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Explore our digital collection, bringing together artifacts scattered across the globe and research that sheds light on Belarusian Jewish culture and history.

Photo of three women. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. They stand near their mother’s grave in the Jewish graveyard of Ashmyany. Rivka Aryewitz, daughter of Dov Tsvi Oriavitsh, died in May 1929. She was likely the great-aunt of Harvey’s grandmother Hannah. The photo was taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. On the back of the photo, a text written in Yiddish says:
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near their grandmother’s grave

Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Finland from Antwerp, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandfather Beniamin Strashunski (Benjamin Strauss) (1913). Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Carmania, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother Henja Straschunska and her children Fiszel, Faiwel, Sara and Ettel , as well as her younger brother Efroim Owseizik (1921). (Note: Sara’s name was written as Lora by a clerical error. Also, Efroim was identified as a friend although he was Henja’s brother
Legal document

Strauss family's migration documents

Photograph of Harvey Shonen’s maternal grandparents and of their five children, taken in 1923 according to Harvey. They changed their surname to Strauss in the US. Front row from left: Ethel Strauss, approximately 10 years old (married named Ethel Roifer); Bessie Strauss, a few months old (married name Bessie Bernstein; she is  the only one of the five children born in the US); Benjamin Strauss, 50 years old.
Photograph

Photograph of the Strashunski family

Photo of three women standing in a field, probably not far from the Jewish cemetery of Ashmyany. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. The photo was taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. On the back, the handwritten text in Yiddish says says: ‘in memory of the sisters Leya, Nekhome and Reyzele’
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near the Ashmyany Jewish cemetery

Druja, general view
Postcard

Druya, general view

Ashmyany memorial book
Book

Ashmyany memorial book

Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) [Title page]
Religious text

Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) [Title page]

Old Jewish Cemetery in Slonim
Postcard

Old Jewish Cemetery in Slonim