Photos are being added as time allows. Please recheck often. Many are in color.
(Headline)
Mayoff Family Receives Worldwide Recognition
Web Page Wins Five Awards
www.mayoff.com launched
Through the efforts and talents of Jason Mayoff (Sam), noted Montreal news broadcaster, the Mayoff/Mayov/Majew family is receiving international notoriety. Located on the World Wide Web (WWW) of the Internet our family page, Jason's brainchild, has been extensively rebuilt and has received five awards including The Family Pride Award of Excellence, Pride of the Heartland and the MP Cyberspace Golden Leaf Award. Not really a page, but dozens of pages it is being utilized by researchers globally and has attracted hundreds of readers to our "site." We have had comments from around the world and some inquiries about possible links to other families. Maybe one day we will make a connection. Family members may now access the web site through the simplified address of www.mayoff.com. Additionally, the on-line version of the Family Descendant will include color photos and graphics which can be easily copied and printed. More on page 11.
Montreal Cousins Hold Mini Reunion
A group of about thirty members of our extended family held a mini-reunion
on December 1, 1996. A private room was arranged at Le Biftheque restaurant
on Côte de Liesse in Montreal. Spearheaded by Sarah Mayoff (Sch/Ush),
the event went off smoothly and a good time was had by all. A moment of
silence was observed for the recent passing of Ralph Rapoport (Sch). Sarah
announced that Esther Mayoff (Sch/Ush) will be 100 years old in March and
there was talk of a celebration when the snowbirds return from Florida.
Additional photos from the mini-reunion appear on page 8
Photo shows: Left to right: Moe and Sarah Mayoff (Sch/Ush), Harry Monn and Vivien Gold (Bun), Rhea (Bottler) and Archie Finberg (Soc) (Photo by Susan Mayoff Vamos)
Editor's Page
Art
Mayoff
Happy New Year
It is with great pleasure that Sue and I announce the birth of our first grandchild. Born to our daughter Debbie and her wonderful husband Bruce, Matthew Zachary Kaplan arrived on October 9th, 1996. The dynasty continues.
My thanks to those who have supported the newsletter financially. It is greatly appreciated. The funding received following the mailing of the last issue will fully cover the printing and mailing costs of two issues. I'd like to quote from one note I received. "Dear Art! Sasha and I received our first American [pay]checks this week and we would like to support the newsletter. Thank you very much for your great job. Love, Mila and family."
Lee Bergen hosts recent arrivals from Russia
In a most generous and loving gesture, Lee Bergen (Bun) hosted a week of fun and excitement for youngsters Eugene El'perin, age nine and his sister Anna, age 13. Arranged to coincide with school break, Lee provided round trip airline tickets to Florida and I understand she kept the kids busy the whole time. Or was it the other way around? What a great learning experience for these youngsters. It's a trip they will always remember. Good show Lee!
A SERIOUS NOTE TO ALL
DESCENDANTS OF ZELIG MAYOV
The average income for a working person in Russia is about $40.00 a month. Yes! You read that right. (About $500.00 a year.) For a pensioner, it's even less. In the first sentence of the letter on the next page, Aron Gindin mentions something inside the newsletter. The something Aron refers to is money - More precisely, cash. Sending cash through the mail is never a wise idea, but I have experimented by sending relatively small amounts, a single ten dollar bill or a twenty dollar bill to them. In about a dozen mailings to Russian addresses, there has not been a single case of lost money. Lee Bergen has done the same thing. The reason I am discussing this topic in the newsletters is to ask those of you who might have an extra ten dollars in your checking account that you can do without, send it to Lee or to me and we will get it to them in Russia. They dearly need it. (The Russian government is 90 days behind on their pension checks.) Such a small amount can be a tremendous help to our most disadvantaged cousins. Won't you help?
Branch identifiers
To help our readers figure out who's who and from which branch they descend, I am using abbreviated identifiers taken from the first three letters of the name of each of Zelig's children:
Abr=Abraham; Bun=Bunya; Hen=Henya; Isr=Israel; Lei=Leizer; Sam=Sam; Sch=Schloima; Soc=Soche/Socha/Sonia; Ush=Usher.
From Herbert and Barbara Simon (Hen) of West Hollywood, CA: "Happy to support and sustain your efforts, Art..."
From Sandra & Howard Fradin (Hen) of Skokie, Illinois (via the internet): " We are at my son Eric's house, and we have been playing around with the computer. We discovered the Mayoff page and have sent a few messages... We enjoyed the last newsletter. Your visit with our cousins from Russia was wonderful. How nice of you to do that. Thanks for all your hard work...."
