YURY, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

“Miracle of Miracles”

Researcher #6076 Meets Researcher #356066

An article in the Jewish Link dated, September 19, 2024 tells the short of it…for my blog post followers, friends and relatives, here’s the long of it…

No DNA testing was necessary. Yury, researcher 356066, the great-grandson of my granduncle, Shmuel Murovanny, contacted me through my registry at JewishGen, a website billed as “The Global Home for Jewish Genealogy.”

Anyone we know who has gotten married recently, or had a baby, knows I prefer being original and not using gift registries. This is different, and I welcome family inquiries where I am registered at JewishGen.

It was early in the website’s existence that I posted my ancestral family names and locations. Only 349,990 researchers came between Yury and me.

Backtrack to my blog post, Here We Go Again, dated May 17, 2022, at sharonmarkcohen.com. While reading it through as I was getting ready to send the written proof of our relationship to my newly emerged cousin Yury, I choked up at one particular paragraph:

“Ten letters from Shmulik [aka Shmuel] and one from his son Leib, all penned 100 years ago, will certainly be something to discuss when we find their offspring. They’ll have a descriptive narrative of their ancestors…our ancestors, and their impoverished existence before WWII.”

I doubted this day would ever come to fruition, but my motto, “patient perseverance” paid off. Now, follow along as we close that gap.

The answer to my prayers for finding one of the two lost branches of our family began with an email I received from Yury, in April 2023. His first note arrived on April 20, 2023. My husband and I were in Ohio then, celebrating our granddaughter’s 4th birthday on that very day. Happily, my emails came along on my iPhone.

After our granddaughter’s party, I tucked her into bed and sat reviewing my emails, when suddenly, I gulped. Never before in all the years I’ve been listed on JewishGen have any questioners been able to make a firm connection. This time was different.

Yury posted all the matching details I had been harboring for decades. For over 35 years, I researched, found, and met members of all but two branches of my grandfather’s large family.

An old cookie tin stashed underneath the food pantry at my aunt’s apartment held our family history. Inside were letters including several from my Granduncle Shmuel who remained in Ukraine for his entire life.

The background of the original family name “Murovanny,” which Shmuel used when signing his name on those treasure chest of letters, was only explained by my cousin Alexey within the past year. Alexey, born and bred in Charkov, Ukraine, and now residing in Germany, had a close relationship with his paternal grandmother. She was a first cousin to my father.

In 1935, Alexey’s grandmother, whose parents, as my grandparents, were first cousins before marriage, changed the family name Murovanny, to a less Jewish-sounding one. The family members then took the name of Muravin for the men, and Muravina for the women.

My grandfather Nathan and his brother Louis immigrated to the United States within the first 14 years of the 20th Century. Nathan settled in Newark, New Jersey, and Louis, in Philadelphia. Later, joined by their wives and children, they all Americanized their family name to Mark.

Minimalists beware; correspondence from relatives in the old country, dated before 1935, which my aunt so intuitively saved, confirmed the original family name as Murovanny. Knowing the original family name, a far cry from Mark, was how I made the connection to Yury when he first sent me the coveted email on April 20, 2023, at 11:55 PM:

“From researcher code 356066

“To researcher code 6076

“Hello,

“My grandmother was from Polonnoye, Ukraine. Her maiden name was Murovanny. Her parents were Samuil and Bracha. She lived in Starokonstantinov, Ukraine after the war. My mother remembers going to Chudnov to visit my grandmother’s uncle. Please share any information you have.

“Thank you”

Imagine my shock and thrill upon reading those words, to which I eagerly replied,

“Dear Yury,

“…I think you may be one of my two missing links, but I do not have access to my records at this time. I will definitely be in touch the week of May 1.

“Thank you for writing.”

Before signing off, I made some suggestions:

“Please visit my website at sharonmarkcohen.com.

“Read my blog posts from March 22, 2022, through August 16, 2022.

“I wrote an 18-part series about my father’s family from Chudnov.

“Join the Facebook group, Chudnov Children.”

