immigrated to
America? Can a prosopography be formed? For example, the origins of the rabbis;
their route of immigration and positions held, if at all, prior to crossing
the Atlantic; and the return patterns to Europe of those who chose to do so.
2) What happened to these rabbi’s children? Did they remain Orthodox, and
did they also build careers within the religious arena?
3) What were the different stations of these rabbis and leaders in America,
and how many times did they move until settling permanently?
4) Why did relatively much fewer Hasidim and Hasidic rabbis immigrate to America
at the turn of centuries, compared with Mitnagdim?
Notwithstanding all the important and useful aspects of this book, I would like
to share a few of my misgivings regarding its contents....
.....One of the most important tasks in writing a biography is to be as precise
as possible about details. Rabbi Jacob Joseph is probably the one Orthodox rabbi
any academic student in American Jewish history would learn about at some stage.
In presenting his biography, the author states that Joseph was born ca.1848
and "After attending the Volozhin yeshiva…, Joseph went to Kovno to
study with Rabbi Israel Salanter"(109). Stating the year 1848 as Jacob
Joseph’s birth date is common in most academically oriented sources; however,
a quick look at the facts proves it to be virtually impossible. All the sources
agree that Joseph learned in Volozhin under Rabbis Soloveitchik and Berlin,
which could not have been before 1853, and that he studied with Salanter in
Kovno, which probably took place prior to 1857 when Salanter relocated to Western
Europe. Several sources teach us that Joseph served as a "clergyman"
at the age of eighteen, was offered the opportunity by the Russian government
to found a Jewish colony in Siberia in the late 1850s, and taught in a yeshiva
in the early 1860s. If Joseph was born in 1848, he must therefore have been
five years old, more or less, when he entered Volozhin, eight years old when
he relocated to Kovno, and ten to twelve years old when he started his rabbinic
career. A quick examination of Joseph’s east European biography would enable
us to deduce beyond a doubt that stating "circa 1848" is wrong. This
mistake should once and for all be amended.3
to read the entire article click
here;
-
BRIEF HISTORY OF BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY
http://www.biu.ac.il/General/biu_history.html
..Keeping pace with the Jewish state, Bar-Ilan University took root despite
the adversity of the 50s, flourished after the Six Day War, became seasoned
and established in the 70s and 80s and burgeoned with the mass immigration of
the early 90s.
1948. The modern State of Israel is established. One man has a dream.....to
create an institution of higher learning in the newly-established Jewish republic
"in which Jewish learning and the Torah of Israel would be studied together
with all the latest findings in the fields of human research". "A university
demonstrating that", wrote Bar-Ilan's architect and founder Prof. Pinkhos Churgin,
"Judaism is not a cloistered way of life, removed from scientific investigation
and worldly knowledge.... A college of excellence that will strive to implant
within the heart of each student an unswerving faith in the unity of our people
with all of its diversity, in all of its divisions and parts".
Prof. Churgin, an American rabbi and educator, nourished the dream and pursued
it relentlessly. A graduate of the famed Volozhin Yeshiva, scholar of Semitics,
and professor of Jewish history and literature at Yeshiva University, Churgin
gathered arohim an elite group of American orthodox academics and leaders who
shared his vision. Central figures in this group were Rabbi Dr. Joseph H. Lookstein
(later Bar-Ilan Chancellor), Rabbi Zemach Zambrowsky, Rabbi M. Kirshblum, Prof.
Saul Lieberman and Rabbi Prof. Emanuel Rackman (later to become Bar-Ilan president
and chancellor), along with philanthropists Philip, Max and Frieda Stollman
of Detroit.
1950. Meeting in Atlantic City, the leadership of Mizrachi Religious Zionists
of America enthusiastically endorsed Churgin's vision and adopted the project.
