Letter from Bergen Belsen

My great-uncle, Izzy Joshowitz, was my grandmother's older brother.  He was born in what was then Czechoslovakia (and is now Ukraine) and came to America when he was 7 years old.  During World War Two, he was an officer in the Army Air Corps.  As the war ended, he was sent to Bergen Belsen, where he met some cousins (who he had never before met in person, as they were born in Europe after he left to America) who had survived.

Recently, his daughter Randi went through some old boxes in her mother's attic, and she found the following letter:

Letter from Bergen Belsen

Early-On Rutner/Joshowitz Connections

Sometimes you wonder how your ancestors met.  With my great grandparents, it looks like their families were friends from quite early on.

My great grandfather was Josef Joshowitz.  Josef's parents, Chaim and Mindel, had a son Smil Hers in 1889; Smil Hers only lived until the age of two, so I never knew he existed until recently when I was transcribing record books for JewishGen.

Smil Hers Joszovits Birth, 1889

Two Sisters, Different Surnames

My grandmother's older brother, my Uncle Izzy, was born in what is now Kolodne, Ukraine.  He had told me about his two first cousins, Golda and Feige.  I wrote earlier about finding their birth records as well as Feige/Fani's marriage record and the birth of her children--but at the time I wrote that post, I hadn't yet found anything about Golda.  Well, it turns out that I already had records of some of Golda's children's births--but I didn't realize that at the time.

Birth Record of Aranka/Golda Joszovics

High Holiday Tickets

With Rosh Hashanah coming up this week, it seems an appropriate time to post these documents.  My Tolchin grandparents and Joshowitz great grandparents were long-time members of Gemulas/Gemilas Chesed Congregation (which used several different spellings for its name) in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

High Holiday Ticket for my Great Grandmother, Esther Joshowitz, 1959

A Family Bible and My Great Grandfather's Death

Last week, my aunt and uncle had a Chanukah party at their house.  I asked my uncle (my mother's brother) if his mother had ever spoken about having aunts and uncles who were killed in the Holocaust, as my mother had never known that was the case.  He said that he knew that there were relatives killed, but "maybe the family Bible says something."  Family Bible?!?

It turns out my grandmother's youngest brother Herbie received a Chumash (Bible) from the Gemilas Chesed Sisterhood for his Bar Mitzvah.  And Uncle Herbie filled out some of the family information.

Joshowitz Siblings

Golda & Feige

Uncle Izzy Joshowitz, my grandmother Minnie's brother, had told me that he'd had an uncle Isaac who had two daughters, Golda and Feige that he remembered from his childhood in Kolodne.  And I found records fleshing out a bit more of their lives.

Fani Joszovics Birth Registration; 1902

When You Can't Find a Ship Manifest

You know those relatives that you just can't find on a ship manifest?  That you search for using wildcards and alternate spellings and every trick in the book--and they're just nowhere to be found?

Well, those were my Joshowitzes.  I knew that my great grandmother Esther Rutner Joshowitz came to America with my grandmother's oldest brother Izzy.  They came at some point after WWI and at least nine months before my grandmother's birth in February 1922.  I tried with just first names (lots and lots of Esthers and Esters came to the US in that time period).  I tried with as many wildcards as Ancestry would allow.  And nothing.

I cursed transcribers who obviously couldn't read my great grandmother's name.  I grumbled at the Ancestry programmers who put too many restrictions on wildcards in searches.  And then I tried searching on Steve Morse's site.

Output on Steve Morse's site

Temporary American Immigration

I've always thought that the migration patterns for Eastern European Jews was that the father &/or older children would come to America and earn money to bring over the mother and younger children.  I've seen that pattern in several branches of my family.  But that wasn't always the case.

Isak & Josef Jasowics Ship Manifest, 1906

I Love Delayed Birth Records

My great grandfather Josef Joshowitz was born in 1883.  Or 1885.  Or somewhere around there.  Once he came to the United States, he was pretty consistent with a birthday of October 11, 1885.  He generally also gave his birthplace as various spellings of what is now Tiachev, Ukraine.  However, Tiachev was both the town and the rayon/district in which Tiachev (as well as Kolodne and Uglya, where he married) were located.  So I've never been completely certain of where he was born.

