Centropa Hungary

Ruth, can you direct me to a source of birth/marriage records for 2 Jewish families from 1880-1920 who lived in Sharhorod and Luchynets in Vinnitsa in the Ukraine? (Surnames were Malchuck and Corn/Cornman/Kornman) Should I write the mayors? The rabbis? Any historians? My wife and I hope to visit the area in a year or so, but we first want to confirm their ancestry there.

Dear Ruth, Just found Centropa.org after doing much searching on line...and only 4 days before relatives are traveling to Hungary...looking for sources of Jewish family history for Velikiy Berezna, which by my estimate would be 180 miles northeast of Budapest...do you kow of anyone in that area who goes there? Who has knowledge of what may be left after all these years? Any guidance is greatly appreciated. My thanks. Marian

Hello, Ruth, I'm writing to ask if you, or any other readers, has an image of the Jewish cemetery in Satoraljaujhely. My husband and I just came back from a visit to the town, but our camera got lost. My father was born there - my maiden name was Friedman. Thanks so much, Ruth

I think you have the most fascinating jobs. A few years ago I bought your book Jewish Heritage Travel. Had I known when I went to university what my passion was, I would have probably followed in your footsteps (instead of being an actuary. My husband and I try to travel to Europe every few years and my passion is old Synagogues. I have quite a few books on their architecture and the jewish community history. We are off to Romania, Bulgaria and Istanbul this summer and everytime I do a google search I come back to you. I wanted to thank you for everything you do. Rina

Marty -- I think the town you mean is Dmytivka, east of Kiev, which I think is in the Chernigov (or Chernihov) oblast. You may be able to find info online, somewhere at JewishGen.org -- the base data bank page is http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~shtetm~-1037824 But I would also suggest getting in touch with Miriam Weiner and her "routes to roots" service and foundation. She specializes in Jewish heritage/genealogy research in Ukraine and knows more than anyone. http://www.routestoroots.com/webs.html or http://rtrfoundation.org/ There is also a Jewish research institute in Kiev that may have material. chrs. Ruth

I am hoping to speak or email with Ms. Collier! My realitves are from Ricse and I am taking my Mom back there for the first time since the war. She too was taken to Auschwitz. Her Uncle was Adolf Zukor. And my Great Grandfather is buried there. We are going there in July and I am hoping to speak with her and see what contacts she has there that may help us. Her story of finding her cousin moved me so. I am hoping for an experience like that for my Mom. She lost so many loved ones in the war. Can someone at this publication help me contact her? Thank you! And of course.... like her...all my mother does is bake cakes for the world! Her passion and how she is know by all she meets. As no one leaves without one!

Hi -- I want to let everyone know that my new book, "National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe," officially came out today, March 20. It''s a new, updated and expanded edition of my original Jewish Heritage Travel, which first came out in back in 1992 -- a lot has changed since then.... The new edition includes 14 countries -- Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Lithuania and Ukraine (mainly western Ukraine) are newly added; sites in the other countries have been updated. There are all-new pictures, and the book has been redesigned. I include web resources and publications, as well as addresses for kosher facilities, synagogues, etc. Alas, there was only room to note a few of the Jewish culture/music/etc festivals in the region, but there is a book-event for it scheduled for this summer''s Krakow festival, and probably also one in Prague the week before that. The book is available at internet bookselling sites and (I hope) in bookstores. Happy Trails Ruth

There is a tremendous amount of material on contemporary Jewish communities and life in Europe. The most up to date may be in the media. JTA has run a lot recently, and you can check the archives at www.jta.org. Also, many Jewish communities maintain web sites. Some local Jewish newspapers in various cities and countries are also posted in full on the web

Hello Ruth - I have enjoyed your writing for many years. Could you please refer me to the most up-to-date studies/books/papers on contemporary Jewish life in Europe. This would include demographics, rabbinic leadership, and cultural/ religious institutions. Thank you kindly.

