Several studio portraits of Lunna Jews were taken by well-known art photographers in Grodno including M. P. Rubinstein, L. M. Gelgor, Z. Y. Karasik, H. F. Ezerski, H. A. Ezerski, and I. Chomol and F. Chomol. Such photos were usually taken when Lunna Jews visited their relatives in Gordno, mainly on special events, such as weddings, holidays, etc. The photographers' art studios were decorated with scenes such as rivers, forests, and others. Sometimes art photos were retouched.

According to the 1910 Grodno book (in Russian), the photographer M. P. Rubinstein owned a studio, The House of Chertok, on Cathedral Street (see note 1); he was a member of the board of directors of the Society for Assistance for Poor Jews. The photographers L. M. Gelgor (Leiba Meyerovich Gelgor) and his father Meyer Gelgor opened a photo studio in 1901, The House of Kurlandsky on Cathedral Plaza. L. M. Gelgor was awarded a prestigious gold medal at the Brussels Exhibition in 1905. The Ezerski photographers owned a studio, The House of Borkovskiy, on Cathedral Street. The photographer Z. Y. Karasik was an honorary citizen of Grodno and he had special permission for selling photo-views of Grodno. He was awarded medals with the inscription "For Zeal" to be worn on the Vladimir and Stanislav ribbons. (These medals were awarded by the Russian authorities, from the 19th to the early 20th centuries, to both military personnel and citizens, for outstanding achievements, see note 2). His son opened a photo studio at Hilbenyi Pereulok (renamed Naydus Street).

According to later information received from Mr. Alperstein, the photographer M. Rubinstein closed his shop in the early 1920s and emigrated to Mexico. The Ezerskis' art studio was closed in the late 1920's when the owners retired. L. M. Gelgor closed his art studio in the 1930s, immigrated to Eretz Israel, and opened a photo-shop in Ramat-Gan (near Tel Aviv). Karasik's son and his family remained in Grodno and perished in Treblinka during the Holocaust. During the war Karasik's daughter joined the partisans and survived the war. After the war she left for Paris and graduated from the Sorbbone with honors in French literature studies.

Studio Portraits Taken by M. Rubinstein

On the reverse side of the photo of Chana (Marshak) Arkin it is noted that the photographer, M. A. Rubinstein owns a shop in Grodno that specialized in artistic portraits. Negatives are kept. On the lower right corner is indicated that "Lithography by Pokorny Libave". On the upper right corner is shown a copy of both sides of a medal for "Zeal". On the medal was inscribed: "B. M. Nikolai II Emperor of Russia" (B.M. means "by mercy of God"). Underneath: "Emperor's Dono-Kubano-Tersky o.s.h. Rostov-na-Donu 1906. (o.s.h. means "society of agricultural producers"; Dono-Kubano-Tersky is an adjective derived from names of three Russian southern rivers: Don, Kuban and Terek; this adjective belongs to the word "society"; Rostov-na-Donu (Rostov-on-Don) is a large city in southern Russia.) On the lower left corner is shown a copy of both sides of a medal. Above the copy: "Prestigious Gold Medal." Under: "In Antwerp 1906."

 

Photos Taken by H. F. Ezerski and H. A. Ezerski
Below is a photo of Malka and Yocheved ("Yochke"), daughters of Yehoshua and Batya Eliashberg (note: Yehoshua had three brothers in Lunna named Abraham, Moshe and Yosel whose portraits are posted on this page.) The photo of Malka and Yochke Eliashberg was taken in Grodno on September 9th, 1910, two weeks before their brother Yitzchak was born. The reverse side of the photo includes a dedication "For good memories to our dear aunt and uncle and niece; From Malka and Yochka Eliashberg". It is most likely that the two girls stayed in Grodno with their Kosowski relatives: Uncle Asher Kosowski, his wife Henie and their daughter Bertha. On the reverse side of the photo it is noted that the art photographer, H. F. Ezerski, owns a special shop for enlarging portraits to life size. The symbol of a crown, mantle and branch has two letters on the shield (Russian X. and E.). These are initial letters of the first and last names of the photographer (or just the studio’s owner). Maybe it was a logo of the business. The three profiles on the reverse side of the photo are those of the “forefathers” of photography: Daguerre, Talbot and Niepce. The design on the paperboard cards (to which photographs are glued) is lithography. Maybe the photographer ordered them from a lithography studio and didn’t make them himself. There is a notation printed in a much reduced font of the lithographic studio.
 

