Regional Historical Summary pre-1900

The earliest known ancestors on the paternal side of the Graham family are now known to have come from Poland in the early 1800s. They left many years before the greater majority of migrants in the later 1800s who were either persecuted or may have just been seeking better prospects. We may never know. A very brief look at the history, customs and political state of that period and geographical area may allow us to draw some conclusions about how the relevant families (particularly Goldberg, Rosenberg, Reubenstein /Rogenstein) came to be uprooted and found their way across the water. (i) Names and geography Two main events make the tracing of families in Eastern Europe more difficult. Until the late 1600s the general peasant population of this region didn't really have surnames. They had used nicknames to identify individuals with the same first name but they were specific to one person and weren't passsed from one generation to the next until the first half of the 1700s in western Poland, and then later in the east. Until the early 19th century most of the Jews from countries captured by Napoleon, including Russia, Poland and Germany, were ordered to get surnames for tax and military conscription purposes. Then after Napoleon's defeat many dropped these names and returned to "son of" names (eg: Mendelsohn, Jacobson, Levinson). Then again they were once more ordered to take surnames: in Austria (late 1700s), in Poland (1821), and in Russia (1844).  "Jews in the 1800s in Eastern Europe were generally not really attached to their last names - they didn't use it among themselves.  And they tried to avoid the draft in Russia by 'fiddling around', having baby boys registered as belonging to another family which had no sons, and doing other things to make it hard for Russia.  It was also not uncommon when the couple was not allowed to marry civilly that a couple would marry religiously and the babies would be considered 'illegitimate' by the government and have the Mother's surname (the Father was not her husband according to the government."  From a posting to JewishGen by Sally Bruckheimer on 4//3/02. People were generally required to pay if they were to have a choice of name, while the poor were simply assigned names. Names can be categorised in five general types: • Descriptions of the Head Of Household - eg: Hoch [tall], Klein [small], Cohen [rabbi], Shein [attractive], • Descriptions related to Occupations - eg: Holtz [wood], Schneider [tailor], Fisher [fish], Goldschmidt [goldsmith], Diamant [diamond] • Cities Of Residence or Country Of Origin - eg: Berlin, Frankfurter, Pollack [Polish], Deutsch [German], • Bought names - eg: Gluck [luck], Koenig [king], Rosenberg [rose mountain], Goldberg [gold mountain] • Assigned names (usually undesirable, therefore quickly dropped by later generations) - eg: Plotz [to die], Klutz [clumsy], Billig [cheap]. Other name derivations such as the famous Rothschild name were simply related to some other way of identifying the family; in this instance it was a description of the 'Rot Schild' [the red coloured shield], the plate on the front of houses identifying Jews' residences. Right up to about 1850 surnames were often modified within families but by that time Jews specifically were obliged to use inherited surnames instead of traditional patronyms - a common custom within that community. This may explain the Reubenstein /Rogenstein variation which became evident during the research on this family. Secondly the area changed hands several times from the 1700s; from Polish sovereignty to Prussian, to Napoleonic France, back to Prussian - at which time the families researched here emigrated. Consequently many records no longer exist. (ii) Racial origins to 1300 Originally merchants from Babylon, Persia and the Caucasus had crossed through the Slavic lands of Eastern Europe in search of markets in the West and had stayed for months and years. Examples have been found of craftsmen who minted coins for local authorities, who handled the slave trade, or dealt in connection with trade in amber or furs, but largely these people did not settle permanently. The migration of Jewish born families to Great Poland started around the 11th century as they fled persecution by Crusaders in Bohemia, specifically in 1098. Archaeological evidence exists of Jewish merchants being in Poland - coins with Hebrew inscriptions reveal Jewish traders in the 12th century travelling to Russia. Later periods of migration followed anti-Semitic outbursts in Germany from the 1100s though to the 1400s. Larger numbers of Jewish settlers came in the early 1200s, establishing settlements in the western part of Poland. In this period Poland was a haven for Jews as its government granted self-government to an extent unheard of