The Gutman Sisters - Rosa and Gittel

I know two living descendants of Rosa (1868-1941) and Gittel (1854-?). One is Gittel's great-granddaughter Linda Edelstein of San Francisco. The other is Michele Akerberg of France who is a great-granddaughter of both Rosa and Gittel. Gittel's daughter Masha Migdal married Rosa's son Josef Ackerberg, the parents of Michele's father Leon Akerberg (1914-1987). So Leon's grandmothers were sisters.

Ancestry.com is how Linda and I became acquainted. Her family tree had Gittel Migdal and her husband Shmul Migdal in it. Gittel had many children, who were in both of our trees. Linda did not know that Gutman was Gittel's maiden name or that she was from Kock.

MyHeritage.com is how Michele and I became acquainted. Our family trees overlapped with Gittel and Shmul and descendents. She knew they married in Kock. She also had Rosa Gutman in her tree but had nothing more about when and where she lived or who her parents were. However she had Ackerberg as her married name.

For my part I found many records of the Gutman family of Kock in the Polish State Archives which are online. The 1870 marriage of Gittel and Shmul is one of them. Gittel's parents were Moshe Gutman and Sara nee Tannenbaum. There is no record of Rosa's birth but there is a record of her death, and her husband's, in Warsaw in 1941 at the hands of the Nazis. On the yadvashem web site there is a record of their death which clearly shows Rosa to have been the daughter of Moshe and Sara, thus Gittel's sister. Below is an excert.

https://yvng.yadvashem.org/nameDetails.html?language=en&itemId=1831591&ind=0

"Roiza Akerberg nee Gutman was born in Kock, Poland in 1868 to Moshe and Sara. She was a housewife and married to Herszel. Prior to WWII she lived in Warszawa, Poland. During the war she was in Warszawa, Poland.

Roiza was murdered in the Shoah.

This information is based on a Page of Testimony (displayed here) submitted by her niece, Neta Avigdor Akhituv

"

Joe Goodman's sister Esther

Joe Goodman's sister Esther Persovsky with son Archie Pearson (1950's north of Toronto)

Mokobodzki/Garwolin/Parysow

My grandfather Joe Goodman was born in Garwolin, Poland in 1882 or 1883. He took his wife’s name at some point between when he married her in Warsaw and when they emigrated to London a year or so later. His original surname was Mokobodzki (also spelled Mokobodzki, Mokobocki). The name probably derives from the town of Mokobody about 40 miles away from Garwolin.

Starting from Holocaust records I made contact with Mokobotzki descendants who live near Tel Aviv. The scion of the family was named Josef Mokobotzki, just like my grandfather. They told me this story:

Josef came from Odessa. He was a commander in the army. In a battle he saved the life of a Polish officer, who rewarded him with property, including a mill, 7 km from Parysow (a village within the town of Garwolin). The mill was in the family until the Nazis came. Josef had 2 sons and 3 daughters. The daughters married and moved to their husbands' towns. Son Efraim got the farm, the other son moved to Warsaw. Josef became a rabbi and lived at least to 1863. Efraim died in the Holocaust.

At least one detail of that story is not true. There is a mill in Parysow which was owned by a Jewish family but a different family. The mill was sold to a Gentile family around the turn of the century and several generations later is still owned by that family. A university student from that family is a historian of the local area. She knew the names of the Jewish family that her family bought the mill from.

The records from after World War II show that in 1939 the extended Mokobotzki family included farmers, mechanics, dairymen, and grocers.

Efraim's grandson Meir Mokobotzki survived the Holocaust. He moved to Israel in 1948 with year-old daughter Chaya, whom I spoke with today. He is the grandson on the form at this link http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1527901&language=en

Chaya's grandson Lior Bar gave 1770 as the year that Josef arrived in Parysow. 1870 makes more sense than 1770. He told me the mill was owned by the family for 150 years, until WW2 but the family never owned the mill, which was bought by the Gentile family in the 1890’s.

How my grandfather was related to any of these others is a mystery since there are no civil records from or before my grandfather’s time.

Chaim http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134817&language=en

Isaac http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134825&language=en

Moshe http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134823&language=en

Joseph http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1897264&language=en

Esther http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1387236&language=en

Ephraim http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1527901&language=en

Tzipora: http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=765334&language=en

Asher http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=780898&language=en

Brakha http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8889174&language=en

Joseph http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8889173&language=en

Dov http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1506974&language=en

Lea http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1016772&language=en

Yaakov http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1105241&language=en

Rizel http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=780899&language=en

Mordechai http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199328&language=en

Wolf (12) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199326&language=en

Judet (?) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=3907674&language=en

Simcha (11) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134825&language=en

Moshe (1) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199330&language=en

Jewish History Of Kurow

As noted earlier my grandmother's grandfather David Handelsman was born in 1819 in the village of Klementowice in the town of Kurow. His parents married in Klementowice the previous year. His mother Esther Sztul was from Klementowice and his father Binish Handelsman was from the main village of Kurow. I will post a separate entry about Klementowice. Following is a history of Jews in Kurow copied and pasted from https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/k/650-kurow/99-history/137561-history-of-community

The first Jews appeared in Kurów in the mid-16th century. For the contemporary town squire, Stanisław Zbąski, the Jewish issue was not a top priority. In 1568, the successive Kurów’s owner, Stanisław Zbąski (Stanisław’s son), allowed the Kurów Jews to set up their own independent Jewish community, kehilla.

