RECOGNIZE SOMEONE?

Yaakov Ederman entertains guests at a Jewish wedding in Shanghai.
Yaakov (Jacob) Ederman is the son of Rabbi Alter Benzion and Miriam Udes Ederman. He was born in 1921 in Luck, Poland, where his father was a leading rabbinic figure. Yaakov had six siblings: Meir Aryeh, Sholem Yitzhak, Efraim, Avrohom Tzvi, Yosef and Shaindel. At the age of ten, Yaakov was sent to study at the yeshiva in Ostrow Mazowiecka. Later he transferred to another in Baranovichi, and finally in the late 1930s, he moved to the yeshiva in Mir. Yaakov fled with the entire yeshiva to Vilna on October 15, 1939, two weeks after the start of World War II. After the break up of the yeshiva in August 1940, Yaakov was among the students who were sent to Krakenava. Since Yaakov spoke Polish fluently, he was tapped by the leadership of the Mir Yeshiva to negotiate with the Polish legation at the British consulate in Kaunas to obtain visas for the members of the yeshiva. After a week of meetings, he emerged with approximately 300 certificates for all the students and rabbis who did not have valid passports. Yaakov left for Japan in early 1941, bearing Sugihara transit visa #880. He stayed in Kobe until the fall of 1941 and then proceeded to Shanghai, where he remained for the rest of the war. Yaakov immigrated to the United States in 1947. 

From: Daniel Ostrowski <dostr@roadrunner.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 1:21 PM

To: egl.comments@gmail.com

I was wondering if you might be able to help me. I am doing some research for a friend of mine and I have tracked her family to the village of Krekenava. I noticed that you have some photos of this village and I was wondering if you have any knowledge of family names from there.

The family in question is Wisnewitz and in 1907 Chienna and her older sister (Jrais?) left for America. In 1908 their brother Hirsch left for America. They were all going to their uncle named D. B. Lewin in New York City.

I know that this is a shot in the dark, but I thought that I would try.

Thank you,

Daniel Ostrowski

From: Kevin Brownstein <kevin.brownstein@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 5, 2019 at 9:52 AM
My great-grandmother, Rebecca Levitan immigrated from Krekenava to the US around 1900.  Attached is a picture of my great-grandmother and a picture she kept with her family pictures that we are unable to identify.  It looks very much like other pictures on your website.  Likely it is from between 1915-1920.  If anyone recognizes anyone from their family photos or can identify the studio, I would appreciate it.

Thank you again for making this information available to appreciate and remember.

Kevin