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In the past few months I've made great progress in researching some of the databases that are displayed on my site.
If you are part of our extended family, or think you might be, I hope that you'll find your home here. I display the genealogical databases of our family tree that now includes over 767 individuals and 251 families representing 188 surnames (including Dina's 4 ancestral trees and my 4 ancestral trees). The greatest progress has been on her Betzer tree and my Silberstein tree.
To jump directly to the description of any of our families, as they appear on this page, click the surname:
 | Moshe's
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| Dina's
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If you, or someone you're searching for, appear
on our tree, I've included separate branch pages for you to find your
exact
relation to Dina or to me. To discover your exact relation to others in your
tree, click
here to see
family relations.
The following links to families will take you to in-depth information about each family. From there, you can delve into their separate databases.
This database has more than doubled in size since the addition (in this version, June 2003) of the descendants of Bracha Chertoff, previously unknown to me. Erga Potashnik Levitas and her husband Gidon Levitas worked hard in supplying that in-depth data going back to 1873. This sub branch of Mordechai's tree originates in Wolozyn, Belarus and spreads to the Vilna Ghetto (of today's Vilnius, Lithuania), Kfar Vitkin in Israel and the U. S.
Sadly, of those who remained in Europe from this sub branch, all perished in the Holocaust.
Special thanks also go to Stephanie Fabian, who updated
this database in the last few days, including new dates of birth and/or death
for 70 individuals; some of whom are new additions. Stephanie points out that,
"You can read some of the death notices on line at the Cleveland Public Library
website www.cpl.org by
clicking on the Necrology File. Also, in these cases, I have also made the
assumption (hopefully correct) that the death occurred in Cleveland, but keep in
mind that this
is sometimes an assumption." Stephanie's great-grandmother, Hanna Baile Adelman Berkman, was the sister of Etta Adelman Chertoff (Gershon Baruch
Chertoff's wife). By coincidence, her "other great-grandmother's name was Leah
Basha Potashnick (or Potashnik) Skloot. She was married to Hillel Skloot."
They lived in Wolozyn. Those might be the same Postashniks that appear on the other
side of Bracha Chertoff Postashnik's sub branch. A third coincidence is that
Stephanie noticed that I have a link to the article
"Growing Up in White
Russia" by Cheyna Rogovin Chertow on my page of Chertoff links. "She is a
relative of mine through the Skloot side."
To see this database, click here.
I tell two genealogical anecdotes on another page; one sad, the other happy—both illustrating why it can be important to know one's roots.
I am interested in receiving material for additional
pages from contributors. If you’d like to see a memorial page
for someone
who is in one of our databases, a related database that doesn’t yet appear here
or any other topics—please contact me.
An accepted motto of genealogists is: "You can ignore
bad family, but you mustn't ignore bad genes!" Balding and loss of focus in
vision are not the only conditions that we might inherit from our ancestors. For
example, if we found (through
our genealogical research) that a number of the
men of one tree suffered from the same disease that appeared at a
certain age in
those men, we could prevent the disease at an earlier age in the younger men of
that tree—saving
needless suffering and expenses. These men do not necessarily
know each other personally. (Do you know all the cousins
in your tree?)
Therefore, they might not know that the condition exists in other men in their
tree.
My personal site offers various aspects of my personal,
family and professional life. I proudly admit that it has an accent
on my
obsession with genealogy. in particular, the genealogy of my four, and my wife's
four main families). You can
view
our personal genealogical database. The main family surnames include Chertoff,
Mazan, Kessler, Silberstein, Togal, Rabinsky,
Paris and Betzer. It includes over 717 individuals and 235
families representing 175 surnames.
If you recognize a name that appears in our database, I
also offer pages for you to learn our exact relation to that name.
For example,
if you find a Laznik (or Lesser) that you recognize, you can go to my Laznik
Relations page and find that
person and his or her family (along with all our
Lazniks on one page). Next to each name is the person’s relation to Dina
or to
me (first cousin, great aunt, third cousin thrice-removed, etc.).
