Wordless Wednesday ~ Flona of Romania

The handwriting on the back of these photos identifies the woman, but it is unclear what her name is.

The first photograph is about 3" x 5" and there doesn't appear to be a date.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Couple Betty and Izu 1951

Last week I shared a photo of Betty and Izu from 1937.

Here is another one from fourteen years later. This one is a 2" x 3" snapshot.

The left is Romanian [thank you to Theo Rafael in the Genealogical Translations Group]:

To the parents
With all our longing
From Izu Beti Marcel
Buc [bucharest] 27 February 1951

The right (sideways) is Yiddish [thank you to Esther Chanie Dushinsky in the Genealogical Translations Group]:

This is my oldest daughter and her husband and one child from Romania.

If you have an additional comment about the translation or you know who this family is, please let me know!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Couple Betty and Izu 1937

From my mother-in-law's collection, from her father, Morris Goldstein, as he was from Romania.

Thanks to Toth Levente at the Jewish Genealogy Portal on Facebook for the following translation:

To our parent with pleasure Betty and Izu. Iancu Zeilig's family in Negrești

Negrești is about 24 miles south of Iași, where the Goldstein / Yancu family was reportedly from.

If you have an additional comment about the translation or you know who these people are, please let me know!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Yitzchak and Sheva and Sons

I have connected with a cousin of my husband's in Israel which has inspired me to share more of the photos from that branch of the Goldstein / Yancu side of the family.

This is the oldest photograph in my collection from that side of the family.

The family story is that this is Yitzchak Yancu and his wife, Sheva Moskowitz and two brothers of my husband's grandfather, Morris Goldstein. They remained in Romania when Morris followed his brother Max to New York City in 1914, after having changed his surname from Yancu to Goldstein.

There is nothing on the back of the photo to identify which brothers these were.

Morris never returned to Romania and this photograph has been treasured over the years.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cousin Israel (in Israel)

Another of the many photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

The translation of the Yiddish appears to be:

This is my son Israel.
Next month, on 7/16 he is turning 24...and to many long years

Israel is a first cousin of my mother-in-law and the son of her uncle Usher (Morris Goldstein's younger brother). Now I have a birthday for him - July 16 (sometime in the 1940s).

Thank you to those at the Jewish Genealogy Portal Facebook group for assistance in the translation.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Usher and his Family

