In March 2008, Deborah Friedman sent me a copy of a page of  the “List or Manifest Of Alien Passengers” from Galveston, Texas. This had the signatures of Baruch (Bennett) and Meilech (Mayer) Lechtus, Schmul (Samuel) and Selman (Solman) Friedman, who we knew traveled together from Kopaigerod to Galveston. They arrived July 8, 1913, on the ship named Chemnitz, which departed 7/17/1913 from Bremen, Germany .

The line signed by Baruch had the surname at the left, and again at the right for the Nearest Relative, but in both places only the first three letters Lec were clear. I sent for a new printed copy, and with enlargements, it showed the name was Lech.us, with the letter after h showing no cross bar. The missing letter is probably a letter t, because lecht is Yiddish for light or candle.

I did a search for the name using Ancestry.com, and found the passenger list for the rest of the immediate family, when they arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1914. The ship was the Brandenburg, which departed from Bremen, Germany.

The surname is written, one time, and clearly confirms that the spelling is Lechtus.

Carolynn and I met Simon Lechtuz, in southern California, who is my father’s cousin. I asked him why he spelled his name that way (instead of Licht), and he said because that is what the name in Europe sounded like. I didn’t understand what he meant. Now I think he meant it sounded like the name in Yiddish.

The passenger list in Galveston shows my father’s first and second name is Abram Meilich. He later in the United Staes legally reversed these names to be Mayer Abraham Licht. Therefore his first name is Meilech, in Yiddish.

The ship register has names spelled differently than what I previously thought. My grandfathers first name is Leiser, and born 1872. Joe Friedman wrote his name is Laser. My grandmother’s first name is Iska, and born 1874. Joe Friedman wrote her name is Eska. I think all these names are spelled as they sound in Yiddish, and the transliterations can vary.

The other family members on the ship register have these names, either Yiddish or Hebrew, and I can identify them by the birth dates:

• Leu Lechtus, 1901, this is Leah.

• Gedaile Lechtus, 1903, this is James.

• Chane Lechtus, 1904, this is Ann.

• Ete Lechtus, 1908, this is Ella.

The ship register is one line per person, handwritten. There is also a printed list of the names, which must have been  taken from the handwriting, and there could be errors. All the handwritten entries are clear, except for these:  the first letter of Iske, which does look more like a capital I than a capital E, the middle letter in Ete which does not have a cross bar, and the printed Lue appears in handwriting to be Leu. James is named after his grandfather, my great-grandfather, written as Gedaile Lechtus. A different spelling by Bernie Basker is Gedalyah. Probably the spelling Gedaile is Yiddish, and Gedalyah is Hebrew.

Handwritten under Nearest Relative for the line of Gedaile (James) is written “gr. Father”, and ditto mark for the other children. Handwritten under Nearest Relative for the line of Izka is written “father” and  her father Yitzak Maltzer did stay in Kopaigerod and came to the United States later on.

Because James, who was born in 1903, is  named after Gedaile, Gedaile would have died before 1903. 

There is a column for occupation, which is difficult to read. Appears that Leiser listed “trader”, and Iska listed “housewife”. The entry for James is not readable, but it is 3 or 4 letters ending in t.

A print-out lists for Friend of Leiser Lechtus: Mojeche Malzer. The written entry of the first name cannot be read, so the print-out is probably incorrect. I think it should be Moishe for Morris, and Maltzer was the name used later in the United States.

On the signed passenger list, in very small print, underneath Gedaile Lechtus, is this one line entry: 1942  9622/3087 (505 Los Angeles 23 x 29276 Natz.) The fifth last letter looks like an n or  u.

Discussion:

In  1997 Carolynn and I met my second cousin Micha Lichthouse, who lived in Haifa, Israel. His male cousins in Israel also have the name Lichthouse. I know my father told me that our name Licht was shortened from Lichthouse. I had assumed that the name in Russia was the German spelling Lichthaus.

In Yiddish light is spelled lecht, and house is hoyz.

 I have a picture of my grandfather’ family in Warsaw, and written on the photo in Yiddish script, which I had translated is “the family Lichtoyz from 1930”. This was probably written on the photo at a later date, and the script could have an error.

There are often variations in translating Yiddish or Hebrew to English spelling.

It is clear on the passenger list that the name in Russia in 1913 and 1914 was written as Lechtus.

Lechtus, with that spelling, Yiddish meaning “candle house, is recorded in A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames From The Kingdom Of Poland, by Alexander Beider, published by Avotaynu in 1996 (278).

More Research:

First names are recorded on gravestones, either the Hebrew or Yiddish name, in Hebrew letters without vowel signs, right to left. 

Ben means son of, bat means daughter of,  br is ben reb which means “son (or daughter) of the worthy.

• Isaac Maltzer is Yitzak ben Avraham Meir.

• Eda Licht is Iska bat Yitzak.

• Louis Licht is Eliezer ben Gidalyah (each is the spelling by Bernie Basker). 

• James Licht is Gidalyah ben Eliezer

• Mayer Licht is Meir ben Eliezer

• Bennett Licht is Baruch ben Eliezer

• Leah Lanfeld is Leah bat Eliezer 

When my father died in 1968 I assumed his Hebrew name is Meir. Bernie and Eileen Basker named their youngest daughter Meira, named after Mayer. That Isaac Maltzer’s father’s middle name is Meir, confirms that Mayer’s Hebrew name is Meir, named after his great-grandfather, my great-great-grandfather.

Conclusion:

I will list a  name, left to right; first as written on the passenger list which is  usually Yiddish or Hebrew, alternate spelling, Hebrew, English.

• Gedaile Lechtus, Gidalyah Lechtus

• Yitzak Maltzer, Isaac Maltzer

• Leiser / Laser Lechtus, Eliezer, Louis Licht

• Iska / Eska Lechtus, Yiska, Eda Licht

• Baruch Lechtus, Bennett Licht

• Meilech Abram Lechtus, Meir Avram, Mayer Abraham Licht

• Leu Lechtus, Leah, Leah Lanfeld

• Chane Lechtus, Chana, Anne Friedman

• Ete Lechtus, Ela, Ella Bordin