[An (unfortunately) updated 2017 listing is here.]
Tonight begins Yom HaShoah--Holocaust Remembrance Day. I grew up knowing that my father's parents were Holocaust survivors and had lost most of their families. But my mother's family came to America well before WWII, and I never heard mention of anyone on my mother's side having been impacted by the Holocaust. But as it turns out, my mother's family was greatly impacted as well--my maternal grandmother had aunts and uncles who were killed as well as first cousins and many others more distant.
Below is a list of my nearly 100 relatives who I know were killed in the Holocaust--many of whom were just small children. There are many others for whom I have birth records and who disappear from records and were likely killed as well.
Below are my relatives killed in the Holocaust, their approximate age at death, and how they are realated to me.
יהי זכרם ברוך
Note: I'm on Twitter. Feel free to follow me (@larasgenealogy).
Tonight begins Yom HaShoah--Holocaust Remembrance Day. I grew up knowing that my father's parents were Holocaust survivors and had lost most of their families. But my mother's family came to America well before WWII, and I never heard mention of anyone on my mother's side having been impacted by the Holocaust. But as it turns out, my mother's family was greatly impacted as well--my maternal grandmother had aunts and uncles who were killed as well as first cousins and many others more distant.
Below is a list of my nearly 100 relatives who I know were killed in the Holocaust--many of whom were just small children. There are many others for whom I have birth records and who disappear from records and were likely killed as well.
The back of my paternal grandparents' tombstone--their immediate family members killed in the Holocaust |
Below are my relatives killed in the Holocaust, their approximate age at death, and how they are realated to me.
Name | Age | Relationship to Me |
Baich, Avrohom Bajcz | 57 | Great grandfather |
Diamond, Avrohom Tzvi | 63 | Great grandfather |
Suttleman Diamond, Tzivia | 52 | Great grandmother |
Fine, Moshe Dovid | 80 | Great-great grandfather |
Diamond, Shlomo | 13 | Great uncle |
Beitch, Molly | 18 | Great aunt |
Diamond Mazurik, Kreina | 27 | Great aunt |
Mazurik, David | abt 28 | Great aunt's husband |
Fine, Baila | 45 | Great-great aunt |
Fine Wollich, Sara | 51 | Great-great aunt |
Joshowitz Katz, Frieda | 62 | Great-great aunt |
Rutner Holder, Malka | 46 | Great-great aunt |
Rutner, Boruch Hirsch | 63 | Great-great uncle |
Fuchs Rutner, Kreindel | 57 | Great-great uncle's wife & Third cousin, twice removed |
Holder, Yosef | 46 | Great-great aunt's husband |
Wollich, Yosef | 55 | Great-great aunt's husband |
Grunberger Rutner, Etya Sheva | 61 | Great-great uncle's wife |
Rutner, Wolf | 88 | Great-Great-Great uncle |
Mazurik, Rivka | 5 | First cousin, once removed |
Fuchs, Dovid | 17 | First cousin, twice removed |
Fuchs, Shlomo Solomon | 27 | First cousin, twice removed |
Holder, Itzik | 18 | First cousin, twice removed |
Joshowitz, Esther | 18 | First cousin, twice removed |
Joshowitz, Issac Myer Morris | 35 | First cousin, twice removed |
Josovits-Katz, Itzik | 34 | First cousin, twice removed |
Rutner Davidovics, Henya Rochel | 36 | First cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Mendel | 42 | First cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Rivka | 19 | First cousin, twice removed |
Wollich Chechman, Cheike | 32 | First cousin, twice removed |
Davidovics, Chaim | 40 | First cousin, twice removed's husband |
Chechman, Mendel | abt 35 | First cousin, twice removed's husband |
Michel Rutner, Zelda | 24 | First cousin, twice removed's wife |
Eizikovic, Menachem Mendel | 45 | First cousin, three times removed |
Eizikovic, Avraham | 33 | First cousin, three times removed |
Eizikovic, David Isaac | 38 | First cousin, three times removed |
Engelman Steinmetz, Leah Mindia | 48 | First cousin, three times removed |
Rutner, Mendel | 37 | First cousin, three times removed |
Steinmetz, Shalom Zelig | 46 | First cousin, three times removed |
Steinmetz, Shaul Aryeh | 40 | First cousin, three times removed |
Zubkis, Tania | 49 | First cousin, three times removed |
Lazovnik, Ovadia | 53 | First cousin, three times removed |
Feig Rutner, Rochel Ruzena | 33 | First cousin, three times removed's wife |
Yunger Eizikovic, Devorah | about 45 | First cousin, three times removed's wife |
Lazovnik, Lena Devora | 42 | First cousin, three times removed's wife |
Rutner, Dovid Yitzchak Eizik | 1 | Second cousin, once removed |
Chechman, Devora | 8 | Second cousin, once removed |
Davidovics, Dovid Yitzchok Eizik | 8 | Second cousin, once removed |
Josovits-Katz, Yosef | 13 | Second cousin, once removed |
