Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
I am back working on the Kalb tree and I have found some clues for the Kalb tree in Mt. Lebanon cemetery in Glendale, N.Y. This is in Queens, as this map shows:
There we find the stones for Jennie Kalb, grandmother and wife of grandfather Samuel Kalb. She died after sunset January 11, 1932, corresponding to 4 Shvat 5692, and her Hebrew name was Chaya Yehudes bas Chaim, according to her stone.
Two of the Kalb children, Morris and Isadore, changed their surname to Kall after arrival in America, and they are also at Mt. Lebanon. Morris, Moshe ben Zanvel h’Levi, died January 9, 1967, corresponding to 27 Teyves 5727:
We also find the stone for Morris’ first wife Fannie, mother of Bernard and Sylvia. From Fannie’s stone we are told that her Hebrew name was Feiga Tserna bas Zvi Chirash, and that she died March 29, 1958, corresponding to 8 Nisn 5718. Her age is given as 58, giving her birth year as abt 1900.
Here we also find Isadore Kall, son of Samuel and Jennie, and husband of Rose. Isadore was born December 1, 1899, and died March 24, 1981 according to the stone. His corresponding Hebrew date for Yarzeit would be 18 Oder Beys (Adar II), 5741. Unfortunately his stone doesn’t give us his Hebrew name, which from other sources I have as Iruish ben Zanvel h’Levi
Yet, there is still more. In Mt. Lebanon there is also the stone for Zanvel Kalb and his brother Simon Kalb. From Zanvel’s stone we are told that his Hebrew name was Schmuel Zanvil ben Moshe Asher h’Levi, and that he died March 18, 1962, corresponding to 12 Oder Beys (Adar II), 5722. His age is given as 87, giving his birth year as abt 1875. As will be explained in another blog entry Zanvil is certainly Samuel.
Zanvel’s brother (Simmon) is also in Mt. Lebanon. From Simon’s stone we are told that his Hebrew name was Schimun ben Moshe Asher h’Levi. Some ivy obscures his dates but a little calcuation shows that he died July 3, 1942, corresponding to 18 Tamuz 5702. His age is obscured (5_) but I have his birth year as abt 1887 from other sources, giving his age as abt 55.
Next there is a surprise. We know from other sources that Samuel’s mother was Liba Kalb. Another blog entry will discuss her maiden name, which we had as Duzegal, but which recent research indcates was probably closer to Dachcygel (both spellings have the same Soundex code D224). Here there is a heastone for Liba Kalb. From the stone we are told that her Hebrew name was Chaya Liba bas Schmuel Zanvel and that she died March 3, 1929, corresponding to 21 Oder Alef (Adar I) 5689. At age 76 that would put her birth abt 1853. Her father’s name given as Schmuel Zanvel matches Samuel’s name exactly, giving us a strong inference that she was indeed Samuel’s mother and that he was named after her parents. Liba is Robert, Eleanor and Jerry’s great grandmother.
Next, there is stone for Harry Kalb. From Harry’s stone we are told that his Hebrew name was Mordechi Zvi ben Wolf h’Levi, and that he died December 12, 1934, corresponding to 6 Teyvas 5695. His age is given as 75, giving his birth year as abt 1859. As will be explained in another blog entry Harry is certainly our great great uncle Harrish Kalb, the son of our great great grandfather Zvi Wolf Kalb, and brother of Moshe Asher.
Next, there is a stone for Harry’s son Hyman Kalb. From Hyman’s stone we are told that his Hebrew name was Chaim Yitzoch ben Zvi Mordechi h’Levi, and that he died April 25, 1961, corresponding to 9 Iyer 5721. His age is given as 69, giving his birth year as abt 1892. As will be explained in another blog entry Hyman is certainly a grandson of our great great grandfather Zvi Wolf Kalb.
