Thursday, July 15, 2010

LDS MICROFILMS

Ramblings on Family History and Other StuffLDS Microfilms



Microfilming began in 1994. There are projects in progress in Kiyev and L'viv. Jewish vital records from Crimea were filmed in Simferopol in 1995-96:


Bakchisaray
Feodosiya
Karasubazar
Kerch
Melitopol
Perekop
Simferopol
Yalta
Yevpatoriya
Filmed in Cherkasy in 1996-97:


Mokraya-Kaligorka
Olshana
Shpola
Zvenigorodka (Zvenigorodka district)

More than just ‘Fiddler on the Roof | JTA - Jewish & Israel News

More than just ‘Fiddler on the Roof | JTA - Jewish & Israel News 1999....At the concert, Violetta Karpenko, the chairwoman of the Reform Jewish congregation in Zvenigorodka, performed the Yiddish song "Shpilt a Freilakhs." Since it repaired and remodeled its own synagogue, her community has become one of the major spiritual centers of the region. Elena Mironova, a Jewish community worker, was born in Zvenigorodka. She leads Shabbat and holiday services at several of the communities in her region, and also works as the teacher of Jewish tradition. She said the small-town association is responsible for the growth of interest in Jewish tradition among those Jews who live in communities with no permanent Jewish facilities. "Jews, who previously had no knowledge of Jewish religious life, are now coming to the Zvenigorodka synagogue, some from as far as 200 kilometers away. Our own community is quite small, so the very fact that every holiday brings together 100 to 150 Jews from as many as 10 nearby towns is a holiday in itself." As part of the celebration, an opening of a museum on Jewish shtetl history was held in Korsun-Shevchenkovskiy. The exhibition, titled "We Were Born in Shtetls," includes 450 exhibits from 28 small Ukrainian towns, representing both religious and secular aspects of life in Ukrainian shtetls. A feature of small-town Jewish life is the large percentage of intermarried families, which doesn�t prevent Jews with mixed background from becoming active in community affairs.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Zvenyhorodka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zvenyhorodka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Zvenyhorodka (Ukrainian: Звенигородка) or Zvenigorodka (Russian: Звенигородка) is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zvenyhorodsky Raion (district).

The current estimated population is 19,900 (as of 2005).
People
David Günzburg
Günzburg
References
(Ukrainian) (1972) Icтopia мicт i ciл Укpaїнcькoї CCP - Черкаськa область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast),

Zvenyhorodka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blog--"Genealogy: Zvenigorodka, Ukraine"

Here is a blog about genealogy and Zvenigorodka. From the blog: Genealogy: Zvenigorodka, Ukraine


Zvenigorodka, Ukraine
Based on the records I've found for several branches of the family tree, we have cousins from Zvenigorodka (also spelled Zvenyhorodka, Zvenyhorodka, and Zwienigorodka), Ukraine. Dr. Saul, Solomon Lutsky, and his family listed this town as their last residence when they came to America in 1921. It's also the last residence listed for some Hochfeld cousins (Belinsky branch of the family tree) when they came to the US in 1909. Zvenigorodka is located 41 miles NE of Uman, 72 miles NW of Kirovohgrad (fka Elizavetgrad). It is also located only 13 miles from Lysyanka, the town where my g-grandparents Louis Lutsky and Lena Belinsky were probably born. Zvenigorodka is located in the Kiev district/province.

According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life, a single Jewish lessee was present in 1765. In 1897, the Jewish population was 6,389. Jews set up a candle factory and a tobacco plant. Many worked on the estates during the grain harvest. Zvenigoridka was the birthplace of Baron Horace Gunzberg/Guenzburg and the Hebrew writer Natan Agmon Bistritski/Bistritsky. In 1924, under the Soviets, 360 Jewish artisans were organized in unions. A few dozen Jewish families founded a kolkhoz (cooperative agricultural enterprise) nearby. Two Yiddish-language elementary schools and a vocational school were opened in the town. An education institute for needy children (aged 4-8) was founded in 1927. In the same year, a Jewish law court began operating and in 1931 a Yiddish-language agricultural school was established. The Jewish population in 1939 was 1,957. The Nazis occupied Zvenigorodka on July 29, 1941, setting up a ghetto where the Jews of Katerynopol were also confined. On June 14, 1942, at least 1,500 Jews were executed in the Oforny forest.

