The Following Excerpt is from the Book "Bridges to an American City -

A guide to Chicago's Landsmanshaften 1870-1990" written by Sidney Sorkin

Published by Peter Lang Publishing, New York 1993.

It is reprinted here with permission of the author.

ANSHE PAVOLITCH CONGREGATION #1 (RUSSIA)

(TURNER AVENUE SHUL)

The Anshe Pavolitcher Congregation, known as the Turner Avenue Shul, was rife

with dissension. The story in the community was that the rift began after the

visit of the Queen of Denmark, because in her honor Turner Avenue was changed to

Christiana Avenue. The response of some members of the congregation was that "it

was not fitting" for a shul to be on Christiana Avenue. Whatever the cause of

the schism, one group of dissenters moved to the social hall of the Romanian

Synagogue on the corner of Douglas and Independence Boulevards. After a few

years, with a time to heal and a time to bind, the two congregations were

reunited. Meeting in the old place, they were still known as the Turner Avenue

Shul.

ANSHE PAVOLITCH CONGREGATION #2 (THE DISSENTERS)

CEMETERY: Waldheim; Sexton Schwarzbach; Gate #206, Photo.

REFERENCES: American Jewish Congress Yearbook 1939, American Jewish Yearbooks

1899-1960, Piser Guide, Local death notices, Shetl Finder, Oral histories,

Undergraduate term paper.

PAVOLITCHER UNTERSTEITZUNG VEREIN

Founded October 10,1904

CEMETERY: Waldheim, Sexton, Schwarzbach; Gate #100

CONTACT PERSON: Ben Smaller 2820 West Lunt Avenue Chicago, IL 60645

UNITED PAVOLITCHER SOCIETY

CEMETERY: Waldheim, Sexton, Woodlawn Cem. Ass'n Gate #228

CONTACT PERSONS: Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Nathanson 535 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago,

IL 60611

UNITED PAVOLITCHER SOCIETY LADIES AUXILIARY

Founded 1929.

PAVOLITCHER LODGE #612, I.O. B'RITH ABRAHAM

Pavolitch had some Jews living there in the beginning of the 17th Century. By

1897 the 3,391 Jews in the town constituted 42 percent of the population. Forty

years later the Jewish community stood as the majority of the population with 88

percent. The community was exterminated by the Nazis. Information about its

current status is not available. (Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol.13, p.193)

>From the organizations listed above the following names have been gathered:

Arthur and Wolf Gomberg, Phillip Shapiro, David Mamot, president in 1939, Mr.

And Mrs. Jacob Nathanson, Ben Smaller, Jacob Sarasin, and Mrs. Anne Rosenberg.

The Society was "founded on the premise of togetherness", the ad in the AJC

yearbook declared. "The Pavolitcher Society stood nearly twenty-five years to

bring the landsleit and mishpoche of the town of Pavolitch together for mutual

aid, comfort and enjoyment.

In many cases the men came to America first; the Jewish men came as husbands and

fathers in larger numbers than any other ethnic group. In some cases the Society

would help raise money to bring the rest of the family to America. A poor family

might be given a financial start through the Gemileth Chesed. The meetings and

social affairs were a setting for young men and women to meet. A marriage would

be more than a dividend; it would be a mitzvah.

The first Pavolitcher groups, founded in 1904, was to remain active until 1975.

In the interim, three cemeteries had been purchased by the six groups. The

Society had an unusual but fair manner in which lots were allocated and located.

It was done by the drawing of straws. A lot, which consists of six graves, cost

$100.00 at the time. (Susan M. Klein, The Pavalicher Society, Ethnicity and

Americanization. Unpublished term paper. University of Wisconsin at Madison,

December 12, 1980.)

(Mr. And Mrs. Jacob Nathanson, interviewed by Sidney Sorkin, August 5, 1986)

(Mrs. Anne Asher Rosenberg, interviewed by Sidney Sorkin, July 7, 1987)