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Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 9:28PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 26 Jul 2008 2:10PM GMT
Surnames: Needle
Hi,

My great-grandfather (Nathan Needle, hebrew Nachem Nodl) came from Russia - Ukraine around 1915. He claimed to have come from a place called Dombrovitz, which was a Jewish community with around 1,000 Jewish families. However, I cannot find anything about it on the internet - it seems like it only exists in the mind of my family! I was wondering if anyone knew anything about Dombrovitz, and if they could please leave some information for me.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 11:34PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 26 Jul 2008 2:11PM GMT

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 25 Jul 2008 1:41AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 26 Jul 2008 2:12PM GMT
Thanks, that's a great pointer, and the tie to Volhynia is useful. The information is also consistent with what we know, that one of our ancestors was a barber and another "the best cobbler in Dombrovitza".

From this, we unearthed a pointer to Sefer Dombrovitsah, which appears to be a Yizkor book devoted to their area.
Doesn't look like it has been translated and put on-line yet.

Sefer Dombrovitsah = Dombroṿitser andenḳ-bukh / ha-ʻorekh, L. Losh.

Title: Sefer Dombrovitsah = Dombroṿitser andenḳ-bukh /
ha-ʻorekh, L. Losh.
ספר דומברוביצה = דאמבראװיצער
אנדענק־בוך / העורך, ל. לוש.

Published: Tel-Aviv : Irgun yotsʾe Dombrovitsah be-Yiśraʾel, 1964.
תל־אביב : אירגון יוצאי
דומברוביצה בישראל, 1964.

Description: 928 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 25 cm.

Location: SML, Judaica Collection

Call Number: DS135.U42 D66 1964

Status: Not Checked Out

Subjects (Library of Congress):
Jews Ukraine Dombrovitza History.
Dombrovitza (Ukraine) History.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 21 Aug 2008 2:25AM GMT
Classification: Query
My father's family came from Dombrovitz. He came to the US in 1921 through Ellis Island and Dombrovitz is listed on the boat records. It is on the Polish/Russian border and some years it was in Poland and some years in Russia.

In Israel there is a group of people whose family came from Dombrovitz but I don't know how to contact them.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 13 Sep 2009 10:38PM GMT
Classification: Query
My grandfather came from Dombrovitz in 1913. The family name was Gildenhorn and there were seven brothers. My grandfather brought four of his brothers to the United States (Washington, DC) My great grandfather's name was Joseph and my great grandmother's name was Tzirel (Eisenberg). Were you able to find out anything about the town...Jewish cemetery etc.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 13 Sep 2009 11:28PM GMT
Classification: Query
Haven't found out too much. However, there are still some Jewish records existing in Polish archives, but they are far from being microfilmed/digitized. These are the surviving records for Dubrovitsa:

http://www.rtrfoundation.org/results.php


This is also great:

http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=1695

The link above will bring you to the memorial book for Dubrovitsa, which is in Yiddish/Hebrew, but may be translated sometime in the near future. Jewishgen.com is trying to get as many of these book translated and online as possible. The book does have a lot of photos though, so it may be fun to look through and see if you can find a familiar face.

I will post again if we find anything really great.

Good luck,

Nathan

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 1 Feb 2010 10:50PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Fishman
I have immigration papers for my father that lists Dombrovitz, Russia(now Poland) as his place of birth..It also lists the city with two other spellings:
Demorovitz Poland and Dubpvotz Poland-Russia....My father told me he was from Ukraine. I'm assuming that the borders kept changing. I have not been able to find any info on this town or city.

Our family name is Fishman but I think it was spelled Fiszman....my father came to Ellis Island in 1921 when he was about 10. An aunt brought him across, and I'm sure no one knew English so the authorities probably did not understand them and wrote what they thought they heard.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 1 Feb 2010 10:59PM GMT
Classification: Query
My father came to America in 1921 also on the ship Zeeland and was also from Dombrovitz. His name was Aaron Fishman(Fiszman appears on some of his papers). He was about 10 years old and he joined his father, who had previously come to America, in Burlington, Vermont.

My father moved to Boston where he also had family...This is the first time I've been able to get any info on Dombrovitz

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 1 Feb 2010 11:48PM GMT
Classification: Query
I see Fishman mentioned in the index of Sefer Dombrovitza (the Dombrovitz yizkor book), once on page 777 and once on page 696. Unfortunately, my Yiddish is very weak, so I can't tell you what's on those pages. If you know Yiddish, or know someone who does, it would be interesting to translate the pages and see if it's your family. You can find the book on-line here:

http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=1695

You mention that when your father came through Ellis Island, the authorities probably didn't understand him. I suspect that is unlikely. At that time, they had many translators, and it was likely that he was admitted by someone who spoke Yiddish (or possibly Russian or Polish), and he likely had multiple forms of documentation to prove his identity. It's a common misconception that people had their names changed at Ellis Island. Rather, they just had them anglicized.

When I was growing up, depending on who I was talking to, Dombrovitz would be attributed to the Ukraine, Prussia, Russia, or Poland. It was definitely in Russia when my grandparents and aunt left there in the 1910s.

Re: Dombrovitz, Ukraine

Posted: 2 Feb 2010 2:34AM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you for your reply...I did call up that yizkor site and found the 2 references listed in the index at the end of the book, but I never found them on the pages...I only scanned the pages and at some time I will go back. I thought it looked like Hebrew because I recognized some words, but I wouldn't be able to translate anything.I have a partial family tree and will see if the first names resemble anything close to what was written in the book.
By the way, there is the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Ma that collects Yiddish books.I don't know whether they can translate them. It is a wonderful place to visit if you are ever in that area.
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