Genealogy with Rabbi Scott

Genealogy with Rabbi Scott Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff offers his genealogical expertise in American and European Jewish Genealogy to

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
07/21/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Ella and her grandmother, Sarah, visited the museum together. They asked if they’d be able to research Ella’s great grandfather, Rabbi Asher Siev, and his family. By conducting a quick search on Ancestry.com, we found Rabbi Siev’s graduation photo in Yeshiva University’s yearbook from 1937. We then found Rabbi Siev living with his parents and siblings in the 1930 US Census. According to the census, Rabbi Siev’s parents were Joshua and Hanna Siev. The census also taught us that Rabbi Siev, his siblings and his mother were all born in Palestine while his father was born in NYC. We then found the Siev family immigrating to the US in 1929, sailing from Naples, Italy on the SS Roma and arriving at the port of New York on December 9, 1929.

We then learned that Rabbi Siev’s grandfather was Joseph Siev. Joseph became a United States citizen on May 5, 1891 in NYC. He then applied for a US passport the next day in order “to visit Palestine.” The passport was issued to him on May 9, 1891. According to his passport application, Joseph was born in 1869 and immigrated to the US in 1884. We then found Joseph’s US Consular Registration certificate from 1912 which taught us that he immigrated to Jerusalem from the US in 1896. According to the US Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, Joseph Siev died on July 3, 1924 in Jerusalem and is buried on the Mount of Olives. According to his headstone, Joseph Ziv’s father was Moshe Yitzchak Ziv.

Using this information, we searched JewishGen to see if we can find the Siev family in Russia before they immigrated to the US and Palestine. We found the Sievs in the family lists in Ariogala, Lithuania in 1874 and 1887. The lists show Joseph (Yossel) Siev, his father, Moshe Yitzchak Siev, his grandfather, Ovsey (Joshua) Siev and his great grandfather, Yitzchak Siev. Yitzchak Siev is Ella’s great-great-great-great-great-great (six greats!) grandfather.

Judith visited the center hoping to learn about her paternal grandparents and their families. According to family lore, Judith’s grandfather, Abraham Leib Supoznick, was killed in a pogrom in Shpykiv, Ukraine in 1919. Shortly thereafter, Judith’s father, aunts and grandmother immigrated to the United States. We started our research by finding Judith’s father’s naturalization papers that taught us that he immigrated to the US in 1922, sailing from Antwerp, Belgium on the SS Lapland and arriving at Ellis Island on October 28, 1922. According to his ship’s manifest, Joseph, his mother and his sisters were going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his maternal uncle, Jacob Shulman was already living. Another uncle, Gedaliah Shulman, was listed as the point of contact in the old country.

Through our research, we learned that Judith’s grandmother, Rose Shulman Supoznick Schwartz, had three brothers who immigrated to the US: Jacob Shulman, David Shullman and George (Gedaliah) Shullman. Jacob immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1908, David followed in 1911, Judith’s father and grandmother arrived in October 1922 and George arrived last in November of 1922. According to their headstones and death certificates, their father was Shmuel Shulman and their mother was Chaya Taube Krakovsky, Judith’s great grandparents.

We then searched JewishGen to see if we could find any records for Shulmans in Shpykiv, Ukraine. The only result was a burial record for a woman named Chaya Tauba Shulam who died in 1934 and is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Shpykiv. The burial record included a picture of the grave. We found the grave of Judith’s great grandmother, Chaya Taube Krakovsky Shulman which still exists in the Jewish cemetery in Shpykiv Today. According to the headstone, Chaya Taube’s father was Abba Krakovsky, Judith’s great-great grandfather.

Amy’s grandparents became divorced when her mother was young and little was known about her grandfather, Nathaniel H. Schackman. Amy wanted to research her grandfather and learn about him and his family. According to his WW2 draft registration card, Nathaniel H. Schackman was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 20, 1901. We also found his marriage certificate which taught us that his parents were Samuel Schackman and Lena Rattner, Amy’s great grandparents. Using this information, we found Nathaniel’s birth certificate showing that he was born Nathan Schackman at 110 Roebling Street in Brooklyn on November 20, 1901. He was the third child born to Lena and Samuel Schackman. We also found Nathaniel in a number of census records which taught us that he was one of six children. His siblings were Harold, David, Bernard, Ruth and Barney Schackman.

