Działoszyce · Poland · the world beyond

One Family's Story.

A living record of one family—its homes, names, documents, losses and survival—assembled so that each generation can know where it began.

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The record so far

Eight generations, reconstructed one act at a time.

c. 1783earliest estimated birth
1824–1950documented record span
3 continentssurvivor destinations

The archive reaches eight named generations, from Majer Jurysta, born about 1783, to today’s generation—Eliana, Samuel and Elyse. The continuous document-supported line now runs from Majer and his first wife Rywka through their son Lewek and Marya Moszkowicz; Abram “Sandel Abram” and Chana Rywka Pilarz; Majer and Tauba; Judka and Bluma; Symcha and Szajndla; and their descendants. The Abram born in 1838 to Majer and Fajgla was a different child in Majer’s probable later household.

Origins, growth and rupture

From a market-town family to a dispersed survivor family.

The earliest proved direct-line household is Majer Jurysta and his first wife Rywka. Their son Lewek’s 1829 marriage to Marya Moszkowicz, Abram’s 1830 birth, Abram and Ryfka Pilarz’s 1852 marriage, and their son Majer’s 1852 birth form a linked chain into the later civil acts. Majer’s probable later household with Fajgla belongs beside that direct line as a collateral half-sibling household, not as the ancestry of Abram “Sandel Abram.”

By the late nineteenth century the surname had spread through multiple Działoszyce households and marriage networks reaching Nowy Korczyn, Busk, Żarki, Kromołów, Częstochowa, Chmielnik, Książ Wielki and Sosnowiec. Several sibling households were raising children in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The surviving registers do not yet establish a numerical peak for the whole family.

German occupation turned that demographic peak into catastrophe. Symcha was killed in the first days of September 1939; the 1942 liquidation destroyed the Jewish community and carried away most of the remaining family. A small survivor cluster rebuilt in displaced-person camps, New York, Florida and Israel. The postwar family is therefore both a continuation and a record of an interrupted community.

4

Brothers survived liberation

Berek, Chaim Dawid, Majer and Henry survived to liberation; the family record gives Chaim’s death year as 1945.

3

Manifest-named emigrants

Berek, Majer and Henry appear on the January 1950 New York arrival manifest.

6

Supported emigrant identities

Including the Shaya, Arye and Sam branches. Not a complete emigrant census; no speculative upper total.

For every generation

Create an age-appropriate family story.

Choose a reader’s age and a chapter of the family history. Younger readers receive a gentle account centered on family, courage and remembrance. Older readers receive progressively fuller historical context about persecution, forced labor and loss.

How adaptation works

The generator never changes the underlying facts. It adjusts vocabulary and the explicitness of difficult Holocaust history. It does not invent dialogue, private thoughts or undocumented events.

Ages 5–8 avoid descriptions of killing and violence. Ages 9–12 introduce persecution gently. Teen and adult versions provide fuller context without graphic detail.

Family tree

Confirmed lines, probable branches and joined families

Green cards are supported by civil or contemporary records. Amber cards preserve family testimony and strong working hypotheses without presenting them as proved.

Open the compact all-branches treeRead the full reconciled family treeSearch all indexed records and scans

Document-supportedProbable / partialResearch lead
Current proof boundary

The linked civil acts establish Majer and Rywka → Lewek and Marya Moszkowicz → Abram “Sandel Abram” and Chana Rywka Pilarz → Majer and Tauba née Sziewicz → Judka and Bluma née Swicarczyk. The later Symcha household is strongly linked, but birth Act 78’s female wording remains unresolved. Sandel provides the resolved bridge to Arye and Shaya. Samuel’s separate record names Josef as his father and connects him to Rutka’s household; Shmuel’s different record has incorrect parents and his branch remains unresolved. The Częstochowa bridge remains provisional.

Majer born c.1782–83 · Rywka died before May 1829

Lewek’s 1829 marriage act names Majer and deceased Rywka as his parents. Majer was present, consented and signed; his age as an 1830 witness aligns with the same early family head.

married 21 May 1829 · Działoszyce Act 4

Lewek, about 25, was the son of Majer and deceased Rywka. Marya, about 23, was the daughter of deceased Zanel Moszkowicz and Mindla.

Majer’s probable later household with Fajgla produced Mortka (1836), Abram (1838) and Wolf (1842). That 1838 Abram is distinct from Lewek and Marya’s Abram born in 1830.

Collateral Działoszyce branch

both born c.1809 · married 1833, Act 14

Ryfka’s parents: Berek Majerczyk and Rykla.

both c.1840 · married 10 Aug 1858, Act 20

Ruda’s parents: Icek and Laja Cukierman.

Majer born 15 Jul 1864 · married 24 Apr 1883, Act 21

Małka’s parents: Szmul and Chaja Pilcer.

born 4 Mar 1898, Działoszyce

Later Kraków records appear to understate his age by four years.

