Hello
Here is just one story of my genealogical journey. Feel free to share yours and also share your information about new genealogy archives and websites.
Re-Connecting The Mendelson’s
The Journey
From Skhlov & Mogilev-Belarus, Russia To The United States
Written By Sarah Greenberg
Great-Granddaughter Of Anna(Mendelson)Rakoff
I had the wonderful
experience of visiting with my grandmother’s first cousin Ruth Wiener on my
trip into Queens, New York on January 14th , 2007. I have been
working on my family tree for 10 years now and ever since my grandmother also
named Ruth passed away in February of 2006, I have been more determined than
ever to find out about her family and my roots.
So, that’s where my
genealogical journey began all those years ago. I had no clue as to where to start
looking for information on my grandmother’s side of the family. All I had to go
on in the beginning was my great-grandmother’s maiden name of Elka/Anna
Mendelson. When my grandmother Ruth(Rakoff)Faikes was alive she use to talk
about her uncle’s Samuel & Louis, but at the time I was not old enough to
realize who they were or even care.
So, basically that’s where
I started combing through lots of genealogical resources online and off to help
me trace these ancestors of mine. The first step I took was to use
Ancestry.com(commercial website) and search their wonderful databases of census
records, ship passenger manifests and other data. Once I located my
great-grandmother on the census, I then proceeded to search for her two
brothers Samuel & Louis. This was not an easy thing to find for Mendelson
is a pretty common Jewish surname, but with more clues I was able to narrow
them down. It’s always best to go into your research with some estimates of
dates and name spelling variations, because as great as these records are, I
have found many mistakes with the transcription of them.
So, I already knew that
these three siblings settled in Brooklyn, New York. Finding all three siblings
Anna, Louis, & Samuel on the census helped me to determine when they came
to America. So, then my next step was to find their passenger manifests, which
gave me the birth place of Mogilev and that was a crucial part of the puzzle
needed for research. Also this task was not easy either, for in order to find
them on the ships manifests you have to know what name they traveled under,
otherwise you will have a difficult time locating them if at all. I found this
out the hard way, but you learn all the tricks and quirks as you go along in
your research. In my case my great-grandmother Anna(Mendelson)Rakoff came to
America in March of 1911 under the name Elke Mandelsohn, which I was not able
to find this bit of information until I ordered her naturalization record.
Once I had exhausted any
and all information from Ancestry, I went to my next step which was ordering
various birth, marriage, & death records on all three siblings Anna, Louis
& Samuel from various NYC vital records office’s. These vital records are
very helpful when doing family research. They gave me lots more information as
to the names of the parents Morduhk & Beila-Ryvka(Katz)Mendelson and next
of kin at the time of death. I also utilized these great online indexes for
birth, marriages and death records for NY to help me narrow down the right
record on my ancestors.
These indexes are located
on italiangen.org(Italian Genealogical Society), of which I had the opportunity
last summer to help put some of these indexes online by volunteering to enter
the information into a simple database. Before these indexes were created I use
to order several records until I found the right one for my ancestors. It took
me 5 years to get to this point, because a lot of this research takes time,
money and above all patience. Never give up, even if you hit a brick wall and
if that happens it’s best to leave it alone for a while. Then you should
regroup all of your information and try a different path of research, it’s
worked for me.
I have also found it very
helpful to have an online family tree that I am always adding information to as
I go along in my research. I have also utilized Rootsweb.com by posting
information in the surname message boards, hoping for feedback of any kind.
Another great tool is Jewishgen.org & Yadvashem.org. Jewishgen has tons of
great resources for those searching their jewish roots and Yadvashem has a
great Holocaust database of people from around the globe who have submitted POT’s(Pages
Of Testimony) on loved ones lost to the Holocaust. It wasn’t until last year
when I came to a crossroads in my research. I had come as far as I could go
with US records. I also never thought about finding any living relatives,
because I did not think there was any.
Then one day in August of
2006 I get an e-mail out of the blue, from a gentleman who saw all my postings
on the internet and thought we might be related. In the past, I have received
many such e-mails which never panned out, so imagine my shock and excitement
when this person turned out to be the son of my grandmother’s first cousin
whose maiden name was Mendelson. So, that is how my 5 year journey has led me
to make a real connection with 82 year old Ruth(Mendelson)Wiener daughter of
Samuel & Emma(Kaplan)Mendelson.
My visit with Ruth was
very enjoyable for both of us. I learned a lot about my grandmother &
great-grandparents who lived in Brooklyn, New York for many years. My
grandmother Ruth Faikes was born in Brooklyn September 1922, and her cousin in
1925, so they were only three years apart in age. I learned that they were very
close growing up, but that they grew apart after they each got married and then
they lost touch in the 1980’s when my grandmother moved to Connecticut to be
closer to her grandkids of which I am the youngest out of 4. Ruth also told me
that her father Samuel was most likely one out of 13 siblings, which surprised
me and made me want to find out what happened to them all. Ruth even relayed to
me a story that I have heard several times, but have been unable to prove.
