New York: Jews of Piedmont, Italy, Dec. 8

The Primo Levi Center and Yeshiva University Museum will present a talk and screening on "Piedmont: Unfolding Borders" on Tuesday, December 8

The program - which includes film, family history and books - begins at 5.30pm at the Yeshiva University Museum (YUM).

YUM has also published a 2008 book,"Ebrei Piemontesi: The Jews of Piedmont" (see below).

When, 150 years ago, Italy became a unified country, the region of Piemonte was its center and the catalyst of its early development.

As the oldest minority in Europe, Italian Jews held a high stake in a process that sanctioned their emancipation, and they actively participated in shaping the new national life.

This evening of film, family history, and books will introduce the public to a fascinating landscape of culture, intellectual vision, and social mobility.

Ebrei Piemontesi: The Jews of Piedmont

The first major settlement of Jews in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy began in the 14th century, when émigrés from France settled in the territories of the Duchy of Savoy on the Italian side of the Alps.

This volume, published in conjunction with the 1996 Yeshiva University Museum exhibition, presents nine essays by well-known scholars and specialists, providing an overview of the community history, along with articles on synagogue architecture, manuscript decoration, local Jewish cuisine (with recipes) and a translation from the memoirs of a 20th century rabbi.

The book features color images of selected artifacts from the Museum exhibition (paintings, manuscripts, prints, ceremonial silver and textiles), and photos of Piedmontese synagogues.

The 128-page softcover book includes a total of 43 color and B&W plates, and a map. The price is $16 for YUM members. Click here to download an order form.

Admission: students, free; general admission, $10; members, $5.

Washington, DC: Lincoln and American Jews, Dec. 13

Professor Anne Rubin, a Civil War expert at the University of Maryland, will present "Father Abraham and the Children of Israel: Lincoln and American Jews" at the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington meeting on Sunday, December 13.

The joint program - with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington (JHSGW) - will begin at 12.15pm, at the Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia.

Prior to the main program, there will be tours of the JHSGW exhibit, Jews of DC, which focuses on local Jews during the Civil War.

One of the most important events in our nation's history, the Civil War forever altered American life. Washington and Alexandria were sites of intense activity. This new, original exhibition tells stories of Jewish life in Civil-War Washington and across the river in Alexandria. Mounted as part of national celebrations of Lincoln's bicentennial in 2009, this exhibition includes images from JHSGW collections, supplemented by photographs from the Library of Congress and other local repositories.

Admission: JGSGW/JHSGW members, free; others, $5.

For more information see the JGSGW website.

Wolinsky's wild cards

Tracing the Tribe's friend and colleague Howard Wolinsky has a new story in Ancestry Magazine, detailing how wildcards helped him end a 30-year search. The techniques may help you, too.

Read the complete story here.

It seemed so simple. I could barely contain myself.

I ended a 30-year search — a long journey littered with false starts, dead ends, and bottlenecks — with a major breakthrough. At long last, I had found my grandfather ­Henry Wolinsky.

Henry, named Hillel when he was born in 1871, had always been a mystery to me. He died before I was born, but I felt a special affinity with him because I was named for him in the Jewish custom. My religious name in Hebrew is Hillel. The “H” in my first name is in Henry’s honor as well.

My father, Sidney, told me when I was a teen that the original family name was Schrogin. That has been an important bit of data in my search for my family origins. But it turned out not to be the whole story because of translations, misspellings, and name changes, a fact I nailed down only a year ago.

Howard addresses the original surname SRAGAN and that SCHROGIN was the Americanized version. The old name was found in Czarist records.

Wildcard searches helped me overcome these stumbling blocks. Such was the case when I typed Hillel Sra*g*n into Ancestry.com. The * is a wildcard, a character that may be used in a search to represent one or more other characters. If your relative is hidden among permutations of a name created by misspellings, bad transcriptions, poor penmanship, or mistranslations, a wildcard can help root him or her out. Up popped the name “Hillel Sragan,” my paternal grandfather, in a record. I’d found him. Finally.

