People

The synagogue in Lechowitz may have been called Adat Yeshurun (Community of the Upright). The following photograph was taken in the synagogue in 1926-27, according the the inscription on the central ark. The year is written in Yiddish as taf, reish pei zayin (תרפז), also known as 5687. This year on the Hebrew calendar started on September 9, 1926 and ended on September 26, 1927 (it was a leap year with an extra month). The names on the central ark are Naftali Hertz, Avraham and Rachel, and Yaakov Zaltzman. It is believed that these names reference Naftali Hertz Saltzman and Esther Rachel Perlmutter Salzman, who settled in Council Bluffs Iowa, and Hertz's father Avraham. Yaakov Saltzman is as yet unkown. The names on the smaller ark to the right are Yeshaya (Shyken), son of Godol (Cheichenitz), and Brayneh (Kramer), daughter of Yosef. Yeshaya became known as Simon Shyken, and Brayneh became known as Bertha Kramer Shyken after settling in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This photo comes from the collection of Sylvia Shyken Kirshner. If you can identify any other writings or marks on the photograph, please contact this web page designer.  

The handwritten Yiddish identification of the men is shown below. The person who identified the people in the photograph is unknown. This item comes from the collection of Paul Shyken. 

A translation of the names is shown below. If you can provide additional details or corrections, please contact this web page designer.

All the people that are in this photo, it seems that every one of them is _____ (marked?) with red ink.

20: Horav R’ (Mr.) Chaim

10: Zalman Starista

6: Aharon Yisroel’s 

4: Shimon Avraham Feivel’s (?) 

1: Avraham Mindel’s

28: ____ Itzia (Yitzchok nickname?) Leib’s 

25: Yudel Moshe Ropalines (quite unclear)

21: Shmuel Yaikel 

16: Elya Fisher 

14: a Yampele’r (Yampel is a city near Lechowitz) 

12: Yossel (Yosef) Yisroel Dovid’s 

11: Shlomo the deaf one 

5: Ershil (Hersh) Meir’s

24: Berel Golda’s

9: Yosef Gronicher (or Granger? Rather unclear and cut off)

3: Pinya (usually nickname for Pinchas) Shmuel’s 

27: Godel (Gad) 

23: Avraham _____ (Yossel’s?)

18: Meir from the Bilinkeh

19: ____ (Pesach?) ____ (Shalom? seems letters are missing at the end) 

8: Yaikel Leah’s 

2: Yitzchok the white one

13: Yitzchok - Tzadok’s grandchild (or the name Anshel)

15: Yakov Yehuda ___ (cut off and unclear, but it might say the disabled)

17: Yosef _____ (Hoffer?)

22: Dovid Shimon’s son in law 23

Chaim Leib (?) the black one

Rewritten from Simcha Leib Moshe ____

A note on the back of the photo:

And its rough translation:

To our brothers in Lechovicz

Stand up the donors for ______ and accept the blessings!

Look around and see we are your relatives and acquaintances! We all gathered today to

celebrate the holiday (Chag)! In adding a Sefer Torah, which will be a witness to our

nation, in all the lands that we are scattered, that we are all one for thousands of years!

We are happy and celebrating because the donor is one of us, a bone of our bones,

flesh from our flesh! And this is forever! Because there’s physical distance, but close at

heart! We will not separate! Because we are all one heart. And so, hear please, the

donors R’ Naftali Hertz and his spouse and Shim’ka (?) and his spouse It should be His

will that this precious Torah to all of us that you have given to God great honor _____

with such holy articles! Should always protect you and should rain down all the good

blessings and promises that are written in it. And we shall say Amen in the name of the

entire congregation!

With emotions of respect, one of your friends Aharon son of Mr Yisroel the Kohen

Edelstein.

Note: All Yiddish to English translations on this page were provided by Esther Chanie Dushinsky.

The following photographs depict residents of Bilohirya/Lechowitz.  They were provided by Sue Friedman Millward. The woman pictured on the left is Chavah Fellman, sitting next to a table with a portrait, possibly of her late husband Lazar. Chavah and Lazar ran an inn, locally known as "the Jew's Inn." On the right is Thamar Fellman, one of Chavah's daughters. Thamar and her husband Joseph Riseman had six children, and the whole family immigrated to the United States and settled in Omaha Nebraska, where many Lechowitz landsmen had settled. 

The Cheichenitz family hailed from Lechowitz. Pictured below, top left, is Yeshia Cheichenitz, who became Shia (Simon) Shyken. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and settled in Council Bluffs Iowa, across the river from Omaha Nebraska. Yankel Cheichenitz, top right, emigrated from Lechowitz to Omaha in 1921. His American name was Jake Shyken. 

Feiga Cheichenitz, lower left, is believed to be a niece of Shia and Jake, and she is pictured here in 1934. She was murdered in the holocaust. On the lower right is Israel Cheichenitz, who fought against the Nazis in the USSR military and survived the war. He was able to move his family to safety in Uzbekistan, where they settled after the war. Below them is pictured Jake Cheichenitz (Shyken) with two relatives, probably brothers. Nearly all Cheichenitz relatives who remained in Lechowitz were murdered by the Nazis. Photographs provided by Sylvia Shyken Kirshner and Semyon Kozin. 

