Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Genealogy: Tracing Back to 1000-1600's: Before Rabbi Samson Wertheimer Through Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull's and Dr.Jeffrey Briskman's Extensive Research
Nadene Goldfoot
Dr Jeffrey Mark Paull, my 4th cousin found through DNA studies from Family Tree DNA out of Houston, Texas originally, and Dr. Jeffrey Briskman,, my 5th cousin, have tracked rabbinical dynasties stemming from RASHI, the great biblical commentator who was born in Treves, France in 1040, dying in 1105 and studied in the Rhineland. They did it with a combination of DNA studies and found genealogical lines that rabbis kept and still exist today. One of their papers that caught my eye presented on Acadamia Edu's website was Connecting to the Wertheim-Giterman Rabbinical Lineage through Y-DNA."
Rabbis had followers and became very well known. They would marry into other families of well-known rabbis. Thus dynasties were created, just like kings of countries. Records were kept. This all started before Europe's leaders created the need for surnames. Many of these rabbis had started having surnames before the law of having surnames were started. Much of our lines were started in what became Germany.
Through the DNA study group of Halpern & Branches on FTDNA led by Andi Ziegelman and Sandy Aaronson, I found out that I not only matched Andi as 3rd cousin, but our line from grandparents Nathan Abraham Goldfus (Goldfoot) and Zlata Jermulowske connected to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer's brother, most likely. Rabbi Samson Wertheimer, born in 1658 in Worms, Germany and died in 1724 in Vienna, Austria, was the nephew of Samuel Oppenheimer. The surname of Wertheim and Wertheimer lives on today and several have taken DNA tests, finding their Y haplogroup and and also finding all the people that match their DNA segments like me. So has Oppenheim and Oppenheimer.
Rabbi Samuel Oppenheimer was born in 1630 and died in 1703. He was the 1st Jew to settle in Vienna after the 1670 expulsion order, and was the agent and financier of King Leopold I , helping to finance his wars with the Turks and the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1697 he was accused of conspiring to murder his rival (and books leave out the fact that this rival was his nephew) Samson Wertheimer. He was imprisoned until vindicated. Oppenheimer liberally supported the poor, scholars of Judaism and the Hassid movement to settle in Palestine. So if Wertheimer is related to Oppenheimer, then we are, too!
Since DNA testing is new, I cannot even imagine the person to person connection to RASHI, but these genealogies are showing the way to him. Paull and Briskman are the closest to finding many of them.
I match 4 Wertheimer men of which 2 are shown to be identified as coming from my father's side of the family. I also match 3 Oppenheimers of which 2 are women who are identified as coming from my father's side of the family. My brother matches 3 Wertheimer men, a 4th and 2 5th cousins. He also matches a male 3rd cousin Oppenheimer and a 5th cousin female Oppenheimer. DNA gets more interesting if all siblings get tested as they will vary in who they match. It opens the possibilities of who a family is related to. There are differences in the siblings in gender and age, and I believe this also affects the genes they have inherited.
FTDNA shows a male or female icon telling you what side of the family they were found. DNA scientists are marvelous today!
Paull and Briskman studied the Savran-Bendery Hassidic Dynasty. It includes the Wertheim rabbinical dynasty that starts with Rabbi Aryeh Leib Wertheim of Bendery and the Giterman rabbinical dynasty, starting with his brother, Rabbi Moseh Tzvi Giterman. Wertheim was born in 1772 in Savran, Odessa, Ukraine and Bessarabia. Bessarabia was a Province, formerly Romanian, now in the Moldavian and Ukrainian Republics. Jews were living there when Bessarabia was annexed to Russia in 1812. Between 1839 and 1858 they were forbidden to live within 50 versts of the frontier and, in common with gypsies, could not be government officials. It was an area of much anti-Semitism. That's part of the Pale of Settlement that Russia created and held.
I have gone back to: Descendants of Iones Jonah Goldfus to Nathan Abraham Goldfus, my grandfather
1 Iones Jonah Goldfus b: Abt. 1730 in Telsiai, Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania d: 1813 in prob. Telsiai, Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania
It's exciting to imagine all these people that lived before I did and what happened to them. I love this wonderful long line of people that I inherited my genes from.
Dr. Briskman's recent ancestors came from Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia (Russian: Белоруссия), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Minsk was its capital. Yet we connect somehow with the Goldfus line of Telsiai, Lithuania. People did move about. Some of Dr. Paull's ancestors came from Ukraine. Quite a few of my matches came from there, also a part of the Pale of Settlement.
I've found one major match to my brother David from Lithuania who had a Goldfus female on his tree that connected to our line. He's also a writer, Hon. Grant Arthur Gochin. His recent family was from Lithuania and he wrote about how they fared during the war there; not good at all, and the troubles he has had since then. David and Grant are 4th cousins. Grant's family also went from Lithuania to South Africa, like our 2nd-3rd cousin, Ian Goldfoot. Our families do get separated, don't they? That's the beauty of DNA testing; you might find some.
