My mother
Sara Fryher ( nee Rapoport ), age 23
Born in Kremenchug, Ukraine

1939

Photo taken in Tel Aviv.
Also kept by Gedalia Rapoport in Russia.














The following are the only photographs I have of,


Raisa ( Risha ) Rapoport ( nee Nachatovich )

On the verandah in Jablonna, Poland

1939

At the wedding of Pessach Rapoport and Sara (?).
1938 ?

The Great Synagogue in Warsaw.

Raisa, 3rd. from right

Isaak, Pessach and Sara, Raisa

1939

Gedalia, Sara and Pessach, Raisa, Isaak

In Legionowo

1939

With Isaak in Warsaw

1939

My Hypothesis :

With the death of both his parents, Leizer Rapoport ( Sara's father ), in about 1900-1905, decided to leave Kovno Lithuania and travel to Kremenchug in the Ukraine.
Leizer's sister travelled to Riga Latvia and married an Abramovich.(*)
Some brothers went to Warsaw Poland.

The reasons for Leizer leaving were ( maybe ) :-
- Some family members were already there
- There was already some correspondence with Raisa
- Economic persecution in Kovno

Leizer married Raisa in about 1905-1910 in the Kremenchug area.
Note:
- There is no documentation of their marriage in Kovno
- Nachatovich is a name "found" in the Poltavia Gubernia ( of which Kremenchug is a city )
- Raisa's sister married a Zlotopolski in Kremenchug(*)
 ( Zlotopolski is a name "found" in that area )

In approximately 1910 Izaak Rapoport is born
In approximately 1916 Sara and Pessach ( the twins ) were born

Because of civil war and pogroms the family left for Warsaw in about 1918-1920.
Leizer's brothers/cousins set up their businesses there already.
Gedalia was born in Warsaw about 1919-1920.

(*)

The only face to face talk I had with my mother about her family.
She even wrote down a "Zlotopolsky" and I managed to scribble down some relationships.

There were definitely Zlotopolskys in Kremenchug.

There was a Doba Rapoport married to a Hirsh Abramowitch in Riga.

Jewish Marriages in Riga, 1854-1921

 

Groom	Bride	Year of Marriage
ABRAMOWITSCH, Hirsch	RAPOPORT, Doba	1902

But a Doba , not a Mira.








On a map.

The travelling Rapoports.

The Address in Jablonna, Poland, as discovered on an envelope.

About Villa Gallowej.

The Rapoport either owned or rented this villa. They spent most of their time there.
They also owned an apartment at Mylna 5 in Warsaw.
They were well off. Eliezer Rapoport was in the jewellery business.



From Sara's address book.
Note that her future husband was a neighbour of hers. Her future father-in-law was Rabbi Yosef Fryher who "ran" a small synagogue at Mylna 1.

 

Kremenchuk, Ukraine Alternate names: Kremenchuk [Ukr], Kremenchug [Rus], Krementchug [Yid], Krementschuk [Ger], Kremeńczug [Pol], Krzemieńczuk, Krementschug, Krimentshuk Region: Poltava JGFF Town Search (343 Matches)
Town District Province Country Before WWI (c. 1900):   Kremenchug Kremenchug Poltava Russian Empire Between the wars (c. 1930):   Kremenchug Poltava Ukraine SSR Soviet Union After WWII (c. 1950):   Kremenchug Soviet Union Today (c. 2000):   Kremenchuk Ukraine
Jewish Population in 1900:	29,768 (in 1897)
Notes:	Ukrainian: Кременчук. Russian: Кременчуг. Yiddish: קרימענטשוק In central Ukraine, on the Dnieper. 65 miles NE of Kirovohrad (Elizavetgrad), 63 miles SW of Poltava.
Kremenchuk, Ukraine: 49°04' N, 33°25' E MapQuest     Google Map JewishGen Resource Map Nearby Jewish Communities: Svitlovods’k 8 miles W Gradizhsk 17 miles NW Oleksandriya 31 miles SSW Chigirin 34 miles W Kobelyaki 36 miles E

