Maybe this is old news, though I was unaware of it and
I didn't find anything about it in the discussion list's archived
messages.
There is an on-line searchable database of people who were
assisted by the Industrial Removal Office. I am not sure if it is
a complete list, but there are some 79,000 names listed.
You can search by name or town, or even
whole states where population was low. (Only 500 names are
returned in a search.) If you find someone, there may be
correspondence or more info at the Center for Jewish History,
where the original records are retained. Below is the web page (go
down to Industrial Removal Office) and description of the database.
There are other searchable databases on this page, such as the first
one involving questionnaires sent to Jewish soldiers during WWI by the
American Jewish Committee asking, among other things, where the soldier's
parents were born.
Tim Baker
tbaker@.
Researching Bellingham WA; Skopishok and Rakishok, Lithuania
Thank you to Tim Baker for telling us about the searchable on-line
databases at the Center for Jewish History in NYC:
http://www.cjh.org/academic/findingaids/AJHS/institutionlist.html
I went to this link and entered a few of my family names in the database of
the Industrial Removal Office and the database of Jewish soldiers
questionnaires. It was astonishing to find several "hits", especially one
of my more unusual names (SKLAROFF) and one of an almost certain cousin (a
GERTZMAN going to Cincinnati).
After reading related pages on the website, I see no indication that one
can write to the Center to obtain the details held in these files. Must I
go to NYC personally to delve into these "hits," or is there a way to
obtain the details by mail or e-mail?
Thank you for your help.
Vivian Levensohn
Hustisford, Wisconsin
Researching:
LEVENSOHN (Kiev/Cincinnati/California); SKLAROFF (and variations)/SKLAR
(Malot/Cincinnati/Worcester/Philadelphia); GRINKER
(Odessa/Mauricio/Cincinnati); GERTZMAN/HERTZMAN (Mogilev
Dneppr/Cincinnati/Louisville); EINHORN (Ekaterinoslav/Cincinnati);
KAMINSKY/KAMIN (Odessa/Cincinnati)