DONDES - GLASS; OTHER FAMILIES RELATED TO DONDES FAMILY including those through Sally Epstein Dondes and Roslind Dondes. (as information is available) -

Welcome to this page; since Jan. 25, 2008, you are visitor No.
Free counters provided by Andale.

This page was last updated on October 1, 2008.

I have heard Dondes referred to as both a Jewish surname that was never changed and may have meant justice. Also, there is another legend that it was a Russian name given to my family in the mid-1800s when Russians were persecuting the Jewish inhabitants and trying to forcefully acculturate them. I am not sure which story is true, or if either one is true. In any case, very few people in the United States have this name, and the Holocaust killed almost all of the family members remaining in Europe, though I have been overjoyed to learn of at least three survivors who have come to this country. I have found others in the United States with this name also of Jewish background from Lithuania and Baltic Russian areas, but so far the connection is unclear because we know so little about the European connections of my grandfather's father and other descendents who may have been related. I am grateful to those who are writing to me. My cousin, Michael, has found someone named Dondes, from the Civil War Era.

I am grateful to the pictures that my cousin, Michael Dondes, in Burlington, Vermont, shared with me from the early life of my family. I am looking in my own collection for those of Morton and Roslind Dondes, to be added. I am currently waiting for reproductions of other pictures from my mother's photos that my brother, David Dondes, in Macon, Georgia is reproducing for me. This page is dedicated to pictures from before the marriage of my parents and also includes other members of the Dondes family up to the present. The families represented are those related to Israel Lipp Dondes, my grandfather, (born c. 1895 in Vilna, Lithuania, and died Jan., 1952 in Tampa, Florida), and Sadie Glass Dondes, my Grandmother (born September 1, 1902, died June 24, 1975, in Hartford, Conn); parents of my father, Aaron Dondes (born August 18, 1924, in Burlington, Vermont-died October 24, 1952, in Atlanta, Georgia, of Leukemia acquired from exposure to excessive radiation). Some pictures of the family of Sally Epstein Dondes are also included because they are so significant to the history of our families. Information that I came across from notes that I acquired from my mother, Gladys' of her conversations with Sadie Dondes, are that the parents of Israel Dondes were Pertz and possibly Rosalind Dondes (unclear handwriting and would like verification).

 There will also be material on the families of the wives of Paul and Morton Dondes as they become available as well. Keep watching this page, as it is especially alive with pictures and even more to add. Also, I am contacting and searching for members of this family. New material that I have taken from notes that I acquired from my mother, Gladys Lynch Dondes Armstrong is that Sadie and Israel were married on Feb. 6, 1921 (my mother tried very hard to write things down the last times Grandma visited us and to pull the dates, places, and names out of her--I copied my mother's notes in a Bible).

