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       Date Last Updated: 18-May-2012

Vitebsk Families Stories and Pictures

 
  VITEBSK FAMILIES STORIES AND PICTURES  
 


The Lichtman/Burstein Family

This information was donated by MT

My greatgrandmother's maiden name was Anna Lichtman, and I believe she was born around 1875 and died in New York in 1959.

My greatgrandfather was named Baruch Burstein. His father's name was Yusef Lichtman, so he and my greatgrandmother were probably cousins.

We're not sure if the family actually lived in the town of Vitebsk or in a village called Siminovich (I'm guessing at the spelling), which was located on a river right outside of Vitebsk.

My greatgrandfather came to the U.S. in about 1908, and his wife followed with five of their seven children about two years later. The two children who were left behind were a boy and a girl, and they both were deaf.

According to family legend, these two children were captured as they were sneaking across the border, possibly because they didn't have enough money to bribe the person who was transporting them.

The names of the five Burstein children who went to the US are Bessie (my grandmother), Mary, Paula, Sam & Benny (who was a deaf mute). They had one more child - Dottie - after they were reunited in the US.