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Year-End Message - 2007
Dear Friends,
It’s just over a year since I launched the website
devoted to my ancestral village of Tluste, Poland (present-day
Tovste, Ukraine). After having spent so much time researching
and developing the site over the past years, 2007 was a year
to relax a bit and appreciate the fruits of my past efforts.
The frequency of updating the site continues to be dictated
by my limited leisure time which, over the past 12 months,
has had competition from many other interests and activities.
Nevertheless, I did find time to make a number of improvements
to some web pages –motivated in part by interactions
with readers and their personal contributions.
Among pages updated or introduced over the last year:
“Life
and Times” – a popular page for people seeking
to get a sense of what Tluste was like in former times
“Event
Timeline” – updated to include new details
from other sources, making it a very comprehensive account
of the centuries-old history of Tluste/Tovste
“Where
is Tovste?” – revised and expanded, with inspiration
from an interested reader
“Travel
Information” – substantially revised to take
account of new useful information on travel and accommodation
in and around the region of Tovste, based on my personal experiences.
“Surroundings”,
including a brand new page on the nearby castle of Czerwonogrod,
inspired by a reader who was hidden in a nearby convent during
WWII
“Jewish
Cemetery” – completely revised to include
images of some of the gravestones, transcribed and translated
with the help of Sara Mages (part of a pilot project, pending
further work)
“Memoirs”
– inclusion of excerpts from poignant memoirs that I
have come across, many with a connection to Tovste.
“Ba’al
Shem Tov” – completely revised to offer more
insights into the founder of the Hassidic religious movement
who was arguably Tluste’s most influential resident.
“Theodor
Wacyk” – added a brand new page to introduce
the man who painted the frescoes that once adorned the beautiful
Greek Catholic church
“Useful
Links” – one of the pages of the site that
is often visited by users (although it is in need of even
more frequent updating)
* * * * *
As I review this list, I guess it wasn’t such a quiet
year after all. But my “to do” list continues
to grow month by month. Among the items I would like to get
done over the coming year or two:
Processing a wealth of information in the Ellis Island database
on people who emigrated from Tluste; and hundreds of records
in the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names; as
well as interesting data in various business directories and
passenger ship records that I have yet to review in detail.
Encouraging/facilitating the process of translating into
English the invaluable Hebrew texts contained in the Sefer
Tluste; and arranging for other translations, including a
translation from Polish into English of Jan Zubrzycki’s
1923 monograph on Tluste.
Adding considerable information on historical landownership
in Tluste, gleaned from my research into my own family (largely
absent from the website).
Adding personal accounts of families who once lived in Tluste,
as a precursor to eventually trying to recreate the essence
of what was once a thriving town.
And last, but not least, actually promoting awareness of
the website among interested user groups – something
I have yet to do since launching the site over a year ago!
The list of tasks could go and on…
* * * * *
It’s been gratifying that despite my having made little
effort to advertise the website, many people with connections
to Tluste have stumbled across it and have taken the time
to write to express their gratitude for the contents. As 2007
ends and we begin the new year, I have assembled a collection
of those comments, while respecting the contributors’
anonymity, in a new page titled “Your Comments”
– located near the bottom of the left-hand menu.
I hope that you will continue to visit the website from time
to time. I may be in touch with some of you again individually
to follow up on prior commitments – both yours and mine.
With kind regards
Douglas Hykle (Chajko)
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