Richard discusses genetic genealogy in general, and how he specifically has used it to pursue his genealogy with some amazing results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_xWJnYegc

by Esther Rechtschafner

Introduction

A few years ago, a cousin of my father wrote me that my paternal grandmother was born in Rezekne, Latvia. Since my Father was orphaned of his Mother at an early age, he did not speak much of his family. I decided then, that I wanted to know more [...]]]> My REZEKNE

by Esther Rechtschafner

Introduction

A few years ago, a cousin of my father wrote me that my paternal grandmother was born in Rezekne, Latvia. Since my Father was orphaned of his Mother at an early age, he did not speak much of his family. I decided then, that I wanted to know more about this place. This was the goal of my research. This was the beginning of my research on Rezekne, which subsequently led to my research of the places in Eastern Europe that my family came from.

Historical Background of Jews in the City

Rezekne is located in eastern Latvia, in the Latgale district. The city changed hands a few times: in 1561, the local government was then under the rule of Poland-Lithuania; with the first division of Poland, it became part of Russia. It became the capital of the district of Vitebsk, in 1802.The Latvian name of the city is Rezekne, the old German name is Rositten, and the old Russian name is Rezhitsa; the Jewish name is Rezhitse, other used names are Rezehne, Rezhitza, Rezitza, Rjeshiza, Rjetschiza, and Rzezyca. Rezekne was considered one of the important Jewish communities in Latvia. Jews in Latvia were culturally influenced by German Jewish culture, Lithuanian and Byelorussian Jewry; however assimilation didn’t develop here as in Western Europe. The languages that the Jews spoke were Yiddish and Russian.

The Jewish community in Rezekne was founded in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The Jews were then expelled from the neighboring village of Makashani (about 18 kilometer away). They took the “Holy Ark” with them, and placed it in the “Brick Study-Hall”. A Study-Group for learning Mishnaot began in 1786. At this time the Jewish population of the city was about five hundred, which was about seventy-five percent of the total population. Some Jews were still buried in the Makashani Cemetery until the 1880′s. This Jewish community became an important segment of the city. The Jewish population was constantly changing. In 1815 the Jewish population was 1,072, which was 90% of the total population and in 1847 there were 542 Jews in the city.

Jewish Life in the City at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Most Jews worked as merchants, or artisans, such as tailors. Many merchants sold their goods in the Vitebsk district. Jewish community life consisted of: schools, synagogues, social organizations and charity organizations. There were eleven synagogues and ‘study-halls’. Children studied in “chedarim”, in modern “chedarim”, and in “Talmud-Torah”. A library was founded, as the community recognized the importance of books, and collections of books.

until 1858, the Chief Rabbi of the city was Jona Mann. In 1858, he and his family came on Aliyah and lived in Jerusalem. His son a was teacher and judge. The next chief Rabbi was Rabbi Azriel Jephet, who was descended from a long line of Rabbis and scholars.

The Chief Rabbi of the city from 1861 to 1900 was Isaac Zioni, known as “Reb Itchala”, the son of the Rabbi Naphtali Zioni of Ludza. He was the author of “The Ascending of Isaac”. Religion was very important in community life.

In 1851, Jewish merchants were permitted to live in the new part of the city, except for the vicinity of the Russian Orthodox Church. Then most of the Jews lived on the outskirts of the city. The Jewish population grew steadily. In 1863 there were 1,731 Jews, in 1883 there were 7,216 Jews, and in 1897 there were 6,478 Jews in the city. This was 60% of the total population.  At this time many Jews immigrated to the U.S.A. or South Africa.

The Jewish community suffered from economic problems in the 1880′s. This caused problems between licensed and not licensed teachers. The police fired all of the teachers who were not licensed and teaching in “chedarim”. The Jewish community board succeeded in making an arrangement with the local government. In 1888, the Jewish civil workers and notaries were suddenly fired. At approximately the same time, the body of a Jewish boy was found. He was killed because the horse that he was riding wasn’t galloping fast enough. The police were associated with this murder.

The conditions of the community institutions improved in the 1890′s. The “Talmud-Torah” moved to a larger building, which was donated by an honorable member and philanthropist of the community. It was operated by government funds, and with the hope that this would help raise the education level, and the problem of conscription to the army; but the latter didn’t improve. The local prince came to visit this school, and gave his approval. A government boys’ school was opened, which offered a four year education program, and was open to Jewish boys from the surrounding area. The Russian teacher Savko founded a private girls’ gymnasium. Most of the students here were Jews. There were also problems with the youth who didn’t want to study and made friends with the Christians. They spent time with them in the cleaner, southern part of the city, on the other side of the brook, which separated the Jews from the Christians. They were known as “American children”. The school children didn’t always act with respect to school property, and some seemed to be only interested in nice clothing.

