2008 Bialy Gen Meeting Website
Transcript of 2008 Bialy Gen Meeting Website
BIALYGEN SIGFIFTH ANNUAL MEETINGCHICAGO CONFERENCE
AUGUST 18, 2008
http://www.jewishgen.org/bialygen/index.htm
BIALYGEN MEETING AGENDA
65th Anniversary of the Liquidation of the Ghetto
Book: The Stories Our Parents Found Too Hard To Tell
What is BialyGen?
Pinkos Bialystok
Bialystoker Center Yahrzeit Cards
Grodno Gubernia Business Directories
Other BialyGen Research Projects
Discussion
65th Anniversary of the Liquidation of the Bialystok Ghetto
Today, Monday, August 18, 2008, the commemoration ceremony for the 65th anniversary of the start of the liquidation of the Bialystok Ghetto is culminating in a reception hosted by the Mayor of Bialystok at the Branicki Palace Guest House. The liquidation started at 2 AM on Monday, August 16, 1943 and the bold martyrs of the Resistance held out until September 16.
65th Anniversary of the Liquidation of the Bialystok Ghetto
We now have a first-hand account in English. This book is an English translation of Der Umkum Fun BialystokerYid’ntum (The Annihilation of Bialystoker Jewry) written by survivor Rafael Rajzner.
Let me read: “At 2 am on Monday August 16, 1943, Jews living by the ghetto fence awoke to the frightening sound of large numbers of hobnailed boots marching toward them… Close to 40,000 Jews ran through the dark streets in a state of confusion… “At 3 am several hundred fully armed Nazi killers entered the ghetto. “At 5 am more news spread through the ghetto. Engineer Barasz (head of Judenrart) had been told, that the Bialystokers and their machinery would be moved to Lublin. They would continue working there… Aassembly points were on (five) Streets and in the yard of the Judenrat building. From these checkpoints everyone would be marched to the railway station. Anyone who stayed behind in the prohibited area would be shot dead on sight. The situation was now clear. The ghetto was to be liquidated… “At 3 Chmielna Street, one of the resistance fighters addressed the crowd. ‘Be warned! You are not being sent to Lublin to work. You are being sent to Treblinka to be gassed! If you allow this to happen, you will share the same bitter and disastrous fate as the rest of European Jewry. Our only chance is to set fire to our houses and all our possessions. Leave noting behind for the enemy. Grab your weapons and try to break out of the ghetto. Try to join our partisan brothers in the woods.’ “By 8 am, Cielpa, Fabryczna, Nowogrodzka, Chmielna, and Gorna Streets were all ablaze…”
“At 6:40 am on Tuesday August 17, 1943, more than 800 Nazis rode inrto the ghetto… At 7 am those still at the Judenrat building organised themselves into killer squads of ten men, each one with its own leader… “The killer squads marched up and down the streets. “ Only the 10,000 Jews who hid away can understand the living hell they endured. Different killer squads searched every building, every hour, every day… In our hideout the Cukier family, father, mother, son, and daughter-in-law, all poisoned themselves. “The Nazis had technology on their side. They had listening devices and sniffer dogs. On the second day they used them to extract 2000 Jews from hideouts… At 6 pm the Nazis left the ghetto.
Translated Yizkor Book Available
Those were passages from this book, named by Harry Lew, who oversaw a group of 22 righteous volunteer translators in making this account available to those of us who do not read Yiddish.
Obtaining a Copy
Price is $33 (Aus) plus postage. The following postage prices apply:Australia add $7; Asia Pacific add $14; USA, Canada, Israel add $16; Rest of World add $19 To order go to http://www.abebooks.com, enter “Rajzner, Rafael and Lew, Henry R.” in the author’s box, click on “Find Book,” locate the book, and pay by credit card. The above listed prices are in Australian Dollars. You will be billed in your currency at prevailing rates. In US, the delivered cost will be about $46 US. Books are sent by Airmail and should arrive within two weeks.
BIALYGEN AREA
BIALYGENAREA
GRODNO GUBERNIA
POLISH TOWNS FORMERLY IN GRODNO GUBERNIA #1
Distance from Bialystok
Town Name Pre-War Population KM Direction Coordinates JGFF Researchers
Bialowieza 80 69 SE 5241 2349 3
Bialystok 39,602 0 5308 2309 1799
Bielsk Podlaski 2,392 45 S 5246 2312 96
Bocki 725 56 S 5239 2303 17
Bokiny ? 18 WSW 5239 2255 1
Bransk 2,165 69 S 5244 2251 59
Choroszcz 450 13 W 5309 2259 11
Ciechanowiec 1,649 69 SSW 5240 2231 82
Czeremcha 25 75 SSE 5231 2321 0
Czyze 22 45 SE 5247 2325 0
Dabrowa (Bialostocka) 1,218 62 N 5340 2321 13
Drohiczyn 687 88 SSW 5224 2239 27
Goniadz 1,135 45 NW 5329 2245 41
Grodek 1,508 35 E 5306 2340 21
Grodzisk 16 62 SSW 5235 2244 20
Hajnowka 41 56 SE 5244 2335 2
Jalowka 588 52 ESE 5301 2354 24
Janow (Sokolski) 1,027 45 N 5328 2314 12
Jasionowka 1,306 32 NNW 5323 2302 24
Kleszczele 621 62 SSE 5235 2329 6
Knyszyn 1,235 26 NW 5319 2255 51
POLISH TOWNS FORMERLY IN GRODNO GUBERNIA #2
Distance from Bialystok
Town Name Pre-War Population KM Direction Coordinates JGFF Researchers
Korycin 265 35 N 5327 2306 16
Krynki 3,495 45 NE 5316 2347 77
Kuznica 450 56 NNE 5331 2339 17
Lapy 623 26 SW 5259 2252 20
Lupianka Stara ? 21 WSW 5303 2252 0
Malesze 14 45 S 5248 2258 0
Michalowo / Nezbodka 887 32 ESE 5302 2336 10
Mielnik 233 94 S 5220 2303 10
Milejczyce 648 75 S 5231 2308 15
Narew 419 38 ESE 5255 2331 6
Narewka (Mala) 758 50 ESE 5250 2345 25
Niemirow 149 94 S 5218 2309 5
Nowy Dwor 402 62 NNE 5338 2333 ?
