Blog
Blog posts
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Chaim Blei: Son of Seli from Debica
Chaim-Efraim Blei was born in 1844 in Sadagora, just north of Czernowitz. Chaim’s father Shimon Dov ha-Levi (Levi tribe) Blei likely emigrated to the area from a town called Dembica, as the marriage record reads that the groom is “son… Continue reading
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Behind the Middle East conflict / Gil Carl Alroy ; interviewed by Abraham Aig.
Play Author discusses his book about the Middle East and the conflicts between Arabs and Jews. Broadcast on WBAI 31 July 1975. Continue reading
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A Shtetl Memory from Grandpa
My maternal grandfather was born on June 15, 1900, in the shtetl Glazmanka (now Gostini, Latvia) in the Dvinsk district of Vitebsk province in Imperial Russia. The family was religious, and father Jankel-Jossel Wunsch, aged forty, was a tailor “working… Continue reading
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Found Treasure
Cousin Daniel Stanger has helped me to locate my father’s naturalization papers in the Israeli State Archives. Dated 4 July 1947, they show me a familiar-looking young man I’ve never seen before — I’ve only seen photos of my dad… Continue reading
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Strada Romana
In a 1936 Czernowitz business directory (Source: ehpes.com), Samuel Blei, my great-uncle, is listed as a Frizer (Barber) working at Strada Romana #92. In the Austro-Hungarian period, the street was named “Russische Gasse” and in the Soviet and Ukrainian eras, it… Continue reading
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Strada Dionisie Bejan Nr. 10
On October 11, 1941 the Jews in Czernowitz reported to the city ghetto, from which they would be evacuated to the camps forming in Transnistria. No signs were posted – they are notified orally that they must report to the… Continue reading
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Schmil and Mincze Schmatnik
In the mid-1800s, Schmil Elias (or Eliahu) Schmatnik and his wife Mincze Donenfeld both lived in the Sadagora community north of Czernowitz. Schmil & Mincze had at least three children. Isaac (1866 unknown), Joel (1864) (see my post Galanterie Schmatnik for… Continue reading
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To Tell the Truth 6/23/59
My dad appeared on To Tell the Truth on 6/23/59. The host was Bud Collyer, and the panel was Jayne Meadows, Don Ameche, Kitty Carlisle and Tom Poston. Scroll to 16:28 to start his segment. The four camps he mentions… Continue reading
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Escape to Life
Cheating death at the hands of the Nazis and Arabs, he became one of America’s most brilliant students. Continue reading
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The Yiddishe Plotke Agentur
Recently, when reading some personal histories of life in Romania during the war, I came across several references to “agencies” of gossip or wishes, which turned out to be a sort of inside joke, a humorous expression of the frustration… Continue reading
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Sigmund Schmatnik: Monies to Jenny in Iampol
Postcards and letters from Czernowitz regarding the sum of 5k lei Sigmund Schmatnik was attempting to transmit to Jenny Landwehr in Judeţul Jugastru, one of the 13 counties that were part of the Government of Transniestria. Continue reading
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Mordko Schmatnik: St. Polten, Austria
I first became aware of the Austrian branch of the Schmatnik family courtesy of a member of the Czernowitz-Ehpes research listserv. In 2016 I reached out to the new-to-me-then list in an email, explaining my relation to Czernowitz and my… Continue reading
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Postcard to Sigmund Schmatnik
The origin of this story is an image of a postcard sent to Sigmund Schmatnik in Bershad from Herman Lieb Stummer at return address Avram Iancu Nr 6 – discovered on one of my periodic crawls through the online archives… Continue reading
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Josef Schmatnik and his family: Sadagora to the Struma
Josef Schmatnik was born in 1868. He is my second great uncle. Josef Schmatnik, Tischler A 1898 Czernowitz business directory shows a Josef Schmatnik working from #23 Schulgasse (view in Google maps). His profession was “Tischler” or a carpenter – a… Continue reading
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Samuel Blei—Czernowitz to Mittelbau-Dora
Samuel Blei was born on May 9, 1901 to parents Salomon Selig Blei and Gusta Sandberg. His sister Ettel was my grandmother. Marriage to Freida Schneider Samuel married Freida Schneider in 1926. During the war, they lived at Fiakerhalter #2.… Continue reading
Schmatnik.com 