I am trying to establish the genology of my family that came from
Galacia, goredenka or horedenka, in what is now the ukraine-my
grandfather was known as Julius Spirer and I have located him comming
through ellis island-i would like to find out as much as possible
about these spirer's in this area-

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 02 Oct 2002 13:10 PDT

Dear drjunes,

Is it possible that your grandfather's name was indeed "Juda Spirer",
or was this at least his original name? Furthermore, did he enter the
USA via Ellis Island on August 21, 1898 at the age of 17? Did he come
on the ship "Rotterdam"?

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by drjunes-ga on 02 Oct 2002 15:47 PDT

yes i think that juda is julius he died in 1943, april in queens ny he
was married to sadie strumeyer (i can not locate her family) -they 
her family came through ellis-i think her dad name was emanuel they
lived in arverne nyc-i do not know if julius had any brothers or
sisters, he had 5 children, ceil, harry, leon, joseph and george all
are dead except joe who lives in palm gardens florida-thats the total
sccop i have on my paternal grandfater and grandmother-any help and
clarification would be gratefully appreciated if you need more time or
money again i can work it out

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 02 Oct 2002 16:20 PDT

Dear drjunes,

I have very bad news, I'm afraid. My research and the help of a fellow
Researcher brought me to websites providing some information on the
Ukrainian town of Gorodenka / Horodenka.
The family name Spirer (also written Spierer or Shpirer, which is
pronounced the same) had a certain tradition in that town. The oldes
record I was able to locate dates from the late 18th century and is
derived from an Austrian list of Jewish taxpayers resident in
Gorodenka 1789-1791. In a modern comment to this list, we learn:
"This list is especially significant because it was in 1787 – only two
years earlier than the time period covered by the list – that Austrian
Emperor Joseph II required the Jews of Galicia and Bukovina to adopt
permanent surnames.[1] This list, therefore, may be the earliest
existing record of some of the family names that it contains."
The Seelig Spierer listed there might be the first one in the family
with a permanent surname. So we have what could be the "beginning" of
the Spierer / Spirer family in Gorodenka:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor503.html

But the history of the family in Gorodenka ends abruptly and in a most
sad way. In 1942, almost all Jews of the city were rounded up by
German special commands and later executed:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor273.html

The lists of the victims contain many of the name Spirer, Spierer or
Shpirer:
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/gorodenka1/gor001.html
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor504.html

Jewish tradition in Gorodenka was wiped out. The Jewish community with
all its documents ceased to exist. There are not much sources left,
and the odds of finding some surviving documents are extremely bad.

Please see also:
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Gorodenka/
http://shangrila.cs.ucdavis.edu:1234/heckman/gorodenka/index.html
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gorodenka.html

I am very sorry I can't bring you better news. Maybe another
researcher finds sources that might prove helpful.

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by drjunes-ga on 02 Oct 2002 19:07 PDT

hi i sent y an answer two hours ago did y get

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Clarification of Question by drjunes-ga on 04 Oct 2002 14:15 PDT

hi than you for your help you have not billed for your hard work-can
you do another
question for me

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 11 Oct 2002 10:12 PDT

Dear drjunes,

Thank you very much. Would you like me to post this information as an
answer so you can be billed? If so, I would include a description of
my search strategy and the sources I used. Please let me know.

Regards,
Scriptor

Dear drjunes,

I have just read your comment from October 4. Your appreciation for
the results of my research are a real honor for me, and now I follow
your suggestion to post it as an answer with some additional remarks
on search terms and sources.

My research and the help of a fellow
Researcher brought me to websites providing some information on the
Ukrainian town of Gorodenka / Horodenka.
The family name Spirer (also written Spierer or Shpirer, which is
pronounced the same) had a certain tradition in that town. The oldes
record I was able to locate dates from the late 18th century and is
derived from an Austrian list of Jewish taxpayers resident in
Gorodenka 1789-1791. In a modern comment to this list, we learn:
"This list is especially significant because it was in 1787 – only two
years earlier than the time period covered by the list – that Austrian
Emperor Joseph II required the Jews of Galicia and Bukovina to adopt
permanent surnames.[1] This list, therefore, may be the earliest
existing record of some of the family names that it contains."
The Seelig Spierer listed there might be the first one in the family
with a permanent surname. So we have what could be the "beginning" of
the Spierer / Spirer family in Gorodenka:

http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor503.html
(Source: Gorodenka, Ukraine: List of Jewish Tax Payers, 1789-1791, by
JewishGen, 2002)
 
But the history of the family in Gorodenka ends abruptly and in a most
sad way. In 1942, almost all Jews of the city were rounded up by
German special commands and later executed:

http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor273.html
(Source: Gorodenka, Ukraine: The destruction of the Jews of Horodenka,
by Meyer Sukher. Published online by JewishGen, 2002)
 
The lists of the victims contain many of the name Spirer, Spierer or
Shpirer:

http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/gorodenka1/gor001.html
(Source: Gorodenka List of Victims, by JewishGen, 2002)

http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gor504.html
(Source: Gorodenka, Ukraine: List of Holocaust Martyrs, by JewishGen,
2002)
 
Jewish tradition in Gorodenka was wiped out. The Jewish community with
all its documents ceased to exist. There are not much sources left,
and the odds of finding some surviving documents are extremely bad.

One thing I can say for sure however, thanks to the Ellis Island
immigration records, is that your grandfather arrived on the ship
"Rotterdam" from Rotterdam / Netherlands on August 21, 1898. He was 17
years old then, unmarried, and his name was still Juda Spirer
according to the official documents, while he obviously later changed
the given name to Julius.

Sources:

American Family Immigration History Center: Ellis Island Records
Database, by The Ellis Island Foundation, 2000
http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/

JewishGen ShtetLinks: Gorodenka, by Mark Heckman, 2001
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Gorodenka/

Gorodenka Website, by Mark Heckman and Norman Berman
http://shangrila.cs.ucdavis.edu:1234/heckman/gorodenka/index.html

The book of Horodenka: Translation of Sefer Horodenka, by Sh. Meltzer.
Published online by JewishGen, 2002
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gorodenka/gorodenka.html

Search terms used:
gorodenka:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=gorodenka&meta=
horodenka:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=horodenka&meta=
gorodenka spirer:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=gorodenka+spirer&meta=
horodenka spirer:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=horodenka+spirer&meta=
gorodenka spierer:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=gorodenka+spierer&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
horodenka spierer:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=horodenka+spierer&meta=

Though the circumstances are sad, it was a real pleasure to help you.
Best regards,
Scriptor

an amazing researcher who has gone beyond my expectations