During the wars of the 17th century, the Jewish population was decimated by the Tatars and Cossacks. In 1565, many Jews were killed by Stefan Czarniecki’s troops. In 1661, Kurów numbered 384 people, among whom there were 50 Jews (13%).

In 1668, Bogusław Jan Zbąski granted a privilege to the Kurów Jews which equaled their rights with the rights of Catholics; they were granted, amongst others, the right to occupy buildings by the town square, the right to build a synagogue, a brewery, steam baths, and the permission to trade freely. The Jews were also under protection of the town squires. The privilege was confirmed in 1713 by the Szczuk family, and in 1742 and 1782, by the Potocki family. In 1674, the town population was 361, including 61 Jews (16%).

The Jewish population lived in the south-western part of Kurów, near the town pond, in the area encircled by such streets as Głęboka, Dworska (today I Armii Wojska Polskiego Street), Stawna and Tylna. In this area, the Jewish cultural and religious life was concentrated. Around the town square, the majority of butcher’s stalls and stands were owned by the Jews. Most of them were located around the town square.

Jews also lived in the following streets: Blich, Bożniczna (today: Nowa Street), Dzika (today: Kilińskiego Street), Kościuszki, Lubelska, and Żabia. In the beginning, in Żabia Street there was a Jewish lumber and boards warehouse. On the left the Poles lived, and on the right – the Jews[1.1].

The Jewish population in Kurów was mainly engaged in trade and craft. The Jews also took their goods to neighboring fairs in Wąwolnica, Markuszów, Puławy, Ryki, Michów, Lubartów or Niedrzwica. A Jew Josef Lewkowicz had his square by the local mill, near the Kurówka River. In the same place Berek Lewkowicz ran his winery and granary. In Dworska Street, near the Old Market Square, Josef Mortkiewicz owned a butcher’s stall. On their free days, the Jews were relaxing on meadows in Dworska Street. In summertime, well-off Jews traveled to Ruda, a summer resort, for relaxation.

In the 18th century, the owner of the town at that time, Konstancja Maria Szczuka, resettled the Jew Abraham Cyrulik whose building was located on the town square. She explained her decision in the following way: “I hereby announce to all and each of you who is concerned, and in particular to the townsmen and citizens of Kurów, both Poles and Jews, that I grant the Jew Abraham Cyrulik, a citizen of Kurów, the right to build a house, and I allow him to build it opposite the market, on the empty sarczyński plot. In the place of his house, a town hall will be built - both to adorn the town, enlarge the square, and improve the proportions. In this way, Abraham Cyrulik will empty the slot where his house stood - the house that was obsolete and meant for replacement”[1.2]

The tax liabilities borne by the Jewish population towards the state were high, so the kehilla took out loans. On 15 November 1671, the Jews borrowed 1,000 zlotys from priest Józef Nieradzki, a parson of the parish church in Markuszów. In 1702, the Kurów kehilla borrowed 600 zlotys from the Kurów parson, Jan Kobus. Another loan was taken out on 24 June 1710; the loan document was recorded in the Lublin tribunal, and then signed by Wulf Jozwowicz and Mendel Berkowicz. This was witnessed by the Kurów parson, priest Michał Szajkowski. On another occasion, the Jewish commune borrowed 1,700 zlotys from priest Idzi Stanisław Lisiecki in 1715.

At the convention of senior landowners and kehilla elders in 1750, the Kurów kehilla and Lubartów kehilla were obliged to repay the debt of the Jews from the Lubelski district to Wojciech Świechowski, the Bracław Cup-bearer. The amount of loan was 10,000 zlotys. In 1758, Eustachiusz Potocki agreed that the Jews borrowed 2,000 zlotys – this money was given to priest Piotr Strykowski. There is no further information on the loans taken out by the Kurów Jewish commune during the subsequent years of its activity.

In the 18th century, the function of rabbi in Kurów was performed by: Izaak Pinkasowicz, Chaim Ickowicz and Szloma Lejbusiowicz[1.3]. In the mid-18th century, the following people lived in Kurów (amongst others): Abram Leskowicz, Jakub Szalowicz, Bereke Leskowicz, Abramowicz, Jakub Salomonowicz, Abram Markowicz, Szal Lejbowicz, Lejzer Chaimowicz, Mortka Leskowicz (merchant), Sochar Izraelowicz, Kusiel Jozwowicz, Aron Markowicz (butcher), Lewek Irkowicz (capmaker), Mortko Jeskowicz (baker), Zejler Moskowicz (tailor), Chaim Markowicz (capmaker), Mosiek Irkowicz (capmaker), Aron Dostorowicz, Berek Judowicz (capmaker), Szmal Moskowicz (tailor), Mosiek Leszkowicz, Szloma Szymonowic, Gierszonowicz, Perec Zalmanowicz and Berek Abramowicz (bookbinder)[1.4]. In 1775, there were 89 Jewish families in the town. In 1786, Kurów numbered 1,500 people, among whom there were 803 Jews (53%).

