Three More Films from Tomek Wisniewski

Now you can see the three new Tomek Wisniewski films appearing at the Museum of Family History. There are now fifty-one of Tomek's films available for you to view, each interesting in their own right.

The first of his new films is entitled "Over the Rooftops" and is a nearly thirty-minute series of views of Bialystok, often from a "birds-eye" view. You can find the film here.

The second film is also about Bialystok, is more than thirty minutes long, and is entitled "Bialystok: Yesterday and Today, From the Heavens and the Earth." To see this film, please click here.

The third film is about the Taibl Pomerantz Jewish nursery school of Grajewo, 1926. The film is basically a seven minute scan of a student group photograph with the frequent zooming in of the faces of the young children. To see this film, please click here.

The Museum hopes you enjoy all that Tomek Wisnewski has to offer. He is quite a creative talent and cares much about the history of the Jewish people in Poland.

The entire list of and links to the fifty-one of his films at the Museum can be found here. Undoubtedly, more will follow in the coming weeks.

Seven New Films for You from Tomek Wisniewski of Bialystok

There are now a total of ten short films of Tomek Wisniewski being shown at the Museum of Family History. I have announced three so far, and seven new ones are ready for you to view. Most of them have interesting instrumental music to go along with the film's scenes.

These new films include:

1. Of Bialystok, Poland:
--"Once Upon a Time in Bialystok," a very interesting film that takes you back to the Bialystok of the interwar period. Thirty minutes long.

--"The Kaufman Brothers", one of whom was Boris Kaufman, the cinematographer for "Twelve Angry Men" and others. The brothers were all natives of Bialystok.

--"A Yiddish Song in Bialystok." A large group gathers in Bialystok in 1940 to hear a couple sing what seems to be a Yiddish song. Can anyone identify the song by name? If so, please contact me privately. More films of Bialystok are to come, including a film about the Warner Brothers (also from Bialystok).

2. Of Zabludow, Poland:
--Two films of the Zabludow Synagogue, scans of photos of the interior and exterior of the synagogue, cir 1927.

3. Of Kossovo, Belarus (pre-1939, Kosow Poleski, Poland):
--"Berteza Kartuzka: The Street That is No More, 1916"

4. Of Minsk, Belarus:
--"Jewish Minsk." While watching this film, you can imagine you are walking or in a horse and buggy down the streets of Minsk as Tomek scans across a few of his very old photographs of Minsk. Also photographs of the synagogue complex and the Choral Synagogue.

You can access these films, as well as the previous films announced, on the webpage I've created listing Tomek Wisniewski's films at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/tomek/films.htm .
Enjoy!

Three Short Films, Courtesy of Tomek Wisniewski

The Museum of Family History now presents to you, with permission, three short films created by Tomek Wisniewski of Bialystok, Poland. He has created a great many such films, and the Museum hopes to present many of them to you in the coming months. These first three films will be shown within the Museum's Film Series until May 29th; more will be added along the way. Best to check this Museum's blog from time to time to learn when new films are available for viewing.

Here are the titles of the first three, all with an instrumental background, at least one with vocal music and Polish dialogue:

--Bialystok, Poland: Rabbi Gedaliah Rozenman (once the Chief Rabbi of Bialystok);
--Tykocin, Poland: The Tykocin (Tiktin) Synagogue, 1929;
--Suwalki, Poland: Suwalki 1937 (That Which is No More.)

The links to these web pages/films can be found by clicking here. The links are at the top of the film listings.

Additionally, if you would like to learn more about the history of the Great Synagogue in Bialystok, read the memoirs of Rose Schachner, a granddaughter of the builder of the synagogue, Solomon Rabinovitch. You can find her short biography by clicking here.

Pre-World War II Film Footage of Krakow and Bialystok

The Museum has added two more film shorts to its new Film Series, on view from now until March 21st. These films are of Bialystok and Krakow before the advent of World War II....:

1. "Jewish Life in Bialystok 1939" (10:04): Produced by Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind of Sektor Films, Warsaw. In 1939, this short film displays Jewish Bialystok the way it was in 1939 before the German Army invaded and occupied the city. The film is narrated in Yiddish with English subtitles. The narration ends with the following: "Come visit Bialystok. You won't regret it." -- Bialystok was invaded by the German Army that September.....
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/fs-bialystok-01.htm

See the Museum of Family History's listing of Bialystok material at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/lee-bialystok.htm

2. "Jewish Life in Cracow (Kazimierz) 1939" (3:08): Krakow before the war. Background music by Abe Schwartz's Orchestra: "Yosl, Yosl, " 1925.
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/fs-krakow-01.htm

See the Museum of Family History's listing of Krakow material at
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/lee-krakow.htm

The full list on view at the Museum until March 21st can be found at
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-films.htm

"Rites of Passage": A New Museum of Family History Exhibition

The life of a Jew is often filled with rituals that mark a significant change in his or her life or social status. These rites of passage may take many forms but each is deeply woven into the Jewish tradition and culture. These rites may be ceremonies that surround seminal events in a Jew's life, such as childbirth, when he or she becomes a bar- or bat-mitzvah, gets married, to the day when he or she inevitably passes away.

