The Czernowitz Burial Register Project - A chronological collection of e-mails from Bruce Reisch



2011 December 14

Czernowitzers!

Most of you know of our long-term efforts to create an online burial
registry of the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery, including photos of each
tombstone.  This project was initiated and funded by JGS Ottawa, and has
resulted in thousands of records that can be searched via JOWBR, the
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry
<http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/>.


JOWBR has just been updated with 60,000 new records, of which nearly 3,200
come from the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery.  This brings the total number of
Czernowitz records to 19,272!

The following Areas are included in the latest update:
10A, 12, 15B, 16C, 17, 33B, 54, 55, 59, 60, 61, 63, 124+135 (combined),
131A, and 131B.

A map of the cemetery can be found on our ehpes site here:
<http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/newcemetery/cemeterymap/cemetery.html>

This version shows my best guess of the correspondence between the old
Parcel numbers (in red) and the current "Area" numbering system:
<http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/newcemetery/bruce/bruce1.html>

The latest addition to the Czernowitz records on JOWBR was due to the hard
work of three very dedicated volunteers.  List member Noam Silberberg just
joined the project earlier this year, and did a large amount of very high
quality transcription work in a short period of time.  Also included are
the final efforts of Kurt Nachman, who passed away in October. Though no
longer with us, he is fondly remembered for his dedication to this project
which employed his tremendous skills in languages.  As usual, Eddy
Mitelsbach of Belgium proof-read all entries and added data to the
spreadsheets based on the correspondence between the location of a
tombstone and plot-by-plots listings in the burial registers.  We owe much
gratitude to all three of these excellent volunteers.

Warmest wishes,

Bruce



=====

20 June 2011
Dear Friends,

This is a brief update on the status of our project to index all burials
in the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery.  New members of the list can read about
the background of this project on our web site:
http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/newcemetery/oldproject/chrono.html


All spreadsheets of burial data, along with tombstone images, are being
posted to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR):

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/

You can search the database for free, but you must register as a member
with JewishGen, if you're not already registered.  To access only the data
from Czernowitz (and surrounding areas), use the "Geographical Region"
tool to select "Romania/Bucovina" or "Austrian Empire/Bukovina".  Searches
for a particular name can be done using "Sounds like", "Exact Spelling",
"Starts with" or "Phonetically like" options - three of which are
particularly useful since spellings often varied and since the data in the
database could have easily been read incorrectly from old style
handwritten copies.

By early August, there will be a total of 16,105 names in the Czernowitz
Jewish Cemetery portion of the JOWBR database.  If you'd like to know if
an Area (or Parcel) of interest has been uploaded (or is about to be
uploaded), please let me know.

The most recent few thousand entries are due to the continuing efforts of
Eddy Mitelsbach, Kurt Nachman, Leah Haber-Gedalia and Robert Zavos.

We're still working away and have more than 10,000 entries to go!
Volunteers with computer savvy, good eyesight, and able to work with Excel
files, plus skilled with Hebrew and/or German (or Russian) are still
needed.

Thank you!

Bruce Reisch
Project Coordinator

=====

From: Bruce Reisch
To: Czernowitz-L
Date: 20 November 2007
Dear Friends:
 
I'd like to give you an update on the status of the Czernowitz Cemetery Project. 
New members of the list can read about the background of this project on our web site:
http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/newcemetery/oldproject/chrono.html
 
Additional cemetery information, including maps of the New Areas and their corresponding
pre-WWII Parcel numbers, can be found by going to our web site, czernowitz.ehpes.com, and
clicking on "Czernowitz Cemetery Projects" near the bottom of the left column.
 
Tombstone transcription work is now complete for the following Areas:
38, 39, 42, 44, 45, 47, 49 and 50
13D, 13G, 13H, 20, 21a, 21b, 23, 24, 25
66, 73, 75, 76, 80, 81
 
The spreadsheets of data associated with these 23 Areas were sent to the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Ottawa, Canada, in August, and they will soon be forwarded to JewishGen (Joyce Field
and Nolan Altman) for posting on the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry
<http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/>.  Along with the spreadsheet data, photos of each
tombstone will also be sent and will be linked to each searchable record.  There are over 4,100 burial
records in these 23 Areas.
 
I have also received 1st drafts of data for the following Areas:
26, 27, 30, 34, 1, 2, 6, 7, 77, 137, 11, 35, 51, 57, 62 (comprising over 4000 burials).  After double-checking
and further transcription of names engraved on tombstones in Russian, these data will also be forwarded to
JGS Ottawa and then on the JewishGen.
 
