Gestrin, Hestrin, Guestrin

Source: Journey into our Heritage By Harry Gutkin

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Our precious little Sammy Hestrin, gone at age 5

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Picnic in Kelliher, Saskatchewan: Fallya, Moishe & Boris Hestrin. Who is second from the right?

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More Gestrin boys: who are they? translation of back, below

..... Translation: The photograph was taken at the A.F. Kutsen studio, Belaya Tserkov (White Church), in Kiev Gubernia. (Negatives are preserved). No date given.

Note: Bila Tserkva, Ukraine
49°47' N 30°07' E
48 mi SSW of Kyyiv

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Who is Hirsch Hestrin? He arrived in Canada July 13, 1913 & we lost track of him.

Name:	Hirsch Hestrin
Gender:	Male
Age:	24
Estimated birth year:	abt 1889
Date of Arrival:	13 Jul 1913
Vessel:	Megantic

Port of Arrival:	Quebec
Port of Departure:	Liverpool, England
Roll:	T-4800

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Is Michael a Moishe? Gestrein a Gestrin?

In 1910, a 45 year-old cab driver named Michael Gestrien lived at 316 East 31st St in Manhattan with his 2-year old nephew Joseph Gestrien and his 26 year-old sister or sister-in-law Mary, a silk winder. Michael arrived in NYC in 1880.

thanks to Joy Holland at the Brooklyn Public Library

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The latitude and longtitude of Gestrins, best guesses, gleaned from boat manifests & other documents

The Jacques Gestrin Family (1877-1935)

Konotop, Chernigov

51°44' N 31°42' E

The Falk Gestrin Family

Shchors, Chernigov

51°49' N 31°56' E

The Falk Hestrin Family (1863 -1928)

Lived in: Tolstoye/ Tovsta, Poltava

home: Kremenchug, Poltava

The Moishe Hestrin Family (1853 -1923)

Semënovka, Poltava

The Jose Guestrin Family ( 1854 - 1931)

Khorol, Poltava

The Hode Gestrin Family ( 1847 -?)

Semënovka, Chernigov

The Yankel Gestrin Family ( 1858 - ?)

Kiev (city or Gubernia?)

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New clue: the Yekaterinoslav - Dnepropetrovsk - Gestrin connection

What we know: Some ancestors left their shetls and ventured to Yekaterinoslav Dnepropetrovsk (modern name) on their way to America. They were the lucky ones. One Hestrin relative is Avrum Yanovsky, the political cartoonist.

Left: Monument to 20000 Jews shot by Nazis in 1943 in Dnipropetrovsk [Energetichna Street], Ukraine. source

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Another Jankel Gestrin b. abt 1858

What we know:

At age 48 Jankel Gestrin left Kiew (Kiev) Russia for America, via Liverpool England on the ship Carolina. Travelling with him were:

Feige, b. 1861 his wife, age 45
Chaim, age 14, who listed his occupation as a "Scholar." He could read and write, whereas his parents could not.
Rivke, b.1898, age 8
Rosa, b. 1902, age 4

He arrived in New York on 5 Sep 1906 with his family and then they were going to Washington to join an older daughter Minnie who had married a man named Israel Kates.

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Where does she fit in our tree? In 1901, Fanny Gestrin was 29 years old, living with 6 children in Yorkshire, England. What happened to her family?

What we know: According to the 1901 England Census Record, she lived in a tenement at 15 Minerva Terrace, Yorkshire, England, with her children (no husband listed).

She was a Russian subject, born in 1872

Children: born Yorks Hull

Rose age 9
Hyman age 7
Elijah age 5
Anne age 3
Sam age 2
Florence age 3 months

Information source:

The National Archives, London, England.

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Handsome lads - What is the Gestrin - Budnitzky connection?

We are blessed with a Russian translator - more intriguing details -

"The two handsome lads sign themselves as " M. and D. Budnitzky and is sent "from the comrades" as a souvenir to "Uncle and Aunt Fanushka (diminutive of Fanny) and Senya (a nickname for Samuel)."
The picture was taken at the Progress Photography shop of O. A. Kolodny in the town of Lubnyi, Poltava Guberniia.
No Date, but it is certainly before 1917.

