Poland: Hungarian Holocaust victims personal items found

From United Press International (UPI) and Poland's thenews.pl site comes this story of Hungarian Holocaust victims' personal belongings found at Auschwitz:

Conservation workers uncovered personal items of Holocaust victims at the World War II Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in southern Poland, authorities said.

The items - including baby toys and bottles, jewels, cosmetics and medicines - had labels in Hungarian and belonged to Hungarian Jews imprisoned at the Nazi German-run Auschwitz concentration camp, near the southern Polish city of Krakow, from May to July 1944, Poland's thenews.pl Web site said Tuesday.

The personal items were found during conservation work at the camp's Crematorium 3, a spokesman for the Auschwitz museum said. Some of the items will be put on display at the museum.

About 430,000 Hungarian Jews were taken to the infamous Auschwitz camp, where most of them died.

More than 1.1 million people, almost all were Jews from Poland or other European countries, died at Auschwitz 1940-1945.

Jerusalem: Mount of Olives tombstone index online

The Israel Genealogical Society (GS) has completed indexing of Helkat Mehokek, a Hebrew book published in 1913 by Asher Leib Brisk. It includes tombstone inscriptions from part of Jerusalem's Mount of Olives cemetery.

The bilingual (Hebrew-English) searchable database includes 8,092 tombstones, generally covering 1740-1906, although the earliest inscription dates from 1646. There are 1,500 graves of Sephardim and 6,592 of Ashkenazim.

Brisk's inscriptions cover graves from the top part of the cemetery, which was completely destroyed under Jordanian rule (1948-1967) to make room for a hotel and a road. Due to this destruction, the book the only source for
some of this information. Some information can also be found in records of
the various Hevra Kadishas in Jerusalem.

The IGS team suggests that readers first read the instructions before using the search engine.

For the English version, click here. For the Hebrew version, click here.

For more details, visit the IGS site.

Washington DC: Alien files to become permanent

An important signing ceremony will take place today (Wednesday, June 3) at the National Archives in Washington DC. The event will preserve some 32 million immigration files originally slated for disposal.

Designated as permanent will be the files created for millions of aliens residing in the US in 1944 and for those who have arrived since then.

Presiding will be US acting archivist Adrienne Thomas, US Citizenship and Immigration Services associate director Gregory Smith, and Save Our National Archives communications director Jennie Lew.

According to the press release:

These Alien Case Files (commonly referred to as A-Files) document the famous, the infamous, the anonymous and the well-known, and are an historical and genealogical goldmine.

The new agreement authorizes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Department of Homeland Security to send A-files to the National Archives when 100 years have passed since the birth date of the subject of a file.

The National Archives expects to receive the first transfer of A-files later this year, and will store the files at National Archives facilities in San Francisco and Kansas City. Researchers will be able to access the files at these two sites, or request copies of files. An index will be available to support research use.

The A-files are a key to unlocking the fascinating stories of millions of people who traveled to the United States in search of opportunity.

They include information such as photographs, personal correspondence, birth certificates, health records, interview transcripts, visas, applications and other information on all non-naturalized alien residents, both legal and illegal.

At the event, the National Archives will have samples of the alien registration form used to create the A-files. The form asked for valuable details - for genealogists, family historians and other researchers - including the alien’s current name, the name s/he used when entering the country, marital status, occupation, employer's name and address of employer, height, weight, date and place of birth.

These permanent records will be of great significance to many immigrant communities that arrived in 1944 and afterward. The press release noted that the files are of particular interest to the Asian American community because many A-files supplement information in Chinese Exclusion Act-era case files (1882-1943), already housed at the National Archives.

It is always good news when such record groups are saved from destruction and made permanent for future generations of researchers.

SephardicGen: Sephardic Jewish aliases, Amsterdam

Jeff Malka of SephardicGen.com has just informed Tracing the Tribe of a new database containing 1,888 alias names used in Amsterdam by Sephardic Jews.

The list was prepared from the index by Abraham de Mordechai Vaz Dias which is preserved at the Amsterdam Stadsarchief (State Archive).

When the Conversos fled Portugal to settle in Amsterdam they returned openly to Judaism. Because they often still had relatives in Portugal, they tried to protect them by using aliases in their transactions. However, it wasn't only the Portuguese who wound up in Amsterdam. Even a century after 1492, conversos were finding their way from Spain to Amsterdam. It is a convoluted history as many Spanish Jews fled to Portugal in 1492, as they thought they would be safe. They were - but only for a few years. In 1497, they again had to make a choice of convert or flee.

In those days, Portuguese was a synonym for Sephardic Jewish, and encompassed the Spanish Jews as well. Listing a person as a Portuguese merchant generally meant he was Jewish. Their family contacts worldwide, along with their language skills, were great commercial assets in their farflung business ventures. And in their contacts with family back home, they had to be discreet as to not bring suspicion on relatives left behind.

One man was known by 12 aliases. Here are the names and years of these aliases. Will the real Antonio Hidalgo o Velho please stand up?