We are all delighted for Howard.

How did his family get the name? In the early 1800s, Jews in the Russian Empire were required to select a family name. The roots of the name date to the Middle Ages, and involve the name SRAGA (which means "light"). It is also a kinnui for the Hebrew-Yiddish names of Shraga Feibush, which also carry the same meaning of "light" in both languages.

As Tracing the Tribe writes frequently, a great myth of Jewish genealogy is that no records can be found in Eastern Europe. We have been told that they were destroyed during wars, that they have disappeared. Of course, we've discovered that this is not true, and there are indeed major record collections all over Eastern Europe.

Like many of us who have been in this game for a long time, Howard heard the same thing when his quest began three decades ago. Over the years, he's found records showing Hillel was born in Keidainai (Kedain), Lithuania - a branch of my own BANK family is also connected to that town.

Howard has always questioned how and when Hillel became Henry Wolinsky. He knew Henry took his brother's surname but not how Wolinsky was added to the picture.

He's tried to determine the truth to a story that the brother bought a business with the name Wolinsky and then changed his own name. Or, was there something else involved?

Howard did what we all have done and continue to do. We check city directories, ship's manifests from various ports and new databases as we become aware of their existence. He found nothing related to the name change how and why, but he did find new data on his grandfather and his brother.

And now comes the happy DNA dance part of the story. Tracing the Tribe loves DNA. DNA as a genealogical tool was made for this. While this story did not exactly involve a DNA technology match, it did bring together Howard's DNA friends and genetic cousins, who have met over the years via their mutual research revealing a long-ago common ancestor.

Many of his DNA contacts are also experts in old-fashioned paper trail research, such as Rebekah Canada in Iowa and Jill Whitehead in London. Tracing the Tribe is on many DNA lists and Rebekah and Jill are familiar names.

Rebekah helped with a complex wildcard search and found his grandfather's brother - Isaac Sragan - who arrived in New York by way of Glasgow in 1884. Howard used her technique to find his grandfather in the Hamburg passenger list showing his arrival in 1892.

A British records expert, Jill found Howard's grandfather - "Halel Seagan" - in the UK National Archives. Now that Howard had another "official" spelling to work with, a Boston arrival record was revealed for "Hilel Seagren."

Howard has found many "official" name variations in various databases, including Schrogin, Sragan, Srogen, Shrogin, Sragen, Seagren and Seagan.

While many people think that my own surname of interest, Talalay, is relatively (pun intended) easy to spell, there are some 30 or so variations in various databases. Who would have guessed that such a simple phonetic name could be transformed into some really unrecognizable forms?

The bottom line? Never give up. Keep checking databases (and look for new ones), construct many wildcard searches, and enlist your relatives (including genetic cousins) in the quest.

Howard still doesn't know where Wolinsky fits in, but I'm sure he won't give up and will tell us as soon as he finds out. Take a cue from him - never give up.

Yes, I know I wrote that twice. It is that important. If you don't find what you're looking for today, look tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. With so many records coming online or new record groups being made available onsite in different places, the chances of success increase exponentially.

Jewish genealogists worldwide are a collaborative group. We try to help each other and we never know where the next clue to our quest may come from.

Read Howard's complete story here for inspiration and creative ideas, and make sure to read his other stories (click here) in Ancestry Magazine.

NOTE: To see a segment of a UK show covering Howard's trip to Hull to trace his grandfather's voyage, see this YouTube clip. The host's accent and the music track is as good as the story itself.

Montreal: McCord Museum resources, Dec. 14

Learn about the McCord Museum's extensive collections and resources at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal in association with the Jewish Public Library, on Monday, December 14.

The program begins at 7.30pm at the Gelber Conference Center.

Guest speaker François Cartier is the McCord Museum curator of archives and history. He's an expert in the field of museum archives.

His presentation will describe the many resources at the museum which are of interest to genealogists and family historians.