Another paper that just came out by Paull and another of my DNA matches, Janet Billstein Akaha with a 4th male, and a 5th male and female Billstein, is also loaded with the genealogy of Wertheimer. It's titled, Using Autosomal DNA Analysis to Connect Rabbinical Lineages: A Case Study of the Wertheimer and Wertheim Dynasties
The 2 Wertheimers used today for DNA testing/findings were Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer and David Wertheimer, who happen to be on the list of my family members-
1. Victor Sharpe has Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer as 4th cousin. David Wertheimer is his 5th cousin. Victor has 8 Wertheimers on his list of matches.
2. Dr. Sandra Oster finds Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer as 4th cousin and David Wertheimer, her 4th cousin as well. She has 9 Wertheimers on her list.
3. Art Bloom also has Michael Aaron as a 4th cousin and David Wertheimer as a 5th cousin as well as 4 others, making 6 Wertheimers on his list.
4. Ian Goldfoot, our 2nd cousin doesn't have Michael or David, but has a total of 7 others, four 4th cousins and three 5th cousins.
5. My brother, Dr. David Goldfoot, has Michael Aaron as a 4th cousin and two other 5th cousins, totaling 3 Wertheimers.
6. My cousin Don Eichman has two 5th cousin Wertheimers,
7. I have David Wertheimer as 4th cousin, another 4th and two 5th cousins, totaling 4 Wertheimers.
This may not be a triangulation for all of us, as the DNA segments have to be at the or among the same segment beginning and ending points, but we certainly hobnobbed with the best of rabbinical genes.
https://www.academia.edu/3877962/Using_Autosomal_DNA_Analysis_to_Connect_Rabbinical_Lineages_A_Case_Study_of_the_Wertheimer_and_Wertheim_Dynasties?email_work_card=view-paper.
Resource: https://www.academia.edu/9277136/Connecting_to_the_Wertheim-Giterman_Rabbinical_Lineage_through_Y-DNA
https://www.geni.com/people/R-Aryey-Leib-Wertheim-Bender-Admur-Bendery-Bender/6000000013392891832
https://www.surnamedna.com/?articles=y-dna-of-the-savran-bendery-chassidic-dynasty
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus
 |
| RASHI-Remembered in Israel, image on a postal stamp Prayer books are filled with his comments Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki-ben Isaac born in Troyes, France 1040 His genealogy showed a direct line to King David Genealogies were a requirement of sitting in the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of their day, a group of 71 rabbis. The Head person was called the NASI, usually a descendant of Hillel from the 1st century BCE who founded the school, House of Hillel, born in Babylonia. He had been president of the Sanhedrin. He's remembered for his Golden Rule: "Do not do unto others that which you would not have them do unto you." Before 70 CE they met in the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem. |
Rabbis had followers and became very well known. They would marry into other families of well-known rabbis. Thus dynasties were created, just like kings of countries. Records were kept. This all started before Europe's leaders created the need for surnames. Many of these rabbis had started having surnames before the law of having surnames were started. Much of our lines were started in what became Germany.
Through the DNA study group of Halpern & Branches on FTDNA led by Andi Ziegelman and Sandy Aaronson, I found out that I not only matched Andi as 3rd cousin, but our line from grandparents Nathan Abraham Goldfus (Goldfoot) and Zlata Jermulowske connected to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer's brother, most likely. Rabbi Samson Wertheimer, born in 1658 in Worms, Germany and died in 1724 in Vienna, Austria, was the nephew of Samuel Oppenheimer. The surname of Wertheim and Wertheimer lives on today and several have taken DNA tests, finding their Y haplogroup and and also finding all the people that match their DNA segments like me. So has Oppenheim and Oppenheimer.
Rabbi Samuel Oppenheimer was born in 1630 and died in 1703. He was the 1st Jew to settle in Vienna after the 1670 expulsion order, and was the agent and financier of King Leopold I , helping to finance his wars with the Turks and the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1697 he was accused of conspiring to murder his rival (and books leave out the fact that this rival was his nephew) Samson Wertheimer. He was imprisoned until vindicated. Oppenheimer liberally supported the poor, scholars of Judaism and the Hassid movement to settle in Palestine. So if Wertheimer is related to Oppenheimer, then we are, too!
Since DNA testing is new, I cannot even imagine the person to person connection to RASHI, but these genealogies are showing the way to him. Paull and Briskman are the closest to finding many of them.
I match 4 Wertheimer men of which 2 are shown to be identified as coming from my father's side of the family. I also match 3 Oppenheimers of which 2 are women who are identified as coming from my father's side of the family. My brother matches 3 Wertheimer men, a 4th and 2 5th cousins. He also matches a male 3rd cousin Oppenheimer and a 5th cousin female Oppenheimer. DNA gets more interesting if all siblings get tested as they will vary in who they match. It opens the possibilities of who a family is related to. There are differences in the siblings in gender and age, and I believe this also affects the genes they have inherited.