Austria-Hungary only began to institute civil registration of vital events including births in the fall of 1895, well after any of Josef's potential years of birth.  And I'd indexed the earlier years of vital records for the Maramaros Project, but Josef's birth wasn't found among the few births that actually were reported in the 1880s through any of the rayon.

But then I was going through the post-1895 civil registrations for Kolodne and a few surrounding towns.

Josef Joshowitz Birth Record, Full Page

My Great Grandparents' Two Marriages in One Week

I wrote earlier how many in Austria-Hungary never got civilly married until long after their religious marriage or never got civilly married at all.  But that wasn't the case for my great grandparents, Josef and Esther (nee Rutner) Joshowitz.

Marriage Record for Josef and Esther Joshowitz, 1912

Uncle Izzy Joshowitz's Birthday

My grandmother's brother, Isadore Joshowitz (my Uncle Izzy), was the only child in the family born in Europe; my grandmother and their other siblings were all born in Pennsylvania.  Uncle Izzy never knew his exact birthday and always celebrated it as though he were born on February 12, 1913.

Well, he wasn't too far off....

Birth Record, Ignacz Joszovics; Darva (Kolodne), Austria-Hungary; 1913

Chaim Joshowitz's Signature--Kind Of

My great-great grandfather was Chaim Joshowitz.  I saw his name as the source of information for the death record for his sister-in-law Basha Eizikovics Lebovics and got excited--all of the other death records I'd been looking at for Kolodne had the signature of the person who reported a death!

Death Record for Basha Eizikovics Lebovics; Kolodne; 1905

The Death of Chaim Joshowitz--And the Addition of Two Ancestors

My great-great grandfather was Chaim Joshowitz.  I knew that from his son Josef's gravestone and death certificate.  And I knew that he died in 1927 or earlier, since my grandmother's youngest brother Herbie was named for Chaim.  But other than the fact that his wife was Mindel Eizikovics, that's about all I knew about him.  Until now.

Chaim Joshowitz Death Record

Esther Rutner Joshowitz--As Remembered by Her Granddaughters

I've done multiple Ancestor Deep Dives, tracing direct ancestors through documentation.  But there are some who actually remember these people--so I've asked them to share their memories.  Here's the first of several.  Thanks to my mother's first cousins, Barbara Lockspeiser Jaffe and Judy Lockspeiser Rosenbaum, for sharing their memories of my great-grandmother (their grandmother), Esther Rutner Joshowitz.  A deep dive into Esther's life can be found here.

Judy Lockspeiser Rosenbaum
I have some memories of visiting  my grandmother on Sundays.  We lived on 4222 Upview Terrace in Pittsburgh.   My parents would pack us ( my brother Marty, sister Barbara  and me, Judy) up into the car and we made the trip to McKeesport and spent Sunday afternoons.

Esther Rutner Joshowitz with husband Josef, 1947

Ancestor Deep Dive: Esther Rutner Joshowitz

My great grandmother, Esther Rutner Joshowitz, was born on March 25, 1882 in Darva, Maramaros, Austria-Hungary (later Slovakia, now the village of Kolodne in Subcarpthian Ukraine, and always called Kolodne in Yiddish).  Her parents, Shmuel Moshe and Rochel (nee Fuchs) Rutner had been religiously married before her birth but did not civilly marry until she was an adult--so she was only considered legitimized in the eyes of the government after she was already a married woman.  Because of that, she was often referred to as Esther Fuchs (also Fux & Fuksz) in official documents.

On February 8, 1912, Esther married Joszef (later Josef) Joszovics (later Joshowitz) in Darva, and they registered their marriage in nearby Uglya.

Marriage Registration, Joszef Joszovics and Eszter Fuksz

Lou & Minnie Tolchin - 1989 Interview

Thanks to my father, we have a short (16:34) interview with my maternal grandparents (Lou & Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin) from 1989.  In it, they talk about their families and growing up in Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh and McKeesport, respectively) in the 1920s and 1930s.  I've converted it from VHS format, and here it is.  It even includes my grandfather's rendition of the famous (at least within our family) Schenley High School cheer.

