ROOTS
8/12/2000

CYNTHIA LEVY of Leeds is looking for any information on the late scientist Alfred Glücksmann who could have been a relation of her maternal grandfather Maurice Glucksman.

Cynthia, a sales executive for the Jewish Telegraph, noticed an obituary for Alfred’s wife Ilse Lasnitzki in the Guardian newspaper.

Together Ilse and Alfred pioneered research into the effects of tobacco smoke on lung tissue at the Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge and Alfred’s diaries and correspondences are held at the Wellcome Trust History of Medicine Library in London.

‘‘My mother’s maiden name is Glucksman, although the spelling for all her brothers and sisters vary depending on who registered their births,’’ Cynthia, whose grandfather Maurice is a past president of the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue, said.

‘‘My uncle Joe used to spell his name with a double ‘n’ although I had never seen the umlaut over the ‘u’ before. However, I have been told that the name was originally spelt Glücksmann.’’

Cynthia has discovered that Alfred Glücksmann left Heidelberg, Germany, in 1933 and that he and Ilse had a daughter called Miriam.

‘‘My maternal grandmother was also called Miriam so it is possible that there could be a family connection.’’

Telephone +44 (0)113 2686247 or E-Mail clevy@jewishtelegraph.com


JOSEPH MILLERof Kentucky is searching for original documents that would help his research into his family which originally came from Tytuvenai.

His grandfather Joseph Arie Miller’s brother took the name Goldstone when he left Tytuvenai, becoming Chiam Goldstone.

Joseph, meanwhile, emigrated to St Joseph, Missouri.

The last-surviving children of Chiam Goldstone, sisters Dr Jesse and Bette, recently died. Joseph had managed to get in touch with them shortly before their deaths. Write to 716 Kirkland Drive, Lexington, KY 40502, USA or email jmiller@gmalaw.com


MILTON BLACKSTONE of California had an article from February 22, 1928 sent to him by a cousin in Leeds about the death of his great great uncle Leib Feld in Lesko, Poland, aged 125.

The article said that Leib’s nephew, Solomon Blackstone, was going to Lesko from Leeds to help settle his affairs.

It also mentioned that he was survived by his 119-year-old widow, to whom he was married 100 years, and six children — the youngest being 80.

So far Milton has only been able to trace one child — a son, Meyer — and his decendents.

He would like to discover the name of Leib’s widow as he doesn’t know if she was the sister of his grandfather Koberzuch or grandmother Smukliarsky, who lived in Raisenai, Lithuania.

Milton’s father Isaac Blackstone (nee Koberzuch) settled in Hartlepool before moving to Sunderland then Leeds. He emigrated to America in 1915 on the SS St Louis.

He married Lillian Hutchins before marrying Milton’s mother in 1920.

Write to 1301 Dellcrest Lane, La Jolla, CA 92037-5207, USA, telephone 00 1 858 459 8255 or email milton@sciti.com


ADAM KATZEFF of Sweden is trying to trace his Scottish family.

His great-grandfather, Samuel Katzeff, had a brother, Shia David Katzeff (1878-1944), who settled in Glasgow in 1909 with his wife, Berta/Bessie Leah Caplan (1872-1935) and two sons, Simon/Samuel (1899-1982) and Nissen/Nathan (1900-75).

The couple had two daughters in Glasgow — Rose (1911-86) and Annie Celia (1913-87).

Simon/Samuel, who later changed his surname to Karson, married Mary Goldberg Caplan (1894-1949) and had two children, Sadie Reva (married to Dugald Johnston) and Gerald Abraham (married to Isabella Webster Mitchell).

Nissen/Nathan married Bessie Dansic (1895-1974) and had at least one daughter, Sylvia (married to Mark Lewis Ludzker).

Rose married Gavin Ferguson and had a son, William. Annie Celia married John Dunnachie and had a daughter, Bessie Leah (married to Alexander Campbell).

Other surnames of people related to David and Bessie Katzeff’s children and grandchildren are: Alexander, Levinthal, Lizerbram, Lumansky and McFadyen.

Write to 17 S-211 45, Malmö, Sweden, telephone 00 46-40-23 63 66 or email adam.katzeff@mail.bip.net


SUZANNE FINE MORGAN writes from Florida: ‘‘My great grandfather was named Yehuda Leib Fingergoit.

‘‘One of his sons, Louis, legally changed the name to Fine in Missouri.

‘‘He died before 1904 as that is when his wife Rivka came to America listed as a widow.