Rutner, Chana | 13 | Second cousin, once removed |
Rutner, Shmuel Moshe | 9 | Second cousin, once removed |
Rutner, Dovid Yitzchak Eizik | 1 | Second cousin, once removed |
Elio Kriger | 4 | Second cousin, once removed |
Eizikovic, Rephael | 35 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Roizie | 11 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Yaakov | 3 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Yosi | 14 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Esther | 2 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Ezra | 6 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Yosi | 16 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Mordechai | abt 15 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Neshka | 13 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Shmuel | abt 15 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Yechiel Mechel | 5 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Mordechai | 37 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Bogomolny, Klara | 24 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Bogomolny, Yosef | 10 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Yosef Leib | 8 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Eizikovic, Zelda | 11 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Fine, Chaya Clara | 27 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Fine, Yechiel Mechal | 30 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Fine, Yehudah Leib | 21 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Ita | 4 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Mendel | 32 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Ruchlya Rozi | 35 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Smil | 42 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Lazovnik, Mirelia | 15 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Lazovnik, Suzelia | 16 | Second cousin, twice removed |
Fuchs Eizikovic, Rivka | 35 | Second cousin, twice removed's wife |
Feintuch, Herrman Hersh | 81 | Second cousin, three times removed |
Feintuch, Nachman | 67 | Second cousin, three times removed |
Rutner, Chaim | 61 | Second cousin, three times removed |
Veisberger Feintuch, Chaya Sara | 78 | Second cousin, three times removed's wife |
Eizikovic, Batsheva | 2 | Third cousin, once removed |
Eizikovic, Menachem | 4 | Third cousin, once removed |
Eizikovic, Shmuel | 8 | Third cousin, once removed |
Eizikovic, Shmuel | 6 | Third cousin, once removed |
Eizikovic, Shoshana | 6 | Third cousin, once removed |
Rutner, Berko | 15 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Aharon Mordechai | 27 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Avraham Yehuda | 28 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Dovid | 24 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Etia | 32 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner Lebovics, Rivka Regina | 35 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Shmuel Moshe | 20 | Third cousin, twice removed |
Rutner, Zelda | 27 | Third cousin, twice removed |
יהי זכרם ברוך
Note: I'm on Twitter. Feel free to follow me (@larasgenealogy).
I went through five years of elementary school with a friend whose mother went to school with Anne Frank. Her family's story was similar to Anne's except that her mom and uncle survived in hiding. Her grandparents did not. The family never talked about their experiences when we were growing up. It wasn't until I looked for her online that I discovered her family's memorial site. Sadly, your family story is all too common. History teaches lessons that we must never forget.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful gesture to memorialize your relatives like this! May their memory be for a blessing.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't think that my family was touched by the Holocaust, as my grandparents immigrated in the 1890s and early 1900s. Then, thanks to genealogy, I discovered cousins who were sent to Auschwitz, as well as more distant cousins who suffered similarly tragic fates.
On another note, I used to know a Feintuch family here in Baltimore. The son, David, would be about your age. Any relation?
Susan, this is quite common in Israel.
DeleteThank you Lara I compare those children to my grand children's ages and brings tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteLara, this is a loving and thoughtful tribute--may your relatives who perished never be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for all your losses. My list is not yet as long, but until a few years ago, I didn't know that I had any relatives who'd been killed in the Holocaust. It's been one of the most heartbreaking lessons I've learned doing genealogy.
ReplyDelete