An Israeli founders committee was established, involving national religious
leaders Moshe Haim Shapira, Dr. Joseph Burg, Dr. Zerach Warhaftig, David Pinkas,
Herman Hollander, M. D. Magid, Y. Karib, Rabbi Zev Gold and others. The name
Bar-Ilan was chosen, in honor of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan from volozhin (Berlin),
a spiritual leader who led traditional Judaism from the ashes of Europe to rebirth
and renaissance in the Land of Israel.
http://www.biu.ac.il/General/biu_history.html
click here to read the
rest;
-
Jews of Belarus Move to Save Their
Past
Major Initiative with Government will Preserve Historic Jewish Sites
Union of Religious Jewish Congregations Undertakes Bold Initiative
http://www.zah.ndirect.co.uk/jews_of_belarus_move_to_save_the.htm
...One of the first projects undertaken by the Union is the Restoration of the
Volozhyn Yeshiva, the Mother of All Yeshivas and the founding institution of
the modern Yeshiva movement. The Committee has also endorsed this project specifically:
"Built in 1803, the Volozhin Yeshiva is one of the best examples of spiritual
centres that need revival. Many prominent people known world-wide, such as Rav
Cook, and Hyam Volozhyner and many others, studied and taught there. This educational
institution was the prototype and the example for important Talmud centres in
Europe, Israel, the USA. . . .
"By this document we certify that in 1998 the Volozhin Yeshiva was registered
on the State List of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Belarus.
The Belarusian Republican Council on the Historical and Cultural Heritage of
our Committee examined and approved of the restoration design documents prepared
on the initiative and paid by the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations of
the Republic of Belarus and the Jewish Revival Charitable Mission.
We appeal to the world Jewish community to render support and to take part in
turning this important project into life. We guarantee the State support on
the part of the organizations responsible for the preservation of the historical
and cultural heritage of the Republic of Belarus."
Prior to this undertaking the Yeshiva was languishing as a dilapidated 'culinaria'
(food shop) dispensing sandwiches, drinks and baked goods. The Volozhyn local
authority gave title of the Yeshiva to the Union last autumn and preliminary
work has begun for its restoration and return to use as a holy building.
to
read the entire article click here;
-
From Twice Told Tales
Ginzberg's 'Legends of the Jews' Returns
By ALLAN NADLER
http://www.forward.com/issues/1999/99.01.01/arts.html
Hayyim Nahman Bialik, the great bard of the Jewish national revival, said of
his friend Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, "Miyom shehikartiv, ahavativ" - "From the day
I met him, I loved him." At first blush, the Hebrew poet's love for the prosaic,
exacting scholar is startling. Both in temperament and by vocation, these men
could hardly have differed more. What explains the affection of the creator
of stirring nationalist hymns and love poetry for the author of dry scholarly
works with forbidding titles such as "Yerushalmi Fragments From the Geniza"
and "Geonica"?
The key to Bialik and Ginzberg's friendship is the shtetl of Volozhin. Both
men received their higher Jewish education at the famed Yeshiva of Volozhin,
the mother institution of the great network of Lithuanian yeshivas, and both
deserted the Orthodox world for careers that helped shape modern Jewish culture
and learning. At the same time, neither man was ever fully disengaged from the
enchantment and influence of Volozhin. Quite the contrary, both Bialik and Ginzberg
ultimately engaged in efforts to reconstruct and popularize the vast treasury
of rabbinic literature for modern Jewish audiences in Israel and America. Bialik
collaborated on the "Sefer Ha-Agada," a thematic multivolume compendium of rabbinic
tales, while Ginzberg produced history's most comprehensive scholarly anthology
of rabbinic midrash and classical Jewish tales, "The Legends of the Jews," originally
published in six volumes plus an additional index volume between 1909 and 1928.
Now, happily, they have been reissued in paperback by The Johns Hopkins University
Press.
The attempt by Judaica-scholar emigres from Europe to gather the pearls of Jewish
wisdom from the sea of rabbinic literature was a major enterprise in the early
decades of this century. In Palestine, the project of sifting through the largely
inaccessible literature of the Diaspora and rendering it usable for the contemporary
reader was viewed as the cultural counterpart to the return of the scattered
Jewish exiles. This ambitious literary initiative was known as kinnus, the "ingathering"
of the lost fragments of exilic Jewish literature. These fragments served to
justify, on the authority of the traditional Jewish canon, the Zionist understanding
of the Jews' destiny and national mission. In America, too, many scholars were
involved in translating, abridging and anthologizing rabbinic sources that would
otherwise have remained mysterious to the large majority of American Jews, who
were already almost completely untutored in Judaism by Volozhin standards.
click here to
read the rest;
-
To find the letter of Babushka Khaya-Reeva
Malkin go to
Volozhin Stories on the main page or paste;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/volstoriesmenu.html
or go directly to Babushka Khaya-Reeva Letter by pasting;
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/vol_stories_babushka_khaya.html
or
click here for the letter
-
Eilat
Thank you for placing randma Khaya's letter on line.