anywhere else in Europe. Poland suffered great losses from Mongol invasions in 1241 and therefore encouraged Jewish immigrants to settle the towns and villages. Immigrants flocked to Poland from Bohemia-Moravia, Germany, Italy, Spain and colonies in the Crimea including Seljuk (and later Ottoman) Turkey. No central authority could stop this immigration. Refugees from Germany brought with them German and Hebrew dialects that eventually became Yiddish. In 1264 the Statute of Kalisz was issued by Prince Boleslaw giving protection to Jews, guaranteeing rights to become moneylenders and businessmen, freedom of worship and assembly, and Jewish elders the power to settle both civil and criminal disputes in their own communities. This angered Christian church authorities and in 1267 the papal legate convened a synod in Breslau seeking to bring about strict separation between Polish Christians and Jews, imposing rules requiring that Jews wear special headgear and the infamous badge, prohibiting them from holding public office and so on. In fact these resolutions had no practical effect. During that time, the Church in Poland had not yet managed to become firmly established, and therefore strongly opposed any social or personal relations between the local populace and the Jews who, upon arriving in Poland, had set up small workshops and businesses. In these they employed local Slavic slaves who aided them in developing their enterprises. The Jews were mostly single men from Jewish centres in western and southern Europe who quite naturally wanted to establish families.   After seven years, by Jewish law, they were required to free their slaves, so often the owner, when his female slave continued working with him after her release, proposed that she remain with him as his wife. She would undertake the management of the household as an equal partner - all on condition that she convert to Judaism. This could also explain the Slavic cast which often manifests itself on the faces of Jews from this region. That practice also aroused the anger of the church authorities. (iii) 1300-1500 In the 1300s opposition arose to the system where Jews owned land used as collateral for loans. By the middle of the century hatred of the Jews existed among the nobility and around 1348 Jews throughout Poland were massacred because they were blamed for spreading the Black Death by deliberately poisoning wells. Other myths arose out of this hatred, including the notorious blood libel which accused Jews of killing babies to use their blood in the making of matzos. This particular story was perpetuated right through to the present day and indeed in Leczyca (birthplace of my ancestor Lewis Rosenberg, born c.1837). In the Australia Jewish News of Friday, April 14th, 1989, the historian Isaiah Taub wrote: "I was a guide for the Jewish Agricultural Society in Warsaw and I was leading a group of Jewish tourists through the old historic city of Leczyca. Among the old remarkable buildings that we visited was an old church. Built into the walls on the inside of the church were coffins containing the remains of Catholic saints and martyrs. Among the latter we noticed in one niche, behind glass, the skeleton of a young child. The inscription in gold letters said, 'Here rest the remains of a Christian child whom the Jews killed for Passover and used his blood for baking matzos.' We left that place numb, speechless and depressed." During the 1300s and 1400s Jews were active in all areas of trade, including cloth, horses and cattle. By the end of the 1400s Polish Jews began trading with Venice, Feodosiya and other Genoese colonies in the Crimea as well as with Constantinople. Accusations were made against the Jews claiming unfair competition in trade and crafts and as a result in 1485 they were finally forced to renounce their rights to most of this type of work. There were anti-Jewish riots in 1348-9 and again in 1407 and 1494 and Jews were expelled from Cracow in 1495. Polish region c.1370 (iv) 1500-1700 By the middle of the 1500s 80% of the world's Jews lived in Poland and Jewish religious life thrived in many Polish communities. In 1503 the Polish monarchy appointed an official Rabbi of Poland, and 50 years later Jews were given the power to elect one of their own choice. The Chief Rabbinate had power over law and finance, sharing power with local councils. The Rabbinate collected taxes, 30% of which was used for Jewish causes while 70% was given to the Crown for protection. In 1569 Poland and Lithuania unified and Poland then annexed the Ukraine, sending many Jews to colonise these territories. Polish nobility and landowners and Jewish merchants became partners in many business enterprises. Jews became involved in the wheat export industry, which was in high demand across Europe. They built and ran mills