By searching on Jewishdata.com, we found Nathaniel in a book called Who's Who in American Jewry from 1938. According to his entry, Nathaniel studied at the City University of New York, the University of Southern California and Brooklyn Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1927. Nathaniel was the Vice President of the Long Island Branch of the United Synagogue of America and the Co-Chair of the Sunnyside Division of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC. He also served as the Vice President and President of Sunnyside Jewish Center and President of the Greenpoint Avenue Merchants Association of Sunnyside.

Today would have been my grandmother's 96th birthday. My grandma, Angelica Paidoussis Schaefer, affectionately known as ...
07/19/2025

Today would have been my grandmother's 96th birthday.

My grandma, Angelica Paidoussis Schaefer, affectionately known as Angel by family and friends, was born on July 19, 1929 and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was the daughter of Peter and Katherine Paidoussis. Her parents were Greek immigrants who owned and operated a restaurant, The Dandy Shop, located at 1908 Broadway in Manhattan. My grandma grew up working in her family's restaurant with her parents, two brothers, grandmother and great uncle. She always told her grandchildren stories from the restaurant and about the many customers she came to know over the years. Even at 91 years old she could remember the usual orders of people who frequently came into the restaurant. She also told stories about famous individuals who were regular customers, including James Dean, Mae West, Bela Lugosi, Carlos Ramirez and Rocky Graziano. She prided herself on never having to write down an order in all the years she worked at The Dandy Shop.

My grandma graduated from Julia Richman High School early and with honors in January 1947. She met her best friend and the love of her life, my grandpa, the late Edward Schaefer, on Saint Patrick's Day in 1951 at The Dandy Shop. Grandpa asked grandma if she would like to go out with him and returned a few days later with dinner reservations and theater tickets. They were married on January 20, 1952 at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Manhattan. They resided on the Upper West Side before moving to Staten Island in 1954 to start their family. My grandparents purchased their first home in Grant City and then, together with my grandma's parents, built a two family home on the property next door where they raised their children and grandchildren.

My grandma traveled to the island of Chios with her children to visit her many aunts, uncles and cousins in Greece. She fondly remembered these trips and spoke about the experience often. Grandma was very proud of her Greek heritage and loved telling her family which words come from the Greek language.

During my grandpa's 30+ year career in the FDNY, grandma volunteered at his firehouse, preparing many meals for the guys. In appreciation of her service, the firemen at Engine 9, Ladder 6 in Chinatown gifted her with a golden firefighter's helmet necklace that she cherished and wore every day.

One of grandma's favorite places was the summer home she and her husband built in Westbrookville, NY, which her grandchildren call "the house in the woods." Grandma spent every summer there with grandpa, their children, grandchildren and great-granddaughter. She loved playing cards, particularly Rummy and Casino, with me and my dad. Two of her other favorite pastimes were reading and watching Jeopardy. She also loved telling her children and grandchildren stories about her life. These stories will be treasured by her family forever.

I was extremely close to my grandma. I love her with all my heart and miss her immensely.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
07/14/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Alex visited the museum while on vacation in NYC. She asked if we’d be able to research her maternal grandmother’s family. We found her grandmother, Joan Greegard, living with her brother and parents in New Trier, Illinois in the 1950 US Census. According to the census, Alex’s great grandmother, Dorothy Greengard, was born in Indiana and she was 31 years old in 1950, informing us she was born circa 1919. Alex knew her great grandmother’s maiden name was Ruttenberg. Using all of this information, we found Dorothy Ruttenberg Greengard’s birth record. Dorothy was born on August 22, 1922 in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of Joseph C. Ruttenberg and Hattie nee Ruttenberg, Alex’s great-great grandparents. According to her birth record, Joseph Ruttenberg was born in Kingston, NY and Hattie Ruttenberg was born in Troy, NY.