Pls remarque that
"click here for the letter"
dos not calling it
Shalom
Moshe
moshe <poratm@netvision.net.il>
USA -
I would like to thank Moshe Porat
Perlman for sharing a beautiful letter that his grandmother sent days prior
to the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/vol_stories_babushka_khaya.html
...This letter was found among some family papers in Paris in November 2001.
Babushka Khaya-Reeva (grandmother of Moshe Porat- Perlman) sent it from Volozhin
to her children in France on April 22nd 1941, exactly two months prior to the
German invasion of the Soviet Union, one Year after her daughter Etia's family
was expelled to Siberia and some 10 months after the Germans occupied Paris.
Grandma Khaya's sons and daughter families (Osher, Izia and Zina) who lived
in France had probably left Paris at this time.
click
here for the letter
-
Bette Greenfield - Looking for all
information about Haraduk north west
of Minsk between Minsk and Vilna
bgreenfield7@home.com (Bette Greenfield)
.
-
In a message dated 11/18/01 2:28:38
PM Pacific Standard Time, edm@wornall.com writes:
<< Dear Eliat: Thank you for the Sklut photo. Are you any relation to
a Selig Gordon who lived in or near Brewster, New York in 1910? I just found
my ggf's immigration information on Ellis Island.org and it lists Selig Gordon
as his uncle and that is with whom he stayed when he arrived. Being that my
ggf was also from Volozhyn, I am wondering if the Gordin in your name is any
relation and if they were also from Volozhyn. >>
.
-
FROM VOLOZHIN TO JERUSALEM
by Rabbi Meir Berlin
Part II
But at this fire, circumstances were different. The heat had been continuous
for several weeks, everything was very dry, the wind was blowing, in every house
the oven was burning because it was Shabbos eve. The fire grew larger and stronger.
The commotion this time was more than the usual. In addition to the loud outcries
of "Fire!," "My house is in danger!," "Help!," and "Water, water!," people everywhere
were calling out, "Oy, my child!," "Where is my Shloymele?," "Has anyone seen
my Yitzchakel?" Mothers and fathers forgot their houses and the little bit of
merchandise in their stores. They ran about with their hands stretched out,
looking for their children. It was cheder time, and all the older children were
learning with various teachers.
As for the smaller children, some were off playing, some were in cheder, some
in a sod (a town garden), and some near the river.
The outcry and tumult split the heavens.
Here again, the yeshiva students took an active role. They ran to bring the
children from cheder, they looked for their parents, and they grabbed children
from the street and carried them to wherever the children pointed.
The yeshiva students had a commander-in-chief, and this was Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik.
At that time, he was the second rosh yeshiva, and world-famous. But he was still
fresh and young enough to run from one street to the other, seeking the lost
children. He carried one child on one shoulder, another on his other shoulder,
and a third in his arms, as yet a fourth ran behind him. And he distributed
them to their fathers and mothers. And as soon as he delivered one such transport,
he again ran to see if there were any other child who had remained behind.
Besides extinguishing the fire and rescuing the children, there was another
task that must be attended to during a fire in Volozhin. This was the rescue
of the rosh yeshivas' writings and books. When the outcry of "Fire!" broke out,
a number of yeshiva students ran immediately to our house to pack up the books
and help bring everything to safety. Most important, they carried out "the rebbe's
chest," the case in which my father's writings were stored. They yeshiva students
knew where the box was and what it looked like. They also knew that any other
manuscripts on the table must be placed in the box and delivered into trustworthy
hands so that this, before all else, will be carried to a field outside of town
where the fire, however great it may grow, will not endanger it.
That field was the safest place--both for objects and people--when it became
clear that nothing more could be done to stop the fire. It was too large, the
wind was too strong. House after house burned, street after street, until it
could not be contained. One could wait until the fire would die down of itself,
the wind would stop blowing, or there would be no houses left to burn. In the
meanwhile, everyone took refuge in the field.
This field was on a mountain slope. From here, we could see clearly how the
fire was destroying and burning houses large and small, study halls and stores.