From Manny and Arleen Bernstein (Abr) of Tarzana, CA: "You are great - so is Sue..."
From Betty & Irwin Rosen (Hen) of Fremont, CA: "Keep up the good work..."
From genealogist Arlene Edwards of West Covina, CA: "Bravo!!! Art and Sue, you've done it again!! I thoroughly enjoyed walking with your cousins from Russia through their experiences. Sometimes we forget the things we take for granted..."
From Teddy Mayoff (Sam) of Laval, Quebec: "Received the Newsletter. Great as always. I like the white pages. They do seem to make the pictures clearer...."
From Steve Gertsman, of Van- couver, BC... The [Mayoff web] site is quite impressive. I have used it to demonstrate the power of the Internet to a number of friends who have visited me... I sent Jason a note of congratulations for a job well done. I should add the same here, to you, as it looks like much of the content has come from you! Well done!
Oct. 15, 1996
Good day dear Art,
We and Galya's family received the newsletter and also something inside. Thank you very much for taking care of us.
Ira Vaintrayb visited us and she translated the newsletter for us. We liked the photos and your story about Mila and Sasha's visit to you. We also liked the story about Lee Bergen's meeting with Dima in Israel.
For our side, we are so glad more and more of our relatives are gathering in America, but the other side is that we feel ourselves lonely here in Russia. We live with the hope that we will meet you one day.
Our health is not very good. In September it marked a year since we submitted our papers [to immigrate] to Germany. We have not received any answer yet. People say it will take about two years.
Our life is not easy now and neither is it for many other people in our country. We hope that everything will be all right.
Best wishes to you and all the family. Best wishes from [our daughter] Galya and her family.
Kisses, Aron & Rimma
Dear Art,
I know how much time you work hard to form the Family Tree with all the descendants of the Mayoff family. Thank you very much. Let me please make some amendments to page 3 of the Fall '96 newsletter. - Aron.
Grandmother Bunya Mayoff 1867-1952
Lenya Rigskya (Sonya's son) 1946-1979
Dora Dobyaskaya Gindina (my mother) 1908-1942
Mendl Gindin (my father) 1903-1957
Cilya Grossman 1906-1986
Rachel Gindina (my Aunt) 1905-1977
Boris Ninburg 1909-1988
Dina Gindina (my sister) 1938-1944
Mila Elperina (B) 21 March 1960
Aleksandr Elperin (B) 9 March 1953
Ira Grachova, my granddaughter (B) 22 Jan 1987
Rimma/Revecca (not Rebecca)
Zelig's descendants change the course of the mighty oceans.
It was a lovely weekend. Planned for weeks in advance. Letters - phone calls - reservations - more phone calls. Instigated by Alice Gerstman, (we'll blame her) we decided to meet in historic San Luis Opisbo for Labor Day weekend 1996. An annual event at Rosh Hashonnah, Alice joins son Cliff and daughter-in-law, Laurie for the holidays but this year she suggested we join them halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Sue and I drove the two hundred miles and shared a great weekend. We had dinner at "This Old House - for Ribs" and spent the evening getting caught up since the 1995 reunion. It was a lovely evening. We visited the majestic Madonna Inn and enjoyed a late evening dessert before returning to our hotel. Sunday morning found us at the Apple Farm restaurant for a great brunch on their outdoor patio. Little did we know what disaster lied ahead for us. In a moment of warped thoughts, weeks earlier I suggested to Alice to bring a bottle of Atlantic ocean water before leaving New York. Little did I know she would actually do it. She even documented it with photos. This gesture of merging the two coasts would culminate in having Alice symbolically pour her Atlantic Ocean water into the Pacific.
Photo number one documents the source of the vial of Atlantic water at Sag Harbor, Long Island. Photo number two was taken just as Alice began pouring. Note the receded shoreline.
But the addition of this insignificant amount of water immediately caused
an imbalance (in the ocean - not us!) which can be seen in lower half of
photo number three as the ocean began to 
overflow. If you think I have
too much spare time on my hands to come
up with such drivel/dribble, I'll promote you to editor in a cat's breath.
In an effort to stop the imbalance we see in photo number four Alice pouring
Pacific Ocean water back into the Atlantic.
by Irwin Rosen, MD* (Hen)
I would like to share some unusual events in my life that one might call a brush with history. Even though a bit graphic, I think this bit of history will be of interest to certain members of the families - especially people of my generation who were adults during World War II.