— Robert Rose
Pinkas Hakehillot Polin
Yad Vashem has published an "Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland" and a complete chapter (Volume VII) is devoted to the history of the Jewish community in Tomaszow Lubelski. A translation of that chapter by Morris Gradel appears on the JewishGen website, click here. It is a compelling account, beginning with the promise at the end of the 16th century of personal and economic freedom by Baron Tomasz Zamojski to the Jews who settled there. The story explains how the town achieved a reputation for its Chassidic scholars, and by the beginning of the 20th century, even Zionist and Bund groups had formed.
Although there were few in the area who were were friendly towards the Jews (Yad Vashem has honored one citizen of TL as a Righteous Gentile, and the chapter reports that the local priest Julian Bogatek gave safe haven in his home to Jews), Samuel Kalb must have foreseen the nightmare that was coming. The summer of 1914 as Jennie Kalb left for America with her children, we are told "fierce battles raged around TL and a fire broke out there, destroying many houses. In the summer of 1915 the area was conquered by the Austrians and the Germans. The new authorities appointed a new Town Council under the leadership of a Jew, Yehoshua Fiszelson. The inhabitants bore a heavy tax burden, the authorities confiscated some of their property, and there was hunger in the town."
They escaped not a moment too soon. During the period between the wars the area was turbulent. While it was marked by a rise in cultural and educational activity (the Yiddish weekly paper, "Tomaszawer Wochenblatt" began publishing in 1918) but increasing anti-Semitism foreshadowed the Shoah. For the 3,500 remaining Jews of Tomaszow Lubelski, this began on September 6, 1939, when "the Germans bombarded TL, and some 150 of its inhabitants were killed. The Jewish quarters were badly damaged. The Bet Midrash and other prayer-houses went up in flames, and many of the local Jews were rendered homeless." (that explains the missing synagogue I noted in an earlier post.)
The atrocities escalated. Gestapo Officer Walter Anzer (may his name be erased) oversaw the annihilation. "The chairman of the Judenrat, Fiszelson, who refused to supply the Germans with a list of Jews to be deported, was arrested and executed together with his wife and son. . . . On October 27, 1939 the last of the Jews of TL were murdered. The Gestapo and an auxiliary force of Poles surrounded the houses of the Jews, rounded them up and despatched them to Belzec (just 7 km soouth of town). Some succeeded in escaping to the woods, but most of them were caught by Polish collaborators and delivered to the Germans. A mere handful of the survivors managed to organise resistance. Some youths who had fled in May formed a fighting unit and even managed to get hold of a few weapons. One of them, Mendel Heller, fell in battle, and two of his comrades, Szymon Goldsztein and Meir Kalechmacher, were killed by Polish anti-Semites."
Crossing Delancy
The ship's manifest for Samuel Kalb shows that he was traveling with Moische Goldstein, age 17, also a laborer. Goldstein's last residence was Bilgoraj (which is near Tomaszow), and he was born in Tomaszow. Both of them were going to stay with Moische's brother, Abram, at 300 Delancey St. (Moische's father was Josef Goldstein, which might be useful for further research.) By July, 1914, Samuel must have arranged for an apartment for the family. The ship's manifest shows that they were going to 62-64 Colombe St., which I take to be Columbia Street, around the corner from Goldstein's Delancey Street apartment. The map above shows the approximate location in present day New York of the two locations (A) Goldstein's apartment and (B) Kalb's apartment. Of course, the neighborhood has changed.
Uprising of 1648
There is some very interesting history to be learned from the YIVO archive. On the left is martyr's grave in front of a fence, a victim of Chmielnicki's Cossacks, murdered in the uprising of 1648, and buried along the road by the synagogue in Tomaszow Lubelski. The center photo is the grave of an engaged couple, also murdered in the uprising, beneath a window of the synagogue, photo credit to Swarcbier, S. The photo on the right shows part of the exterior of a brick building with the inscription in Yiddish, "A structure built over the mass grave of a 'melamed' and 400 children, murdered by B. Chmielnicki's Cossacks in the uprising of 1648.
