It struck me the other day that as I document the daily minutia, along with major life events, that much of Lynzey's family history remains undocumented, or at least not in one central place. Worse, as people leave, there is no one left to explain the pictures or provide context for various life events. This lack of detail will become more pronounced as the "information age" progresses, where the idea of not being able to obtain data in a few clicks of a mouse will be more and more foreign. The solution? An effort by me to gather what I can and this page, a place where we can preserve family history.
Update 10/20/15 -- The more I dig into family history, the more I see the connection between myself and the lineage of my family members. It is certainly a study of the past, but the process raises many questions that force you to be introspective. Add in the companion part of this website, the day to day life of one Lynzey Zeldis, and it brings up that many more questions. Why are there so many striking similarities in the makeup of my forefathers and mothers? Nature or nurture? I don't have all the answers; I find that just asking the questions is illuminating.
Update 10/20/15 -- The more I dig into family history, the more I see the connection between myself and the lineage of my family members. It is certainly a study of the past, but the process raises many questions that force you to be introspective. Add in the companion part of this website, the day to day life of one Lynzey Zeldis, and it brings up that many more questions. Why are there so many striking similarities in the makeup of my forefathers and mothers? Nature or nurture? I don't have all the answers; I find that just asking the questions is illuminating.
Norman Zeldis: A Love of Life
(click on photo below to play)
Two 90 minute audio tapes, compiled into one file, of my mother, Sylvia Kaminsky Zeldis (1947-2011), discussing the life of my grandmother, Paula Kaminsky (? - 2003).
** click on video below to listen via YouTube **
** click on video below to listen via YouTube **
A series of six audio tapes, 90 minutes each, which contain an interview conducted in 1989 by my grandfather, Norman Zeldis (1922-2015), and answered by my great grandfather, Louis Zeldis (1900-1993). My grandfather called them Conversations with my Father. Many have the idea to interview family members before they are gone, but few do. It speaks to who my grandfather was that he followed through and did it in such a detailed and organized fashion. Very thankful that he went to such effort to preserve our family history.
From Tape 3B (around the 31 minute mark): Norman: Have you enjoyed putting this on tape the way we did it? Louis: Yes, I enjoyed it because it is for the future, for the children, for the grandchildren.. And they can copy it and have it in the house and sometime they play and enjoy it and I enjoy it too. Norman: The legacy for the future. We can enjoy it now but maybe in several generations if these tapes are passed down then it will really be somebody's roots who didn't know us but who has a documented audible history of his ancestors...This tape I will always be able to say that we did it because we loved each other and we were willing to say the things that we said and have them for the future. Louis: Yeah, this is a wonderful thing and a good thing that we have these kind of machines too. Years ago they didn't have it so we didn't know, we just had to remember. I tell my children and their children tell their children and so on and so forth . But now you can take a man of 90 years old and give it to the children three and four generations later and they can see how it was done then.
** Click on an installment below to listen via YouTube **
If you prefer, you can also download all 12 installments in mp3 format by clicking on this link:
6 MP3 Tapes in Zip Folder
6 MP3 Tapes in Zip Folder
Holidays at 2 Goundry Dr., Hanukah '98 - '01
Video of the "RIdgewood Park Players" -- basically my brother and Allison Brower, with a little bit of me and other kids thrown in.
Josh Zeldis Bar Mitzvah, 1986. Amazing to see everyone so young, including myself. Also sad to see so many people who are no longer with us.
Combination of all my my mother and father's Super 8 videos, with video spanning about 20 years. Thanks Dad for the names of songs to provide a soundtrack.
KAMINSKY FAMILY
(Thanks to Allen Attas for putting together the pictures)
(Thanks to Allen Attas for putting together the pictures)
My grandmother's father, my great grandfather. He died very young and my grandmother's mother remarried.
My great grandmother.
My grandmother's sister.
Poppi Izzy at the displacement camp after World War II and my grandparent's time in Siberia.. I believe this was in Amberg, Germany, where my mother was born. Soon thereafter, they would take a scary voyage to the United States.
My grandfather at the displacement camp in Germany. I am sure the Pepsi, and everything it represented, meant a great deal to him after the challenges he had overcome.
Family photo of my grandmother, grandfather, newborn mother and my Aunt Florence (taken in Germany). My grandfather's trademark smile radiates.
My Aunt Florence and two unknown kids,
This photo was taken in Poland, where my grandparents were from. The woman on the far-right is my great grandmother and the woman below her is likely my grandmother's sister. I assume the rest are family too.
Family photo.
My Aunt Florence, my mother and a third girl, last name Geminder. The picture was taken in the United States.
My grandfather's sister, Honcha, her husband, Zurich, and their children..
The beach house at Old Colony Beach (Old Lyme, CT) where my grandparents, aunt and mother stayed at for years during the Summers.
My grandparents with my grandfather's nephew, Henry Gudavich.
My grandparents.
ZELDIS FAMILY
September - October 1953 Photo Album (click on photo for full picture)
ZELDIS (NIBUR) FAMILY
NIBUR FAMILY TREE