Continuing thanks go to these individuals for their devotion of time and effort to the project:  Osnat Hazan,
Lea Haber-Gedalia, Marc Goldberger, Eddy Mitelsbach, and Kurt Nachman.
 
Best wishes,
 
Bruce

=====

From:        Bruce I Reisch <bir1@nysaes.cornell.edu>
Reply-To:      Bruce I Reisch <bir1@nysaes.cornell.edu>
To:      czernowitz-L@cornell.edu
Subject:      [Cz-L] October 2006 status of Czernowitz Cemetery Project
Date:      Sun, 29 Oct 2006 08:31:32 -0500 (EST) (05:31 PST)


Dear Friends:

It's been quite some time since my last update on the ongoing project to
create a searchable database of pictures of tombstones from the Czernowitz
Jewish cemetery.  We have six multilingual volunteers who have each been
sent CD-ROMs with image files from multiple Areas in the cemetery.  Of
these six, four have returned data, one has just received a CD, and one
has not progressed.

I have Excel spreadsheets prepared by these dedicated volunteers for the
following Areas (according to the Russian system of numbering Areas):
1, 2, 6, 7, 20, 21A, 21B, 38, 39, 42, 47, 77, 137
Area 26 has also been done, but hasn't yet reached my desktop.

Each spreadsheet will need to be verified by another set of eyes before
submitting the final spreadsheet and associated image files to JewishGen
for posting on the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR).
<http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Cemetery/>  As each area is verified
it will be submitted to JOWBR; we will not be waiting for completion of
all Areas of the cemetery before submission.

Transcribers report the following problems:  illegible stones,
over-exposed pictures, and difficulty in finding the corresponding
location for each stone in the pre-1948 parcel-based burial register.
Some of the images, even from the pre-1900 period, show stones in
remarkably good condition, while some stones from the 1930's and even from
the 1960s have deteriorated greatly.  Some of the inscriptions note the
very prominent position of the deceased in the government and the
community.  It's slow going, but I've asked transcribers to focus on just
the surname, given name, age, and date of death to help speed along their
work.

I'd like to thank the following for their work in transcribing information
from tombstones to date:
Eddy Mittelsbach, Marc Goldberger, Osnat Hazan, and Kurt Nachman.  After a
slow start on this phase of the project about a year ago, we're picking up
speed and moving along!  We have quite a long way to go, but we'll persist
and get it done.

Background information on this project is on our group web site,
<czernowitz.ehpes.com>, under the category "Czernowitz Cemetery Projects".
All thanks for carrying out the photography and acquiring the burial
registers go to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa, Canada, and the
Canadian National Archives.

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York

=====

Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 09:26:28 -0400
To: Czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: [Cz-L] Burial Register Project

Dear Friends:

For those of you wondering about the status of the project to create
a computerized database of burials in the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery,
here is a brief update.

Between October 2003 and March 2004, our dedicated transcription team
completed the entry of all names written in Latin letters (ca. 1865
to 1948) into Excel spreadsheets.  (The rest of the register through
the 1990s is written in Russian and has been transcribed/translated
by others.)  We now have 27,338 entries in the Excel spreadsheets
done by the Czernowitz-L team.  However, this represents information
on fewer than 27,338 individuals since many names are duplicated in
both the parcel-by-parcel as well as alphabetized sections of the
register.

While the data was being submitted, I double-checked (and corrected)
submissions, line by line, for accuracy and consistency in numerous
formatting details.  I completed that task early this month.

Our goal is to have a database with reasonably accurate information.
It's quite difficult to transcribe handwritten records from many
years ago into accurate entries!  For this reason, we need to verify
and double check all names, dates, plot locations, etc.  We are
preparing for this step now.  Lancy Spalter has been helping me to
organize the instructions that will go out to Data Verifiers, and
Yossi Eshet is working to double check a spreadsheet of
German-Romanian street names to be used to verify addresses of
relatives that sometimes appear in the registers.

Hymie Reichstein, Pres. of JGS Ottawa, hopes to have the complete
database (1865-1990s) posted on JewishGen while the project continues
with the more time-consuming phase of linking digital pictures of
each stone to each name in the database.

Best wishes always,
Bruce

=====


Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 07:48:54 -0500
To: czernowitz-l
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: [Cz-L] Status of Burial Register Project


Greetings Czernowitzers!

