PREFACE 1

Photogalleries and/ or stories from descendants

Dave Hallam, U.S.A.

My name is Dave Hallam. I live in Ohio. My grandfather, Philip Hallam (Gelmansky) immigrated from Pokroy, Lithuania in 1905. One of his sisters whose last name was Volk stayed in Lithuania and was killed in the Holocaust along with her mother, husband and several of her children

Dave Hallam and family

David and his sister Julie on the left, his mother in the front

two nephews of his mother to the right

Family tree:
Generation I	Kopel ben itsek Gelmansky (Hallam) born 1836, and died 1914 in Pakroujis ( Pokroi ) (Lithuania) x(1) Rachel Klewens, daughter of Joseph Klewens and Sylvia Hyatt children: Samuel (Sam), Louis, Phillip, Ida, Lena, Peshe x(2) Dveira-Dina Gelmansky children: Dora, Morris

Generation II	IIa	IIb
	Phillip Hallam x Ray (Rachel) Reichert children: Thelma, Bernard Aaron (Bernie)	Peshe Gelmansky x Beniamin-Girsh ben Abram Volk children: Yitzhak, Hinda, Rivka, Zila, Sarah, Lea

Generation III	Bernie Hallam x Mary Jo Grimsley Children: Julie, David Mark (Dave)

	This picture is Sam Hallam (Gelmansky) He was the oldest child of 8 and the first to immigrate to America. He lived in Baltimore, Maryland and helped my grandfather immigrate and get his start here.
	The Hallam Family (Gelmansky), all born in Pokroy Front Row: Louis, Morris, Samuel, Philip Back Row: Ida Green, Dora Davidson, Lena Klewans Sister not shown was Peshe (Pesia) Volk, who did not emigrate to America.
This picture of the Hallams was taken in Baltimore in 1911. Sam is 2nd to from the right. My grandfather, Phillip, was on the far right. Sam was the first to come to America. He sponsored the other siblings and helped them get on their feet. Philip came to America in 1905 when he was 18. He was deaf. He attended Baltimore School for the deaf. He earned his living as a tailor. I think his father was a tailor in Pokroy. Several of the children were involved in this occupation. I think Sam owned a grocery store in Baltimore.
	The Volk Family Hinda and Rivka Volk survived WW II. Hinda moved to Israel and Rivka moved to South Africa
	Hinda and her husband Herman van Straten.
I think in was in the late 1990s, my dad visit Baltimore and went a place where elderly Jews would gather. (a social center of some kind). One of the people there pointed at my dad and said "Pinky" This was my grandfather's nickname. He had been gone for over 30 years by this time.
	The photo is of Lena Klevens, she was one of the 7 Gemansky (Hallams) who came from Pokroy
	My dad, Bernie Hallam. His dad was Philip, the youngest of the Gelmanskys. My dad died in 2012 at the age of 90.
	Bernie Hallam in 2011
My grandmother was also deaf. They lived in Baltimore. My dad had an older sister named Thelma. My grandmother and aunt both lived to be over 90 years old. My grandparents divorced when my dad Bernie was very young. My grandmother, dad and aunt moved to Brooklyn, New York and lived with my grandmother's mother and her unmarried son. My dad had minimal contact with my grandfather and knew nothing about his family's history. My grandfather died in 1961. After retiring, my dad began to do research into his family's genealogy.

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