I can't connect this person to the tree, Barney Cohen

Question

I've been searching for connections for Boruch (Krapiwnitzer) Cohen - WikiTree Profile and his wife, Frieda with little luck. My family history says that his son, Howard, is a cousin to my father, Horowitz-209, but I can't make the connection. At this point, Barney and his family are disconnected from the world tree. I suspect Frieda, a person I have little data for, is the actual connection since Barney was born far away from the Horowitz family. Adding to the puzzle is the fact that my father's biological mother is not the person he knew as his mother. That woman is his father's second wife. (are you confused yet?)

Another part of the Barney Cohen puzzle is his LNAB. His LNAB is unique, but it comes directly from his [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9M8-L9W9-H?i=563&wc=MDSY-PP8%3A326209701%2C330092601&cc=1999177 naturalization papers]. He came from a country where the government wrote in Cyrillic and he spoke Yiddish and would have written things using the Hebrew alphabet, so a spelling of the name using the Latin alphabet is likely phonetic at best. An alternate spelling, Krapiwuitzer, is used by the [https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-details/czoxMjoiMTAwMzk0MDgwMjg3Ijs=/czo4OiJtYW5pZmVzdCI7 Ellis Island Foundation]. Frame 321 says that he is coming to live with br.-in-law Sam. Cal. 3840 Barett St., Brooklyn, New York. When I look at the original ship's manifest, I would read his name as Krupiwuilzer, which isn't much better.

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Answer 1

From jewishgen.org records / Litvaksig

Borukh Krapivnitzer  born January 30, 1893 in Vilnia

father Beniamin Leib, grandfather Mordukh, mother Liba Shimaia

Borukh had a brother Isaak born June 21, 1902

Comments

Thank you for doing this research. I joined JewishGen in the past but hadn't gone there to research this person.

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When you look for Shain, note Shein, Sheyn, Shen, Shan, Shaen, Sein

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Borukh was conscripted into the Russian Army in 1913, served until 1920

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My Boruch (Krapivnitzer) Cohen arrived in New York, New York, USA on February 4, 1914 on the steamship Czar from Libau. Are you saying his father was conscripted into the Russian Army?

Yetta's name also appears as Chaine in one document.

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I didn't study the entry. Just saw a Borukh, Vilnius conscripted

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For Samuel, Yiddish would be Schmuel. In case you're wondering, my boss is a Rabbi whose mother was a Dachau survivor. We've been exploring Jewish genealogy for 10 years. Every time I find a treasure, he rewards me with food

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This is not based on any research or knowledge of facts, but from my experiences with jewishgen records showing Russian army conscriptions ...

It is possible that Borukh was conscripted in the Russian army in 1913 and either never reported or ran away by immigrating to the United States in 1914.  A Russian record showing him in their army until 1920 could easily be only the date when his service obligation would be completed or a clerical error of some kind.  This explanation seems more likely (to me, at least) than suggesting that his father was conscripted because Borukh was the right age to be conscripted in 1913 and his father's first name was not Borukh.

Answer 2

https://www.jewishgen.org/

You have to register but it's free. I've belonged for 10 years. After you're signed in, click databases, click Lithuania, click LITVAKSIG. Other Russian records found in UKRAINE, BELARUS and LATVIA databases

It takes a while getting used to operating here but it's a great research site.

Comments

Of course, records are those that survived Nazi destruction so you may have to do a bit of surmising to fill in the missing bits.