Yury wrote back:

“Your website has some great info! I spoke with my mother again and she clarified a few things for me. My mother suspects in wasn’t an uncle but perhaps a cousin. Some how they found each other after the war and my mother believes they wrote to each other but did not meet in person. My mother has a small piece of paper that my grandmother left with the relative’s name and address. His last name is Bludoy. With the initials “Y.M.”

“I have read many of the suggested blogs from your website and found a relative in your family tree by the name of Yury Bludoy. This must be him!

“Looking forward to hearing from you and getting more clarification.”

Later that day, Yury wrote:

“This is unbelievable! I literally have goosebumps as I am writing. I went over more of your blog posts and found this family tree:

“Shmul Murovanny was my great-grandfather and Rachil was my grandmother! Some of the birth years are slightly off but I knew that was them when I first saw them. I furthermore confirmed it by reading the letters on your blog from Shmuil to his brother in the US. He writes to send money to his wife Bracha, who is my great-grandmother and who my mother is named after. So that would make you and my mother 2nd cousins.

“I was born in Starokonstantinov, Ukraine in 1984. My family and I immigrated to the US in 1990. I currently live in Staten Island, NY.

“Looking forward to discussing further.”

I responded:

“Unbelievable Yury! We are definitely cousins!!”

Then, I posed more questions and suggested that he look further at my published pieces:

“There are also my published articles on my website. You will get more information from some of the articles.

“I am excited to go over all the information with you the week of May 1.”

With that, I added:

“I met two of our Bludoy cousins. We have much to discuss. So exciting. I have been seeking your branch of our family and my grandfather’s sister Rosie’s family. Do you have any knowledge of her branch of our family? That will complete the mystery members of our family tree.”

Causes of death?

“Shmuel- we don’t know

“Bracha- she was hit by lightning a few months before my mother was born. My mom was named after her.

“Rachil- officially. Cirrhosis of the liver. She was hit by a car and fractured her leg. Doctors didn’t notice that she also lacerated her spleen which caused her to have many medical problems for years before her death. All preventable if she had better medical care…

“Abram Dorfman- asphyxiation. He fell down face first. My suspicion is he had a heart attack…”

I had more to inquire:

“I am eager to discuss the entire family tree with you.

“First, tell me more about yourself.

“There are so many more questions and so much information.”

Most interestingly, I told him:

“Yesterday, while at our son's house we had two cousins visit (I told them about you!). They are descendants of Shmuel and Nathan's brother Louis who settled in Philadelphia in the early 1900s. He had four daughters. My grandfather was very close with his brother in Philadelphia, and even though now it is a two-hour drive, it must have taken much longer way back.

“I never met these cousins before yesterday. One of them found out about me through a cousin of his mother and contacted me via my website.

“Check out today's blog post about other cousins: WE MEET AGAIN...AFTER 50 YEARS, dated May 2, 2023, at sharonmarkcohen.com.”

Yury responded without hesitation:

“Happy to hear from you. I have been reading many of your blog posts. Some, two or three times just to get a clearer picture of our family. I can see how much time and effort you’ve put into this.

Before telling me about his parents, he told me that he’s married and gave me the information about his wife, and their two children.

“My parents live in Brooklyn. My mother’s maiden name is Bronislava Dorfman. 2/1/1948. She was born in a small shtetl called Kalus, Ukraine. The town does not exist anymore from what I can gather. https://www.jewishgen.org/ukraine/GEO_town.asp?id=235. She moved with her parents to Starokonstantinov, Ukraine shortly after her birth where we lived until we emigrated... I have two older brothers, Alec (1970) and Roman (born 1972).

“More cousins are coming out of the woodwork. Great!”

This was all very exciting, and I relayed the other information to cousins abroad. Alexey replied from his home in Germany.

“Great new family branch!

“Your blog is not only your self realisation but it also brings a results and connects people.

“Great job Sharon!
”Hugs

“Alexey”

Getting back to Yury, I inquired more and Yury replied:

“I’m a registered nurse. I work for a home care agency. My wife is a nurse practitioner and works for a dermatology office.

“I’m reading your blogs over and over to get a better understanding of our family. It’s a lot to take in!