Everyone was here in the field: small and great, young and old. Here stood my
father (of blessed memory) surrounded by the family, distinguished young people
and older householders. Here as well were the Torah scrolls from the yeshiva
and all the study halls. Almost the entire town had gathered.
People cried and wailed. From a distance, as a house started to burn, a family
would burst into wails. When a row of stores caught flame, a outcry would burst
forth: "Our store is on fire!"
Suddenly, everyone saw that the roof of the yeshiva had caught fire. A cry that
reached the heavens burst from everyone's throat: "Woe, the beis hamikdash is
burning!" There remained no one, learned or simple, with dry eyes. Whether quietly
or aloud, everyone wept. Everyone cried, "Oy vey, the beis hamikdash is burning!"
"The holy yeshiva is in flames!" Children who had been asking for food, adults
who had been bemoaning their destroyed homes and stores, forgot what they had
been thinking of and wishing for. Instead, there was one outcry, one moan: "The
beis hamikdash is burning. The yeshiva is on fire!"
.
-
Rabbi Kreiswirth's daughter Penina
is married to Rabbi Pincus
Zelivansky of Jerusalem, whose lineage is traced back to Joseph Treves, ABD
of Paris, born about 1300 (in "The Unbroken Chain"). His grandfather was
Rabbi Aryeh Shapiro from Bialystok who was the son of Rabbi Refoel of Volozhin
who was the son in law of the Netziv of Volozhin.
.
-
MOLODECHNO (the nearest city to Volozhin
with population of near 100,000) Jewish Religious Community " Hevra Tegilim"
Head of the community: Gennady BASKIN Total number of Jews: 1,000 . The community
was formed in September 1998, registered in March 1999. Activities:"Kabbalat
Shabbat". There is 1 synagogue.
click here to write to the community
-
.....One fine morning a taxi arrived
with a high-ranking officer, a crazy and very evil man. He usually lived in
Oshmene, then became commander in Baksht and Volozshin. Before his coming to
Ivye he had given a flat order to shoot some 200 Jewish workers in Volozshin,
because he was angry with the Polish mayor there--so he had his Jews killed.
You must try to imagine the horror which the Ivye Judenrat felt at hearing that
the officer from the taxi had called an immediate meeting of the entire Judenrat.
He saw how pale and terrified they were, and that made him happy. He gave the
order that they must produce, in the space of a few hours, 56 meters of fabric
of the same color, to outfit a stage for a theater production
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ivye/ivy010.html
to read the rest
click here
USA -
Lucille Camhi
Describes saying goodbye to mother when leaving for Vilna with sister [1999
interview]
(Full transcript follows biography)
Born 1924, Volozhin, Poland
Lucille's father (SHEPSENWAL) died three months before she was born. Lucille's
mother (NEE PERSKI) decided to emigrate to the United States with Lucille and
her sister, Fejga. They completed all the paperwork, but were unable to get
their final papers because of the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Volozhin
fell into the Soviet-occupied zone of Poland. Lucille and her sister feared
arrest by the Soviets because they were members of a Jewish Zionist youth group.
The girls fled to Vilna, where their mother later joined them. The American
consulate in Warsaw forwarded their emigration papers to the consulate in Kovno.
Lucille and her sister traveled to Kovno for those papers and also succeeded
in obtaining Japanese transit visas. They left Vilna, traveling by the Trans-Siberian
Express, and arrived in Japan in September 1940. In November 1940, they arrived
in the United States. Their mother joined them over a year later.
__________
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Collections
Full transcript
Mother decided to send us away, she packed us up and she, uh...and this friend
of the family helped us. And, uh, we got into the wagon and we drove down, uh,
to the train station. We got to the train station, there was like daybreak.
And the train was standing there and there were thousands, thousands of people
trying to get on the train. And most of it...the train was packed and people
were going through the windows and through...between the trains. And my mother
just...and we had two small...one of those little valises and a...and a bag.
My mother just pushed us on the train and just as she pushed us on the train,
she sort of threw the two valises after us and the train took off. We never
got even a chance to say good-bye to her.
http://www.ushmm.org/phi/phi_refugees_children_uu.htm
http://www.ushmm.org/phistories/phi_refugees_children_uu.htm
CLICK
HERE TO SEE LUCILLE NEE SHEPSENWAL CAMHI
USA -
Subj: [belarus] Russia thru UK
Date: 11/5/01 7:12:34 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: bgreenfield7@home.com (Bette Greenfield)
To: belarus@lyris.jewishgen.org (Belarus SIG)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support the work of the Belarus SIG and JewishGen by
clicking on http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Encyclopedia of Jewish Life now available***
special pricing-limited time
http://www.jewishgen.org/jewishgenmall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a message dated 10/26/2001 1:21:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Paul
Tabolinsky writes:
Trying to find how, when, and documentation on subjects arrival into the UK.
