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Wallachs May Find Family Roots In Italy
TTY PROVIZER STARKMAN
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Wallach/VVallack/Wloch/Weltsch/
lock/Bloch — There are several
.heories about the source of these
names, which are of geographic
origin. Since the Polish word for
Italy is Wloche, some believe that
the names were taken by Italian
Jews who migrated to Eastern
Europe. Another possible
explanation is that the Germans
called the people who spoke the
Romance languages (French, Italian
and Romanian) Welsch. These
names may have, therefore, been
derivations of Welsch. The third
theory is that these names may
have originated in the area called
Walachia in Romania.
Rapaport/Rapport is a name
associated with the tradition that the
pis Soviet Jewish Family
Needs Letter Of Support
felt
One way to learn about Jewish
life around the world is to write to a
Jewish family in another country.
What is daily life like in the pen
pal's country? What is Jewish life
like? How are the holidays
celebrated?
Cost of an international air mail
letter is 45 cents per half ounce.
This month, the address of a
Russian Jewish refusenik has been
.nade available by the Soviet Jewry
Committee of the Jewish
Community Council. Before writing,
please read these special rules for
corresponding with Russian Jews:
Letters should be personal,
warm, sympathetic and should ask
about birthdays, anniversaries and
family events. Cards should be
exchanged on these occasions and
on the Jewish holidays as well.
Avoid any anti-Soviet material and
refrain from mentioning names of
Soviet Jewry rescue organizations.
Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew or
English may be used.
This month's refuseniks are
Roald and Galina Zelichonok of
Leningrad. The Zelichonoks have
been refused exit visas since 1978
on the grounds of "secrecy."
Zelichonok was pressured to
"voluntarily" leave his job. He
resisted and asked for help from
colleagues in the West. In July
1984, Zelichonok was still employed
and unwilling to give in to his
superiors' pressure. In June 1985,
he was arrested after police
conducted a search of his home.
Among the items confiscated were
letters Zelichonok had written to the
West. He was charged with
allegedly "defaming the Soviet state
and social system." The charges
were based upon Zelichonok's
"correspondence with foreigners
from the West."
Mrs. Zelichonok had appealed
for her husband's release pending
trial, citing that the Soviet
Procedural Code does not require
detention of persons charged with
this offense during the pre-trial
investigation. She also requested
that her husband be suppplied with
his prescribed medication during his
detention. In August 1985,
Zelichonok received a three-year
labor camp sentence for allegedly
"defaming the Soviet state." He was
released in February 1986.
Letters may be sent to Roald
and Galina Zelichonok as follows:
USSR, RSFSR, Leningrad 197022,
Karpovka 19-56, Zelichonok, Roald.
family originated in Oporto,
Portugal.
August/Augustow are also
names adopted from a geographical
location — Augustov, Poland. On
Jan. 7, 8 and 9, 1943, 4,000 Jews of
the ghetto of Augustow were
deported to Auschwitz. On Jan. 11,
1943, the remaining 5,500 Jews of
Augustow were driven to the
Szczabre Forest and shot.
Koch is a surname derived from
an occupation. Someone in your
family was a good cook.
The Kuenstler clan had an
ancestor who was an artist when
names were adopted. Trade and
occupational names were often
adopted by Jews before the
enactment of compulsory laws.
Glueck/Gluck/Glueckman are
names taken by a family that
considered themselves lucky. In
German/Yiddish, Glueck means
lucky.
An ancestor named Aaron was
the source of the surname
Ehrenthal.
The Kroll family adopted their
surname from a Polish and Slovak
nickname meaning king.
Cutler/Kotlar are names with an
occupational original. In Polish,
Kotlarz was a maker of copper pots
and pans.
Another family name derived
from an occupation is Kreisler,
which means hairdresser in
Yiddish/German.
Morgenstem/Morgenroth/
Morgenthau designated a person
who arose early in the morning,
sometimes calling other Jews to
early prayers.
Sosin/Soskin/Sosis/Soskes are
all of matronymic roots meaning
Susan, Shoshannah or Lily. Thus
Soskin means child of Shoshannah.
Seftel/Sheftel/Seftelevic —
these are old surnames and have
been used in the United States for
centuries. There are also many non-
Jewish Sheftels in the South who
stem from early Jewish families.
This name can either be a
patronymic for the given Sabthai or
it can mean born on the Sabbath.
Betty Provizer Starkman is the past
president and founder of the
genealogical branch of the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan.
How Many Candles?
A new box of Chanukah candles has enough candles to last for all eight nights of the holiday.
Do you know how many candles there are in a new box? Each night we use one more than the
night before. Each night one candle is used for the shammash. How many candles do we need in
all? The answer is hidden in this puzzle.
Color in all the spaces which have dots in them and you will know how many candles there are
in a new box of Chanukah candles.
Reprinted from the Happy Hanukkah Activity Book by Carrie Gardiner and Judith Grossbard.
,i1 ■ 011,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS L-5