Direct ancestral line

Abram born 11 Aug 1830 · married Ryfka Pilarz in 1852

Abram’s birth names Lewek and Marya as his parents. His 1852 marriage to Ryfka Pilarz and their son Majer’s 1852 birth connect directly to the compound name Sandel Abram in Majer’s 1873 marriage act.

married 16/28 Feb 1873 · Act 7

Children established by reviewed acts and registers include Judka, Ajdla, Zajnwel, Szajndla, Laja and Lejbuś. Sendel’s and Sura’s later links are separately indexed. Lejbuś’s 1918 marriage Act 34 explicitly names Majer and Tauba as his parents.

Judka born 1/13 Apr 1874 · married 25 Mar/6 Apr 1894, Act 11

Judka’s birth and marriage records identify Majer and Tauba as his parents. Symcha’s Act 78 identifies Judka and Bluma/Blima née Swicarczyk as his parents. Brandla/Brajndla, born 30 September 1915, is confirmed by late-registration Act 208/1923.

Symcha born 2 Apr 1895 · Szajndla born 2 Dec 1892, Nowy Korczyn

The household is documented; identifying its male Symcha with Act 78 is strongly supported despite that act’s female wording. Szajndla appears in Nowy Korczyn birth Act 82 with Laja; the original act still needs to be paired to the index.

born 3 May 1917

Birth Act 217/1919 confirms 3 May 1917 and parents Symcha and Szajndla. First married Ruchla Gitla; later Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta. Children: Deborah and Loretta.

12 Aug 1918–1945 · Act 218/1919

Act 218 names Symcha and Szajndla and gives a birth date in the previous year, 1918. Family evidence places him through liberation; the family record gives his death year as 1945. Act 149/1921 belongs to Sandel’s son, a different child.

15 Sep 1922–19 Apr 2000 · Act 209/1923

Act 209 confirms Symcha and Szajndla née Fisz and states that Majer was born 15 September of the previous year—1922. Married Rose Mermelstein in New York, 1956. Children: Steven, Barbara, Alan and Ilissa. Alan’s children: Eliana, Samuel and Elyse.

1924/1925–1999

Later birth date 10 May 1925 conflicts with household date 2 July 1924. Hanandel and Heniek/Henryk are the same son of Symcha and Szajndla. His exact civil birth entry remains to be recovered.

This established collateral descendant line also runs through Judka and Bluma, independently of their son Symcha’s household above.

Confirmed Israel descendant branch

Sandel born 4 Apr 1898 · son of Judka and Bluma

Population-register and family evidence establish Sandel as a child of Judka and Bluma and as the father, with Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska, of Shaya and Arye.

born 25 Feb 1928 · emigrated to Israel

Family evidence identifies him as Shaya’s brother and Rachel’s husband. Children: Yaron, Jody and Dudi Yurista. Their parents are Sandel Jurysta—documented as a child of Judka and Bluma—and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska.

born c.1925 · emigrated to Israel

Family and archival evidence identify him as Arye’s brother and as a son of Sandel Jurysta and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska, linking this branch through Sandel to Judka and Bluma.

Confirmed Tosia descendant branch

Lejbuś born 27 May/8 Jun 1893 · married 28 Aug 1918, Act 34

Marriage Act 34 names Lejbuś as a son of Majer Jurysta and Tauba née Szyjowicz. The household register lists Lejbuś and Małka’s children, including Samba, born 1 March 1926.

born 1 Mar 1926 · Działoszyce · survived

Tosia’s archival birth date and birthplace match the child Samba in Lejbuś and Małka’s household register. Together with the parental names Lejb/Lejbuś and Małka, the records resolve her placement as their daughter and Majer and Tauba’s granddaughter.

Reconciled Kraków survivor branch

separate survivor record · parental branch unresolved

This record contains incorrect parent information and is not Samuel’s Josef-parent record. It does not establish Sanel/Sandel Jurysta and Malka Munz as Shmuel’s parents.

Families joined by marriage

The central Jurysta line is joined to the Jacobs/Jakab survivor family through Berek and Manci, and to the Mermelstein–Lichtman family through Meyer and Rose. Earlier marriages add the Szyewicz, Swicarczyk, Fisz, Lewandowska, Majerczyk, Cukierman and Pilcer families. Click any underlined name for an individual report.

Jurysta · Działoszyce

The Polish ancestral line

Działoszyce and Nowy Korczyn

Parents of the documented prewar household.

1917–1999

Married Ruchla Gitla; later Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta.

1922–2000

Civil Act 209/1923 says born in the previous year. Married Rose Mermelstein in 1956.

1924/1925–1999

Later birth date 10 May 1925 conflicts with household date 2 July 1924. Hanandel and Henry are the same person; the exact civil act remains to be recovered.