After completing my internship as a young doctor at Cook County hospital in Chicago, I was ordered into the Army as a 1st Lt. in the Medical Corp. After some weeks of military processing, I was shipped by Army boat transport to Inchon, Korea and then on to Japan, arriving in Tokyo in November 1947. Further orders took me to Sugamo Prison in Tokyo where I joined Dr. John Kersten as one of the two doctors at the Japanese War Crimes trials. I soon had as patients such notorious Japanese as Tojo, Togo, Doihara, Mitsui, etc. What followed was the most unforgettable period of my life.
The war criminals were divided into three categories Category A were the 26 top leaders of Japan before and during WWII - people like Tojo, the Japanese equivalent of Hitler. Category B were other high ranking generals and government leaders accused of helping lead Japan into WWII. Category C were prison guards and other lower ranking soldiers accused of brutalizing and abusing American and Allied soldiers.
Let me share some unusual moments with you. They are still mired in my mind even after all these years. The prison commander lived in fear that one of the Category A prisoners would cheat Justice - like Goering did after the Nuremberg trials. The prison commander was held responsible and could be sent home in disgrace, his career ruined. Therefore, every day when the Category A prisoners returned from the war crimes trials, they stripped naked and had to parade, one at a time in front of Kersten and me - each of us doing this on alternate days. We looked in all body orifices for poison capsules.
Incidentally, I missed having P'u-i, (pronounced Pu-yee) the last Emperor of China as a patient - by a few months. He was brought to Sugamo Prison for two weeks to testify at the trials, but was not indicted by the Allies.
Matsui was another patient. He was a gentle looking grandfatherly figure - reading poetry all the time. This monster lead the Japanese Army invasion of China in the 1937-8 period. After a bitter battle against the Chinese Army at Nanking, Matsui turned his victorious troops loose on the population in what became known as the rape of Nanking. 200,000 Chinese men, women and children were raped and murdered in one of the most horrible episodes and atrocities of WWII. For this, Mastui was eventually convicted and hanged.
General Tojo was sure he was going to be arrested as a war criminal and was determined to avoid this. He had a neighbor, a doctor, show him where his heart was, anticipating suicide if necessary. When Tojo saw the M.P.'s coming through his garden at his home to arrest him, he took his service revolver and put the muzzle against the spot that he had been told that his heart was and pulled the trigger. Grievously injured, he was not dead. The M.P.'s rushed him to Tokyo Army hospital where he was acutely treated and survived. What Tojo forgot was that the Japanese doctor who had marked his heart had done so at right angles to his chest. A right handed individual pointing the gun at his chest would have to hold it at 45° because of wrist limitations. The bullet hit a rib, missed Tojo's heart though it seriously wounded him and he survived his suicide attempt. Later after the trial, he was executed.
Another Tojo memory... Tojo complained of his dentures bothering him. Our unit dentist took his dentures and did some alterations in his lab. As an amateur radio ham, he couldn't resist faintly imprinting the dentures "remember Pearl Harbour" with his dental drill in Morse code. The dental officer wrote this story to his wife in the U.S. telling her not to tell anyone. Eventually she did tell others about it and the story was reported by the AP or UP wire service. Angrily, the Pentagon confiscated the dentures, had a new set made and transferred the dental officer back to the United States. The truth of this amazing story was confirmed by an obituary notice on the dental officer that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle about two years ago which related this story.
In the spring of 1948, a group of the prison engineers took me out to a prison courtyard and showed me four gallows they had erected. They told me that Kersten and I would be medical officers in attendance at the executions of the convicted war criminals. They were sure they would be getting Tojo but were not sure how many others. At trial's end they got seven, including Tojo, Doihara, Matsui and four other top leaders who were hung on Dec. 7. Thankfully, I missed this memorable event because I was transferred back to the U.S. to start my specialty training as an orthopedic surgeon in mid-June.
In early 1948 the prison commandant asked me to examine a young Japanese who had tried to commit suicide while in Sugamo, failed and had been isolated for observation. The commandant wanted to put him back into the general prison population and wanted to know if it was medically okay. With a Japanese interpreter I went to examine the man. I asked this young lieutenant what he was imprisoned for. It came out that during most of WWII he had been stationed in the Philippines in charge of a Japanese platoon. Everyday he was given a list of villages to be punished. The penalty for any guerilla activity by Filipino or U.S. men against Japanese soldiers or installations was to be carried out against the nearest village. The villagers - women, old men, some younger men were made to dig a ditch and then made to line up in front. The lieutenant then had his machine guns mow the villager down, pushed the villagers' bodies into the hole, throw some dirt in and go on to the next village on his list. God only knows how many innocent villagers he murdered during WWII. Obviously countless numbers. The young officer said he felt no guilt whatsoever. He was just "doing his duty." That night I wrote a letter to Betty, still back in the United States, in Chicago, telling her with a kind of depressed feeling, that I wondered if the world had really learned anything of the terrors of WWII.
