October 2026
A Russian-laguage Marriage Document
1896 Eckert and Torunczyk Marriage Sierpc PSA Births, Marriages, Deaths 1886-1903 Akta 2
10/16/2026
Google Gemini 4
1896 Marriage record from Poland of UKIERT, Lazer and TORUŃCZYK, Ester. First transcribe the entire document. Then translate it into English. Indicate anything you are unsure about.
Here is the full transcription and English translation of the 1896 Polish civil-register marriage record (written in pre-1918 Russian cursive), along with notes on uncertain readings.Transcription (Cyrillic Script)
2. Состоялось в городе Бржешць [будущем Бжесць-Куявски / Брест-Куявске] двадцать пятаго Января тысяча восемьсот девяносто шестого года в одиннадцать часов утра. Явился Михаил Гольдшмидтъ [вписано на полях: Гонщорка?] Рабвинъ города Бржещца в присутствіи свидетелей Матыса Торунчика школьника пятидесяти, [че]тырехъ летъ и Кобы Лейзера торгова тридцати девяти летъ, жительствующимъ в городе Бржещце и объявилъ, что вчерашняго числа заключенъ религиозный брачный союзъ между Ляйзеромъ Укертомъ холостымъ двадцати четырехъ летъ сыномъ Абрама и Рейлы урожденной Мелцъ в деревне Вилки гмины Горгово при родителяхъ жительствующимъ и Эсфирою Лвевною Торунчикъ девицею двадцати четырехъ летъ дочерью умершаго Лейзера и живущей Марiемъ урожденной Либшицъ [?] досель [вписано на полях: бывшаго договру [договору] но, временно?] родительницахъ. — Браку предшествовали три оглашенія имеющимъ заключить бракъ, опубликованныя в Бржещкой Еврейской Синагоге шестнадцатаго, двадцацт третьяго и тридцатаго Декабря минувшаго года. — Новобрачные заявили, что они между собою предбрачнаго договора не закличали. — Религiозный обрядъ бракосочетанія совершенъ рабвиномъ Михаиломъ Гонщоркомъ. — Актъ сей по прочтеніи, Нами, Рабвиномъ и присутствующими подписанъ. —Подписи:Л УкертъЕ Ukert [Ester Ukert / Toruńczyk]Матысъ К. Торунчикъ [?]М. Г. Гонщорекъ [?]
English Translation
2. Took place in the town of Brześć [Brześć Kujawski] on the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Appeared Michael Goldшmidt [marginal insert note: Gąsiorek?], Rabbi of the town of Brześć, in the presence of witnesses: Matys Toruńczyk, a school worker/teacher, fifty-four years old, and Koba Lejzer, a merchant, thirty-nine years old, both residing in the town of Brześć, and declared that yesterday a religious marriage union was entered into between: Groom: Lazer Ukert [Ляйзеръ Укертъ], single, twenty-four years old, son of Abram and Rejla (née Melc), residing with his parents in the village of Wilki, Gmina Górowo; Bride: Ester [Esfira] Toruńczyk, daughter of Lewi/Lwa [Лвевна Торунчикъ], maiden, twenty-four years old, daughter of the deceased Lejzer and the living Marjem (née Libszic / Lipszyc), residing hitherto with her mother/relatives in the town of Brześć. The marriage was preceded by three banns published in the Jewish Synagogue of Brześć on the sixteenth, twenty-third, and thirtieth of December of the past year. The newlyweds declared that they had not entered into a prenuptial agreement between themselves. The religious ceremony of marriage was performed by Rabbi Michael Gąsiorek. This act, after being read aloud, was signed by Us, the Rabbi, and the witnesses. Signatures at the bottom:L. Ukert [Groom]E. Ukert [Bride]Matys K. Toruńczyk [Witness]M. G. Gąsiorek [Rabbi]
Notes & UncertaintiesRabbi's Last Name / Marginal Annotation: The text initially states the officiant/rabbi's surname or a name correction (written in the margin and main body), which appears to be Gąsiorek (written phonetically in Russian as Гонщорекъ or Гольдшмидтъ crossed out/corrected). Mother's Maiden Name (Bride):The bride's mother's maiden surname appears as Libszic / Lipszyc (урожд. Либшицъ), though the cursive script in this section is tightly compressed. Bride's Father's Given Name: In the patronymic she is listed as Лвевна (daughter of Lew/Lwi/Lewek), while later in the line it mentions her deceased father as Лейзер (Lejzer). This discrepancy is fairly common in 19th-century Polish-Russian civil records where a patronymic used in daily life (e.g., Leib/Lew) differs slightly from the official Hebrew/registered name (Lejzer).
August-September 2026
I posted a Russian language birth document from Nowy Dwór, Poland, for translation on JewishGen Viewmate.
I believe this may be the husband, Hyman Saltzman, of my father's cousin, Rose Stasevich/Stock.
Then a friend [can you be named?] submitted it to Claude and then to Gemini for transcription and translation. Looked fabulous! When the ViewMate translation came in it differed in one important respect: Gemini had claimed the mother's name was Rivka and the human saw Gitla. After much further work I was convinced that the human was correct.
The lesson for me is that AI in this form cannot be trusted
or maybe that cheap AI cannot be trusted.
AI works by successive passes, successive iterations of its processes, much like editing or house cleaning or practicing a musical instrument.