FTDNA shows a male or female icon telling you what side of the family they were found. DNA scientists are marvelous today!
Paull and Briskman studied the Savran-Bendery Hassidic Dynasty. It includes the Wertheim rabbinical dynasty that starts with Rabbi Aryeh Leib Wertheim of Bendery and the Giterman rabbinical dynasty, starting with his brother, Rabbi Moseh Tzvi Giterman. Wertheim was born in 1772 in Savran, Odessa, Ukraine and Bessarabia. Bessarabia was a Province, formerly Romanian, now in the Moldavian and Ukrainian Republics. Jews were living there when Bessarabia was annexed to Russia in 1812. Between 1839 and 1858 they were forbidden to live within 50 versts of the frontier and, in common with gypsies, could not be government officials. It was an area of much anti-Semitism. That's part of the Pale of Settlement that Russia created and held.
I have gone back to: Descendants of Iones Jonah Goldfus to Nathan Abraham Goldfus, my grandfather
1 Iones Jonah Goldfus b: Abt. 1730 in Telsiai, Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania d: 1813 in prob. Telsiai, Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania
and
Descendants of Abram Wolf Jarmulowicz to Zlata Jermulowske, my grandmother
1 Abram Wolf Jarmulowicz b: 1827 in Lazdzieje, Suwalk Gubernia, Lithuania d: in Lazdzieje, Suwalk Gubernia, Lithuania
.. +Aronowicz b: in Szczuczyn, Poland d: in Lazdzieje, Suwalk Gubernia, Lithuania
Dr. Briskman's recent ancestors came from Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia (Russian: Белоруссия), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Minsk was its capital. Yet we connect somehow with the Goldfus line of Telsiai, Lithuania. People did move about. Some of Dr. Paull's ancestors came from Ukraine. Quite a few of my matches came from there, also a part of the Pale of Settlement.
I've found one major match to my brother David from Lithuania who had a Goldfus female on his tree that connected to our line. He's also a writer, Hon. Grant Arthur Gochin. His recent family was from Lithuania and he wrote about how they fared during the war there; not good at all, and the troubles he has had since then. David and Grant are 4th cousins. Grant's family also went from Lithuania to South Africa, like our 2nd-3rd cousin, Ian Goldfoot. Our families do get separated, don't they? That's the beauty of DNA testing; you might find some.
Another paper that just came out by Paull and another of my DNA matches, Janet Billstein Akaha with a 4th male, and a 5th male and female Billstein, is also loaded with the genealogy of Wertheimer. It's titled, Using Autosomal DNA Analysis to Connect Rabbinical Lineages: A Case Study of the Wertheimer and Wertheim Dynasties
The 2 Wertheimers used today for DNA testing/findings were Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer and David Wertheimer, who happen to be on the list of my family members-
1. Victor Sharpe has Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer as 4th cousin. David Wertheimer is his 5th cousin. Victor has 8 Wertheimers on his list of matches.
2. Dr. Sandra Oster finds Dr. Michael Aaron Wertheimer as 4th cousin and David Wertheimer, her 4th cousin as well. She has 9 Wertheimers on her list.
3. Art Bloom also has Michael Aaron as a 4th cousin and David Wertheimer as a 5th cousin as well as 4 others, making 6 Wertheimers on his list.
4. Ian Goldfoot, our 2nd cousin doesn't have Michael or David, but has a total of 7 others, four 4th cousins and three 5th cousins.
5. My brother, Dr. David Goldfoot, has Michael Aaron as a 4th cousin and two other 5th cousins, totaling 3 Wertheimers.
6. My cousin Don Eichman has two 5th cousin Wertheimers,
7. I have David Wertheimer as 4th cousin, another 4th and two 5th cousins, totaling 4 Wertheimers.
This may not be a triangulation for all of us, as the DNA segments have to be at the or among the same segment beginning and ending points, but we certainly hobnobbed with the best of rabbinical genes.
https://www.academia.edu/3877962/Using_Autosomal_DNA_Analysis_to_Connect_Rabbinical_Lineages_A_Case_Study_of_the_Wertheimer_and_Wertheim_Dynasties?email_work_card=view-paper.
Resource: https://www.academia.edu/9277136/Connecting_to_the_Wertheim-Giterman_Rabbinical_Lineage_through_Y-DNA
https://www.geni.com/people/R-Aryey-Leib-Wertheim-Bender-Admur-Bendery-Bender/6000000013392891832
https://www.surnamedna.com/?articles=y-dna-of-the-savran-bendery-chassidic-dynasty
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus
Labels: dna, Dr. Jeffrey Briskman, Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull, Eastern Europe, Giterman, Grant Gochin, Lithuania, Openheimer, rabbinical lineages, Wertheimer, Y-DNA lines
Friday, June 07, 2019
Demographics of Poland-Lithuania and Our Jewish History There
Nadene Goldfoot
Those of us doing genealogy and tracing DNA matched people to us need to know something about Lithuania's history, as Lithuanian ancestors were very proud of who who they were. My grandmother wanted us to know that she was not Polish but Lithuanian and here her town of Lazdijai, on the border, had been taken by Poland, but when? I'm afraid it happened before her birth of January 11, 1886. Her family even seemed to be using a Polish spelling for their surname-Jermulowkse, whereas there were possible relatives in other parts of Lithuania using Jarmolowsky. But she insisted that SHE WAS A LITVAK. Her husband, a Goldfus, was a Litvak and she was too. Lithuania was the big religious center of eastern Europe. In Vilnius was the Gaon of Vilna, the Genius of Vilna, and he must have had a lot of importance and was from a large family as so many people claim descend ency from him.
