The Nachshen/Nachshen Letters
Feb 25, 1997 - From: Simon Ainley
Hi Brian
I read sometime ago the eulogy to JN but have not found the time to Email until now. The interest is that I am part of the NACHSHEN family from Russia that settled in UK at the turn of the century. Much of the Eulogy reminded me of my own Grandfather, Maurice Nachshen 1899-1977. I wonder if the two Nachshens were related - perhaps you / Gary could write with more information and I will try and do the same.Please EMail me - ainleys@aol.com
Regards
Simon Ainley
London
Dear Simon,
Thank you for writing. I'm forwarding copies of your letter to Gary and my cousin, Issie, both of whom have more information about our family history than I do. Also, we have a Nachshen family website where we hope, eventually, to archive as much Nachshen history as possible. I hope you don't mind if I post your letter there as well, on the Family News and Mail page.
Your letter will stir up much interest and excitement here, I assure you.
Regards, Brian
Feb 25, 1997 - From: Issie Nachshen
Hi, That London letter may be of some interest. I will try to contact. IN
Feb 26, 1997 - From: Gerald Nachshen
Dear All,
I heard about this site from Simon Ainley.
We have the same grandfather Maurice Nachshen.
My name is Gerald the second son of David, Maurice's eldest
son & I now live in Jerusalem.
We are all very interested if there is any connection between the sections
of the family. So if anyone has a connection to Maurice Nachshen Please let us know.
I can be contacted at gnachshon@ndc.co.il (the name became nachshOn, to be
closer to the Hebrew pronunciation
Feb 27, 1997 - From: Gary
Here is what I know about earlier generations of Nachshens. This information came from Yancel (Jack) in two series of interviews, one about 25 years ago and the other about 8 years ago. All details should be checked with Issie for accuracy.My great-grandfather, Moishe Nachshen, was born in Skvira, a small shtetl in the Ukraine west of Kiev, in or around 1875. He had one brother, Yancel Pinchas, born in or around 1877. Yancel Pinchas' family stayed in the Ukraine, and most were killed during WW2. His youngest son, Naftula (Tulka), had a son who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. He spells his name Izya Nakhshin. I have a phone number for him in Brooklyn.
Moishe Nachshen's father and my great-great-grandfather, Isroel Nachshen, was born in Skvira (probably) in or around 1857. (This would make him only 18 when his first son was born, which sounds a bit young, but anyways...) Isroel owned a general store in Skvira, and he died in Skvira in or around 1913.
Isroel had 3 younger brothers, each of whom lived in a nearby town. Herzl lived at one time in Ruzhin. Apparently, he had no children. Yerma lived at one time in Vechevny. He apparently had a son and a daughter; one of his grandchildren immigrated to Montreal. Eliyahu (?) lived at one time in Zhitomir. I have no information about whether he had any children.
That's as far as I can trace the Nachshen name back in our family. Thus, our U.K./Israeli correspondents should indicate whether they can trace their ancestry back to one of Isroel's brothers or to one of the Ukrainian towns they lived in (i.e. Ruzhin, Vechevny, or Zhitomir). Any details they can provide in this regard would be most interesting.
My guess is that our family adopted the Nachshen surname sometime in the 17th or 18th Century, at the demand of the Czarist government. Given its heroic Biblical antecedents (first Jew to follow Moses into the parted waters of the Red Sea), we cannot rule out the possibility that many unrelated families simultaneously chose the same surname. Nonetheless, it is not that common a name, so it would be nice to hope that all the farflung Nachshens are in fact related through a distant ancestor 6 or 7 generations back.
Feb 28, 1997 - From: Simon Ainley
Dear Gary/Brian
It is very exciting to receive your reply which I will forward to my other Nachshen family members. Reading the letter it may well be that there is a family connection, although we will need to try and confirm this through my Aunt, Ruth Morduch nee Nachshen, and Uncle, David Nachshen.So why might there be a connection?
My Grandfather, Maurice (Moshe ben Zvi) was born in 1899 and lived in Zhitomir, until he immigrated, as a child to London in 190X. He had one sister Donia, and their parents were Mr and Mrs H (?) Nachshen. Could Mr H in fact be the Eliyahu(?) of Gary's note? As I said my Aunt/Uncle may be able to help.
Just to complete later generations and so that you can piece together the various contacts that you are now having with my family, here is a potted history.
