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JEANE LITCHFIELD
by Lloyd Mend ebon Ph.D.
I would like to take the
opportunity in this month's
column to thank those readers who
have sent written inquiries to me
asking about their Jewish roots. I
hope my answers have inspired
some curiosity and intrigue about
your personal history. It’s lime to
answer some of the mail.
Dear Dr. Mendelson,
Do you have any information on
the derivation of the name
Yutkovilch (Yudkovitch)? The
family lived in northeastern
Poland in Makow and Lomza.
Samuel Proctor
Gainesville, Fla.
The first syllable of the name
“Yutko" is probably a mutation of
Yudko, which is a Yiddish
diminutive of the Hebrew name
Judah (meaning lion). The suffix
“vitch” comes from the Slavic Jews
(in contrast to Austrian and German
Jewry) and means “son of.”
Therefore, the name means “son of
Judah.” This could be a priestly
name. The • Hasmoneans were
charged with the political
leadership of Judea for several
generations. The most famous
Hasmonean was Judah Maccabeus,
^ind many descendants of the
Hasmoneans were named Judah.
The history of your ancestral
towns of Makow and Lomza is sad
indeed, as it is for all of us with
roots in the Holocaust. I print the
because I am one of those who
believe that we must never forget
how the Holocaust personally
affects us all.
In 1826, Lomza had a
population of 737 Jews which had
increased to 9,244 by 1897 (54
percent of the town's population).
By 1915, there were 11,088 Jews in
the city. They were the leading
wholesalers in the grain and timber
trade. Lomza was the birthplace of
Isaac Halevi Herzog, born in 1888,
who became the chief rabbi of
Ireland, and in 1936 the chief
Ashkenazi rabbi of Eretz Israel.
When the Nazis made their
move on Lomza, 3,000 Jews were
killed there on Sept. 17, 1941, and
from November 1942 to January
1943, all remaining Jews were sent
to Auschwitz.
Your other town of Makow,
located north of Warsaw, had a
Jewish community traceable to the
16th century. By 1897, there were
4,400 Jews in Makow. Nazis
established the Makow ghetto in
1941, and between the days of Dec.
8 and Dec. 12, 1942, the Jews of
Makow were sent to the Treblinka
death camp.
No Jewish community was ever
reconstituted in these small towns;
however, the town of Lomza has
active groups in Israel, France,
Australia and the United States.
Dear Dr. Mendelson,
I always enjoy your Mishpacha
column in The Southern Israelite.
If you could, / would appreciate
your thoughts on the origin and
meaning of these names which are:
Sawilowsky. Abeloff and Gudes.
Jay Sawilowsky
Augusta, Ga.
The suffix "sky” denotes that
this name describes a geographical
location. 1 would say that the first
part of your name "Sawilow” is a
spelling of the town of Zawalow
(or modern spelling of Zavaloz)
which is located about 200 miles
south of Warsaw, Poland, between
the towns of Lvov and Stanislov.
"Sawilowsky” means “from the
^ ‘Anti-hate’conference planned^
PARIS (JTA)—President Francois Mitterrand will convene
on international conference which will study the best ways to
prevent anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination in the world.
Mitterrand told a seminar of intellectuals convened by the French
Ministry of Culture that the special “anti-hate” conference will be
held in Paris before the end of the year. The President reportedly
has asked a small group of intellectuals to prepare an agenda and
draw up a list of possible delegates to the meeting.
town of Zawalow.”
“Abeloff” is patronymic (from
the father’s name). “Abel” is a
diminutive of Abrahartt and the
“off” is from the Jews of Slavic
countries, which means
“descendant of.” Therefore, Abeloff
means “descendant of Abraham."
The name “Gudes" is a
matronym (from the mother’s
name), which is more common as
Gittle.
(Dr. Mendelson is a psycho-,
therapist in private practice. This
column appears monthly in The
Southern Israelite. You are invited
to submit written inquiries
regarding Jewish genealogy to Dr.
Mendelson, c/o The Southern
Israelite, P.O. Box 77388, Atlanta.
Ga. 30357.)
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In search of mishpacha
PAGE 17 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE February 18, 1983