Pictured above right is Eva (Chava) Fishman from Lechowitz, who married Nachman (Avraham Naum) Kramer (Krimer). They had six children, five of whom are presumed to have been murdered in World War II. One daughter (pictured above left) immigrated to the United States, where she married and had children. Above left are Meyer Hershman from Lyakhovtsi and his wife Rivka-Meni Kramer (Krimer) (surviving daughter of Chava Fishman), who was born in nearby Kunev. The couple immigrated to the United States and settled in Boston, where they raised three children. The letter on the lower right (in formal Russian) was written by Meyer Hershman to Rivka as he was leaving Lechowitz to immigrate to the United States in 1917, describing his affection for her and his uncertainty about their relationship. She subsequently joined him in the US in 1921. Excerpts from the letter: "Dear Rebekkah. Do you remember how and when our first meeting began? This was in the winter of 1915. I then was a librarian and one evening returning home I met you and your friend Malka for a walk. I will never forget this evening. Do you know why? Because even earlier I tried to get to know you, but for some reason, I did not succeed. I first recognized you in the winter of 1914. Once, when I came to your uncle, David-Abn, to study, I saw you there. Since that time I have become interested in you and look for ways to get to know you. To be familiar with you and to make friendship with you was my most wonderful dream and lust, I began to take measures to achieve this. And just on the 2nd, Tammuz, namely on the 1st of May 1914 the 10th anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzel was to be celebrated. Then I, just for the sake of You, decided to arrange a charity evening on the night of the 2nd, Tammuz, to invite you among others. Thanks to my position that I held among the youth of Lyachovtsy, I was sure that my desire would come true. Since that time, we have met and walked often. Do you remember our meetings and festivities on the highway almost every Saturday? Ah dear Rebekkah, I do not know about you, but I will never forget them. My best experiences are connected with this time. My dream of getting to know you closely came true in the full sense of the word. As I became closer to you, I began to respect you more and more. You were considered to be superior to me in all qualities, and it was a great pleasure for me to walk with you and talk with you. You captivated me with your beautiful and smart eyes, and I began to respect you wholeheartedly and sincerely. So, dear Rebekkah, for over two years now our friendship has been going on. Have you remembered everything that happened in these two years? I don’t know about you, but I will never forget them. You probably remember how, almost at the beginning of our acquaintance, everyone, without exception, began to speak and affirm that there was mutual love between us. I dare now in this letter to address you with the word “Darling”, but still your relationship with me is still not completely clear to me and, of course, I would be glad to know them. And now also almost everyone is convinced that we have mutual love. Yes, everyone is convinced except us, everyone affirms this, except for ourselves. Maybe this is strange, but this is so, for as far as this issue is concerned, I do not know your opinion, and of course you do not know my opinion. I still have not considered it necessary to exchange opinions with you on this issue. But now, leaving, I consider it my duty. And could I, starting with your friendship, set a goal and count on mutual love? Are there any chances that the goal can be achieved? For my part, I cannot give a definite and accurate answer. But, of course, I cannot categorically set myself the goal of mutual love with You, for sincerely respecting You and appreciating Your friendship, I must reckon with Your opinions on this issue, and Your opinions, are to me unknown. This is the first. Secondly, I can’t set myself this goal because God knows where fate will bring me to live. Therefore, I repeat again, I definitely cannot speak out about this. If fate wants it, it can be realized, that is, it can be yes ... but it can be no ... But in any case, I can tell you dear Rebekah that even if fate wants it, we won’t have to meet again, I will never forget you, I will never forget our two-year friendship because you occupy the most brilliant pages in the history of my life. But still, as far as I could see, your attitude towards me in this two-year friendship was not always the same, because you changed your mind under various influences. For all the time of our friendship, I, of course, looked at everything with open eyes and, as far as I could notice, you were not always kind to me. I will never forget your beautiful eyes. I express to you my brightest wishes. Stay healthy and happy." These photos, captions, letters, and translations are provided by Marina Blyacher, Maureen Shaw, and Alan Hershman.

The following images of the Zokenmacher family of Lechowitz were contributed by Marina Blyacher from the collection of Liza Zokenmacher.

The photo above left depicts "Zaideh" Balaban of Lechowitz. His descendants immigrated to St. Louis and Omaha in the United States and to Argentina. The family photo above right was taken in Lechowitz around 1918.  Standing (L-R): Sura Faigon (daughter of Ruchel Gernish), Chuma Gernish Bloom Schor, Freida (Friedl) Gernish Shochet, Freida's husband Moishe Shochet or Shtemberg, and Pessie (Bessie) Gernish Buder. Seated (L-R): Ruchel Gernish Faigon, Oshka Gernish (Zaideh's son-in-law), Rebecca Gernish Chasen (Zaideh's granddaughter), Rebecca's daugher Dorothy Chasen (standing). Seated in front: Ruchel's daughter Dvora Faigon (who married I. Dujovne) and Ruchels son Isaak. Family members who had previously emigrated to Omaha Nebraska and are not pictured here include Tzupppa/Sarah/Sarae Gernish (Cernisz) and her husband Samuel Corenmann, and Israel Chasen, Rebecca Gernish's husband.  Also not pictured is Ruchel's husband Bension, who emigrated to Argentina in 1910. Ruchel followed him there in 1920.

The following photograph shows a dinner of the St. Louis Lechowitzer Society, honoring Sam Guller and Sarah Fellman Guller. Lechowitzer emigrants often settled in St. Louis Missouri and Omaha Nebraska. If you recognize any of the attendees, or can provide additional details, please contact this web page designer. Photo donated by Bob Guller. 

This photo shows member of the Lechowitz Landsmanshft in St. Louis. The man standing in the back row, second from the right is Louis (Lazer) Geeser. Please help me identify other people in the photo, which was donated by Lesley Sterling.

Compiled by Miriam Kirshner

Copyright © 2018 Miriam Kirshner