A quick search using "Jewish" as a keyword retrieved some 15 photographs and documents, including this one below, a list of offerings at the 1794 wedding of Ezekiel Hart:
For more information about the JGS of Montreal, click here.

Istanbul: Jewish community records

Those with Jewish roots in Istanbul or other Turkish geographical connections will find this resource of interest, as will Sephardic researchers of surnames in many countries.

Music professor Daniel Kazez of Wittenburg University (Ohio) produced a major database of Istanbul's Jewish community records, with the cooperation and generosity of many individuals and organizations in that community. It was online for some time until privacy complaints took it offline.

There are some 100,000 Jewish records available, including more than 35,000 marriage records (Chief Rabbinate 1887-, Ashkenazi community, 1923-, Italian Congregation 1870s-), and some 30,000 burial records for the following cemeteries: Hemdat Israel 1899-, Italian burial list 1918-, Italian Şişli Cemetery 1800s-, Kuzguncuk Cemetery 1913-, Ortaköy Cemetery 1939-, Yuksekkaldirim Synagogue 1916-.

Remember also that there has been an Ashkenazi community in the city (formerly Constantinople) since the 14th century, that a very large number of Spanish Jews were invited following the 1492 Expulsion, that Crimean Jews were resettled there, that a large Italian Jewish community existed and that Istanbul welcomed many European Jews prior to the Holocaust.

The Istanbul Jewish community provided access to these precious records to enable translation from archaic handwriting (solitreo) and alphabets, by so many volunteers, who also typed and proofread them. Generous donors also funded the microfilming of records and converting them to digital images.

Consistent with Turkish privacy laws, the database is no longer publicly searchable. However, researchers can request a records search. Write to the Istanbul Chief Rabbinate's Office to request a search. In your email, include the following: 1) details on the person about whom you seek information (surname, given name, approximate birth year, names of parents or children) and 2) how you are related to the person about whom you seek information. Allow a week for a response.

For more information on these names, check out the searchable databases at Jeff Malka's SephardicGen and the name search engine at Harry Stein's Sephardim.com.

At Dan's site (link above) see all the names in the database, organized by frequency of records for each name, ranging from 4,332 for Levi, down to only one instance for thousands of names.

The complete list of names demonstrates the diversity of the community with names from Spain, Italy, across the Mediterranean and from Europe.

Here's a section of the most frequently mentioned surnames:

4332 LEVI, 3802 BEHAR, 2269 KOHEN, 2214 ESKENAZI, 1516 MIZRAHI, 1087 KOEN, 841 BARUH, 549 MENASE, 481 SARFATI, 479 FRANKO, 470 MITRANI, 449 KAMHI, 438 PINTO, 434 FRESKO, 432 OJALVO, 406 TOLEDO, 402 GABAY, 393 BAROKAS, 388 MESULAM, 364 PARDO, 360 ESK., 342 HASON, 341 YERUSALMI, 337 BENEZRA, 329 NAHMIAS, 324 ROMANO, 312 DANON, 308 OVADYA, 307 CIPRUT, 293 SALOM, 292 HABIB, 288 VARON, 281 GERSON, 279 PINHAS, 277 RAZON, 275 BICACI, 272 NAMER, 270 LEON, 268 RUSO, 262 ARDITI, 256 ANCEL, 255 VENTURA, 253 GERON, 251 ABUAF, 251 SABAN, 248 AMON, 242 HALFON, 240 KARAKO, 233 AZUZ, 228 ADATO, 228 ALFANDARI, 225 FARHI, 223 KASTORYANO, 220 UZIEL, 218 ELNEKAVE, 218 PAPO, 215 GALIMIDI, 215 TARAGANO, 213 ACIMAN, 209 PEREZ, 205 BERAHA, 203 KRESPI, 203 YANNI, 202 SEVI, 201 BENSASON, 195 MOLHO, 193 NASI, 188 RODRIG, 187 MALKI, 186 BAHAR, 184 ASEO, 183 AMRAM, 182 SAUL, 182 TREVES, 180 BENBASAT, 180 CUKRAN, 180 KORDOVA, 179 SASON, 177 SEVILYA, 176 NAHUM, 176 NATAN, 174 HATEM, 173 BALI, 168 SALTI, 167 KANETI, 166 ROMI, 154 MAYA, 152 KATALAN, 151 FIS, 150 MENDA, 148 KAZES, 148 YAHYA, 147 ADUT, 147 MOTOLA, 143 SURUJON, 141 KARMONA, 140 HAZAN, 139 GOLDENBERG, 138 SARANGA, 137 MATALON, 135 MEDINA, 133 FUNES, 133 NIEGO, 132 ALTARAS, 130 GRUNBERG, 130 TOVI, 129 ALMALEH, 129 ASA, 129 BABANI, 129 YAES, 127 BARZILAY, 127 ELI, 127 YOHAY, 126 MORENO, 126 RODITI, 123 HAYON, 122 KONFINO, 121 LEVY, 121 ZAKUTO, 118 CIVRE, 118 ROFE, 117 BENVENISTE, 117 KALAONRA, 117 PALACI, 117 ROZANES, 116 ALBUKREK, 116 BICACO, 116 COHEN, 116 DUENYAS, 116 PENSO, 115 HODARA, 115 KARIO, 115 POLIKAR, 114 FILIBA, 114 PALOMBO, 113 AVIGDOR, 113 MORHAYIM. ...