"The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth comprised various identities: Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ruthenians (Belarusians and Ukrainians), and Vlachs (Romanians). Sometimes inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were called Litvins, a Slavic term for people from Lithuania, regardless of their ethnicity (with the exception of Jews, who were called Litvaks).
Jews have been known to have been in Lithuania since 1321, and slavery was permitted in these early days. I wonder if any of our ancestors were enslaved then?
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but more importantly, the Spanish Inquisition started in this year. By 1495, Jews living in Vilna, Grodno and Kovno, most likely some of our ancestors, totaled 10,000.
By 1495 to 1502 Jews were excluded from Lithuania. Maybe this meant that more were banned from entering.
By 1529 with so many there they received a charter giving them freedom of movement and employment. A few managed to monopolize foreign trade and tax-farming, whatever this means. Being Jews were not allowed to own land, they may have been the tax collectors-something allowed for them to do.
From 1566 to 1572, the wearing of the Jewish badge was introduced. Jews could no longer give evidence in the courtroom. Then WWII came along and
it was again used on Jews.
Shortly after the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Commonwealth's population was around 7 million, with roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 750,000 Lithuanians, 700,000 Jews and 2 million Ruthenians.[94]
In 1618, after the Truce of Deulino, the Commonwealth population increased together with its territory, reaching 12 million people, which was composed roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 3.5 million Ukrainians, 1.5 million Belarusians, 750,000 Lithuanians, 750,000 Old Prussians, 500,000 Jews, and 500,000 Livonians.[7] At that time nobility was 10% of the population, and burghers were 15%.[7] The average population density per square kilometer was: 24 in Mazovia, 23 in Lesser Poland, 19 in Great Poland, 12 in Lublin palatinate, 10 in the Lvov area, 7 in Podolia and Volhynia, and 3 in the Ukraine. There was a tendency for the people from the more densely inhabited western territories to migrate eastwards.[95]
In 1623 the Jews created their own Council and a separate tax-system was established.
In the period from 1648 to 1657, populations losses are estimated at 4 m.[7] Coupled with further population and territorial losses, in 1717 the Commonwealth population had fallen to 9 m, with roughly 4.5 m/50% Poles, 1.5 m/17% Ukrainians, 1.2 m Belarusians, 0.8 m Lithuanians, 0.5 m Jews, and 0.5 m others.[7] Just before the first partition of Poland, the Commonwealth's population stood at some 14 million, including around 1 million nobles,[96] 4.7 million Uniates and 400,000 Orthodox Christians.[97] In 1792, the population was around 11 million and included 750,000 nobles.[96]
In 1768, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth became a protectorate of the Russian Empire.[41][42] Control of Poland was central to Catherine the Great's diplomatic and military strategies.[43] Attempts at reform, such as the Four-Year Sejm's May Constitution, came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy.
By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918.
The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe.[27] The revolutionary Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system.
World War I of 1914 to 1917: 100,000 Jews were expelled or emigrated to the Russian interior. It was also a time of much emigration of Jews to the USA.
Lithuania gave national autonomy to Jews from 1918 to 1924. Vilna went to Poland in 1919. This was the Jewish center where the Gaon of Vilna was from. Jews were weakened by this loss.
1959 was the year when 24,000 Jews still lived in Lithuania, most likely returnees to homes lost in the war.
1989 saw that half of the Jewish population in 1959 had left for Israel, leaving 12,312.
1990 INDEPENDENCE: A change in people's attitudes? According to Lithuanian law, anyone who left Lithuania under the Soviet occupation until the country’s independence in 1990, and their descendants to the second generation, are eligible for citizenship.
“This is a huge activity in our embassy,” a man interviewed said. “We have hundreds of people every day. We are happy, we are happy that our family here grows, that we have people who want to come and rediscover Lithuania.”
 |
| Outline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its major subdivisions after the 1618 Truce of Deulino, superimposed on present-day national borders.
Duchy of Prussia, Polish fief
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, Commonwealth fief
|
"The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth comprised various identities: Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ruthenians (Belarusians and Ukrainians), and Vlachs (Romanians). Sometimes inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were called Litvins, a Slavic term for people from Lithuania, regardless of their ethnicity (with the exception of Jews, who were called Litvaks).