The Jewish Encyclopedia entry explains that semi-military bands of Cossacks organized themselves into armed bands and roamed the country-side. Over 500,000 Jews were murdered or died of the plague, and over 300 Jewish communiites were massacred and sacked. Jewish women were forcibly baptized and given to Cossack husbands. In one town, the article relates "[t]hree rabbis, Eliezer, Solomon, and Ḥayyim, urged their brethren not to change their religion; and about 1,000 Jews who remained steadfast were tortured and executed before the eyes of the Polish nobles (June 24, 1648). Ten rabbis were spared by the Cossacks in order to extort large ransoms from their communities."
Synagogue in Tomaszow Lubelski
I was able to find some comparison photos of the town square from Tomaszow Lubelski on the Internet, at the link here. The top photo shows what I think is the synagogue (red arrow) in 1938, and it appears to be a very large building in the town center. The bottom photo is circa 2003. The synagogue is gone. As detailed in a later post, on September 6, 1939, Germans bombarded the town, and the main synagogue and other prayer-houses went up in flames. So, it is likely that this happened around a year after the first photo above was taken.
YIVO
A new, Internet edition of YIVO's People Of A Thousand Towns, consisting of 17,000 photographs of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, is available here. I found photos of the synagogue in Tomaszow Lubelski circa the 1920's. This is after the family left, but it gives an idea of what their life was like, and what they left behind. The “bes medresh" was built in the 18th century.
Yad Vashem
Sometimes this research hits a wrong turn. I thought that I might have uncovered a link to the Farber family, when I found a record for Hirsch Farber, born 1916 to Shimon and Rivka, in Tomaszow Lubelski. Hirsch was murdered in Treblinka, אַ דײַטש האָט אין טרעבלינקע ער פֿאַרברענט
Inspection of the original page of testimony suggested to me, however, that Hirsch was from Tomaszow Mazowiecki, which is closer to central Poland. Perhaps the Farber family moved there after the emigration of 1914? Don't know, but I contacted Yad Vashem in 2008, and they agreed that the record should be changed. So, remain skeptical of everything.
Thank you for your letter.
We have made the correction you submitted. (Correcting Tomaszow L. to Tomaszow M.)
We appreciate your assistance in improving our database.
Please note that the Internet version of our database is updated only once every three months, so it may take some time for your correction to appear online.
Sincerely,
Zvi Bernhardt
Reference & Information Services
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בתשובה נא להזכיר את פניה מספר 93458
ההודעה נשלחה על ידי ספרטק ארבטוב
Urish A Seamstress?
If you look closely at the original manifest shown in the earlier post, you may notice that Urish is a 16 year old female seamstress. I think Isidore would be surprised! Just goes to show that the records are often unreliable, or that the immigration authorities were not that vigilent in ccreating accurate records.
Kalb Family Arrives in America
This is the ship's manifest for the ship Potsdam, which arrive July 1, 1914, from Rotterdam, with the rest of the Kalb family. As you can see it lists Judes (Jennie), Moische (Morris), Urisch (Isidore), Itze (William), Schlojme (Charles), Ettel (Anne) and Jente (Greta). The names in parenthesis are my understanding who was who. This confirms that they all came from Tomaszow.
Ellis Island Corrects Records
In 2008. while working in the Ellis Island records, I noticed that there was a transcription error on the ship's manifest for the arrival of my grandmother, Jennie Kalb. She was listed as "Juder" Kalb, but I thought the manifest showed "Judes" Kalb, although that flourish on the final "s" could be confusing. Take a look at the photo clip from a portion of the manifest. I wrote to Ellis Island, and this is their response:
Email Passenger Record Correction
Thank you for contacting us regarding your interest in having a correction made to a Passenger Record.
We have reviewed the original ship passenger manifest entry and agree that an apparent error was made in the transcription of the data. We are therefore pleased to report that Passenger ID# 100486120256 has been corrected.
