John Kruk

[redclover]

Thanks for that. Access was blocked because I am living in France. Using a VPN I managed to view the site and download the information. This thing of burying a limb, does seem odd, perhaps it's a Polish thing. Visiting cemeteries in Poland I noticed, on family graves, if say, the husband dies, they bury him, erect a stone with his details on, and then put his wife's details on the stone with a gap left for the date she dies. Seems a bit morbid to me. You visit the grave, and each time you are reminded of your mortality.

it is odd to see that the name on the grave record for Alexander is KRUCK and KRUK for John and Stella. The New Jersey marriage index 1912 has Stella Szelajko married to John KRUCK. the US Find a Grave Index 1936 has the burial of John KRUK, Stella is on the New Jersey Death Index as Stefania KRUK. Up to 1939 all the census and Directories use KRUK, the 1940 census uses KRACK. The joys of research.

Thanks for your help.

[shellyesq]

You're welcome.  I have seen it in the US where the gravestone has the partial information for the spouse who was not yet deceased.  Maybe it's cheaper to do as much as possible at once?

[Erato]

Ask the Rabbi:

A limb that is amputated should be buried in the grave where the person will eventually be buried. If the gravesite has not yet been decided, it should be temporarily buried, and later reburied with the person in his grave.

(sources: Code of Jewish Law – Y.D. 362:1, with Pitchei Teshuva; Noda B'Yehuda Y.D. 2:209; Igros Moshe Y.D. 1:231)


https://www.aish.com/atr/Burying_a_Limb.html

[redclover]

Thanks for this very interesting information. This seems to bring a Jewish element into the family research.

My family came from Bircza, in southern Poland. Around 1900, I'm told, that about half the village was Polish Jews with one quarter Polish Catholics and one quarter Ukrainian Orthodox. Several family members emigrated to the States around 1910 but these American immigrants were reluctant to keep in touch with their Polish family. There appeared to be some dreadful scandal which alienated the two sides.

One suggestion for this situation was that a mixed marriage had occurred between a Jew and a Catholic. At that time, in a small village, I presume this would have amounted to a dreadful scandal.
Could Stella/Stefania Szalajko have been of the Jewish faith, or a convert to Catholicism, despite being buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at North Arlington?