> What organizations helped him depart the European continent for more
> research and documentation.
My Grandfather came from Russia/Poland to Liverpool and eventually ended up
in Winnipeg. My father said that HIAS was the organization that funded his trip
around 1902. I think HIAS means Hebrew Immigrants Aid Society. Hope that adds
to your search information.
Bette Greenfield
Abromowitz, Marschak, Shepsenwohl (all names are from Volozhin)--
.
USA -
Full Context of Dictionary of Jewish
Surnames in Russian Empire
Viewing records 48321-48330 of 51385 Matches
<< Previous 10 | Next 10>>
Volozhin (Mogilev) T: from the townlet Volozhin (Oshmyany d.) {Volozhinskij,
Volozin}.
Volozhinskij (Oshmyany, Vilna) T: see Volozhin.
Volozin (Gorki, Mogilev) T: see Volozhin.
ALEXANDER WOLOZIN
SSN 046-10-9429 Residence: 12550 Newburgh, Orange, NY
Born 8 May 1921 Last Benefit: 12550 Newburgh, Orange, NY
Died May 1982 Issued: CT (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNA WOLOZIN
SSN 256-44-5731 Residence: 33162 Miami, Miami-dade, FL
Born 10 Mar 1901 Last Benefit:
Died Dec 1983 Issued: GA (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNE WOLOZIN
SSN 089-10-8684 Residence: 11230 Brooklyn, Kings, NY
Born 26 Jan 1917 Last Benefit:
Died Oct 1995 Issued: NY (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLARA WOLOZIN
SSN 044-40-5179 Residence: 06511 New Haven, New Haven, CT
Born 25 Apr 1904 Last Benefit:
Died Dec 1981 Issued: CT (1963)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELEANOR WOLOZIN
SSN 134-18-5321 Residence: 10038 New York, New York, NY
Born 6 Aug 1908 Last Benefit:
Died 7 Oct 1998 Issued: NY (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELIZABETH WOLOZIN
SSN 019-01-0082 Residence: 91356 Tarzana, Los Angeles, CA
Born 10 Apr 1896 Last Benefit:
Died 8 Jan 1988 Issued: MA (Before 1951)
WOLOZIN ELIZABETH FEMALE 10 Apr 1896 8 Jan 1988 born in OTHER COUNTRY LOS ANGELES
019010082
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FANNY WOLOZIN
SSN 092-18-2895 Residence: 06710 Waterbury, New Haven, CT
Born 24 Dec 1893 Last Benefit:
Died Jan 1992 Issued: NY (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERTRUDE WOLOZIN
SSN 014-12-5776 Residence: 02139 Cambridge, Middlesex, MA
Born 3 Jun 1907 Last Benefit:
Died 16 May 1993 Issued: MA (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HERBERT WOLOZIN
SSN 088-10-6351 Residence: 11230 Brooklyn, Kings, NY
Born 7 Jun 1917 Last Benefit:
Died Nov 1984 Issued: NY (Before 1951)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HYMAN WOLOZIN
SSN 057-32-1763 Residence: 08723 Brick, Ocean, NJ
Born 6 Oct 1908 Last Benefit:
Died Feb 1987 Issued: NY (1956 And 1957)
IDA WOLOZIN
SSN 021-36-1554 Residence: 02148 Malden, Middlesex, MA
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.
USA -
from belarus@lyris.jewishgen.org
(Belarus SIG)
MY TRIP TO BELARUS
By MARCIA LOEB
On September 5, my brother and I set out on what we thought would be a trip
to Belarus in search of the towns where our mother had once lived. We did
not expect to find very much, as the country was almost completely destroyed
by the Nazis during World War II.
Yes, the country was destroyed, but the heart and soul of the people were not.
After spending three days in Minsk, and visiting the memorials of the
atrocities, spell bound, under the tutelage of our knowledgeable guide,
Galina Schwartz, we departed for our shtetl schlepping odyssey.
