Gershon-Lehrer.be

Genealogy Services

Please contact me if you’re in the need of Genealogy related services (research, preparations, trips, etc).

You may contact me for any country
(such as Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Israel, etc).

Contact me and let’s discuss fees and further details about your request.

Tag: genealogy

  • Cantor Kalman Kalich (December 17, 1903, Poland – February 25, 1982, New York City, New York, USA)

    Cantor Kalman Kalich (December 17, 1903, Poland – February 25, 1982, New York City, New York, USA)

    This post replaces an earlier article about Chazzan Kalman Kalich previously published elsewhere on this site (see: Kalman Kalich [December 17, 1903, Kalich, Poland – February 25, 1982, New York City, New York, USA]).

    Chazzan Kalman Kalich on the cover of The Art of Cantor Kalmen Kallich, released by The Greater Recording Company in 1976 (GRC 298).

    According to the Extract from the Registry of Engaged Jews, 1885–1937 of Brzozów, Kalman (or Kelman) was born on January 4, 1903, in Brzozów (now in Poland), as Kelman Stieber, the son of Mozes Yosef Kalech and Sara Stieber.

    This date of birth differs slightly from the one listed in the United States Social Security Death Index, which records December 18, 1902—17 days earlier—as Chazzan Kalich’s birthdate, and notes February 1982 as the month of his passing.

    Yet another variation appears in the book First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek, which cites December 17, 1903 as his date of birth. The United States Censuses of 1910 and 1930 also reflect some uncertainty, estimating his year of birth as approximately 1903–1904.

    Taken together, these sources present three slightly differing timelines—ranging across about one to three years. Based on this evidence, it seems reasonable to conclude that Kalman Kalich was likely born during the winter of 1902–1903.

    Kalman Stieber in the Extract from the Registry of Engaged Jews, 1885–1937, of Brzozów

    Chazzan Kalich served in several congregations, most notably at Congregation Ohab Zedek, where he officiated for over 40 years. The following is noted about the congregation on their website (https://ozny.org/about.php):

    (more…)

  • Preparing your research at the Belgian State Archives

    Because archives are not always only one block away from you, or because their opening times don’t suit you always well, you most probably will need to do as much preparatory and research work as possible before and after your visit. In order to know how to plan your visit to the archives the best way possible, it is of utmost importance to know what you should and what you should not expect at the archives.

    It is for that reason that I’ll try to share in this article some of my personal tips for doing research in the Belgian state archives while focusing on the alien files (click here for an overview of other articles with tips ont doing research at the Belgian archives on this website).

    I’ve explained a bit about the numbers which were assigned to each newly opened file (see: “An introduction to the Belgian Statearchives and its immigration files”). When you are looking for a specific relative, you obviously need to get the number of that immigrant’s file. Now, the reading room at the state archives have three sets of indices to the files at your disposal. These indices are copies of the originals. The originals can obviously not be borrowed out to the visitors, what you’ll get instead are the copies in various formats. The format of each copy depends on the index you’ll need, see later).

    The originals of the indices are papers in an A3 format with small cards pasted on it. Each card has on it the number of the person’s file and very basic information of the persons such as the first and last names. Additionally to that information, you may find sometimes the date of birth, the place where s/he was born, the occupation of that person, the partner, etc.

    An example of how the top row (with tree cards) of one copied A3 page from the index looks like on the microfilms (it did not come out clearly with my digital camera therefore I had to note it down on a piece of paper). Note the details in this index. On the top we see the starting letters for this page (TIMBER).You see for some people the details of the partner (the name, the file number, etc). For most of the people you see also the DOB and the place where they were born. The file number is obviously still the most important piece of information on these cards.Â

    This all means that (more…)

  • Rabbi Uri Weinberg A”H (Uri Ben Menachem Halevi) [18 May 1923 – 17 Adar 5772 (11 March 2012)]

    Rabbi Uri Weinberg A”H (Uri Ben Menachem Halevi) [18 May 1923 – 17 Adar 5772 (11 March 2012)]

    Please share with the rest of us your memories (add a new comment below this post or send me an e-mail)

    Please pledge to learn a Mishna in the memory of the Mes Mitzva and Tzaddik Uri Ben Menachem Halevi.a

    On Sunday, 11 March 2012, I received a message that Rabbi Uri Weinberg a”h (Uri Ben Menachem Halevi), or as he was known Reb Uri, passed away in Yerushalayim after a massive heart attack in his home, which was in the Batei Ungarin.

    I met him for the first time in about 2000 when my brother introduced me to him. The first time I saw him, I never imagined that the man standing in front of me with his trademarked grey jacket was no simple man; he was a

    (more…)

  • How to order and interpret records from Polish repositories for the illiterate in Polish

    Polish Alphabet-gray letters are historical characters (source: Wikimedia Commons, User: Faxe)

    Usually when I send an e-mail to the Polish archives or other authorities in English, they will reply to it and include payment instructions and/or the results of their research. In other cases they will just reply that they do not understand the English language and require another e-mail written in the Polish language. These replies from the Polish archives or authorities will sometimes be in English and sometimes in Polish.

    On 6 December 2011 I received an interesting reply from the Registry Office in Tarnow (UrzÄ™du Stanu Cywilnego w Tarnowie) in which they stated that by law the Polish language is the (more…)

  • Kalman Kalich [December 17, 1903, Kalich, Poland – February 25, 1982, New York City, New York, USA]

    Please note that an updated text about Chazzan Kalman Kallich exist elsewhere on this website, this text is now outdated (see: Cantor Kalman Kalich (17 December 1903 in Poland – 25 February 1982 in New York City, NY, USA))

    Cantor Kalman Kalich served among others, as the cantor of the Ohab Zedek congregation in New York.

