About "Dozia Blaustein," Jezierna Survivor
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Ann Harris
Dec 6, 2010, 3:11:29 AM12/6/10
to Jezi...@googlegroups.com, talila
Dear Group:
So many times, the genealogy research is a hunt for the treasure of a lost photograph or name or in the best circumstances the discovery of a living but unknown or lost cousin. We all hope for this kind of result. So when my newly discovered cousin asked me to help find a survivor from Jezierna, I took to it like a dog with a brand new chew toy. I was sure that I would prevail, although my first attempts were not all successful. What follows is the path taken in order to ultimately find "Dozia Blaustein," and make contact with her. How few there are who survived and fewer now still alive.
Talila Friedman and I are third cousins who never knew about each other until my discovery of another cousin through a multi-year search (but that is another story) led me to her sister. Talila originally turned to our group to aid someone at Yad Vashem who wanted to find a woman (or her children) who had given testimony about her own amazing story of survival. The only clues were the name "Dozia Blaustein" and the fact that she and her uncle came to America after the war. The testimony was included in the 1971 Jezierna Yizkor book, in English, with no way to know the date of its origin. At the very end of the testimony, Dozia says her uncle is Morris Lechowitz (he is her mother's brother--her mother was Rosa Lechowitz). This is a very uncommon surname (probably made up from the name of the town in Russia), but it proved elusive to locate no matter how I spelled it.
My search for Blausteins at first turned up a promising lead, but I did not pursue anything further until months later when Talila gently reminded me that I needed to follow up on our only lead. This time in earnest, I quickly realized that our assumption that "Blaustein" was Dozia's married name might not be correct, or maybe she never married? In this kind of search, clues can be false clues and assumptions need always be tested.
It would appear that Dozia was born after 1924 because in the article she speaks about her older brother (Moishe called Munio) who was 20 when he died in 1943. As Dozia is a relatively rare name, I also tried to track her down using this first name (and in case she had later married), but without luck.
I kept going back to the source document in the Yizkor book. I found the testimony page--the original and the translation-- and then I noticed or actually paid attention to the fact that there were "ads" in memory of lost families, like the ones that I have seen in other books. So I went through them all and I found a memorial from Dozia and also her Aunt Regina Blaustein Schwalb, who had lived in New York and had given testimony at Yad Vashem. Regina was born in 1902 and I could not trace her son, Jean, who born in 1931. They (and physician husband) escaped through Portugal and sailed to New York in 1941.
HOWEVER, I found the key to everything in the memorial from Dozia. First of all, she called herself Dozia Blaustein in her article (I figured that Dozia was her Polish secular name). Her name was Devora, of course. But here, she signed her MARRIED name, but, as luck would have it, it seemed almost impossible to make out how to transliterate the name. There was, in order, aleph, yud, zion, aleph, double vuv, ayin, raish--so this was Yiddish spelling.
Fortunately, since I translate necrologies from Yizkor books, I have 3 intensive and comprehensive reference books of Jewish surnames, divided by region. I tried Galicia first, but no such surname. Then I picked by Russia-Poland volume and I FOUND IT. The surname transliterated as IZOWER (which is a name specific to Warsaw area). It is uncommon name so I searched for it with my Ancestry.com software and it pulled up naturalization records for Dora, Mendel, and their son Luis Bernardo Izower, who was only born in March 1955. He is now known as Louis B. Izower and is a dentist. The family had lived in the Bronx and then moved to New Jersey.
I had conversations with Talila about what to do next and what to say and finally I decided I would go directly to try and talk with Dora (what she prefers to be called) instead of going through her son, whose phone number I also found on line.
She was open and gracious and reflective--and we ended up crying together. She knew Talila's grandparents, and she especially remembered when her sister Stella (about 5 years younger than Dora) came to visit from Israel. She poignantly remembered how pretty she was and how nice her clothes were--far beyond the scope of the little village she lived in.
She went from Poland to Cuba after the war because the Polish quota was filled and met and married Mendel Izower, who grew up there. His parents and family were from Warsaw. They are the only people with this surname. They came to US after Castro came into power (1960s, I guess).
I told her about our group (although I am not sure she absorbed this, as she was talking in the moment with me) and I told her Talila wanted very much to speak with her and I would let her know of our conversation. They have since spoken and Talila has mailed her some papers and pictures specific to Jezierna. I have a little bundle to send as well. Dora does not use the internet, so "snail" mail is required (or phone) to communicate.
This is the story we have--someone who walked the streets of the same village with our precious relatives--many long dead--is alive and does remember what life was like "before." And the story of how this woman became known after all this time is also very interesting. So few did survive and besides wits and luck and courage, it took help from others to make it.