We then explored Joseph Ruttenberg’s ancestry and found him living with his parents, Jacob and Lena Ruttenberg, in the 1900 US Census. We noticed that the census said that Jacob and Lena were married for only 5 years in 1900 despite their children being 14, 11 and 6 years old at the time of the census. We surmised that Lena was probably not Joseph Ruttenberg’s biological mother and that she was the second wife of Jacob Ruttenberg. We then found Jacob and Lena’s marriage record from August 17, 1895 in NYC. According to the marriage certificate, this was Jacob’s second marriage and Lena’s first.

Now that we knew that Lena wasn’t Joseph Ruttenberg’s biological mother, we wanted to find out who his mother was and what happened to her. We found a transcript of Joseph’s social security application which taught us that his mother’s name was Dora Baker. We then searched for Dora and discovered that she passed away in Kingston, NY on May 21, 1895. Her husband, Jacob, remarried just three months after her death. We located Dora’s grave in Montrepose Cemetery in Kingston. According to her headstone, her father’s name was Yosef, Alex’s great-great-great-great grandfather. Dora probably named her son, Joseph Ruttenberg, after her father. We then realized that Joseph named his daughter, Dorothy Ruttenberg, after his mother, Dora. Alex then told me her middle name is Dorothy, named after her great grandmother. We now know that the name originally came from her great-great-great grandmother, Dora Basker Ruttenberg.

Mel visited the center after conducting a bit of genealogical research herself. She said she was able to find her great grandfather’s immigration information but hadn’t been able to find her great grandmother’s. Mel told me that her great grandmother, Ann Graber Korba, had a brother named Joseph Graber. I hoped that by finding information about Joseph that we would be able to find more information about Ann.

I searched for a Joseph Graber who was born in Russia and lived in NYC. I found a Petition for Naturalization for a man named Joseph Graber who was married to Elsie. According to the petition, Joseph and Elsie had three daughters: Ruth, Sylvia and Annette. We needed proof that this Joseph Graber was in fact Mel’s great-great uncle. Mel called her great uncle who was able to confirm for us that his uncle Joseph Graber was in fact married to Elsie and they had three daughters by those names.

According to Joseph’s naturalization documents, he immigrated to the US in 1910 sailing from Hamburg, Germany on the SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria and arriving at Ellis Island on April 10 under the name Yoine (Jonah) Graber. Using this information, we found Joseph’s ship manifest which told us he was living in Bilgoraj, Russia which is modern-day Bilgoraj, Poland. He listed his father, Sucher Graber, as his point of contact in the old country.

Using this information, we searched for a Chana Graber who immigrated to the US from Bilgoraj. We found Ann immigrating to the US in 1921. She sailed from Le Havre, France on the SS Chicago, arriving at Ellis Island on February 16, 1921. According to her manifest, Ann was living in Bilgoraj prior to immigrating to the US. She also listed her father, Sucher Graber, as her contact in Poland, proving that we had found the correct Chana Graber immigrating to the US.

Sharon, visiting NYC from France, hoped to learn more about the fate of hergreat grandmother and great aunt who were killed in the Holocaust. By searching the Yad Vashem databases, we found Sharon’s great grandmother, Perlette “Djear” Amouyal, and great aunt, Fernande Amouyal, in Serge Klarsfeld’s Memorial to the Jews Deported from France, 1942-1944. Perlette was born on April 19, 1894 in Mascara, Algeria and Fernande was born on April 30, 1929 in Lyon, France. The mother and daughter were deported from Drancy Internment Camp on July 31, 1944 on transport 77, the last mass transport from Drancy. The deportation list, compiled at Drancy, comprises 1,321 names from 37 countries, among them 330 children under the age of 18, including Fernande, who was only 15 at the time. The train arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on August 3, 1944. The deportees disembarked at the very end of the ramp and the SS immediately began with the selections. 291 men were tattooed with the serial numbers B3673 to B3963 and 183 women received the serial numbers A16652 to A16834. The remaining deportees, including Perlette and Fernande, were immediately murdered in the gas chambers. Entire families with five or six children were wiped out. The youngest child was 15 days old.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
07/07/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Sol visited the center seeking more information about his paternal great grandparents, David and Esther Edelshein. We found David Edelshein’s naturalization papers which taught us that he was born in Lomza, Poland and that he immigrated to the United States under the name David Edelstein. We were then able to find his ship’s manifest which showed David immigrating to the United States with Esther and their oldest daughter, Ruth, whose Jewish name was Menucha. They sailed from Southampton, England on the SS Imperator and arrived at Ellis Island on August 8, 1912. According to the manifest, they were born in “Wisna” which we identified as Wiza, Poland, which was located in the Lomza Province of the Russian Empire.