Another of the many photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

1. This is my daughter's husband Mordecai
2. This is my daughter Sheva and her two children
3. My daughter-in-law Dadie [?] with her child Goldie
4. My son Ezriel
         From me and my children
                                              Usher

~~~~~~~~~~~

Usher is a younger brother to Morris Goldstein. These young children are second cousins to my husband.

Thank you to volunteers at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston's "Help Day" in January 2014, as well as volunteers at Tracing the Tribe Facebook page for assistance in the translation.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sheva, Mordecai and Tziva

Another of the many photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

This is my daughter Sheva and her husband
Her husband's name is Mordecai and
their child Tziva

I believe the person who wrote this is my husband's great uncle Usher Goldstein (or Yancu or Yancovitz), brother to Morris Goldstein (1897-1965).

(Siblings Morris, Max, and Anna immigrated to America from Romania; Usher and his brother Shmuel immigrated to Israel.)

Thank you to volunteers at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston's "Help Day" in January 2014 for assistance in the translation.

November 17 update: And thank you to R. Shoshi Balbirer, member of Tracing the Tribe Facebook page who let me know the original image was upside down! (I have corrected it.)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Ethel, Rachel and Roza

I have several photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

The back is in Yiddish and I had help with the translation when I attended a "Help Day" meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston a couple of years ago. Let me know in the comments if you have anything to add about the translation.

Surname Saturday ~ Goldstein of Romania and New Jersey

I am using the Surname Saturday prompt to review the ancestral lines for my husband's family.

The earliest Goldstein whose name I know may not have even been a Goldstein!

Isaac lived in Iasi, Romania. Family lore said that his surname was Yancu and that the name was changed to Goldstein at Ellis Island. However, (1) names were never changed at Ellis Island, and (2) I found Moische Goldstein on a passenger list with the surname Goldstein AND referencing his father in Iasi, Romania, as Itzik Goldstein. Moische Goldstein arrived in New York on August 3, 1914. This is the second page of his passenger list record.

The name and complete address of nearest relative or friend
in country whence alien came:
father: Itzik Goldstein
Strada Ruksanska Yassy

Isaac Yancu was married to Sheva Moskowitz (listed as Scheiba on her daughter's death certificate). I have one photograph of her. They had six sons and one daughter. I'm not sure of the birth order and don't have much primary source information for the following:

• Max (1892-1956) - lived in New York City and was the first to emigrate to America. I have written about him and his family.
• Anna (1895-1918) - emigrated with Morris in 1914 and died in New York. I shared her death certificate here.
• Moische / Morris (1897-1965) - see below.
• Mendel - maybe emigrated to Israel; maybe remained in Romania (dying young?)
• Shmuel-Leib Yancu - emigrated to Israel. See a photograph of him here and here.
• Pineu Goldstein - remained in Romania. See his photograph here, though my mother-in-law always thought that this photograph was of the youngest brother.
• Usher - is remembered as the youngest and he emigrated to Israel.

Son Morris' gravestone has the inscription: Moshe Hersh bar Yitzchak Halevi, which indicates his father, a Levite, was named Yitzchak. I'm still waiting on FindAGrave photo requests for sister, Anna, and brother, Max, of Morris (buried at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens) in order to see what the Hebrew on their gravestones is.

Based on my mother-in-law's memories, I believe Sheva died in the mid-1930s and Isaac died in the late 1930s, both in Romania. Although there is a story that Sheva came to America and was sent back to Romania for health reasons, I have not found any evidence of this.

Military Monday ~ Pineu Goldstein in Romania

I thank the volunteer Romanian translator at the JGSGB (Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Boston) "Annual Help Day" for the following translation.

The message on the left is translated as:
    On the occasion I
    was photographed for the military
    I send you this
    photo of mine
    as a memento.
    [Your] brother,
       Pineu
       Goldstein
    Yassy [Romania] 15/3/928  [15 March 1928]

At right, it is addressed:
    Honorable Family
    Moise Goldstein
    New York
    America

Now, I can't imagine that this was mailed like this - there were at least a couple dozen Morris Goldsteins in New York at this time. I'm guessing that this labeled photo was then placed in an envelope and mailed to my husband's grandfather.

The name Pineu Goldstein is not familiar to my mother-in-law. All she knew of this photo is that this was the the youngest brother of her father, Morris Goldstein, who "remained in Romania and became a Communist." And where we thought that only the brothers who emigrated to America (Max and Morris) changed their surname to Goldstein from Yancu, it appears that at least one of the brothers who remained in Romania had the Goldstein surname.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Shmuel Leib's Family in Israel

I previously shared a bit about the Goldstein (or Yancu) cousins in Israel. The man in the photo below is Shmuel Leib, the younger brother of husband's maternal grandfather, Morris Goldstein.

The back of the photo has a note in Yiddish. Again, I am grateful for the JGSGB (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston) "Annual Help Day" where members volunteered to help with translations, as well as those who helped out at the Tracing the Tribe Facebook page.

The translation of the Yiddish on the back of this photograph is:
    From me
    Ethel and
    both dear [or Bluma's or beautiful?]
    children for you
    Rosa
      Shmuel Leib
    15/1/67 [15 January 1967]

A couple of comments: 1. It is possible this photo was taken in 1964 (which is upside down at bottom left), and 2. "for you Rosa" refers to Rose (Levitt) Goldstein, who would have been the recipient of the photo, receiving it after her husband (and Shmuel Leib's brother), Morris Goldstein, died in 1965.

Goldstein (or Yancu) Cousins in Israel

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the JGSGB (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston) "Annual Help Day" where members volunteered to help with translations. I brought digital images of several photographs with handwriting on the back in either Romanian, Yiddish or, in some cases, both. These are photographs from Morris Goldstein's family.

At right is a photo of Morris (and wife, Rose) with his brother, Max (and wife Lottie) which I previously shared. There were six brothers in the family, and Morris and Max were the only ones who immigrated from Iasi, Romania, to America (along with sister, Anna, who died in 1918).

Even though the volunteer translators didn't have the time to provide complete translations for all of the Romanian and Yiddish I had (some of the handwriting was challenging to decipher), I was able to get enough to piece together the family a bit more.

I know that two brothers went to Israel and I believe two remained in Romania, the oldest and the youngest; the oldest brother is the only one I don't know the name of. The family story says that their surname was originally Yancu, but some of the family changed their surname to Goldstein (before immigration), and some retained the Yancu surname. I am still looking for confirmation of this. I believe at least one of the brothers who immigrated to Israel kept the Yancu surname.

The brothers did stay in touch with Morris and sent pictures of themselves and family members. Morris never returned to Romania and never saw his brothers again. (Morris died in 1965.)

However, his widow, Rose, his daughter, son and daughter-in-law visited Israel in the late 1970s and met one of his brothers, the next youngest, Shmuel, and his family. Shmuel could speak and understand Romanian and Yiddish (he never learned Hebrew) and his sister-in-law, Rose could speak and understand English and Yiddish, so she communicated with him in Yiddish. His daughters did learn Hebrew and English, having been born and raised in Israel.

The translation of the Yiddish on the back of this photograph is:

From Shmuel-Leib
and Ethel
for their Rose
    Shmuel-Leib
15/1/67 [15 January 1967]

My mother-in-law told me that some of the mannerisms of her uncle reminded her of her father, even though they hadn't seen each other since Morris left for America in 1914. Shmuel died soon after their visit to Israel.