Mar 11 2007 Mtg

Sunday, March 11, 2007, 1– 4 p.m.
University Synagogue
(directions)
(For this meeting there is no charge for members. There is a $5 charge for guests.)

Where Once We Walked: Traveling Back in Time

Four adventurous genealogists discuss recent trips to their ancestral shtetls in Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, “Galicia” and Poland:

Mark Heckman attended a summer 2006 symposium of more than 60 former Czernowitzers in Ukraine. For hundreds of years there was a large and thriving Jewish population in Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine), the leading city of North Bukovina and southern Galicia. Although a large number of Jews survived World War II, most emigrated to Israel and the West. The "reunion" gave some a chance to find their old homes and reconnect with a town they left long ago; others got a first-hand look at a place known only from family stories. Mark will show pictures and video from his trip, recounting highlights of the symposium and also visits to towns including Sadagora, Zastavna, Zaleshchiki, Tluste and Horodenka.

In August 2006, Lois Rosen traveled to Latvia. She was researching the Rozinko family, and planned to meet family members she had found through her research. She did not hire a guide, but planned the trip herself, visiting Riga and Daugavpils, and Pasvalys, Lithuania. She visited the Latvian Archives to meet the researcher who had conducted her family research and in Daugavpils, she met members of the Jewish community and visited the restored synagogue and active Jewish Community Center. She will share the fruits of her labors by displaying the oversized and artistically illustrated family tree she has proudly created.

In the past year-and-a-half, Karen Roekard (three-time Ukrainian traveler) spent close to two weeks doing research in both the Scientific and the State Historical Archives in Lviv (Galicia), Ukraine. Along with Natalie Dunai, she poured through innumerable books, files, and lists, and she will elaborate on the pleasures, treasures, value and 'OY!' of archival research. She’ll also share video of her davening and singing in the Zolkiew shul (upon which the Belzer Chassidim based their synagogue), with its amazing acoustics, and explain her planned synagogue restoration project.

In May 2005, Andrea Massion traveled with her cousin to Ukraine accompanied by Alex Dunai, spending four days in the Massion shtel of Ananiev, along with Odessa, Balta and Uman. She met a cousin for the first time in Kiev and discovered the real story behind some of her family's best-laid plans when together they go in search of answers to a few Massion mysteries lurking in Southern Ukraine. A brief overview of a wonderful ancestral journey.

OUR SPEAKERS

"A Tasty Snack in Tluste"
Mark Heckman samples some local fare

Mark Heckman has previously lectured on genealogical topics at conferences
in New York, Salt Lake City, Jerusalem, and Las Vegas, and for various Jewish
genealogical societies. Heckman has a M.A. degree in History and M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, is on
the steering committee for the Gesher Galicia SIG, and is the immediate past
president of the JGS of Sacramento.

Cousins Andrea Massion and Christine
Tauschek Crawley meet their cousin Gregor Massion in Kiev for the first time.

Andrea Massion, a native of Los Angeles, has been researching her family genealogy as a hobby for the last 12 years. She found a living branch of her family--an amazing event for a genealogist--and in 2005, traveled to the Ukraine. Andrea is a performer and Jewish Arts educator and also works in a middle school library where she gets to inspire young readers. She has served on the JGS Nominating Committee and regularly "reads the Hebrew" as part of the Society's cemetery project. She is currently looking for proof to the Sephardic origins of the Massions.

Karen Roekard (AKA Gitel Chaye Ita Rosenfeld Rokart), MBA and Berkeley, CA resident, spent 10 days in 2005 with Alex Dunai walking the streets of Lviv, Rawa Ruska, Belz, Zolkiew, Wolka Mazowieka, where her also ancestors walked in the pre-War years. In September 2006 she went back to research Tabula Register general indexes, and Cadastral maps. She is in preliminary discussions with the town of Rawa Ruska to retrieve gravestones used to pave their roads and expects to go back later this year. In another sphere of life, Karen is known for being the author of “The Santa Cruz Haggadah."

Karen singing in Zolkiew synagogue

The Old Jewish Cemetery in Riga

Lois Rosen, JGSLA member, is trained as an English teacher and a lawyer, but is currently busy raising three children and working part-time as Opera Chorus Manager for the Los Angeles Children's Chorus. Her husband Paul’s Rosen family (from Latvia and Lithuania) has been the focus of her genealogical passion, and after attending her first IAJGS conference in New York City last July, she embarked on her first “shtetl” trip to Latvia and Lithuania. Lois recently gave a workshop on “Designing and Printing Your Family Tree” for JGSLA’s assisted research day at the LA Regional Family History Center.

LOCATION: University Synagogue – Klein Hall, 11960 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. From the San Fernando Valley, take the 405 south and exit at Sunset. Turn left from the off-ramp, then right on to Sunset. Drive one mile on Sunset going west, then turn left on Saltair, and left into the parking lot. From the south, take the 405 north, exit on Sunset, turn left on Sunset, and turn left on Saltair.

ATTENDANCE/PARKING: Free for JGSLA members, $5 for others. Non-members are invited to join. Parking is free.