My Grandfather’s Shtetl

Table of Contents (?)

Site Page Counts
Public: 510
Restricted: 677

A Journey Back To The Old Country
by Terry and Felicity Zelcer, New Zealand

Terry’s Grandfather, Lejb Zelcer (B.1903 Volchin), Grandmother Fejga Zelcer (B.1906 Biala Podlaska), son Abram-Aba Zelcer (B.1930 Volchin).
Taken from their Proof of Identity and Emigration Passport issued 13October 1930 in Brest for settlement to New Zealand.

Introduction
In August 2006 we arranged an independent trip to Poland and Belarus having done some extensive research on the Zelcer family.

(We had allowed 8 nights/9 days planning a full itinerary and hiring a car in Poland. In retrospect, 1 night and 2 days was not enough time in Belarus and we would suggest to anyone travelling to their ancestral shtetl to allow at least 2 days on site, because you always miss something the first time round.)

Our itinerary started in Warsaw, where we visited the Jewish sites and the Jewish Historical Institute, then to Treblinka Extermination camp, onto the town Biala Podlaska (Grandmother’s birthplace), with a visit to the Archives, a side trip to Konstantynow and Janov Podlaski; train via Terespol, Poland across the border to Brest, Belarus. (You cannot take Polish rental cars across the border to Belarus.) Then onto the village of Volchin --Grandfather‘s birthplace-- back to a visit to Brest Archives, train back across the border to Biala Podlaska, Poland;down to Lublin, with visit to Lublin Archives, then Majdanek Concentration camp, and back to Warsaw.

For us our trip to Volchin was done in the pouring rain. This hindered us greatly and our photographs --unfortunately-- are not the best quality because of the weather.

If you wish to communicate with the local people a Russian translator is a must and one who commands a good understanding of English as well.

Suggested reading material for anyone visiting Volchin: Bashert: A Granddaughter’s Holocaust Quest by Andrea Simon (about which more here; Andrea's personal page, here). She is descended from the Midler family from Volchin. Andrea’s terrific research and detailed accounts from old Volchiner memories are invaluable when learning about the Jewish history and life in Volchin. An emotional read!

We give thanks to you, Andrea.

Page Last Updated: 30-Jun-2011