An attempt at organizing Zionist activities was made by Rabbi Chaim Joseph Jaffa. He preached the importance of Aliyah, and of cultural and financial backing. He collected books that praised the land of Israel, and stated that sometimes these books were more important than meetings. The organization was discontinued when he left Rezekne to come on Aliyah.

Zionist Activities officially began in 1891, when the “Chovevei-Zion” (lovers’ of Zion) Organization acquired land in the Land of Israel and were among the founders of the agricultural settlement of “Ein-Zaitim”, located in the vicinity of Sefad. The original plan for this settlement was made by the “Dorshei-Zion” organization and “Organization of the Thousand” of Minsk who in turn sold land to members of the Jewish community of Rezekne, in 1891. A few Jews did settle there.

The song “במחרשתי”, which explains the joy of working the Land of Israel, and signifies the beginning of the settlement of the Land of Israel, was sung by the youth of this period. One of the few things that my father did tell me of his mother was that she used to sing this song, and that she learned it together with other young people in her hometown. 

Jewish Life in the City at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

From the beginning of the twentieth century, there were two Chief Rabbis. The Rabbi of the poor segment of the population was Rabbi Dushovich, known as “the Chadrinker”, and the Rabbi of the wealthier was Rabbi Chaim Lubocki, known as the Kablinker. He was in this post from 1913. He was a Zionist, a member of the Mizrachi organization, and an enlightened person. He wrote “Chaim’s  Additions”, a Torah composition. Former Chief Rabbis were Rabbi Isaac Zioni, Rabbi Aaron Judah Shulman, Rabbi Lieb Perl, Rabbi Moshe Shakrota and Rabbi Yafin. The “government” Rabbi was Rabbi Jacob Pollak.

Most of the workshops in the city were owned and run by Jews. There was a Jewish loan society, which was founded by Rabbi Dushovitz and was called ‘The Rebbe’s Bank”. There were Jewish doctors, nurses, teachers and lawyers. There were a few Jewish clerks in the municipality. Four Jews were representatives in the city council in 1917. They managed to cancel the decree that General Assemblies were to take place on Friday nights and Sabbaths.

At this time most of the boys began to study in the government run Jewish elementary school and gymnasium. Afterwards a public elementary school for girls was opened up. A rich Jewish woman, who had previously left the city, funded this school. The language of instruction in the Jewish elementary school was changed from Russian to Yiddish. A second school was opened and a quarrel developed between the Yiddishists and the Hebraists on the language of instruction there. The education minister decided in favor of Hebrew. The Latvian Directorate (1934-1940) decided to combine these two schools. Then there were corresponding classes with instruction in Yiddish or Hebrew. A government run Jewish high school was founded in 1922. A Yeshiva called “The House of Joseph” operated from 1921 and 1934. In the same period a Yeshiva was opened, which was called “Torah and Musar”. Students from other communities also attended. There was also a traditional school called “Torah and Derech Eretz”.

At the beginning of the century, the Zionist Organizations in Rezekne were: Chovevei-Zion, which was replaced by Kadimah, Mizrachi Zeiray-Zion, the Zionist Revision Organization, Hanoar Halomed, Hachalutz, Hatchiah, Bar-Cochba, HaShomer Hazair, Betar, Borochov, Herzliah, Hapoel, Hakoach. They had strong influence on the youth. Many came on Aliyah.

Jewish cultural life centered around the Yiddishist (Bund) Shalom Aleichem Club and the Zionist “Bialik Club”. The “Bund” and other youth were responsible for the defense of the community. The “well-to-do” members of the community financed this. The revolutionary units were connected to the underground. In October 1905, there were anti Jewish uprisings in the city, and the Jewish youth organized themselves to protect the community. Six of them were killed. Members of the Bund were among the leaders of the strike in a social uprising in 1905.   The Yiddish poet Nachman Dimenstein, who was one of the heads of the “folks’ party” was born and lived in Rezekne.

Before World War One there were eleven synagogues in the city: the Gumiatur; the White Study House; the Zemdlediker,; the Greener Study Hall”; the Revitur Study Hall; Hillels’ Study Hall; the Merchants” synagogue; the “Planaver” Study Hall; the “Large Minyan of Chasidim”, which was followed by four more minyanim of Chasidim: the first was Lubavitch, the second was founded by Uri Ribush; the third was Chaim’s Minyan; The fourth was Kaminsky’s Minyan. 

The Jewish population was 11,000, just before the First World War, which was fifty percent of the total population.