Apparently my
great-grandmother Anna(Mendelson)Rakoff was employed by the infamous Triangle
Shirstwaist Factory and survived the fire. Apparently that day Anna was not
feeling well and went to use the bathroom. It turned out to be the only area
not locked, so she was able to leave to safety that way. According to the story
when she came out of the bathroom she had this funny feeling that something was
wrong and left the building. I do have a picture of my great-grandmother in a
sewing factory, but I am unable to determine if it is indeed that factory or
another. Also since Anna arrived in March of 1911 when the tragedy occurred, I
find it highly unlikely. I am sure there was more than one factory that had
fires like this, and I hope to one day find out which one it is.
After getting all the
information I could from talking to my newly found relative
Ruth(Mendelson)Wiener, I finally decided it was time to see if I can trace any
information on my great-grandmother and her siblings from her birthplace.
Through all my research of census data, ships manifests, vital records and
naturalization papers I had already pieced together that all three siblings
originally came from Mogilev-Belarus, Russia. I still had no proof to back that
claim. I started researching and asking questions about this town/village
called Mogilev. I did a lot of this research via the internet. I wanted to know
if there were any vital records that survived. One of my postings got a reply.
A research group based in Minsk, Russia contacted me via e-mail and said they
could help me with my research. I had to really think a while before I decided
to have them work for me because the research was costly.
A couple of weeks after
that I had come across an index of male births on Jewishgen.org. Among the list
there was four male births that listed the father as Morduhk. I knew without a
doubt that I had found something. So I teamed up with my cousin Ruth on further
research into our Mendelson ancestors to cut the cost of the research in half.
So, I contacted the research group back and had them proceed to work on my
behalf in the archives located in Minsk, Russia. What I got out of it was the
names of three more of my great-grandmother’s siblings and their birth years,
making it a total of 6 siblings out of the supposed 13. I knew I was getting
close.
I was getting excited with
each new find as was my cousin Ruth. A week after the research was concluded is
when I discovered the Yadvashem.org website. That’s where I came across a
direct hit with a POT that definitely was connected to my ancestry. I got very
excited and contacted my cousin Ruth and her son Marc immediately. Her son
found the contact address for the submitter of the POT, which has led us to two
other descendants. I was practically jumping on air to have had another
breakthrough, and to now have three living connections. The two women are Bela
Rozovskaya & Ina Lerner both granddaughters of Movsha Mendelson who was a
son of Morduhk and a sibling to my great-grandmother. These two women both
survivors of the Holocaust lived most of their lives in Russia, until immigrating
to the US in the 1990’s and settling in Denver, Colorado.
Ruth Wiener had the
opportunity to visit with the two women in Colorado the week of April 4-9,
2007. Ruth’s son Marc & his wife Elsa also went. I was not able to go at
that time. They were able to record a little of their conversations with Bela,
who even though her accent was thick was the better speaker out of the two
women. So, now we have learned that some did die in the Holocaust. Bela lost
her mother and infant brother. Also through whatever circumstances her father
wound up marrying his sister-in-law after his brother got drafted into the russian army and killed during the war. So,
Bela’s cousin Ina now became her sister as well.
At this point I get more
determined to find more information. So, again I have the research group work
with me to find out the names of these other siblings. The results this time
around gave me the names and birth years of 5 more siblings giving me a total
of 11. Also I now have the death date for the mother Beila-Ryvka(my
great-great-grandmother), who died of a severe kidney disease in Mogilev in
1917 at the age of 60. The death date of the father Morduhk still remains a
mystery. So, now armed with all this new information I hope to trace this line
as far back as the records will allow.
I am still amazed to have
come this far. Also to know that there are living descendants and hear about
their lives growing up before, during and after the war. All of this would not
have been possible if I was not working for the history department of my local
public library. It’s where I got my drive and passion for doing my genealogy
since I do it on a daily basis for patrons local and around the globe. Also a
big thanks goes out to Yadvashem, for without them I would not have found the other connection which has brought
me to the point of filling my Mendelson tree with more names. The mystery/hunt
still continues for me, for I have yet to uncover the fate of all my
great-grandmother’s siblings, and the sad fact is that I may never know what
befell them.
Also for all those out
there just starting their research, please keep in mind that it’s a
step-by-step process that takes time. The more information you have to work
with the better your chances are for getting accurate results in your research.
Always talk to any and all living relatives and take lots of notes. Also even
though the internet is a global database of information, know that not
everything is available online. You will have to do most of the detective work
yourself in a lot of these archives. That’s where your local library, vital
records office, and genealogical society’s come in handy. I myself find it very
fun and exciting when I get to comb through the archives and find a missing
clue.