No one in the family knew what Esther Edelshein’s maiden name was. By finding her daughter’s marriage certificate in NYC in 1948, we learned that Esther’s maiden name was Esther Nelovitzky. We also found a picture of David and Esther’s headstone which taught us that Esther’s father was Meyer Tzvi Nelovitzky. We then searched for records for the Nelovitzky family in Wizna. We found the Nelovitzky family in a Lomza Area draft list which taught us that Esther’s father, Meyer Hirsh (aka Tzvi) Nielawicki was born in Wizna on November 14, 1866. He was married to Chana Zacharewicz. Meyer’s parents were Kiva Nielawicki and Menucha Czerwonka, Sol’s great-great-great grandparents.

Evan’s grandfather, David Dovin, was a Holocaust survivor from Poland. Evan wanted to find more information about his grandfather and his family. By searching on Ancestry.com, I found information from David’s social security application which taught us that he was born on June 10, 1922 in Dzialoszyce, Poland, the son of Samuel Wdowinski and Julia Baum. By searching the Arolsen Archives, we found records for David from the Buchenwald concentration camp.

We then searched Yad Vashem to see if we could find information about David’s relatives who perished during the war. We learned that David had a cousin named Kalman Glodny who survived the war and moved to Israel. In 1956, Kalman submitted pages of testimony to Yad Vashem in memory of his relatives, including Evan’s great grandparents, Shmuel Wdowinski and Julia (Itta) Baum. We learned that they originally came from Dzialoszyce but the family moved to Sosnowiec, Poland before the war. Shmuel’s parents were Mendel and Leah Wdowinski and Julia's parents were Aharon and Chava Baum, Evan's great-great grandparents. According to the pages of testimony, Evan’s great grandparents, Shmuel and Julia (Itta), were murdered in Auschwitz.

Using the information in the pages of testimony, we figured out that David Dovin and Kalman Glodny were cousins through their mothers. Julia (Itta) Baum Wdowsinki and Tizporah Baum Glodny were sisters. Julia and Tizporah also had a brother named Yitzchak Baum whose daughter was Frieda Baum. They also also had a brother named Shmuel Baum who was married to Hela. They had three children, Frieda, Manya and Aharon. They also had a sister named Dina Baum. All of these relatives perished in the Holocaust

Hillary, visiting from Kansas City, visited the museum to research her maternal grandfather’s family, the Freemans. Hillary’s grandparents, Irving and Sadie Freeman, lived in Chicago. We found Irving’s World War Two draft registration card which said he was born on July 15, 1892 in “Ponevtz, Russia” which we identified as modern-day Panevezys, Lithuania. We also found Irving’s naturalization index card which taught us that his original name was Itzik Frohim, not Freeman. Using this information, we searched for Frohmins in Panevezys and found Irving’s birth record. According to the birth record, he was born on the 16th of Tammuz, 5652 which corresponds to July 11, 1892 on the Gregorian calendar. His father was Ayzik Frohmin and his paternal grandfather was Itzik Frohmin, Irving’s namesake. His mother was Hena Mina Kabrun and his maternal grandfather was Yosel Kabrun.

We then learned that Hillary’s great grandparents, Ayzik Frohmin and Hena Mina Kabrun, also immigrated to the United States, settled in Chicago and changed their surname to Freeman. They sailed from Bristol, England on the SS Royal Edward and arrived at the city of Quebec on July 14, 1910, then crossing the Canada–United States border to get to Chicago. Hena Mina died less than two years after coming to the US. Ayzik passed away 11 years later in 1923. According to his obituary, he had 34 grandchildren at the time of his death.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
06/30/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Professional mogul skier, Avital Carroll, visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage to film scenes for a documentary being made about her grandmother’s life and experiences during the Second World War. Avital’s grandmother, Elfi Hendell, was born in Vienna Austria and hidden by a nun in a monastery in Rome during the Holocaust. Avital and the documentarians asked if we’d be able to find more information about Elfi’s family after having conducted a bit of research themselves. They were under the impression that Elfi’s family originally came from Jaslo, Poland.

