On 8 December 2016 at 12:02, Mark Rybak <mrybak@012.net.il> wrote
The whole family (apart from her father who was in Tallinn) escaped Nazis with the last train from Tartu. They started their long journey to evacuation to Uzbekistan.
Thus no deportations and no camps – evacuation to Uzbekistan (Tashkent). They arrived to the place called en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangiyo'l 20km from Tashkent. They couldn't find work and, in general, were totally unfit to the difficulties of new life in unknown and so different place. The 3d brother Moduch Leib (or as they called him Lev) was very ill person and the father and older brothers gave their scarcely available food to him. Judith father found the family and joined them later. He was angry that father does not care about himself. And, as we know, first the father Jehuda Falk and then the oldest son Nosson died from starvation. In 1942. Terrible.
About the names. Like with Christian names, we also have an official Jewish name given by birth and written in the synagogue record and the common name by witch the person is known to family and friends. Roy James Alfred vs Bill is a good example. So the official Jewish name was Hasja Feiga (actually both Yiddish, rather that Hebrew (Bible) names. Feiga means a pigeon. But she was called Fenja and this fact was written officially in the following document –
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER of the government of Palestine (the land of Israel).
Published by the government. Thursday, 9 of January 1947:
Name changes: Arbit Hasja Feiga, new name Arbit Fenja Catherina.
The addition of Catherina is of course very interesting. Obviously a Christian name not used by the Jews. So could it be that the acquaintance with Bill and a thought about future marriage caused that addition? It would be a bit easier to present a new wife with a name that at least sounds as Christian...
See also www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39384/page/6007/data.pdf
About their acquaintance – a family rumor.
Bill (as Judith put it a general or at least a colonel, a very important person, may be a Major of Haifa) entered a barber shop in Haifa and found that some lady occupied the chair before him out of the queue, or something like that. An argument started and, at some stage, Bill said "I am the officer of Her Majesty" and he got an answer "In that case I am a Russian Princess".
That started their acquaintance which led to marriage.
The family tree should follow one day.
All the best, Mark