and distilleries, transported the grain to the Baltic Ports and shipped it to the West. In return they received wine, cloth, dyes and luxury goods, which they sold to Polish nobility. The roles of magnates, middleman and intermediaries with the peasants were held by the Jews. In the process they created entire villages and townships known as shtetls. Fifty-two communities thrived in Great Poland and Masovia, 41 communities in Lesser Poland and about 80 communities in the Ukraine region. Poland was also one of the first countries to develop a parliamentary system of government and a separate Jewish legislature (the Va'ad Arba Artsot /Council of Four) was founded in 1581. The "four" lands were Great Poland (Wielkopolska), Little Poland, Podolia and Galicia. Jews were active at all levels of society and politics - almost every Polish magnate had a Jewish counsellor who kept the books, wrote letters and managed economic affairs. Alongside the VAA was the Supreme Rabbinic Tribunal which met while the VAA was in session, hearing appeals from its regional Jewish tribunals. This lasted until 1764 when it was dissolved by the Sejm (Polish national parliament). In 1648, a Ukrainian officer Bogdan Chmielnicki, with the support of the Tatar Khan of Crimea, roused the local peasants to fight with him and the Russian Orthodox Cossacks against the Jews. The first wave of violence in 1648 destroyed Jewish communities east of the Dnieper River. Following the violence, thousands of Jews fled west, across the river, to the major cities. The Cossacks and the peasants followed them; the first large-scale massacre took place at Nemirov (a small town, which is part of present-day Ukraine). It is estimated that 100,000-200,000 Jews died in the Chmielnicki revolt that lasted from 1648-1649. This wave of destruction is considered the first modern pogrom. Polish region c.1634 The revolts left much of the Jewish population impoverished. In the 1660's, many Polish Jews became caught up in the fervour and excitement of Shabbetai Zevi and Jacob Frank. According to Hasidic tradition, in southeast Poland, in the region of Podolia, Israel ben Eliezer Ba’al Shem Tov (otherwise known as the Ba’al Shem Tov or Besht) was born in 1699. It was said that he was a Ba’al Shem (miracle worker), curing Jews with amulets and charms. The Ba’al Shem Tov reached out to the masses and peasant Jewry. Hasidism flourished after his death and was spread by Rabbi Dov Baer, the Maggid (storyteller) throughout Eastern Europe. At the end of the 1600's, Poland-Lithuania was involved in a war against Sweden and another war against Moscow. In 1697 the Elector of Saxony, Augustus, was elected King. From 1700 - 1721, Augustus II allied himself with Russia and became involved in war with Sweden for control of the Baltic (the Great Northern War). Poland became a battlefield and the Polish throne the prize. The wars weakened Poland’s food-exporting industries and strained the Polish nobility, who then put pressure on the Jews and raised tariffs. In turn, the Jews put pressure on the local peasants. In 1704 Sweden won, Augustus was removed and the Voivode of Poznan, Stanislaw Leszczynski, was elected in his place. In 1709 the Russians defeated the Swedes at Poltava and Augustus was returned to the throne. (vi) 1700-1900 Conflict between Augustus and the Sejm almost ended in civil war in 1717, only prevented by a Russian offer of mediation; 18,000 Russian troops surrounded the chamber where the deputies met, they were denied the right to speak while the Russian mediator dictated the Russian solution. This Sejm became known as the Dumb Sejm and the Republic became little more than a Russian client state; this was the start of the Russian Protectorate in which Poland was forced to reduce her standing army. On Augustus' death, in 1733, Leszczynski was again elected King but the Russians interfered by sending in an army and re-running the election; Augustus' son, Frederick Augustus, was elected. The sixty-six years of Saxon rule, from 1697 - 1763, were a national disaster and drove the country to the brink of anarchy. Most ominous was the fact that in 1732 Russia, Prussia and Austria had entered into a secret alliance to maintain the paralysis of law and order within Poland. This pact became known as the Alliance of the Three Black Eagles (since all three powers had a black eagle in their coat-of-arms). The reign of the magnate, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, 1764 - 1795, a favourite of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, was totally controlled by Russia. Poniatowski was to become the last King of Poland. From 1768 - 1772, an anti-Russian rising known as the Confederation of Bar was crushed by the Russians. Over 5,000 captured szlachta were sent to Siberia. Among the few who escaped was