Star of David, Here I Come!
My dear, Jew-phile of a wife decided to look up some of my family history. There have been questions on both sides of my family as to our true genealogical roots. My mother was under the impression that she was fully Polish until it was revealed to her one day quite a few years ago that she was German, too. The extent of our Germanic heritage is still under question. That’s a hilarious story all on its own for the telling some other time. My father’s side, the Kopackis, have also been under the impression that they, too, were fully Polish. This is still the case, although through some research, it has been found that there is a high probability that the Kopackis were/are Jewish Poles. This is neither surprising nor is it entirely expected. It is, however, extremely interesting.
This revelation came about because of two things: 1) Kim found some shaky information a while back concerning the slight possibility that my dad’s roots were Jewish at some point and 2) Fresh Air recently aired an interview with a Rabbi who returned to Poland to revive the Jewish culture and ancestry that was all but virtually destroyed during the Holocaust. This sent Kim searching and scouring through the various multitudes of internet birth/death record sites and genealogical catalogues that have become increasingly available (for a certain reason that I’ll elaborate on in a bit…). What she found so far is that there are five instances of Jewish death records during the Holocaust that are attributed to people with the exact last name of Kopacki. What this shows is that there is a decent chance that those Kopackis are directly related to the Kopackis that settled in Hamtramck, MI in either the late 1800′s or early 1900′s. The question that still remains, though, is: If the Kopackis are Jewish, to what extent are they Jewish and when did some of them convert to Catholicism? Also, why did some convert and some remain Jewish? I’ll post more information as it becomes available.
I mentioned earlier that there are growing resources for genealogical research all over the internet. This is great, but many are hosted by Mormons. Allow me to vent something fierce over some of the shit they’ve pulled. My father, my uncle Thaddeus, and my Busia (Grandma) are on their death lists which basically means they’ve been baptized posthumously as Mormons and added to their rolls. Fuck you, Mormons, and fuck your cult. Yes, I’m pissed and I’m coming to get them removed from your bullshit rolls. Take your American fucking Jesus and cram him up your collective asses.
Yes, I’m a little angry.
Cas, seriously this explains a lot. This is why you strive so passionately toward your faith. Judaism is perfect for you. You get to light a lot of candles and actively pursue practices knee deep in traditions even older than Catholicism. Of course, you’ve got to ditch Jesus (as a Messiah, not a teacher, or a great man). But eh… Did I mention you get to light a lot of candles?!
Yeah!
I need to go get all that shit and did I mention all the other holidays I can sign up for? Hell yeah!
Yes, i found a handful of Jewish Kopackis who perished in the Holocaust – from a database which lists Jewish casualties exclusively, because w/ the 3 million other Poles being murdered by the Nazis at the time, God (G-d?) knows some of your remaining Catholic Polish relatives must have also died as well. (Hitler had a real hard on for the Poles, apparently) But i also found a “shit ton” of definitely Jewish Kopackis from the mid to late 1800′s in the town of Przasnysz in the Warsaw Province. My mom is on the case right now, digging up the details from the numerous genealogy sites that she belongs to & i’ll either post what she finds, or give the info to Cas to pass on.
Oh yeah, & i’m not sure how i feel about being painted as a “Jew-phile.” It’s hard to explain why i love Judaica so much, but i think it’s similar to the almost jealous longing i feel about strong Irish Catholic or Italian Catholic families. Being a little English, Czech, & Portuguese (& Polish?), raised Catholic for a little while, Presbyterian for a longer while, i’ve never had that strong cultural connection. The Portuguese side of my family was the least assimilated & the culture i have had the most exposure to, so i define myself by it because i love it. i’m making broad sweeping statements here which i know aren’t true in a case by case basis, but Jews seem to have that cultural, familial connection & i dig it. & i think it’s awesome that Cas apparently has this lineage in his family!
I think you’re upbringing also has a strong cultural connection.
Kim, don’t forget that you used to think you were Jewish because of Alice and Arnie, our old neighbors (and Alice was your preschool teacher). Remember, we used to share the Jewish holidays with them? You always loved it! OK… I’m going back to work on genealogy now….