I STILL THINK THEY ARE GESTRINS! perhaps Fallya and Moishe Gestrin who came to Winnipeg in the early 1900's, changed the "G" in their names to "H." Now, any HESTRIN you google is a descendent of them. My guess is that there was probably a quota system for getting into school, and so they "borrowed" the name of relatives.

A note about Lubny & schools. . .

"In 1887 a regulation was put in force according to which only 3 to 6 per cent of the students in any gymnasium or university might be Jews"...The city and district schools admit Jewish students on an equal footing with the others, yet the regulation, issued by the ministry of public instruction in 1901, which requires Jewish students to do written work on Saturday, virtually excludes the children of Orthodox Jews. In Lubny, government of Poltava, there had been twelve Jewish students in the district school, but after the enforcement of the new regulation only one remained. Read more

Nearby Jewish Communities:

Chornukhy 17 miles N
Khorol 20 miles SE - Birthplace of Jose Gestrin and Fallya Hestrin
Yablonevo 21 miles WSW
Piryatin 27 miles NW
Mirgorod 27 miles E
Lokhvitsa 27 miles NNE
Semënovka 30 miles SSE - Birthplace of Moishe Hestrin

Also, lucky them, because "On October 16, 1941 over a thousand of the city's Jews, including women and children, were massacred by German Einsatzgruppen on the outskirts of the city." source

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The mystery of Hode, Jankel & David Gestrin; please leave a comment if you have any clues that might connect us to their descendents..

This is where David Gestrin lived in 1907

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................................................................................... At least, that's what his mother Hode, a 60-year-old widow from Semfonanka, Tchernigov, (

Semënovka, Ukraine

52°11' N 32°35' E , 150 mi NE of Kyyiv) who could neither read nor write - told the immigration officer. Also traveling with her was her 20-year-old son Jankel, a mechanic. She was 4'11".

He was a towering 5' 4". They had $12.00 between them when they arrived in Boston, Massachusetts aboard a ship called Ivernia.

CLUE! Hode Gestrin recorded her connection in the old country as " cousin I Gestrin in Semfonanka, Tchernigov." Doba Hestrin Yanovsky (b.1882) recorded Semenovka as her birthplace, as did her brother Joseph Chaim Hestrin.

QUESTION: Could these be the relatives that Fallia Gestrin came to visit in 1913?

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An older Falya Hestrin - family resemblances?

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Bisabuelo José / Chaim/ Akohan Guestrin & the mystery of the socks & the brother in Canada

While José (born 1854) and family were struggling in the first decade of the 20th century, to make a life in Argentina, after leaving Khorol, Poltava Gubernia, his brother ? Gestrin or ? Hestrin was doing the same thing in North America, except for one thing - SNOW and the necessity to wear heavy woolen socks. Josés brother kept in touch and sent him socks ( story is. . . he manufactured them, very good quality apparently). Another brother ? Gestrin took off for a better life in Brazil and the family lost contact. José died Jan 1931 in Moises Ville, Argentina.

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Mystery: what happened to Fallia / Falk Gestrin's family in Brooklyn, NY?

What we know:

Fallia / Falk Gestrin

Birth abt 1873 n Shchors, Ukraine 51°49' N 31°56' E 11

Death, 1941, Holocaust victim (Page of Testimony by grandson, The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names

.......................

November 1913: Fallia had a brother N or W Gestrin who had travelled to America earlier and settled 98 Ellery Street in Brooklyn, NY, so he travelled to Glasgow, Scotland and got on a ship called Caledonia and arrived at Ellis Island NYC on 5 November,1913. He reported that his last permanent residence & contact was his wife Sure, in " Semeyonow " which before was:

Semënovka
Novozybkov
Chernigov
Russian Empire

aka Semënovka [Rus], Semenivka [Ukr], Semenovka [Yid], Semionowka [Pol], Semeniwka [Ger], Semionovka, Seminovka

Modern name: Semënovka, Ukraine
52°11' N 32°35' E
150 mi NE of Kyyiv

He visited his brother, liked America & went back to his get his family. But sadly, World War I broke out, the family stayed and most perished in the Holocaust.


