Goldberg Group Research

RESEARCH SUMMARY AND PROJECTION

RESEARCH TO DATE

Research on the various Goldberg group families has been very successful. The different branches of the Goldbergs themselves have all been close over the years, so there was a great deal of information that could be gathered from senior family members. Thanks to several contributors, a broad picture of the descendants of Gerszel Goldberg and Gitl Komorowska was able to take shape, without, of course the long-lost American branch, the descendants of Chaim Szyia Goldberg.

This American branch was located ultimately through an amazing team effort. Working on a hunch that Chaim Szyia lived in London for a time, I searched the Ellis Island database and found the family’s immigration in 1922. By speaking to staff at Paterson Free Public Library in New Jersey, I was able to find the surname and first names of the family of cousins with whom Chaim Szyia and his family stayed immediately following their immigration. I asked online associates to search the 1930 US census, and several found listings for Chaim Szyia, Esther and youngest daughter, Gert, in Brooklyn. One associate searched several neighbouring enumeration districts for combinations of the first names I had given her. She located daughter Dora, living with her husband and daughter a few streets away. This gave me Dora’s married surname, and I used the SSDI to find the couple’s death listings, in Florida. At somewhat of a loss as to how to proceed, I decided the best thing to do would be to purchase a copy of Dora’s will, and search for surviving beneficiaries mentioned. This was a technique I had recently been told about, so was interested to see if it would work. More correspondence with American associates, who were rapidly becoming friends, gave me the website for the Miami County Clerk’s office and, with the information from the SSDI, I was able to order a copy of the will. Payment was organised via the several American-based researchers who were friends of my cousin and main research partner, Anthea Gerrie. When the will arrived, I used Switchboard.com to search for surnames mentioned, and a few hits resulted. By systematically phoning each hit, I located first Gert’s granddaughter-in-law then, a few hours later, Gert herself. Switchboard.com also provided contact details for other branches of that line of the family who had been estranged for many years.

Read an article about the Goldberg reunion from the Jewish Chronicle

The tragic Holocaust stories of the Parzenczewski family had been submitted by members of that branch, as well as the listings in the Klarsfeld book of deported French Jews. Madeleine Rycine’s memoirs from 1919-45 provide a magnificent insight into the problems facing that branch of the family over 25 years, and her sister Rachel Oger's memoirs tell the story of World War II as seen through the eyes of a young girl.

Using the JRI-PL project hosted by JewishGen, I have been able to purchase copies of large numbers of birth, marriage and death certificates from Lodz, through both the Lodz PSA and my local branch of the LDS. I have had many of these translated by cousins on my mother’s side of the family. Thanks to a group of collaborators in the Lipman/Brajtbart branch of the Komorowski family, quite a large family tree has been put together using testimonies from various members of the group.

In the Tempelchof family, much of the information has been compiled through several series of phone calls over a number of years, with various family members, some very distant. Purchasing certificates in order to extend the tree deeper into history has only just begun, but with fairly instant success. By running JRI searches in Lodz province, not just in Lodz city, I found a small set of Krzywe records almost exclusively from the town of Aleksandrow Lodzki, including my great-great-grandparents' marriage certificate. A similar search for Tempelchofs revealed that they seem to have originated in the town of Konstantynow Lodzki. These important finds open the way for the strategic purchase of certain certificates, to finally expand our knowledge of these two ancestral families.

FORTHCOMING RESEARCH AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

There are several of the nine known Komorowski offspring whose descendants have yet to be traced. A number of listings on the JRI indexes suggest not many of the offspring survived beyond middle age, but it is assumed their descendants did. Again, by continuing to purchase certificates and also by hoping to find listings of descendants elsewhere, such as on the Ellis Island database, living descendants may still be traceable. The biggest obstacle to this is funding the purchase of the certificates though. Initial funding has been generously promised for some Krzywe/Tempelchof purchases, but more is needed.

The only branch of the Goldberg family which retains the original surname are the two sons of Ronnie Goldberg and Eva Bart, who are believed to have moved to South Africa after their father’s death in 1980. These men remain “lost” to the family, despite postings made on various online SIGs (Special Interest Groups). Finding them may rely on someone who knows them spotting such a posting, or even visiting Shmuelbennachum.com!

In the Tempelchof research, finding living descendants hitherto unknown is more difficult, as much less of the early family is known at the moment. This will probably take longer than the Goldberg research.

The anticipated publication of more recent online indexes for Lodz certificates is hoped to yield more precise information on dates of emigration. The publication of the 1911 UK census in 2012 will help build up the picture of the Goldbergs, Lipmans and Tempelchofs in London at that time. In the meantime, research at the London Guildhall amongst the capital’s street directories should yield similar results.

Saul Marks

Rev 2 Mar 2005