12 Aug 1918–1945 · Act 218/1919

Birth act and parentage recovered; family record gives his death year as 1945.

Jacobs / Jakab · Romania and Szatmár region

The siblings’ survivor line

mother of Manci/Maria, Lilly/Elena, Alice/Bella, Gene, Harold and Bill

Her husband and original Hungarian name remain unknown.

Maria Jacobs · 1921–1995 · Auschwitz survivor

Family-confirmed life dates are 1921–1995. Her petition uses Maria Jacobs, also known as Mance Jacobs, but contains a conflicting typed birth date. She arrived on the Marine Flasher in 1946 and later married Berek Jurysta; daughters Deborah and Loretta.

formerly Elena Jacobs · born 12 Oct 1919 · Auschwitz survivor

Arrived with Maria and Bella in 1946; married Bela Szender. Children: Gloria and Rita.

Bella Jacobs · born 16 Dec 1924

Her declaration records Bella Jacobs, also known as Alice Jacobs, born in Garbo, Romania; she arrived with her sisters in 1946.

Manci’s sibling

Additional details have not yet been supplied.

Manci’s sibling

Additional details have not yet been supplied.

Manci’s sibling

Additional details have not yet been supplied.

born 27 Feb 1948

Daughter of Lilly and Bela Szender.

born 25 Jun 1952

Daughter of Lilly and Bela Szender.

Mermelstein · Beregszász and New York

Rose Jurysta’s branch

Michael 1867–1943 · Roza c.1862–1927 · immigrated in 1900

Death certificates name Michael’s parents as Jacob Mermelstein and Hannah Solomon, and Roza’s parents as Salomon Einzig and Rose Einzig. Their Hungarian marriage act is still sought.

born 1 Dec 1891 · married Isidor Gross in 1914

Children: Stanley, Adele, Jesse and Samson. Adele’s daughter Sheri later married Alan Levine.

born 5 Sep 1895 · married John Flicker in 1916

Children: Stanley (1916) and Stella (1918).

Isidore born 1 Sep 1900 · married 16 Jun 1927

Bessie was born Basche Lechtman on 7 Feb 1903 in Zwanata, Russia. Parents of Perry and Rose. Isidore supplied the information on Michael’s 1943 death certificate.

c.1883–17 Oct 1909

A New York death record confirms Jacob as a son of Michael Mermelstein and Rose Einzig; the 1900 manifest identification as Jeno/Jacob remains the most likely reading.

born 1897 · Beregszász

Indexed daughter of Mihály Mermelstein and Riza Egyes; later identity unresolved.

born 4 Jun 1928

Rose’s brother; changed the surname from Mermelstein to Morell.

21 Apr 1932–2019 · married Meyer Jurysta in 1956

Children Steven, Barbara, Alan and Ilissa.

Other families joined through marriage

Fisz · Nowy Korczyn

Szajndla and Laja Fisz

The index associates both names with birth Act 82/1892. The original act still requires a clean reading before Laja can be attached as Szajndla’s twin or sibling. Rywka Fisz, Act 39/1898, remains a likely sibling candidate rather than a proved sister.

Lewandowska branch

Ruchla Gitla Jurysta

Born in 1919 (February/December readings unresolved) to Sandel Jurysta and Bajla Rywka Lewandowska; Berek’s first wife. Her pregnancy and wartime fate remain under investigation.

Swicarczyk / Świerczarska

Bluma Swicarczyk

Her 1894 marriage to Judka is documented. The parental household links the Jurysta line to another Działoszyce family.

Szyewicz · Działoszyce

Tauba Szyewicz

The Majer–Tauba marriage act identifies her parental household and joins the Szyewicz family to the confirmed direct line.

Majerczyk · Cukierman · Pilcer

Collateral marriages

Ryfka Majerczyk, Ruda Cukierman and Małka Pilcer connect the documented Zajnwel–Izrael Lewek–Majer collateral branch to three additional Działoszyce families.

Survivor cousin lines

Samuel, Shmuel, Arye & Shaya

Samuel’s record names Josef as his father and links him to Rutka’s household. Shmuel appears on a separate record with incorrect parent fields, so his parental branch is unresolved. Brothers Arye and Shaya remain documented sons of Sandel and Bajla; Arye’s known children are Yaron, Jody and Dudi.

Generations in America

Children and grandchildren

These recent family details were supplied by family members and have not yet been independently matched to civil records.

Descendants of Meyer Jurysta & Rose Mermelstein

married Geri Greenspan · 1992

Children: Joshua and Sarah.

Recent-generation family branch

Son: David Charles Jordan (born 17 Mar 1996).

married Fiona Campbell · 1996

Children: Eliana (12 Feb 2000), Sam (20 Mar 2003), and Elyse (5 Nov 2005).

married Steve Cerbone · 2000

Children: Matthew and Daniel.

