Please visit:

My grandmother

My grandfather

My main project is uploading memorials from Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian Jewish cemeteries. Most of these records are not available in English, and I would like to provide the translations for anyone trying to research their family. If I have added a memorial of your family member and you wish to manage it, please don't hesitate to send me a message.

A note about names

Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians have patronymic middle names; this means that each person's middle name identifies their father. For example, if a man's name is Tzvi Yakovlevich Rubin, he is Tzvi, son of Yakov. If a woman's name is Yenta Shaevna Katz, she is Yenta, daughter of Shaya. A man will have -ovich or -evich in his middle name; a woman will have -ovna or -evna. Some people will have two patronymic middle names, like Vulfovich-Isaakovich - this means that their father had two first names.

Sometimes two siblings will have different patronymic middle names. For example, Zinoviy and Girsh Abramowitz have the same father, but Zinoviy's middle name is Samuilovich, and Girsh's middle name is Shmuelovich. Why is that? Well, Jewish people usually have a Hebrew name in addition to their legal name. The Abramowitz brothers' father went by Shmuel in his daily life in Russia - Shmuel is the Yiddish version of Samuil, which is Hebrew. The middle names are different, but it is essentially the same name.

You may notice that most children's headstones do not include a middle name, and most of the kids' first names end in -ochka. First names with that ending are almost always a childhood nickname, which indicates closeness and affection for that child. Middle names are often not included because it makes the name more formal, and a small child would never be called by their full, legal name in life. Having just their nickname on their headstone is a representation of the innocence and youth of the child, and a sad reminder of a life ended far too soon.

Please visit:

My grandmother

My grandfather

My main project is uploading memorials from Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian Jewish cemeteries. Most of these records are not available in English, and I would like to provide the translations for anyone trying to research their family. If I have added a memorial of your family member and you wish to manage it, please don't hesitate to send me a message.

A note about names

Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians have patronymic middle names; this means that each person's middle name identifies their father. For example, if a man's name is Tzvi Yakovlevich Rubin, he is Tzvi, son of Yakov. If a woman's name is Yenta Shaevna Katz, she is Yenta, daughter of Shaya. A man will have -ovich or -evich in his middle name; a woman will have -ovna or -evna. Some people will have two patronymic middle names, like Vulfovich-Isaakovich - this means that their father had two first names.

Sometimes two siblings will have different patronymic middle names. For example, Zinoviy and Girsh Abramowitz have the same father, but Zinoviy's middle name is Samuilovich, and Girsh's middle name is Shmuelovich. Why is that? Well, Jewish people usually have a Hebrew name in addition to their legal name. The Abramowitz brothers' father went by Shmuel in his daily life in Russia - Shmuel is the Yiddish version of Samuil, which is Hebrew. The middle names are different, but it is essentially the same name.

You may notice that most children's headstones do not include a middle name, and most of the kids' first names end in -ochka. First names with that ending are almost always a childhood nickname, which indicates closeness and affection for that child. Middle names are often not included because it makes the name more formal, and a small child would never be called by their full, legal name in life. Having just their nickname on their headstone is a representation of the innocence and youth of the child, and a sad reminder of a life ended far too soon.