Maurice Nachshen married Nettie Foley-Isaacs in 1929 and they had three children, David, Ruth and Betty (who were identical twins).
David, now living in Haifa. He is not on the internet. David has three sons; Tony in Jerusalem; Gerald (gnachshon@ndc.co.il) in Jerusalem; and Neil (teva!neil@tevamail.attmail.com) in the process of moving from Israel to London.
Ruth (RMorduch@keck.com) has three children, and lives in West Virginia USA. Claire, (CMorduch@aol.com) lives in Connecticut; Jonathan (JMorduch@hiid.harvard.edu) lives at Harvard; and Susan(SM196@columbia.edu) lives in Brooklyn.
Betty was my mother, who passed away in 1991. I live near to London. I have one brother, Adam (ahainle@unistudios.com) who lives in Los Angeles.
I hope this helps with future contacts.
Lastly, speaking of Pesach, Donia illustrated The Haggadah, translated by Cecil Roth, published by the Soncino Press. As you might imagine the illustrations are loosely based on members of the family. If you would like a copy, please send details and I will arrange one for you.
I hope that this is as interesting for you as it is for me.
warmest regards
Simon
Simon's letter, above, is very exciting and I can’t even begin to imagine what these revelations will lead to and how members of our families will be affected in time. For me, there is also the answer to the question that has haunted me for thirty-four years.
In 1963, browsing the fiction shelves of the Vancouver Public Library, I came across an edition of Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh, illustrated by Donia Nachshen. I was nineteen at the time. This was the first time in my life I’d seen the name "Nachshen" in print, belonging to someone I didn’t know, and I was stunned! I wrote home almost immediately. If memory serves, I wrote my cousin Issie. I never got any reply, most likely because no one knew who Donia might be. Now, at long last, we know.
Simon has generously offered to send us a copy of the Cecil Roth translation of The Haggadah, illustrated by Donia. I will ask Simon if he could send the copy to me so that, barring any copyright problems, I may publish a few of the illustrations on this website. I’ll then bring it with me to Montreal at Pesach and we can then decide who will keep it for us. (I suggest Issie.)
Mar 2, 1997 - From: Gerald Nachshen
Dear All,
It appears that Simon Ainley's discovery of this site has lead to perhaps the realisation of a whole new family branch. Simon and I are trying to piece together who the Nachshen's from Zhitomir were related to. For the record: I am Gerald (Jerusalem) son of David Nachshen (Haifa). My grandfather was Maurice Nachshen who was born in Zhitomir in 1899 and emigrated to England in 1906. His sister was Donia. Maurice's father was Naphtula Gersh (Gersh=Hirsh=Zvi). Naphtula's father was called Shmuel. (This information is from Maurice's notarised birth certificate translated from Russian to English, which my father David has) So, do any of you other Nachshen's recognise some of these names? Pogrebisch where so much of your family came from is just 60 miles from Zhitomir where my grandfather Maurice was born - coincidence or family ??
Mar 2, 1997 - From: Issie Nachshen
Dear Simon:
I have read your email from London, and am very much interested to try to establish the N family--wherever--Please send us info as to when your parents came to London and from what part of Russia. Our family came from the Ukraine, first members in l924. I came here in l926, age 5. I was born in Kharkov,Ukr. My parents and grandparents lived in Kharkov, but came from smaller towns in the Ukraine, namely, Berditchev, Pogrebish, and Zinkov. My grandparents arrived in Canada in 1927. All my aunts and uncles, with the exception of the youngest uncle, all came to Canada and lived in Montreal. Please send what info you have,thank you.
Issie Nachshen.
Mar 5, 1997 - From: Gerald Nachshen
Brian,
I don't know if you saw my message below. The Nachshen's of Israel (formally UK) are intrigued to know if there is any connection between the families. I think the geographic closeness of the places in the Ukraine is almost too coincidental. We are trying to pick the brains of the older members of the family. Please try to see if anyone on your side has any recollection of the names I noted below.I think your cousin Glenn or Gary wrote the following:
"Isroel had 3 younger brothers, each of whom lived in a nearby town. Herzl lived at one time in Ruzhin. Apparently, he had no children. Yerma lived at one time in Vechevny. He apparently had a son and a daughter; one of his grandchildren immigrated to Montreal. Eliyahu (?) lived at one time in Zhitomir. I have no information about whether he had any children."