The list also includes a very long list of names which appear only once or twice in the records. Here are some which appear only once (a section of the As and an ending section). The records were hard to decipher and produced various interpretations of the old handwriting and alphabets (see many names with question marks):

AADATO, AARDEAN?, ABAH LEVI, ABAH? IMANU?, ABALAFYA, ABARBANEL, ABARESE?, ABARESI, ABARGI, ABAT, ABAT LEVI, ABATA, ABATLEVI, ABAUAF, ABAUKSEK, ABAYARA, ABCHEM, ABDALLA, ABDULLA?, ABDULLARHIM, ABDURAHMAN, ABEH, ABEHAR, ABEL, ABEN COIR, ABEN HABIB, ABEN HABIP, ABEN-HABIB, ABENDAVID, ABENDAVIT, ABENHALUP, ABENI ALAR, ABENI? (ALLELU? ALBENI?), ABENI? (ZENA)?, ABENSEL, ABENSSUSAN, ABERSMUKLER, ABGIN, ABIBOCHE, ABIGADOL (AVIGDOR), ABILDA, ABINOLI, ABJANAK?, ABLAMAN, ABLU, ABN? ALU? ISAK, ABOAF?, ABOCHONEETS?, ABODARA, ABOIF, ABOLOFYA, ABOLOFYA, GIBIGILI, ABORESE, ABORESI?, ABORESSI, ABOROSI, ABOUD?, ABOUF, ABOUHAIRE, ABOUKSEK, ABOUREU, ABRAAM, ABRAHAM OF KAVALALI, ABRAM, ABRAMO, ABRAMOVIC [ABRAMOVIÇ], ABRAMOW, ABRAMOWITS, ABRASAV, ABRAVANOL, ABRAVONEL, ABRAVRYA, ABRAYA, ABRENAYA, ABREUAYA, ABREUNAEL, ABREUYA, ABREVANET, ABREVAYA?, ABREVAZA?, ABRICHAMTCHI, ABRISAMETCI, ABUAF (HALON?), ABUAFOGLU, ABUAGLEAG, ABUALAF, ABUAT, ABUB (KHAJ), ABUCI, ABUDAR, ABUH, ABUHAIR, ABUISAK CICEKOGLU, ABUIZAN, ABULHAYRE, ABUMOMY?, ABUOF, ABUOUS, ABURDARAM, ABUT?, BARISAK?, ABUTBUL, ABUZAK, ACAMI, ACAR M, ACAR [AÇAR], ACATON, ACCHIOTI, ACCO?, ACEM, ACEMI?, ACHIOTE, ACHIOTTI, ACHITUF, ACHTER, ACIBEL, ACIBIL, ACIKBAS?, ACIL ACUBEL, ACIMAL?, ACIMAN YORGI MALGOCI, ACIMAY, ACIMON, ACINAN, ACITTONE, ACLYON?, ACUBEL (LEVIN), ACUBEL / ALUBEL, ACUBEL B. .....?, ACUDUR, ACUNAN, ADALAR?, ADALMI, ADALO, ADAMAL, ADAR, ADATO HAKER, ADATO PINHAS, ADATO SEMUEL, ADATOS, ADATOZ, ADE TOLEDO, ADEFINA?, ADEM (ADONI), ADENADUT, ADENI, ADES, ADETO, ADETOLEDO ...