1657 - Antonio Hidalgo o Velho
1659, 1665 - Antonio Hidalgo
1657 - Antonio Cortissos
1665 - Jacob Semah Cortissos
1657 - Jacob Cortissos
1659 - Antonio Hidalgo

Antonio/Jacob's Jewish name was Isac (Isaac), and he also used these Jewish surnames (and corresponding aliases):

1647 - Semas (Antonio da Costa Cortissos)
1647 - Semach Cortissos (Antonio da Costa (Cortissos)
1648 - Semach (Antonio da Costa Cortissos)

Antonio da Costa (Cortissos) was also known as Teunis van den Coster (1657).

Vaz Dias, in the first half of the 20th century, went through the archives' notarial records and identified the aliases, preparing a separate card index (identified as archive no. 5059, inventory nos. 267 and 268) providing an individual's Jewish name and its aliase as well as the notarial record identifying that alias.

Vibeke Sealtiël Olsen transcribed the card index collection into a database made available to SephardicGen. Many surnames are composite surnames (Da Costa, D'Aguire, etc.) which creates problems in searching for a specific name. Due to this problem, use the "contains" search parameter.

As I am always looking for clues to TALALAY, I entered "tal" and searched for "contains."

Although there were none, the results were interesting in terms of variations in family and first names:

Italiaander, Abraham -> Levi Victoria, Abraham - 1697
Italian, Jan Pietersz -> Leon, Isak Jehuda - 1645
de Luna Montalto, Abraham -> Hogenberch, Abraham - 1676
Montalto, Isac -> de Luna Montalto, Lopo - 1618
Luna Montalto, Michael -> Montalto, Mozes - 1618
Montalto, Mozes -> de Luna Montalto, Michael - 1618
Correa de Vega, Gil -> Mocatta, Jacob - 1645
Roemer, Gerrit -> Martens, Gerrit - 1710
Roemer, Gerrit -> Henrigues Faro, David - 1710

When you consider the famous Abravenel family, here spelled Abarbanel, we see the following:

Abarbanel, Isaque -> Lopes Gomes, Francisco - 1638
Abarbanel, Isaque -> d"Aguilar, Alonco - 1696
Abarbanel, Joseph -> Homen, Pedro Manuel Thomas - ?
Abarbanel, Joseph -> Da Serra, Joseph - 1674
Abarbanel, Mozes Baruch -> Van Der Graft, Albertus -1671
Abarbanel, Pinechas -> Thomas, Manuel - 1615
Abarbanel, Samuel -> De Souza, Samuel - 1649
Abarbanel, Samuel -> Rodrigues de Sousa, Jeronimo - 1616
Abarbanel, Sara Meyer -> Da Silveira, Philippa - 1669
Abrabanel, Efraim -> Fernandez, Tomas - 1615

There were Cohens whose aliases were Luis, da Costa, d'Azevedo, Henriques, Carlos, Levi, de Rocha Pinto, da Silva Ramos, Dias and Ergas.

Remember to read the FAQ for tips on searching. Search this database here.

New York City: Catskill summers, June 3

As a Catskills summer kid - Kauneonga Lake - I look for all mentions of the area. I am especially happy to let Tracing the Tribe readers' know about any appearance of Brown University's Professor Phil Brown (no relation) on the Catskills topic.

"The Catskills: Summer Days in the Jewish-American Eden" begins at 7pm, Wednesday, June 3, at the JCC, Amsterdam Avenue and W. 76th Street.

I remember his talk at the New York 2006 international Jewish genealogy conference, when audience members were moved to tears as Phil gave a very emotional talk to a crowd of people. I first met him at Brown a few years earlier when my daughter was a student. We immediately connected on a level that only two Catskills kids - with shared experiences - could have!

Phil Brown is a sociology and environmental studies professor and founder of The Catskills Institute (based at Brown University), which archives everything about the Catskill summer experience. He's the author of "Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat’s Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area" and "In the Catskills: A Century of the Jewish Experience in “The Mountains.”

Sharing the billing is Princeton University professor Jenna Weissman Joselit, a celebrated historian of modern American Jewish life and author of "The Wonders of America" and "A Perfect Fit."

Far more than just an ‘upstate’ mountain range, the Catskills was a summer world for generations of east coast Jews. And the Catskills loom large whether you actually summered there, knew someone who did, just read about it, or watched a classic film set amidst its camps, bungalows, and fabled hotels. Pondering the deep meaning of “going to the mountains” will be Joselit and Brown.

For details, call 646-505-5708; admission: JCC members, $10; others, $15.

If you're also a Catskills kid, check out the resources at The Catskills Institute and share your own memories online. Numerous Catskills links are found here.

Georgia: Savannah genealogy classes

Savannah residents have an opportunity to learn about genealogy, oral history, the Civil War, Savannah's influential women, participate in tours and more, when the Georgia Historical Society becomes a summer classroom.

