In a message dated 6/11/2005 Theo writes: --I may be wrone, but the 'wicz'-ending to a surname is often Jewish. Theo, I have several families in my line whose name ends in -wicz. None of them are Jewish. I don't think you can generalize about those names ending with those letters. You have to look at the whole name. Poland was one of the few countries who were tolerant and supportive of Jewish coming to their country. They were often the skilled craftsmen, shoppe keepers, and money lenders, since in many countries they couldn't own land. In some areas, they also farmed like tenent farmers, but in other places they were relegated to towns. Russia limited their movement and where they could live, hence the "settlement of the Pale" is where many were found. Anettka