Gerts is listed as missing on the 1858 Revision list of the town of
Vegery in Lithuania. He was 18 years old at the time, and he along with
his brother Chaim were probably trying to avoid being conscripted into
the Russian Army.
The name Gerts is a bit unusual since it is often believed to be derived
from Hirsh. However, since Gerts's father's name was Hirsh, it was not
possible that Gerts be named, using a derivation of Hirsh.
Upon further research, I was informed that the name Gerts is also a
derivative of the name Hirts (Hart), which is an animal related to the
deer. The Yiddish for Hart is Hirts of Herts, thus Gerts (there is no
soft "H" sound in the Cyrillic alphabet). Gerts's father's name Hirsh
(in Yiddish) and Zvi (in Hebrew) are all derivatives of deer. Hirsh's
father, Novtel's (Naftali) name is derived from one of the 12 tribes of
Judah (Naphtali). (Information from Peretts Mett p.mett@open.ac.uk and
Judith Romney Wegner jrw@Brown.edu)
1840