Descendants of Berek Jurysta & Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta

married Gary Rosen · 1987

Children: Jared, Jamie, and Jaclyn.

Children: Blake Reino (Dec 2000), Chance Jurysta (Aug 2002), Ashton Reino (Apr 2004), and Parker Reino (Dec 2006).

Linked evidence

Immigration, naturalization and census records

These links connect the Mermelstein, Lichtman and Jurysta branches to the original records. A record attached to a probable identity is labeled as such.

Działoszyce · 1867–1900

Newly recovered and indexed acts

Działoszyce · 1836–1842

Early Jurysta households

Działoszyce and Nowy Korczyn

Jurysta–Fisz household evidence

Beregszász → New York

Mermelstein family

Romania → Bremerhaven → New York

Jacobs / Jakab sisters

  • Marine Flasher passenger manifest ↗Maria, Elena and Bella Jacobs appear together on the manifest, arriving in New York on 20 May 1946 from Bremerhaven and traveling to the same Newark address.
  • Maria / Manci Jacobs naturalization ↗Petition identifies her as Maria Jacobs, also known as Mance Jacobs, and records her Marine Flasher admission on 20 May 1946. The petition’s typed birth date conflicts with the family-confirmed 1921–1995 life dates.
  • Lillian / Elena Jacobs Szender naturalization ↗Petition identifies Lillian Szender as formerly Elena Jacobs; born 12 October 1919 in Romania, married Bela Szender, and mother of Gloria and Rita.
  • Bella / Alice Jacobs naturalization ↗Declaration identifies Bella Jacobs, also known as Alice Jacobs; born 16 December 1924 in Garbo, Romania, and admitted on the Marine Flasher on 20 May 1946.

DP Germany → New York and Florida

Jurysta survivors in America

Ancestry as evidence

Questions to ask before responding to an antisemitic statement

The purpose is not to win every argument. It is to recognize what was said, decide whether engagement is safe and useful, and answer with a documented human story when that can make a difference.

See the family’s countries and towns
01

What exactly is being claimed?

Ask for the statement in plain language. Is it a stereotype, conspiracy theory, slur, Holocaust distortion, or a claim about all Jews based on one person or event?

02

Is this a safe and productive moment to respond?

Online harassment, threats and bad-faith provocation do not require debate. Preserve evidence, leave, block or report when safety matters more than engagement.

03

What family record makes the harm concrete?

Bring forward a person, not an abstraction: a Działoszyce birth act, Lilly’s testimony, Bessie’s manifest, or the four brothers’ postwar records.

04

What question invites reflection?

Try: “What evidence would change your mind?” “Would you say that about someone you knew personally?” or “Can I show you what that idea meant for my family?”

05

What boundary should I state?

A concise response can be enough: “That claim is antisemitic and false. My family’s records show where this kind of dehumanization leads. I will discuss evidence, but not tolerate slurs.”

06

What should happen afterward?

Correct the record for bystanders, link to a primary source, check on anyone targeted, and document or report incidents through the appropriate school, workplace or platform process.

07

Why are different displaced-person histories counted differently?

Ask how the post-1945 displaced-person system treated displacement as an individual, often temporary status, while the UNRWA framework registers Palestine refugees and eligible descendants. What historical and legal choices produced that difference—and how can it be discussed without erasing either Jewish displacement after the Holocaust or Palestinian displacement beginning in 1948?

Use family history carefully. Personal ancestry can humanize history, but no Jewish person owes a debate or disclosure of private family trauma. A family story supports the response; it does not replace reliable historical evidence.

Document center

The evidence, kept together

Original scans and translations are paired wherever possible. Every item opens in a new tab.

Translation notice

Translations and transcriptions on this site were prepared with ChatGPT and may contain errors, especially in handwritten names, dates, occupations and place names. Always compare the working translation with the original image and consult a qualified translator before relying on it for legal or genealogical proof.

01

Current research edition

Reconciled family tree

The newly connected Majer–Rywka → Lewek–Marya → Abram/Sandel Abram line, with sources and remaining boundaries.

22 September 2026
Original ↗
02

Originals, readings and unresolved questions

Evidence audit and complete record catalog

23 rechecked acts, corrected family links and a searchable catalog of every current index row.

Current audited edition
Original ↗
03

Original scans · English research summaries

Recovered Jurysta acts: eight-record batch

Marriages, deaths and newly documented family connections recovered from the civil registers and paired to the master index in September 2026.

1867–1900
Original ↗
04

Eight civil acts · originals

Early Jurysta birth acts

Newly reconciled Działoszyce acts document three early households: Majer–Faygla, Lewek–Marya, and Zajnwel–Rywka. Individual scans are linked in the family-record shelf.