Jews have been known to have been in Lithuania since 1321, and slavery was permitted in these early days. I wonder if any of our ancestors were enslaved then?
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but more importantly, the Spanish Inquisition started in this year. By 1495, Jews living in Vilna, Grodno and Kovno, most likely some of our ancestors, totaled 10,000.
By 1495 to 1502 Jews were excluded from Lithuania. Maybe this meant that more were banned from entering.
By 1529 with so many there they received a charter giving them freedom of movement and employment. A few managed to monopolize foreign trade and tax-farming, whatever this means. Being Jews were not allowed to own land, they may have been the tax collectors-something allowed for them to do.
 |
| Jewish badge in Belgium-1941 |
From 1566 to 1572, the wearing of the Jewish badge was introduced. Jews could no longer give evidence in the courtroom. Then WWII came along and
it was again used on Jews.
Shortly after the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Commonwealth's population was around 7 million, with roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 750,000 Lithuanians, 700,000 Jews and 2 million Ruthenians.[94]
In 1618, after the Truce of Deulino, the Commonwealth population increased together with its territory, reaching 12 million people, which was composed roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 3.5 million Ukrainians, 1.5 million Belarusians, 750,000 Lithuanians, 750,000 Old Prussians, 500,000 Jews, and 500,000 Livonians.[7] At that time nobility was 10% of the population, and burghers were 15%.[7] The average population density per square kilometer was: 24 in Mazovia, 23 in Lesser Poland, 19 in Great Poland, 12 in Lublin palatinate, 10 in the Lvov area, 7 in Podolia and Volhynia, and 3 in the Ukraine. There was a tendency for the people from the more densely inhabited western territories to migrate eastwards.[95]
In 1623 the Jews created their own Council and a separate tax-system was established.
In the period from 1648 to 1657, populations losses are estimated at 4 m.[7] Coupled with further population and territorial losses, in 1717 the Commonwealth population had fallen to 9 m, with roughly 4.5 m/50% Poles, 1.5 m/17% Ukrainians, 1.2 m Belarusians, 0.8 m Lithuanians, 0.5 m Jews, and 0.5 m others.[7] Just before the first partition of Poland, the Commonwealth's population stood at some 14 million, including around 1 million nobles,[96] 4.7 million Uniates and 400,000 Orthodox Christians.[97] In 1792, the population was around 11 million and included 750,000 nobles.[96]
In 1768, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth became a protectorate of the Russian Empire.[41][42] Control of Poland was central to Catherine the Great's diplomatic and military strategies.[43] Attempts at reform, such as the Four-Year Sejm's May Constitution, came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy.
By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918.
The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe.[27] The revolutionary Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system.
World War I of 1914 to 1917: 100,000 Jews were expelled or emigrated to the Russian interior. It was also a time of much emigration of Jews to the USA.
Lithuania gave national autonomy to Jews from 1918 to 1924. Vilna went to Poland in 1919. This was the Jewish center where the Gaon of Vilna was from. Jews were weakened by this loss.
 |
| Lodz Ghetto Lodz is in Poland. It is the 3rd largest city and a former industrial site. |
World War II and the Jewish population at the outbreak was about 175,000. About 25,000 were deported by the Russians from Lithuania and Latvia in July 1940. Those that remained were massacred by the Germans and Lithuanian Christian population by 1943.
1959 was the year when 24,000 Jews still lived in Lithuania, most likely returnees to homes lost in the war.
1989 saw that half of the Jewish population in 1959 had left for Israel, leaving 12,312.
1990 INDEPENDENCE: A change in people's attitudes? According to Lithuanian law, anyone who left Lithuania under the Soviet occupation until the country’s independence in 1990, and their descendants to the second generation, are eligible for citizenship.
“This is a huge activity in our embassy,” a man interviewed said. “We have hundreds of people every day. We are happy, we are happy that our family here grows, that we have people who want to come and rediscover Lithuania.”
This offer must not be extended to Jews, because I have a distant cousin, also with roots in Lithuania and related to me, Grant Arthur Gochin, who has written his book , writing through his frustration about this and how he has been denied citizenship. His book is called : Malice, Murder, and Manipulation-One Man's Quest for Truth. Grant is a Californian now, but he has quite a story; and a wonderful genealogy tree which contained my Goldfus relative as well, connecting us. So I'm proud of his strength and doing his part in keeping facts truthful. We're led to believe one thing when another is happening.
2019 and there are 4,000 to 5,000 Jews living in Lithuania.
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth
https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/Diplomacy-In-Lithuania-Jews-are-cool-319601
Book: Malice, Murder, and Manipulation by Grant Arthur Gochin
update on surname endings: http://www.polishroots.org/Resources/Surnames/Surnamesendings/tabid/118/Default.aspx
2019 and there are 4,000 to 5,000 Jews living in Lithuania.
