Clay in My Boots: A Romp Through My Genealogical Past

Pasvitinys, Lithuania Surames: SNYDER, SHNAYDER Jewish Population: 1897: 435 (59% of 737 population) Family Members: Isaac (Mike) Snyder, Grandfather (father of S. Sidney Snyder) B 1895 Pasvetin ; M Lena Bass ~1920; Emigrated 1912; D 1955 Baltimore Occupation: Tailor Yeshua Snyder, G-GFather (father of Isaac Snyder) B 1897 Pasvetin; M Maime Snyder ; D 1899 Pasvetin Shmuel Shnayder , GG-GFather (father of Yashua Snyder) B ~1845 Pasvitinys; M Tauba Riva Snyder Occupation: Tailor Tauba Riva Shnayder,  GG-GMother (mother of Yashua Snyder) B ~1845 Pasvitinys; M Shmuel Snyder Zelik David Shnayder, GGG-GFather B ~1825 Pasvitinys Occupation: Tailor History: Pasvitinys was a small town 12 km south of the Latvian border. The nearest railway station was at Joniskis. In 1902, the entire village was burned. Just before World War I, 120 Jewish families lived there, but before the Holocaust only 25 families remained as small merchants in the Wednesday weekly market and...

Kremenets, Ukraine Surnames: OKS, SHKURNIK Jewish Population: 1897: 6,539 (37% of 17,673 population) As far as we can tell, there are no Jewish residents in Kremenets today. Family Members: Rachel Oks, G-GMother (mother of Jeanne (née Gouline) Highstein) B 1876 Kremenets ; M Jacob Gouline ~1899; Emigrated 1901; D 1947 Baltimore Shabsa Oks, GG-GFather (father of Rachel Oks) B ~1850 Lutzk; M Nekha Shkurnik; D 1919 Kremenets Nekha (née Shkurnik) Oks (mother of Rachel Oks) B ~1852; M Shabsa Oks; D b1902 Kremenets Shabsa’s brothers and their families lived in Kremenets. History: Kremenets is one of the oldest cities of Ukraine. It was first mentioned in the Hypatian Chronicle for the year 1226. (Freenet.Kiev). The first mention of Jews in Kremenets is for the year 1438, when the Grand Duke of Lithuania gave them a charter. Such charters, or laws, were important because they decreed that the Jewish population “formed a class of free citizens under the immediate protecti...

On August 8, 1941, 2400 Jews living in the town of Birzh were force-marched to the Astrava forest, 3 Km outside of Birzh, and brutally murdered.  The victims lie buried in the forest in two large mass graves.  A fuller description of this horrific event is found at: https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/birzai/Birzh_3.html   A major undertaking to build, at the gravesite, a memorial to the victims  is now in process, with the goal of dedicating the memorial in October  2018. Carol, Wendy, and I plan to visit this site when we are in Birzai, August 15-17, prior to the formal dedication. A list of victims has been constructed using data from the Yad Vashem  Database of Shoah Victims Names.  However, this list falls well short of  identifying a majority of those who died on that fateful day.   The organizers of the memorial project urgently seek people who can  contribute names of Jews who were resident in Birzh during WWII or Jews...

Following is the itinerary developed with Marius to visit Birzai , Pasviten , Linkova , Pasvalys , Krekenava , Pumpėnai , and Varniai in Lithuania: Aug 14 - Day 1: Jewish heritage sites tour in Vilnius +Ponar memorial site (murder site of 70 000 Vilna jews). Aug 15 - Day 2: Leave Vilnius and drive to BIRZAI (en route stop in PUMPENAI , PASVALYS ) overnight in BIRZAI . Aug 16 - Day3: Leave Biržai and head to LINKOVA and PASVITEN . After Pasviten head to Pakruojis (beautifull synagogue ,former shtetl), and onto Siauliai (Shavli famous jewish town with heritage sites) for overnight. Aug 17 - Day 4: Leave Siauliai -en route stop in famous shtetl Shadeve (Benyamin Netanyahu is from Shadeve, it’s a unique shtetl) next stop KREKENAVA , then head to Kedainiai (KEYDAN) best kept jewish heritage place in Lithuania. (Vilna Gaon studied in Kedainiai) End in Kaunas (Kovne) second city of Lithuania and 2nd most occupied by jewish community and rich heritage, for overnight. ...

Following is the itinerary developed with Diana to visit Lutzk , Kremenets , Shunsk, and Rivne in Ukraine: Aug 9 - Day 1: Picked up from the airport, we have an afternoon walking tour of Lviv and the active Synagogue and visit other Jewish sites in Lviv. Maybe visit the archives of Lviv, as they may have some information related to Rivne and Ternopil region (Kremenets).  Aug 10 - Day 2: We leave for Krements via Brody. There are 2 beautiful castles: Olesko and Pidgirtsi. Brody is very rich with Jewish history, the birthplace of Austrian Jewish writer Josef Roth. Brody still has a huge building of the 18th century Synagogue which was much destroyed during the 2nd WW. But the building is still impressing. There is a big Jewish cemetery near Brody. Maybe spend time in Pochayiv with a beautiful Orthodox complex or we just make a photo stop and continue to Kremenets . Stay for an overnight in the area of Kremenets maybe in Pochayiv. Aug 11 - Day 3: We continue our vis...

Feb 11, 2018 My sister, Carol Rubin said she’d love to join my on my trip to explore Lithuania and Ukraine. Feb 17, 2018 Carol and I plotted out a tentative plan to fly into Warsaw, attend the IAJGS Conference, then tour Ukraine followed by Lithuania and then fly home from Vilnius. We booked our flights and split up responsibilities for excursions and lodging. Mar 21, 2018 I discovered the website  tourguides.viator.com  where you are able to connect with local Tour Guides who can lead you on excursions be they an hour or more, a whole day, or custom multi-day trips.  After interviewing a number of tour guides, reading their reviews, understanding their willingness to travel, and getting some rates; we decided that having a tour guide/interpreter for our entire trip to Ukraine and then to Lithuania would be ideal. We selected Diana Borysenko from Lviv, Ukraine and Marius Galadauskas from Vilnius, Lithuania to help us customize our Heritage Tours. Apr, 12, 2018 My ...

Jan 1, 2018 In my geneology letter to my family, I shared that  the International Association of  Jewish  Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) is meeting in Warsaw, Poland August 6-10, 2018.  I'm seriously considering attending and in coordination with my trip, I am looking to do excursions to Lithuania and Ukraine to visit some  ancestral  homes. If anyone would like to join me, I think it will be a very  fascinating  trip. IAJGS Program: http://www.iajgs2018.org/program_schedule.cfm