Nurzec 38 75 S 5229 2310 0
Orla 1,167 50 SSE 5242 2320 22
Sidra 455 56 NNE 5334 2327 13
Siemiatycze 3,718 82 S 5227 2253 96
Sokolka 2,821 45 NNE 5325 2330 74
Suchowola 1,262 56 N 5335 2306 60
Suprasl 390 19 NE 5313 2321 5
Suraz 120 26 SSW 5257 2257 0
Troscianka ? 45 N 5328 2322 0
Trzcianne / Trestina 1,401 45 WNW 5320 2241 27
Tykocin 1,461 26 W 5312 2247 97
Wasilkow 950 13 NNE 5312 2313 13
Zabludow 1,817 19 ESE 5301 2321 54
PINKOS BIALYSTOK(THE CHRONICLE OF
BIALYSTOK)Basic Material for the History of
the Jews in Bialystok till the Period after First World War
VOLUME I and II
by A.S. HERSHBERG
Published 1949/1950New York City
Hershberg was an academic researcher who perished in the Bialystok Ghetto. His
manuscript was sent to a son in New York before the War
Pinkos BialystokJewishGen Yizkor Book Project
• Translate Jewish history of Bialystok from Yiddish to English
• A great resource for family historians
• Cost estimated at $18,600 (contributions to date are $2400)
• Translate section by section • two sections translated and more in the pipeline
• each section costs from $20 to $340
• Volume I & II Names Index Completed
•Volume I Town Index being transliterated
• Please Contribute – see JewishGen Yizkor Book Project
• http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Bialystok/Bialystok.html
• You can designate your contribution to a section of the book based on the Names Index or subjects in the Table of Contents• contact Mark Halpern at [email protected]
PINKOS BIALYSTOK Volume I Index of People (Surnames)
Pages 465-477
BIALYSTOKER CENTER
NEW YORK
INDEXING OF YAHRZEIT CARDS
5000 CARDS
Created when Yahrzeit Plaques were
purchased
Cards used to remind listed family members
of Yahrzeit dates
Index Now Onlinehttp://www.jewishgen.org/BialyGen/
Yahrzeit.htm
http://www.jewishgen.org/BialyGen/Yahrzeit.htm
This example shows three generations and a surname change
This example shows three generations and mother’s, sister’s and daughter’s married surnames
BIALYGen ProjectsCompleted Or Underway
Project Description Responsible Organization Status Comments
1897 All Russian Census for Grodno Gubernia Belarus SIG / BIALYGen Completed Search on Belarus SIG website
1895 &1903 Business Directory (Vsia Rossiia) BIALYGen Completed Completed by Sidney Zabludoff
1929 Business Directory JRI-Poland / BIALYGen To be started Index BIALYGen area
1938 Bialystok Telephone Directory Zchor.org Completed Online at Zchor.org
Bialystok Children Transport from Theresenstadt to Auschwitz - 1943
Zchor.org Completed Online at Zchor.org
Bialystok Martyrs List Zchor.org Completed Online at Zchor.org
Bialystok Memorial Website Zchor.org Ongoing Thank you Ada Holtzman
Bialystok Photo Album -- Translation of Name Index BIALYGen Completed
Bialystok Survivor List -- 1946 Bialystoker Stimme Zchor.org Completed Online at Zchor.org
Bialystoker Memorial Book -- Name Index BIALYGen Completed Donated by David Rosen
Bialystoker Memorial Book on the Web Zchor.org Completed Online at Zchor.org
Ellis Island Database -- Bialystok Jewish Index Museum of Family History Completed Thanks to Steve Lasky, curator of Museum of Family History
Indexing Landsmanshaften Plots in NYC Area Cemeteries Museum of Family History In Progress Contact [email protected] if you find a surname of interest
Indexing Bialystok Jewish (Ulica Wschodnia) Cemetery BIALYGen In progress Supporting Grodno Guberniya Poland Imaging Project -- a project of Dr. Heidi Szpek of Central Washington University
Indexing Yahrzeit Cards from Bialystoker Center in New York
BIALYGen Completed Thanks to the Bialystoker Center and all the BIALYGen volunteers
Inventory of Bialystok Area Survivor Testimonies BIALYGen Completed Available at Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw
JRI-Poland Indexing -- Extended Indices JRI-Poland In progress Adding Mother's names/other data
Pinkos Bialystok -- translation of 2 Volume history of Jewish Bialystok
BIALYGen and JewishGen Yizkor Book Project
Commenced April 2006
Names Indexes Online: Volume I and Volume II. Need Contributions for translation to English
Seized Property List -- Regional Liquidation Office BIALYGen Completed from USHMM
Statistics of the Movement of the Jewish Population in Bialystok 1909-1918
BIALYGen Translation to Begin
Need Volunteers for Translation from Yiddish to English
BIALYGEN SIGfuture research projects
If readers have any ideas, please share them withMark Halpern at [email protected]