‘‘Rivka was born around 1829. My grandfather said he was from and married in/near Griva, Latvia or Dvinsk or Daugavpils area.

‘‘Rivka, on one census, said she had had eight children but only six were living.

‘‘Through the internet, I found an interesting possibility on the two non-surviving children. In Poland on November 19, 1855 a baby girl was still-born to Rywka and Jacob Lewek Fingerhut.

‘‘They also had a son, Abram Jzaak, born on October 3, 1856 with the father’s name spelt Jacob Lebj Fingerhut.

‘‘Another son of Louis Fingergoit told his children they were Knyszyn-ers from Poland. Another son said they lived in/near Novo Svenciani, Lithuania. We do know this son and several of his children were killed in 1941 as their names were on a list.’’

Write to 7320 Skylark Dr, Spring Hill, FL 34606, USA, or email gypsysm@gate.net


Israeli LAURIE RAPPEPORT says her maternal grandfather originally came from Birmingham, and the family name was Isaacs (Lewis Isaacs, died 1882).

One of Lewis’s sons, Solomon, changed the family name to Hyams, and it was Laurie’s grandfather, Lewis Hyams, who emigrated to America during World War One. Another of Lewis’s siblings was Phillip Hyams.

Write to Rehov Tet Vav 60, Tsfat, Israel 13201 or email Laurie at rappeport@hotmail.com


CINDY GALLARDGallard of Denver is looking for any descendants or information about Mr E Rothblatt and his wife MG Rothblatt who, in 1917, lived at 35 Choir St, Lower Broughton, Salford.

They were the parents of Private Solomon Rothblatt, 2nd/5th B, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who died aged 28 on December 3, 1917, in the Battle of Cabrai and is buried in Louverval Military Cemetery, North, France.

Write to 5100 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO, 80204, USA or email DG2286@aol.com


AVROHOM KRAUSS of Israel is searching for relatives and descendants of the families: Kraus/Krauss/Krause and Kinzlich from Przemysl and Rozwadow, Poland, who lived in Manchester in the early 20th century before moving to Philadelphia and New Jersey; Gottfried and Monat/Monath of Przemysl, Poland and Borislov-Wolanka, Ukraine with relatives in Lechworth and London; Lapidus and Rogozin/Ragozin from Vyazyn, Vileika, Molodechno, Belarus; Kootz from Telsiai, Lithuania.

Avrohom says there were relatives in Scotland and one one of the daughters was a dancer in Chicago.

Write to PO Box 627, Kiryat Telz-Stone 90840, DN Harei Yehuda, Israel or email avkrauss@actcom.co.il


DENISE AZBILL of Las Vegas is looking for information about any Weidenfeld families.

She has some details about Lord George Weidenfeld, but none on his parents or other family members.

Contact 6361 Bruma Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 89122, or email famaz@prodigy.net


KEN PRATT of Surrey has discovered that his two great aunts were teachers at the Jewish school in Southall Street, Manchester.

Ada Lemon was the principal teacher of the mixed department at the school which opened on May 4, 1891, and then headmistress of the girls’ department.

Josephine Lemon became the certified head teacher in 1883 of the infants department. She retired in 1924 after 41 years.

Ken would like to hear from anyone who remembers them or has any photographs that he could copy.

Write to 33 Kingsley Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 8HP, telephone +44 (0) 1293 411945 or email Ken at kenpratt@eurobell.co.uk


BASIL WOOD of Stockport has compiled his family tree from 1829 to present day.

His great grandfather Francis George Sternberg was born in 1829 and died on October 13, 1869. His great grandmother Elizabeth (nee Plucknett) was 58 when she died in 1888.

Francis, a tailor’s salesman, died of alcohol and brain disease, according to his death certificate.

The couple lived in Birmingham where their son Thomas was born in 1868. He became manager of the Maypole in Gloucester and married Annie (nee Haines).

Thomas died on December 13, 1937, just three days before Annie died.

Basil’s mother Nellie Wood was born on August 16, 1894 and died February 6, 1945. She married William James Wood who died August 1964.

The couple lived in Gloucester.

Other members of the family Basil knows of are aunts Polly Haines, who died in December 1937 and Anne Alethia Bezant, who died in 1953 and lived with her husband Archibald Bezant in Shrewsbury.

There were also two uncles, Tom Haines and Thomas Sternberg, who had a photographic shop in Gloucester. He married Freda Coles.

