I am puzzling over a connection through ancestry.com indicating that Abduvohid “Abdu” Abdurasulov, born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and I are share about 2 per cent DNA. This could indicate we are second or third cousins, or this might, because of the complexities of relative endogamy, mean that we are related to one another in more than one way, at a greater genealogical distance. Abdu is ethnically Tajik, but Ancestry’s algorithms indicate that about ten percent of his DNA is consistent with Eastern European Jewish background. He believes that the connection is likely to be through his great great grandmother, Sharofat Sadikova, whom he understands came from Eastern Europe and settled in Samarkand many decades ago.
Samarkand, on the ancient silk road across central Asia, has an centuries-old Jewish community, sometimes known as the Bukharan Jews. However, I am assuming our connection is more recent, through the mass evacuation of Jews to Soviet Central Asia, from Eastern European sections of the Soviet Union in 1941 and 1942, in advance of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. About 1.1 million Soviet Jews are known to have been evacuated to central Asia; of these, at least 300,000 are believed to have perished from disease, starvation or exposure.
I know of several relatives on my father’s side of the family who were evacuated, but I am not sure if any of these constitute my connection to Abdu. These are:
My father’s mother’s sister Pauline Zeltzer Klein, and her children Eva and Joseph Klein, were evacuated from Moscow to Adzitarovo (Адзитарово), in the Karmaskalinskiy rayon, Republic of Bashkortostan, about 1,400 km east of Moscow. (This is several kilometers west of Kazakstan). They stayed in a house that had been previously occupied by a Tatar family, who had evacuated further east into central Asia. The Kleins stayed there until the tides of war turned, and then returned to Moscow, where Pauline with difficulty reclaimed rights to her old apartment, where she and her husband Sol continued to live for the rest of their lives.
- My father’s mother’s father’s daughter’s son, Hirsh Osofskiy (1883-1943), his wife Gesia, and their eleven year old son Efim, were evacuated in 1941 from Babruysk, Belarus to Kazakstan. Since the Wehrmacht occupied Babruysk on June 28, 1941, I assume the family fled the city before then (At least 20,000 Jewish residents of Babruysk were subsequently massacred by the Nazis). Hirsh and Gesia perished during the war in Kazakstan, but their son Efim was cared for by Kazakh shepherds and survived. He later returned to Babruysk after the War and his descendants continue to reside in Moscow. Efim’s son, however, shows no genetic connection with Abdu.
- My second cousin once removed (my father’s father’s father’s daughter’s son’s son) Bruno AUSLÄNDER, (1921-2018) was evacuated to Uzbekistan during the war. I am uncertain how precisely he reached Uzbekistan. His parents, Nathan and Netti, and brother Joseph resided in Radautz (Radauti), in Bukovina, Romania, up until the time they were deported by Romanian fascists in October 1941 on death trains into Transnistria (fascist occupied Ukraine), where they rather miraculously survived in Moghilev during the deportation era, before returning to Radautz, Bukovina at the end of the war. Bruno must have somehow made his way into Soviet controlled territory and from there been evacuated east. This must have been perilous; as is extensively documented, many Romanian Jews from Bukovina who traveled north of the Bug river were murdered by the SS Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) in occupied Ukraine. Bruno, we know, married a Soviet woman, Valea, A registration card indicates he made his way to Tashkent in Uzbekistan in 1941-1942, He survived the war and was back in Radautz by 1945 with her parents and brother. He eventually settled in Canada. (About 150,000 Jewish evacuees are documented in such registration cards in Tashkent, digitized by Yad Vashem and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum).
However, I suspect our connection is in fact through my mother’s side of the family, about whom we know much less. Abdu and I appear to have DNA matching cousins on my mother’s side, so that is probably where we concentrate our efforts. A cousin reports that my mother’s brother, the late Louis Epstein, has DNA connections to Abdu on both Louis’ mother’s and father’s side, which is intriguing.
