In regard to my research which I have been conducting regarding the
shtetl
of Rokiskis, there is much to be found in the databases which relates
to
it on the well known subscription genealogy site. It is just a
matter of knowing how to find it and what search parameters to
utilize.
I found that the most efficient way to search is by either family name
or
town or country name. Unfortunately, access to data on Lithuania or
Latvia
as countries is not provided. However, they do have Russia as a
choice.

This left minimal choices to locate people from an ancestral shtetl, so
I depend on using the ADVANCED SEARCH feature. Once there, I usually
plug
in either the name and or checking EXACT or by leaving it as is.
Another
thing I utilize is Rokisky and other spellings of Rokiskis in the
KEYWORD(S)
section. Either way, I always find interesting data.

Be aware that when you put in different spellings of Rokiskis, you will
get
back a certain number of people who had that spelling as their surname
and
they were not from Rokiskis at all. For instance, there were numerous
people called "Rokisky".

An interesting example of someone who was born in Rokiskis is David
Lewis
BERELOVITZ, born December 5, 1880. He is not listed in the Rokiskis
birth
records at all and the pertinent information on him is from his U. S.
WWII
Draft Registration Record. Evidently, he left Rokiskis and came to
America
and settled in Johnstown, PA, at 234 Franklin Street and was living
there at
the time of the Draft Registration on April 27, 1942. Further research
by
those interested in this family name might reveal that David Lewis
BERELOVITZ might be the same person as David Louis BERELOVITZ who lived
in
Whitman, MA.

In this regard, another Berelovitz is Freida BERELOVITZ, age 17, who
left
behind her mother Kerse BERELOVITZ and went to her brother David who
was
living at 20 Bedford Street, Whitman, MA, on June 25, 1908.

Two other Rokiskis-born individuals were Mondel SCHWAITZ, born 1871,
and
Moses SCHWAITZ, born 1879, who came to New York on November 19, 1904.
They
too are not noted in the Rokiskis records. Another person is Berel
ORELOWITZ, born 1863, who left Hamburg and went to Boulogne and then
New York on August 4, 1901. Funnily enough, there is a listing for a Berel
ORELOWITZ in the 1910 Census for Freida BERELOVITZ's brother David in
Whitman, MA.

Some others who were listed as being born in Rokiskis in their WWII
Draft
Registration were:

Samuel KATZ, born May 1, 1886, living in Portsmouth, VA; Morris POVILL,
born
May 9, 1878, living in New York; and Samuel SELIGMAN, born April 12,
1887,
living in Portsmouth, VA.

Others who departed from Hamburg were:

Hana ABELOWITZ
Hirsch BERLOWITZ
Joel BERLOWITZ
Leizer BERLOWITZ
Leib BRUK
Welwel CHAIMOWITZ
Fanny GAR
Jochel GORDA
Mottel KRUK
Gerson ORELOWICZ
David POPLAK
Samuel REBI
Schmul ROSIN
Salmen SCHOCHET
Chazkel SEGAL
Motel SIMELEWITZ

The ship "Kronprinz" left Hamburg on December 30, 1903, headed for
Amsterdam, Las Palmas and finally landed in South Africa, and with her
she
carried Rokishokers: Hirsch (born 1891), Joel (born 1890) and Leizer
Berlowitz (born 1863) as well as Leib Bruk (born 1865). None of these
individuals were to be found in any of the Rokiskis births.

Then, there were those who came to New York from various other ports:

Jossel Facubovitz
Bero KIEL
Ette KIEL
Riwke KIEL
Sisse KIEL
Mones OGHEROWITZ
Chawe SAITOWITZ
Annie ADELMAN
Jacob ADELMAN
Leib SELIKMAN
Nechame SELIKMAN
Riwke SELIKMAN

There were noted several who came to Boston:

Annie HAMBURG
Hirsch LIEBMAN
Josef LIEBMAN

As you can see, there are names you are familiar with from Rokiskis and
those you may not be. The benefit, I found, of utilizing these
databases is
that if they fall within certain years, you will most likely find the
birth
dates of the family members who you have been unable to find in the
Rokiskis
vital records. This may be due to the fact that the vital records did
not
exist for the years your relative was born in.

I found that it is important to look through all of the databases no
matter
whether you think your relative might appear in them or not. You may
find
yourself surprised to find that they moved around more than you
thought.
For one family I looked at, they were found to have lived in various
different states in America and various cities, all in the space of
thirty
years.

I hope that you find this of assistance and that it gives you some
insight
into additional sources for family information. It is important to
note,
that you cannot just utilize one source alone. You have to link both
the
records you may find on a for pay web site with the JewishGen/Litvak
SIG and
Rokiskis SIG as well as South Africa SIG databases.

It is important to continue to support obtaining all records so that
you
have the best chance of making a match to locate your families. You
never
know what the next batch of records will bring to your research!!!

Ann Rabinowitz

Rakiszki Rokiškis in 1937

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Red8ubsAjUc