It seems that Rivka Ben Israel, in Israel, whose parents were born in Jezierna, made a trip there in August 2008. She was take to the Lashkiv home and shown a certificate of recognition from Yad Vashem for helping to save Dora and her mother.
This story can be found in the Yizkor book, which is also on line at the New York Public Library, Dorot Division, along with about 1000 others. (See http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=1289 and go to images 357, 358, 359, 360). Then someone at Yad Vashem became interested in finding Dora and seeing if she had been re-united with the Ukranian family who had helped to save her and her mother, or wanted to be. This is where Talila became involved and I put on my detective boots. So far, a letter has just gone out to Dora from Yad Vashem, but we will now have to wait and see how the story continues.
Ann Gleich Harris
From the Marder family of Jezierna
Also: Heiman, Bettinger, Marder, Pasternak, Feuering, Katz, Biberman of ZBOROW, Poland, now Zboriv, UKRAINE
So many times, the genealogy research is a hunt for the treasure of a lost photograph or name or in the best circumstances the discovery of a living but unknown or lost cousin. We all hope for this kind of result. So when my newly discovered cousin asked me to help find a survivor from Jezierna, I took to it like a dog with a brand new chew toy. I was sure that I would prevail, although my first attempts were not all successful. What follows is the path taken in order to ultimately find "Dozia Blaustein," and make contact with her. How few there are who survived and fewer now still alive.
Talila Friedman and I are third cousins who never knew about each other until my discovery of another cousin through a multi-year search (but that is another story) led me to her sister. Talila originally turned to our group to aid someone at Yad Vashem who wanted to find a woman (or her children) who had given testimony about her own amazing story of survival. The only clues were the name "Dozia Blaustein" and the fact that she and her uncle came to America after the war. The testimony was included in the 1971 Jezierna Yizkor book, in English, with no way to know the date of its origin. At the very end of the testimony, Dozia says her uncle is Morris Lechowitz (he is her mother's brother--her mother was Rosa Lechowitz). This is a very uncommon surname (probably made up from the name of the town in Russia), but it proved elusive to locate no matter how I spelled it.
My search for Blausteins at first turned up a promising lead, but I did not pursue anything further until months later when Talila gently reminded me that I needed to follow up on our only lead. This time in earnest, I quickly realized that our assumption that "Blaustein" was Dozia's married name might not be correct, or maybe she never married? In this kind of search, clues can be false clues and assumptions need always be tested.
It would appear that Dozia was born after 1924 because in the article she speaks about her older brother (Moishe called Munio) who was 20 when he died in 1943. As Dozia is a relatively rare name, I also tried to track her down using this first name (and in case she had later married), but without luck.
I kept going back to the source document in the Yizkor book. I found the testimony page--the original and the translation-- and then I noticed or actually paid attention to the fact that there were "ads" in memory of lost families, like the ones that I have seen in other books. So I went through them all and I found a memorial from Dozia and also her Aunt Regina Blaustein Schwalb, who had lived in New York and had given testimony at Yad Vashem. Regina was born in 1902 and I could not trace her son, Jean, who born in 1931. They (and physician husband) escaped through Portugal and sailed to New York in 1941.
HOWEVER, I found the key to everything in the memorial from Dozia. First of all, she called herself Dozia Blaustein in her article (I figured that Dozia was her Polish secular name). Her name was Devora, of course. But here, she signed her MARRIED name, but, as luck would have it, it seemed almost impossible to make out how to transliterate the name. There was, in order, aleph, yud, zion, aleph, double vuv, ayin, raish--so this was Yiddish spelling.
Fortunately, since I translate necrologies from Yizkor books, I have 3 intensive and comprehensive reference books of Jewish surnames, divided by region. I tried Galicia first, but no such surname. Then I picked by Russia-Poland volume and I FOUND IT. The surname transliterated as IZOWER (which is a name specific to Warsaw area). It is uncommon name so I searched for it with my Ancestry.com software and it pulled up naturalization records for Dora, Mendel, and their son Luis Bernardo Izower, who was only born in March 1955. He is now known as Louis B. Izower and is a dentist. The family had lived in the Bronx and then moved to New Jersey.
I had conversations with Talila about what to do next and what to say and finally I decided I would go directly to try and talk with Dora (what she prefers to be called) instead of going through her son, whose phone number I also found on line.
She was open and gracious and reflective--and we ended up crying together. She knew Talila's grandparents, and she especially remembered when her sister Stella (about 5 years younger than Dora) came to visit from Israel. She poignantly remembered how pretty she was and how nice her clothes were--far beyond the scope of the little village she lived in.