In this exhibition, the religious and secular significance of each event is discussed, stories are told, often through the words of those who experienced these events, or perhaps through their progeny.

What is a mohel? What is the significance of becoming a bar mitzvah? In "Rites of Passage" you can read about what a Polish Jewish wedding was like in the very early 1900s and see an early ketubah as well as a wedding invitation. Even though divorce is not a rite of passage, a page is devoted to the description of Jewish divorce in early 20th century Poland.

Then, what of death? Here you can read about how Jews in Poland buried their dead in the early 20th century, read about the Chevra Kadisha, the significance of the Jewish burial, mourning period, unveiling and the family cemetery visit. You will see, for instance, a photo of Solomon and Ester Rabinovitch at Ester's mother's gravesite. Solomon was the builder of the Great Synagogue of Bialystok which was tragically destroyed during the war. Coincidentally, this photo was taken just a day before the Germans marched into Bialystok in September of 1939.

As is the goal of the Museum, a number of personal stories as told by those who lived in Eastern Europe before the Second World War are interspersed within this exhibition, with the occasional story of Jewish life within the United States.

You can visit this informative and interesting exhibition by clicking here.

More on the Bialystok Pogrom of June 1906

As a follow-up to the recenty announced article on the pogroms that befell the Jews of Europe between 1903 and 1906, the Museum of Family History now makes available an article that appeared in the June 29, 1906 edition of the San Francisco Call newspaper. As some of you already know, the Bialystok pogrom occurred just two to three weeks before this, between June 12 and June 14, 1906.

You can read this article which also contains reports from a correspondent who went to Bialystok after the pogrom. While censored, he reported back on what he found.

The link to this article is www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-pogroms-bialystok-sfcall.htm .

From Kishineff to Bialystok: A Table of Pogroms From 1903 to 1906

The Museum of Family History would like to announce the presence on its site of an important report and a table of pogroms committed between 1903 and 1906.

First, you will be able to read over the introduction and commentary to all of this as published by the American Jewish Committee in their American Jewish Year Book, Volume 8 (1906-1907).

Secondly, you will be able to peruse a table of more than two hundred and fifty towns and cities in Europe where pogroms occurred. Within this table is a listing of the damage caused in these locations (when available), as well as some general remarks made about each pogrom. You will also find for each pogrom event listed, the date of occurrence, the name of the town or city, the gubernia, the overall population of the location and the Jewish population, though numbers are not given for every town or city. There is also a supplemental table of pogroms in other locations in November 1905 not included in this larger table.

To make your town search easier, there is also a table that lists alphabetically all the locations with a reference made with each to the entry number in the large table. There is also a table that lists the gubernias in which pogroms occurred, and their overall and Jewish populations.

Most interestingly, though thoroughly depressing, is the Report of the Duma Commission of the Bialystok Massacre that occurred in June 1906. A goodly report is presented to you here as it reviews in detail many incidents that occurred during the pogrom, especially to the Jewish population. Those of you who might have had families that lived in Bialystok may wish to read the report thoroughly to see if any family names are mentioned. For those of you who have an interest in a particular town, this report and its included tables are for you.

Lastly, the debates that occurred in the Duma as the report was being presented is interesting to read too. You can also read of the resolutions proposed and passed within the U. S. Congress from 1905-1906.

It should be mentioned that all this is being presented to you at the Museum courtesy of the American Jewish Committee Archives.

All of the aforementioned information can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ajc-yb-v08-pogroms.htm .

Please send all comments via the Comments section of this blog. I hope all this is helpful and informative to you.

The Museum of Family History in Bialystok, Poland

This past September 4th, the Museum of Family History made its presence known at the Białostocki Ośrodek Kultury (Bialystok Cultural Center). A Polish language version of its online exhibition, "Max Weber: Reflections of Jewish Memory in Modern American Art," was presented as part of a larger exhibition honoring Jewish artists who once lived in Bialystok as Weber did as a child.

The Polish version of the Museum's Weber exhibition was presented during the Bialystok Cultural Center's opening ceremony for their own larger Weber exhibition. Each page of the Weber exhibition was shown on a large screen by means of a projector, and after the presentation, the attendees were provided with the Internet address of the Museum's Weber exhibition so that everybody could read about Max Weber in the privacy of their own home. More was said about the artist by presenter Joanna Tomalska, who emphasized his significance for the city of Bialystok, the city in which he was born. Ms. Tomalska also presented Max Weber's artistic works from the viewpoint of the art historian.

More on this exhibition will be presented at the Museum of Family History at some time in the future, perhaps including audio (in Polish) and perhaps a video clip or two of the presentation.

The English version of the Museum of Family History's Max Weber exhibition can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mweber-01.htm .