Rezekne and World War One  

Many Jews, including most of the communal leaders escaped into Russia, during the summer of 1915 after the outbreak of World War One. Afterwards Jews from Courland and Lithuania began arriving in the city. The community’s charity organizations weren’t working properly since many of the pillars of the community had left. A government representative of The Central Committee from Petrograd was in charge of giving aid to these refugees. This included financial help to needy members of the community.

The Russian army suffered a few defeats in this area. The Jews were suspected as guilty of treason. In 1916, the entire community almost got expelled from the city. The Russian general Nazomov claimed  the Jewish tavern owners guilty, because of the drunkeness in the units of Russian soldiers. Rabbi Lubocki went to speak to an army official and succeeded in getting the decree cancelled.

After the revolution of February 1917 there were democratic municipal elections and 2 Zionists were elected to the city council. Jewish community life was re-established. Another 2 Zionists were elected on the local creditors and the socialist block lists. Because of these 4 Jews, there no general meetings on Friday evenings. Members of the “Bund” voted against this. The head of the local police was a Jew. The community was allowed to send five representatives to the General Jewish Meeting of Latvia which took place in 1917. Rabbi Aaron Judah Shulman was in charge of picking the representatives.

The city was under Bolshevik rule from November 1917 until February 1918. Rabbi Lubocki interveved and was able to save the community by making an appeal to the commissioner when the Jewish Commissioner put out a warrant to put an embargo on the synagogue, when German army officials planned to convert a few of the synagogues into army hospitals,  in saving Jewish property, and was able to acquire wheat for baking matzoth.

At the end of 1918, the Bolsheviks again took over the city. There were a few Jewish soldiers who were from the community among the Latvian soldiers who entered the city. Soldiers began breaking into Jewish stores. Young Jews stopped this uprising. In June 1920 there were three Anti-Semitic uprisings, due to lack of food and black-marketing. In one of them 27Jewish stores in the center of the city were broken into. The Jews were able to stop these uprisings. From 1920, the city served as a station for Jews that were being sent from Soviet Russia.

Many Jews worked as artisans. This was easier, than being a merchant because of the Latvian competition, which had more of a chance at selling to government institutions. The Jewish bank wasn’t capable of giving credit to Jewish merchants, according to their needs. Some Jewish merchants received credit from the “Latvian Bank for Industry and Credit”, but had to pay an exorbitant interest rate(48%). This bank had a local Jew as a board member. The complaints of the Jews reached the Latvian Siem, but to no avail. Even so, a majority of the shops remained in Jewish hands.

Rezekne after World War I

In 1922, the Jewish population reached 5,500, but most of these Jews were refugees. Almost the entire Jewish community received aid from the Joint. The city had become the center for Jews migrating back from Russia.

Quite a few of the Jews who returned to Rezekne after the War decided not to stay there, and immigrated to countries where they had relatives. Thus the Jews for the first time were a minority of the total population. A feeling of pessimism enveloped in the community. However there were also Byelorussian positive developments: the “Joint” gave financial aid to the community, and to needy families; and American landsmen sent one thousand dollars to help reorganize the community. The credit plan, which was funded by the “Joint”, began operating in 1923; by then the community was capable of also being able to give credit. A few years later the Bank of Latvia also gave loans to this credit plan. Its’ official name became “The First Jewish Credit and Savings Fund”.

During the period of Latvia’s democratic regime (1918-34) the communal life in the city once again began to flourish. Then there was Jewish cultural autonomy. This centered around religious activities, and social aid institutions, such as charity for the needy, help for the sick, and help an old-age home. Real-estate properties that belonged to the community since the nineteen hundreds’ were listed as property of the community charity. In the elections for the city-council, in 1922, there were 13 Jews, from the various Jewish lists, out of the thirty members. This number of Jews on the City Council diminished because soldiers based in the city received permission to vote. The reason was to increase the number of Latvians serving on the council. Up to the beginning of the 1930′s, the job of vice-mayor was held by Jews.

There were elections for the Jewish Community Council in November, 1920. More than 70% of those who were able to vote did so. There were 25 council members, and the distribution was as follows: “Bund” and Independent Socialists- 6 members; Folks Party- 5 members, Young Zionists-3 members, and the remainder was distributed between members who were not affiliated with parties, such as the wealthy and synagogue representatives.

Jewish youth belonged to the Bund, the Communist Youth Organization and Independent Socialists down. Many were Zionists.

