Jewish genealogy: Did anyone see this article in the NYT?

Yes, it was posted in the Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewishGenealogyPortal/permalink/891...

I sort of E-did it, i.e. electronically.

I was born and live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. My parents were from Krakow, Poland. My dad, the youngest of seven siblings told me, told me many stories about the restaurant my family ran within the Okocim brewery. He passed away in 2006, before the Internet reached the level of access to information we enjoy today.

I work as a translator, and once I was contacted by a prospect in the USA who had a familiar surname, I mean, one that I recalled having seen before. It was one of those typical Polish surnames having 3-4 vowels and over a dozen consonants.

So I checked my father's papers, and found that surname and a name for it. It was a friend of his who survived WWII and stayed in Krakow. They had been friends in school, and kept in touch via letters well into the 1960s. To make a long story short, the prospect confirmed, "Yes, he was my father."

That prospect had been in Poland, said that though the brewery had been sold to Carlsberg, shut down and moved out from the historic "old town" area, the restaurant was in full operation, though obviously under new management. He said it was like a "time machine"; the moment you stepped in, apart from the electronic music, you'd be back into the 1930s.

Google allowed me to see it from outside:
https://www.google.com.br/maps/@50.064747,19.948104,3a,75y,153h,102...

... and inside too:
http://krakow.zaprasza.net/restauracje/firma_img.php?wpis_id=1102

Now the Internet can "take" us anywhere to see what it looks like.

"Now the Internet can "take" us anywhere to see what it looks like."

Jose...you're so right.

I had my grandmother into her 80's but for some reason she spoke very little of her childhood...and not being into the genealogy of the family at that time I never pressed her.

Although she was born in Newark N.J. in 1895 her large family were newly arrived immigrants from the village of Darbenai, Lithuania. Darbenai was a small mixed village but the Jewish Shtetl never had more than 1200 Jews at any one time, thus a lot of intermarriage ensued over the centuries. It was said by a distant relative that everyone there was related...if you threw a rock you would hit "mishpucha"!

In 1941 the German's marched in and murdered all the Jews there ...with a little help from the locals. So I have to assume that my olde country family on my grandma's side (the ones that failed to leave along with the rest of the family) ended that week!

Most of this info I've found on-line (Jewish Gen., etc.) with photos of the village, today and past and some stories & lists.

Norm, my great-grandmother was also from the village of Darenai, Lithuania. She married and lived in Latvia and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1891.

Norm, my great-grandmother was also from the village of Darenai, Lithuania. She married and lived in Latvia and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1891. Thank you for sharing.

Heeeey Susan....

I just sent you a private message via GENI, we seem to be related but through my wife...it would be really interesting if it turned out you and I were also related through Darbenai????????

Norm

I wish to bring to your attention the First International Conference on Founder Populations and their contribution to our understanding of Biology and History – Lessons from the Jewish Genome, taking place on July 10-14, 2016 in Haifa, Israel.

http://www.foundergenomics.com

Yigal

Thanks, Yigal! It sounds really interesting.