Who was the mystery Eliyahu, if this was indeed his name ?? Your help would be most appreciated, Regards - Gerald Nachshen (Jerusalem)
_______________________________________________________________ Subject: Re: another Nachshen -Reply
Author: PC:gnachshon@cgate.ndc.co.il at INTERNET2
Date: 02/03/97 8:47 AMHi people, I don't know who all the recipients are of this message but I may have some information that might help the family connection.
I am Gerald Nachshen (living in Jerusalem) son of David (living in Haifa). David is the son of Maurice (Moshe) born in Zhitomir (1899), emigrated to England in 1906. Maurice's father was (according to his birth certificate which David has was Naphtula Gersh (Gersh=Hirsch=Zvi). Naphtula's father was called Shmuel Nachshen.
Does this jolt anyone's memory ?
Regards to all - who knows we may all be part on one big family.
Gerald
I have been reading with increasing interest the messages from Simon and Gerald. Putting on my amateur historian's hat, here is where I think we are at this point. Please pass this message along to both of them, and let's see if they or their older relatives agree with my hypothesis. As you will see from what follows, Issie should also be copied on this here in Montreal.
As I said in my message last week, Yancel told me that my great-great-grandfather, Isroel Nachshen, had a younger brother who lived at one point in Zhitomir. Yancel was unsure of the name of this man (who would have been his great-uncle). At one time about 8 years ago, he told me that the name was something like "Ali"; at another time, about 25 years ago, he told me that the name was something like "Eliue". I remember pressing him for details on this, but he couldn't be more precise. In my message last week, I guessed that the name was Eliyahu, i.e. Elijah (of Passover fame).
Now, however, we learn that Maurice (i.e. Moishe) Nachshen, born in 1899 in Zhitomir, had a grandfather named Shmuel. Given that everyone seems to have married young in those days, it would not be illogical to conclude that Shmuel was born in the 1850s, which would make him of the same generation as Isroel. Could "Ali" or "Eliue" be a diminuitive (i.e. nickname) for "Shmuel"? Maybe Issie or someone more familiar with Hebrew/Yiddish names would know. Alternatively, maybe Shmuel was a first name and Eliue a second name or vice versa.
If "Shmuel" and "Eliue" are one and the same person, then the mystery is solved and we are indeed related. By my reckoning, Maurice and Yancel would then have been third cousins of the same generation, having the same great-grandfather, i.e. Isroel's and Shmuel's father. That would make me (Yancel's grandson) and Simon and Gerald (Maurice's grandsons) fifth cousins of the same generation, all of us having had the same great-great-great-grandfather.
There is some circumstantial evidence favouring this conclusion. For one thing, the fact that this particular branch of the family left the Ukraine for England around 1906, when Yancel was only a few years old, would explain why he was unaware whether this particular great uncle of his had any children, whereas he was quite clear on the details as to whether the other 2 great-uncles did or did not have children. For another thing, there seems to have been some duplication of names between the two families (specifically, there was a "Naphtula" in our branch of the family and in theirs; the same goes for "Moishe"). This would indicate that boys were being named for deceased common ancestors. Whether this is mere coincidence or not, someone with a better sense of the diversity of men's names in that community in that time would be better placed to say than I am. (On the other hand, Yancel and Avrum left the Ukraine in 1920, and from the moment they arrived in Rumania they did all they could to continue moving west. I know that they tried very hard to get into the U.S., because they had some relatives on their mother's side in Detroit. If they had had relatives in England who had left the Ukraine just 14 years earlier, one would have thought they would have considered the option of emigrating to England, as well. But Yancel never mentioned that possibility to me, and Lord knows I talked to him about these things often enough over the years.)
Considering all of the above, I would think that there is a reasonable chance this hypothesis is correct. Again, it all depends on our being able to positively identify "Shmuel" and "Eliue" as being one and the same person. I would suggest that two sources of information be tapped on this score. First, as mentioned above, the elder members of the U.K./Israeli correspondents should be questioned on this theory. Second, Zaide Moishe was a member of the Boyaner shul. Issie has told me that this shul has been continued on the Lower East Side in New York, and apparently there is another related shul or institute of some sort in Israel. They apparently have some information on Zaide Moishe. Issie should give us a name and phone number for someone to call. Perhaps Gerald can visit the Israeli institute (which I believe is in Jerusalem) and see if they have any genealogical information which would help us make the link.