RE Dzialoszyce On the right of the synagogue you picture is an even older building, the Bet Midrash or house of learning. My family lived in Dzialoszyce for at least 400 years and my fathers family made saddles and matresses. The vice Mayor of the town was Jewish as you were not allowed to be Mayor if you were Jewish. There is a quiet forest near the synagogue where most of the younger members of the community were taken and shot in 1942. There is a memorial there, the rest of the community was killed at Belzec. When I visited there I found 2 drunks sitting in the middle of the destroyed synagogue drinking beer. When I considered the countless high holidays and celebrations that must have taken place in that spot over hundreds of years I thought It was one of the saddest sights I have seen. The town had it's own Chassidic Rav whose son survived the war and died about 10 years ago in Belgium. I visited there but just missed out on seeing him. I spoke to his wife who was originally American but knew little of Dzialoszyce before the war. Many in the town, my family included supplemented their income by smuggling accross the Russian border. The end of WW1 saw the border move further away and hence the town suffered economically. Ronnie Ptasznik Melbourne Australia.

Dear Ruth, Read your exciting page on Trieste, really great! Would you know if there is a SEDER to be booked in Trieste for guests like us?? Do you have any contact for me to the Jewish community, where to ask? Thanks a lot, best regards, Reinhard and Marta Vienna

I must apologize for misspelling your name Ms. Gruber -- due to my terrible typing "skills." As a footnote to my earlier message, I wish to add that the unique octagonal synagogue in Györ (an ancient city located midway between Budapest and Vienna) has finally been restored with national and municipal funds (costing some $2.5-million). Györ can readily be reached by train -- several leave and return each day from Budapest. By car, it is about a two hour drive (100 miles). This month, the Budapest Sun ran a comprehensive story about the renovation and opening of the synagogue of Györ: http://www.budapestsun.com/full_story.asp?ArticleId={A0567A02C32B451BA8E38DAB75E3529B}&From=

I very much enjoyed Ruth Ellen Grube's tour through the VII District in Budapest. My mother Szerén Kálmán had grown up on Rumbach Street at building 15, adjacent to the Rumbach utca templóm [Rumbach Street Temple] which is building 13.Luckily for us, she immigrated to America in 1924 at the age of 21, and met my father -- also from Budapest -- in new York City. The recent good news about the Rumbach utca templóm is that it has been restored, see: http://www.budapestsun.com/full_story.asp?ArticleId={041528B847B94D2C88B637252DFEA0E4}&From=Style Since 2002, my wife and I have owned an apartment nearby on Szentkirályi Street. We spend about three months each year there. Each of us has been officially working in Hungary as U.S.-Hungary exchange scholars since the mid-1970s. Ms. Gruber's well researched tour is among the best that I have seen. Frederick Sweet St. Louis

Sorry, I haven't visited Svencionys, but I know there are at least two monuments near there marking the mass graves of Jews from the town and nearby villages murdered in the Holocaust. FYI I just visited a number of other sites in Lithuania, which I will include in the forthcoming new edition of Jewish Heritage Travel (to be published by National Geographic in March 2007). The new edition will also, for the first time, include sites in Ukraine and Austria (as well as updated information on sites in the countries covered in the first three editions of the book). Ruth

I wonder if you have ever visited the town of Svencyonis in Lithuania...about 50 miles n.e.or n.w. of Vilna. My grandmother came from there and I have read the necrology of those killed by the Nazis and found my great grandparents names. I am curious as to whether there is anything left of the Jewish community there today? Thanks. Anita Wornick

Dear Lorna Cohen, I've read your piece on Dubovnik with interest What was the precise damage done to the synagogue roof? Interior? Were there direct hits, or was it concussion damage? Ordnance used? Did you see the damage? May I ask who your sources of information were? I'd be grateful for any information as I am collecting setails of the effects on the synagogue. J. P. Maher, Professor Emeritus

I am a member of the National Yiddish Book Center and I read in their most recent magazine that they are leading a 10 day literary and cultural tour of Eastern Europe. I think they advertised that their tour is pretty small and is staying at superior hotels. Their website is www.yiddishbookcenter.org. Hope this helps, Aaron W.

I am an art history student enrolled in a Jewish Art class and doing a paper on the synagogue in Szeged. I have come across several of your articles and books during my research and they have been the most useful along with the Dorfman's Synagogues without Jews. Do you know of anyone I could contact (perhaps in Szeged) for some clarification about a few things? For example, the side balconies were originally women's galleries, correct? My Hungarian is abysmal (much to the dismay of my grandfather), but I can correspond in English or French.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. Here are some important updates to information in my travel pieces. TOKAJ Thanks to a generous donation from a former Tokaj resident, the small prayer house in Tokaj has been completely renovated and equipped with a kosher kitchen, dining/study area, guest room. and restroom facilities. The big syngogue is being renovated for use as a concert hall, with a Holocaust museum and exhibition on local Jewish traditions on an upper floor. MAD The synagogue in Mad has been totally restored and reopened as a cultural site. The sensitive restoration was awarded a 2004 Europa Nostra Prize. Don''t miss it! BUDAPEST A Holocaust memorial/museum/study center opened in 2004 in a complex centered on the restored Lipot Baumhorn synagogue on Pava St.

