A bit of History:
The name "Toronto" derives from the Indian (Huron) word meaning "meeting place" and the word "synagogue" derives from the Greek which also means a "meeting place".  How appropriate therefore that the first event of the Solomon Cousins Reunion took place at the Anshe Minsk synagogue in Toronto. The very name of this synagogue resonates within our family's original history.

Where did our ancestors actually come from?
Minsk is the capital city of Belarus (formerly Byelorusia) and is located geographically within the Pale of Settlement   (Russian: Черта оседлости - cherta osedlosti). This was the Russian border region in which permanent residence of Jews was allowed, extending from the pale or demarcation line, to the border with eastern/central Europe. Consisting of a vast swathe of territory, the Pale included much of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, and western parts of Russia. To be precise therefore, our family came to Canada not from Russia, but from Belarus.

In fact, it appears that the most often repeated surnames in our extended family - Solomon/Posner/Shuster/Lifshitz (later changed in Canada to Lipton) Atkins/Rogow (earlier Rogovoy and later changed in Canada to Roger) and small town (shtetl) names mentioned in various handwritten diaries or letters written by grandparents and great-grandparents are found today in documents, texts and official maps of Belarus, not Russia.
 
Here is one example: 
Our cousin Bernice Linder has a handwritten memoir prepared by her late father, Benny Atkins, in which he writes that his "dear mother, Sarah Atkins", the daughter of Shlame and Chana Solomon, was born in the year of 1874 in a town called "Titeran". His recollection of the journey to Canada begins with leaving "Titeran" in the winter because "Uncle Shimsha Atkins drove us to the Railroad station with his horse and sleigh as the month must have been February 1905."  (verbatim excerpt from handwritten diary) Research has confirmed that "Teterin" is located approximately 90 miles east/northeast of Minsk, in Belarus.  

Please look for Solomon Family memorabilia, letters, diaries, booklets, photos etc. so that we are able to share this information with one another at the Reunion.

A number of family members have different versions of hand written family trees that we will be trying to consolidate into a comprehensive document.  Please help us in this important effort. 

ROGACHEV

          Surnames as we know them are a relatively new phenomenon among Ashkenazi (East European) Jews. Although the Jewish calendar was established nearly 6000 years ago,  the convention of established surnames for Jews is less than 200 years old!
           Czar Alexander I unsuccessfully mandated that Jews in the Russian Pale of Settlement (the western part of Russia, i.e. Belarus adjacent to Poland and Lithuania)adopt surnames in 1804.  However Jews were known by their given name and the patronymic (----son of -----). Eastern European Jews rarely used surnames and most evolved informally. A frequent surname adoption would relate to the geographic location of the family, or a familial occupation, such as tailor (Schneider) or shoemaker (Shuster).
            Napoleon commissioned a census of the population in the lands he controlled, and mandated the adoption of surnames. By 1836 all Russian Jews had surnames, and by 1844 they were compelled to enter their names in a public register. 

            The surname ROGOW (earlier versions include Rogovoi or Rogovitch) is thought to derive from the town of  Rogachev which is located in the geographic area  of Mogilev gubernya (province) in Belarus.
           Research reveals that an early mention of  Rogachev (in Belarussian -  Ragachou) in written sources (Ipat`euskaya letapis) is 1142. In 1142 the Kiev Duke Vsevolod Olgovich presented Ragachou to his brother Igor.  At this time, Ragachou was in the control of the Chernigov Duchy. There are a number of ideas about the origin of the name "Ragachou". One of them is the Lithuanian word "ragas" which means “sacred place”.
          Also, Ragachou is located on the horn (Belarussian and Russian - "Rog") between the bed of  Dnieper river and the estuary of Drut'. Quite possibly, the name "Ragachou" is from the personal name - "Ragach". 
           At the end of the13th century Ragachou was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1492, during the war between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Moscow, the Moscow army destroyed much of Ragachou.  Because of its location, throughout its history Rogachev was vulnerable to occupation and re-occupation by the armies of opposing forces. 
           The second part of the 17<sup>th</sup> and first part of the 18<sup>th</sup> century was an awful time for Ragachou. The bloody revolt of Bogdan Chmelnitsky took place in 1648.  In the18<sup>th</sup> century Ragachou was not a big Jewish settlement. In 1766 it had about 200 Jews. 
           In 1772 Ragachou became a part of the Russian Empire as a provincial town in the Mogilev (Belarussian - Magileu) region (1777- 96). From 1777 on Rogachev was the center of the uezd (county or region).  According to the description of a Russian traveller in 1777 - Rogachev was an ordinary village with peasant houses and Jewish pubs (Belarussian - korchma). He wrote: "Ragachou was a dirty village with the Uniat church, Old Basilan (Catholic) church, an orthodox church and a synagogue". In 1797 Rogachev had no Christian tradesmen, but 52 Jewish tradesmen. The geographical location of Rogachev played a great role in the shtetl`s industry. The main activities of its economy were timber/logging, fish and navigable industry, handicrafts and trade (especially - the trade on the Dnieper between Magileu (Mogilev) and Kiev). 
        
