Goldsztern or Goldsztajn/Goldstein?   All the Polish (including Russian language after about 1868) birth, death and marriage documents I have found use the name Goldsztern, but the immigration documents of Shimon, Meier and Szojel (Sol) use Goldstein.  When I search databases, the two names behave as if they are interchangeable.  Sol told me that when he came to the US he changed his name to Goldstein in order to be like his brothers; however, his ship manifest already listed him as “Szojel Goldstein.”  What is true is that the names Goldstein, Goldsztern and Rozensumen occurred primarily around Brest, Terespol, Mezrich and to a lesser extent, Lublin, from the early 1800’s on.

Berl Fayvel Goldsztern and Yocheved (Yachet) Rozensumen were the parents of Szojel (Sol) Goldstein.

From Berl (aka Berko) Goldsztajn’s 1870 marriage registration with Yocheved Rozensumen, we learn:

  • They were married in Terespol and it was the first marriage for both;
  • They were both 21 when they married, therefore born around 1849 (we do have Yachet’s birth registration for 1849).
  • He was from the town of Piszczac, Biala district (at that time, Bielsky),  Siedlce gubernaya in the Russian Empire.
  • She was from Terespol; Piszczac is about 23 kilometers from Terespol, just south of the route to Miedzyrzec Podlaski (aka Mezrich, where Berl’s father-in-law Berko Rozensumen came from).  This link shows the three towns in relation to each other today.
  • His father’s name was Szimon and his mother  was Tema.

On his children’s birth registrations he is described as being a “weaver,” which fits with his work as a “tallis-macher” (maker of prayer shawls).

Translation of the marriage registration:

Act 8.

In Terespol, on 18/30 day of June 1870, at 5:00 pm, it is announced that in presence of witnesses, Jew Finkelstein, 65, and Rubin Hershenson(?), 55 years old, _____ Shkolnikov, acting as ___ in the city of Terespol, the religious marriage was contracted between the Jew of Posad Pishchats of Belskiy district, Berko Fayvel Goldstern, single, 21 years old, son of Shamon and Tema, legal spouses Goldstern in Posad Pishchats, their dependent and with living parents, and the Jew, single lady Yachet Rozensummen, 21 years old, daughter of Berko and Hindy, legal spouses Rozensummen in the town of Terespol, their dependent and with living parents.

By 1870, the Russian Empire insisted that metrical (birth, death marriage) records be kept in Russian instead of Polish; this was to punish the Polish people who had rebelled a number of times against their Russian masters.  Because the Russian Empire still used the Julian calendar and Poland used the Gregorian, this document has double date, reflecting the two systems.

To date I haven’t been able to locate any other documents for Berl or his parents.

BERL FAYVL GOLDSZTERN DESCENDANT CHART