By conducting a quick search on JewishGen.org, I found a transcript of Elfi’s birth record in Vienna. Elfi was born Elfriede Strauber on November 24, 1932 in Vienna. According to the birth record, her father, Hermann Strauber, was born on November 24, 1901 in Jazlowiec, the son of Simon Strauber and Ittl nee Strauber. Elfi’s mother, Sala Susanne Arak, was born on September 26, 1905 in Jazlowiec, the daughter of Hinda Arak. Herman Strauber and Sala Susanne Arak were married in Vienna on February 22, 1931 in the Schiffshule. Using JewishGen’s town finder, we were able to identify Jazlowiec as modern-day Yazlovets, Ukraine. We concluded that Avital’s family did not come from Jaslo but from Yazlovets. We found a picture of the former synagogue in Yazlovets.

We then learned that Avital’s great-great grandmother, Hinde Arak, and other Arak relatives also moved from Yazlovets to Vienna. Hinde passed away in Vienna on October 20, 1938, seven months after the Anschluss and two and a half weeks before Kristallnacht. She is buried in the Wiener Zentralfriedhof.

Steve visited the center hoping to learn more about his paternal grandparents, Morris Heller and Nettie Miller. We found Morris and Nettie’s marriage certificate from NYC in 1902. They were married on December 24 in Manhattan. According to the marriage certificate, Morris was the son of Simon Heller and Blume Geffen and Nettie was the daughter of Samuel Miller and Becky Wolk, Steve’s great grandparents.

We searched on multiple genealogical websites for information about Simon Heller and Blume Geffen and found records for five of Morris’ brothers. Two of his brothers, Jacob and Louis, lived in Cleveland, Ohio. Another brother, Israel, lived in Los Angeles. A fourth brother, Tevel, immigrated to South Africa and lived in Capetown. A fifth brother, Hirsh, stayed in Lithuania and lived in a town called Zelva. We also found a birth record for a brother named Yosel Yudel Heller who was born in Sirvintos, Lithuania in 1858. According to the birth record, Simon Heller’s father was Yudel Heller and Blume Geffen’s father was Hirsh Geffen, Steve’s great-great grandfathers.
We also learned that Nettie Miller Heller’s mother, known as Becky on Morris and Nettie’s marriage certificate, also immigrated to the United States. Becky Wolk Miller, whose Jewish name was Matle Rivkah, passed away on December 15, 1917 and is buried in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn. According to her headstone and death certificate, her parents’ names were Mordechai Zalman and Feiga Wolk, Steve’s great-great grandparents. Using this information, we learned that the Miller and Wolk families originally came from Ukmerge, Lithuania, formerly known as Wilkomir.

Susan’s grandmother, Jolan Gross Rubin, was a Holocaust survivor from Ungvar, known today as Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Susan wanted to learn more about her grandmother’s family. Susan knew her grandmother had three sisters who immigrated to the United States before WW2: Regina Gluck, Margaret Gross, and Betty Schick. We learned that Margaret married Benjamin Gross in NYC in 1919 and Betty married Samuel Schick in NYC in 1922. According to their marriage certificates, their father’s name was Frank Gross and their mother’s name was Dora Greenberger. Using this information, we searched for the Gross family in Uzhorod and learned that Susan’s grandmother also had a brother named Samuel Grosz. He married Szerena Klein in 1918 Košice, Slovakia. According to his marriage record, he was born in Uzhorod and his father was Ferenc and his mother was Debora Gruenberger.

