Great Synagogue, Bialystok

BIALYGen – Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group

I. Introduction

We welcome you to and thank you for your interest in BIALYGen

The primary function of this group is to facilitate discussion amongst Jewish researchers interested in the city of Białystok, Poland (coordinates 53°08' 23°09') and nearby towns and villages.  BIALYGen has defined its geographic scope as those towns and villages currently in Poland that were part of Grodno Gubernia during the period from 1815 up to World War I.  In addition, a few border towns now in Poland with strong connections to Bialystok will be included. 

This Discussion Group is open to anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in Jewish Bialystok and nearby towns and will be the forum to discuss:

• Sources for genealogical research
• Sharing of research
• Jewish history of the Bialystok region
• Other topics relating to Jewish genealogy and history

This forum will also serve members of the BIALYGen to discuss the goals and projects of the organization.

Since Grodno Gubernia between 1815 and WWI was mostly in what is now Belarus, any discussion about towns currently in Belarus should be carried out on the Belarus SIG Discussion Group.

II. BIALYGen

BIALYGen was formed on July 23, 2003, when 40 researchers met at The 23rd International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Washington, DC, USA and committed to developing a cooperative group with the following objectives:

1. Sharing research and experiences
2. Commemorating our Ancestors and their lives
3. Cooperating on projects of value to all researchers

The specific goals of BIALYGen as determined on July 23, 2003 are:

1. Gain access to Jewish records in the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno, create an inventory, and create useful indices.
2. Translate and index vital records not yet indexed by JRI-Poland.
3. Acquire and index non-vital Jewish records available at the Bialystok branch of the Polish State Archives and other sources, e.g. Business directories, old newspapers.
4. Acquire maps and photos from NARA and other sources for shtetlach in BIALYGen region.
5. Acquire and index records of the Bialystok Hebrew Gymnasium.
6. Search repositories in Israel for records applicable to the BIALYGen region and index those records.
7. Indexing of Cemeteries in Poland and in other countries where Landsmanshaften burial plots exist.

Welcome aboard!

BIALYGEN AREA

BialyGen - Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group

GRODNO ARCHIVES RESEARCH PROJECTS

Scope: This project covers only those records of Jewish interest that are found at National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno for the Uyezds of Bialystok, Bielsk, and Sokolka. An inventory of the holdings of National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno can be found on the Belarus SIG website at http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/grodno_archives.htm.

Background: Other than the City of Bialystok, there are very few Jewish vital records for towns now in Poland that were formerly part of Grodno Gubernia. This has stymied many Jewish genealogists in their efforts to create their family histories. The hope of these genealogists is that the Grodno Archives will have records that will fill the large holes in their family histories.

With the efforts of the Belarus SIG over the last five years, access to Archives in Belarus has increased, although it is still one of the most difficult to access in Eastern Europe. It is apparent that group resources and activism will be required to gain access to the treasures in the Grodno Archives.

Project Summary: This project is a general effort to gain access to the Jewish records for Bialystok, Bielsk, and Sokolka Uyezds that exist at the Grodno Archives through direct work with the Archives, through hiring of third- party professional researchers, and/or through cooperative research with Belarus SIG.

The funds collected for this project will be used to create detailed inventories of Jewish records, to acquire Jewish records, to index Jewish records, to translate the indices and/or records, and to create data to be added to the All Poland and All Belarus databases.

Specific records targeted by this project are Jewish Community Records, 19th Century Revision Lists, and the All Russia Census of 1897.

This project includes the participation of Bialystok Region researchers in the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) project undertaken by Belarus SIG in August 2003. Here is a summary of the Belarus SIG BOF project:

Belarus SIG will provide coordination of projects and fundraising through JewishGenerosity.

Each project will have a project coordinator.

Results of the research will go to researchers who contribute and to Belarus SIG for addition to the All Belarus Database and All Poland Database.

BIALYGen at the Jerusalem Conference

By Mark Halpern

The Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Jerusalem was a great success and BIALYGen had its part in this success.

BIALYGen Meeting

BIALYGen had its Second Annual meeting on Thursday, July 8 2004. More than twenty family researchers interested in Bialystok, Bielsk Podlaski, Bocki, Bransk, Ciechanowiec, Grodek, Hajnowka, Jalowka, Jasionowka, Krynki, Sokolka, Sokoly, Trzcianne, and Tykocin attended. The meeting was a chance to share with the group new sources of information for Bialystok and the surrounding area, especially collections available in Israel.

Below is a list of some of the resources mentioned.

1. Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem: There are many Bialystok and area town collections that are catalogued by Town. For example, the following Bialystok collections were identified:
   1. Approximately 500 Tombstone inscriptions from the Bialystok Cemetery translated to Polish in 1985 by the Polish Conservation Authority.
   2. Rabbinate Books of Marriage 1923-1924
   3. Fragments of Kahal birth, marriage, and death records 1896~1939

                                                               i.      Death Book 1926-1927

                                                             ii.      Marriage Protocols 1929-1930

The Tombstone inscriptions and 1929-1930 Marriage Protocols were copied and will be indexed.

2. The Bialystoker Center in New York City has a large collection of Index Cards containing information about people memorialized by members of the New York Landsmanschaft. One of our members volunteered to try and gain access to this collection.
3. Hebrew University Library has boxes of archival material that has never been catalogued. One of the attendees offered to help organize and catalog the materials.
4. Someone mentioned a 1910 list of Bialystok property owners. Will this person please tell us more about this information and other material you mentioned at the meeting.
5. The Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw has materials concerning Bialystok.

Two of the original seven objectives for BIALYGen identified at the first annual BIALYGen meeting in Washington, DC were:

• Acquire and index records of the Bialystok Hebrew Gymnasium.
• Search repositories in Israel for records applicable to the BRRG region and index those records.

Representatives of BIALYGen at the Jerusalem Conference made a start on these objectives. The Israel Landsmanschaft has very strong connections to the Hebrew Gymnasium and the author of the “The Immortal Spirit – The Bialystok Hebrew Gymnasium – Poland 1919-1939.”

Visit to Kiriat Bialystok – Bialystoker Community in Israel

Sponsored by BIALYGen and coordinated by Ada Holtzman, a great friend of Bialystokers in Israel and around the world, about 12 Bialystokers, who attended the Conference, visited Kiriat Bialystok on Friday morning, July 9^th. For photos and more information about Kiriat Bialystok, visit Ada Holtzman’s Bialystok Memorial website at http://www.zchor.org/bialystok/bialystok.htm#kiria

In the Commemoration Hall: Ada Holtzman, Shamai Kzelstein, Mark Halpern, Chana Kizelstein, Zeev Balglej July 9th, 2004

Zeev Balglej, the Chairman of the Landsmanschaft, introduced the organization and its beginnings in the early 1950s as a community where Bialystok survivors could settle. Funds were raised by the New York Bialystoker Center to build 251 original housing units. This community is now part of the city of Yehud. Streets in the community are named after famous Bialystok personalities. The community has a medical clinic, 2 nursery schools, a beautiful Synagogue, a recreation hall, an Archive and library, and a memorial wall. Many members still have strong connections to Bialystok. The Organization has provided funds to maintain the Jewish history in Bialystok. The Organization erected a memorial in Bialystok to the Great Synagogue, which was burned to the ground by the Nazis with 2,000 Bialystok Jews inside.

Chana Kizelstein (nee Lin), the Archivist for Kiriat Bialystok, spoke to our group about living in prewar Jewish Bialystok where 60,000 Jews (70% of the total population) lived and how proud former residents were to be Bialystokers. She also talked about the events that led to the establishment of Kiriat Bialystok and provided an overview of the Archive and Library collection. See http://www.zchor.org/bialystok/children.htm.

Eva Kracowska was one of the young fighters of the Bialystok Ghetto revolt and one of only four survivors of the Ghetto revolt. She talked about her experience in the Ghetto, fighting as a Partisan after she escaped the liquidation of the Ghetto, and her return to Bialystok after the War. See http://www.zchor.org/bialystok/response.htm.

Shamai Kizelstein, a survivor of Auschwitz and other camps, talked about his memories of the Nazi march into Bialystok and the early days of the occupation. Shamai witnessed the burning of the Great Synagogue in Bialystok. See http://www.zchor.org/bialystok/kizelstein.htm.

The relationship created by BIALYGen’s visit to Kiriat Bialystok will hopefully lead to benefits to members of our group and to the Israeli organization. Both groups are interested in preserving and memorializing our ancestors who lived and flourished in Bialystok before the Shoah.

* Mark Halpern (contact: bialystoker "at" comcast.net ) has been actively researching his Polish (Bialystok) and Galician roots for the last eight years. Mark is a Director of Jewish Records Indexing – Poland. He coordinates the JRI-Poland ordering process, the indexing of eastern Galician records at the AGAD Archives in Warsaw and the indexing at the Bialystok Archives. Mark is also President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGSGP). He is the originator and coordinator of BIALYGen, the Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group and coordinates a project to index and restore the Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland. Mark has written many articles for The Galitzianer, Chronicles, the journal of JGSGP, and Avotaynu.

The Bialystokers' Synagogue, Yehud, 9 July 2004

Last Updated September 22^nd, 2004

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