Luckily, I had spent a semester in college studying abroad in Moscow. Not only had I attained a significant degree of proficiency in Russian while there, but I had also studied Russian cursive handwriting. However, at first all I was able to read were the names of the bride and groom, which were written bilingually in Russian and Polish. I showed the document to Russian friends and international students from former Soviet countries, all of whom were stumped. Apparently I was on my own.<\/p>\n
Undaunted by a challenge, I decided to seek out various genealogy resources for reading old Russian handwritten documents. I learned that in 1917 the Russian language went through a spelling reform which had eliminated several extraneous letters from the alphabet; I had not been taught the cursive forms of these letters when I studied in Moscow almost a century later. Additionally, prior to the spelling reform several letters had multiple handwritten forms, all of which were also eliminated in 1917. I studied Russian genealogy vocabulary lists, practiced with reading exercises, and experimented. After several months, I was eventually able to begin to crack the document. What I discovered was astounding.<\/p>\n
The ability to read pre-Revolutionary Russian cursive writing turned out to be the key that unlocked the entire history of my grandfather\u2019s father\u2019s family. First off, I was able to find that Hirsch Grajewski had worked as a tobacconist\u2014confirmation that this marriage document really was for my great-great-grandparents rather than people with similar names. Apparently, when my great-great-grandfather moved from Poland to Germany, he changed himself from a deer (Hirsch) into a wolf (Wolf). Already, I seemed to be learning about what his personality may have been like. After a lot of trial and error (more error than trial), I was eventually able to read the entire document. The marriage record gave absolutely everything, starting with the ages of both bride and groom (groom was 27, bride was 28). Even better, it provided the names of both sets of parents: Josek and Blima Grajewski, and Josek and Chana Krzak. Blima\u2019s maiden name was recorded as unknown, but Chana\u2019s maiden name is given as Kitmacher. The marriage record also gave Hirsch\u2019s parents\u2019 ages and street addresses for both sets of parents.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Grayson-2-Excerpt-From-the-Grajewski-Moszkosicz-Marriage-Record.jpg\")
<\/a>Excerpt from the Grajewski – Krzak Marriage Record of 1894; click here <\/a>for full record<\/p><\/div>\n Armed with this information, I searched the database again. Now that I knew where and for whom to look, I was able to find a marriage between Josek Icek Grajewski and Blima Moszkowicz in 1865 in the town of Radziejow. Everything seemed to fit\u2014first names, Josek\u2019s last name, and the dates, so in all likelihood this must be the same couple as Hirsch\u2019s parents. After learning Blima\u2019s maiden name, I was able to search the database for the name Moszkowicz in Radziejow and found not only Blima\u2019s birth date (1841), but also several other Moszkowiczes in this town\u2014likely either her siblings or cousins. I found a record for her grave (Blima Grajewska, wife of Yosef Yitzchak) in Warsaw in 1895, which gives her father\u2019s name as David. Although the original records for this town are missing and only the index is available, when I viewed Josek and Blima\u2019s 1865 marriage record index at the Family History Library in Los Angeles, I learned that Josek\u2019s parents were Gerszon and Rifke Grajewski and that Blima\u2019s parents were David and Sura Moszkowicz. Blima had been living in Radziejow while Josek was already living in Warsaw at the time of the wedding.<\/p>\n On the Krzak side, I found a record for Josek Krzak\u2019s death in Warsaw in 1875. By now I was able to read the original Russian records without much difficulty. From reading his death record I learned that he had been a soldier, that he and Chanah had two other surviving children in addition to Fraida, and that his father\u2019s name was Mozhek. Searching in historical city directories of Warsaw using Logan Kleinwaks\u2019s Genealogy Indexer website, I located a Zachariasz Krzak, who was listed at the same street address in Warsaw as given on Hirsch and Fraida\u2019s marriage record; he must have been one of the other two surviving children at the time of Josek\u2019s death. I also found a Gela Krzak who I believe was the other of Josek\u2019s children.<\/p>\n Turning to Josek\u2019s father Mozhek Krzak, I found that he had married a Scheindel Brant in the town of Warka (a market town about 30 kilometers up the Vistula from Warsaw) in 1828, had been born in 1804, and died in Warsaw in 1872. His parents were Solomon and Ita (born c. 1775-1785) and his maternal grandfather\u2019s name was Moszek (born c. 1745-1765). From further entries in the database I found that Scheindel\u2019s parents were Zelman and Rywka, and her maternal grandfather was also named Moszek.<\/p>\n Handwritten Yiddish signature of 5-times The Kitmacher side seems to be the best documented. Chana Krzak (n\u00e9e Kitmacher) died in 1903 in Warsaw; her death record indicates that she had come from Lublin and had been the daughter of Berek. I found her birth record in a shtetl about twenty kilometers north of Lublin; born in 1833, she was the daughter of Berek Kitmacher who is listed as a glazer. In fact, I found Berek\u2019s birth record in the same town in 1812. Berek\u2019s father Leib was also a glazer and was the son of Hirsch. On the lower right-hand corner of Berek\u2019s birth record, I found the handwritten Hebrew signature of Leib ben Hirsch, my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.<\/p>\n Tracing the Kitmacher family forward in US census records using Family Search, I was able to follow them from Poland to California to New York and Texas. I found several living descendents and contacted them on Facebook. All of them have very interesting stories to tell; one of them even designed lunar landers for NASA! \u00a0They told me tragic stories about our family, many of whom suffered greatly during the Shoah, but also connected me with some of our relatives who are today living in France and Italy.<\/p>\n From knowing next to nothing about this branch of my family, I have very quickly discovered an astounding depth of information. Already an extensive family tree is forming, and it stretches back far beyond what I would have thought possible. Much remains to be done, but with a bit of luck, a large dose of patience, and some hard work (plus language skills) it is simply astounding what can be recovered from the depths of history.<\/p>\n Ultimately, genealogy is about more than uncovering names and filling out family trees. It is about understanding who we are, how we got here, and where we fit in the grand sweep of history. <\/span>Recovering our lost roots can help us with our task, which is everyone\u2019s: maintaining our Judaism as a personal, vital force in the world. It truly is a torch we inherited from the past and that we are destined to carry on into the future.<\/p>\n September 2018<\/p>\n Los Angeles, California, USA<\/p>\n In combination with his ability to read primary Russian cursive documents, JewishGen\u2019s Databases<\/b><\/a> were helpful to Joshua in his research.<\/p>\n The resources of Gesher Galicia<\/b><\/a> were fruitful for Joshua when researching his grandfather\u2019s maternal side of the family.<\/p>\n Joshua made productive use of the LDS Family History Library<\/b><\/a>. \u00a0Check this link to find a library nearest to you.<\/p>\n The Genealogy Indexer<\/b><\/a> produced a number of pertinent records.<\/p>\n Joshua used the Family Search<\/b> <\/a>website to access US Census reports.<\/p>\n Through Facebook<\/b><\/a>, Joshua connected with some living relatives.<\/p>\n<\/a>
Great-Grandfather, Leibush ben Hirschel, 1812.<\/p><\/div>\n
\nResearch Notes and Hints<\/b><\/h4>\n