Write to 15 Ravenoak Road, Woodsmoor, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 7BQ or telephone +44 (0) 161-483 9045.


REVA HILL of Stanmore is searching for descendants of Benjamin and Rachel Adler, who were married in Manchester in 1920.

Benjamin was the nephew of the Chief Rabbi and Rachel was the daughter of Lewis and Ethel Smullen.

Write to 2 Bentley Way, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 3RP or telephone +44 (0) 20 8954 6895.


AVIVA KUUGAN of Ontario is looking for relatives of her grandfather Peysah Meites from Vilnius.

He was the son of Hanoch (Chanoh) Meites, who owned a metal scrap or hardware shop on Ostrovorotnaia Street.

His relatives lived on the same street. Hanoch was married to Bunia and they had several children including Peysah, who married Sarah Kidishman from Polishai (near Vilnius).

They moved to Ponevezis, Lithuania in 1921. The rest of family remained in Vilnius.

They had 4 children: Henia, Aviva’s mother, who was born in 1926 and lives in Israel; Zila-Bunia, born 1923 and lives in Israel; Alia, born 1920, lives in Vilnius ; and Abraham, born 1917 and died in the Holocaust.

Peysah’s older brother went to London. His sister Sonia (Sofia) married and moved to Leeds.

Before the Second World War Peysah had received help from his relatives in England.

However, Peysah was killed by Nazis in Ponevezis together with his son Abraham.

The rest of the family including grandmother Sarah survived in Ural Mountains, Russia.

Write to 77 Binscarth Crescent, Thornhill, Ontario L4J 4S7, Canada, telephone (905) 889 7216 or email Aviva at mikek_51@hotmail.com


Liverpudlian DAVID CAPLIN is looking for information about Harry Scweiss/Schwiss, who was born on December 25, 1892 in Liverpool.

Harry served in the British Marines in 1909 and was married to Anna.

His father Isaac lived at 28 Smithdown Lane, Liverpool and emigrated to America in 1915.

Write to 233 Queens Drive, Liverpool L15 6YE or telephone +44 (0) 151 722 7709.


SOCIETY'S HELP IN TRACING FAMILY

THE Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain had such success with its Beginner’s Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Great Britain that it is publishing another two books in the series.

A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Germany and Austria will be available in January, followed in March by a book for Latvia and Estonia.

Both guides are fully referenced with large bibliographies, terms and phrases, standard letters, maps, how to use the Internet, lists of archives, Mormon Family History centres, museums and libraries.

There are also useful addresses, census and cemeteries.

* Each guide is £4.50 (overseas £6/$10) including postage. They are available from The JGSGB Membership Secretary, PO Box 27061, London N2 0GT.

DEADLINE DATES FOR CZECH CLAIMNS

ANY readers who are making a claim for Property (Real Estate) in the Czech Republic must submit it without delay, David Lewin of Search and Unite is warning

The deadline for claims for Real Estate in Urban districts is May 25, 2001; for agricultural land or buildings of agricultural purpose on agricultural land, June 30, 2001; for works of art in the Czech Republic, December 31, 2002.

Any claims received after these dates, whatever the circumstances, will not be considered by the Czech authorities.

The group is also searching for people whose families originated in what is now the territory of the Czech Republic, and who may have a chance to reclaim real-estate which was taken from them by the Nazis.

David started Search and Unite as a result of a message which appeared on the ‘Jewishgen’ list a couple of years ago. A 49-year-old American woman wrote: ‘‘Will someone please help me find my mother.’’

‘‘I reacted to that, and eventually brought the two together,’’ he said. ‘‘More recently I was approached by a Prague property company and asked to see if I could find someone whom they knew to have a right to property in Prague.

‘‘After I had found them, they sent me three more — now I have 30 searches going. Most of the clues I have are pretty old. The individuals have often died years ago — and my task is to identify and locate their heirs or relatives.’’

The work of Search and Unite is explained at http://remember.org/unite

‘‘Many people who have attempted to make a claim in Czechoslovakia in the past were advised that they had no hope of recompense, and gave up as a result,’’ David said. ‘‘This may not have been true or accurate.

‘‘While I do not wish to give anyone any false hope, I do feel that refused cases should be looked at again.’’

Telephone David on 0208 446 0404, email davidlewin@bigfoot.com or write to 156 Totteridge Lane, London N20 8JJ


To make an appeal, email MIKE COHEN at roots@jewishtelegraph.com Please include your home address.

 
© 2000 Jewish Telegraph

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