Testimonies:

Heritage tour to Białystok and Tykocin

We write to thank you both for the truly wonderful trip you took us on in our effort to find the burial place of family members in the Białystok Jewish cemetery.

Everything was beautifully organized from A to Z, including help in planning the route and dealing ahead of time with a bureaucratic problem that arose with local authorities.  The vehicle you provided was roomy and comfortable and the driver highly professional.

As professors of Jewish history, both Rachel and I deeply appreciated your expertise.  It is rare to have as guides two genuine scholars with a deep knowledge not just of what is being seen but its broader context, too.  It enriched our experience a very great deal.

What impressed us most, however, was your preparation ahead of time.  You had not only found evidence of where the grave might be found in the huge cemetery, but even managed to identify the right plot on the ground though it was completely unmarked.   

Beyond even that – and in truly miraculous fashion – once we arrived, you actually managed to locate the very matzevah we sought though it was lying flat, covered in weeds and moss. 

Together, we uncovered and cleaned the stone and then deciphered what it said.  It was an unforgettably moving moment that will stay with us all our lives.

We are extremely grateful to you both and would be delighted to recommend you very warmly to anyone interested in making such a trip.

Adam Teller and Rachel Rojanski
Brown University
Providence, RI

Tour to the Jewish cemetery in Bialystok

Heritage tour to Radomsko and Białystok

Thank you so much for everything the past few days! I had always wanted to get to see where our family had come from in Poland, but never imagined we would be able to see such specific places and with so much background information/historic pictures. So thank you so much for making that happen. Thank you too for your flexibility and patience after what had been an incredibly hard week for us participating in the March of the Living. 

Jessica Y. from Colorado

Heritage tour to Galicia (Przemyśl and Rava-Ruska)

Tomasz and Lada,
You came into my life at a stage when I needed help to research and visit an area in southern Poland and northern Ukraine. Not exactly the center of the world to say the least. I needed to visit the places where my paternal grandfather lived, fought and got killed in WWI well over a hundred years ago. Your expertise made this dream of mine come true. From taking care of all the logistics, to researching the sites and all the way to Lada’s professional and thoughtful guidance. It took me weeks to process all the impressions and images and somehow transfer them into the book I am writing. This was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. I would not have found it without you.


Thank you 

Rachel Korazim
Israel

Synagogue in Przemyśl

Tour to Brody and Belz

Lada guided us in Brody and Belz with determination to achieve all the goals we set for ourselves, while complying with a very tight schedule, and this was done to our satisfaction.

During the tour we asked to visit inside Brody’s ruined synagogue, but it was closed. Lada faced the challenge, located the man with the key who opened the synagogue for us and we entered it.

Throughout the tour, she demonstrated in-depth knowledge of Jewish heritage in Ukraine and neighboring countries, as well as comprehensive knowledge of general history and culture.

The plan we set out for ourselves included long car journeys, but throughout the journeys we heard from her lectures on topics of our interest, addressing a multitude of questions we asked.

One of the special things for us – the whole tour was in Hebrew.

Many thanks, Lada, for the fascinating tour.

Haim Wainrach


Genealogical research in the Zhytomyr Archives

We’ve just got thank you letter from Sylvia after our research in the Zhytomyr (Zhtiomir) archives.

Thank you so much for the family tree you’ve created plus data spreadsheet produced for our family. 

We’re absolutely amazed and delighted that you’ve managed to find so much information. We had no idea the research was going to be so successful.

 
It’s truly fantastic and so much more than we could have hoped for.

 

Sylvia Sheridan

Hertfordshire, UK

It’s we who should thank you! / Tomasz


“The Barn”: production of a documentary movie

 

If it weren’t for Tomasz’s expertise our recent trip to Ukraine would not have been possible. Through incredible hard work, unparalleled knowledge and only a small amount of information with which to begin, Tomasz was able to find what we were certain no longer existed; A barn that had been a hiding spot for 18 Jews during the Holocaust. He was wonderfully helpful during pre-production and once we arrived in Ukraine helped organize scheduling, transport, security and interviews. He is an exceptional guide and a wonderful person to be around. We can’t recommend him highly enough.

Thank you Tomasz!

Alexis Fishman & Phil Berger

New York


Guiding in Radkekhiv (Radziechów)

radekhiv

On Jewish street in Radekhiv

It was a pleasant experience to be with you on our trip in Galicia, the homeland of our family. We, all the four cousins, have been impressed very much by your kind and nice personality, as well as from your knowledge on the subject of the Jews in the area. We appreciate very much the effort to find a Citizen from the community for helping to locate the house and the farm that was belonged to our Grandfather.

I must mention also the driver that was a good English speaker, kind, and helpful young man.

We were very lucky to have you as our guide, and intend to recommend you to friends and family members.

Thank You very much
From all of us

Ariela Fundaminsky

Israel


Bilyi Kamin & Sasiv, Galicia

Tomasz was an excellent guide for the discover your shtetl tour. We visited two villages near Lviv [Bilyi Kamin & Sasiv] that my ancestors left in the early 1900s. He had done research on each town so that when we arrived he had identified specific locations to visit. He was also creative and flexible: when a building in a cemetery was locked, he called and found the caretaker who unlocked it; same with a small local museum. He even found an elderly woman to tell us recollections of the past. I highly recommend Tomasz.

Lee Schaloop

New York, USA

Busk_009-copy2


Tour to Bolekhiv & Drohobych


Tomasz paved the way for my trip to eastern Ukraine beginning 6 months ahead. He found family records going back to the mid 19th century and helped decipher the information. His creation of a family tree on MyHeritage.com proved most helpful in understanding the family relationships. He even informed us of relatives in the US that we did not know about! Guiding and interpreting on our van journey to two towns in Galicia will be memorable for the rest of my life. His knowledge of Hebrew and of my family tree resulted in the fortunate serendipity in the Jewish cemetery to know I was standing next to the grave of my great-great grandfather! Lada, his partner, who is a Yiddish expert, assisted in tombstone interpretation.

I heartily recommend this team if you seek your Jewish heritage in this area.

Nina Edelman

Milwaukee, USA

Photos no. 2, 3 & 4 by Bruce Gendelman. Photo no. 1 by Jewish Family Search.


Genealogical Research in the Khmelnytsky Archives

Thank you so much for your help. I have been quite overwhelmed with the information you found for me. Now I have great-great- grandparents! The whole process was conducted with such quiet efficiency and delivered to me in a format which was so clear and simple to understand. I have a friend who is a translator of Russian and he has been amazed at how much of the old script you were able to decipher and read.

Jewish birth record from Russian Empire

Jewish birth record from Kamyanets-Podilsky found during the research

It has been such a pleasure to work with you – I would recommend your services to anyone, in fact to everyone.

Apologies for the delayed response, but my first task has been to share the information with others in the family who are also interested and amazed at the amount of information you managed to obtain.

Thanks again.

Maureen Schiller

Tideswell, UK