What follows is a status report on our project to transcribe the
Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery Burial Registers into a database for
posting on JewishGen.  (This is a cooperative project initiated by
JGS Ottawa; Czernowitz-L took on the task of entering all data from
Latin (not Cyrillic) letter entries.)

ALL burial register pages have been sent out, and NEARLY ALL have
been completed and returned!  We're just about done with phase I -
data input.  Without our committed team of volunteers, we couldn't
have completed this project.  We entered more than 27,000 names in
under four months!  This project will help us memorialize the Jewish
community of Czernowitz far into the future.

We'll be entering phase II shortly - to verify/double-check all data
submissions. Before that begins, I will be busy assembling all the
individual sheets into one master file. There were 228 individual
spreadsheet submissions!  I must have sent out more than 700 emails
during the course of the project!  We strained our eyes trying to
read from poor copies, understand and interpret old-style
handwriting, and trying to match street names written in tiny script
with actual street names from old-Czernowitz.  But we persevered and
got the job done.

Hymie Reichstein (President of JGS Ottawa) and I discussed this
project earlier this week.  Once our data is double-checked, Hymie
will combine it with the other file of more than 20,000 names from
the Cyrillic portion of the register.  This file will then be
submitted to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry for
public access. It will take quite a bit of additional time to link
each tombstone image to each name in the database, but while that
work is underway, we plan to make the burial database available
online without links to the tombstone images.

Warmest wishes,
Bruce

=====

Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 11:56:09 -0500
To: Czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Cemetery register transcription - update 26 Dec.


Dear Czernowitz group:

As of mid-day December 26, the number of entries transcribed stands
at an unbelievable 15,804 (considering we stood at 12,000 just 10
days ago)!  We are making great progress especially since some of the
Dachau database transcribers joined the team.  Our greatest
appreciation goes to all project volunteers.

Enjoy the final night of Chanukah,

Bruce

=====

Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 09:28:11 -0500
To: Czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Cemetery register transcription - update

Dear Friends:

Here is the next in a series of periodic updates on the project to
computerize the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery burial registers.

The number of names entered by a dedicated team of volunteers stands
at over 12,000.  We're making terrific progress.  We are perhaps 50%
of the way toward completion and have nearly finished the most
difficult-to-read sections.

Most of the entries from the parcel by parcel listings have now been
transcribed or sent out for transcription.  These are the only source
of information for pre-1906 burials.

The Parcel listings often include the name, address, and sometimes
the relationship of a member of the family of the deceased.  This is
a real bonus of information.  Some of these addresses could be useful
for the project Simon Kreindler just suggested.

For those new to the list, this database will be posted to the
JewishGen web site when completed; each name will be linked to an
image of the tombstone.  The JGS of Ottawa, working with George
Bolotenko and family,  is to thank for obtaining the registers and
photographing the thousands of tombstones in the Czernowitz Jewish
Cemetery on Zelena Street.

I'm very impressed with the dedicated team of volunteers who are
working so hard and carefully to create an accurate and complete
database from these handwritten, often hard-to-read burial registers.
We are up to 19 volunteers, and I'd like to acknowledge the following
new volunteers since the last posting:

Paula Zieselman
Edward Mitelsbach
Harry Green"
Shimon Neumann
Peter Reiniger
Fritz Neubauer

Happy Chanukah!

Bruce Reisch

=====

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 11:05:25 -0500
To: Czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Next update on the cemetery register project

Dear Friends:

Here is the next in a series of periodic updates on the project to
computerize the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery burial registers.

The number of names entered by a dedicated team of 13 volunteers
stands at over 7,200.  We are perhaps 20% of the way toward our goal.

Here is a summary of our progress on the alphabetized portion of the
register for the period 1906 to 1948.  For surnames starting with
letter:
A - 10% complete
D - complete
E - complete
F -  25% complete
G -  complete
H -  complete
J, Y, and I - complete
N - 60% complete
O -  complete
Sp (only surnames starting with "Sp") - complete
St ( " ) - complete

In addition to the above, many further entries have been transcribed
from the Parcel listings which are arranged by parcel and plot
number, not alphabetically.  These parcel listings are the only
source of information for pre-1906 burials.

The Parcel listings often include the name, address, and sometimes
the relationship of a member of the family of the deceased.  This is
a real bonus of information.