Kazimierz Pulaski who was to play an important role in the United States' struggle for independence. Taking advantage of a now weakened Poland, Prussia, Russia and Austria agreed to annex parts of the country between 1772 and 1795 - the so-called Partitions. The Commonwealth lost 733,000 sq.km (23%) of her former territory and 4,500,000 of her population. Prussia acquired the west including Greater Poland (the smallest but economically best area) while the southern most heavily populated territories around Krakow and Lwow became part of Austria, renamed Galicia, and the largest but least important central /eastern provinces became part of the Russian Empire. To give the crime some legality the Sejm was forced to ratify the partition in 1773, despite the resistance of some Deputies, led by Tadeusz Rejtan. Poland-Lithuania now no longer existed and the majority of Poland's one million Jews became part of the Russian empire; Poland became a mere client state of that empire. In 1722 Catherine II, empress of Russia forced the Jews to stay in their shtetls and barred them from returning to the towns they had occupied before the partition. (This area was called the Pale of Settlement, which went on to have over four million Jews by 1885.) Despite the disaster of this first partition, Poland underwent a national revival in 1773, thanks to the efforts of Poniatowski. The first step was the creation of the Komisija Edukacji Narodowej (Committee of National Education), the first Ministry of Education in Europe. Hundreds of schools were founded and the standard of education was raised. Writers, poets, artists and scholars were encouraged by the King and the ideas of the Enlightenment were taking hold. This was the period of Adam Naruszewicz, the historian, Ignacy Krasicki, satirist and poet, Wojciech Boguslawski, "father" of the Polish theatre, and Franciszek Karpinski, whose hymns are still sung in Poland to this day. Now taking advantage of Russia's involvement in a war against Turkey, the King launched a reform programme (1788-1792) and the task was carried out by the Four-Year or Great Sejm which established a new Constitution; the Constitution of the Third of May. Established in 1791, under this Constitution the liberum Veto was abolished and a majority rule introduced, and personal freedoms guaranteed to all the people. The Constitution was hailed in the United States, England and France, but was seen as a threat to the absolute rulers of Prussia, Austria and, especially, Russia. So, in 1792, at Russia's instigation a handful of magnates led by Ksawery Branicki, Szczesny Potocki and Seweryn Rzewuski betrayed the Commonwealth and formed the Confederation of Targowica against the new Constitution and then "asked" for help. Russian troops crossed the borders and war broke out. The King's nephew, Joseph Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a veteran of the American War of Independence, put up heroic resistance but all hope faded away when the Prussians joined in, attacking the Polish armies in the rear. Many patriots were forced to flee. In 1793 Russia and Prussia signed the Second Partition Treaty, seizing more than half the country and about four million more of the population. The last Sejm of the Commonwealth, which met at Grodno, was forced to legalise the partition and abolish most of the reforms of the Great Sejm. Popular discontent led to Insurrection, proclaimed by Kosciuszko (as Supreme Commander) in Krakow's Market Place on March 24th, 1794. Thousands of Poles rallied to the standard followed by a victory at Raclawice in which peasant scythbearers played an important role. The people of Warsaw, led by the cobbler Jan Kilinski, rose against and defeated the strongest Russian regiment in Poland. Berek Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation since Biblical times. In May 7th, Kosciuszko issued the Polaniec Manifesto which abolished serfdom. Eventually, in October, the combined strength of Russia and Prussia defeated Kosciuszko's forces at Maciejowice (where he was captured) and, in November, Warsaw was taken by the Russians who slaughtered the population of the suburb, Praga, including women and children. Then, in 1795, the third partition wiped what was left of Poland off the map. The King was forced to abdicate and taken to St. Petersburg (where he died in 1798). Many captured Poles were sent to Siberia but thousands more escaped to Italy where, in 1797, they formed a Polish Legion, led by General Henryk Dabrowski, fighting for Napoleon Bonaparte against Austria. The Poles hoped that by fighting on the French side against the Powers that had partitioned Poland they could free their country. Dabrowski's Legion wore traditional uniforms which bore the motto: "All free men are Brothers!" The Partitions c.1772-95 The Poles felt