Week 35 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “All Mixed Up.”
Alex’s great-grandfather, Leyba, was hauled in by the police several times due to a case of mistaken identity. They thought he was his brother, Lutsya. The Braslavsky men did have a similar look. You can see it in this restored and colorized photo from 1918. Leyba is seated on the right while Lutsya stands behind him. The man next to Leyba is a Schvartsman – possibly their future brother-in-law, Semyon. All the Braslavsky brothers were handsome men with thick, dark hair, craggy faces, and piercing, deep-set eyes. Leyba (born in 1897) and Lutsya (born in 1899) were also close in age, but that’s not why the two brothers were often confused for one another.
Legally, they had the same name.
In the Russian Empire it wasn’t uncommon to have more than one name – especially if you were a Jew. Parents named their children at birth, which was also their name in any synagogue records. Typically, this was the name family and friends called someone. This often differed from their legal name. If officials at the registrar’s office didn’t like a name, misunderstood what was said, or thought it sounded too Jewish, they’d write down something else. A “Yankel-Berko” at birth suddenly became a very Russian-sounding “Boris.” A woman named “Rywka” became “Rahil” on her papers. We even have a “Haivyla” who was legally dubbed “Berta” – not even close to her Jewish name. If an individual hated the name they received at the government office, well, that was just too darn bad. It was on all their legal paperwork forever.
Both Leyba and Lutsya were legally named Lev Meerovich Braslavsky, which caused a fair amount of problems for poor Leyba. It’s difficult to lead a quiet, uncomplicated life when you share your name with a revolutionary!
Like the character Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof, Lutsya was young and idealistic. The teen was disgusted with the selfish tsar and the bourgeoisie for continuously taking more and more from the poor and working class. The monarchy and their sycophants had so very much, while the poor kept getting poorer. The injustice of it angered the passionate young man. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and join with others who believed in the socialist cause, but his words and actions often got him into trouble. When he heard the authorities were looking for him, Lutsya fled his home in Gadyach and went into hiding. This happened more than once.
It was terrifying for his brother, Leyba, when police came knocking. He was forced to prove that that there were, in fact, two Lev Meerovich Bravalavskys in their small town, and he wasn’t the Lev they were seeking. Fortunately, he somehow managed to convince them each time it happened. Perhaps friends and neighbors came in to testify on his behalf, or they looked at town records and saw there were two Levs. Being questioned was a nerve-wracking experience though, and any fear Leyba felt was justified. They intended to punish “Lev the Revolutionary” by either sending him to a labor camp in Siberia or executing him!
After the monarchy was overthrown, Lutsya returned home and Leyba no longer lived in fear that he’d be mistaken for his fiery younger brother.
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