“I’m attaching 2 handwritten notes by my grandmother in Russian which I thought you might be interested in.

“The first note has the address for Yuriy Bludoy and reads“ Mogilev- Podolsk Vinitskaya Oblast. Sverdlova 10 apt 47. Bludoy Y.M.”

Note Bronya saved from her mother’s files

After our meeting, I posted on the Chudnov Children Facebook group, where, I included a picture of the note Bronya’s mother saved about the family in Chudnov. One of the first people to “like” the note was our cousin who still lives in Chudnov today.

Second note Bronya saved from her mother

“The second note says ‘ Yaryshiv; Bludoy S.M.’ My grandmother might have been in touch with Seymon Bludoy as well. However, seems like she didn’t have his address so perhaps she and Yuriy corresponded via mail and he told her where Seymon lives. Yaryshiv, is southern Ukraine near the border of Moldova.

“Both Bludoy brothers are close in age to my grandmother but I assume they lived in Chudnov while my grandmother lived in Polonnoye. I wonder what their relationship was like. If they were close prior to the war.”

I responded by telling Yury to look at my blog post about the Bludoys:

“See, She Never Left Chudnov, dated October 31, 2023, at sharonmarkcohen.com.”

Yury added:

“I have attached a family tree with most of the information you requested. he list is not complete but should have it updated in the next few days. I’m waiting for my mom to get me some more info. The birth and death dates are there.

“My grandmother was born Rachil Murovanaya. She was called Raya. I see you have her listed as Rachil Leah but according to my mom she was not aware of Leah being a part of her name. As far as I know she was born in Polonnoye. However, as I now know through your research, Shmul’s family was from Chudnov. We cannot be sure when exactly they moved to Polonnoye. I do not have my great grandmother Brucha’s maiden name or when they were married.

“As far as my grandmothers siblings… I am certain that she was the youngest. Her oldest brother Lev was the oldest. My grandmother told my mom that she had two brothers that were drafted into the army in 1941. I went through the records from Yad Vashem and found 2 names that I am certain is them. Gersh (1910) and Lyolya (1913). Both are listed as being from Polonnoye and both said to be MIA in 1944. Additionally, my mom says that according to what my grandmother told her she had a sister as well. Her sister had a small child, a boy, perhaps around 3-4 years old at the time. The boy was very attached to my grandmother and wanted to go with her when she was leaving polonnoye. Unfortunately, she could not take him away from his mother. She always lived with the regret that she didn’t take him with her and save his life. I have not had much luck finding any information about her as she was married at the time and we do not know her married name. Through records in Yad Vashem I found someone by the name of Udlya Murovanny. Listed to be from Polonnoye and died in 1941 during the invasion. I think it might be her but hopefully more research can be done. I have not added her to the tree until we can get a definite answer that it is indeed her.

“Rachil and her mother Brucha survived the war by leaving Polonoye. My mother believes they spent the years somewhere in Siberia but she is not sure. Lev Murovanny was a blacksmith. I am not sure if he served in the army or worked somewhere in Russia at the time. Through your blog posts I learned that Lev had a family before the war. My mother said she was not aware of this. After the war he remarried and had 1 daughter. Tsilya Murovanaya. She is a few years older than my mom. Lives in Israel. Has 2 sons. Once I have all of her info I will add it to my family tree and send you an updated version.

“After having many conversations with my mom, it seems like my grandparents did not want to discuss much of what happened. My mom regrets not asking more questions but she lost both of my grandparents by the time she was 32 so she did not have much time. Please let me know if you need any other info or clarification on anything I wrote.”

Unlike other cousins I’ve met since 1994, this time, none of us had any idea the other existed. Shmuel’s family is the only branch I never expected to meet, a miracle.

The true beauty in this is that the correspondence my aunt saved survived. Letters were recorded from every branch of my grandparents’ large family. Because of those detailed letters, we can tell the direct descendants more about how their ancestors…our ancestors, lived. The greatest gift I could ever give them was the letters from ancestors of the cousins we meet and awareness of their family stories to which they never were privy.