Our first stop was the village of Tolochin, where our mother lived until the
age of 12. When she resided there, there were 1300 Jews and only 500
non-Jews. There were 160 wooden houses, of which 110 belonged to Jews, and
there were three synagogues. That is how it was in 1907, when our mother
left for America.
Cut to 2001, and we, her children, are Americans, searching for our roots.
We had written in advance to the chairman (the equivalent of a mayor) of
Tolochin, and informed him of our visit, the purpose of which was to
discover as much as we could about our mother's early years in what was then
a part of Russia, called White Russia, as well as the history of the
Jewish people in the areas in which she lived.
Upon our arrival, we went to his office. He gave us a book (written in
Russian) of the history of the town, and then he told us that they were
opening the museum for us, which displayed the history of Tolochin. It was
normally closed on a Monday, the day that we were there. When we arrived
there, a delegation met us on the steps to the entrance, handed us flowers,
and the mayor said many people have left our town, but you two are the only
ones who have ever returned.
With tears still in our eyes, we were escorted inside. There we learned
about the village, from prehistoric times, through World War II. During the
second World War, called by the Belarussians _The Great Patriotic War, nine
thousand people were killed in that small village called Tolochin, three
fourths of them Jewish. Today there are 17 Jewish people in residence
there. There are no synagogues. There is a section of the museum devoted to
the daily lives of the Jewish people who lived there during last century,
and it displays some of their occupations, such as boot makers, weavers,
dressmakers, grocers, and peddlers.
We went on to visit the wooden houses in the community, and tried to imagine
that we found the one that our mother lived in. That is probably not
possible, as most of the town had been leveled, but as the styles had not
changed in a hundred years, we let our imaginations run freely. Even our
van driver was caught up in our game. In Russian, he would say very
excitedly that might be the one!
Next came a Russian lunch, which we ate in the private dining room of the
only restaurant in the town. The table was set as though for a banquet. We
had many courses, from soup to pudding.
The toasts given by our host were very touching, as translated by our guide.
To paraphrase one of them, he said he envied us that we were able to come to
this place to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors.
From there we visited the Jewish cemetery. The markers were partly Hebrew
and partly Belarussian. We placed stones from our mothe's grave in
Massachusetts on an unknown marker here in Tolochin.
The graves ranged in a time span from well over a hundred years ago to the
present time.
A visit to Oboltsi, a few miles away, was next on our agenda. This is where
our mother was born, and lived before the family moved to the larger village
of Tolochin. Here, too, the town chairman greeted us. She was a lovely
young woman, rather old-fashioned, who outdid our first host with her gifts
of flowers, candy, and a set of dishes! We could feel her happiness in our
visit by the expression in her eyes! I still get a lump in my throat when I
think of her joy as she made her presentations.
Oboltsi is smaller than Tolochin. It still has the dirt roads, which our
mother had described as being a quagmire in the spring when the snow melted,
and in that respect, nothing has changed. There were few automobiles, and
still many horse drawn wagons. Children played in the streets, and followed
us on their bicycles as we toured the area. Our SUV was quite a novelty.
Even the local police halted us, and asked for identification. The women
came out of their houses to wave to us, and to talk to us when we stopped
the car.Our next stop was very special. We returned to Tolochin, where we were
invited to have tea in the home of the oldest Jewish couple in the town.
Their names were Reya and Mikhail Mirkin, and they made the occasion very
festive. Mrs. Mirkin baked a delicious cake in her tiny kitchen, and served
it with pride. Mr. Mirkin brought out the vodka, and we toasted each other,
in our language and theirs. Their children have moved to Israel, and they
reveled in the chance to have visitors. Before we left, Mr. Mirkin went to
his bedroom, and changed his jacket. He returned to the living room, his
face was beaming, as he proudly wore all of his Soviet medals for us to
admire. By the time we said our farewells, we felt as though they were new
relatives.And then another emotional stop! We found the cemetery where our
grandmother was buried in the town of Smalavici. Our grandmother died when
our mother was 12 years of age, in 1908, and she often repeated the wish
that she could visit the place where her mother was buried. This was not
possible, during her lifetime, as Belarus was not open to visitors until the
break up of the Soviet Union. We were her _stand ins_in 2001. The head
stones were there, though most of them were no longer legible. Time and
weather had taken its toll. But it was a beautiful spot, in the woods, and
protected from invaders by the environment.