According to the RTR Foundation website, the following records survive in the Kiev and/or Cherkassy archives:

-birth - 1861-1862; 1887-1889; 1897; 1903; 1904; 1907; 1908
-census/list of inhabitants - 1847, 1849, 1853
-voter lists - 1853
-pogroms - 1905
-address book - 1849
-Jewish school/students - 1852-3
-taxpayer lists - 1847, 1852, 1915
-Jewish hospital records - 1906
-local govt document - 1905 list of Jews who participated in the revoluntionary movement in Zvenigorodka
-local govt document - 1910-11 list of small shop owners
Posted by Sharon at 12:59 PM


Here are the comments to the post:

2 comments:
Anonymous said...
In 2001 I met a fellow on a train from Siberia to Moscow. I eventually learned that his family was originally from Zvenigorodka where their family name had been "Kogan" (that's what happens to "Cohen" in Cyrillic). Around 1910 two brothers -- I think one was "Daniil" -- had emigrated to Philadelphia and opened a dressmaking shop. Then came the 1917 revolution and the Stalin years when it became too dangerous to write, so a farewell letter was sent. After that the brother who remained in Zvenigorodka was persecuted as an "enemy of the people" or "bourgeois bloodsucker" once too often, so he took his family to Siberia to create new identities under "Russian" names. He could not have foreseen the Holocaust when Zvenigorodka's remaining Jews were annihilated, and that probably is what his relatives in Philadelphia assumed.

I have not been able to locate any Kogans in greater Philadelphia who can connect themselves to this story. Perhaps they moved on or changed their names. If this seems to connect with anyone's family history, I can be reached here: dave_mason@ca.rr.com

February 10, 2010 12:26 PM
Anonymous said...
Hi,
I'm working on the genealogy of the Ganapol(sky) family from Zveigorodka. If this name is familiar to anyone, please be in contact.

Alan Steinfeld
asteinfeldmd@alumni.uc.edu

March 10, 2010 7:19 PM

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Feige and Fiszel Chilkowski's Escape from Russia


BlogoWogo - The Blog Network | Feige and Fiszel Chilkowski's Escape from Russia
BlogoWogo - The Blog Network | Feige and Fiszel Chilkowski's Escape from RussiaFeige Chilkowski, the granddaughter of Meyer Bezbrozh and her husband Fiszel Chilkowski had a particularly dramatic escape from Russia. Fiszel owned a tannery in Zvenigorodka. In 1920, after the Bolshiviks took over during the Russian Revolution, they confiscated the tannery. The Bolshiviks kept Fiszel on as an employee and asked him to show them how to run the tannery. One day, a Jewish friend of Fiszel's who was a Bolshivik came to him with a warning. The friend said that now that Fiszel had shown the Bolshiviks all there was to know about running the tannery, that he was to be killed. Fiszel knew that he had to leave Russia that night. He and Feige dug up a small amount of money that they had hidden in the ground and left in the middle of the night. They dressed like peasants and hired a peasant to drive them from village to village through the snow in the night on their way to the Polish border, near Rovna Valinsk...

the 1918 pograms:

Jewish Yearbook 1918-1919 On July 26, 1918, in "Zvenigorodka (near Kiev): Seventeen Jews killed, and fifty-one wounded.—"

Childhood in a Shtetl



Dr. Gannes describes the pograms of 1918 and 1919 in the region near Winograd, 21 miles from Zvenigorodka: "For three months we lived in fear and without any government protection. From time to time, bands numbering thirty to forty riders, fully armed, enter our shtetl, drive the Jews from the synagogue,surround it, threaten to shoot them, and demand tribute to be paid immediately..." Ransom was demanded and "when the women brought the money, they and the men were killed...the women were hacked to pieces."