From the "Jewish Virtual Library"--

KREMENCHUG

---

KREMENCHUG, Poltava district, in Ukraine. The earliest information on Jewish settlement in Kremenchug dates from 1782; 454 Jews were registered as poll-tax payers in the district of Kremenchug in 1801. In accordance with the policy "of directing the Jews toward productive professions," the Russian government opened a weaving mill in the city in 1809, designed to teach this craft to Jews who lacked a profession. The number of Jews employed in the mill in 1810, together with the members of their families, amounted to 232. After this date the Jews began to leave the mill because of the difficult conditions there, and in 1817 it closed down. Later in the 19^th century, the Jewish population increased rapidly, as a result of emigration from the northwestern provinces of Russia to the southeastern ones. In 1847 there were 3,475 Jews registered in the community of Kremenchug, while by 1897 there was a large Jewish population of 29,869 persons (47% of the total population). The Jews played a most important role in the economic development of the town, especially in the grain and timber trades and the manufacture of tobacco. They owned ten sawmills and several tobacco factories. Early in the 19^th century a Jewish hospital was opened, and in 1844 a Chabad yeshivah was established. By the end of the century, there were two talmudei torah, one with carpentry and metalworking classes, and Jewish private schools for boys and girls. During World War I, the yeshivot of *Lubavich and *Slobodka (from Kovno) were transferred to Kremenchug. Pogroms were staged in October 1905, in April 1918 by armed bands of Grigoryev, and in August 1919 by the soldiers of the "Volunteer Army" of General *Denikin. In the 1920s the Jews made up 50% of the workers in the factories, and about 75% in tobacco production, shoes, and carpentry. In the 1930s there were two Jewish schools and an electro-mechanical college. In 1926 there were 28,969 Jews (49.2% of the total) living in the town.




In February, 1939, Sara emigrated to Israel.

Raisa wrote to her in YIDDISH , the common language of the Jews of the Pale of Settlement.
In  April, 1940, the final letter Sara received, Raisa wrote in Russian. Was that knowledge from her Ukrainian background?

 

 The translation:

My dear Sara and Noach.......and lovely granddaughter.

I am anxiously awaiting a letter from you as we still do not know the name of your daughter. Please write what are your news and how are you feeling. Dad and I are well. Our only wish is to receive a letter from you.

Stay well, we are wishing you all the best.

Mum, Rysha. 

The Holocaust

The sad news

The following letter written in October, 1945 was sent to Sara from Gedalia, her younger brother, who escaped to Russia and joined the Russian Army.

The Parents and Izaak and wife were killed in Baranowicz, Poland.

In Polish.....

Jablonna in the Holocaust

 

The Rapoports were not part of the labour camp list below.

 They  must have been already on the run.

About Baranowicz.

This was a rail junction.

Were they trying to flee north?

 

I could not find any information about their "disappearance" .

From the "Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Centre, USHMM".

Dear Mr. Fryher,

Thank you for your request for information on Raisa Rapoport from the International Tracing Service (ITS) collection held by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Our extensive search of the ITS records, the Museum's archival holdings, and other resources yielded no results.



Rivka Fryher's testimonial at Yad Vashem.
Rivka was the wife of Yosef Fryher, Sara's father-in-law.
Note that Rivka mentions Rysha's father as Pesakh. I believe she is mistaken.

Fact Gathering

Sara kept this Machzor all the way from Warsaw.

 

In writing:-

Rysha, daughter of Gedalia, wife of Eliezer Hakohen Rapoport 

Note that Gedalia Rapoport, the youngest son of Leizer and Raisa, was named after his grandfather.

Since Gedalia was born approx. 1918-1920, his grandfather had already passed away.

Raisa was born between 1880-1895.

Gedalia Nachatovich was therefore born between  1860-1875.

Records from Kremenchug are "rare"

This was the common answer.....

Hi Eli,

 Yes, it's true.  Even most of the old cemeteries are gone, I was told,
destroyed by the WWII bombings.