• The earliest ancestor I have by name at this time is my grandfather, Israel Lipp Dondes, a tailor. He was born in and grew up in Vilnius (or Vilna), Lithuania, from what Sadie Dondes, my grandmother told my family. Aprpoximately 1908, he came to the United States as a young man or youth, departing from Memel, Lithuania, a port on the Baltic, from what my cousin, Michael knows of the family. Lithuania was once an independent country, but throughout history because of its border on the Baltic, it was claimed by other nations such as Russia, Sweden, Germany, and Poland. At the time my Grandfather came over to the United States, Lithuania was part of Russia where Jewish people like the Dondes family were oppressed. After World War I, it was part of Poland, and many Jewish people there prospered including membrs of the Dondes family, so that it was possible to not think of leaving when Hitler was rising in Germany until it was too late. I do know that his father had fought in the Russo-Japanese War, and was at that time a Cossack in the Russian military. During parts of the 19th Century, boys in particular were taken by the state which tried to strip away their original identity, and put them in the military. He left behind one sister named Chaja (pronounced like hiya) and brothers in the old country. His brothers were Motel or Mordechai (pronounced Mutul), Aaron, Calmen (called Carl), and Hirschel (English version is Harry). Everyone remained in Vilna, Lithuania except for Israel who emigrated to the United States and Calmen who went to Germany. Israel was born approximately 1895 or earlier (unsure of exact date) and died in 1952. I do not know the order of births in his family. Other members of his family were already in the United States to sponsor him (though I am unsure who they were since we do not at this time know the earlier European connection). I am unsure where my grandfather arrived in the United States, but I have heard that it was a port other than New York. My mother, Gladys Lynch Dondes Armstrong, wrote in her notes from interviewing Grandma Sadie Dondes in her last years that Israel came through Newport News, Virginia, first, but I need verification of this. Israel fought in World War I, served in France, and from this gained his citizenship. My mother, Gladys Lynch Dondes Armstrong, wrote in notes after interviewing Sadie Glass Dondes that Israel was honorably discharged from service on June 7, 1918, though I will welcome verification of this information. He would suffer lifelong health problems from the hardships of his military experience. He married Sadie Glass who was the daughter of immigrants from Rigel in Lithuania or Latvia (she was a baby when she came to the United States). I am not 100 percent sure of her parents' name, but I have heard them referred to as Shana Glass (pictured below with Sadie) and Abraham Glass. Abraham worked hard and sold ice in New York City. Grandma Sadie Dondes mentioned working in a hat shop as a young girl before her marriage. In any case, she became a shrewd, strong, and forceful personality. In any case Israel and Sadie Dondes settled in Burlington, Vermont, where he was self-employed as a tailor and both of them owned and ran an apartment building.
• Other information I have on the parents of Sadie Glass Dondes comes from notes my mother, Gladys Lynch Dondes Armstrong took as my grandmother told her of her family as my Mother wrote it down. I am unsure of the accuracy of this information, as Grandma's health and mind were beginning to fail. Grandma said that her Mother's full name was Jennie Miriam Katz Glass (though she was always called Shana), and her father was Max Bernard Glass. Will someone please check to see if these names can be verified anywhere? I know there's Hebrew names which many relatives were called in the families and others on the official records.
• The members of the Dondes family who stayed in Europe became victims of the Holocaust. Israel tried to convince his brothers and sister to come to the United States with their families in the 1930s, but at the time they were prospering in what was formerly Lithuania, then Poland while a brother Calmen ("Carl") was in Germany. One of them is supposed to have owned a cigar factory in Poland. They refused to come, and when Poland fell to Germany it was too late. The brothers and sister all perished either shot by Nazis or in the slaughter in concentration camps.
• However, two of my grandfather's brother, Mordechai or Motel's children; daughter, Sara now in Chicago, and son, Richard Dondes (born Jan. 2, 1931), did survive the horrors of the concentration camps and come to the United States. Richard lived in Brooklyn, New York (until his death Sept. 29, 2001 from a stroke) with his wife, Frieda, who was born in Poland. They had two children, Pamela Dondes Harris (born 1972), and a son, Edward Dondes who is 29 years old (born 1969), who is a lawyer. Richard was formerly a cantor. Pamela has a daughter, Samantha Rachel Harris, who was born on December 6, 2000, so he was able to rejoice at the birth of his granddaughter. Richard's daughter, Pamela, provided the following information about Richard Dondes, who was born in 1931 in Lithuania. Richard Dondes did survive the concentration camps, and so did his mother, Esther, who died of natural causes after the Holocaust. He came to the United States after World War II, and