YOHAY? YOHAZ?, YOHAZ?, YOHEY, YOL, YOLAD, YOLAK, YOLAP, YOLMAN, YOM LEVI, YONATAN?, YONAYOF, YONCOLGU?, YONNEZ?, YOOFA?, YORDAN, YORGANC OGLU / YORGANCOGLU, YORGANCIOGLU, YORGI MALGOCI, YORGOF?, YORKIN?, YOROHON, YOSEFOVIC, YOSEFOWITZ, YOSELEVIC, YOTAN, YOUR?, YOURKOVITZKI, YOZEF, YSAYA, YSRAEL, YUCAEM?, YUCAER, YUCEL?, YUDA? EZRA?, YUDELZON, YUDIT, YUFAN, YUGSAG, YUKARDI, YUKBATTI, YUKCU?, YUKEN, YUKLEKIN KALMAN, YUKSEKYILDIZ, YULA?(HASON), YULBAHAR, YULCU, YULER SEN, YULNIHAL, YULSEN, YUMER, YUMMIT TALAROWITZ, YUMUSTAS, YUNA?, YUNAY, YUNCEK?, YUNCI, YUNER, YUNIS KABAZ?, GUMUS MAKAZ?, YUNLU, YUNUS, YUNUSOF, YURIDA, YURKOVESKAYA, YURUK?, YUSELBERG, YUSUF, YUZUGULER?, YVASSMER?, YVNER, ZABAR?, ZABARO, ZABES?, ZABIT, ZABRANESKY, ZABUAN, ZABURI?, ZACCOUM, ZACHAROFF, ZAFERA, ZAFFIRA, ZAFIRA, ZAGARI, ZAGUTO, ZAHAHIYE, ZAHAR, ZAHARI, ZAHAROF, ZAHARYA LAZARI?, ZAHNAN?, ZAHURI?, ZAHUTO, ZAKALON, ZAKAT? TAKAT?, ZAKHAIM, ZAKMITZ, ZAKODA, ZAKOVALOF, ZAKUTO (DE), ZAKUTO LEVI, ZAKUYTO, ZALIA?, ZALMAN (FANRA)?, ZALMEN, ZALUNA?, ZALVISA, ZAMBAKA, ZAMBUKO, ZAMLOF, ZAMLOKA?, ZANANA, ZANARRO, ZANBOKA, ZANDLER, ZANDOKABO?, ZANDOKADO?, ZANGURSKI, ZANONO, ZANUNU, ZAPDIDISVILI, ZAPOZ, ZAPOZ?, ZARA, NARDEA, ZARAGANO, ZARAO, ZARCHIN, ZARKO (ALPDOGRUL?), ZARKON (SAULYA), ZARKOZ, ZAROCH, ZAROF, ZARY?, ZASKEWITSCH, ZASKIOVIC [ZASKIOVIÇ], ZAVARRO (YALDIZLI?), ...

Additionally, there is an alphabetical list of given names.

Readers may find the spellings difficult to understand. Note that C=SH (CIPRUT=SHIPRUT), that Y=I (YSAYA=ISAYA), and other common variants, such as ABEN=BEN. Some individuals with very Hebrew surnames may have adopted more Turkish-sounding names.

Do check the complete list of names at the first link above.