1836–1842
Original ↗
05

Civil act · direct line

Lewek Jurysta & Marya Moszkowicz marriage

Names Lewek’s parents as Majer and deceased Rywka and records Majer’s presence and consent.

1829 · Act 4
Original ↗
06

Civil act · direct line

Abram Jurysta birth

Names Lewek Jurysta and Marya as Abram’s parents; Majer Jurysta appears as a witness.

1830 · Act 50
Original ↗
07

Civil act · direct line

Abram Jurysta & Ryfka Pilarz marriage

Repeats Abram’s parents as Lewek and Marya and identifies Ryfka’s Pilarz household.

1852 · Act 5
Original ↗
08

Civil act · direct line

Majer Jurysta birth

Names Abram Jurysta and Chana Ryfka née Pilarz as Majer’s parents.

1852 · Act 130
Original ↗
09

Civil act · original

Majer Jurysta & Tauba Szyewicz marriage

Names Majer’s parents as Sandel Abram and Rywka Chana, and Tauba’s as Lejbuś and Frymta née Dawidowicz.

1873 · Act 7
Original ↗
10

Civil act · confirmed collateral line

Lejbuś Jurysta & Małka Czosnek marriage

Names Lejbuś as a son of Majer Jurysta and Tauba née Szyjowicz and Małka as a daughter of Moszek Chaskiel Czosnek and Tauba née Cych/Cicha (reading provisional).

1918 · Act 34
Original ↗
11

Household register · family linkage

Lejbuś and Małka Jurysta household

Lists their children, including Samba born 1 March 1926—the same date and place recorded for Tosia/Toshka in postwar files.

Prewar population register
Original ↗
12

Civil act · direct line

Judka Jurysta & Bluma Swicarczyk marriage

Names Judka’s parents as Majer and Tauba née Szyewicz and identifies Bluma’s parental household.

1894 · Act 11
Original ↗
13

Original scan

Symcha Jurysta birth

Names Judka Jurysta and Bluma/Blima née Swicarczyk as Symcha’s parents, supporting the household link; the act’s female wording remains an explicit discrepancy.

1895 · Act 78
Original ↗
14

English translation

Symcha birth transcription & translation

Corrected research reading paired with Act 78; earlier crop showed the wrong act.

1895
Original ↗
15

Population register · original

Berek Jurysta birth entry

Records Berek’s birth date, Działoszyce birthplace, and parents Symcha Jurysta and Szajndla née Fisz. The corresponding civil birth Act 217/1919 is now linked in the audit.

3 May 1917
Original ↗
16

Shared civil-register page · original

Majer and Brandla Jurysta birth registrations

Act 208 registers Brandla, born 30 September 1915; Act 209 registers Majer, born 15 September of the previous year—1922.

1923 · Acts 208–209
Original ↗
17

Displaced-person record

Meyer Jurysta DP card

Documents the survivor cluster after liberation.

Postwar
Original ↗
18

Displaced-person record

Henry Jurysta DP card

Postwar identity and movement evidence.

Postwar
Original ↗
19

Displaced-person record

Berek Jurysta DP record

Records Berek after the war; marital status requires historical context.

Postwar
Original ↗
20

Ship manifest

General Heintzelman passenger manifest

Berek, Henryk and Majer arriving in New York from Bremerhaven.

13 Jan 1950
Original ↗
21

Municipal archive

Henry’s proof-of-residence request

Connects later family research to the Działoszyce register.

c. 1991
Original ↗
22

Geoportal extract

Działoszyce property map

Plot and orthophotomap research for Krakowska addresses.

Modern
Original ↗
23

Separate survivor record · parents unresolved

Shmuel Jurysta record

This is not Samuel’s Josef-parent record. Its parent-name fields are incorrect and do not establish a Sanel–Malka lineage.

Postwar
Original ↗
24

Confirmed survivor record

Shaya Jurysta record

Shaya and Arye are established as sons of Sandel Jurysta and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska, linking them through Sandel to Judka and Bluma.

Postwar
Original ↗
25

Arolsen Archives record

Arye / Arie Jurysta Arolsen file

Arye’s postwar file is preserved as its own Arolsen Archives record and is separate from Shaya’s documentation.

Postwar
Original ↗
26

Arolsen Archives records

Tosia / Toshka Jurysta Arolsen file

Tosia’s Buchenwald personal card and postwar movement card are preserved under her own Arolsen Archives entries.

1944–1946
Original ↗
27

Civil register · research lead

Działoszyce birth register, acts 171–174

Act 174 records Szajndla Jurysta. The father’s given name remains difficult to read, so this household is not attached to the direct line.

1909
Original ↗

Archive links are intended for family research. Every translation remains a working aid—not a certified translation or a substitute for the original record.

Witness testimony

In their own record

Original testimony files are separated from later family recollection. A missing catalog match is shown as unresolved.

Confirmed original · full translation

Complete two-page postwar eyewitness statement preserved in the Chronicles of Terror collection.