settled first in Chicago where his sister still lives, and then in New York. In New York, he met Frieda and married her. I am still in the process of learning the details about his side. Richard's father was Mordechai Dondes (a brother of my grandfather, Israel Dondes). Mordechai died during the Holocaust int the Concentration camps, and so did Richard's brother, Peretz. Richard Dondes is second cousin to David, Karen, Michael, Sharon, Celia, and me; and his daughter Pamela who also lives in Brooklyn, New York, would be our third cousin. Details will be furnished as they are available. Thank you to Pamela who chanced upon this site by accident and provided the information on her family; and my cousin Irene Dondes Connors has visited Perol Beras who verified some information and added more pieces to the puzzle. Her family has been very close-knit because they are so small with so few surviving. Indeed the internet has broadened our families to learn of one another, so this is one of the amazing good things about computers, modems, and the internet.
• A daughter of my grandfather's sister, Chaja, also lived through the horrors of the concentrations camps (she was about 12 when she was put in one)--she is today Pearl (or European version, Pehrul, Perol, or Paula) Beras, and today she lives in Boca Raton, Florida, as widow, now after the death of her husband Wolf, a few years ago. They have a son, Sammy Beras who lives in the Long Island area of New York. There is possibly another survivor in Israel. At this point it is not clear to me where Pearl went from the concentration camp, and I have plans to contact her and Richard Dondes in Brooklyn, New York. Uncle Morton and Aunt Roslind just returned to Connecticut after spending several months in Florida during which they regularly visited Pehrul (or Perol), and their daughter, Irene and her husbaned also visited with her. Stephen Speilberg documented Pehrul's story in a film series of Holocaust survivors, so I am anxious to gather more material on her. Pearl and Richard would more about the European members of the family than anyone else. I do not know about my Grandmother's relatives in Europe other than that she had a male relative in South Africa who was doing very well in business.
• Here is a picture of my father, Aaron Dondes, as a toddler on the left, and his older brother, Paul Dondes (born January 21, 1923 in Burlington, Vermont, died March 29, 1995 in Burlington, Vermont at age 72). Paul was serious, while Aaron was full of mischief. Note, the adorable sailor suit, Paul, the older brother, is wearing. I express my appreciation to my cousin, Michael Louis Dondes, the son of Paul Dondes, for sharing this exceptional photograph> Dondpic1.JPG
• Here is another picture of Aaron on left in sailor suit and Paul on the right as young boys. The tops of their heads are cut off because of the condition of the picture. this picture is from the collection of Michael Dondes; Click to view picture> pic2.jpg
• Here is a picture of Sadie Glass Dondes, my grandmother, and her mother, Shana Glass in Aug. 11, 1936 in Burlington, Vermont, at their home on Hyde St. In 1939 the family moved to 153 Loomis St. Shana would later go to the State Hospital where she died. I express my appreciation to my cousin Michael Dondes, for having this picture scanned and sent to me. Click to view picture> SDMpic3a.JPG Here is a picture of Shana Glass, my great-great grandmother and the mother Sadie Glass Dondes in her advanced year--Click to view> ShanaGlass.jpg
• Thank you to my cousin, Michael, for sharing this prize portrait of the Dondes family taken approximately the late 1930s. In the rear are Paul Dondes, the oldest son, and my father, Aaron Dondes, the middle son. In the front are Sadie Glass Dondes, the youngest son, Morton Dondes (born approximately 1929), and Israel Lipp Dondes. When I called Uncle Morton and told him about this picture and how nicely dressed the boys all were, he told me no one could make a suit to last like his father could. Israel was a tailor in business for himself. He used to go to Montreal, Canada to buy high quality fabric when the prices were favorable against the American dollar. When Israel made suits for his sons, he was sure to have lots of fabric so it could be let out as the boys grew so that the same suit lasted a very long time and could grow with the boys. > DondesPo.JPG
• Here is a picture of Sadie Glass Dondes, my grandmother, when she was approximately 40 years old in the late 1930s or early 1940s (Sept. 2, 1902-June 25, 1974) Thank you to my cousin, Michael Dondes for having this picture scanned and sent to me. See it below> SGDpic11.JPG
• Click to view pictures of Paul Dondes as a teenager. Here is a school picture> PaulDonT.JPG and here is Paul in his band uniform with his tuba. I remember him telling me when I visited how he started playing it when it was about as big as he was> PDondeTu.JPG
• Click to view pictures of Paul Dondes in his Army uniform when he served in World War II in Europe. These pictures are provided by his son, Michael Dondes> PaulDond.JPG and morepict6.JPG. Michael Dondes has contributed the following information on his father's World War II experiences, from his father's stored war records that he found after his father's death. Paul Dondes, a tailor in Vermont after the war, was a quiet man who talked very little about his World War II experiences.