If Shmuel and Eliue are not one and the same, that does not mean we are not related; it simply means that the link must be sought at another, probably earlier, point in time. Obviously the earlier we go back the more difficult it is. Brian, you might be able to follow up on Ukrainian Jewish genealogical sources/resources in this regard.
Undoubtedly the above is a bit of a jumble, and my narrative format is not the simplest way of presenting my hypothesis. If it can be confirmed, though, Brian, you will be charged with transposing it all onto the NFC website family tree, which will accordingly grow exponentially. There is also the New York/New Jersey Nachshen family which I wrote you about some months ago, to which we should try and trace a link at some point. For now, though, one thing at a time.
In the meantime, I gather you are requesting from Simon that he send you a copy of the Haggadah illustrated by Doria Nachshen on the basis of her family members. This will be great to look through at the NFC Family seder next month in Montreal. And if we can establish a link with the U.K./Israeli correspondents, then I think they should send a representative or 2 to the 1998 NFC Family seder in Montreal.
Cheers to all, family and putative family alike. So there are my thoughts for the week on this most intriguing question. Let's keep digging away until the mystery is solved.
Mar 5, 1997 - From: Glenn J Nachshen
Shalom,
In narrowing down the mystery of the proximity to the Nachshen families in question in the Ukraine, I will explore the following lead:
Exactly one year ago this week, I visited the Town of Zhitomer, about 150 kilometres Southwest of Kiev. At the only remaining synagogue I questioned some of the elders about the historical link between the Nachshen's and the cities of Zhitomer, Pogrebishe and Berdischev. After leaving a small fortune (about US$5) I was assured that they would investigate and respond. In retrospect, I guess I should have left $10 in a trust fund because I never heard back again.
Nevertheless, because of this new information which some of you have uncovered, I will use my connections at the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and Kiev to see if they could hunt down this information. I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
Glenn J. Nashen
Mar 7, 1997 - From: Issie Nachshen
Subject: Tracing the Nachshen SagaHi Gary,
Have been following the traces of the family history. I like your theory, it is worth pursuing. My theory, which I mentioned to Glenn, is as follows:Since the London & Israel Nachshens, several towns in the Ukraine, these names ring bells. Also their mention of the town of Ruzan is very interesting: That town was the birthplace of the Dynasty of Rabbis which our Grandfather Moishe followed. Rabbi Israel of Ruzan was the source of that dynasty, which exists today in the US & Israel. The late Boyaner Rebbe of N.Y. was a great-grandson of the founder. Later the grandsons of the Rabbi of Ruzan each lived in different parts of Europe, and were called by name of the town they settled in, e.g. The Sandegerer, the Tschortkever, et al., and of course Bayan. Zaide went to the Boyaner, the father of the NY Raabi, and when our family came to Canada, Zaide and my father became part of the supporters of the Rabbi in NY. I too, had the honor of meeting him several times, and in fact, on a message from my Zaide, I visited the Home/Shul of the NY Rebbe.
At present, there is a "new" Boyaner Rebbe in NY, a grandson of Zaide's Rebbe. The son of the NY Rebbe did not want to succeed his Father. Zaide's Rebbe died in 1972, in NY. During the War (WW2). He was active in trying to help Rabbis and their followers from Europe in getting out of there, etc. There is a Yeshiva /rabbinical college in Jerusalem named after the founder, MESIVTA TIFERETH ISRAEL OF RIZHIN-Jerusalem, 40-44 Malachei Israel Street, Jerusalem 91051, Israel. (Tel.02-5380827. Fax.02-5380811) I am in touch with that Yeshiva, and perhaps I can try to get some info from them.
Now all this background, according to my theory, can tie in with the Nachshens of England. How? Perhaps at the time of the founding of this dynasty in the l8th C Jews (or not all Jews) had surnames. And the Rabbi could have possibly suggested some biblical/hebrew surnames for them?????? In the meantime let's keep looking....But to get back to your theory --Shmuel and Elia could be used as one name -Shmielelya? But, what puzzles me is that in all the years, I never once heard mention of any Nachshen family in other parts of the world. In Detroit, there were family of Bobbe Sarah, that is, her Brother Alec Remenik.
Good luck, regards to all. Brian please advise others. Thanks. Issie N.