She went from Poland to Cuba after the war because the Polish quota was filled and met and married Mendel Izower, who grew up there. His parents and family were from Warsaw. They are the only people with this surname. They came to US after Castro came into power (1960s, I guess).
I told her about our group (although I am not sure she absorbed this, as she was talking in the moment with me) and I told her Talila wanted very much to speak with her and I would let her know of our conversation. They have since spoken and Talila has mailed her some papers and pictures specific to Jezierna. I have a little bundle to send as well. Dora does not use the internet, so "snail" mail is required (or phone) to communicate.
This is the story we have--someone who walked the streets of the same village with our precious relatives--many long dead--is alive and does remember what life was like "before." And the story of how this woman became known after all this time is also very interesting. So few did survive and besides wits and luck and courage, it took help from others to make it.
It seems that Rivka Ben Israel, in Israel, whose parents were born in Jezierna, made a trip there in August 2008. She was take to the Lashkiv home and shown a certificate of recognition from Yad Vashem for helping to save Dora and her mother.
This story can be found in the Yizkor book, which is also on line at the New York Public Library, Dorot Division, along with about 1000 others. (See http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=1289 and go to images 357, 358, 359, 360). Then someone at Yad Vashem became interested in finding Dora and seeing if she had been re-united with the Ukranian family who had helped to save her and her mother, or wanted to be. This is where Talila became involved and I put on my detective boots. So far, a letter has just gone out to Dora from Yad Vashem, but we will now have to wait and see how the story continues.
Ann Gleich Harris
From the Marder family of Jezierna
Also: Heiman, Bettinger, Marder, Pasternak, Feuering, Katz, Biberman of ZBOROW, Poland, now Zboriv, UKRAINE
Suri Greenberg
Dec 6, 2010, 3:37:12 PM12/6/10
to Ann Harris, Jezi...@googlegroups.com, talila
Thanks you Ann, for the story and your marvelous detective work.
Many Jezierna descendants in our group have put together family trees, with names that are familiar of people we never knew. You have shown us some of the huge effort it takes to find an unknown living relative.
We look forward to hearing more of the story and perhaps asking Dora, through you and Talila, questions some of us have about life in Jezierna.
Gesher Galicia's magazine would certainly welcome this letter you have written for printing in the next edition.
Hanukah Sameah
Suri Edell Greenberg
Researching EIDEL, FUCHS, REINMAN, BIRNBAUM, ROSENFELD, PAKET from Ozerna.
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Andy Rosen
Dec 6, 2010, 7:18:29 PM12/6/10
to Jezi...@googlegroups.com, Ann Harris, talila
Ann:
This is am amazing story I still have to
re-read in order to grasp it's intricacies. I may also hace some direct
and indirect leads to share. Great detective work, Tali and Ann!
Warmly,
Researching the shtetl of Jezierna and
surnames: CHARAP, TEICHOLZ, HIRSCHORN, NAGELBERG, BARAD, EIDEL, STEINKRITZ,
ROSENBLATT, YEAGER
--
talila friedman
Dec 7, 2010, 2:27:08 AM12/7/10
to Andy Rosen, Jezi...@googlegroups.com, Ann Harris, talila
abstracrtקיצור החדשות בעברית:לפני כשנתיים, כשרבקה בן ישראל, ששני הוריה נולדו ביז'רנה, בקרה שם, הראו לה בבית משפחה אחת תעודה של חסידי אומות העולם שקבלו על הצלת יהודים.רבקה לא ידעה יותר פרטים, ולכן נסינו לברר ב"יד ושםשם מצאנו שהמשפחה היא משפחת לשקיב, שהצילה את דוזיה בלאושטיין ואמה.פרטי הסיפור מופיעים בספר יז'רנה.ביד ושם שאלו אם יש לנו מידע על הניצולהבקשתי מאן הריס, שמתמחה בדברים כאלה, לעזור לנו לאתר את דוזיה בלאושטיין או את ילדיהאחרי מאמצים שנמשכו כשנתיים, הצליחה אן, בשילוב של ידע ותושיה, לעלות על עקבותיה של מי שהיום קוראים לה דורה איזובר. היא מצאה אישה בריאה, עם זכרון מצויין, שמבקשת להשאיר את הימים הקשים מאחוריה. יש לה ילדים ונכדים, והיא גרה בניו ג'רסי.עד כאן.
Suri Greenberg
Dec 7, 2010, 3:25:33 AM12/7/10
to talila friedman, Andy Rosen, Jezi...@googlegroups.com, Ann Harris, talila
Talila,
thanks for this translation of events reported by Ann.
Our Hebrew readers need to be informed as well.
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