His flight records indicate that he was a TSgt gunner in the 15th Air Force, 304th Wing, 454th group, 739th Squadron, in Europe, with much of his time spent in Italy. He was considered missing in action for 10 days. What happened was the plane that he was on had engine trouble coming back from a mission and landed in Russian-occupied Hungary in Jan., 1945. They got back to their base10 days later after repairs to the plane were made. Paul Dondes trained with the 1st Air Force, 1Bc command, 112th wing AAf BU (H) group at Westover Air Field, Mass, before he was sent oversea on Nov. 24, 1944. He met Sally Epstein at a USO dance, and they married. She was from Springfield, Massachusetts.

Richard Dondes of New Jersey supplied further information on Paul Dondes' squadron (shares a name and heritage), but we have not yet established a relationship. Paul Dondes would have been stationed at San Giovanni, Italy where the 739th Bombardment Squadron (H) was stationed from Jan. 21, 1944,until July, 1945. This unit flew only Consolidated (and later Convair) B-24 Liberators. Their operations involved combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) and European Theater of Operations (ETO). Campaigns of this group included Air Offensive Europe; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Normandy, Northern France; Southern France, North Apennines, Rhineland, Central Europe, Po Valley. United Decorations included Distinguished Unit Citations (DUC): (1) Bad Voslau; (2) Linz Austria 25 July 1944.