Susan has a picture of her grandparents’ wedding in 1929 in Uzhorod. In the picture were Jolan’s sisters, their husbands and their children, including Jolan’s nieces, Beatrice and Florence Schick who were born in America. We found the ship’s manifest showing Samuel, Betty, Beatrice and Florence returning to the United States in April of 1930. Six years later, Jolan’s sister, Regina Gluck, immigrated to the United States with her two sons, Alex and Fred.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
06/09/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

A mother and son, Rebecca and JT, visited the center hoping to learn more about Rebecca’s grandfather and JT’s great grandfather, Isidore Frank. They wanted to know where Isidore came from and what his original surname was. They knew that Frank was not the family’s original last name. Rebecca also knew that her grandfather had many siblings but didn’t know any of their names.

We searched for Isidore and found his naturalization papers which taught us that he was born in “Kalish, Russia” and that he immigrated to this country under the name Abram Icek Skowronski. Using this information, we found Isidore’s ship’s manifest. He sailed on the SS Paris from Le Havre, France on September 24, 1922 and arrived at Ellis Island on October 1. According to the manifest, his town of birth and most recent residence was Klodawa, Poland. Using the JewishGen town finder, we learned that Klodawa was once located in the Kalisz province of the Russian Empire which is why his naturalization papers said he was born in “Kalish.” The ship’s manifest also taught us that his mother’s name was Liba and that he had a sister named Rose Rosen who was already living in the US. According to Isidore’s headstone, his father’s name was Noson Nute (Nathan) Skowronski.

Pulling all of this information together, we searched to find records for the Skowronski family in Klodawa. We found many vital records for the Skowronski family in Klodawa, including Isidore’s birth record. We learned that his parents, Noson Nute Skowronski and Liba Alenberg, had at least 12 children: Rose, Miriam, Ruchel, Yaakov Mordechai, Hirsh Abram, Isidore, Genendel, Azriel, Chaya, Pinchas, and Leah. Noson Nute was born in Klodawa in 1852 and died in 1907. His parents, Rebecca’s great-great grandparents and JT’s great-great-great grandparents, were Shmuel Wolf Skowronski and Pessa Bornstein.

A grandfather and grandson, Jerry and Benjamin, have been conducting genealogical research together for many years. They have built an extensive tree on Ancestry.com and collected hundreds of documents for their ancestors and relatives. They visited the center hoping we can help them find more information, leaving no stone unturned. Jerry’s paternal grandmother, Benjamin’s great-great grandmother, Yetta Kaniuk Nirenberg, had a number of siblings who perished in the Holocaust. Jerry and Benjamin wanted to know if there were any survivors from this family and where their descendants are today.

Yetta had a sister named Feiga Kaniuk who was married to Shiye Wand. They were married in Ternopil, Ukraine in 1923. By searching on JewishGen, I found a record for a man named Abraham Wand who was born in Ternopil on February 28, 1928. His parents were Jehoshua Wand and Feiga Kaniuk. Shiye is a Yiddish nickname for the Hebrew name, Jehoshua. Abraham would be Jerry’s father’s first cousin. Jerry never knew that his father had a first cousin named Abraham Wand. This record taught us that Abraham survived the war and moved to Israel.

In the 1950s, many Holocaust survivors in Israel submitted pages of testimony to Yad Vashem in memory of their loved ones. I hoped that Abraham Wand was one of those many survivors who did so. I searched Yad Vashem’s Shoah Names Database for Abraham Wand. I learned that Abraham submitted pages of testimony in memory of his parents and siblings on April 19, 1955. He was living in Yagur, a kibbutz in northern Israel. According to the pages of testimony, Avraham’s siblings were Devorah, Sofia, Roza and Yaakov Wand. In 1999, Avraham also submitted pages of testimony in memory of his aunt, Ruchel Kaniuk Schnepf-Feld, her husband, Gonich Schnepf-Feld, and their children, Devorah, Klara, Fanya, and Yitzchak Schnepf-Feld. These names were all new to Jerry and Benjamin. Unfortunately, all of these relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.

Carrie visited the center hoping to learn more about her paternal grandfather, Morris Green. We found Morris’ WW2 draft card which taught us he was born on April 7, 1903 in Brooklyn. We then searched for Morris’ birth record which provided us with his parents’ names, Isaac Green and F***y Pomerantz. Using this information, we learned that Carrie’s great grandparents, Isaac and F***y, were married in Philadelphia on August 22, 1895. The Green family was residing in New Haven, Connecticut at the time of the 1910 United States Federal Census. By 1920, Fannie was listed as a widow in the 1920 census. We learned that Isaac, Carrie’s great grandfather, passed away on September 2, 1915 and is buried in Beth El Memorial Park in Hamden, Connecticut.