Your magazine is a joy to read! Congratulations on presentation and content: quite superb. I much enjoyed Ruth Gruber's article on Krakow, having visited there last May. The old synagogues are a delight, but poignant too. A very emotional experience for me was to sit in a completely empty shul watching a wartime black & white video of the ghetto. If I have to offer some criticism of Kazimirz, it would be that there is an element of fantasy in the re-created Jewish character of the quarter. The restaurants and cafes particularly feel like that. There is Hebrew lettering and Jewish memorabilia everywhere, but it is impossible to forget that these places are not really Jewish at all, just reconstructions for the present-day tourists. However, Krakow is well worth a visit and I can highly recommend Hotel Copernicus PW

The article on Krakow brought back our recent memories of May, 05, visit there. However, while there, I visited the Remu Synagogue during my tour of Central Europe in May. In the wing of the Building are ceiling hangings. The one #9 states that the Syngogue was built and named for Rabbi Remu (Moses Isserles) and he converted the Sephardim to Ashkenazy. This is a fact of which I was totally unaware. I am trying to reach someone in Krakow who could confirm the historical facts supporting this statement, or, if I misread it, perhaps explain what was really meant. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Michael Antin

What a wonderful article on Jewish Trieste! I am trying to write a study on Joyce's Bulgarian pupils and it provides an invaluable background. Just for your information, the Bulgarian Honorary Consul General was Italo Svevo's brother-in-law, and his children were Joyce's pupils.

I am thrilled to have this web site so I can go out and purchase Ruth G books! I was honored to be able to visit Budapest and have someone from the Mayor's office take us around and we went to a old beautiful shul designed like a Spanish style and attached to it was a cemetery where our Jewish people were buried who didn't survive the Ghetto which was down the street, and also my guide turned to me and said my wife is jewish even though I am not and told me the whole story of his wife's survival with her family who were starving to death by the end of the war, which made me feel so sad as I experienced first hand the reality of this sad tragic time. I happened to be the only jewish person on the tour and appreciated his kindness by stopping at this beautiful shul.

As I see, I am the first Hungarian to comment the articles on Hungary. I am a practising tourist guide, driver-guide focusing my 30 years of experience also on the Hungarian Jewry history and I red the TOKAJ article with enthusiasm. I had completed this tour with an American couple, visiting Miskolc and Tokaj country and I would congratulate for the expretness of the writer of this article.

Thank you for the Trieste review! I have never seen anything on Jewish Trieste and this will help in our planning. I need to find out if I can rent a car in Trieste and take it into Slovenia. For a while, this was strictly forbidden by the rental companies. Anyone know different?

My wife and I bring Ruth Gruber's Jewish Heritage Travel with us whenever we travel to this part of the world. To be frank, were it not for Ruth, I don't think anyone would be offering the advice she has given us in this online column, especially on Tokay and Sloevnia. Please do take us to Cracow, Ms Gruber.

To be truthful, I was getting Slovakia and Slovenia confused untill about ten years ago. Now I get it, especially after I lectured to an MBA program in Bled. I would love to have had this guide with me when I was there, but my wife and I found the country so lovely during our four day stay, I'm sure we'll be back. From our hotel window in Trieste last month, we could actually look up into Slovenia from our hotel window. An inviting little country.

I have read Ruth Gruber's travel book on this part of the world, Jewish Heritage Travel. I hope that she will soon "deconstruct" these chapters, country-by-country, so we can get advice while we are on the road in some of these places. For instance, my family will be in Bohemia this summer, and I would love to have some UPDATED information. This is not to say what's provided here isn't great. It is. Now I have some great background material for Slovenia. Thanks!

My family came from south eastern Slovakia, and we made a second roots tour there last year. We found Kosice to be rather more charming than it had been during the communist days. We also drove south, over the border to Hungary, and we visited the places described in this article. I am both thrilled that this guide exists, and furious with myself for not having found these places. But then, how would one? Thank you Ms Gruber.