Tatiana,

I would of helped if I gave you the correct address for the Biegun name meaning. It's Polishroots.com/surnames/surnames_37.htm#BIEGUN You'll see an inquiry I made and the response Fred Hoffman posted several months ago.

I'm all for sending the letter to find out more on the name. I can see I need to beef up on Russian history to get a better historical perspective. The author refers to a "New Israel". Would you have any idea what he's referring to? (I hate to make assumptions...) I asked in my area about locating the book you quoted; it's non-circulating here, so I guess I will have to devote an afternoon to the research library. I want to thank you for sharing your knowledge. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, tho. I don't mind being fanatical about this stuff, it's intriguing.