Between the Lines
Between The Lines: Documents and Photographs
By: Rachel S., Morris M., Sarah S., Sarah M.
Birth certificates, wedding invitations, and all other types of documents. That’s what we found in our search through our families’ belongings. What do these documents mean? They represent something important that happened in our family history. For example, birth certificates represent someone’s birth. A passport allows someone to travel from country to country. A wedding invitation states the names of a couple who was planning to get married. Manifests are lists of people who traveled on a boat.
But if you read between the lines of a manifest, you can see how old a person is or where he came from. You can tell with whom he traveled, and what his occupation was when he boarded the ship. If you read between the lines of a birth certificate, you can see where and when the person was born. There is a document showing the residence of a family in Poland. A wedding invitation tells us the location and date of the wedding and we can probably figure out how old the bride and groom were at the time. Sometimes it tells the names of the parents as well.
All documents show something interesting about a person and their life. That is why documents are an important part of a family’s heritage.
The Wedding Invitation
Brooklyn
My Grandmother, Charlotte C.
This artifact is the wedding invitation from the wedding of my great great grandparents, Charlotte K. and Raymond B. This wedding took place in Brooklyn on January 6th, 1918. This wedding was very special to my family because if it didn't happen, my family wouldn't be here. This wedding took place in a building called the Knapp Mansion which was a big mansion in Brooklyn where many people had parties and ceremonies.
This artifact represents my family. If this wedding hadn't taken place, my family wouldn't exist. My ancestors were some of the most religious in the community.
Award
Israel
Abe S.
This artifact is from my Great Grandfather Charles A.S. It was an award he got for raising $2,000,000 in 50 years for a Shul in Israel. It took place in the 1900s. He got it by giving the Shul money he raised by calling people. He also wrote letters asking people for money, and he's been doing this since 1948. He always tells everyone to go to Israel and help save the Shul. He cared about his Shul very much. He went to shul everyday. What made him want to start raising the money was that he heard the shul was going to close.
The significance of my artifact is that it represents the importance of the shul to my Great Grandfather. If he didn't raise that money the shul could have been shut down and people in that area wouldn't have a shul to go to.
Record paper
Poland
My mother, Gayle K.
My family travelled to Poland to the town where my grandfather was born, which is called Izbica. There, they were able to locate birth and registration records that indicated their true birthdays. It was pre-Holocaust when times were happy in Poland. This paper indicates the real actual birthdays of my grandfather and great-grandfather.
From this document we learned the real actual birthdays of my grandfather and great-grandfather. After the Holocaust, the Jewish people lost many things. My Grandfather lost the true date of his birth and has been celebrating on a different date for most of his life.
Photographs
Poland
Beatrice H.
Originally we just thought one of the pictures was just a picture of my great grandmother. Then my aunt found the postcard with her writing so it made it more personal. Another one of the pictures has my great aunt in the picture when she was very young. This picture is important to me because I never saw my great aunt because she was gassed at the age of 16. The other picture was of my grandmother Dina. In the picture she was standing outside the ghetto with armbands that show she was Jewish. She was standing outside the ghetto with a sign that indicated that Jews live there. These pictures are important to us because they are all we have.
It gives some strength in my faith because if my family could stay orthodox and believe in Hashem after losing everything in the Holocaust, I must continue in their traditions.
Manifest
Syria
Grandpa Joe B.
This artifact is called a manifest. It is a piece of paper that lists the names of all the people who went on the ship. It is important to my family because this is how my Grandpa Joe and his family boarded the ship and traveled to America. My grandpa Joe came to America with his family and his uncle picked him up at the port in Galveston, Texas. The ship was called "Joseph Lee." My great grandfather was a merchant and my great grandmother. was a housewife.
My artifact is important to Jewish Heritage because this is how people traveled around the world from many places. Many Jewish people from European, Asian and African countries came to the USA by ship. Without this, people wouldn't be able to travel around the world.
Birth Certificate
Palestine
Sarah L.
This artifact was used to prove my grandmother's identity when she would move somewhere. This artifact is special to my family because my grandmother was born in Israel before Israel became a state. This was an interesting time because she and family had freedom when she was a toddler. For 40 years my grandmother never got to see her birth certificate. After her father passed away her family was looking through his stuff and she found it. Than, my whole family realized that her birthday was really December 30th, and not on the day she had been celebrating.
This artifact has a very interesting significance to Jewish heritage because this artifact was made before Israel became a state.
Photograph
United States of America
Abraham B.
My artifact is a photograph of my great uncle, Abraham J.B. and his family. This photo was taken in America in 1904. They were the first Syrian Jewish family to come to America. I also have a book called, "Men of Faith and Vision." This book tells the story of most of the life of Abraham J.B. and speaks about our ancestors.
This photo traces our Sephardic Jewish family roots from Aleppo, Syria. Many Jewish scholars, including my great uncle, were from Aleppo at the time.
Yearbook
California
Great Grandfather Jack M.
The yearbook shows my great grandfather, Jack M. in high school. He went into the army right after high school. He was in the army during World War II. They had an army program in school and that was his favorite subject. He had to be in the army, but he also wanted to serve his country.
My great grandfather went to a public high school, but he lived in a Jewish community in California.
Photographs
Panama
Sandra D.
This photo collage was passed down to my mother from my grandmother. It originally belonged to my great grandmother. The collage is of different photos from when my great grandparents were alive. The photos were taken in Colon, Panama where my family lived at the time.
This collage means a lot to my family because it has photos of my great grandparents and their children. The people in these photos are my Grandmother Marcela and my great grandparents, Israel and Rachelle. These photos show different times in my family history like in one in which my grandmother is getting ready for, or ending her dance recital.
The Certificate of Naturalization
NYC
Morris A.
This is the Certificates of Naturalization that my great grandparents, Abdo and Nazira A., received from US District Court on January 31, 1939. They fled Syria to come to the land of opportunity. Abdo was 50 years old and Nazira was 63 years old when they each became US citizens.
Many Jews fled different countries, including Syria, to make a better life in the United States. Many Jews became successful by working hard. My Great Grandfather Abdo A. was able to do that and support his family.