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       Date Last Updated: 18-May-2012

Vitebsk Families Stories and Pictures

 
  VITEBSK FAMILIES STORIES AND PICTURES  
 


The Wiminetz Family

This information was donated by LKM

My great-grandparents were Meyer and Bessie Wiminetz. They came from Vitebsk and then lived in Passaic, NJ. My great-grandfather was a builder and built many of the apartment buildings in Passaic. Meyer immigrated to the United States in 1905 or 1906. His second wife, Bessie Singer Wiminetz, immigrated to the United States in 1908 with her 8 children. She stated she was from Beshincovitz. My grandmother, Helen Wiminetz Tender, was only 6 months old. Two more children were born in Passaic, NJ. My great-grandmother Bessie did now this but her father-in -law, Nathan Wiminetz, was on the same ship. I learned that his wife, Rose Shub Wiminetz, came to the US before him, in April of 1908.

My great-grandparents were very close with their Gelman cousins from Passaic, NJ. The oldest known Gelman cousin passed away last year at age 104. She knew we were cousins but never knew how. I have learned that many of my Wiminetz relatives changed their name to Gelman.

My research began over 25 years ago when I met a woman whose maiden name was Wiminetz. Little did I know that the encounter would spark my passion for genealogy research. Only recently I confirmed that she is my 3rd cousin 1x removed. Also, in the early part of my research, someone in a news group said he had a letter from a relative that mentioned Chaim Wiminetz and his 11(?) children from Vitebsk. I would later learn that Chaim Dov Wiminetz was my g-g-g-grandfather and that some of his other children did come to the United States. My goal is to find the connection to all the Wiminetz’s around the world. I have discovered people in the United States, Israel, and Russia. Some of the other names I have come across in my research are Gelman, Horowitz, Shub, Luria, Bensman, Chidekel, Singer, and Polonovsky. Some of the towns that are mentioned in my research are Lepel, Beshenkovitz, Wilna and Rechitza.

This is a picture of my great-grandparents, Meyer and Bessie Wiminetz. Supposedly, they were going to a relatives wedding in NY. My oldest cousin thinks it was their Shub cousin.

Barkan Family