           In 1812 the French under Napoleon began the war with Russia under Alexander I.  During this war in 1812, not far from Rogachev, Russian troops under General Raevskiy fought a battle with their French enemies. 

The main Jewish communities of
Ragachou (Rogachev) uezd
in 1847 were:
(note: Zaida Isaac (Itzik ) Rogow was born in Belarus in 1862 )

The results of the famous Russian census of 1897 
for Rogachev (Ragachou) uezd were:

          In 1897 Rogachev uezd had 224.000 inhabitants ( 21.880 of them were Jews)                                        
                Source: Belarus SIG:Jewish Genealogy web site

              The main occupations of  Rogachev Jewry were in the leather, rope-cord and brick industries. In 1880 Rogachev had a rope factory (in the beginning of 20th century there were six of them), a beer and a soap factory, two brick plants, water and wind mills. The shtetl did a robust trade. And, of course, the Jewish community of Rogachev took an active part in it.
               Rogachev was famous for its fairs (three big fairs per year).  Tradesmen  from all parts of Mogilev gubernia visited the Rogachev fairs.

In 1910 Rogachev Jewry had established Talmud -Torahs and a private female Jewish school.   After World War I, and the February and Bolshevik revolutions, Polish troops occupied Rogachev  from January 13 -30, 1918, followed by German troops from February until the 22th of November, 1918.

                In May, 1919, Rogachev became part of Russian Soviet Socialist Republic In 1924 Rogachev became part of Bobruisk (Belarussian - Babruisk) akruga in the Belarussian Soviet Socialist Republic, and in 1928  part of the Gomel region. The population of Rogachev in 1928 was 11,000 people. Eleven years later there were 15,200 people.

               On the 22nd of June, 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Rogachev was occupied in the beginning of July. On the 13th of July 1941, Soviet troops under L.R. Piatrouski liberated Rogachev, but in August, 1941, the German army re-occupied it.  The Germans organized a ghetto in Rogachev. The report of the Gomel region commission on the crimes and brutality of German fascists in occupied territorries during 1941-44 states that more than 3,500 Rogachev Jews were killed in March of  1942. The Red Army reclaimed Rogachev on the 24th of February, 1944. 
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a wonderful re-connection among cousins who knew one another and those who were meeting for the first time! We also welcomed descendants of Zaida Shlomo Solomon's sister, Frieda Shuster Borovoy.

Here are some of the comments (edited for privacy).

We welcome your reactions to the event as well. Please send us an  e-mail through the "Contact Us" section of the web site. (And let us know if we may publish your name.)

Cousins:
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! There are no words to express how wonderful it was to be a (small) part of the Solomon reunion. We haven't stopped talking about it, and spoke with other cousins that came out, and they felt the same---it was great---we will eventually sort it all out, and figure out where everyone belongs---probably by the next reunion---I hope we will be able to do it again, and spend the entire day with all our wonderful family. Sorry we didn't get a chance to say goodbye, but we had to leave and everyone was so busy.....if another reunion is planned, we would be pleased to participate. Have a happy, healthy New Year, and an easy fast. 
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That was quite an outstanding event yesterday.  One of the highlights for us was to spend a few minutes just before we left last evening with the Salt Lake City/New York clan. We will try not to lose contact with them. When we next have a reunion it would be great to see more of the younger generations become involved so that the flame continues to burn. Having spoken with a few of the Solomons today there's widespread gratitude.  It is so exciting to meet relatives one never knew existed, and I hope the younger members of the clan will feel the same way. Thanks!
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     I hope that there were some deep feelings evoked for many people, and I think that there were.  And also, that it creates a ripple effect for people, which we may not actually hear about.  Like being a good parent, who sees a child thrive, but whose child doesn't realize how much effort went into his or her growth, we have to look for signs of regeneration and reconnection and take our credit privately.  I got an enlarged acquaintance with relatives I never really knew,  for example one who I never met even once,  but at whose wedding I now feel I've been a guest!  And appreciating again our grandparents, whose lives had so much struggle.  We can only wonder at their fortitude. 
     To me, if this remains a sweet stroll down memory lane, that will be very good, but its real success will be in terms of what grows out of it...... That means the future is different from here on in.  That is how unpredictable life can be,  something I think our grandparents knew in their marrow.  
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It was so nice meeting you on Sunday.  The day was absolutely wonderful.  My mother had the best time! Thank you so much for all the time and effort everyone put into making it such a success.  Please call when you can. We'd love to see you.  Thanks again.
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The reunion was awesome, so thought provoking, emotional, informative and most of all the most wonderful tribute to our parents, grand-parents and their lives.  Prior to Sunday, I had only an inkling as to the magnitude of our family.  Thank you for this memorable gift to me and my children.  My sons were astonished at the size of the Solomon clan.  I had always told them it was big, but now they appreciate first hand that mom wasn’t exaggerating again!! Please stay in touch, lots of love...
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