One last memory - pertinent to today's argument as to whether we really had to drop two A bombs on Japan, I had my answer many years ago in Japan. One morning in March of 1948, I was having some mid-morning coffee in the unit mess hall when I found myself sitting opposite and chatting with an older senior staff officer. He asked me if I had visited Hiroshima - and eventually the conversation turned to whether we should have dropped an A-bomb on Japan. He told me he had been a senior officer on General MacArthur's operational staff during the war in the Pacific. After the occupation of Okinawa, in preparation for the planned invasion of Japan to occur in late 1945, his operation staff had notified the Pentagon that we could expect one million casualties killed and wounded - when we invaded and eventually conquered Japan. Think of all the people who lived and survived the war who would have perished in that terrible event. Though thousands died, millions of Americans and Japanese are alive today because President Truman had the guts to do what had to be done.
* Born Irving Rosen, Jul. 5, 1922 Married Betty Drucker. Curriculum vitae: Marshall High School, Chicago 1936-40; University of Illinois - pre-med 1943-46, Urbanal,Il; Internship, Cook County Hospital, 1946-47; Orthopedic Surgery specialty training, Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, 1948-49; Walter Reed Hospital, 1949-51; University of Iowa Hospital, 1953-54; Board certified, 1956, College of Surgeons, 1957, Chief of many Orthopedic departments - USAF until 1964. Practiced 1964-92 in Fremont, California. Retired from Orthopedic surgery, 1992 to help Betty after her car accident.
Abraham Mayoff, and appears to indicate that he lived at 35 Mt. Royal Ave East and had his tailor shop at 37 Mt. Royal Ave East. (A recent visit to this address leads one to believe that even though this edifice appears to be old, it doesn't seem to be quite old enough to be the original one from 1914.)
and
His brother Sam Mayoff, also a tailor living at 1365 Cadieux. (see below)
Further investigation has shown the following: For the years 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913; 1913 both are listed at the same addresses as 1914; 1912 Sam is not listed*. Only Abraham is, and at the same address on Mt. Royal. 1910 and 1911 neither are listed anywhere in Montreal. Montreal's Lovell Street Directories for the early part of the century are a source of genealogical information. These directories are available on microfilm in many libraries in Montreal and can be photocopied. I would like to have photocopies of the appropriate pages for the alphabetical listings for the name Mayoff from 1916 to 1930 and Montreal history teacher Robert Wilkins has offered to copy these listings for me. He has also provided the Family Descendant with the info on this page.
*According to my father Moe's birth certificate, he was born in Montreal on April 18, 1911. Moe is the son of the Sam shown above.
Skilled and talented best describe Richard
Mayoff (Abr) *Left) our 
family's photographer extraordinaire.
Specializing in commercial photography, Richard obviously prefers fast action
sports and has had numerous photographs published internationally in recognized
magazines. Graciously he gave the Family Descendant permission
to reprint his cover photo from October 1995 On Track. Taken at Laguna
Seka in Monterey, California, it shows Gilles de Ferran who won the race.
Thanks Richard. Send us more.
(Benicia, California) Bruce and Debbie (Mayoff) Kaplan
are proud to 
announce the birth of their
first child Matthew Zachary Kaplan on Wednesday, October 9, 1996
weighing 8 pounds,10 oz. Proud grandparents Art and Sue Mayoff
and Len & the late Shirley Kaplan. Matthew is named in honor of his
maternal great grandfather, Moe Mayoff and his paternal great Aunt
Zelma Greenberg. Left Photo: Matthew Kaplan. Right Photo: Four Generations
- Standing L/R: Great grandmother Edie Suval, Grandmother Sue
Mayoff. Sitting: Debbie Mayoff Kaplan and Matthew. The
picture frame on the table contains a photo of Debbie's namesake and Matthew's
great great grandparents Dora and Hyman Levine.
(Munich, Germany) Alexander & Margarita Sokolinskaia
are pleased 
to announce the birth of their first
child, Michel on October 21st, 1996 weighing 3.3 kgm.
Michel is the granddaughter of Zina and the late Genya Gindin.
Left photo, at the hospital. Center: Rita with Michel. Right:
Alexander (Sasha) with Michel. 