Here are two links to articles (in Polish) about the Bialystok Cultural Center's Weber exhibition:

http://www.wiadomosci.bstok.pl/?news=1944
http://www.bialystok.jewish.org.pl/page3.html

New exhibition: "Anti-Semitism in Europe: The Pogroms Against the Jews"

A pogrom is a riot that is perpretrated against a particular group; the term is used most often when talking about the history of the Jewish people. Pogroms are usually characterized by acts of violence, whether they be killings or other types of assault; also destruction of homes, businesses or synagogues.

Sometimes pogroms happen spontaneously; other times they are planned. What role governments played in pogroms has not always been clear. What is clear, however, is how often these governments did little to prevent or stop such wanton acts.

The Museum of Family History has created a small exhibition that it hopes will evolve and grow over time as more material becomes available. At present, within the aforementioned exhibition, you may read about the pogroms that occurred in Kishinev, Bialystok, Siedlce and Kielce.

The exhibition, "Anti-Semitism in Europe: The Pogroms Against the Jews" can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-pogroms.htm.

"Great Artists Series: Max Weber" exhibition now in Polish!

In preparation for my online participation in a Bialystok, Poland exhibition beginning September 4, I have completed a Polish language version of the exhibition.

The English language version of the exhibition has been part of the Museum's content for some time now as part of its "Great Artists Series," which is designed to honor those Jewish artists "whose contributions to the world were extraordinary in terms of both the scope and quality of their work." Max Weber, a native of Bialystok, was one such artist.

Now for some background on Max Weber.

Max Weber (1881-1961) is one of America’s most important twentieth century artists. The first American cubist, Weber translated the modern European aesthetic into a truly American style that evolved during the roughly sixty years of his career. He developed a personal expressionism in his mature phase that was influential for the development of Abstract Expressionism.

Weber was raised in an Orthodox home. In 1891 when he was ten years old, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and elder brother. In New York they were reunited with his father, who was a tailor. The Webers settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, which was at the time, a haven for Eastern European Jewish immigrants.

After the death of his parents in 1918 at the end of World War I, Weber briefly turned away from modern art as so many artists were doing. During the twenties he returned to more familiar imagery and began his exploration of Judaic themes. During the thirties Weber’s political views compelled him to address more socially conscious themes. At the end of his career, he returned to the abstraction that had dominated his initial mature work.

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Weber’s inspiration for one of his more well-known Judaic works, "The Talmudists," was recorded in the 1935 article, Max Weber: Hasidic Painter, in Judaism, a quarterly journal published by the American Jewish Congress:

"I was prompted to paint this picture after a pilgrimage to one of the oldest synagogues of New York's East Side. I find a living spiritual beauty emanates from, and over and about a group of patriarchal types when they congregate in search of wisdom in the teaching of the great Talmudists of the past. The discussion of the Talmud is at times impassioned, inspired, ecstatic, and at other moments serene and contemplative…to witness a group of such elders bent on and intent upon nothing but the eternal quest and interpretation of the ethical, significant, and religious content of the great Jewish legacy--the Torah--is for me an unforgettable experience.”

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To see the entire exhibition (in English), which is entitled "Max Weber: Reflections of Jewish Memory in Modern American Art," use www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mweber-01.htm.

If you're a Polish speaker or are just curious and would like to compare both versions, feel free to do so. You can find the Polish language version at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mweber-01p.htm.

Museum of Family History on Display in Bialystok, Poland

The Museum of Family History will be making a special appearance in Bialystok, Poland beginning September 4, 2009. At this time an exhibition will open, the first in a series entitled "Prominent Artists--Our Neighbors. Max Weber."

Max Weber was a well-known Jewish artist (born in Bialystok) who studied under Henris Matisse and Rousseau, who painted in a variety of styles, who at times painted wonderful works with a variety Jewish themes, usually religious.

Currently, the English version of this exhibition is available for viewing at the Museum of Family History as part of the "Great Artists Series," which is designed to honor "Jewish artists whose contribution to the world were extraordinary in terms of both the scope and quality of their work." Also, the Series features exhibitions about other Jewish "artists" such as the immortal Al Jolson (highly recommended), tenor and chazzan Richard Tucker (hear Tucker sing "Nessun Dorma" and "Vesti la giubba"), Yiddish playwright Dovid Pinski, and Yiddish acting great Maurice Schwartz.

What will be shown to those who attend the Bialystok exhibition will most likely be the same online exhibition currently available on the Museum's website, the only difference being that the text on each page will be in Polish and not in English.

It should also be noted that the current English version has sound clips on every page, i.e. you will have the option to either listen to the text on each of the exhibition's web pages, or read the text.

The Max Weber exhibition (entitled "Max Weber: Reflections of Jewish Memory in Modern American Art") can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mweber-01.htm.

The Museum's Great Artists Series can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/gas-main.htm . From this link you can access the other aforementioned exhibitions in this series.