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth
https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/Diplomacy-In-Lithuania-Jews-are-cool-319601
Book: Malice, Murder, and Manipulation by Grant Arthur Gochin
update on surname endings: http://www.polishroots.org/Resources/Surnames/Surnamesendings/tabid/118/Default.aspx
Labels: Grant Gochin, Lithuania, Poland
Monday, December 12, 2016
After Nathan Goldfoot Left Lithuania, What Happened There?
Nadene Goldfoot
We're so lucky to have been born. Our grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus, was born in Lithuania at a time that was terrible for Jews. It may have been very difficult for his mother to get the proper nourishment when she was expecting Nathan.
We're so lucky to have been born. Our grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus, was born in Lithuania at a time that was terrible for Jews. It may have been very difficult for his mother to get the proper nourishment when she was expecting Nathan.
Our grandfather,Nathan "Nokhim Avram"Abraham" of Abram Goldfus born in 1871 or 20 Tevet 1871, left Telsiai, Lithuania around 1890. What was going on there at the time? His father had died when he was 7 years old in 1878.
Jews settled in Telz at the beginning of the 17th century.
Telz, as it is called, was part of the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom until 1795.
1797: 1,650 Jews lived in Telz (66%) of population.
Napoleon's retreating army went through in 1812, leaving behind desolation and a big gun.
1863-Polish rebellions damaged the town of old wooden buildings of Telsiai.
1871-1895
1869-1872 famine in Lithuania-poor Jews hit the hardest
1870: 4,399 Jews lived in Telsiai (68% of city)
January 13, 1874, Russia's Czar Alexander II abolished the conscription of recruits, introduced obligatory military service for entire population.
1880s: pogroms in Ukraine and other places.
Jews conscripted into army for 6 years. immigration started
1882-1896 telephone lines were laid in Lithuania
March 3, 1892: Russia issued an order regarding persecution of underground Lithuanian and Polish schools.
In June 1893 Cholera epidemic, poor hit the hardest, a convention of the Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partja Socialistyczna - PPS) was held in Vilnius. Lithuania and White Russia were recognized as a territorial unit for the activities of this party. A Lithuanian PPS section was organized.
1893: Nathan left Lithuania and went to England and then Dublin, Ireland.
February 1893: Address: 13 Arbutus Place, SCR, Dublin, Ireland.
June 14, 1893: Nathan, married in Dublin to Lena Goldberg, was in Dublin heading for Winnipeg, Canada alone, Nathan Goldfo(r)t age 22, arriving in Quebec on ship Parisian.
November 23,1893 was the date of the Kraziai Massacre. The Russian government had brutally exterminated people who protested against the governement's closure of the Kraziai Monastery.
1897 was the year of the first census of the entire population, conducted by the Russian Empire. The data of this census states that the population of the Lithuanian areas of Kaunas, Vilnius and Suvalkai numbered 2.5 million people.
1897: 3,088 Jews remaining (51% of Telsiai)
1905, November 20th: Married Zlata "Hattie" Jermulowske from Lazdijai, Lithuania/Poland in Boise, Idaho, living in Council, Idaho.
Thus, in addition to Lithuania Minor, ethnographically Lithuanian territory was included in the Vilnius, Kaunas, Suwałki and Grodno gubernias. Presented below are the official Russian statistics of the time, which were later supplemented by the official institutions of the Republic of Lithuania. These data show that, as a result of a growing economy now freed from the shackles of serfdom, the population grew relatively quickly31:
July 19, 1912: Nathan Goldfoot was killed in a horse and wagon accident in Portland, Oregon on the SE side on a Friday. He was a freight man carrying boxes from the port to places in the city. His horse was spooked and ran amuck. He was thrown out and hit his head, becoming unconscious. Taken to St Vincent's hospital, he never woke up. His wife, our Bubba, was frantic as he didn't come home for Shabbas. Finally several days later she, 6 months pregnant at the time, she was told the sad news. Her daughter, Anne (Khammie), joining Charlie 6, Moshe 4 and Elsie 1, was born never knowing her father. Her mother never had a chance to learn any language other than Yiddish.
With the advent of World War I (1914-1917) , Russian Jewry felt that they could increase their substandard role in society if they participated in the defense of Russia. Over 400,000 Jews were mobilized and about 80,000 served in the front lines. Battles occured in the Pale of Settlement, where millions of Jews lived. Yet, when the Russian army was defeated, anti-Semitic commanders blamed the Jews and accused them of treason and spying for the Germans. Jews were even kidnaped and tried for espionage. Shortly after the trials, mass expulsions of Jews living near the front lines were organized.
In June 1915, Jews were expelled from northern Lithuania and Courland.
