Michael Douglas Unravels His Family's Secret Past

Harry Demsky would prove to be as challenging to our researchers as he was to his son.

Michael had heard that Harry came to America to avoid serving in the Russian Army, and that the family's original surname was not Demsky, rather it was Danilovich.

But beyond that, Michael knew nothing about his grandfather's roots, and for a time, neither did we.

There were no records of Harry at Ellis Island, so we couldn't determine when he came to America or where he came from.

What's more, Harry had two brothers who immigrated to the United States, Movsha and Abram, and we couldn't find an arrival record for Movsha.

Happily, our luck changed with Abram, and the passenger list for a ship that arrived in New York in April of 1911.

Please read who was on board.

"Danilovich, Abram, age 42.

Occupation, dealer.

Nationality, Russia.

Race or people, Hebrew.

Mm-hmm.

Last permanent residence, Chausy, Russia."

Chausy, Russia.

You know who that is?

That's your father's uncle.

Oh, wow.

That is the arrival of your great-uncle Abram, recorded with the surname Danilovich, arriving in New York.

Chausy is your ancestral hometown.

Whoa.

It was then part of the Russian empire.

Did you know, have you ever heard of this place Chausy?

Never heard of that.

Chausy, wow.

Today, Chausy is a small town in Eastern Belarus, but when Michael's relatives lived here, it was part of the notorious Pale of Settlement, the vast region where Russia confined and severely restricted its Jewish population.

Jews in the Pale were second class citizens, subject to continuous, sometimes violent discrimination, and though it's often difficult to learn about their lives, with Michael's ancestors, we were fortunate.

We found photographs of the neighborhood in Chausy, where we believe his family lived.

In essence, it was the town's Jewish quarter.

90% of the residents there were Jewish.

Okay.

It's the ghetto, right?

Yes, it's the ghetto.

What's it like to learn this?

Well, it just gives you a better understanding of how it all worked, you know, even then, how it all worked, I mean.

I'm sure they all, Jews like to be together, but not together that much.

By law, Jewish people in the Pale were barred from owning land and denied access to higher education.

As a result, most worked as tradespeople, but as we researched Michael's family, we discovered that his great uncle Movsha found a more unusual way to support himself, crime.

"Under the decree of the Mogilev district court is wanted a Chausy townsperson, Movsha Danilovich- Uh-huh.

Accused under Article 1654.

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Danilovich is obliged to inform the court where he is."

Your great-uncle, Michael, was a wanted man.

This is wild.

This is, this is, do we know what he is wanted for?

We do, but have you ever heard this story?

No, no, I never heard.

Well, as I said, we didn't find any firm record of his arrival to the United States, so it's possible he may have been in Russia as late as 1906, which is when that article was published.

Right.

It's also possible that he'd already left when this wanted notice was issued, because he was...

Sounds more likely.

According to this newspaper in 1906, Movsha was accused of what we would call armed robbery.

We don't know anything further about the case, so it's possible that he was innocent.

However, as we dug deeper, that possibility seemed increasingly unlikely.

Records show that five years earlier in 1901, Movsha was imprisoned for a different crime.

What's more, we discovered that Michael's grandfather, Harry, was born Girsh Danilovich, and that he, too, had trouble with the law.

November 12th, 1903, Girsh Danilovich- Mm-hmm.

"Alexandr Perepechka - Good.

And nobleman, Alexandr Benkovsky charged under articles 13 and 1642."

My God, this is a little gang here.

Your grandfather Harry's real name was Girsh Danilovich.

He was charged with robbery like his brother, but not with a weapon.

Okay.

This is your grandfather, no family stories about this?

Incredible, no, never.

I guess this is probably the part that they were not proud about when they first came to this country.

Yeah, we left that behind.

Yeah, yeah.

What's it like to learn that?

Well, it just all kind of comes to life.

They must have been struggling to make ends meet, but it looks like somewhat of a professional gang.

It doesn't seem like a one-off, it seems like they live and survive by robbery.

You know, the records at Ellis Island are pretty good.

Yeah.

So we're thinking, how come these guys don't show up?

Neither of them?

Probably aliases.

I'm kind of reeling with this information, but sure, makes all the sense in the world, they were- And let's go back to the story your father told you, that his father came to America to escape the army.

Right.

He came to America to escape- - Prison, yeah.

- Prison, yeah.

This is blowing my mind a little.

This is really blowing my mind.