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Re: GRUSZKA v GROSSMAN
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Judith Singer jsingerarslibris@gmail.com
Jul 26, 2015, 2:47:06 PM7/26/15
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Hi - probably the reason for the change from GRUSZKA to GROSSMAN was
the desire to change from a Slavic- and alien-sounding surname to a
Germanic surname, and the new name was picked because of the
similarity in sound of the first syllable.
Many Jews with Eastern European surnames changed their names to
German-sounding ones in the U.K. and U.S. because German Jews were
regarded more highly than Eastern European Jews. This attitude was
held not only by the gentiles but also by the already-established
German Jews, who had largely assimilated into the culture of their new
countries and looked with disfavor on the "uncivilized" arrivals from
Eastern Europe, with their strange garb, "primitive" Orthodox
religious beliefs, men in beards and women in shaytls, etc.
The change was sometimes made even among families still living in
Eastern Europe. My grandfather's family name was CHARNY, which means
"black" in Polish. At least one branch changed their surname to
SCHWARTZ (German / Yiddish for black) while in Lithuania and a few
more did so upon arrival in the U.S.
Judith Singer
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Hi - probably the reason for the change from GRUSZKA to GROSSMAN was
the desire to change from a Slavic- and alien-sounding surname to a
Germanic surname, and the new name was picked because of the
similarity in sound of the first syllable.
Many Jews with Eastern European surnames changed their names to
German-sounding ones in the U.K. and U.S. because German Jews were
regarded more highly than Eastern European Jews. This attitude was
held not only by the gentiles but also by the already-established
German Jews, who had largely assimilated into the culture of their new
countries and looked with disfavor on the "uncivilized" arrivals from
Eastern Europe, with their strange garb, "primitive" Orthodox
religious beliefs, men in beards and women in shaytls, etc.
The change was sometimes made even among families still living in
Eastern Europe. My grandfather's family name was CHARNY, which means
"black" in Polish. At least one branch changed their surname to
SCHWARTZ (German / Yiddish for black) while in Lithuania and a few
more did so upon arrival in the U.S.
Judith Singer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watch JewishGen’s video – click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nASSn4rDXh4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Planning to use Ancestry.com? Start by using the "Ancestry Search Box"
on the JewishGen homepage.
By doing this, any eventual subscription to Ancestry.com will result in
Jewishgen receiving a commission.
It’s an easy way to help JewishGen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support JewishGen with a contribution to the JewishGen General Fund!
http://www.jewishgen.org/jewishgen-erosity/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sign up for the JGFFAlert!
http://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/jgff-faq.html#q3.7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join our mailing list at http://lyris.jewishgen.org/ListManager if you
would like the convenience of receiving all soc.genealogy.jewish posts in
your mailbox, instead of having to search for them in the newsgroup, whose
content may not be consistently carried in its entirety by all providers.
Jules F Levin ameliede@earthlink.net
Jul 26, 2015, 9:46:54 PM7/26/15
to
X-No-archive: yes
they called the German Jews in America Hebes, while the German Jews
called them Yids.
Lithuanian dissident and eventual President Vytautas Landsbergis came
from a Lithuanian family originally Zemkalnis. It wasn't ethnic in the
modern sense; the upper educated bourgeoisie in the Baltic was German,
cf. Prussia and Estonia, where the ruling elite were Germans. And
Lutheranism was on of the 5 "legal" religions tolerated in the Russian
Baltic. And of course in Austro-Hungarian Galicia many upwardly mobile
families were becoming Germanized. So even without the American German
Jews we might have some examples among our brethren.
Jules Levin
Los Angeles
On 7/26/2015 5:27 AM, Judith Singer jsingera...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi - probably the reason for the change from GRUSZKA to GROSSMAN was
> the desire to change from a Slavic- and alien-sounding surname to a
> Germanic surname, and the new name was picked because of the
> similarity in sound of the first syllable.
>
> Many Jews with Eastern European surnames changed their names to
> German-sounding ones in the U.K. and U.S. because German Jews were
> regarded more highly than Eastern European Jews. This attitude was
> held not only by the gentiles but also by the already-established
> German Jews, who had largely assimilated into the culture of their new
> countries and looked with disfavor on the "uncivilized" arrivals from
> Eastern Europe, with their strange garb, "primitive" Orthodox
> religious beliefs, men in beards and women in shaytls, etc.
My dad, born in Chicago in 1900 from Litvak immigrants, told me that
> Hi - probably the reason for the change from GRUSZKA to GROSSMAN was
> the desire to change from a Slavic- and alien-sounding surname to a
> Germanic surname, and the new name was picked because of the
> similarity in sound of the first syllable.
>
> Many Jews with Eastern European surnames changed their names to
> German-sounding ones in the U.K. and U.S. because German Jews were
> regarded more highly than Eastern European Jews. This attitude was
> held not only by the gentiles but also by the already-established
> German Jews, who had largely assimilated into the culture of their new
> countries and looked with disfavor on the "uncivilized" arrivals from
> Eastern Europe, with their strange garb, "primitive" Orthodox
> religious beliefs, men in beards and women in shaytls, etc.
they called the German Jews in America Hebes, while the German Jews
called them Yids.
>
> The change was sometimes made even among families still living in
> Eastern Europe. My grandfather's family name was CHARNY, which means
> "black" in Polish. At least one branch changed their surname to
> SCHWARTZ (German / Yiddish for black) while in Lithuania and a few
> more did so upon arrival in the U.S.
This name changing even happened among gentiles in Eastern Europe. The
> The change was sometimes made even among families still living in
> Eastern Europe. My grandfather's family name was CHARNY, which means
> "black" in Polish. At least one branch changed their surname to
> SCHWARTZ (German / Yiddish for black) while in Lithuania and a few
> more did so upon arrival in the U.S.
Lithuanian dissident and eventual President Vytautas Landsbergis came
from a Lithuanian family originally Zemkalnis. It wasn't ethnic in the
modern sense; the upper educated bourgeoisie in the Baltic was German,
cf. Prussia and Estonia, where the ruling elite were Germans. And
Lutheranism was on of the 5 "legal" religions tolerated in the Russian
Baltic. And of course in Austro-Hungarian Galicia many upwardly mobile
families were becoming Germanized. So even without the American German
Jews we might have some examples among our brethren.
Jules Levin
Los Angeles
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