Pogroms: 250 events 1903-1905

We've all heard the stories of our immigrant ancestors. Their memories included their personal experiences of pogroms, raids and riots committed against Jewish residents of towns and villages across Europe.

My great-grandmother Riva BANK TALALAI (Tollin) described her frightening nights as she and her two children (toddler Leib and infant Chaya Feige) hid in church basements during these events as they made their way to safety to the boat for America.

She knew that if either child had cried out, the others in hiding would have had no compunction about smothering them to prevent the refugees from being discovered.

Fortunately, they did not cry. The family made it to the boat to join her husband and the children's father, Aron Peretz TALALAI (Tollin) in Newark, New Jersey.

In 1904, the following pogroms occurred in and around Mogilev, Belarus, which surely impacted our TALALAI family in the city and in area towns and villages.

On October 24, 1904, there were 14,000 Jews in a population of 22,093 in Mogilev; 120 Jews were injured; the chief of police had earlier said that a riot would occur and that Jews would not be protected. On the same day, in a place not far north of the city, called Gorki (where other Talalai relatives lived), some 69 shops were looted and demolished with a loss of 200,000 rubles.

A few days later, on October 27, there were a series of attacks on shtetls in the area: Amtchislav, Bykhova and Bunitchi (northeast of Vorotinschtina and Zaverezhye, where many Talalai had lived since the 1830s, about 12 miles south-southwest of Mogilev) Sielzi, Sukhany, Tchausy (where Talalai relatives lived), Tcherikov and Juravitch.

The table showed that in Bykhova, where Jews were 3,172 in a population of 6,536, all the Jewish shops and stalls were destroyed, with an estimate of 200,000 rubles lost. Army reservists caused the riots. In Tchausy (Chausy, Chaus), Jews numbered 3,000 of the 5,550 residents.

Unfortunately, I never heard my great-grandmother mention the towns in which she hid with the children. But I do know where relatives lived.

I know from other relatives - who stayed in Mogilev until immigrating in the 1980s and later - that the Gorki survivors moved into Mogilev soon after that pogrom, as did the Tchausy relatives (including a chief rabbi and religious court judge).

Steve Lasky at the Museum of Family History has announced a new report and table of pogroms committed 1903-1905.

The report was published in the American Jewish Year Book (Vol. 8, 1906-1907), by the American Jewish Committee. If you have not seen these volumes, do try to access them. They contain much information about Jewish communities around the world and in the US.

The table includes more than 250 European towns and cities where pogroms occurred from 1903-1906. There is a supplementary table of pogroms in other places in November 1905.

Comments sometimes include damage and other remarks about each event, and the table includes the date, geographical location, sometimes the Jewish and general population at each place.

There is a report of the Duma Commission of the Bialystok Massacre in June 1906 - it was published in the London Jewish Chronicle (July 13,1906) - providing many details of what happened. If your family had a connection to Bialystok - as did some of my family - read the report to see if any names are listed.

Read about the Duma debates as the report was presented, as well as the US Congress resolutions proposed and passed (1905-6).

The Museum's information is courtesy of the American Jewish Committee Archives. Access all this information here.

Genealogy: Grab the good

How do genealogists stay on top of the field? How do we learn what we need to learn?

It's important to know how to access resources providing the information we require.

As a genealogy blogger - excuse me, geneablogger - I feel that everyone can find information in our myriad blogs. Each of us have particular niche interests and if we follow those specialized blogs (or write them!), all will be revealed. Well, a good part of it, anyway.

What else is out there? Here are some resources to ponder.

We need to know about new genealogy books, magazines and online resources. These resources may be in the collections of our local genealogical or historical societies or libraries.

Roots Television and YouTube are good sources for gen videos online. Our libraries also offer videos, DVDs and free online access to sometimes pricey databases.

For Jewish genealogists, the annual IAJGS conference on international Jewish genealogy is a must (July 11-16, 2010 - Los Angeles), JGSLA 2010. This year's location in Los Angeles and hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, ensures creativity in programming and activities. It is the only annual event where worldwide researchers of all skill levels, archivists and experts come together for nearly six days of high-powered events running from early morning to late at night. Subscribe to the conference newsletter and blog.

