The Tarnopolsky’s are ancestors of this last name who lived in Ternoipol, Ukraine. Ternopil was part of Poland in the 1700's but was ceded to Russia in the early 1800's. Polish citizens did not have last names, so when Russia completed the annexation, they were required to obtain a last name. Last names were usually created by either the name of the town where the citizen lived or the occupation of the head of the household.
The earliest known relative traced was Chaim Tarnopolsky was born in 1841 in Rzhishchev, Ukraine. The shtetl is about 39 miles SE of Kiev. His wife was Sure Ester Tarnopolsky, who was born in 1843. He would spend much of his time reading and praying. He worked as a watchman of a lumberyard. Chaim died from pneumonia in 1921 in Dnepropetrovsk at the age of 80. Chiam was a deeply religious man who would spend hours alone reading and praying in his room.
The following are the known children born to Chiam and Sure ( there are three others unaccounted):
Israel (Srul) Tarnopolsky
David Tarnopolsky
Hillel Harry Tarnopolsky
Sone Tarnopolsky
Moses Max Tarnopolsky
Shimon Tarnopolsky
Vladimir (Velvel) Tarnopolsky
Abram Tarnopolsky
Benjamin (Benchik) Tarnopolsky
Gitel Tarnopolsky
Laka Tarnapolsky
In 1899 Moses Tarnopolsky and his newly married wife, Sarah, settled in a South-Central Ukrainian town named Ekterinoslav. Moses Tarnopolsky, who later changed his name to Max Paul in 1910, was a skilled coppersmith and applied his trade for a local coppersmith. he early 1900’s found the Russian population in great unrest. In 1905, there was an uprising against the Jewish communities that left many dead and wounded. Max and his wife yearned for a better living for their young family, as Sarah was pregnant with their first child.
Max proceeded to make plans to immigrate to the United States. Through correspondence with his uncle, Alfred Bermann, he was inspired by the tales of success spoken by his uncle and began to make arrangements to move to the new country. Mr. Berman, knowing Max’s skill as a coppersmith, began to inquire about possible jobs for Max upon his arrival in the States.
It should be noted that the birth dates of family members born in the Ukraine are approximate. This is due to several factors. Birthdays were not celebrated in the old country as they are in present day America. Usually, a time frame on the Jewish calendar was allocated to the birth of a child (e.g. the third day of Pesach). The conversion of this date to an English date was often problematical. In addition, the dates used in Russia and the Ukraine were based on the Julian calendar, while most of the rest of the world uses the Gregorian calendar. Thus, there is a 12-day difference between the two dates. To further complicate birth dates, immigrants entering the US often lied about their birth dates for a variety of reasons, either out of ignorance or by intent. Finally, the birth date of an immigrant on a tombstone may have been suggested by a family member many years after the immigrant entered the country and many of these dates were guessed by the family member.