I'm very impressed with the dedicated team of volunteers who are
working so hard and carefully to create an accurate and complete
database from these handwritten, often hard-to-read burial registers.
I would like to acknowledge them here:
Peter Elbau
Jerome Schatten
Marc Goldberger
Dr. Jolie Weininger
Dr. Simon Kreindler
Mimi Taylor
Richard Conoboy
Kurt Nachman
Melita Fuhrman Vickter
Yossi Eshet
Lancy Spalter
Michelle Troup

Best regards,

Bruce

=====

Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:12:52 -0400
To: Czernowitz-l
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Czernowitz cemetery register project

Sender:
X-NYSAES-MailScanner-x: Determined to be clean
X-NYSAES-MailScanner-SpamCheck: not spam, SpamAssassin (score=0, required 5)
Status:

Here is the next in a series of periodic updates on the project to
computerize the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery burial registers.

The number of names entered by a dedicated team of 12 volunteers
stands at 3,148.  We have a long way to go, but we've made a great
start.

So far, we've worked on an alphabetized portion of the register for
the period 1906 to 1948.
For surnames starting with letter:

G - nearly complete
H - nearly complete
N - about half complete
J, Y, and I - complete
O - half complete

Names starting with Sp and St have all been sent out to the volunteer
team.  We are also starting on names beginning with letter D.

Letter E will follow letter D, and then we will begin working on the
Parcel/plot listings.  These are more or less in order of Parcel
number, and include listings for burials from the mid 1800s through
the 1930s.  Occasionally, one finds the name and address of a contact
person on these parcel/plot pages, but this information seems to be
pretty hard to read.

So - great progress is being made, but we have a long, long way to go!

Best regards,

Bruce

=====

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 16:30:49 -0400
To: czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: <Czern-L>: Update II on Cem. Project

Dear Friends:

By last Wednesday, we had received 845 names in the project to index
Jewish burials in Czernowitz.  Today, we are up above 2,200 entries,
mostly for surnames starting with G and H.

There are 10 terrific volunteers working on the project, and sending
in data at a torrid pace!  Keep up the good work!  We are now sending
out pages with surnames starting with letter N.

Bruce

=====


Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 17:15:51 -0400
To: czernowitz-l
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Czernowitz:  Update on cemetery register indexing project

Dear Friends:

I'd like to give you a quick update on the project to create a
searchable database from the registers recording burials in the
Jewish cemetery in Czernowitz.

On October 4, I began sending out image files (via email) to a group
of volunteers.  Some data files were returned the very next day, and
a few volunteers are already working on their second batch.  We are
starting with the letter "G", 1906-1948 and continuing in the order
by which the registers were organized.  (We'll be skipping around the
alphabet, and then working at time on Parcel by Parcel, non
alphabetized listings).  The next letter we'll start on is "H".

We've had a few minor problem distributing files via email, but
nothing insurmountable.  But I'm pleased to report that in the few
short days since indexing began we have entered 845 names.  Just five
volunteers have contributed so far, but more image files have been
distributed, and the number of names entered should climb
dramatically over time.  But we're off to a great start.

If you volunteered already but haven't heard from me - let me know. I
may have lost your name along the way.  On the other hand, if you are
a new list member and would like to volunteer to help create a free,
searchable database of Czernowitz cemetery burials, here is a job
description for our volunteers:


1. You must abide by the terms contained in a volunteer agreement
form, and confirm via email your acceptance of these terms.
2. You must have good eyesight.  You are being asked to transcribe
directly from the computer screen into an Excel file, or to print out
each image for use.
3. While no special language skills are necessary besides a command
of the Latin alphabet, you will need to be able to read (or train
yourself to read) old style handwriting*.  The registers were created
after 1906 and notes are either in German or Romanian.  Both
languages use the Latin alphabet, and some of the handwriting is
difficult to read. *References on understanding old handwriting:
http://amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/oldhand.html
http://www.genealogienetz.de/misc/scripts.html
http://www.mun.ca/rels/morav/script.html
http://home.t-online.de/home/hans-peter.voss/04eng.htm

4. You should have a recent version of Microsoft Excel on your
computer.  Both Macintosh and PC versions are acceptable.
5. You should have the ability to receive 4 or more attached files by
email, each 100-400 K in size.
6. An Excel template will be supplied with the first batch of images,
as attached files via email.


None of this would be possible without the efforts of the Jewish
Genealogical Soc. of Ottawa, Canada, and we thank them for their
efforts to obtain these registers and to digitally photograph all the
tombstones in Czernowitz, Sadagora, and Hotin.