We know that Nathan Abraham Goldfus, our grandfather, was in Idaho in 1905 marrying Zlata Jermulowsky, our grandmother. His family had lived in Telsiai, Lithuania, part of the Pale of Settlement. Nathan was born August 5, 1872 and died July 19, 1912 in a horse and wagon accident at a young age of 39 years 11 months 14 days. He left 3 children and one on the way (Anne). They had lost one child in infancy, Abraham. We know he left Lithuania before June 13, 1893, when I found him heading for Winnipeg from Dublin, Ireland. He was 19 then. (other dates for birth have been January of different dates in 1871 and 1872, so this may not be very accurate.).
| Modern Town & Country | Other Names | c. 1950 After WWII Town / Country | c. 1930 Between Wars Town / District / Province / Country | c. 1900 Before WWI Town / District / Province / Country | # of JGFF Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Telšiai, Lithuania55°59' N 22°15' E 242 km NW of Vilnius | Telšiai [Lith], Telshi [Rus], Telzh [Yid], Telsze [Pol], Telsche [Ger], Telši [Latv], Telšē, Teltsch, Telshe, Telschi, Telsh, Telshie, Telšių, Telz | Telšiai Soviet Union | Telšiai Telšiai Lithuania | Telshi Telshi Kovno Russian Empire |
 |
| This map shows where churches and major Christian sites prevailed |
1882-1896 telephone lines were laid in Lithuania
 |
| Telsiai is next to Siauliai where Papile is. Our Bubba was from Lazdijai in Alytus next to the border of Poland In the war, it became part of Poland. |
| Modern Town & Country | Other Names | c. 1950 After WWII Town / Country | c. 1930 Between Wars Town / District / Province / Country | c. 1900 Before WWI Town / District / Province / Country | # of JGFF Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazdijai, Lithuania 54°14' N 23°31' E 127 km WSW of Vilnius | Lazdijai [Lith], Łoździeje [Pol], Lazdei [Yid], Lozdzee [Rus], Lasdien [Ger], Lazdiji [Latv], Lozdzeye, Lazdyyay, Lazdiyay, Lazdey, Lazhdai, Lezdi | Lazdijai Soviet Union | Lazdijai Seinai Lithuania | Łoździeje Sejny Suwałki |
1897: 3,088 Jews remaining (51% of Telsiai)
1905, November 20th: Married Zlata "Hattie" Jermulowske from Lazdijai, Lithuania/Poland in Boise, Idaho, living in Council, Idaho.
Thus, in addition to Lithuania Minor, ethnographically Lithuanian territory was included in the Vilnius, Kaunas, Suwałki and Grodno gubernias. Presented below are the official Russian statistics of the time, which were later supplemented by the official institutions of the Republic of Lithuania. These data show that, as a result of a growing economy now freed from the shackles of serfdom, the population grew relatively quickly31:
Ethnic Lithuania's Inhabitants by Gubernia and Year
| Gubernia | 1897 | 1904 | 1910 | 1914 |
| Vilnius | 1,591,207 | 1,770,300 | 1,926,900 | 2,075,900 |
| Kaunas | 1,544,567 | 1,660,900 | 1,775,900 | 1,857,100 |
| Grodno | 1,603,409 | 1,788,900 | 1,951,700 | 2,048,200 |
| Suwałki | 528,913 | 625,600 | 667,200 | 718,000 (Grandmother came from Suwalki). |
Population Density Per Square Kilometer
| 1897 | 1914 | |
| Vilnius | 38 | 49.5 |
| Kaunas | 38.4 | 46.2 |
| Grodno | 41.6 | 53.1 |
| Suwałki | 47.3 | 58.3 |
These official statistics can be reliable in terms of the general population, but they are doubtless inaccurate when considering the number of Lithuanians. This is clear from the fact that the 1897 population census found no Lithuanians in Grodno gubernia although it included the southern half of the Lithuanian Varėna and Lazdijai districts as well as the town of Druskininkai.
In other gubernias the following numbers of Lithuanians were found (including the Samogitians, or Žemaičiai, who were counted separately32:
| Vilnius |
279,700
|
| Kaunas | 1,019,800 |
| Suwałki | 304,600 |
| Total | 1,604,100 |
In addition the Courland gubernia counted 18,000 Lithuanians, of whom 12,000 lived in the districts of Iluksta and Grobin. According to some sources, about half a million people emigrated from Lithuania between 1897 and 1914.33
The policy of Russification that was carried out through the schools hampered the Lithuanian peasants' struggle for an education. Parents began to withhold their children from the schools. Although the number of schools was in reality insufficient, some state schools closed down for a lack of pupils.80 The percentage of educated inhabitants steadily declined. The 1897 census showed that in Kaunas gubernia the percentage of older educated persons was greater than the percentage of educated youth:
| Age | Percent of Inhabitants with a Formal Education |
| 10-19 | 54.68 |
| 20-29 | 65.95 |
| 30-39 | 61.87 http://www.lituanus.org/1996/96_3_03.htm |
 |
| Horse and wagon in Portland, Nathan's had no writing, no identification |
July 19, 1912: Nathan Goldfoot was killed in a horse and wagon accident in Portland, Oregon on the SE side on a Friday. He was a freight man carrying boxes from the port to places in the city. His horse was spooked and ran amuck. He was thrown out and hit his head, becoming unconscious. Taken to St Vincent's hospital, he never woke up. His wife, our Bubba, was frantic as he didn't come home for Shabbas. Finally several days later she, 6 months pregnant at the time, she was told the sad news. Her daughter, Anne (Khammie), joining Charlie 6, Moshe 4 and Elsie 1, was born never knowing her father. Her mother never had a chance to learn any language other than Yiddish.