Mar 8, 1997 - From: Ruth (Nachshen) Morduch
Dear all:
I too have visited the Nachshen Family Circle on the www, and it is very comprehensive and interesting. I was really surprised when Simon told me about the Nachshen web site. I don't know whether we are related or not, but I am sending this letter to the people on Simon's e-mail list.
As Simon wrote, my father, Maurice Nachshen, born 1899, left Zhitomir, Ukraine, to live in England with his parents and sister Esther (Donia) in about 1904. His parents were Harris (Zvi) and Clara (Chaya) Nachshen, so I don't think that Zvi is the Eliyahu mentioned in Simon's e-mail. I don't know when or where Harris Nachshen was born, but I estimate that it was in the 1870s. Zhitomir is near Kiev, and one can still find it on a good map.
Harris Nachshen had at least a brother (name unknown), who had a son William (Bill) Nash, who was a bit older than my father and who died several years ago. I think his original name may have been Vladimir - I can remember my father calling him Volodya. he lived in London. Bill Nash's mother was Brocha Nachshen. Bill Nash also had a half-brother, Dr. Joseph Nachshen was a doctor in Haifa, Palestine/Israel, from ? until the end of his life, which I would guess was in the 1960's or 1970's. I don't know when he went to live in Palestine, but it was early on. As far as I know he lived most of his adult life in Haifa.
My father had several other cousins who lived in London, but none of them were named Nachshen and I think they were cousins on his mother's side.
I live in Alexandria, Virginia, which is a suburb of Washington, DC, and we came to live here in 1967.
I look forward to reading the next chapter of the Nachshen Family saga.
Ruth (Nachshen) Morduch
March 15, 1997 - From: Simon Ainley
Dear all of you who are following the Nachshen Saga. I like the top 10 names - The Nachshenal Mystery Tour gets my vote.
Apologies to all of you following the progress of the tour to find the Nachshen connection - I've not found out anything further yet, but when I do you'll be sure to hear.
As for "Donia's Haggadah" it is unfortunately out of print - Soncino Press if any of you have a connection - I am trying to find you a secondhand copy.
It is also interesting to note that you have twins in your family - Peter and ? We also have Twins in the UK/USA/Israel Nachshens.
Regards to all
Simon
March 16, 1997 - From: Ruth Nachshen Morduch
Hi - I tried to write earlier, but don't think I sent it properly. I logged on to write about twins, and found that Simon had already noted the coincidence. Simon's mother, who died 5 years ago and I were identical twins. I always thought it came through by father's mother's side of the family, but maybe through his father's side also. Are we related? It would be several generations back but it would be nice to know.
Simon said that the Haggadah is out of print and I'm not surprised. I have two copies, Unfortunately neither are the first edition. I am willing to mail one to you to have at the NFC Seder, as long as you promise to mail it back after Pesach, as it is valuable to me. Let me know by e-mail. My address is rmorduch@keck.com. I look forward to hearing from whichever one of you will take this on if you want to borrow it.
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I have received and posted your letter to the Family News and Mail page. In my opinion my cousin Issie, in Montreal, should be sent the Haggadah. I've had problems sending him email, lately. Once this is cleared up I can ask him. Or you can try writing him at:
nash@minet.com
Regarding your problem posting messages, I noticed a while back that a form was submitted by you with no text in the message part. It may be easier to just use email for anything you want posted to the mail page. The address is:
nachshen@geocities.com
I look forward to the day when some, if not all, of us can meet. I'm sure we're related.
Warmest regards,
Brian
March 22, 1997 - From: Ruth Nachshen Morduch
Dear Brian:
Thank you for your message of March 16. I have been studying the Nachshen families some more, and have now made photocopies of our family photographs from Zhitomir. I don't know who the people are, except for my grandfather. Maybe they will look familiar to some of the Montreal Nachshens. I am copying your cousin Issie on this letter at the e-mail address that you sent, and also copying the geocities e-mail address. You can also post this on the web page if you want, but it may be too long.
I can't fit my great grandfather Shmuel into the space for "Eliyahu" as I believe that Shmuel must have been born about 1855, which is too early. This makes Shmuel a bit older than your ancestor Israel. However, they may have been first cousins, which might explain why "Eliyahu" went to stay/live(?) in Zhitomir. If so, It would be interesting to know the names of Israel's father (your side) and Schmuel's father (our side) who might have been brothers.
