Hello, and welcome to the Zabludow Memorial Website. My name is Tilford Bartman. I was born in 1955, and I have a terrific wife and a wonderful teenage son. I created and maintain this website as a memorial to the 400 years of Jewish history and culture in the Shtetl (town) of Zabludow Poland. My father was born in Zabludow in 1912, and my great grandfather Schmuel Bartnovski had a blacksmith shop on the small Rudnia River which ran through town. The mission of this website is to gather all the sources regarding the history, culture, and genealogy of the Zabludow Jews. Most sources are difficult to locate, and are in Yiddish or Polish. My mission is to make them easily accessible by translating them to English, then to present them on the internet in a visually pleasing form.
I knew almost nothing about Zabludow or my father's family the Bartnovski’s until recent years. My grandfather Yosef Bartnovski died in Zabludow in the 1919 influenza epidemic. My grandmother Tsyrl Bartnovski's maiden name was Lopata. She remarried Hyman Petlin (also from Zabludow) shortly after coming to America with my father in 1921. After coming to America and remarrying their contact with the handful of Bartnovski’s here in America was quite infrequent, except that they regularly saw my Aunt Rivka who lived nearby. The rest of the family was far away in Chicago or Detroit. My father died in 1965 when I was age 10. I never got much of a chance to learn from him about his family, and his roots in the "old Country". My mother remarried after a few years, and I had a very good stepfather for almost 24 years. This legacy in the "old country" was very far from my mind growing up in the 1960's and 70's in Washington, D.C.
I became curious when I stumbled upon the JewishGen genealogical website about three years ago. I saw that many people much like myself had learned a great deal about their family histories and their heritage in the old country by using the internet as research tool, and means of communication. I began to learn a little at a time. When I saw that many Shtetls had memorial website’s. I said to myself why not Zabludow? From that point I was on a mission.
I have learned a great deal in a few years, but there is much that I don't know, and may never know. I have seen how due to the twin evils of the 20th century, Nazism and Communism many of our families are not quite whole and connected as they might have been had we not suffered our great catastrophe. In some small way I have tried to do my part to correct this. I have seen how many of my generation know very little of people and events just a few generations ago, and have little to pass on to our children of this world which is no more. I hope gathering this information and presenting it in an accessible form on this website will be a service to others. I'd also like to say that this website stands as a testimony against racism, bigotry and intolerance. Unfortunately history is replete with examples of peoples whose great sufferings though somewhat different from ours, are no less significant to them, and which cry out for our understanding. Today in many places people suffer in ways that remind us, and we cannot remain indifferent.
I'd like to thank the people at JewishGen. If it wasn't for their work I don't think I would have had the opportunity to be inspired to do this. I would also like to thank those who created the original Yiddish language Zabludow Yiskor book published in Buenos Aires in 1961, and the Zabludow Community in Israel who published the Hebrew Language "Chosen Pages From the Zabludow Yiskor Book" in 1987. Many are gone now but there are a handful of decedents who remain committed to the memory of Zablduow. Finally, I'd like to say a word about the holocaust survivors from Zabludow. They are truly an inspiration. Thank goodness that they had the foresight and the strength to record their nightmare in pen and ink. They went on to rebuild their lives in America, Argentina, Australia, and Israel. Who would blame them had they had been broken and weak, mired in bitterness and thoughts of revenge. Instead these great people went on to build a garden. Many created families, or new families in new countries to which they made very substantial contributions. I'm thinking particularly of Israel, our consolation and our great hope.
Please enjoy this website, and learn. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions please e-mail me. I'd like to hear from you.
Click here to read, "We Will Never Forget" from the Zabludow Yizkor Book, Buenos Aires, 1961
Bartnowski History Zabludow Synagogue The Bialystok Children The Zabludow Judenrat Maps Town History Zabludow Landsmanshaftn Zabludow Holocaust Page Links Zabludow "Ancient" Pnkas
web: 2003 Tilford Bartman