If you're from one of the Chertoff variations of
families (beginning with either "Ch" or "Tch", and ending with either
"off," "ov,"
"ova" or "ow"), you might find yourself or an ancestor on one of my other
Chertoff branch databases.
My goal, in researching, maintaining and displaying
these "other" branches, is to try to identify the "missing links" that
will join
all these Minsk-originated branches into one large Chertov (the closest spelling
to the original Cyrillic spelling)
tree. A long-term goal of mine is to start
the ball rolling toward a first family reunion when we might all meet and find
our similarities and differences. There are hundreds of us out there, yet rarely
do any of us actually know many other persons with the Chertoff family name.
This reality was reportedly expressed by a prominent member of one of the
displayed trees at the funeral of his father when he stated that there are too
few Chertoffs out there and we are
becoming fewer all the time.
He was told of
my efforts to find more of us, but has yet to contact me (I've tried to
contact
him, to no avail).
I also maintain the databases of 8 other
Chertoff families. Click the "Chertoff Families" link to access their
databases
(now on view at my site). Although there are many possible different
spellings of the same surname: Chertoff,
Chertov, Chertova, Chertow,
Chartoff, Chartov, Tchertoff, Tchertov, Tchertow—we're all one family! The
reason
for the different spellings is one of both origin of the emigrating
individual(s) and transliterations at their destinations.
All originate in
Minsk, and are now found in deep Mother Russia and Yalta, Bulgaria, France,
England, Israel, Buenos Aires, Kansas City, New Jersey, Florida, New York,
Cleveland and Los Angeles. I've included a page of
links to other Chertoffs
I've also recently created the database of the
ORIGINAL Chertoff families from the findings of the Minsk Genealogy
Group. There, I've included an in-depth explanation of the findings that shed
more light on our probable connection.
More in-depth information about all the Chertoffs/ovs/ows (including links to the various databases)
Your exact relation to others in my branch of the Chertoff tree
If you're a Silberstein who is sure of our relations,
you might be interested in a newly discovered fact. Our surname,
as appears on
Ada Holtman's wonderful
Memorial Home Page for Jewish Mlawa (dedicated to the memory of the
over
7,000 Jews of Mlawa who perished in the Holocaust), is transliterated (from the
original Yiddish) as
Zylbersztajn,
Zilbersztajn or
Zylbersztejn.
More in-depth information about the Silbersteins
Your exact relation to others in the Silberstein tree
The Togals originate in Vilnius (previously known as Vilna), Lithuania.
More in-depth information about the Togals
Your exact relation to others in the Togal tree
The Kesslers originate in Ciechanow, (previously known as Chekenova), Poland. Their original name was Kostrzewa.
More in-depth information about the Kesslers
Your exact relation to others in the Kessler tree (soon to be updated)
The Mazans originate in Minsk, Belarus.
More in-depth information about the Mazans
Your exact relation to others in the Mazan tree
The Rabinskys emigrated to Argentina in 1905 with their 5 children (including Dina's maternal grandfather). They settled in Monigotes, Argentina. From Monigotes, they moved to Moises Ville, Argentina (a village established for those Jews fleeing Europe, sponsored by Baron Hirsch, in the interior Province of Santa Fe).
More in-depth information about the Rabinskys
Your exact relation to others in the Rabinsky tree
This is the branch of Dina's family about which we know the least. If you have any information about the Paris family, we would greatly appreciate hearing form you.
More in-depth information about the Paris family
Your exact relation to others in the Paris tree
The Betzers emigrated from Berezniegovate, Ukraine in 1905 to Moises Ville, Argentina (a village established for those Jews fleeing Europe, sponsored by Baron Hirsch, in the interior Province of Santa Fe). Yisrael Betzer made Aliya from there to Israel, participating in the establishment of a new Jewish homeland. Dina's parents came to Israel in 1956.
More in-depth information about the Betzers
Your exact relation to others in the Betzer tree
This site was last updated 15-02-2005
© 2003, Moshe Chertoff
