by Randy Daitch and Eileen Polakoff

     My great-grandfather, Meshullem Yankov ben Yitzkok Gottesman, married Rachel Fleischer (b. circa 1860, died 1918 USA), in the town of Sniatyn, Ukraine, and died there circa 1891–1901. He had a sister, Belima, who married Shmiel Lentz (Linz) in Sniatyn and died there before 1925. Reportedly, Meshullen Yankov was to be drafted into the Austro-Hungary army. He tried to ingest something to make him sick enough not to be drafted but, unfortunately, died instead. He left two children: Bessie, aka Razel, born 1889, and Menachen Machum, aka Alter, aka Max, born 1890/91. With their mother, Rachel, they immigrated to the United States in December 1902.

Family legend holds that the Gottesmans were a rabbinic family. I have tried to find evidence of that and have discovered the following. Rabbi Meshullem Feibush Gottesman (the Lashkovitz Rebbe) who lived in Sniatyn and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shimshon Gottesman, was a descendant of Rabbi Yom Tov Lippman Heller. Rabbi Shimshon Gottesman is listed as the sandek (person honored by holding the baby at a ritual circumcision) on birth records of Belima Gottesman Lentz’s grandchildren. The rabbis were Levys; I do not know if my great-grandfather was a Levy.

No research to date has yielded answers to the following questions:

• Was my great-grandfather a descendant of Rabbi Yom Tov Lippman Heller?
• Are any notary, military, or metrical records accessible that would tell more about Meshullen Yankov?
• Do any published genealogies exist that might be helpful. The Feast and the Fast, by C. U. Lipshitz and Neil Rosenstein (1984), yielded no information.

Might any members of the Gottesman rabbinic dynasty be helpful?

Ben Solomowitz

Bayside, New York

The Sourcebook of Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories, by David S. Zubatsky and Irwin M. Berent, (published by Avotaynu in 1996) has a listing for Gottesmann that includes four sources, one of them Rabbi Meir Wunder’s Meorei Galicia, a five-volume, Hebrew-language work with a genealogical chart of the Gottesmann family in the first volume 1, pp. 643–44. Translate, review, and analyze this and the other three sources to determine where each of the Gottesmann families lived. Write up the findings on your Gottesmann family and compare your narrative to these sources to see if and where your family fits. (EP)

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My name is Shaul Aaron Giwnewer. I was born in Argentina and live in Israel. My grandfather, Yaacov Giwnewer, was born in Ukraine in April 1894, probably in Teplik or Gaysin. He married Golda Rosenberg (born 1902) from Gaysin or Teplik. In 1923, they emigrated to Argentina from Poland; my father was born in Buenos Aires. Our family is unclear about its roots and origins, including the meaning of our surname. Can you suggest ways of investigating our name? Can you think of some related names or even possible mispronunciations that could have resulted in the name Giwnewer? Can you refer us to other information sources that might be useful?

Shaul Giwnewer

Kiryiat Bialik, Israel

The surname “Giwnewer” did not show up as a word in the Lingvosoft Russian, Polish, and German online. The “er” suffix suggests that it could be a geographical surname, perhaps named after a village called “Giwnew” or “Givnev,” (e.g., Krakow-Krakower, Wilno-Wilner). However, JewishGen’s ShtetlSeeker search engine could not find a locality with that approximate spelling, not even with the use of the soundex tool. Alternatively, “Giwnewer” could be an occupation-based surname—perhaps “Giwnewer” was given to someone who was a “Giwnew” (whatever that is!) in the same way that the surname “Schechter” is derived from someone who is a kosher slaughterer (shochet). All this, however, is speculation.

We consulted Alexander Beider, author of A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire: Revised Edition, who says, “Most likely, it is a name derived from a place name Giwnew(o) that, however, is not found in the most detailed gazetteers from the end of the 19th century. Thus, unfortunately, I have no idea. Perhaps, the village existed in 1804, but had ceased to exist by 1880.” According to the Map Room of the U.S. Library of Congress, no Russian gazetteers from the end of the 18th century show any locality with the name of Giwnew(o) either. Your name seems unique; we have found no other examples of it. Given this fact and the failures noted above, our best guess is that it is the result of a misspelling, but how or when we have no idea. Have you tried to find siblings or cousins of your grandparents? If you can, they might be able to tell you more. (RD)