Your ancestors travelling west across Europe do not appear to have gone to England. There could have been compelling or accidental reasons for this. Or maybe they stopped very briefly in England on the way to their relatives in Detroit.
Coincidences:
(1) Identical transliteration of "Nachshen". I had previously thought it not to be worthwhile to try to trace the family as I thought that this transliteration would not be used consistently. Immigration officers notoriously changed difficult names. It seems as though the Canadian Nachshens, who appear to have left Russia after the U.K. Nachshens, may have known how to spell their name. If they knew, how did they know? Do you know anything about this? Is it merely a coincidence?
(2) The names Naftula (unusual) and Moshe and Yosef (common first names). If "Naftula" was a "fashionable" Jewish name at that time it may not be significant to find it repeated. However, my grandfather Naftula was born in about the late 1870's and the Naftula on your side was a generation later. Does this point to a connection?
(3) Identical twins - this may be accidental or genetic. I was delighted to hear from Peter on this subject.
(4) The generations seem to be surprisingly constant in that the ages of the Canadian ancestors and U.K. ancestors are sufficiently parallel that we can put them into the same generations.
I would like to send the copies of the Zhitomir photographs and at least copies of some of the illustrations in the Haggadah to one of the Canadian Nachshens. You suggested Issie. I need his address to do this. The photographs are from the beginning of this century, probably sent from Zhitomir to my grandparents in England. I can't identify the people and they could just as easily be my grandmother's non-Nachshen family as my grandfather's Nachshen family. Unfortunately, the people in your web-page photograph do not look familiar to me.
Will we ever know the answers? I too think that we must be related.
Best wishes. Happy Purim.
Ruth
March 25, 1997 - From: Simon Ainley
Dear Brian
I have managed to track down a second-hand copy of the Cecil Roth Haggadah, illustrated by my late Great Aunt Donia. It is a pleasure to share it with you and the Canadian Nachshens - please take it to Montreal this Pesach and use it with pride and joy. The English translation is rather old and cumbersome, but as I have previously said the illustrations are very loosely based on the UK Nachshens. The Haggadah is out of print and so I would think that you should not have copyright difficulties if you wish to share the haggadah via the NFC.
I have also enclosed a summary family tree as it relates to the Nachshen Family that I know. I hope that this will make the Email correspondence easier to follow - perhaps you/Gary/Issie could do the same for us.
As to progress in finding a connection I agree with my Aunt Ruth's latest letter of 23 March and think that there are too many coincidences for the families not to be related. However I think it likely that the common ancestor is one or two generations earlier i.e. our Shmuel and your "Eliyahu" share a common grandparent. What do you/Gary/Issie think? If this is the case I am lost as to how this might be proven - we need records from c1800-1850. Could any of the Rabbinical contacts in Ukraine/Israel help with this?
Wishing you and all Nachshens in Canada a happy Pesach
Yours sincerely,
Simon
Glenn, Issie, and I met a few weeks ago to discuss how we can pursue our research. I volunteered to draft a letter setting out the facts as we know them regarding both families, and Glenn and Issie will send the letter to their contacts in Israel and the Ukraine. I sent Gerald Nachshon a message today asking for a fax copy of Zvi (Hersh) Nachshen's birth certificate, which he mentioned having in both original and translated versions, since I think this could be a helpful document in our research.
April 14, 1997
From: Ruth N. MorduchDear Canadian Nachshens,
I just tried to send you a letter directly on the web, but it may not have gone through. I'll start again.
My e-mail to Issie was returned to me, so I'm still waiting for an address to send copies of the Zhitomir photos. As I said I'm not sure how many of them are Nachshen photos, but some of them are. It would be interesting if you had them for your family Seder - if you send an address, I'll mail them immediately.
I'm glad that Simon sent you a copy of the Haggadah. I think that both the translation and illustrations are quite elegant, if a bit old-fashioned now. I do hope you enjoy it.
We will of course discuss the family during our family Seder and expect that you will do the same. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge as to how our forbears acquired their name, or who transliterated it into English, or when.
If you want the Zhitomir photos, let me know where to send them. Meanwhile, Happy Pesach - have a wonderful Nachshen Family Seder.
RuthNote from Brian: I've asked Ruth to send the photos c/o Polly.
June 29, 1997
From: Simon Ainley
Subject: Nachshen connectionsDear all
Is there any result from further researches via rabbonim/israeli contacts which Gary mentioned?