The Jewish population was 3,342 in 1935, 25.4% of the total population. The percentage of the Jewish population went down from more than 40% in the end of the 1920′s, and to 25% in 1935. This was due to Aliyah to the Land of Israel, immigrating to America, or young people moving to the capitol city, usually to find jobs. The government influenced Latvians to settle in the city, and a new neighborhood was built for them on the north side of the city. Jews were not allowed to have government jobs.

After the First World War the government in this area changed hands from the Russians to the Germans, and once again to the Soviets. Rezekne was the capitol of “Red Latvia” from May 22, 1919, to January 21, 1920. The city was part of (free) Latvia from 1920 to 1940, and from then on was called “Rezekne”.

In 1934, the Latvian Dictatorship put an end to Jews working as municipal clerks. Latvian merchants were favored over Jewish ones. In 1935 most of the shops (75%), in the center of the city were owned and run by Jews. The number of Jewish workshops diminished. Jews owned only 14 of the 36 workshops. The majority of the Jews continued to work in trade or as artisans. The Joint stopped giving aid. About 1/3 of the eighteen doctors, and 2 of the 10 lawyers were Jews. Quite a few of the Jews were able to support themselves nicely.

After the National revolution of Olmanius, in 1934, all the social aid in the community, was handled by the municipally run government institution known as “The Society for Jewish Aid in Rezekne”. The community rabbis succeeded in getting financial aid for this institution from the well-to-do members of the community. Every Jewish community member was listed as a potential “giver”. Therefore there was much cooperation between the government run organization and the community aid. Kosher meals were given out to the needy and to children of the unemployed. This formed the Jewish section of the public kitchen which was once again known as “the Jewish uncle”. Because of the bad financial situation which developed in the community in the years of 1938-9, help was extended by the distribution of clothing, shoes, and wood for heating; and a “childrens’ kitchen’ run by a women’s committee (which gave out 14,770 meals). The community charity organization found new sources for financial aid. A new building for the old-age home was dedicated in 1938. The local branch of the AZA Jewish Health Organisation, that was founded in 1927, now did good work. From the beginning of the 1920′s the baby care unit gave care and medicines for free. Now, there was dental care and a day-camp (run with the help of the women’s committee).

The community marked the twenty-five years of devoted rabbinical service of Rabbi Lubocki, in 1938.

Rezekne and the Holocaust

The Soviet Regime began in 1940, in Latvia. A few Jews were part of this new government, some of them in key positions. The Jewish community institutions were cancelled and gradually a new method of education was applied. In June 1941, Jewish property owners, active Zionists, members of Non-Communist organizations were exiled to Siberia, or sent to work-camp, where they were put on trial, and sent to jail; many of them died there. Some, who had been sent to Siberia, succeeded in remaining alive. After the declaration of war between Germany and Russia the city became a center for those who were escaping into Russia. Many Soviet officials, who were exiled from their positions in Lithuania and Latvia passed through the city on their way to Velkiye Luki. Also Jewish refugees  passed through the city and received help from the local Jewry. The borders were not as yet officially open. Hundreds of Rezneke’s Jews succeeded in crossing the border as there was andromosity at the time of the bombings. Many became Russian soldiers. Small groups of refugees (many were “Betar” members) tried to escape by way of the southern Russian borders and come to the Land of Israel. They were all caught by the Soviets and put in jail for long periods.

The Germans began to bomb the city at the end of June. The official deportations began on June 26 and June 27. It seems that some asked the local Rabbis what to do, and that Rabbis Lubocki and Rabbis Yafin replied that they were remaining in the city, but everyone should follow their own conscious.

The Nazis occupied Rezekne on July 3, 1941. Red army soldiers, communist party members were in the forests. Fire broke out in the city, and the corpses of 60 anti-Soviet Latvians were found there. The Jews were declared guilty of this incident. A local police auxiliary was organized from previous members of the Latvian police and from members of the patriotic Latvian organizations, which received reinforcements from Riga.

One day after the occupation, all the Jewish males between the ages of 18 to 60 were ordered to gather in the market place. The number counted was 1,400. Those who evinced power were murdered. The others were taken to the local jail afterwards. The artisans were taken to various work camps.

On July 10, a regiment of the German security forces came to the city for a weeks’ stay. Over 140 Jewish males were murdered, in 2 separate actzias. This was executed by the auxiliary police, under the supervision of the German security police commanders. They defined their doing as a reaction to the murder of the 60 Latvians, and the fires. Thus, the planned murders of the Jews began. These first killing took place in the Jewish cemetery.