• Click to view picture of Israel Lipp and Sadie Dondes, my grandparents in the 1940s. This picture is provided by my cousin Michael Dondes> pic4.jpg
• Click to view wedding picture of Paul Dondes and Sally Epstein Dondes July 1, 1945. Paul was still in the Air Force. Thank you to their son, Michael, for sharing this picture.> PSDondWe.JPG
• Click to view picture left to right back row - Ervin Epstein, Marcia Epstein Swartz, and Paul Dondes; in front Max Epstein, Sally Epstein Dondes holding Sharon Dondes, and Edith Epstein, 1948. Max and Edith Epstein are the parents of Sally, who married, Paul Dondes, and their first child, Sharon Esther Dondes, the baby here was born in January 11, 1948, in Burlington, Vermont. Another child, Michael Louis Dondes would be born to them June 13, 1950, in Burlington, Vermont. This picture is available with special appreciation to Michael Dondes who had this picture scanned for me.> DEpstein1.JPG
• Here is a picture of the Epstein family that remained in Lithuania at a gravesite there with identifying inscriptions. This is a brother and 3 sisters of Sally Epstein Dondes' father, Max Epstein's family. The grave is believed to be that of Masha Epstein, Max's father, who was a cattle dealer who stayed in Lithuania. All of the people pictured in this picture disappeared during the Holocaust and are believed to have died. There is a haunting quality about this picture from the horrors that would come for its subjects. There is a striking ressemblance to their brother and sister, Max and Anna who came to the United States. Michael Dondes has provided this picture. Click to view> Lithuan1.JPG . Here is the branch of the family that emigrated to the United States and survived. Click to view a picture of Max Epstein, Sally Epstein Dondes' father, and behind him is her mother, Edith Dondes. On the right Anna Epstein, Max's sister, who never married, and who lived her life in New York City working in the garment industry (information provided by my cousin Sharon Esther Dondes Gilbert who was overjoyed to see this photo for the first time). Here it is> Epsteinsa.JPG
• Click to view a pictures of Sharon Esther Dondes (born January 11, 1948), daughter of Paul Dondes and Sally Epstein Dondes. Here are pictures of Sharon at approximately 3 months of age> Sharona.JPG and at approximately 1 year of age> Sharon1b.JPG. Here she is pictured as a teenager in the mid 1960s> SharonDT.JPG
• Click to view picture of Michael Louis Dondes (born June 13, 1950), son of Paul Dondes and Salley Epstein Dondes when he was a teenager in the mid 1960s> MDondesT.JPG
• Click to view pictures of Donna Rebecca Dondes (the author of the site and oldest child of Aaron Dondes, middle son of Israel Lipp Dondes and Sadie Glass Dondes--I was born Feb. 17, 1947, in Decatur, Georgia) and Sharon Esther Dondes in late June, 1965, when Donna was visiting at the time of Sharon's graduation from Burlington High School. I had just graduated from A. L. Miller High School in Macon, Georgia. In the first picture Sharon wears her robes, and in the other Donna and Sharon are dressed up. Thank you to Michael Dondes for providing these pictures> SDDonG65.JPG and DSDond65.JPG
• Click to view 2 picture of Matthew Aaron Gilbert the son of Sharon Dondes Gilbert and Lenny Gilbert--born May 14, 1971 in Providence, Rhode Island. He now lives in Burlington, Vermont.> pic5.jpg and pic6.jpg
• Click to view picture of Paul Dondes and his wife, Sally Dondes, in the 1990s. Paul lived from 1923-1995. Sally Dondes is still alive and living in Burlington, Vermont. This picture is available with special appreciation to their son, Michael Dondes who had it scanned for me> PSDopic9.jpg
• Click to view picture of Paul Dondes, his wife, Sally Dondes, and their son, Michael Dondes, taken in the 1990s. This picture is courtesy of Michael Dondes who is standing behind them (born, 1950 and still alive>PMSpic10.jpg
• Click to view picture of my cousins, the daughters of Morton Dondes and Roslind Dondes. Morton is the youngest son of Israel Lipp Dondes and Sadie Glass Dondes. This picture was taken in December, 1996. Pictured are Celia Rebecca Dondes and Irene Dondes Connors married to Michael Connors of Minnetonka, Minnesota--Celia on the right was born in 1956, and Irene on the left was born on Feb. 29, 1960. Their parents, Morton and Roslind Dondes live in West Hartford, Connecticut. This photo was provided by Morton and Roslind Dondes> IrCeDo96.JPG

Click to Go to the Following:

To Return to the Family History Home Page and Table of Contents at http://www.dkkdolls.com/family/home.html

To Go to Dondes Glass Page with Pictures of family of Israel Lipp Dondes and Sadie Glass Dondes and their children and families.

Click to visit Lynch, Bowden, Faulkner, Hickman, Thompson Family Photos and Information (These will be separated if they get too many)

To Go to the Lynch Dondes Page with Pictures from the marriage of Gladys Lynch and Aaron Dondes until his death in 1952, through her years as a young widow with her children, until her second marriage to Crawford Birlen Armstrong on September 2, 1955.

Click to Go to the Lynch Armstrong Dondes Page with Pictures from the marriage of Gladys Lynch and her second husband Crawford Birlen Armstrong and children up to the present.

To send email to Donna Dondes Krug to request email photo attachments, to add information, or family news, to send your email address so it can be listed on home page.

To go to Donna's Korner Kollectibles Doll and Collectibles Sales and Doll Pictures Site at http://www.dkkdolls.com/store

Click here to go to Collectoronline store location at> http://www.donnaskorner.com

DKKbanner.gif

Donna's Korner Kollectibles Collectible Dolls Auctions on Ebay - Entry to Ebay Store About Me Page, and Some of Feedback, Click here>http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/dkkdolls/

Since Feb. 21, 2002, you are Website Visitor No.

Free counters provided by Andale.