With best wishes for the New Year,
Bruce

=====

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 08:58:19 -0400
To: "Czernowitz list"
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Re: Burial registers


Dear David:

To tell you more about the source of these registers, I'll quote here
from the article written by Alti Rodal, and published in Avotaynu
(Winter 2002), entitled:  "Bukovina Cemeteries, Archives, and Oral
History":

"In addition to photographing the tombstones, negotiation with the
cemetery keeper, along with research at the Chernivtsi Regional
Archives, yielded material for a valuable database - the full burial
registries that record the names of all Jews buried in the cemetery.
The burial registries of the Chernivtsi Jewish cemetery are housed in
the administration office of the Christian cemetery on the other side
of Zelena Street.  There are 22 volumes, one for one or more of each
of the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.  . . .

These burial registries list all surnames chronologically, inscribed
by hand in German from the 1860s until 1947, and afterwards in
Cyrillic. Also included are the deceased's first name, the father's
name, the date of death, the grave location (by sector, row and grave
number), and sometimes next-of-kin.  This information is key to
developing a comprehensive monuments/images database, as it provides
the basis for both the alphabetical index and the location index.

Photocopying these volumes presented an additional challenge.  As
there were no photocopiers on the premises, the heavy volumes were
borrowed - two per day - and brought in person to a photocopying
centre in Chernivtsi's main square.  While the service attendant
welcomed the business, the overload of work and the August heat
resulted in the occasional omission of a page or two. Each omission
would have meant that 40 to 80 names would have been lost to the
database, a thought that seemed to justify the almost obsessively
careful daily checking of the copies against the original pages. . . "

I would like to add that other researchers had been to Chernivtsi
before, and the only known index to the cemetery was  an incomplete
copy held in an office in the City Hall.  When I was there, my
contacts in the Jewish Community tried to find a listing for an early
1920s burial of Hinke Halpern, by great great Aunt.  The officials
responded that no one by that name could be found.  Using the
registers I now hold from JGS Ottawa and Alti's efforts, I found her
listed in 1924 without any problem.  Similarly, for several of you
who had specific names and approx dates of death, I've had a 100%
success rate in locating your relatives in these registers.  I've
found the location in these files for most letters of the (Latin)
alphabet, except for the letters V and W.  Alti's efforts to locate
and copy these valuable registers are really appreciated!

Bruce

=====

Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 10:16:26 -0400
To: czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Sadagora burials

The burial register from Czernowitz has, as I mentioned before, has
one anomalous page from the Sadagora burial register, Feb. 1903.  The
following names are listed; contact me for more information:

LUTTINGER Gabe of Sadagora
SCHWARZ Dawid of Sadagora/Bojan
TALESMAN Nathan of Rohozna
POPPEL  Jutte of Sadagora
DRUCKER Nuchim of Rohozna
KREISEL Moses Mordko? of Tirgul Niamz, Rumania
BAUMJOL Joel of Sadagora
HENG Sokal born ECKSTEIN of Sadagora
REISCH Abraham of Rohozna
BENDIT Marjem of Sadagora
DELFINER Chaim of Luzan?
SINGER Jente of Toporautz
SANDBERG Mendel of Sadagora
LOHNER Lowi of Toporautz


Bruce

=====

Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 10:54:51 -0400
To: czernowitz-L
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Update on Czernowitz Cemetery Database Project

During the meeting in Washington, I had a chance to talk to Hymie
Reichstein and Lawrence Tapper about how to proceed with the creation
of an online searchable database.  This project will proceed as one
in which we recognize that the data is owned/copyrighted by the
Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa, and will be donated to
JewishGen which will in turn post this to a searchable web site via
the Online Worldwide Burial Registry.  I've agreed to distribute
pages from the burial registry to individuals who are capable of
transcribing the data into Excel spreadsheets.  I have more than 20
volunteers already!  But it isn't simply a matter of sending these
pages to volunteers.  A complete set of instructions must be
developed.

Guidelines have to be developed for the data-entry project, for example:

1.  We will use a template based on the one developed by JOWBR and
described on their web site.

2.  We will need to develop criteria on volunteer qualifications -
e.g. ability to use Excel, ability to read old-style German
handwriting, etc.  We should also recommend possible web sites that
will be helpful in correctly reading old-style handwriting.

3.  What do we do with "umlauts" - or other accents noted in the text.

4.  For each volunteer transcriber, we will also need a "verifier"
who will proof-read the data entered and correct as necessary.

5.  Each image of each register page is 1 to 2 MB in size, and has up
to 30 names.  Volunteers should be able to accept attached files of
this size.