I received a letter from Larry and Margaret Nachshen recently - they are not on EMAil - they may be in London in the fall and we may meet then - if there are any documents or other info to share, perhaps they could bring it.
Simon Ainley
July 1,1997
From: Gary
Subject: Re: Nachshen connectionsSimon - Got your message a couple of days ago. My wife Julie and I are in the midst of moving from Montreal to Toronto, so I haven't had much time lately to pursue the connection. However, several weeks ago I did prepare a draft of a letter of inquiry to potential sources of information in Israel and the Ukraine, which I sent to my cousin Glenn for modification and dispatch. Glenn got married yesterday, and I haven't spoken to him recently, so I don't know if he and Issie have advanced any further on this, but I will follow up with them in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, let me ask you this. My impression is that my great-grandfather Moishe and other members of our family were devoted followers of a Hasidic sect started in the first half of the 19th Century by a rabbi surnamed Friedman. This sect had centres in Boyaner and Ruzhin, and it still has synagogues today in Israel and New York, with which Issie is occasionally in touch. Are you aware of any involvement of your ancestors with this sect or any other Hasidic sect?
One other question. From what my grandfather has told me, the coup de grace for our branch of the Nachshen family in Pogrebishch and, ultimately, the Ukraine, was the pogrom carried out in Pogrebishch by followers of the Ukrainian nationalist leader Simon Petlura in August 1919. I have recently come across a reference to a book entitled "The Slaughter of the Jews in the Ukraine in 1919", written by Elias Heifetz and originally published in New York in 1921. If you (or any of the people cced on this message) ever come across a copy of this book, I would appreciate it if you could let me know. I would very much like a copy of this book, since it sounds like it might put the end of our family's Ukrainian experience in some historical context.
October 17, 2000
From: Rupert Swyer
Subject: Volodya NachshenMy grandfather's name was Vladimir (Volodya) Nachshen. He was born in Zhitomir in 1897 and died in London, England, under the name of William Nash, in 1986.
The account given on your site of the Pogrebihsche pogrom very closely resembles the (vague) account I heard years ago of a pogrom (in Zhitomir) that took place in the same year, and in which my great-grandmother and a great-uncle were left for dead (luckily they survived).
I have done several searches crossing Nachshen with Zhitomir, but without success. Did your family have any connection with Zhitomir?
Sincerely,
Rupert Swyer
I check the Nachshen Family Circle website periodically, even though the investigation of our relationship a few years ago (the Nachshen-Nachshen letters) was inconclusive. Rupert Swyer is my second cousin once removed, i.e. my father Maurice (Moshe) Nachshen and his grandfather Bill Nash were first cousins and both were born in Zhitomir, in 1899 and 1897, respectively, and subsequently lived in London. Their fathers were brothers. My grandfather was named Shmuel - I don't know the name of his grandfather.
Nor do I know Rupert's e-mail address. He lives in Paris, and visited us with his wife and family some years ago. Would you please let me have his e-mail address so that I can follow up with him.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Ruth Nachshen Morduch
October 26, 2000
From: Gary Nachshen
To: Rupert Swyer
Subject: Re: Volodya NachshenI've been meaning to reply to your message for some time, but work always seems to get in the way. In any event, as the (Canadian) Nachshen family's unofficial historian, I am probably in the best position to answer you, in case nobody else has written you yet.
If you go back to our family website and look at the Nachshen-Nachshen correspondence section, you will see that we have been communicating with some of your relatives for several years, trying to see if our families are in fact related. (You will also see that one of your relatives wrote in and is looking for your e-mail address.) There might be a link back around the 1850s, but that is at best a hypothesis. There is also a New York-based Nachshen family with which we have been in touch, and in one of the notes I sent on this a few months ago I thought I saw a connection between that family and yours. In the meantime, I did meet your cousin Gerald Nachshen in Jerusalem last year, and I think one or two of my relatives met your cousin Simon Ainley in London a couple of years back.
I have a lot of material on the Ukrainian pogroms of 1919, and, indeed, earlier periods. I think there was a bad one in Zhitomir around 1905. Let me know if you want more info, and I'll see what I can dig out of my library. (I have some eyewitness accounts and such reproduced in books published in the 1920s, plus some more recent analyses.)
I might be in France next year on business. Who knows - maybe we can arrange a (very extended) family reunion...
Gary Nachshen