Childhood in a shtetl (Open Library)

Genealogy: Zvenigorodka, Ukraine

According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life, a single Jewish lessee was present in 1765. In 1897, the Jewish population was 6,389. Jews set up a candle factory and a tobacco plant. Many worked on the estates during the grain harvest. Zvenigoridka was the birthplace of Baron Horace Gunzberg/Guenzburg and the Hebrew writer Natan Agmon Bistritski/Bistritsky. In 1924, under the Soviets, 360 Jewish artisans were organized in unions. A few dozen Jewish families founded a kolkhoz (cooperative agricultural enterprise) nearby. Two Yiddish-language elementary schools and a vocational school were opened in the town. An education institute for needy children (aged 4-8) was founded in 1927. In the same year, a Jewish law court began operating and in 1931 a Yiddish-language agricultural school was established. The Jewish population in 1939 was 1,957. The Nazis occupied Zvenigorodka on July 29, 1941, setting up a ghetto where the Jews of Katerynopol were also confined. On June 14, 1942, at least 1,500 Jews were executed in the Oforny forest.
Genealogy: Zvenigorodka, Ukraine

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Zveni Job Listing Вакансия: Торговый представитель, Звенигородка. САВсервис-МОВА, ООО. Работа в Черкассах

Вакансия: Торговый представитель, Звенигородка. САВсервис-МОВА, ООО. Работа в ЧеркассахInformation about vacancies
Company SAVservice-MOBA, LLC All jobs of this company
Region Cherkasy Salary 3500 UAH., Bonus system Section Wholesale, Retail Trade, Other areas of activity Applicants
Employment Type full employment Education secondary special Paul man Age from 20 to 30 years


Job Description
Requirements: a personal vehicle.

Please send your resume with a photo necessarily.

Conditions: formal employment, opportunities for professional growth and career development, social protection.

Responsibilities: - carry out trading activities in accordance with rules established by the Company;
- An analysis of trading activity, study and analyze information to indicate market conditions, status and trends of market;
- Ensure the continued availability of the full range of products in all possible points of sale in its section;
- Ensure the most advantageous location of the goods on the shelves;
- To ensure full clearance outlet advertising and information products of the Company;
- To provide clients with all necessary information about goods and services of the Company;
- To monitor customers' accounts receivable;
- To organize activities aimed at enhancing product promotion in the market;
- Work with customers and to search for new customers

Победительнице конкурса красоты порезали лицо


Stalker slashes Miss Zvenigorodka beauty contest winner, age 15. Победительнице конкурса красоты порезали лицо The winner of the beauty contest stabbed a personBe fore threatened to pour acid - police do not take seriously.
31/03/2010 23:29

Jaroslav Bosenko from the district center Zvenyhorodka Cherkassy region were attacked in the evening. An unidentified man slashed her cheek and forehead

Забытые творцы Шевченкианы /ДЕНЬ/

This article from Kiev Daily is about two locals
Забытые творцы Шевченкианы /ДЕНЬ/
Why to this day the state, regional specialists and local authorities Zvenigorodka, journalists did not make efforts to preserve the burial of the great folk sculptor, his countryman laborors-Hardened Mefodyevich and the famous Ukrainian artist and local historian, narodoveda Sofia Mefodievny - brother and sister Tereshchenko, which in All obituaries indicate that they "died in Zvenyhorodka"? Так, потому что именно в Звенигородской газете «Шевченків край» за 5 июня 1969 года читаю: «Районный отдел культуры и райком профсоюза работников культуры с глубоким прискорбием извещают о смерти скульптора, автора первого памятника Т.Г.Шевченко Терещенко Каленика Мефодиевича, и выражают соболезнование семье покойника» (с.4). For example, because that's the Zvenigorod newspaper Шевченків edge "for June 5, 1969 read:" The District Department of Culture and the district committee of trade union workers of culture with deep regret announces the death of the sculptor, author of the first monument to Taras Shevchenko Tereshchenko Kalenik Mefodyevich and express condolences to the family of the deceased "(p.4). Значит у Каления Мефодиевича осталась семья — какая тогда ее судьба? So, there Hardened Mefodyevich family remains - what if her fate? И как понять действия местных и областных чиновников в ответ на мои просьбы найти захоронение скульптора — нежелание помочь или историческая близорукость? And how to understand the actions of local and regional officials in response to my request to find the grave of the sculptor - unwillingness to help or historical myopia?