    From the website of Congregation Ohab Zedek (link):

    Congregation Ohab Zedek (formally known as the First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek), or OZ, as it is fondly known, is more than just a synagogue. Under the leadership of Rabbi Allen Schwartz, the Shul is known for its open doors and big heart.
    […]
    OZ has a proud history. The Shul was founded in 1873 on Avenue B and Houston Street on the Lower East Side as the First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek. After a sojourn on West 116th Street in Harlem, the Congregation moved to its present location at 118 West 95th Street in 1926. Today, as part of a revitalized Upper West Side that has drawn an ever-expanding population of families and young adults, OZ is a vibrant and dynamic Jewish center for prayer, learning and social activities.

    After contacting the congregation, I got the following e-mail on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 from Mr. Chaim Steinberger (ChaiStein-*at*-aol.com) who serves as the archivist of the synagogue:

    […]This is the information that I wrote in the book on the History of the shul (Ohab Zedek), and that’s all the information I have:

    “Cantor Kalich was born in Kalich, Poland on December 17, 1903. He previously served as Cantor of the Arena Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary, and sang in Yossele Rosenblatt’s choir in Pressburg, Hungary. He was honored for his many years of service at Ohab Zedek at a dinner held at the Hotel Olcott, New York City, given in his honor on Saturday evening, March 11, 1961, recognizing his 25 years of dedicated service to the congregation. He died in New York City on February 24, 1982.”

    By the way, he was chazan at Ohab Zedek from 1935 to 1981. I believe his wife’s name was Rose.[…]

    This is the book which (more…)

  • Some of my family members in Cuba during WWII

    I mentioned in another article the fact that Belgian Jews exiled to Cuba during WWII. My relatives also stayed in Cuba. Many of the Jews who lived in Cuba during the War, were Belgian refugees. For more on this topic you may read Jews from Antwerp in Cuba.

    Cuba and some of my relatives:
    I found in the book “Jewish Community of Cuba – The Golden Years 1906-1958” by Mr. Jay Levinson (ISBN 78-0977620708) a paragraph on page 133 with a reference to the copy of La Voz de Betar:

    “Not all the Belgian Jews, however, confined all of their activity to their own closely-knit society. J. Dorf lectured to Betar on Jewish History; Ringler spoke to the meeting of Betar about geography of the Holy Land.”

    I found in that copy of La Voz de Betar (Cuba) which appeared in September 1944 (this file is known at the Jabotinsky Institute archives as file 3/239 bet), some names of people belonging to the Dorf family (my great-grandmother Liebe Dorf was married to my great-grandfather Gerschon Lehrer):

  • The State Archives in Belgium: Getting there

    (See also the links at the end of this article)

    How to get there:
    The State Archives of Belgium are on the following address:

    rue de Ruysbroeck 2
    1000 Brussels
    phone: +32 2 513 76 80

    [cetsEmbedGmap src=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rue+de+Ruysbroeck+2,+1000+Bruxelles,+Belgi%C3%AB&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=50.842262,4.356058&spn=0.006436,0.014999&z=16&vpsrc=0 width=400 height=425 marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 frameborder=0 scrolling=no]

    It is easy to get there by taxi or public transportation. The national airport of Belgium, which is situated in Zaventem near Brussels, is about 14.4 km (8.95 miles) away and it takes about 16 minutes to drive by car (without traffic).

    The museum district “Kunstberg – Mont des Arts”:
    The archives are near the Kunstberg which in French is called Mont des Arts (hill of Arts).

    That area in fact serves as the Museum District of Brussels which was conceived by King Léopold II. King Léopold II decided to turn the whole district into what today is known as the Mont des Arts. The King dreamed of making Brussels a modern and cultural capital city and Mont des Arts the treasure of his country and witness to the history of Belgium.

    A plate memorializing Belgian kings Leopold II for conceiving the Mont des Arts, king Leopold III for implementing it and king Baudouin/Boudewijn I for establishing it. The Mont des Arts was dedicated to the memory of king Albert I

    The Mont des Arts is situated in about the same area which was known as the “Jewish (more…)

  • A Swedish Family

    The Bernadottes of Sweden (source: wikimedia commons)

    I came a while ago across an interesting article in the Belgian newspaper “De Standaard“.
    They run each day during the holiday season a series  of short articles ( “Elders is het beter”, literally translated “elsewhere it is better”) in which they describe what other countries do better then Belgium.

    On Friday (July 29, 2011) the newspaper discussed the Swedish system of how family members are called.

    In English you would for example mention your mothers mother as “my maternal grandmother”, which in Swedish would be only six (!) letters short: “mormor”. My paternal grandmother would (more…)

  • Yizkor Book on Ustrzyki Dolne (Istrik) and vicinity – part 2 (namelists)

    (Please click here to go to the explanation for this page)
    This is part 2 of 2 with a selection of the complete Yizkor Book on Ustrzyki-Dolne. Click here for part 1.

     

  • Yizkor Book on Ustrzyki Dolne (Istrik) and vicinity – part 1

    (Please click here to go to the explanation for this page)
    This is part 1 of 2 with a selection of the complete Yizkor Book on Ustrzyki-Dolne. Click here for part 2.
    Click here to go directly to the article about family Beer on this page