Tag Archives: Yiddish

The Suffering of the Deportees in Transnistria

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Click on the front cover above to download the booklet!

I succeeded to acquire a very rare book: The Suffering of the Deportees in Transnistria by Fabius Ornstein, edited by the Association of the Former Deportees to Transnistria immediately after WW2 still in 1945. On Fabius Ornstein’s life-saving activity in Transnistria we learn from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency report dated July 26, 1943 as follows:

“Thousands of Jews in Transnistria Have Not Seen Bread for Months, Hundreds Starving
Thousands of Jewish deportees confined in the various ghettos which the Rumanian occupation authorities have established in Transnistria, the Rumanian-administered section of the Russian Ukraine, have not seen any bread for months and the vast majority of them are threatened with starvation unless some assistance is forthcoming soon, according to private advices received here today. In the township of Copaigorod about 2,220 Jews are confined at present, the report discloses. Under the leadership of one of the deportees, Fabius Ornstein, the Jewish community has organized a free kitchen which has so far managed to distribute about 500 meals twice daily. These ‘meals,’ however, almost always consist of potatoes and nothing else. […]“

Selling Chometz in Novoselice (1904)

What I like about this job is you never know what’s going to surface.  A woman wrote to me recently (Lara Diamond by name) telling of a an interesting old document she saw at a friend’s house and offered to photograph it.  She thought the group would be interested, since it had a list of names attached and was from Novoselice/Novoselitsa.  I agreed to have a look at it.

And this is what I present for you today:  A 1904 document written in cursive Yiddish, written by the Rabbi of Novoselice:   Yisrael Pesach son of Shalom Shachna Wetstein.  This was the great great grandfather of Lara’s friend.  The document apparently is the authorization for the sale of the town’s Chometz prior to Passover in 1904.  There is a list of names at the end of the document, that most likely are the assigned buyers.

Lara says:
“These are signatures so some are difficult to read. I did my best. I suggest you put the last page on Viewmate to get an independent eye on these.

The bottom of the first page is signed by the town’s rabbi (and my friend’s gg grandfather) Yisrael Pesach son of Shalom Shachna Wetstein.

Witness at the top of the second page (first page of the two-sided document) is Avraham Chaim son of Baruch Shvartzer.

There are names in the paragraph up at the top of the last page:

Yisrael Pesach son of Shalom Shachna
Malka daughter of Rei Renish
Moshe son of Meir Veinberg
Zaan Shaya Dibes
Sara Frankfeld
Shabsei Shvartzberg

Then the rest of the page are signatures. (First word of each line is “Signed.”)
Eliyahu (illegible)
Yitzchok Reitman and (illegible) Beleson
Nachum Gruldinberg and also his brother? Pesach and (illegible) Reb Anshel
Leib son of Zev Plumilman (illegible) Yona Yilarstein
Pinchas Babia
Henech Shvartzberg
Chaim Feitia Kapilivike
Avraham Chaim Sheishesh? And Matisya Varman?
(Illegible) Sara Mecharkle
(illegible) Yaakov Yosef Yazlivt
Shlomo Vanblakis??
Yosef Kantirzshna
Mechael Veinberg
Hersh Leib Shich? and his brother Yisrael Shich
Yisrael Nicherberg
Tzvi Gezner”

And for those who can… here is the document, hand written in Yiddish, [Correction –The document is written in cursive Hebrew not Yiddish as originally posted –see commnets below] in pdf format:

ld-novoselice

Lara notes: “There are two documents. One is one page and the other is 2 pages (on 2 sides of the page).
The first picture is an overview of the one pager. Then I have 3 close ups of that page.
Then an overview of each of the sides of the other. Then I zeroed in on a list of names (actually signatures).”

Jerome notes:
According to the CIA, there are over 25 towns in today’s Ukraine with the name Novoselista. Is this ‘our’ Novoselista at 48°13’00″N : 26°17’00″E ? I ran this by Yosi Eshet who didn’t think so. Lara thinks it is, and I have no idea. Maybe someone will recognize a name and we’ll have the answer?

Jerome

Street named for Moishe Altman

I received this in my mail on 24 Aug. 2012. If you can help David who is not a list member, please leave a comment or contact him directly.
His email address is: david_at_gleiser-consulting.com
jerome

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Date: 08/24/2012 09:57:50 AM (Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:57:50 -0500)
Subject: czernowitz
From: David Gleiser <david@gleiser-consulting.com>
To: romers@shaw.ca

Hello,

You are listed as the webmaster of a site containing maps of Czernowitz… you are probably aware of a street that was named after Moishe Altman, the yiddish author. Altman was the great grandfather of my wife and we are seeking for info, pictures, etc. of the old country and the whereabouts of him. I have been told that the enclosed picture is of the street I refer to. Can you confirm this? Do you have any further information about him?

Thanks beforehand!
David Gleiser


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