At the end of the month, Rabbi Lubocki was invited to the Gestapo headquarters. Then he was sent to the Jewish cemetery (or nearby forest) where there was a call-up of all the Jews who were to be killed. The Rabbi spoke to them very sympathetically before they were shot to death. It is said that he led his congregation wrapped in his tallith to the pit where they were murdered. Rabbi Yafin also was killed in the Holocaust together with the members of his congregation. One young Jew succeeded in killing three Latvians before being shot. The remaining Jews were taken to the Ghetto of Daugavpils, where most of them were killed.

In August, the number of murders continued to rise. Jews were taken from the jail, in over crowded trucks, to the rifle range. They were told to get undressed in the hut and then were sent to the pit. German certificates testify that the auxiliary police under the supervision of the German security police did the killings, on August 1 and August 5.

The women who remained in their houses were subject to robbery, beatings and rape. They and their children were taken to jail, then to the Jewish cemetery or the rifle range, to be murdered. A group of women were raped the day before they were taken to be murdered. On August 23, the last groups were taken in thirty-three trucks to the rifle-range. This was the last “actzia” and the end of the Jewish community of Rezekne.

By the autumn of 1943, the ghetto was finished with, and the remaining Jews were taken to the Kaiserwald Concentration Camp, near Riga. According to another report, the murders continued to take place in the Jewish cemetery; and when this was filled, in the old rifle practice range of the “Eizasargis” in the Anchupani Mountains, a distance of five kilometer from the city.

The head of the police auxiliary issued a command to look for Jews who had converted to Christianity. In October 1941, the police discovered 12 converted Jews, who had been converted by the priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, in order to save their lives. The Jews were killed and the priest was fired.

The Jews who worked for the Germans continued to do so, until they were sent to their deaths in 1943. In the summer of 1944, before the German withdrawal, the Germans brought a group of 30 Jews from the Riga ghetto to Rezneke, and ordered them to take the bodies out of the pits where they had been buried and burn them. After their task was completed, they were murdered.

In the city of Rezneke, 2 Jewish adults and a few children had remained alive. They had been helped by local residents. The Russian army freed the city on July 7, 1944.

Rezekne after World War Two

Some of the Jews who had escaped to Russia returned to Rezekne, and were joined by Jews from other communities. Young people aided those who wanted to come on Aliyah.

In 1950, the Jewish population was a few hundred. Jews were heads of the Construction Ministry and the Planing Ministry. The government allowed minimal religious services for Jews. The Jewish cemetery, which was slightly damaged during the War was renovated. In the 1960′s, a fence was built around it. The synagogue “The Greener Study Hall” was re-opened, and there was a ritual slaughterer. After his death, the Jews received this ritual service from the Rabbi of Lodza. His service continued until 1956.

A monument was constructed in the center of Jewish Cemetery in memory of those who died in the Holocaust, with the inscription in Hebrew.

In 1960 there was 1 Synagogue in the city, but matzah baking was prohibited. In 1970 the Jewish population of the city was 250. Most of them left Rezekne afterwards for Riga and religious services weren’t continued. In the 1970′s there were only a few Jewish families in the city.

In 1965, the members of the Latvian auxiliary police, who had participated in murdering Rezekne Jews, were put on trial in Riga.

According to German sources, 3,219 Jews were murdered in Rezekne and the surrounding area; and in the general area 5,128 Jews were murdered. Of the 95,000 Latvian Jews, only 15,000 managed to escape into Russia. Only 10% of Latvian Jewry remained as survivors of Concentration Camps. Latvia had the lowest percentage of Holocaust survivors.

Conclusion

Writing this paper has enlightened me both education wise and as far as family roots. I always felt part of the Jewish people, and now I feel even more so. As I have written in the introduction, my goal in writing this was to do “something” in memory of my father and his mother. Now, feel that I have also done a little “something” in the memory of all the Jews of Rezekne.

My original goal was to research the city of Rezneke at the time that my grandmother was there. After reading about the history of the city I understood that I had to be fair to all the Jews of the city and include the period of the Holocaust. Now I feel that I am doing the minimum to honor their memory.

I realize that the city of Rezekne was not a very special place, as far as important historical facts go; but now I know that it was important as a part of Jewish history.