Too few passes yield sloppy work.
It appears that the fix for bad AI is more AI.
It looks to me (as it did to the ViewMate translator and with the help of Steve Morse utility) like Gitla, Гитли, genitive of Гитла.
Гитли урожденной Лихтманъ
Gitla nee LICHTMAN
SteveMorse.org
Foreign Alphabets/Russian Print to Cursive
Other than the matter of the mother's name, Gemini provided some useful, hopefully accurate, output:
Состоялось въ городѣ Новомъ-Дворѣ двадцать пятаго Июля тысяча восемьсотъ девяностаго года въ десять часовъ утра, лично явился Мошекъ Зальцманъ шапочникъ тридцати трехъ лѣтъ отъ роду, проживающій въ городѣ Новомъ-Дворѣ въ присутствіи свидѣтелей Хаскеля Сигаловича двадцати девяти лѣтъ и Ляйбы Юлкера шестидесяти шести лѣтъ отъ роду, обоихъ божничныхъ шкульниковъ проживающихъ въ городѣ Новомъ-Дворѣ и предъявилъ намъ младенца мужескаго пола объявляя что онъ родился въ городѣ Новомъ-Дворѣ семнадцатаго Июля текущаго года въ десять часовъ вечера отъ него и жены его Ривки урожденной Лихтманъ тридцати двухъ лѣтъ отъ роду. Младенцу этому при обрѣзаніи дано имя Хаимъ. Актъ сей по прочтеніи Намъ и свидѣтелямъ подписанъ, отецъ неграмотенъ.
И.д. Чиновника гражданскаго состоянія [подписи]
English Translation:
Took place in the town of Nowy Dwór on the twenty-fifth of July, eighteen ninety [July 25, 1890], at ten o'clock in the morning.
There personally appeared Moshek Zaltsman, a cap maker, thirty-three years of age, residing in the town of Nowy Dwór, in the presence of witnesses Haskel Sigalovich, twenty-nine years of age, and Layba Yulker, sixty-six years of age, both synagogue attendants residing in the town of Nowy Dwór, and presented to us a male infant, declaring that he was born in the town of Nowy Dwór on the seventeenth of July of the current year [July 17, 1890] at ten o'clock in the evening, to him and his wife Rivka, née Likhtman, thirty-two years of age.
At circumcision, this infant was given the name Khaim.
This act, after being read to us and the witnesses, was signed [by us]; the father is illiterate.
[Signatures of the Acting Civil Registrar]
Summary of Key Information:
Document Type: Birth/Circumcision Record
Date of Registration: July 25, 1890
Date of Birth: July 17, 1890
Place of Birth: Nowy Dwór (Poland)
Child's Name: Khaim (Chaim) Zaltsman
Father: Moshek Zaltsman (33 years old, cap maker)
Mother: Rivka Zaltsman, née Likhtman (32 years old)
Witnesses: Haskel Sigalovich (29) and Layba Yulker (66), synagogue attendants |
ViewMate ID 115164 Russian Language Translation Birth Record
Birth 68 reg. in N.D. July 25, born July 17, 1890 of Chaim ZALCMAN son of Moszek, 33, hatter and Gitla nee LICHTMAN, 32 |
 |
 |
 |
Ривки |
Actual |
Гитли |
Rivka |
|
Gitla |
This seems so obvious. Why did Gemini make THIS error?
Conclusion: Unreliable AI is like a toddler who needs adults holding both hands to cross the street. The evaluation structure is 2 out of 3: The JewishGen Viewmate translator, the AI and the team of Steve Morse and Russion-illiterate me. Steve makes me a player.
8/15/2026
Google AI
My query:
html table how to build upside down pyramid with each cell doubled going up
Response:
To build an upside-down pyramid where each row going up doubles the number of cells (e.g., top row has 8 cells, next row up or down follows a geometric progression like 8, 4, 2, 1), you can structure an HTML table with decreasing or increasing colspan or simple nested structures. If the widest part (the base/many cells) is at the top and narrows down, or vice versa, standard HTML table rows (<tr>) stack vertically.
An upside-down pyramid (widest at the top, narrowing down to a point) with each row halving, or right-side up (doubling going up), means the top row has the maximum number of cells and lower rows decrease. Let's build a 4-row pyramid where the top row has 8 cells, the next has 4, then 2, and the bottom has 1 (an upside-down pyramid).HTML Structure Example
<table class="pyramid-table">
<!-- Top row: 8 cells (widest part of the upside-down pyramid) -->
<tr>
<td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>4</td>
<td>5</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>8</td>
</tr>
<!-- Second row: 4 cells (doubled going up from 2, or halved going down) -->
<tr>
<td colspan="2">1</td>
<td colspan="2">2</td>
<td colspan="2">3</td>
<td colspan="2">4</td>
</tr>
<!-- Third row: 2 cells -->
<tr>
<td colspan="4">1</td>
<td colspan="4">2</td>
</tr>
<!-- Bottom row: 1 cell (the tip) -->
<tr>
<td colspan="8">Tip</td>
</tr>
</table>
When I paste the above code into the Code layer I get:
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 1 |
2 |
| Tip |
Now I center the table and make its border lines equal 1 pix:
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 1 |
2 |
| Tip |
and I used it to make this: |