Hymie Reichstein will be looking into these issues, and I am awaiting
instructions from him as to how to proceed.  I will also ask Hymie
(by copy of this email) if we can post a few sample images to our
Czernowitz web site of the burial register pages so that volunteers
have a better idea of what to expect to receive, and whether they are
capable of entering the data that appears.  As soon as procedures are
worked out, I will begin to distribute the images.

For the time being, I haven't just stored the images in a safe place
for later use.  On the contrary, I've examined about every 10th image
among approx. 2500 images.  The scan quality is superb!  I've marked
those that are in Cyrillic characters (these have been done already)
and created an index to the rest.  Alti Rodal provided an excellent
description of how these registers were obtained and what sort of
information they show in her article in Avotaynu last year.  Here are
some further details from my examination of the material so far:

1.  The first section is all in Cyrillic, post 1964.

2.  There are major sections for each letter of the (Latin) alphabet
for 1906-1962.  Between 1906 and 1947, the Latin alphabet was used
and most names are clearly readable.  From 1948 to 1962, it's all in
Cyrillic.  Within each Latin letter, each line contains a name,
parcel, and grave number, along with a year of death or sometimes the
exact date of death (or is it date of burial).  Rarely, a line shows
that the remains were transferred to Sadagora, Secureni or Radauti
for burial.  Within the letter A, for example, all deaths are listed
for 1906 in sequential order, then for 1907, etc. through 1962.  The
language switches to Cyrillic (Ukrainian or Russian?) in early 1948.
This section rarely contains the name of the father, while the first
section in Cyrillic I believe mostly has the name of the father of
the deceased.

3.  There is another major section  organized by Parcel number.  Each
burial is listed within each parcel.  The time period goes from the
late 1800s to the early 1900s, as far as 1930s from what I've seen so
far.  So while there must be some overlap with the 1906 - 1962 lists,
the sections organized by Parcel number seem to be the only means to
find a listing for pre:1906 burials.  (The cemetery was first opened
in 1866 - the older one was built over in 1946 during Soviet times.)

4.  The volume for letter T is unusual in that names beginning with T
are listed for various years.  Names are not listed in order in which
the burials occurred.  This volume was apparently created during the
interwar period judging from the use of the Romanian language.

5.  Just prior to the section with 1906 deaths for letter D is an
unusual section - including some correspondence from 1913; a few
individual death certificates for Hacker, Frieda Picker, Simon
Stecher, Betty Gross and - ONE PAGE FROM THE 1903 SADAGORA CEMETERY
BURIAL REGISTRY!  (Sadagora researchers get excited by such finds, so
forgive my use of ALL CAPS.  Yes, I found one Reisch listed on this
page.)

Once again, I express my gratitude to all those involved in securing
the massive amounts of data and information from Chernivtsi.  Thank
you JGS Ottawa, especially Hymie Reichstein; Alti Rodal; George
Bolotenko and family; and Lawrence Tapper.

Bruce

=====

Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 09:39:27 -0400
To: Czernowitz-l
From: Bruce Reisch
Subject: Update on Czernowitz cemetery project

Dear Czernowitzers:

As most of us already know, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa
coordinated a project to digitally photograph the Jewish cemeteries
of Czernowitz, Sadagora, and Chotin in 2001 and 2002.  While there as
part of the team, Alti Rodal and others were able to acquire copies
of the cemetery registers recording burial dates and locations for
the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery from 1866 until recent years.  (These
registers were found across the street with the caretakers of the
Christian cemetery.)

The project to create a searchable database matching names with
tombstone images will begin with the creation of an Excel spreadsheet
with information from the burial registers.  This will eventually be
linked on the web to images of each tombstone.  Last week I spoke
with Hymie Reichstein, President of JGS Ottawa, about this project,
and have a bit of news to pass along.

During the last few weeks, one individual from Ottawa already entered
15,000 names into a spreadsheet.  These comprise all the names that
were written in Russian, presumably from the post-WWII era.  Cyrillic
characters were transliterated into the Roman alphabet.

Hymie has asked for our group to help with the next phase of the
project.  The rest of the registers are in either German or Romanian.
If clearly readable, these should be straightforward to type into an
Excel spreadsheet.  I'll be seeing Hymie next week in Montreal, and
he has promised to deliver to me CDs with digitized images of the
remaining registers.  I'll then begin to distribute sections to
volunteers who are willing to help.

It will take quite a bit of time before this project is completed,
but our efforts will result in an amazing database helping to
preserve the memory of our ancestors and the Jewish community of
Czernowitz.

Bruce