Bibliography

Encyclopedia Ariel, on Israeli Geography, Am Oved, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1978, volume 6

Encyclopedia Judiaca , Keter, Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, volumes: 5, 6,10,14

Encyclopedia Hebraica , Encyclopedia Publishing Company, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1969, volume 21

Card Catalog, Eastern European Archives, Hebrew University, Israel Archive

File-REZEKNE, Organization of Past Latvians and Estonians, Shefayim Regional Council, Israel

File: A, J, Sirkin, Central Zionist Archives,Jerusalem, Israel

Database-REZHITZA, Diaspora Museum, Ramat Aviv, Israel

Letters, Oscar Bechman, Vivian Omerberg, saved in my house

The Book (Pincas) of the Latvia and Estonia , Yad VeShem, Jerusalem, Israel, 1988

Encyclopedia of Israeli And General Literature , Mitzpe, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1943

Conversation, Nachumi HarZion, researcher of Hebrew songs

Ben Hillel, Mordechai, Olami (My World), Mitzpe, Jerusalem, Israel, 1936, book 4

Dimenstein, Zalman, Illustrated Almanac-1939-40 , Rezekne, 1939

Drewaner, Alter, Articles about “Chibat-Zion” and the Settlement of the Land of Israel

Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel, 1988, volumes : 4, 5

Eliav, Mordecai, editor, Book of the Fist Aliyah, Yad ben-Zvi, Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, V. 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah

http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/latvia/rezekne-lat

Esther Rechtschafner was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Religious Zionistic family. She was in Bnei Akiva; and she attended public   and Jewish schools. In 1962, she participated in Bnei Akiva Hachshara. She came on Aliya in 1964. In 1965, she married Mordechai Rechtschafner, and they made their home in Kibbutz Ein Zurim. They have 3 married daughters and 10 grandchildren.

Esther received a BA from the Open University in Jewish History and an MA from the Hebrew University in librarianship.  She worked at various jobs on the kibbutz, and for 22 years as house-mother inYeshivat HaKibbutzHaDati, Now she works as the Kibbutz librarian/archivist.

Because of a keen interest her family background, she began writing articles about the places that her grandparents came from. Her father (Oscar H[G]erschman) was a descendent of the Vilna Gaon.

‘Soon I’ll meet my Grandpa Tuvia’ (2) as once again the thought crossed my mind like a mantra repeating itself. I’m in the car, my legs stiff from sitting.

We rented a two seater red sports car in New York, an MG with an automatic convertible top. [...]]]> Visiting Grandpa Tuvia in America

Miriam Gil (1)

‘Soon I’ll meet my Grandpa Tuvia’ (2) as once again the thought crossed my mind like a mantra repeating itself. I’m in the car, my legs stiff from sitting.

Tuvia third marriage USA

We rented a two seater red sports car in New York, an MG with an automatic convertible top. Yuval brought it from the car dealer and parked right in front of our uncles’ house, where we were staying.  Accompanied by our aunt and uncle, we loaded our suitcase into the miniature car and found that the bag did not fit into the trunk. We pushed the seats forward and managed to maneuver the suitcase into the empty space in the back. And now we are traveling northwest in the direction of Detroit where we’ll meet Grandpa Tuvia, or Tom as he is known in America. According to our plan, it should take two or three days. We’re crammed into the toylike car with the suitcase jabbing our backs. Pouring rain pounds on the canvas convertible top over our heads, but at least the heat works!

Yuval is driving while I have the open guide book and map spread on my lap.  We’re surrounded by land scattered with small towns, farms and vast cornfields as far as the eye can see. We stayed overnight in the town of Niagara on the Canadian side of the border, after we grabbed a quick look at the famous Falls. In the morning we made a huge detour  over  the Great Lakes and then back again over the American border, and after all that natural beauty, on to Detroit.
We entered the city through the back door, so to speak, through an industrial area. We wended our way through the dark and sooty streets, all the same gray color, uninviting – as if there were a municipal law directing everything to be painted gray. We found a clean motel, showered and with the map provided with the key to our room, we set out to tour the city.

Tuvia young man

Prior to leaving for America, we were supplied with addresses and details necessary for meeting Grandpa Tuvia. My mother (3) had told me her story and made sure I wrote down what she considered to be important details. I did not need to be reminded. Even were I  to be awakened in the middle of the night and someone whisper just a tiny iota of her life story, I would be able to detail the entire thing. Now that page was lying next to the map we had drawn up of how to get to Grandpa Tuvia’s home. We finally decided to use the services of a taxi, leaving our navigation skills to areas outside the city.

We chose our nicest clothes to wear for our meeting with Grandpa Tuvia; I wore the only two pieces of jewelry I owned. I arranged my long hair impressively and even put on a light touch of makeup, which was a new experience for me. I wanted to look our very best for the meeting. I was 23 and Yuvi was 26; we were both young and tall, and what else could improve our appearance… Still, I felt the need to look “our best” – I was my mother’s messenger. We decided not to announce our visit. Of my existence, he knew. After many years of searching any and every possible way that occurred to her, my mother managed to find his address in America. She wrote and told him about her mother’s(4) bitter end in Europe, and about herself and her family in Israel.