I started meeting my cousins from Ukraine in the 1990s. Mutual relatives with knowledge of others from our clan gave me clues for my research and, often finding one long-lost cousin led to finding another. This time was different; our meeting came through social media.

In those yellowing letters my aunt saved, which I hand-delivered to my cousin Harry Langsam, z”l, in Los Angeles to translate, we learned that Bronya’s mother existed, but we had no relative alive to make the introduction to any of her possible descendants. Instead, with no idea they had any relatives in America, Yury found me.

He explained,

“I have done 2 DNA tests. [One of the tests] has me as 99% Ashkenazi. Are you or your kids on any of the DNA websites?”

I answered apologetically,

“No, we have not done DNA tests, but our nieces have.”

Yet, that was not the way that he found us. Instead, that happily happened because we were both posted on JewishGen.

Yury, like me, yearned to know about his grandparents he never knew. I gave him the gift of testimony from his great-grandparents and knowledge of our ancestors as far back as 1765.

Our scheduled meeting for October 2023 had to be postponed due to his father’s illness. After months of trying, just before heading back to Cleveland 15 months after that first email exchange on our granddaughter’s 4th birthday, as we were about to drive to Cleveland for our grandson’s 4th birthday, I wrote:

“The months are flying by, and we have not yet met!!

“How is your father's health? Everyone else?

“Could we make plans to get together sometime soon? I am eager to meet all my cousins!! :-)”

Yury’s unexpected reply was heartbreaking,

“We’ve had a lot going on recently… My uncle Gregory passed away in March. This is my mother’s younger brother who lived in Israel. My mother was there for the funeral and sat Shiva.

“My father is feeling better…”

While sending our deepest sympathies, I asked if Yury’s uncle knew of our communication. He replied,

“My mother told my uncle about our communication and how unbelievable it was that we found each other. He was very surprised to hear about all the details.”

I told Yury, I was so glad his mother told Gregory about our communication, adding,

“We have family living in Haifa. Possibly they knew one another and didn't know they were related. There are many artists in the family. Our cousin Lilia Goyzman is an artist/illustrator who illustrated the children's book I wrote and submitted for publication.”

I closed by saying, “I really need to hug your mother and all of you!! Our connection is a miracle beyond belief and our relationship is very close.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we finally did set the new date, my email to Yury read in part:

“Cannot wait to meet everyone! This is a miracle!!”

Almost magically, while Yury first contacted me on our granddaughter’s 4th birthday, it was on our grandson’s 4th birthday, July 22, 2024 in Ohio on my iPhone that Yury and I firmed up the date to meet with his mother and brothers.

While their visit to our house in New Jersey on October 22, 2023, was curtailed due to illness, we made it happen the first weekend in August 2024. Yury said his mother and brothers were coming along without their spouses or children so that we could get the most out of our meeting. As much as I wanted to meet the entire crew, it was a wise decision. They were able to immerse themselves in the memorabilia I could not wait to share.

As I watched my cousins leafing through the notebook of letters from their direct ancestors, plus those from our extended family from Chudnov and the surrounding area in Ukraine, it filled me with emotion. Then, I pointed to the wall in our dining room where pictures of the ship my father arrived on with my grandmother and uncle hang along with all kinds of documents and photos from our family. It’s an added thrill when relatives from abroad visit and can read the documents in their native language.

That’s how, without DNA testing, these long-lost cousins happily connected. To think, I hold their/our family history. It’s truly a miracle, but we were destined to be together. It only took a century.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a day it was when we finally met. Watching my cousins hug and kiss before driving off in two cars, even though they live so near one another, made me think they know how precious life is.

While neither of us has pictures of Shmuel, his wife, or all their descendants, now I can add many photos of cousins to the family tree. The pictures rewardingly include one of Bronya’s mother, Raya, and Raya’s brother Leib. Shmuel’s youngest, Raya, and eldest, Leib, first cousins to my father, never got to know him but now their descendants can learn about their family from me.