GP

-----Original Message-----
From: eli [mailto:eli.fry@bigpond.com] 
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2012 9:35 PM
To: gary@garympomerantz.com
Subject: Just a quick question , if you don't mind

Hi Gary,

My mother once told me she was born in Kremenchug.

Is it true what I read on your website article that there are no Jewish
records in the Kremenchug Archives?

I was seriously contemplating of travelling to Kremenchug and searching my
mother's roots.



Cheers,


Eli Fryher,
Melbourne, Australia

I wrote to the Ukrainian Jewish Special Interest Group,

 On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 7:01 PM, eli <eli.fry@bigpond.com> wrote:

Hi,
My mother's maternal name was NACHATOVICH.
She told me that she was born in Kremenchug, Ukraine in 1916. Her paternal family (Rapoport) were from Kovno, Lithuania.
The family later moved to Warsaw.
Can anyone help me with the Nachatovich name? Is it a Ukrainian name? Are there any records from Kremenchug?

Cheers,

Eli Fryher,
Melbourne, Australia

I received a reply,

Eli

There's a listing for Gdal (Gedalya) Nachatovich, son of Pinchas in 1912 Kremenchug Voters list (no additional info available).

I can look up name Nachatovich in the Beider's book, but it won't be until tomorrow.

Hope that helps/

Igor Schein

and further, 

Igor supplied me with the Russian language site kremenchug.su 

Translated by worldlingo.com

In 1912, appears a Gedalia Nachatovich, son of Pinchas.
Also an Elia Rapoport ( Eliezer? ), son of Iser ( Izaak )
They were merchants.

Also an Alexander Rapoport, son of Izaak, also a merchant

Also some Zlotopolskis.

Was one of them Sara's uncle?

All in the period 1912-1914.

So, we have the assumptions,

 that Gedalia Nachatovich and Eliezer Rapoport are my ancestors.

that my Great Great Grandfathers were called Pinchas and Izaak.

( note that Izaak Rapoport, my uncle, could have been named after the above Izaak )

Pinchas Nachatovich would have been born between 1835-1845







From jewishgen.org

Jewish Religious Personnel in the Russian Empire, 1853-1854

Searching for Surname nachatovich (D-M code 653750 or 643750 or 653740 or 643740) and Town kozelets (D-M code 548400) Number of hits: 1 Run on Sunday 15 September 2013 at 17:49:36
Name	Town	Guberniya
NEKHOTOVICH, Pinkhos	Kozelets	che010

refer to

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/misc/deych.htm


for an explanation of the index


Also,

Vsia Rossiia 1895 Business Directory

Searching for Surname nachatovich (D-M code 653750 or 643750 or 653740 or 643740) and Town kozelets (D-M code 548400) Number of hits: 1 Run on Sunday 15 September 2013 at 18:01:14
Surname	Given Name	Patronymic	Occupation	Year	Column #	Town Location	Uyezd Gubernia
NAKHOTOVICH	Izrail		wood	1895	1623	Kozelets 50.54/31.09	Kozelets Chernigov

an explanation in:  http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/vsia/vsiaweb.htm


and in the same index,

Vsia Rossiia 1895 Business Directory

Searching for Surname zlotopolski (D-M code 483784) Number of hits: 4 Run on Sunday 15 September 2013 at 18:07:12
Surname	Given Name	Patronymic	Occupation	Year	Column #	Town Location	Uyezd Gubernia
ZLATOPOLSKII			general store	1895	1044	Kremenchug 49.03/33.25	Kremenchug Poltava
ZLATOPOLSKII	L		hardware	1895	1044	Kremenchug 49.03/33.25	Kremenchug Poltava
ZLATOPOLSKII	Movsha		hardware	1895	1044	Kremenchug 49.03/33.25	Kremenchug Poltava

To summarize , the immediate ancestors :

Sara Rapoport,           born     1916

Raisa Nachatovich     born     1890 +/- 5,   married 1910 +/- 5

Gedalia Nachatovich  born    1865 +/- 5,   married  1890 +/- 5

Pinches Nachatovich  born    1840 +/- 5,   married   1865 +/- 5

Then in Ancestry.com

On the Hamburg Passanger List of 1850-1934

 A Pinches Nachatowicz ( born 1857 ) left Bobrovitsa, Ukraine in 1887 to travel to America.

