For the past ten years I've been collecting a genealogical record of family members. To date, I have approximately three hundred people listed. As it turned out, since my mother developed Alzheimer's shortly after my father's death in 1996, this record took on added significance in the case of her family.
The furthest back I've been able to trace is to Gittel's father, Yaakov Koppel Oelbaum who would have been born in the 1830's. This information was taken from Gittel's tombstone (Gittel Bas Yaakov Koppel). I wonder if my father ever knew he was named for his great-grandfather.
The program I've been using is shareware and is called "Brother's Keeper." It develops Family Trees, Records of Ancestors and Descendants etc. based upon the database supplied. It also computes relationships. So if you wanted to know something really important like, how is Owen Kaufman related to Sam Karger, it would tell you that they are first cousins thrice removed. I've included many photos within the database, so when you select an individual, their pictures are displayed. I tried to have this database downloadable from this website, but it exceeded the single file limit (it's ~13Meg zipped).
I've included a Family Tree (see Link below) of the descendants of Gittel and Shimmon Kropf. At the very least, I'd like to update it with accurate birth-dates of all those listed. I'm also missing maiden names for some of the spouses. It's embarrassing how we've totally lost contact with the descendants of Minnie's siblings on the top half of the chart. If anyone has corrections or updates in this area I'd appreciate it.
Finally for those of you who are interested, I can supply the database (with instructions for use) to you on a CD ROM. I'm sure all of you can make corrections and enhancements. It's also great fun exploring the family records.
Both Minnie and Mortke Lieb come from Ranizow, which is part of Kolbuszowa in the Galicia province of Poland. I recently stumbled across a web site which is dedicated to the memory of the Jewish culture of that region. On that site, there is a data base of businesses of Galicia from 1891. When I searched for Oelbaum (Gittel's Maiden Name) on that data base, a Lieb Oelbaum, a grocer/deli owner from Ranizow pops up. An Oelbaum society family tree also shows a Lieb Oelbaum from Ranizow, born around 1830.
The web site which I link below has a bit of info on the way of life in Ranizow as well as some geographic and historical data, plus a few modern photos.
I recently received information regarding a 1930 video of Ranizow which is available online from the Steven Speilberg Jewish Film Archive. This video also includes scenes from Rzeszow and Kobuszowa (sometimes Kolbuszowa); neighboring towns which were mentioned in the Nathan Olbe Letter.
Instructions for viewing the video using XP--other Operating Systems should be similar:
Click on this link http://www.spielbergfilmarchive.org.il/
Click on Archive Catalog
Click on Simple Find
Below the box which says Find request: Enter word or phrase type Ranizow
Click Find
Right Click on the Eye--then select Open Link in New Window
Once again Right Click on Eye near Web Link; View the film and Select Open Link in New Window
The film will automatically download
