Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Jermulowske Origins "Lazdijai, Lithuania"
Our grandmother Hattie Jermulowske said on the Declarationof Intention that she was from Suwalki. That turns out to be a province in Lithuania. She said she was a Litvak, so even though at times the area has been in Polish or Russian hands, today it belongs again to Lithuania. Her sister Alice said they were from Lazdijai, and they must have been, since that is in the province of Suwalki in the District Seinai, or Sejny in their day. Lazdijai is 25 miles ENE of the town of Suwalki in Suwalki Province. In their day it was spelled Lozdzieje. It lies in SW Lithuania near the Polish border. Lazdei is the Yiddish form.
Suwalki province was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1386 when it became part of Poland. It was on the border between Prussia, Lithuania and Poland so it saw a lot of warfare. The fighting ceased in the 15th century and was made up of deep forests, lakes and swamplands. The settlers there were made up of many nationalities, but Lithuanians predominated.
In 1667 Suwalki was not more than a big village. In 1720 a church was built. By 1797 they had 214 houses and almost 1,200 people. December 1866 the Kingdom of Poland was divided into 10 provinces, and Suwalki became the capital of the Russian gubernia of Suwalki and was under Russian rule for more than a 100 years. Jews lived in towns throught the province.
Supposedly by the beginning of the 19th Century there were no Jews there in Suwalki. By 1808 there were 44 Jews, but in Wilkowycz, a small town, there was a synagogue in 1623. In another small town, Kalvaria, Rabbi Aaron Brody led his people 250 years before Jews were in Suwalki. It seems Jews were in surrounding small towns and only came to Suwalki much later as it was a bigger city and had been kept out.
So Jews went to Suwalki from 1823 to 1862 even with restrictions in many parts of the city. By 1827 there were 1,209 people. There was a Polish uprising in 1863 and famines in 1868 and 1869. Our grandfather Nathan was born in 1872. Our grandmother Hattie was born in 1886.
Nathan would have been 21 years old in 1893. From the 1890's on there was a new increase in the Jewish population. By 1908 when our father was born in Portland, Oregon, the census takers in Suwalki counted 13,002 Jews. If other Jews left when he did, there were still a lot left there.
Resource: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/suwalki/history.htm
Suwalki province was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1386 when it became part of Poland. It was on the border between Prussia, Lithuania and Poland so it saw a lot of warfare. The fighting ceased in the 15th century and was made up of deep forests, lakes and swamplands. The settlers there were made up of many nationalities, but Lithuanians predominated.
In 1667 Suwalki was not more than a big village. In 1720 a church was built. By 1797 they had 214 houses and almost 1,200 people. December 1866 the Kingdom of Poland was divided into 10 provinces, and Suwalki became the capital of the Russian gubernia of Suwalki and was under Russian rule for more than a 100 years. Jews lived in towns throught the province.
Supposedly by the beginning of the 19th Century there were no Jews there in Suwalki. By 1808 there were 44 Jews, but in Wilkowycz, a small town, there was a synagogue in 1623. In another small town, Kalvaria, Rabbi Aaron Brody led his people 250 years before Jews were in Suwalki. It seems Jews were in surrounding small towns and only came to Suwalki much later as it was a bigger city and had been kept out.
So Jews went to Suwalki from 1823 to 1862 even with restrictions in many parts of the city. By 1827 there were 1,209 people. There was a Polish uprising in 1863 and famines in 1868 and 1869. Our grandfather Nathan was born in 1872. Our grandmother Hattie was born in 1886.
Nathan would have been 21 years old in 1893. From the 1890's on there was a new increase in the Jewish population. By 1908 when our father was born in Portland, Oregon, the census takers in Suwalki counted 13,002 Jews. If other Jews left when he did, there were still a lot left there.
Resource: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/suwalki/history.htm