Bobrovitsa, Ukraine Alternate names: Bobrovitsa [Rus], Bobrovitza [Yid], Bobrovitsy, Bobrovytsia Region: Chernigov JGFF Town Search (14 Matches)
Town District Province Country Before WWI (c. 1900):   Bobrovitsa Kozelets Chernigov Russian Empire Between the wars (c. 1930):   Bobrovitsa Chernigov Ukraine SSR Soviet Union After WWII (c. 1950):   Bobrovitsa Soviet Union Today (c. 2000):   Bobrovitsa Ukraine
Jewish Population in 1900:	671
Notes:	Russian: Бобровица. Ukrainian: Бобровиця. 3 miles ENE of Chernihiv (Chernigov).
Bobrovitsa, Ukraine: 51°31' N, 31°22' E MapQuest     Google Map JewishGen Resource Map Nearby Jewish Communities: Chernihiv 3 miles WSW Berezna 18 miles E Ripky 23 miles NNW Lovyn 27 miles NNW Horodnya 27 miles NNE

Just "down the road" from Kozelets.

On the same list,

A Hersch Nachatovich ( born 1853 ) left Kozelets in 1903 to travel to America.

Note the help I received from the Ukrainian SIG regarding the Residence "Gazellus".

"G and K", and "s and t" or usually exchangeable in European languages

try Kozelets, Ukraine.

Alternate names: Kozelets [Rus, Ukr], Kozeletz [Yid], Koselez [Ger], Kozielec [Pol], Kozelec

http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~community~-1043235

note that the this ship manifests at this time only lists the last residence, not the birth location.
if a relative came to NY after 1906 it would most likely have the place of bith.

also, if you put the town name into the stevemorse gold form, and choose sounds like, you
will see lots of similar entries for Kaselitz and Gazelitz. Be sure to check the Russian box or
you will get a lot of entries.

shabbat shalom
yehudah ben Shlomo

In September, 1889 a Pinches Nechatowicz departs Hamburg for Antwerp.

Now Pinches arrived in New York in October, 1889.

This is two and a half years after departure!

Where was he in between?

Note that on this list his birthdate is 1854.

Now Hersch arrived a week later from his departure.

The record from ellisisland.com

First Name: Hersch Last Name: Nachatowitz Ethnicity: Russia, Hebrew Last Place of Residence: Gazellus Date of Arrival: Sep 08, 1903 Age at Arrival:  50y    Gender:  M    Marital Status:  M   Ship of Travel: Deutschland Port of Departure: Hamburg Manifest Line Number: 0002

And eight months later he left for England.

Could Pinches and Hersch be brothers? or at least 1st. cousins?

I started to search American records.

I discovered,

which was from the Massachusetts Death Records of 1841-1915

 

Minie Shikes ( Nachatovich ) died aged 27 , father was a Hirsh Nachatovich and mother Malke Yudkin.

Did Minnie have a brother?

Minnie married David in 1888.

 

They had a daughter called Mina

 

And Mina married an Isaiah Sharfman in 1910

 

Minnie ( probably Mania? ) Nachatovich's mother was Malke Yudkin.

I searched for the yudkins.

Close this window

Surname Results CHERKASSY

1 surnames found for the Surname: yudkin. In the town of CHERKASSY.

Show All

Rev #10	Last Name	First Name	Father	Age 1858	Total in Family

255

Yudkin

Avrum

Meer

49

9

and,

Vsia Rossiia 1895 Business Directory

Searching for Surname yudkin (D-M code 135600) Number of hits: 1 Run on Monday 16 September 2013 at 23:09:05
Surname	Given Name	Patronymic	Occupation	Year	Column #	Town Location	Uyezd Gubernia
YUDKIN			kitchenware	1895	1045	Kremenchug 49.03/33.25	Kremenchug Poltava

 Also in kremenchug.su

Voting lists from 1912-1914

Количество записей в базе данных «Списки лиц, имеющих право быть избранными в присяжные заседатели на 1913 год по Кременчугскому уезду», соответствующих Вашему запросу - 1

№	Фамилия	Имя	Отчество	Сословие (звание)
1	Юдкин	Абрам	Хаимович	мещ.

