Bringing it back to Uman

Last December, I wrote about how Alex Krakovsky was working to open up Ukraine's archives.  In addition to suing (and winning), he's also made a page to put scanned documents from the archives online.  No, they're not in English.  But yes, they are awesome.  More are being added all the time, so keep checking to see if your family's towns are represented.

But in any case, I was looking through the list of scanned documents when I saw revision lists (censuses) from Haisyn/Gaisyn.  My Zubkis family was registered in Kuna, just outside Haisyn, so I went through these.  First I reviewed 158 pages of the 1851 census--and there was not a Zubkis to be found.  So then I started on the the 92 pages in the 1850 census--and on pages 29-31, I hit the jackpot.

Zubko Family 1850 Cover Sheet

Religious Excuse Note from Court, 1869

This time of year, I'm having to take an awful lot of time off work for all of the holidays.  In addition, sunset is getting earlier and earlier, so I need to leave earlier and earlier on Fridays as well to get home well before Shabbat starts.  Generations of my family have had to ask for postponements of various events that conflict with religious observances.  And here's an early example:

Religious Excuse Note, Nizhyn, 1869

Rosh Hashanah, 1935

Rosh Hashanah is coming up next week.  So I wanted to share a family Rosh Hashanah card with readers.

My grandmother's first cousin was Chaiky Wollich Chechman, who grew up in Sienkiewiczowka, Poland (now Senkevychivka, Ukraine).  Chaiky and her husband Mendel, as well as their young daughter Devorah, were all killed in the Holocaust.  But in 1935 things were still good, and they sent out cards to their friends and relatives.

Front of the Chechman 1935 Shana Tova Card

My 11th Great Grandfather, and Kraków

Since I was already in Warsaw, I took a high-speed train to spend a whirlwind 24 hours in Kraków.  One of the first things I did after dropping off my backpack was to head to the Remah Cemetery.

My 11th great grandfather (yes, you read that right--it helps when you can connect to a rabbinic line) was buried in Kraków in 1640.  Rabbi Joel Sirkis, also known as the BaCh, after his Bayis Chadash writings, served in many communities in the area, the final as a Rabbi in Kraków.  He even has his own page on Wikipedia.

Me at the grave of Rabbi Joel Sirkis