The classes, seminars and walking tours represent an opportunity to expand GHS' community visibility and raise some funding, according to the group's senior historian Stan Deaton. The reference library is closed to researchers on mornings because state cuts resulted in staffing reductions, and made the library available as a classroom.

Topics include:

- Basic Preservation for Your Family Treasures. June 8 and July 20, 10 am-noon. $75.

- Transforming the Bully Pulpit: American Presidents in the 20th Century. June 15-19, 10-11am $125.

- Decisive Battles of the Civil War. June 22-26, 10-11:30am. $125.

- Introduction to Genealogical Research. June 29, July 13 and Aug. 24, 10am-noon. $50.

- Savannah Women: A Downtown Walking Tour. July 27 and Aug. 10, 9-11am. $20.

- The Gardens of Clermont Lee: A Downtown Walking Tour. July 30 and Aug. 13, 9-11am. $20.

- Civil War Leadership. Aug. 3-7, 10-11:30am. $125.

- Oral History: Getting Started. Aug. 17, 10-11am $35.

- Oral History: It's Recorded, Now What? Aug. 20, 10-11:30am. $35.

For more information, reservations and registration, click the GHS. All classes are open to the public and GHS members receive a 10% discount.

Detroit: Beth El archives hold Jewish history

The archives of Temple Beth El are like the local Smithsonian, according to a local volunteer. If your family had connections to that synagogue, founded in 1850 by 12 German immigrant families, you may find very personal information.

In addition to congregational history, the archives - today located in suburban Bloomfield Hills - also hold community history back to 1850.

Among the holdings are 800 family files, wedding invitations, photos, some 2,000 eulogies delivered 1953-1996 by Rabbi Richard Hertz, Great Depression-era letters by temple members asking for help, Jewish War Veterans records, synagogue architectural records, and congregational organization records (such as sisterhoods).

Additionally, the archives seeks family history files from other area congregations.

The archives is headed by director Jan Durecki, with the help of volunteers Joanie Schott and Marlene Lipman.

Joanie Schott sorts through photographs of her ancestors. The Livonia woman takes pride in the family whose association with Temple Beth El goes back to her mother's confirmation in 1914. At the time the synagogue was located in Detroit.

Today Schott sits in the second floor climate-controlled archive on the campus of the Bloomfield Hills location where she volunteers every Monday. The historical records tell a story not only of the temple but the Jewish community since 1850 when the congregation was founded by 12 German immigrant families who gathered in the home of Isaac and Sarah Cozens.

Once a week, volunteers spend hours cataloging the materials. Durecki works on her own the rest of the time. The archives is named after Rabbi Leo M. Franklin who headed Beth El from 1899-1941; he was a leader of the Reform movement.

The reason for the archives is to maintain and make accessible for the community administrative documents for auxiliaries like the sisterhood,” said Durecki. “Of special interest is families. We have over 800 family files from a complete history to a few documents. It's good to have one safe place instead of being dispersed to cousins.”

“I can always visit my aunt and uncle here,” added Schott. “I can visit this whenever I want. Someday my great grandchildren can come and look in the boxes and have access to all this information. My grandmother's wedding invitation, Emma Epstein, from 1891, pictures of me and my twin brother, my mother and father in the 1920s, poetry my grandmother wrote.”

Durecki is researching the Aron HaKodesh, the cabinet that holds the congregation's Torah scrolls, originally from the 1903 structure.

“It's an important part of our service to the community,” said Durecki. “We have history about Temple Beth El but also the community. We welcome family histories from all congregations. I like to think there's a story to be told.”

Schott found eulogies for her parents, and Lipman is preparing a spreadsheet of the 2,000+ eulogies. The rabbi wrote notes about the deceased on envelopes which sat in filing cabinets until Wayne State University intern Robbie Termin began to organize the material.

“This is history,” said Lipman, whose family background is traced back to Europe. Her father was the first to come to this country. “There's a sermon given after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It's been interesting to look back at the death of Abraham Lincoln.”

Says Durecki, "Where do you go to retrieve history? ... You have to put things together for yourself, have to be a history detective."

Read the complete article here.

Philadelphia: Jewish basketball

In a Philadelphia Inquirer story about the city during 1928-30, discussing the economic woes at that time and interspersed with more contemporary comments, the following paragraph lurked:

Basketball also was big in Philadelphia, and no team got more Inquirer ink than the Philadelphia SPHAs of the recently reborn Eastern League. "SPHA" was an acronym for South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, and the players came from the city's immigrant Jewish neighborhoods.

The SPHAs wore blue uniforms with Hebrew lettering, and beginning with the 1929-30 season, they won three consecutive league championships.

Sportswriters were apt to attribute their success to genetics. Jews, it was said, were naturally more coordinated and athletic. The New York Daily News' Paul Gallico wrote that Jews did so well because "the game places a premium on an alert, scheming mind."

Read the complete story here.

The 29th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy will take place August 2-7. On the program schedule are talks about Philadelphia's Jewish history, which will include the Philadelphia SPHAs. For all conference details, click here.