I will be facilitating my Jewish Genealogy Workshop at the annual Paul Feig Tikkun Leil Shavuot at the Marlene Meyerson ...
05/29/2025

I will be facilitating my Jewish Genealogy Workshop at the annual Paul Feig Tikkun Leil Shavuot at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on Monday, June 2 at 1:45 am - 2:45 am. I look forward to seeing you there!

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
05/19/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Gayle visited the center with her two children, Joy and Josh. I suggested we research Gayle’s maternal line in celebration of Mother’s Day. Gayle’s grandmother was Sari Zollman. We found Sari’s naturalization papers which taught us that she was born in Bardiow, Czechoslovakia which we identified as Bardejov, Slovakia. She arrived under the name Serena Zollman, sailing from Bremen, Germany on the SS Stuttgart and arriving at Ellis Island on October 14, 1927. This information contradicted what Gayle had been told. Her grandmother told her that she had come to America on a ship called the SS Leviathan. We learned that Sari did immigrate in 1927 on the SS Stuttgart. She then visited Bardejov in June of 1931 and returned to the US on the SS Leviathan in October of 1931.

According to both ships’ manifests, her father’s name was Heinrich Zollman. We learned that Heinrich also immigrated to the US, arriving in August of 1939. He passed away on March 10, 1943. According to his headstone, his Jewish name was Chaim Yitzchak, son of Yaakov Zollman. Using this information, we found Heinrich Zollman’s marriage record. Chaim Yitzchak Zollman married Fanni/Feige Taub on December 8, 1903 in Bardejov. Chaim Yitzchak was the son of Jakab (Yaakov) Zollman and Sara Goldberg and Fanni was the daughter of Josef and Mindl Taub, Gayle’s great-great grandparents and her children’s great-great-great grandparents. Chaim Yitzchak was born in Nowy Wiśnicz, Poland and Fanni/Feige was born in Bardejov.

At the end of our time together, Gayle’s maternal line went from her daughter, Joy, to Joy’s great-great-great grandmother, Mindl Taub: Joy > Gayle > Florence > Sari > Fanni > Mindl.

Geraldo and his family, visiting from Florida, wanted to explore Geraldo’s family history. Geraldo was born in Brazil but his family originally came from Lithuania. His grandfather’s name was Mausa (Moses) Maroniene. In Lithuania, the suffix “iene” was added to married women’s surnames, so Maroniene is the feminine version of the surname Maron. By searching Alexander Beider’s Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire, we learned that the surname Maron comes from the Hebrew word “Moreynu” meaning “our teacher.”

According to Mausa Maroniene’s marriage record, he married Malka Cykman in Brazil on June 12, 1943. His parents were Raphael and Anna Maroniene. Using this information, we searched for records for the Maron family in Lithuania. We found Mausa’s brother’s birth record which taught us that Meyer Maroniene was born Meyer Maron on August 25, 1902 in Snipiskes, a neighborhood in Vilnius. According to his birth record, Meyer’s parents were Raphael and Chana Maron. Raphael’s father was Moshe Maron and Chana’s father was Eliya Yosel Ber. The family left Vilnius and moved to Dotnuva, Lithuania. We learned that Raphael Maron passed away on May 12, 1925 in Dotnuva. According to his death record, his parents were Moshe and Esther Maron, Geraldo’s great-great grandparents. Although Moshe Maron and Chana Ber lived in Vilnius and Dotnuva, they were both originally from Zarasai.

John visited the center a few weeks ago and worked with another genealogist to research his mother’s family. He returned to the center to research his father’s family, the Steinbergs. According to John’s parents’ marriage license, his paternal grandparents were Louis Steinberg and Essie Emmer. Using this information, we searched for Louis and Essie’s marriage certificate. We learned they were married January 10, 1911 in NYC. Louis Steinberg was 23 years old at the time of his marriage, which taught us he was born circa 1888 and according to the marriage certificate he was born in Austria. His parents were Morris Steinberg and Libe Glassberg.