that one way of restoring independence was to fight for Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1791 Dabrowski organised two legions to fight the Austrians in Lombardy and, later, for the French in the Iberian Peninsula. Kniaziewicz organised the Polish Danube Legion to fight against the Germans in 1799. Napoleon used the Polish Legions in all his campaigns; against Russia, Austria and Prussia, in Egypt, in the West Indies (Santo Domingo), and in Spain (where they fought the British and inspired the formation of the English lancers equipped with Polish-style uniforms and weapons). Some of the Poles became very disillusioned with Bonaparte, realising that they were being manipulated. Later, in 1806, the French armies defeated the Prussians at Jena and entered Posen (Poznan) led by the Poles under Dabrowski. A year later Napoleon and the Tzar, Alexander, met at Tilsit and agreed to set up a Polish State made up of the lands the Prussians had taken in the second partition. This was the Duchy of Warsaw. Napoleon used the Duchy as a pawn in his political game and in 1812 called upon the Lithuanians to rebel as an excuse to attack Russia. The Poles, flocking to his standard in the hope of resurrecting the Commonwealth, formed the largest non-French contingent, 98,000 men. Polish Lancers were the first to cross the Niemen into Russia, the first to enter Moscow, played a crucial part in the battle of Borodino and, under Poniatowski, covered the disastrous French retreat, being the last out of Russia; 72,000 never returned. Despite the cynical way that Napoleon treated the Poles they remained loyal to him and, when he went into exile on Elba the only guards that Napoleon was allowed were Polish Lancers. When Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Central Europe he briefly restored Poland as a Duchy of Warsaw, consisting of the above-named Prussian and Austrian territories which they had annexed in 1793-95. This all changed again on Napoleon's defeat in 1815 when the victorious Russians took control of the Duchy of Warsaw. The ruling Tzars gave it autonomy, creating the new Kingdom of Poland (dependent on Russia) whereas Eastern Poland was directly incorporated into the Empire. These boundaries remained stable during the next century but the Polish provinces were slowly germanised under Prussian government as more Germans settled there. During this time (approx 1700-1800) there was a period of Jewish Enlightenment known as Haskalah which spread throughout Poland, reforming Jewish life and encouraging assimilation between Poles and Jews in an effort to avoid persecution and to find prosperity. It was popular among wealthy Jews while shopkeepers and artisans chose to keep speaking Yiddish and practice orthodox Jewish faith. Then in the 1800s the Haskalah philosophy of integration began to be implemented by the Sejm (Senate). Jewish self-government, the Kahal, was abolished. A tax was levied on Jewish liquor dealers, forcing them to close their shops. Jews then became involved in agriculture. A yeshiva opened in 1826, with the goal of producing "enlightened" spiritual leaders. Until the mid-1850s many Jewish boys were forcibly conscripted into the Russian army for 25 years' service where they faced considerable brutality and a high chance of death. Since Jews were treated badly by the Russians many decided to become involved in the Polish insurrections: the Kosciuszko Insurrection, November Insurrection (1830-1831), the January Insurrection (1863) and the Revolutionary Movement of 1905. Jews also joined Polish legions in the battle for independence achieved in 1918. In 1862, after the ancestors researched here had left Poland, Jews were emancipated and special taxes were abolished and restrictions on residence were removed. Despite efforts to assimilate, Jews continued to be subject to anti-Semitism under the Czars and across Poland. In 1815 at the Congress of Vienna the Duchy was partitioned and a large part went to Russia. In Austria and Prussia there was repression of all Polish attempts to maintain the national culture, but in Russia, fortunately, the Tzar, Alexander I, was a liberal ruler who agreed to the setting up of a semi-autonomous Congress Kingdom with its own parliament and constitution. This became a time of peace and economic recovery. In 1817 the University of Warsaw was founded. But the accession of Tzar Nicholas I to the throne in 1825 saw the establishment of a more repressive regime. In 1830, after the revolution in France and unrest in Holland, Nicholas decided to intervene and suppress the move towards democracy in the West. He intended to use the Polish Army as an advanced force but instead propelled the Polish patriots into action. On the night of November 29th the cadets of the Warsaw Military College launched an insurrection. The