One day an envelope from American arrived in the mail, about six months after my mother sent her letter to her father; the pink stamp showed a sharp profile and ponytail hairdo of a former president; blue curly handwriting showed beneath the stamp. The answer from Grandpa Tuvia had arrived.
My mother was considerably disappointed to ascertain that the letter was written by her Aunt Lina, (5) her father’s sister. “Understand him,” it said in Yiddish, “He never told his children, and should he tell them now, the family – God forbid – would be destroyed.”
My mother did not give up, she wrote to her father again and again, until at last she received from him a single solitary letter, also in Yiddish. An emotional letter. He addressed her as “My dear daughter,” and signed “from me your father who loves you very much.”
In between the words, he pled as if on a huge outdoor banner: “The past is past; let me live my life.”

Dvora Yentele Dolev & father Tuvia Yurkanski

And my mother let him.
Up to that time, they had never seen one another; and even afterwards, father and daughter continued their lives on two separate tracks. Now, 13 years later, we were traveling in a taxi through the streets of Detroit to the Oak Park neighborhood, to meet Grandpa Tuvia – Tom.

We deliberately came in the late afternoon. I wanted nothing from him, not even lunch. We aspired to get out of there before evening. At the most a cup of coffee to be polite. It was still light outside. We paid the taxi driver who sped off, and we were left on the street with houses, each bordered by lawns and driveways.

We turned toward the house and made ​​sure that the number and name listed on the mailbox was correct. All that was left to do was to go up the small staircase. My heart beat fast, I grabbed Yuvi’s hand and drew strength from him. But the act itself could be done only by me; it was my own private journey. I went up. Yuval followed. We stood before a screen door and after it, the main entry door, locked.  I hesitated. Should I ring the bell? Finally I took my courage in my hands and I opened the screen door with my right hand and knocked on the front door with my left. Courageously I knocked again. I heard shuffling footsteps on the other side of the door, and it opened. Standing in front of me was an elderly man, short but standing straight and solid. He wore slippers on his feet, his left hand holding the door and his body blocking the doorway. We stood facing each other as if in a mirror. I was horrified. He was looking at me through my mother’s face. There was no mistaking it. His broad face was very pink and his hair is very full and white. I touched Yuval’s arm and said in Hebrew “Look! Roni’s eyes!” In the clear blue of his eyes and bold stare I recognized the special shade of blue of Roni’s eyes, Roni our baby girl.
The man looked at the strangers before him, “Yes!” He turned to me a heavy Jewish accent, “How can I help you?”
Overcoming my excitement and chattering teeth, I said in Hebrew, “Shalom,” and I continued in English, “My name is Michal, my husband is Yuvi, and we are from Israel.”

I did not bother to ask his identity as expected in such cases. Yuvi held the screen door in my stead, and I extended my hand to shake his. The man looked at us for a long moment in silence, then suddenly reached out and we shook hands.
I grasped my grandfather’s hand in mine. Hand in hand, and my grandfather still had no clue before whom and what he stood. I took a deep breath and dropped the bomb. “I’m your granddaughter, daughter of Dvorah-Yentele, your eldest daughter born to Sarah-Malka  Arluk. His grip tightened and he brought his other hand closer and put it on the back of my hand. We stood that way on his door sill, staring at each other. I do not know how much time passed until he recovered, but for me it seemed an eternity. Then he stepped back, opened the door wide and with a broad gesture, invited us inside.

Today, as I write these things, I do not know what I was thinking then, how daring I was; I knew nothing about my grandfather then. He was then around seventy-seven, he could have had a heart attack and as they say in English dropped dead on the spot.

Dvora Yentele Dolev

But that did not happen.
From the back of the house another figure appeared, and he introduced us to his wife, Eva. In the same breath he told her something in Yiddish, and she rushed into another room, presumably to the kitchen. I knew about her. This was his third wife, not the mother of the three other children, whom he married after years of widowhood. My grandfather took us to the living room and invited us to sit. Even before we sat down there was a sudden sound of rolling, and a stream of apples rolled onto the living room floor, refreshments. I rushed towards Eva to pick up the fruit that dropped to the floor. Giving her the apples I had picked up, I met her startled gaze. She had no idea who we were, “those people“ that her husband had just brought into her home.