My mother’s mother Yetta Epstein ( who gave her maiden name as “Anderson”, which appears not to have been her real maiden name) evidently emigrated from Pavoloch (Zhitomir, Ukraine) to Baltimore, Maryland, USA, around 1913. My mother’s father Isadore Epstein, emigrated from Babruysk, Belarus in 1911 to New York. (By coincidence, by father’s mother’s family and mother’s father both came from Babruysk.) Both Yetta and isadore must have left many relatives behind in Ukraine and Belarus, but do not appear to have spoken of these connections extensively to their children.
The USHMM and Yad Vashem databases list several Jews from Pavoloch, Ukraine who were evacuated to Uzbekistan. These include:
Samoil Gerchenko, born in 1898 to Grigoriy. who is listed on a Tashkent registration card.
Shika Ruzhinskii, born 1896, son of Mikhail, also listed on a Tashkent registration card.
Boris Samonin, born 1900 son of Osvey? also listed on a Tashkent registration card.
I do not know if any of these persons were related to Yetta or her sister Bessie. The cards do not indicate if any of these individuals survived World War II.
In terms of possible relatives of my mother’s father, Isadore Epstein from Bobruysk, the USHMM database lists thirty-one Epstein’s evacuated from Bobruysk to Uzbekistan, according to the Taskent registration cards. (One Epstein from Bobruysk, it is interesting to see, was Nathan Epshtein, who somehow made it to Nantes, France, and was then murdered in Auschwitz). Perhaps one of these Epshteins evacuated to Tashkent was related to my mother’s father Isadore Epstein and was married or related to Abdu’s great great grandmother Sarofet Sadikova.
I see on social media that there are various Epstheins currently living in Tashkent but I am not sure if I am related to any of these. I also see that the USC Shoah Foundation site lists about twenty survivor interviews with references to time spent in Samarkand, Uzbekistan but I have not requested access to these yet.
Looking at things from Abdu’s side of the family, the USHMM database of Holocaust Victims and Survivors (and the JewishGen compilation) lists about 11 individuals with the surname Sadikova or Sadikov (the male version of the name) from the Tashkent registration cards. These are:
Brana Sadikova, born 1911, from Barancha [Altai Republic?]. daughter of Iosif
Ester Sadikova, born 1897 (prior location not listed), daughter of Leib
Sfirsa Sadikova, born 1906, from Moscow, daughter of Boris
Fania Sadikova, born 1888, from Belets, MSSR. Moldova, daughter of Abram.
Anna Sadikova, born 1913 from Bel’tsy, MSSR. Moldova, daughter of Dersh
Khaia Sadikova, born 1908 daughter of Bentsion, from Orgeyev, Orgeyevskii, MSSR (Moldova)
Sima Tsadikova, born 1904, daughter of Shmul from Kishinev [Chișinău, Moldova.}
Anna Tsadikova, born 1900, daughter of Isaak, from Odessa [Ukraine]
Angel Sadikov, born 1906, son of David, from Orgeyev, Orgeyevskii, MSSR (Moldova) , Soviet Union
Mortko Sadikov, born 1896, son of Mendel, from Barancha [possibly Altai Republic?]
Moisei Sadikov, born 1912, son of Mendel, from Ketrosa (I believe Chetrosu, Moldova)
Of these, I am not seeing an obvious connection to my known family members. Six of those listed are from Moldova/Bessarabia. From 1941, Moldovan or Bessarabian Jews were deported to Transnistria, along with Jews from Bukovina, including my father’s father’s family. Bel’tsy, listed above, was near the notorious Răuţel camp, where many Jews died under horrific conditions. I know that my father’s father’s sister Julia AUSLÄNDER, married a man, Joseph Pagis, from Kishinev. I believe my father’s mother’s mother’s family, the Weinsteins, has roots in Odessa.
One scenario might be that an Epshtein from Bobruysk married a fellow evacuee named Sadikova, and that is the source of our link.
The fact that my mother’s brother’s Lou Epstein has DNA links to Abdu on both his father and mother’s side suggestions more than one evacuation route might be salient. These would include the Epstein/Epshtein evacuation history from Baburysk to Tashkent, with the possible added connection through my mother’s mother’s family from Pavoloch in Ukraine. (Abdu had been under the impression that his great great grandmother Sarofet had roots in Ukraine.) Perhaps future research will cast light on this enigmatic aspect of our family history.
Mark Auslander 