Poles fought bravely against heavy odds in former Polish territories around Wilno, Volhynia and the borders of Austria and Prussia. The insurrection spread to Lithuania where it was led by a woman, Emilia Plater. For a while victory actually lay in their grasp but indecision on the part of the Polish leaders led to defeat. Warsaw was taken in September 1831, followed by terrible persecution; over 25,000 prisoners were sent to Siberia with their families and the Constitution of the Congress Kingdom was suspended. The 1830 Revolution inspired the work of two great Poles living in exile; Chopin, the composer, and Mickiewicz, the poet. Several attempts were made by Poles to regain independence but all the uprisings against Russia, Prussia and Austria were bloodily suppressed, leading to the mass emigration of over a million people from Poland - mostly to North America - in the late 1870s-1900. The ancestors we are concerned with here had emigrated in the earlier part or middle of the 1800s...hopefully time will tell more exactly when. Polish region c.1880 From 1795 until the end of WW1 Poland did not exist on the map of Europe Much later, at the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 Poles found themselves conscripted into the armies of Germany, Austria and Russia, and forced to fight each other in a war that was not theirs. Although many Poles sympathised with France and Britain they found it hard to fight with them on the Russian side. They also had little sympathy with the Germans. Russia was considered the greater enemy and Polish Legions were formed to fight for Austria but independently. Other Galician Poles went to fight against the Italians when they entered the war in 1915, thus preventing any clash of conscience. Almost all the fighting on the Eastern Front took place on Polish soil. All sides, from Tzar Nicholas of Russia to President Wilson (in his Fourteen Points) had promised the restoration of Poland yet in the end the Poles regained independence through their own actions when first Russia and then the Central Powers collapsed as a result of the War. In 1918, on the 11th November, Pilsudski was released by the Germans, proclaimed Polish Independence and Became Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, with Paderewski as Prime Minister. An uprising liberated Poznan and, shortly after, Pomerania (which gave access to the Baltic). In the chaos that followed the collapse of the Powers new states had arisen; Lithuania, Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian Republic. All these states laid claims on territory occupied by Poles. The Poles liberated Wilno from the Lithuanians in 1919, reoccupied the area around Cieszyn (which had been invaded by the Czechs) and annexed the Western Ukraine when the Ukrainian Republic, which had been supported by Poland, collapsed under attack from Soviet forces. The Red Army, having crushed all counter-revolutionary forces inside Russia, now turned its attention on Poland. By August 1920 they were at the gates of Warsaw. On August 15th the Polish Army under Pilsudski, Haller and Sikorski fought the Battle of Warsaw (the "Miracle on the Vistula"), routed the Red Army and saved a weakened Europe from Soviet conquest. An Armistice was signed at Riga in October, followed by a Peace Treaty in March 1921 which determined and secured Poland's eastern frontiers. In 1922 part of Upper Silesia was awarded to Poland by a Geneva Convention following three uprisings by the Polish population who had been handed over to Germany at the Peace Treaty of Versailles. On March 17th, 1921, a modern, democratic constitution was voted in. The task that lay ahead was difficult; the country was ruined economically and, after a hundred and twenty years of foreign rule, there was no tradition of civil service. Marshal Pilsudski resigned from office in 1922, and the newly-elected President, Gabriel Narutowicz, took office only to be assassinated a week later. Seeing that the government lacked power because of party strife, Pilsudski took control by a coup d'etat in 1926 and established the Sanacja regime intended to clean-up ("sanitise") political life. By 1930 this had become a virtual dictatorship. Poland successfully re-built its economy despite all its problems, but after constant oppression from Germany entered a military alliance with Britain and France...only to be invaded by Hitler's Germany late in 1939, which led to WW2.   Above information summarised and reproduced with reference to: • Shmuel A. Athur Cygielman (trans. and additions by Norman Roth): Medieval Jewish Civilisation: An Encyclopedia (Routledge) • Genealogy & Poland - A Guide: Polish Roots.com • Rebecca Weiner - The Jewish Virtual Library • David Rosenthal - Blighted Passover Days & Blood Libels • Moving Here - movinghere.org.uk