We sat on the couch, Yuvi to my right. My grandfather paced around the room a bit. He gave his wife orders in Yiddish who soon brought a jug of cold water and cups and a bowl of apples. Then he sat in his chair, not far from me and asked me to repeat what I had said to him only a moment ago. As I repeated what I had said, I pulled from my purse the envelope of photos I had prepared and gave them to him. My grandfather removed the photos from the envelope and began moving them one by one between his fingers. He looked long at each photo while I was naming the people and explaining their relationship to him. At this point he moved over to my left on the couch. Some of the photographs needed no explanation. His deep silence and heavy breathing accompanied each photo. These were old photos on brown cardboard, photos of my grandmother, Sara Malka, his first wife, him as young man, nearly a youth, my mother as a baby, his parents, his friends. My mother gave me these pictures as if to confirm the fact of her being his daughter.

One by one the photos of our family in our youth emerged from the envelope: my father, my mother, my brother and me. Those were followed by photos of us up to date, including my daughter, his great granddaughter in the arms of my mother. The resemblance between my grandfather and my mother was very prominent. He continued to hold that picture for a long time, stroking the cheek of the photo of his daughter’s life – my mother at aged 53. We talked for hours. When I was sitting in the center of the soft couch, my grandfather moved slowly toward me. Now we sitting side by side, shoulder against shoulder, as a warm and cohesive family ….

I told him my mother’s story. And he told me his version. Things did not always match. Meanwhile, I reiterated, “I came to meet you, I ask for nothing”.

My grandfather told me about his life, his experiences, about his children – they are my uncles – about his grandchildren – my cousins.
I felt an increasing need to tell him how I grew up in the bosom of my small family – my parents, my brother and I, while always knowing that somewhere in America I have a real grandfather and uncles. I did not spare him how I envied other children with their grandparents, uncles, family …. It was important to me that he know.
My words were not spoken pleasantly, not indifferently. They had a certain amount of impact.

*     *     *

Toward the end of his life my grandfather had met me – his granddaughter, before he met his eldest daughter, my mother. This is a life story for the Theatre of the Absurd, one of many characteristics of the fate of European Jewry in centuries past.
In the coming years my parents met with my grandfather and his favorite wife a number of times. Their first meeting was when my grandfather was around 87 and my mother about 63. They always stayed at my grandfather’s home. My grandfather and my mother had difficult intimate conversations, and still they found roads of closeness and love for one another.

My mother also met her two brothers and their families. One of the brothers had died previously. They did not form a close relationship, which my mother regretted to her dying day. Toward the end of her life my mother told me that despite it being in the last third of her life that she met her father, “we were able to bridge the gap of half a century or more of isolation and to bridge the feelings of my mother’s anger. I was reconciled with my Father, I loved him and I felt I was loved by him. I felt that I have a father.”

Miriam Gil b.1946, in Kfar Blum, Israel. Daughter of Dvora and Zalman Dolev.

This month’s article is from the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of Internet Genealogy, written by Ryan J. Woods and Henry B. Hoff, [...]]]> We are happy to offer a free article from Internet Genealogy magazine each month on our web site to registered users (registration is free). You can check back every month for a new article.

This month’s article is from the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of Internet Genealogy, written by Ryan J. Woods and Henry B. Hoff, and is titled Looking for Genealogical Journals Online?.

The link to view this PDF article can be found on the Internet Genealogy page on this site, and each month that page will contain a new article which can be read online or downloading. You must be registered on this site, and logged in, in order to view the Internet Genealogy page, and to read the current article. IGRA Members can read older articles in the Member Library.

Come at 6:30 pm to ask your questions of our experts.

Program begins at 7 pm at the AACI Glassman Family Center, 37 Pierre Koenig/2 Poalei Tzedek, Talpiot.  Topic: “Children, Childhood and Life Cycle Rituals in Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz”.

Many genealogical researchers regret not getting important information from relatives when they [...]]]>  

Come at 6:30 pm to ask your questions of our experts.

Program begins at 7 pm at the AACI Glassman Family Center, 37 Pierre Koenig/2 Poalei Tzedek, Talpiot.  Topic: “Children, Childhood and Life Cycle Rituals in Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz”.

Many genealogical researchers regret not getting important information from relatives when they had the opportunity to do so. Now, here’s a chance to “listen in” on many aspects of family life going back in time to the 16^th -18^th centuries.  What did they think then about children and their role in the family and larger community.  Additional topics include the roles of women and girls; lifelong relationships between grown children and their parents; daily rituals in the home; developments in the Jewish educational system; life cycle events; the “wimple” and the unique Ashkenazi custom “hollekreisch”.  Plan to join us for a chance to be a “fly on the wall” and overhear about family patterns, customs and lifestyles in days gone by.  This is an opportunity to connect some of the dots with various customs and traditions.

Our presenter for this special program is Tali Berner, PhD. She has a doctorate in Jewish History from Hebrew University, specializes in Childhood Studies and Early Modern Ashkenazi Culture and is on the faculty of Tel Aviv University.