Read original ↗

Confirmed original · full translation

Complete eyewitness statement and sworn certification from the same archival witness series.

Read original ↗

Confirmed testimony link

USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive testimony identified by the family. Access may require a free USC Shoah Foundation account.

View USC testimony ↗

Homes and property

Krakowska Street

Addresses anchor the family in a real landscape. Historical occupancy does not establish present ownership or a current legal claim.

Primary family addressDocumented residence

Krakowska 57

Population and address registers connect the Jurysta household to this property. A six-room description and overhead geometry make two side-by-side structures plausible. An addition may have been completed around 1934, but the original construction date and exact room allocation remain unknown.

Form
Likely two attached or closely spaced structures
Use
Family residence; possible small garden or household production
Confidence
Address confirmed; architectural reconstruction interpretive
Current map ↗Property report ↗Plot research ↗
Related addressUnder study

Krakowska 63

Appears in property and mortgage-book research associated with the wider family network. The modern parcel crosswalk and exact historical owner still require archival confirmation.

Current map ↗
Related addressOpen file

Krakowska 33

Named in the Unit 101 property review. Historical mortgage, transfer and abandoned-property files are needed before assigning an owner or heir line.

Current map ↗

1939–1950

Displacement, survival, migration

This route combines records with family testimony. It is a reconstruction, not a complete transport list.

1939

Działoszyce

confirmed

Germany occupied the town on 6 September. The family’s normal life, work and property rights were progressively destroyed.

1942

Działoszyce → killing centers

likely

During the liquidation, thousands were shot or deported. Family testimony and regional deportation evidence point to Bełżec for Szajndla, Dwora, Abram, Perla, Szmul and others, but individual transport lists have not yet been found.

1942–43

Forced-labor system

likely

Majer, Berek, Chaim and Henry remained together. Their first transfer after Działoszyce is not yet documented act by act.

1943–44

Kraków–Płaszów

supported

Family testimony places the four men at Płaszów, where prisoners endured starvation, violence, selections and industrial or construction labor.

1944–45

Częstochowa / HASAG area

likely

The reported Soviet liberation in January 1945 fits survival in a Częstochowa-area labor camp better than an evacuation west from Płaszów. The exact subcamp remains open.

1945–49

Poland → Landshut / Deggendorf

confirmed

DP documentation traces the survivors through postwar Germany while they sought relatives, legal status and a destination.

1949–50

Bremerhaven → New York

confirmed

The General Heintzelman sailed 29 December 1949 and arrived 13 January 1950. The manifest names Berek, Henryk and Majer.

Connected survivor paths

One family history, several wartime routes

The main timeline follows Symcha’s sons. These additional paths preserve survivors from connected branches without forcing their experiences into the brothers’ chronology.

mixed evidence

Berek, Chaim, Meyer & Henryk Jurysta

Działoszyce → Płaszów → likely Częstochowa/HASAG → DP Germany

The brothers’ shared survival is family-supported; Płaszów and postwar displacement are supported by testimony and records. The precise camp sequence remains incomplete.

family confirmed

Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta & Lilly Jacobs Szender

Satu Mare region → Auschwitz → postwar rebuilding

The sisters are identified by the family as Auschwitz survivors. Lilly’s USC Shoah Foundation testimony is linked in the archive; their exact deportation dates, prisoner numbers and postwar route still require record-by-record documentation.

Josef/Josek household

Samuel Jurysta

Kraków → Lubicz → Buchenwald

Samuel’s record names Josef as his father. Shared-address evidence supports Samuel as Rutka’s brother. This record is separate from the Shmuel record with incorrect parent information.

parental branch unresolved

Shmuel / Szmul Jurysta

Postwar survivor record

Shmuel appears on a different record whose parent fields are incorrect. The record must not be merged with Samuel or used to assign Shmuel to Sanel/Sandel Jurysta and Malka Munz.

Płaszów

A camp built over a cemetery

Prisoners faced arbitrary violence, public executions, hunger, overcrowding and exhausting labor. Work assignments could include construction, workshops and nearby factories. Survival often depended on remaining useful to the labor system while enduring constant selections.

USHMM historical context ↗

Częstochowa / HASAG

Industrial slave labor

Jewish prisoners in the HASAG complex manufactured ammunition under dangerous conditions, inadequate food and brutal discipline. The January 1945 Soviet advance is consistent with the family’s liberation account, although the precise factory camp is not yet proven.

Auschwitz

Persecution of Manci/Munci and Lilly

Family history identifies sisters Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta and Lilly Jacobs Szender as Auschwitz survivors. Prisoners in the Auschwitz complex faced dispossession, selection, starvation, disease, forced labor and constant danger. Their individual dates and path must be drawn from Lilly’s testimony and additional prisoner records.