EricaLogan Wittenberg (Sam) daughter of Larry and Honey Mayoff Wittemberg
Sandra Alotta (Ush) proudly appears with son Michael Scanlon and his bride Shelley Marie at their Aug. 31, 1996 wedding.
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Ralph Rapoport. (From the Montreal Gazette)... On Sunday October 6, 1996. Loving husband and dear friend of Shirley Freedman. Devoted father of Irwin, Ellen and Ronald (and fiancée Mariann). Dear brother and brother-in-law of Betty and the late Sol Lubin, Rocky and Judy Rapoport, Marilyn (Merka) and Ernie Weiss, Lawrence and Susanne Freedman, Eileen and the late Morton Freedman. He will be fondly remembered by his many nieces, nephews, family and friends. Funeral services from Paperman and Sons, 3888 Jean Talon West on Tuesday, October 8 at 12:30 p.m. Burial at the Dominion Hebrew Cemetery, de la Savane. Shiva at 6861 Baily Road, Cote St. Luc. In lieu of gifts or flowers, donations, may be made to the "Ralph Rapoport Memorial Fund" c/o The Shaare Zedek Congregation, (514) 484-1122 [Ralph Rapoport (Sch) Feb 3, 1936 - Oct 6, 1996]
Mayoff domain E-mail addresses available for free.
What's a Mayoff domain e-mail address? yourname@mayoff.com There are about 10 e-mail addresses still available to family members. To be able to use these addresses you will need to have your own direct ISP (Internet Service Provider). (AOL or Compuserve, etc. probably won't work.) Those using Netscape or Explorer are most able to take advantage of this service. If you are interested, please send me an e-mail. Limit one per household.
Look who's on-line....
The following members of our extended family have new e-mail addresses:
Art Mayoff (Sam): art@mayoff.com
Jason Mayoff (Sam) jason@mayoff.com
Teddy Mayoff (Sam) teddy@mayoff.com
Mayoff dot Com
Access everything Mayoff including the Mayoff page at: http://www.mayoff.com
If you have a new e-mail address and it is not listed here, please send me a note so it can be added to our next update. (art@mayoff.com)
Humor from the Internet
One night a long time ago, a peddler in a Polish town came to the house of a wise Rabbi. "Rabbi," he announced, "I am going to kill myself!"
"Heaven, forbid!", answered the Rabbi. "What could make you have such a sinful thought?"
"Is it better that I should kill myself than starve to death. Today my horse died, and without a horse I cannot earn my living!"
"Look", replied the Rabbi, "the Holy One, Blessed be He, will provide for you. Meet me at the stable of the Count tonight at midnight."
The peddler had no idea what the Rabbi could mean, but he obediently
arrived at the Count's stables at 12:00 sharp. The Rabbi led him to a stall with a beautiful white stallion and instructed him to take that horse. "Oy, vey!" protested the peddler, "I can't do this, the Count will have me hanged."
"Don't worry", the Rabbi assured him, "just take the horse and go in peace." In those days one did not disobey a rabbi, so the peddler did as he was told.
After the peddler had left, the Rabbi lay down in the stall and went to sleep. The next morning the Count arrived with his groom and, seeing the Rabbi asleep on the floor, kicked him and cried: "Hey you, who are you, what are you doing here, and where is my horse?!"
The Rabbi sat up and rubbed his eyes. Then he jumped to his feet and raised his hands to the sky and cried: "Thanks be to God, creator of the Universe!"
"What's this? What's this?", cried the Count. "What is going on, who are you, and where is my horse?"
"Don't you understand?" said the Rabbi, "I was your horse! I used to be a famous scholar, but one night I succumbed to the Evil Impulse and went to see a prostitute. In punishment, the Holy One turned me into your horse. But in my misery I repented and prayed for forgiveness. My prayers must finally have been heard because I have finally been changed back into a human being. Thanks be to God, creator of the Universe for hearing my prayers!"
The Count was a devout man who respected miracles, so he also cried out "Thanks be to God, creator of the Universe!" and sent the Rabbi away.
Several weeks later the Count was riding through the town. Suddenly he spied the peddler leading his beautiful white stallion. Angrily he leaped from his carriage and ran to the beast, struck him brutally on the rear end with his riding crop, and shrieked: "Scoundrel! Ingrate! Going to the prostitutes again?"
Please submit your stories, photos and comments for the next issue. Your input is needed to continue this family newsletter.
Art Mayoff, Genealogist, Researcher, Author, Editor, Publisher.
