ROOTS
4/3/2005

RECOGNISE ANYONE? Get your thinking caps on, folks. Glasgow reader Mrs AM Rubin wants to know if anyone can identify people in this photograph. If so, telephone 0141 577 5649 any evening

KAZIK HUBERTZ of Pontypridd is trying to find out more about his grandmother who died recently.

He has no marriage certificate or birth certificate but believes her name to have been like Mary Anne Matza.

Her parents were possibly Alice and James or Arthur, married some time in the 1890s.

Her brothers and sisters all have variations on the spelling of their surname - Masser/Massey/Matza.

He says: "My mother Mira Turner, who was born on October 15, 1945, cremated my grandfather Harry (Henry) Turner. According to my mother he became a Catholic on her deathbed.

"I am not sure if he was Jewish but I know there was a terrible fight when my grandfather died. I was not yet 13 at the time and neither I nor any of my siblings.

"There is only circumstantial evidence that my grandmother was Jewish. When we were very young our own family used to describe itself as Jewish even though we did not practise Judaism.

"My mother claimed some Jewish origins on her side and my father's mother's side is also Jewish.

"The lullaby she used to sing us was Rodzinkes Mit Mandalen . . . Chicken soup, Cholent. We always had foods I found out later were of Jewish origin."

Mr Hubertz added: "I married a non-Jewish woman and she became pregnant. In my naivety I thought I would contact the local rabbi to circumcise the baby when he was born to keep the Jewish family connection alive.

"He explained about the problem of my marriage and that the baby would have to choose to be Jewish when he grew up. I called my mother and was not a little shocked when she said we were not Jewish.

"This just didn't add up with what I had heard as a child, and there was something strange about the way she jumped to this phrase before I had finished my sentence."

Mr Hubertz planned on asking his grandmother about their background but she died before he had a chance.

"I expected to meet the family at her funeral. I know she had made a will but my mother decided to have a private ceremony and cremate her.

"I would still like to make contact with that side of the family, not to cause trouble, I just feel that I failed to get to know her properly and somehow by finding out about her family it will help me say goodbye."

Write to 1 Rockingstone Cottages, Pontypridd CF37 4AW, telephone 01443 491992 or email KHubertz@glam.ac.uk


MICHAEL Glick of America is looking for any relatives of a Mr Ash, who lived on Stock Street in Cheetham, Manchester in 1923.

He was the nephew of Sarah and Zachariah Gershon of Manchester.

Write to 1388 Canterbury Way, Potomac, MD 20854-6104, USA or email m2glick@hotmail.com


Sharron Rutherford of Bristol is trying to find information about her grandfather Jacob Bloomberg (Blumberg) who appears on the 1891 census in Leeds as a boarder with the Lubelski family.

Jacob, who was 19 in 1891, married Fanny Lubelski, the eldest daughter of the family.

"I do not know where he came from or anything about his family and he seems to have been quite alone," Sharron said.

Write to 136 Chiltern Close, Warmley, Bristol BS30 8UP or email lml408c@hotmail.com


SANDRA Bergman of Australia is searching for family members Sonny and Audrey Gooblar; Dolly Ziff; Amy Ettinger or Tinger families in Leeds or connected to Glasgow; Silverbeck of Liverpool; Anita Gold (Gould) who used to live in Leeds; Bergman/Berkman; Purcell; and Cantor

Sandra is the daughter of Rae and Dave Michael.

Write to 3/ 55 - 57, Moylan Street, Bentleigh East, Victoria 3165, Australia or email sandrabergman@dodo.com.au


ISRAELI Shmuel Kehati is looking for Louis J Mintz who in 1965 dedicated a book (Kinot for 9 of Av) to his father R Yisrael Yitzchak, son of Avraham Pinchas Zelig Mintz.

Shmuel has tried three Mintz families in the London phone book but to no avail. He can also find no record of the I Labworth & Co, who published the book.

Write to PO Box 254, Ra'anana, 43401, Israel or email kehatis@yahoo.com


To make an appeal, email MIKE COHEN at roots@jewishtelegraph.com Please include your home address.


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