Checking my notes, I found a bit of information recorded about Shmuel’s second of three sons, Gershon, which I forwarded to Yury, on May 3, 2023:

“On 12-3-2021, Tanya Gilman of Chudnov Children’s Facebook page wrote:
Father - Chudnov Merchant Shmul Murovanny (son of Moshko)
Mother - Brukha (daughter of Shloym)

”Son - Gershon (born on Sept 28, 1910, in Krasnosniki(?))”

Yury replied:

“Gersh was likely born in Krasnosilka. Khmelnitski region. Very close to Starokonstantinov where I was born. Not too far from Polonnoye.”

It’s fitting to add that my grandparents married in 1908 in the Village of Krasnokrilev adjacent to the City of Chudnov, Ukraine.

Feel the emotion as I add a few comments Yury and I exchanged via email after our initial meeting in August.

“What a wonderful day! A true miracle!! Sharon and Arnee”

Yury wrote:
”It was really amazing seeing you and Arnie today. My mother was so happy as well. It meant a lot to her. I think she’s still in disbelief seeing her mother’s and grandmother’s letters.

”I realized we have something very important in common that is directly responsible for us finding each other. When you were explaining to Roman how you got so interested in your ancestry, you said it was because you felt something missing since you did not get to meet any of your grandparents. I have had the same empty feeling since I was a child because I did not get to see any of my grandparents either. That void left by our grandparents resulted in a lifelong interest and research.

”Thank you for being so welcoming and thank you for filling part of that void today“

I could not help but reply,

”Yury, I’m filled with emotion. I know we only met today but I love you all so much. The letters, our family history, being together…it’s a miracle. May we share many happy times together.
There must be dancing going on in heaven. Maybe that’s what the thunderstorm is about! ;-).

Yury soon responded:

“I think that we all had the same feeling :). I will work on sending you all the pictures from my side and any more dates I can get as well.”

When I sent the pictures of our meeting to our cousin in Sochi, she replied, “I was very excited to look at the photos of your meeting with Shmuel's family. I will tell you honestly, I was upset that I was not with you at that moment.” She added, “How I want to find the Roytmans!”

That discovery will connect our final link of the family of seven children from my great-grandparents who married in Chudnov, Ukraine on October 30, 1863. We only learned the date of their marriage on July 29, 2022, when Igor Lekhtman, a fellow researcher and friend with roots in Chudnov found the marriage records in the Chudnov records online:

“hi Sharon - went back to Chudnov records after finishing the index of Zhitomir marriages - going through Chudnov indexes and came across a marriage record for your ancestors, Moshe Muravin and Rukhlya Temnogorod in 1863. Did I or Aleksey ever share it with you?

“He was 18 when he married.

“Listed as a townsman.”

My cousin Alexey added:

“Hi Sharon,

“The marriage record of your great-grandfather Moshe Muravin is on the upper picture in my previous email.

“That record says (see red marking on the picture) that your great-grandfather Moshe Muravin was the townsman of Ulanov.

‘It correlates with the fact that we have not found Muravins in Chudnov before this record of Moshe.

“If we check the records of Ulanov we can find in the year 1850 about 40 Muravin's family members.

“Obviously they have lived in Ulanov since some generations.

“Also we can find the 5 y. old boy with named Moshe Murovanny in the records of Ulanov in the year 1850.

“That correlates with the age and town of origin of your great-grandfather Moshe Muravin in his marriage records from Chudnov in the year 1863…

“And the nuances of name Muravin = Murovanny we have already discussed.”

Alexey called later. He thinks there are more records not yet digitized but archived in Kiev. He thinks there will be the 1845 records there and we may someday find the birth records [of our ancestors].

Adding to that, miraculously, I have letters from my grandfather’s six siblings and/or several from their children. With help from my cousin living in Russia, once we find a descendant of my grandfather’s sister Rosie, members from every family line will have access to letters penned by their/our ancestors.

Yury, Alec, Sharon, Bronya, and Roman August 2024 South Orange, New Jersey
What a thrill it was to meet a second cousin for the first time

Marriage records of Bronya and my great-grandparents October 30. 1863 Chudnov, Ukraine

Imagine my delight when Yury forwarded the next set of photos.