With the advent of World War I (1914-1917) , Russian Jewry felt that they could increase their substandard role in society if they participated in the defense of Russia. Over 400,000 Jews were mobilized and about 80,000 served in the front lines. Battles occured in the Pale of Settlement, where millions of Jews lived. Yet, when the Russian army was defeated, anti-Semitic commanders blamed the Jews and accused them of treason and spying for the Germans. Jews were even kidnaped and tried for espionage. Shortly after the trials, mass expulsions of Jews living near the front lines were organized.
In June 1915, Jews were expelled from northern Lithuania and Courland.
We know that Nathan Abraham Goldfus, our grandfather, was in Idaho in 1905 marrying Zlata Jermulowsky, our grandmother. His family had lived in Telsiai, Lithuania, part of the Pale of Settlement. Nathan was born August 5, 1872 and died July 19, 1912 in a horse and wagon accident at a young age of 39 years 11 months 14 days. He left 3 children and one on the way (Anne). They had lost one child in infancy, Abraham. We know he left Lithuania before June 13, 1893, when I found him heading for Winnipeg from Dublin, Ireland. He was 19 then. (other dates for birth have been January of different dates in 1871 and 1872, so this may not be very accurate.).
One month later, the use of Hebrew characters in printing and writing was prohibited, making it impossible to write both Hebrew and Yiddish. Western opinion united against the discrimination against the Jews, which made the procurement of loans from Western countries difficult. Shortly after, the Russians ceased enforcing the laws relating to discrimination of the Jews and Jewish refugees from Poland and Lithuania moved towards central Russia.
Austria and Germany’s conquests in 1915 brought 2,260,000 Jews (40% of Russian Jewry) under military rule. These Jews were freed from czarist abuses but also cut off from their families and neighbors. In Russia, the Jewish presses were silenced and Jewish youth were conscripted into the army. Yet Jews from the rest of eastern Europe were torn from Russian Jewry leading to social upheavals which affected all facets of eastern European Jewry.
Grant Arthur Gochin tells of this period of time in his book listed below in the town of Papile, Lithuania. His grandfather, Sam Gochin, was born in 1902 and was to be deported with others of Papile in 1915. He was forcibly abducted into the Russian army and taken to Byelorussia in 1917, when Americans were celebrating the end of WWI. He tells that many Jews then died in a terrible winter of 1919. What happened was that many Litvaks forced to fight against the Russians were fighting Jews that were Bolsheveks. Rather, it looks like both Russia and Lithuania used young Jewish boys as solders and they wound up shooting at each other. A secondary goal for both governments was to get rid of their Jewish population.
Updated 1/9/18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXdUXEAPwvc
http://www.jewishgen.org -Telsiai information
Resource: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/russia.html
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/wwi-and-the-jews/
New resource on era: Malice, Murder, and Manipulation: One Man's Quest for Truth, by Grant Arthur Gochin.
| Modern Town & Country | Other Names | c. 1950 After WWII Town / Country | c. 1930 Between Wars Town / District / Province / Country | c. 1900 Before WWI Town / District / Province / Country | # of JGFF Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papilė, Lithuania 56°09' N 22°48' E 228 km NW of Vilnius | Papilė [Lith], Popelyan [Yid], Popelyany [Rus], Popielany [Pol], Popelian, Popilan, Papilės, Popyle | Papilė Soviet Union | Papilė Šiauliai Lithuania | Popieliany Shavli Kovno Russian Empire |
Grant Arthur Gochin tells of this period of time in his book listed below in the town of Papile, Lithuania. His grandfather, Sam Gochin, was born in 1902 and was to be deported with others of Papile in 1915. He was forcibly abducted into the Russian army and taken to Byelorussia in 1917, when Americans were celebrating the end of WWI. He tells that many Jews then died in a terrible winter of 1919. What happened was that many Litvaks forced to fight against the Russians were fighting Jews that were Bolsheveks. Rather, it looks like both Russia and Lithuania used young Jewish boys as solders and they wound up shooting at each other. A secondary goal for both governments was to get rid of their Jewish population.
Updated 1/9/18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXdUXEAPwvc
http://www.jewishgen.org -Telsiai information
Resource: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/russia.html
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/wwi-and-the-jews/
New resource on era: Malice, Murder, and Manipulation: One Man's Quest for Truth, by Grant Arthur Gochin.
Preserving Our Litvak Heritage: A History of 31 Jewish Comunities in Lithuania
Labels: aftermath, Goldfus, Grant Gochin, Lithuania, Papile, Russia, Telsiai, WWI