Before I continue to the next chapter of our visit, I must mention that we
spent two wonderful evenings in Minsk, one at the ballet, every bit as
wonderful as the Russian Kirov, and the other one at the opera, "The Barber
of Seville" sung in Belarussian. The tickets were $3.50 cents each in
American money. This is so that the citizens can enjoy the culture of their
country, as the wages are very low. For example, a teacher earns $30.00 a
month, and a doctor earns $50.00.
Away we flew, on September 11, to continue our emotional see saw in St.
Petersburg. There we were met at the airport by three generations of our
family, whom we had located via help from the Internet. The grandfather of
the oldest member of this family was the brother of our grandmother, our
mother_s mother. Thus we are second cousins. With her were her son, and
granddaughter, who corresponded in ages with our own families. They drove
us to our hotel. It was love at first sight! When we checked into our room
we turned on CNN. It was about 5 o'clock in the evening in Russia, and we
saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center!
We enjoyed our new found family. We spent 4 days of quality time with them,
and repressed our fears and worries. But our see saw is down, and as I write
this, I am safely home at last in Los Angeles, and my brother is in Boston.
I wonder if the balance on our seesaw will ever go up again?
.
USA -
Manifest for Estonia
Sailing from Libau November 16, 1909;
. Woloschin, Annie F 32y M Russia Hebrew Sinjawo, Russia
Woloshin, Schmuel M 4y S Russia Hebrew
Woloshin, Schame M 8y S Russia Hebrew Padol Sinjawo, Russia
. Woloshin, Awrum M 6y S Russia Hebrew Padol Sinjawo, Russia
going to husband and father; Gershon Wolochin c/o ? 54- 56 Villet St. New York.
Manifest for Olympic
Sailing from Southampton December 06, 1921
. Woloshin, Golda F 36y M Philadelphia, Pa.
0030. Woloshin, Dwoira F 11y S Philadelphia, Pa. both will be naturalized citizens
of the U.S on 10-19- 21 # 465 Bucharest Leg. By the husband and father
February 19, 1913 Manifest for Kursk
Sailing from Libau;
. Woloshin, Jacow M 18y S Russia Wisok, Russia
Born in Usda Russia going to cousin G. Rytakow ? in New Brithian Conn.
March 31, 1922 Manifest for Mauretania
Sailing from Cherbourg;
. Woloshin, Jakob M 29y S U.S.A. Chicago, Ill
Naturalized in Chicago 11-18-19 in Chicago.
Manifest for Statendam
Sailing from Rotterdam November 04, 1908
Woloshin, Ludwika F 19y M Russia, Polish Preschnik, Russia going to husband;
W. Woloahin in Chicago.
Manifest for Celtic
Sailing from Liverpool June 23, 1907 Liverpool
. Timafey Waloshin Rowno, Russia 1907 23 going to Boston, Mass.
.
USA -
My grandfather Julius(Yehuda) Wolozin(b.
1898 Volozhin) came to the USA in 1907 with his Father Mendel, mother Leah,
older brother Maurice, younger sister Kate, and younger brother, Abraham. The
arrived in New York and settled in Dorchester, North of Boston, Massachusetts.
He married Ida Hirshberg,sister to Sarah, Abe, Israel, Rose. Julius had Mathew(b.
1918), Sonya (married to Abraham Goldman), and Allen(b. 1928) my father. Allen
married Susanne Taymor(daughter of Aaron Taymor(?Teitlbaum, b. 1885 in Russia).
My older sisters are Karen Starr(b. 1952) and Nancy Allen(b. 1952). I (Mark)
was born in 1958. I married Tina Usdin(daughter of Jack, granddaughter of Louis(Leif)
originally from Dvinsk, greatgrandaughter of Menechem Uzdin). My children are
Gabrielle(b. 1992) and Justin(b. 1998).
I had a recent conversation with my Uncle Mathew. He tells me that our name
is the same as the town from which our family originates-Volozhin and we are
related to the origninal founder of the yeshiva there. He relates that his father
came to this country as a young child with the rest of his family. His father
Mendel ran the local hostelry. They apparently had some wealth. Mendel's brother
was the town scribe