Ship Name:	Caledonia
Years in service:	1904-1916
Funnels:	2
Masts:	2
Shipping Line:	Anchor
Ship Description:	Built by D. & W. Henderson & Co., Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 9,223. Dimensions: 500' x 58'. Twin-screw, 16 knots. Triple expansion engines. Two masts and two funnels.
History:	Maiden voyage: Glasgow-New York, March 25, 1905. Passenger accommodation as of 1912: 390 first, 376 second, 850 third. Torpedoed and sunk in Mediterranean, December 4, 1916. Running mates: California, Cameronia and Columbia.

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Clue to the hertiage: the Gestrin/Hestrin men are Kohanim

source: Wikipedia

A kohen (or cohen, Hebrew כּהן, 'priest', pl. כוהנים, kohanim or cohanim) is a Jew who is in direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron, older brother of Moses, with an honored status in Judaism. Another term for the descendants of Aaron are the Aaronites or Aaronids.

For hundreds of years since the period of the Tabernacle, kohanim performed many duties as commanded in Torah. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, kohanim performed specific duties with the daily blessings and festival sacrificial offerings, as example. The Kohen Gadol (High Priest) played a special role during the service of Yom Kippur.

Today, kohanim have a distinct, honored status and remain bound by Torah laws in Orthodox and, to a lesser extent, in Conservative Jewish communities.

Kohen genetic testing

source: Wikipedia

Main article: Y-chromosomal Aaron

Recently the tradition that many kohanim are descended from a common ancestor gained some support from genetic testing.^[29] Since all direct male lineages share a common haplotype, testing was done across sectors of the Jewish population to see if there was any commonality among their Y chromosomes. There was proven to be certain distinctions among the Y chromosomes of kohanim, implying that many kohanim do share some common male ancestry. The Cohen Model Haplotype results from this study of kohanim were used to establish that many male members of the Lemba (a sub-Saharan tribe) were descendants of kohanim, and thus substantiating their claims to be Jewish. Note: The genetic markers cannot be passed to or through a female.

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Was Tanya Krivoshea Klimoff a cousin or just close friends of the Hestrins? They literally 'came over on the same boat' & lived next door in Winnipeg.

Tanya Klimoff is on the right - what Hestrin is on the left?

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Shaw family from Alberta - but where's the Hestrin?

Becky/Rebecca/ Rivke Hestrin married a Shaw - but is she in the picture?

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Falya/Folik/Falk and Chana (Panarsky) Hestrin - is Chana in Sarah Hestrin's picture below? Do you think one woman looks like Falya?

What we know about them:

Fallya/Folik/Falk Gestrin/Hestrin born November 1863

Had a grocery store in Tolstaya, D /Khorol Uyezd/ Poltava Gubernia ( source: GESTRIN - Grocery - Source: Column # 1058 - Vsia Rossiia 1895 Business Directory). Son David Manuel & Boris both state Tolstoya as their birthplace on their American naturalization papers.

Immigrated with wife Chana & children to Canada in 1906
David Manuel Hestrin
1883 – 1965
Fannie / Faigel Hestrin
1887 – 1967
Moishe /Morris Hestrin
1887 – 1926
Rebecca / Becky / Rive Hestrin
1890 – 1971
Harry / Aaron Hestrin
1891 – 1921
Boris / Bora / Boruch Hestrin
1898 – 1962

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Mystery Lady: Sarah/Sadie/Sonya Hestrin - how is she related to us?

What we know:

Her parents were Max and Freda Hestrin

She was born in "Russia"

She married Barney/Boruch Shuster in 1915 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

She died May 12, 1965.

If you have any clues, please add your comments at the bottom, thanks

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Chased out of Kremenchuk, Tolstoye, Khorol, Semenovka in Poltava & Chernigov Gubernias by Cossacks on horseback & leaving for a much worse fate, those who could not come; we escaped to France, Canada, United States, Argentina and Brazil.

05/22/2010

04/13/2010

03/11/2010

03/05/2010

02/27/2010

02/26/2010

02/04/2010

01/31/2010

01/26/2010

01/18/2010

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01/13/2010

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01/11/2010

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