Joseph Joshowitz's American Journey - Ancestor Deep Dive (Part 2:1922-1947)

The first part of this deep dive had Joseph Joshowitz's wife Esther and son Isadore coming to join him in America.  The following year, daughter Minnie (my grandmother) was born in McKeesport, PA.  An account of her growing up can be seen here.

Joseph & Esther Joshowitz with children Izzy & Minnie, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, 1922

That same year, Joseph was listed in the McKeesport Directory as Joseph Josavitch, a peddler who lived on Market Street.

McKeesport, PA, 1922 Directory with Joseph Josavitch listed

In 1923, daugher Malka "Mollie" Joshowitz was born.  She and Minnie were very close in age and looked nearly identical, and they often switched places.  (I remember once she came to visit from California when I was little, and I thought she was my grandmother; it was very upsetting when I realized she wasn't!)

Joseph Joshowitz's American Journey - Ancestor Deep Dive (Part 1: 1885-1921)

Joseph Joshowitz, 1922, McKeesport, PA

My great grandfather Joseph Joshowitz was born about October 15, 1885 in what is now Subcarpathian Ukraine, in the Tiachev District (possibly in Tiachev itself; possibly in Kolodne) to Chaim and Mindel (nee Eizikovits) Joshowitz/Yosovitz.  When he was born, though, it was part of Austria-Hungary, and later Slovakia.

Joseph came to America twice.  The first time he came in 1906 as a single 20-year-old man "Josef Jasowics" with his 30-year-old brother Isak.  They were going to join their uncle Josef Eisikovitz in Brooklyn.  They were last from Darva, which was the Hungarian name for Kolodne.

Isak and Joseph Joshowitz's boat record, 1906 (lines 1-2)

Joseph didn't stay too long.  He went back to Kolodne in 1908, by way of England.  On that manifest, he is a 22-year-old laborer, "Josef Josavitz."

Joseph Joshowitz's boat record, New York to Southampton, 1908 (line 11)

Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin, in her own words

In the mid 1990s, I had an MSDOS-based program called (I think) Biography Maker.  I believe it was by the same company that made Family Tree Maker, and it would give prompts that would help you to write an autobiography.  My grandparents Lou & Minnie Tolchin were in town, and I used it to interview my grandmother.  Unfortunately we never got around to finishing, but it did get a really good feeling of her growing up during the Depression in McKeesport, PA.

Here is Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin's story, in her own words.

My Yiddish name is Mindel, and they called me Mindel or Minnie.  I was named after my father's mother.  I was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1922.

Minnie Joshowitz as a baby with her parents Josef and Esther (nee Rutner) Joshowitz and brother Izzy, 1922

When I started school, I was only five years old, and the starting age was six.  But my father went to the principal and told him that I had to go to school because there were three younger children at home. I could not even speak English, only Yiddish, because that's what we spoke in the house.  But I learned fast.  It was located in McKeesport [Pennsylvania] on Walnut Street.  It was called Walnut Street School.  It was a big red brick building three floors high.  If I remember correctly, there were two buildings; one was the old one, and then they built the newer one.  The higher grades, of course, went to the newer one.  The school went from first to eighth grade.  It was a public school, and the name of the principal was Mr. Snyder, an elderly gentleman who we all liked.  My younger sisters and brother went to the same school.  Mollie was one year behind me, and the other two, Herbie and Ruthie were five years behind me.  We didn't play with them at recess, but we had to go home for lunch every day which was three blocks away.  Every once and a while we got a penny for candy.  School was easy for me, and I didn't have to struggle.  Another girl and I took first honors when I graduated eighth grade.  We took sewing in school, and we made our own dresses.  We wore them in the May Day dance, and we graduated in them.  My teacher in eighth grade was Miss Newhouse, and she sent me to an elecution teacher to teach me how to give my speech for graduation.