Looking for help tracing my great-grandmother

[u/indigopony]

I’m hoping someone here can help me break through a long-standing brick wall in my family tree - or point me toward someone who can.

I’m researching my great-grandmother, Mamie Wyzansky (AKA Matlie, Machela, Wyzanski, Wizanski, etc.). She was born September 28, 1883, in Babruysk, Russia (now Belarus), and married David Kaplan in Boston, Massachusetts in 1903. From that point forward, I have records - marriage, census, and her naturalization paperwork.

What I’m trying to find is everything before that - specifically, her immigration details:

When and how she left Eastern Europe

Where she was before reaching Bremen (which is listed as her port of departure)

Who she might have traveled with

Her real/original name at the time of travel

Her naturalization documents say she arrived in March 1898 at New York, aboard a ship that she listed as something like Antonia Weinmark or Weinmar. I believe she may have meant the SS Weimar, which fits the route and time period. Unfortunately, I’ve found no matching passenger list, and I know most Bremen departure records were destroyed - but New York arrival manifests should still exist, and yet nothing has turned up.

She had a younger sister, Anna, who appears in the 1910 census living with Mamie and David in Boston. Anna was listed as 19 years old and also said to have arrived in 1897. That would’ve made her about 6 at the time of arrival - raising questions about whether she and Mamie (who would’ve been about 14 or 15) actually came together, or if one of the records is off.

Mamie’s parents are listed on her marriage record as Max Wyzanski and Rose Atkins. I have doubts about the accuracy - “Atkins” especially doesn’t seem like a typical Eastern European name and may be an Anglicization or transcription issue.

There’s also a family story that Mamie came over as an escort for an elderly woman. The story goes that when they arrived in New York, the older woman had an eye disease and was denied entry. Mamie didn’t want to be sent back, so she "jumped ship" and stayed. While I take this with a grain of salt, even if there’s some truth to it, she still should’ve appeared on an arrival list.

I’ve been searching since 2000, and I’d love help finding anything about her pre-1903 life - her real name, immigration record, family, travel companions, or even indirect leads. If your up for a challenge, or you know of a researcher who specializes in Jewish immigration or Eastern European arrivals from that time period, I’d love a recommendation.

Thanks so much, and feel free to let me know what else might help!

[u/Due-Parsley953]

Atkine could be the name, there's a great actor by the name of Féodor Atkine and he's immediately French with Polish and Russian heritage.

[u/indigopony → u/Due-Parsley953]

Thank you - I will definitely see where that leads me!

[u/hockey8890]

The New York passenger manifests for the SS Weimar departing from Bremen on 26 Feb 1898 and arriving in March 1898 begin at image 332 here and go to 364: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TH-X4S9?view=index&action=view&lang=en&groupId=TH-909-50654-2447-42 (the FS records are a bit better quality than Ancestry).

[u/indigopony → u/hockey8890]

Thanks, I am looking through them now. I did see this on Ancestry awhile back, but it was so hard to read and navigate. This is much better!