Local regional conferences, such as the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree 2010 (June 11-13, 2010 - Burbank), are excellent learning opportunities. Jamboree attracted some 1,500 attendees last year and will likely exceed that number this year. It is the crown in the jewel of local/regional conferences. Hundreds of proposals submitted for a limited number of presentation slots indicate that it is a coveted conference for major speakers. Subscribe to the conference blog.

Want to learn something genealogical (many diverse topics) via an information-packed short-term practical course? Why not try GenClass.com?

For close-to-home help, get involved with your local genealogical society. Attend monthly programs, mini-workshops or conferences. Utilize their reference libraries available and the skills of society experts.

There's a lot of help out there for those who are beginning researchers, or for more advanced people who want to learn something new or brush up on a new skill.

As we journey down discovery road, the highway takes various twists and turns. A new branch may mean we need more information in another country, ethnicity or religion. Don't get lost on the road. Stay sharp, stay focused and ask for directions.

There is no shame in asking for directions and assistance. We were once all beginners and were helped by others who knew more than we did.

There are so many resources to provide help for whatever topic you require.

Make sure to utilize everything you possibly can for the most successful experience in tracking your ancestors.

Military Jews: 39th Royal Fusileers

My grandfather, Sidney (born Szja) Fink (left) lied about his age and joined the 39th Royal Fusileers, which fought with the British against the Turks in Palestine in 1918.

Steve Lasky of the online Museum of Family History has a link to a great 1919 article from the New York Daily Tribune about the experiences of Reuben Bushmitz, who perhaps knew my grandfather as they served in the same battalion.

Grampa's experiences are displayed at Bet Hagdudim in Avichail, near Netanya, Israel, where there is a museum dedicated to these young men. Some of them did not return to the US after their service, settled in Avichail, and created the museum.

This story about Bushmitz answered many questions I had about Grampa's experiences.

One story Grampa told was that during one battle, a voice called out from across the trenches - from the Turkish side - asking "Szja, is that you? This is your cousin David." I never understood how that was possible. Two Jews from Suchostaw in Galizia (Austro-Hungary at the time), each fighting on opposite sides?

Bushmitz's story explained about Jews impressed by the Turks to fight in their army. So Grampa's cousin, who had obviously arrived much earlier in Palestine, was in the Turkish army and fighting the Brits.

Here's just a bit of the long story:

From the East Side to Jerusalem and Return: Wearers of the "Mogen David" Enlisted in a British Contingent to Fight the Turks

Reuben Bushmitz, of Flat No. 9, 135 Eldridge Street, late private of the 39th Battalion, Royal Fusileers, is going back to cutting knee pants next week. He expects to be a bit rusty at it, because he has been crusading in the Holy Land and against the Turk for considerably more than a year.

Part of the crusading, the last part, wasn’t so interesting, he said. It consisted merely of feeding and exercising a compound full of formerly Terrible Turks who had run themselves ragged for several months up to October, 1918.

More than three hundred crusaders like ex-Private Bushmitz have come back from Turk-taming in the last ten days and will resume knee plants cutting, or delicatessen store keeping, or shipping clerking, just where they left off when some voice which had been silent a couple of thousand years or more called to them to come and free the Holy Land.

The voice was penetrating. It was heard even above the sweatiest of sweatshop machines, and above the assorted whimperings of a dozen children of the noisiest family which ever crowded into three rooms. Young men whose shoulders were on a lateral line with the backs of their heads and whose only exercise had been some footwork on a pants sewing machine, got up, straightened their spines in a tentative style and went out to fight.

The British Canadian Recruiting Mission, then situated at 220 West Forty-second Street, became the objective for these young men who wanted to win back from the infidel the land sacred to Abraham and Isaac and David. ...

Do read the entire story.

Thank you, Steve, for this story which explains so much.