USHMM Auschwitz overview ↗

Buchenwald

Samuel’s survivor path

Samuel’s record names Josef/Josek as his father, and address evidence connects him to Rutka’s household. He is associated with Lubicz and Buchenwald. The separate Shmuel record carries incorrect parents and is not merged with Samuel.

USHMM Buchenwald overview ↗

Bełżec

Destination of annihilation

Bełżec was a killing center, not a conventional detention camp. Deportees were deceived, stripped of belongings and murdered soon after arrival. Assigning an individual family member to Bełżec requires transport or testimony evidence, so the names here remain labeled “likely.”

USHMM overview ↗

Lives remembered

Survivors and victims

The absence of a death certificate is not evidence of survival. The lists reflect the best current synthesis of documents, testimony and chronology.

✦

Survivors

Lives rebuilt

Majer / Meyer Jurysta

Działoszyce → camps → DP Germany → New York. Married Rose Mermelstein; died 19 Apr 2000.

Confirmed survivor

Survived with his brothers. Arrived in New York in 1950; later married Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta.

Confirmed survivor

1925–1999. DP and residence records support his path from Działoszyce through postwar Germany to America.

Confirmed survivor

Chaim Dawid Jurysta

Family testimony places him with Majer, Berek and Henry through liberation. The family record gives his death year as 1945.

Survived to 1945

Manci / Munci Jacobs Jurysta & Lilly Jacobs Szender

Sisters from the Satu Mare region and Auschwitz survivors; Hungarian birth and prisoner records remain active research targets.

Family-confirmed relationship

Samuel Jurysta

Samuel’s separate record names Josef/Josek as his father and supports his place as Rutka’s brother in the Kraków household.

Josef-parent record preserved separately

Shmuel / Szmul Jurysta

A different record carries incorrect parent names. It remains separate from Samuel and does not yet establish a parental branch.

Parental branch unresolved

Arye / Arie Yurista

Arye has been found and identified. He survived and emigrated to Israel. His parents are Sandel Jurysta, a documented child of Judka and Bluma, and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska. Arye married Rachel; their children are Yaron, Jody and Dudi.

Parentage resolved

Arye’s Arolsen Archives file ↗

Shaya / Szaja Yurista

Shaya has been found and identified as Arye’s brother and as a son of Sandel Jurysta and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska. He survived and emigrated to Israel.

Parentage resolved

Shaya’s archival record ↗

│

Likely victims

Names carried forward

Szajndla / Szyndla Fisz Jurysta

Likely deported during the 1942 destruction of Działoszyce and murdered at Bełżec.

Likely · 1942

Ruchla Gitla Jurysta

Berek’s first wife, born in 1919 (February/December readings unresolved). Family testimony says she was eight months pregnant when taken. Her transport and fate are not yet documented.

Unresolved

Dwora, Abram, Perla & Szmul

Close relatives remembered as having died at Bełżec. Individual corroborating records remain to be located.

Likely · Bełżec

Symcha Jurysta

Family history gives a 1939 death in Działoszyce, before the mass liquidation. A civil death act has not yet been cited.

Reported · 1939

Dudi, Itle, Jicchak, Dwora, Bluma & Bradel

Pages of Testimony submitted by Yeshayahu name these children of Sandel Jurysta and Bella Khabai as murdered. Their household is documented; its link to the direct tree remains open.

Testimony documented · collateral

Moshe & Chava’s Częstochowa family

Chen’s family history says nearly all of this confectioner family were murdered at Treblinka. Possible Yad Vashem records exist, but the exact identities and bridge to the main tree are not yet proved.

Family testimony · unresolved records

Open family files

Research branches still awaiting proof

Arye and Shaya are no longer research leads: their established line is Judka and Bluma → Sandel and Bajla Rywka née Lewandowska → Arye and Shaya. The people below appear in archival records or family testimony, but their exact place in the Jurysta tree has not been proved. They are shown here to invite evidence—not to assert a relationship.

Do not attach to the confirmed tree yet

Testimony-supported collateral household

Children of Sandel & Bella Khabai

Pages of Testimony submitted by Yeshayahu name Dudi, Itle, Jicchak, Dwora, Bluma and Bradel as murdered siblings. The household is documented, but its connection to the proven ancestral line remains open.

Representative testimony ↗

Wartime record · relationship unknown

Abram Moszek Israel Jurysta

Born 1 May 1908 in Działoszyce and recorded in the Będzin ghetto at 23 Burgstrasse. Two photographic records support his wartime identity; his parents and relationship to the family are not yet established.

Yad Vashem record ↗

Possible Mauthausen branch

Marek Jurysta

Born 25 October 1921 in Działoszyce and recorded as a Mauthausen inmate. His date does not match Meyer/Majer’s conflicting 1922/1923 birth dates, so he remains a separate person unless the underlying camp card proves otherwise.