Количество записей в базе данных «ОБЩИЙ СПИСОК лиц, имеющих право быть избранными в присяжные заседатели по Кременчугскому уезду на 1915 год», соответствующих Вашему запросу - 1

№	Фамилия	Имя	Отчество	Сословие (звание)
1	Юдкин	Иосиф	Абрамович	мещ.

Количество записей в базе данных «Список избирателей иудейского вероисповедания, имеющих право участвовать в ПЕРВОМ городском избирательном съезде по г. КРЕМЕНЧУГУ, п. Крюкову и г. Градижску, на основании ВЫСОЧАЙШЕ утвержденного 3-го июня 1907 г. Положения о выборах в Государственную Думу. Составлен к 16 июля 1912 года.», соответствующих Вашему запросу - 1

№	№ по списку	Фамилия	Имя	Отчество	Сословие (звание)	Избирательный ценз
1	472	Юдкин	Абрам-Ицко	Хаимович	мещанин	по имущ.

Количество записей в базе данных «Список избирателей христианского, иудейского и других вероисповеданий, имеющих право участвовать во ВТОРОМ городском избирательном съезде по г. КРЕМЕНЧУГУ, п. КРЮКОВУ и г. ГРАДИЖСКУ, на основании ВЫСОЧАЙШЕ утвержденного 3-го июня 1907 г. положения о выборах в Государственную Думу. Составлен к 16 июля 1912 года.», соответствующих Вашему запросу - 2

№	№ по списку	Фамилия	Имя	Отчество	Сословие (звание)	Избирательный ценз
1	4201	Юдкин	Иосиф	Абрамович	мещан.	по кварт. налогу
2	4202	Юдкин	Янкель	Гершкович	мещан.	по торговле

The following Yudkins appeared,

Abram son of Chaim

Yosef   son of Abram

Yankel son of Hersh

Did Abram Yudkin , born in 1809, have the following children:-

Malke, Hirsh, Yosef, Chaim, all born between 1835-1845 ?

Chaim's son, Abram, of Kremenchug named after his grandfather above?

Could there be another Pinches Nachatovich??

If we assume that Pinches's birth date on the New York arrival list is correct, that is 1854.

And it's "our" Pinches.

Could the following be possible?

Gedalia born say, 1874, Pinches is 20.

Raisa is born say, 1894, Gedalia is 20,

Izaak Rapoport is born say, 1911, Raisa is 17.

The above ages are very young.

Maybe Pinches was lying a little about his age!

Did Hersh come to visit his grand-daughter in 1903? She would have been about 14 years old.

Here too if Hersh is the father of Minnie ( and Phil ) there is a little lying about the ages.

The lists  say  Hersh was born in 1853, and Minnie was born in 1867. That does not seem right.

But say, he was really born in 1850, and she born in 1870, it could be more likely.

A map of the Poltava/Chernihiv Gubernias where the family congregated.

There is 270km between Kozelets and Kremenchug

Searching American Immigration records I found many variants of the name.
For example : Beginning with Nech, Nach, Noch, Nekh, Nakh, Nokh.
                        Ending in vich, witch, wich, wicz,witz, vitsch.
                       Middle.....ato, oto, eto, ata, amo, umo.

Pinches was Pinkhes, Pinkus, Pinkuss, Pinhos, Pincus.


Many names were officially changed during Census.

Examples:

Pinches was Philip
A David Nakhatovitsch was changed to David Norton
A Harry Nachatovich was changed to Harry Nash
A riva Nachatowitz was changed to Ruth Notov

But most of the people originated around the Kiev, Brovary, Kozelets and Bobravitsa region.

examples,

This is a "growing" concern.