We then found Louis Steinberg’s US Passport Application. According to the application, Louis was born circa 1890 in Boraslow, Austria which we identified as Boryslav, Ukraine. Boryslav was once part of Galicia, a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His passport application also taught us that he immigrated to the US in 1892. Based on his age and year of immigration, we surmised that Louis immigrated to the United States with his parents, Morris and Libe.

We then searched for records for the Steinberg family in Boryslav and found Louis Steinberg’s birth record. He was born Leib Steinberg on September 9, 1888. His birth record listed his parents as Moses Steinberg and Liebe Glassberg. The birth record also provided us with the names of Liebe’s parents, David and Reisel Glassberg, John’s great-great grandparents, and Liebe’s town of birth, Drohobycz, Ukraine.

We searched for information about the Glassbergs in Drohobycz and found David and Reisel Glassberg’s marriage record. David was the son of Moses Shlomo and Basie Glassberg, John’s great-great-great grandparents. Reisel’s maiden name was Feigler and her parents were Leibusch and Beile Feigler.

We learned that John’s great grandparents, Moses/Morris and Libba Steinberg passed away on May 4, 1926 and February 28, 1938, respectively. They are buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens. According to their headstone, Moses Steinberg’s father was Jonah, John’s great-great grandfather on his paternal line.

Barak, visiting from North Carolina, came to the center hoping to learn more about his maternal grandparents, Isaac Berger and Florence Fisher. He was told that his grandfather immigrated to Toronto where his cousin, Wolf Solomon was living. Barak was also told that Florence’s sister, Bluma, was married to Isaac’s cousin, Wolf and that Florence immigrated to Canada with the intention of marrying Isaac. We learned that Florence, originally known as Feige Fisher. She immigrated to Canada in July of 1914. According to her ship’s manifest, she was going to her brother-in-law, Wolf Solomon, who was living in Toronto. We then found Florence Fisher and Isaac Berger’s marriage record. They were married in Toronto on October 13, 1914.

Thus far, the story Barak had been told seemed to be true based on the information we found. It was still unclear if Isaac Berger and Wolf Solomon were actually cousins. We searched for more information about Wolf and learned he was born in Grabow, Poland, the same town that Isaac Berger was from. We also learned that Isaac’s father was Joseph Simon Berger, based on Isaac’s marriage record and headstone. We learned that Wolf Solomon’s mother was Esther Berger. Esther Berger Solomon and Joseph Simon Berger were siblings which is how Isaac Berger and Wolf Solomon were cousins. We also found a picture of Barak’s grandfather, Isaac Berger, which another researcher had posted online.

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My Story

Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff was born and raised in Staten Island, NY. He grew up in a two family home where he lived with his parents, younger brother and maternal grandparents. Growing up, Rabbi Scott had a particularly close relationship with his grandparents who shared many stories with him about their lives, relatives and family history. These family stories inspired a curiosity within Scott who wanted to learn more about his family tree. Rabbi Scott began his genealogical research fourteen years ago at the young age of fifteen. Since then, he has traced parts of his family tree as far back as the 1600s and discovered roots in Belarus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Wales. Rabbi Scott has traveled across the globe, visiting the towns his ancestors emigrated from and meeting distant relatives. Rabbi Scott received a BA in Jewish Studies with a concentration in Jewish History from Yeshiva University. He was a recipient of the university’s Altshul, Pearlman Memorial Award for Highest Ranks in all Jewish Studies. Following graduation from Yeshiva University, Scott began his studies at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and was ordained in June 2018. He currently resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In 2020, Rabbi Scott was inspired to offer his genealogical expertise in American and European Jewish Genealogy to those who are interested in connecting with their roots. For Rabbi Scott, genealogy isn't just a hobby or profession. Genealogy is a wonderful journey of personal exploration and self discovery. While learning about our ancestors we learn about ourselves. While learning about our history we connect with and deepen our Jewish identities. Jewish history and our families' stories are our story and deeply influence who we are today in ways we may never fully comprehend. ​Genealogical research provides us with a precious gift we can pass to the next generation, L'Dor VaDor.