Yad Vashem record ↗

Family-reported Częstochowa branch

Moshe & Chava → Yaakov → Mordechai → Chen

Chen reports that his great-grandparents Moshe and Chava came from Działoszyce and worked as confectioners; their son Yaakov was born in Częstochowa, followed by Mordechai and then Chen. The descent within this branch is family testimony. Its civil-record bridge to the proved Działoszyce tree is not yet established.

Possible Moshe record ↗ · Possible Chava record ↗

Names awaiting household linkage

Lewek, Szaja Szlama, Chaim Hersz & Shmuel

These records still need independent household linkage. Shmuel remains here because his record’s parent fields are incorrect. Samuel is tracked separately with Josef/Josek as his father.

Lewek ↗ · Szaja Szlama ↗ · Chaim Hersz ↗

Sources and citations

Where the record comes from

Archived copies preserve the evidence used on this site. External links lead to the institutions that hold or index the originals.

Civil and population records

  1. Majer Jurysta–Tauba Szyewicz marriage actDziałoszyce Jewish civil register, Act 7, 16/28 February 1873; parentage and preceding generation.
  2. Judka Jurysta–Bluma Swicarczyk marriage actDziałoszyce, 1894, Act 11; identifies the two parental households.
  3. Symcha Jurysta birth actDziałoszyce, 1895, Act 78; confirms Judka and Bluma as parents.
  4. Symcha birth transcription and translationWorking English aid paired with the original act.
  5. Berek Jurysta population-register birth entryDziałoszyce municipal population register; records 3 May 1917, his birthplace, and parents. It is supporting birth evidence, not a civil birth certificate.
  6. Majer and Brandla Jurysta birth registrationsDziałoszyce Jewish civil register, 1923, Acts 208–209. Act 209 says Majer was born 15 September of the previous year, 1922.
  7. GenBaza / MetrykiDigital images of Polish civil and religious registers used in the family reconstruction.
  8. Szukaj w ArchiwachPolish State Archives catalog and scans, including Kielce population and property units.
  9. JRI-PolandJewish vital-record indexes used to locate Działoszyce and neighboring-town acts.

Holocaust and survivor testimony

  1. Berek Jurysta testimonyPostwar signed witness statement; Chronicles of Terror collection record 13052.
  2. Heniek Jurysta testimonyPostwar signed witness statement; Chronicles of Terror collection record 13053.
  3. Lilly Jacobs Szender testimonyUSC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive; family-identified interview.
  4. Arolsen ArchivesPersecution, forced-labor, displaced-person and tracing files.
  5. Chronicles of TerrorInstitutional home of the Berek and Heniek statements.
  6. USHMM Collections SearchVictim, survivor, transport, testimony and historical collections.
  7. Yad Vashem CollectionsNames, Pages of Testimony, photographs and Holocaust documentation.

Displacement and immigration

  1. Meyer Jurysta DP cardPostwar identity and displaced-person evidence.
  2. Henry Jurysta DP cardPostwar registration and movement evidence.
  3. Berek Jurysta DP recordPostwar registration; marital-status notation interpreted with family chronology.
  4. General Heintzelman passenger manifestBremerhaven departure, 29 Dec 1949; New York arrival, 13 Jan 1950.
  5. Henry’s Działoszyce residence requestMunicipal archival evidence connecting the later survivor to the prewar population register.
  6. Ellis Island Passenger SearchPassenger-manifest catalog and immigration search.

Property, geography and historical context

  1. Działoszyce property-map dossierParcel, orthophotomap and Krakowska-address research; present ownership is not asserted.
  2. Krakowska 57 property reportCompiled property research attached to the documented Jurysta family address.
  3. Krakowska 57 current mapModern geographic reference; not evidence of historical parcel boundaries.
  4. USHMM: KrakówHistorical context for occupation, ghettoization and Płaszów.
  5. USHMM: BełżecAuthoritative description of the killing center and its operation.
  6. USHMM: Działoszyce resident profileTown-specific Holocaust context.
  7. State Archive in KielceRepository for Działoszyce municipal, population, civil and property records.

Citation policy: a link to a local copy identifies the exact item reviewed for this archive. Dates and relationships labeled “confirmed” are supported by named records; “likely” and “unconfirmed” statements remain historical interpretations or active research leads.

The archive is unfinished by design

What we still hope to find

1

Document Majer’s two households

Locate Majer’s marriages to Rywka and Fajgla, identify Rywka’s maiden name, and confirm the exact marital sequence.

2

Name every wartime path

Find transport, labor-camp and testimony records that place Majer, Berek, Chaim, Henry and Shmuel between Poland and liberation.

3

Document the reconciled survivor branches

Find Shmuel’s civil birth record and continue documenting the linked Shmuel, Arye and Shaya branches without merging their distinct parental households.

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