In 1806, Ignacy Potocki prolonged the contract with the Jewish community for the lease of town mills and inns, as well as for selling alcohol. The heir/squire leased to the Jews the court brewery so that they could produce beer and mead. In 1856, Kurów numbered 2,664 people, among whom there were 1,564 Jews (58%). In 1886, a great fire ravaged the town – the southern part of Kurów, inhabited by the Jewish population, burnt down (Bożnicza Street, Dworska Street and Puławska Street). In 1892, there were 4,381 residents in Kurów, of whom 2,486 (56%) were Jews.

Towards the end of the 19th century, among the wealthiest Kurów residents there were: Chaim Hindkatz, Jojna Lakser, and Mowsza Bierman. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century the synagogue district was headed by Rabbi Chil Lejzor Goldberg and Rabbi Mordko Jankiel Rabinowicz. Before World War I, the Kurów kehilla had: a synagogue (Bożniczna Street – today: Nowa Street), the old cemetery (Bożniczna Street), a bathhouse (Żabia Street), a slaughterhouse (by the bathhouse) and the new cemetery (Blich Street)[1.5].

In the inter-war period, the Jewish community was headed by two rabbis: Mordko Rabinowicz and Mojlech Guterman. At the end of the 1920s, Majer Zalcman and Icek Kirszenbaum were the ritual slaughterers, shochets.

In 1913, there were two floor laying shops run by Leberbaum Lizyk (he employed 13 people) and Lenberg Pines (he employed 8 men). In Bożniczna Street, there was a Jewish soap shop.

In 1925, there was an oil mill owned by Mendel Medkorn, a soap shop owned by Lejbuś Cukierman, and a motor mill with a power plant run by Oskar Urlich and Mordek Finkielsztajn. The mill was situated near the public bath, on the Kurówka, in Warszawska Street. The other mill was located in Puławska Street and was owned by Holcman. There was a post-office in Kurów run by Mr. Tarczyński; the letter carrier was a Jewish woman. In the inter-war period, among 36 people in Straż Obywatelska (home guards) 14 were of the Jewish origin. In this period, the Jews set up a bank in Kurów.

In 1936, the Jews owned 161 commercial venues in Kurów; only 23 were owned by the Poles. In 1939, Kurów numbered 4,365 people, of whom 2,571 were Jewish (55%).

After World War II began, in June 1942, the Germans established a ghetto in Kurów: it encompassed the streets where the Jews lived. In April 1941, 40 Jewish families from Lublin and Wąwolnica arrived to the ghetto.

During the Nazi occupation, a labor camp was established for the Jews. It functioned until the end of 1942. The Jews kept there were forced to work on hardening of the road from Kurów to Klementowice. The material for road construction was taken from the synagogue and Jewish houses destroyed in September 1939. The road was also built from Jewish tombstones, taken from the cemetery in Blich Street. The work was supervised by the German company Bauman and Losch. In 1940, the Germans set up a tannery in Kurów in which 50 people were employed, including five Jews.

On 8 April 1942, the Germans transported Kurów Jews to the railway station Puławy, and from there to the extermination camp in Sobibór. Only men capable of janitorial works were left in the town. On 13 November 1942, the second deportation was organized during which the Germans killed 36 Jews. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Blich Street. Another 23 people were shot at the Jewish cemetery on 19 December 1942. The Jewish population in Kurów ceased to exist.

During the expulsion of the Jews from Kurów several people attempted to escape. Those who were successful were hiding in Garbów forests, where a Jewish partisan unit was active, headed by Kaim Elizer Wurman.

On numerous occasions, the Polish population helped the Kurów Jews. Mieczysław Kutnik, risking his own life, was hiding Jewish tanners. Owing to his help a Jew called Mola Stern survived the war. Adam Turczyk was hiding Lejbuś, the butcher. Antoni Wiejak and Mr. Mazurkiewicz’s son were hiding Jews in Łęgi Nadwiślańskie. Wacław Mańko from Barłogi village was hiding a Jewish woman named Najmark, who was the daughter of the boot leather stitcher from Kurów.

One of the people who survived the times of Holocaust in Kurów was Lejbuś Wajnbuch. He did not live long though – in 1946, he was shot dead at a fair in Wąwolnica.

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Photos of Michow (courtesy of Joelle Berkowicz of France)

Grandma's father Abram Gutman's maternal grandmother Mnicha Haneft (1797-1824)

Abram's mother Tema (=Tamara) died at age 39 in 1855 when Abram was 11. Tema's mother Mnicha (=Mary, Manya, Marian) died at age 27 in 1824 when Tema was 8. The death certificate says she was 27 when she died on April 25th, witnesses Moszek Zelmanowicz Haneft, 33, and Icek Janklowicz Kraft 42. She died in Konskowola, which is where Tema married Abram's father David in 1836. Moshe Haneft was a religious leader in that town. He remarried soon after, as was the custom, and perhaps had more children but Tema is his only known offspring. Moshe died in Konskowola in 1859.