Studio Portraits Taken by L. M. Gelgor

On the reverse side of the portrait of Yehuda-Leib Klebansky (Golda Friedman's father from Grodno) there is a notation that L. M. Gelgor has an artistic photo studio, The House of Kurlandsky, at Cathedral Plaza. His specialties are portrait enlargements to a natural size as well as photo portraits on brooches, cufflinks, pins, charms, batches and key chains. Negatives are kept. On the upper left corner it is noted: Personal appreciation by His Emperor's Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Aleksandrovich (the drawing shows the letters V. and A.) On the left corner, under the drawing, there is a notation: "Honorary Diploma: Prestigious Gold Medal at the Brussels exposition of 1905."

In 1931, the photographer L. M. Gelgor came to Lunna and took several photos of the disaster caused by the conflagration that burnt the town down. These photos were arranged in the Art Section of the Forward newspaper dated August 30, 1931 and are posted on the website of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York.

Studio Portraits Taken by Z.Y. Karasik
Below are two photos taken circa 1895 by Zelman Karasik. Although the Sharpe family is not related to the Jewish families of Lunna, the portrait of the Sharp couple is posted (under the permission of Sharpe's great-granddaughter who possesses the original photograph) in order to show the logo of Karasik's studio (marked underneath) indicating that Karasik was awarded a merit of appreciation by the Emperor.

In the years between the two World Wars a prestigious art photography studio in Grodno was owned by Israel and Pinchas Chomol. In the 1930s their art studio was located at Dominikanska Street (see: Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora, Vol. IX Grodno, p. 488). The photographer, Israel Chomol, was also active in the Jewish Theater in Grodno and was the stage-manager of a play by Peretz Hirshbein performed in Grodno (see: Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora, Vol. IX Grodno, p. 446). Israel and Pinchas Chomol perished in the Holocaust.

Photos Taken by I. Chomol & F. Chomol

A small and modest with simple decorations known as "Photo Venus" was owned by a talented photographer named Shmuel Fink, a former member of Ha'Shomer Ha'tzair youth movement in Grodno. Shmuel Fink perished in the Holocaust. Below are five photos from the collection of Yocheved (Eliashberg) Rutenberg. "Fot. Venus, Grodno" is marked either on the lower right or the left side of the photos. One of the photos includes the "Golden Sextet" (in Polish: "Zlota Szostka") which was a company of six young women performing in town and in neighboring communities. Their performances included singing, dancing, and acting.

Photos Taken by Shmuel Fink

Several photographers from Grodno and from other neighboring towns of Lunna, including Skidel, Piesk, and others, used to come to Lunna, especially during market days to take photos of Lunna residents, usually with a Leika camera. A camera placed on a tripod was used by photographers to take group photos, such as pupils and teachers. The photographers used to cover their heads with a dark screen, inserted glass plates, and developed the photos on the spot; they also used to develop films at their studios in nearby towns. The photographer Mendel Palnicki owned a studio named Fot. Sfinks in Grodno and used to come to Lunna to take photos of Jewish residents. Mendel Palnicki perished in the Holocaust. Below is a photo taken by him.

During the 1930s there was a small photography studio in Lunna (the photographer's name is not known). Below are selected photos taken by M. Lewin; it could be that M. Lewin had a small photography studio in Lunna.

Several photos of the wooden synagogue in Lunna were taken in 1930 by Sz. Zajczyk. In the second half of the 1930s a young man named Chaim Glembocki from the nearby town of Shchuchyn [Scucyn] used to stay from time to time in Lunna with his relatives, Nochum-Moshe and Sheine-Yaffa Welbel. He worked on various projects in Lunna including painting and repairing pictures of saints in the orthodox and catholic churches. His hobby was to take photos with a camera that he built by himself and later on with a Leika camera. In 1939 Chaim Glembocki left for Eretz Israel, changed his last name to Golan and opened a photo shop.

In addition, several Lunna residents, including Saul Rothberg, Zeev ("Volfke") Zlotoyabko, had small Box cameras. Relatives residing in towns other than Lunna, including Yaakov and Eliezer, sons of Aaron Kosowski, as well as Moshe Alperstein and others, used to bring their cameras with them and to take photos of their friends and relatives when they came to visit their families in Lunna.

Notes

Note 1: The street was renamed every time the control of the country changed. Cathedral Street (under Russian rule) was renamed Vilenskaya, Dominikanska, Hindenburg-Strasse, and finally Soviet Street.  >back

Note 2: For more information please refer to: http://www.jewhistory.spb.ru/eng/main/s.php?id=460
and click on Stanislav ribbon
  >back
 

This site is hosted at no cost by JewishGen, Inc., the Home of Jewish Genealogy. If you have been aided in your research by this site and wish to further our mission of preserving our history for future generations, your JewishGen-erosity is greatly appreciated.