Here is a link of the article translated into English

JDC Ambassadors Circle: The Hesed: Filling a Social and Economic Gap in the FSU

Hesed in Action: A Personal Story
Hasya Gitman lives in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and is one of the hundreds of thousands of elderly Jews who has benefited from Hesed services. She was born in 1925 to a religious family in the Yiddish-speaking shtetl of Zvenigorodka in Ukraine. When she was six years old, famine broke out in the country and Hasya’s family relocated to the large city of Dnepropetrovsk, hoping for a chance at survival. Fearful that young Hasya might not endure the long trip, her parents temporarily left her at the state orphanage, hoping she would be fed and safe. Both of Hasya’s brothers fought and died in World War II. Hasya’s father was shot by the Nazis in front of the house where they lived. While temporarily living in Central Asia with her mother, Hasya worked day and night making ammunition for the Soviet war effort. The two women returned to Dnepropetrovsk in 1944, immediately after its liberation from the Nazis. With little education, Hasya always worked in factories. She married a Jewish man who died a few years later of a serious illness; their only child was mentally disabled and committed suicide at the age of 21.‘I have nothing good to remember,’ Hasya often says. She lives alone in her tiny room, is almost completely homebound, and suffers from severe joint problems and incontinence. Her state pension is $78 per month. Hesed welfare has stepped in to offer her the attention and support that she needs. She receives home care, a food card (to purchase groceries at the supermarket), home delivery, medications and hygiene materials, medical rehabilitation equipment, winter relief, as well as a heater, TV set, and refrigerator through the SOS program. How would Hasya manage without the Hesed?”
JDC Ambassadors Circle: The Hesed: Filling a Social and Economic Gap in the FSU

Jewish last names, their origins and meaning.: Gutnick

GutnickOn 5:35 PM
From Ukrainian for a glass factory worker (gutnik). Often found amongst those with roots in Zvenigorodka (Zwienigorodka ) and Radomysl (Poland).

Also Utnik, Gutnikov, Gutnitsky, Kutnik, Gitnik.
Jewish last names, their origins and meaning.: Gutnick

Childhood in a shtetl (Open Library)



Dr. Gannes presents an engaging and fascinating account of his childhood in the shtetl Winograd (near Zvenigorodka, southern Kiev district of Ukraine) during the years 1911 to 1921. This book provides an insight into the beauty and trials of life for a Jewish community as the Russian Empire struggled with revolution and reaction. The author, a leading Jewish educator, provides a first-hand description of early childhood education in that place and time as well as a detailed depiction of daily life.

Childhood in a shtetl (Open Library)

Feige and Fiszel Chilkowski's Escape from Russia


Feige Chilkowski, the granddaughter of Meyer Bezbrozh and her husband Fiszel Chilkowski had a particularly dramatic escape from Russia. Fiszel owned a tannery in Zvenigorodka. In 1920, after the Bolshiviks took over during the Russian Revolution, they confiscated the tannery. The Bolshiviks kept Fiszel on as an employee and asked him to show them how to run the tannery. One day, a Jewish friend of Fiszel's who was a Bolshivik came to him with a warning. The friend said that now that Fiszel had shown the Bolshiviks all there was to know about running the tannery, that he was to be killed. Fiszel knew that he had to leave Russia that night. He and Feige dug up a small amount of money that they had hidden in the ground and left in the middle of the night. They dressed like peasants and hired a peasant to drive them from village to village through the snow in the night on their way to the Polish border, near Rovna Valinsk...
Feige and Fiszel Chilkowski's Escape from Russia

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Holocaust in the Soviet Union - University of Nebraska Press

The Holocaust in the Soviet Union - Google Books ResultYitzhak Arad - 2009 - History - 700 pages
In May 1942 300 Jewish youngsters were taken from Zvenigorodka and sent to a labor camp in ... The last 1300 Jews in Zvenigorodka were murdered in mid-May. ...

Holocaust in the Soviet Union - University of Nebraska Press