Welcome to Bukowsko, Poland!

( Dynów, Poland ~ Click Here! )  

(בוקאווסק ,Bakavsk, Bikavsk, Bikovsk, Bukovska, Bukivs’ko)

(Latitude 49°29´, Longitude 22°04´)

196.6 miles SSE of Warsaw

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                               The Promise of a Holy Day

                                                                                                                                                         by

 

                                                                 Yitzhak Zuckerkandel - Jerusalem

 

~ an eternal memorial to the Pinter Family of Bukowsko ~

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*** Recently Located Charity Contribution Lists  (c.1930) ***

(to see all 6 lists, click on the image below)

The above document was located in Jerusalem by Tanya Klein in June of 2007.  (Thank you, Tanya!) To see an enlarged version of the document and a translation, Click on the document above or go to:  http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Bukowsko/charity.htm

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Travel with the Schwerds through Bukowsko!

Description: Mr. Bernard Schwerd, born in Bukowsko, Poland, visits his childhood hometown on September 12, 2005, for the first time in 63 years after being forced to flee after the invasion of the Nazis in 1942 . His family escaped and miraculously survived the war, settling in Brooklyn N.Y., in 1948. On this trip, the first Mr. Schwerd has taken to his hometown since escaping as a child, he is accompanied by his son, Neil (Yecheal) and his nephew, Moishe, son of his late younger brother, Abraham Schwerd. Running Time: 26 min 27 sec  (This film Courtesy of Neil Schwerd)

Jewish Residents of Bukowsko

from the "Spis Parafialny", Volume II(church census)

(The above information was recently located at the Bukowsko Roman Catholic Church by Debbie Greenlee.  A HUGE “thank you” to her for taking the time to not only compile it, but formatting it in a manner where we can now see these “lost” records.) J

Source: Sefer Dynow; sefer zikaron le-kedoshei kehilat Dynow she-nispu ha-shoa ha-natsit

(The memorial book of Jewish Dinov) 1979

 

                                                                          

                                                                                          Photo courtesy of Neil Schwerd

(Another photo of the above plaque can be located on page 598 of the “Sanok Yizkor Book”. An English translation is below)

“In everlasting memory
To the martyrs of the Bukowsko community
and the vicinity (Galicia) May the Lord revenge their blood
who were murdered and slaughtered  by sword
and in the gas chambers
by the Germans and their Collaborators May their name be blotted
during the Holocaust 5702 (1942)
their sacred memory will remain in our souls for eternity
memorial day  27 of Elul (September 9)
May their souls be bound up in the bond of everlasting life
in remembrance from the townsman of Bukowsko
in Israel and the Diaspora”

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Cemetery in Bukowsko ~ New Photos!!!

 

  

The photos above were taken in April of 2007 by Marek Silarski after a renovation at the Bukowsko Jewish Cemetery. (Far Left) Cemetery direction marker

(Middle) The stone on the right says, “Here lies the upright and righteous person Mr. Yaakov Yosef, the son of Yitzchok Isaac. Died 13 Iyyar 5643 (Sunday, May 20, 1883)”(Translation by Neil Schwerd) (Far Right) The two gravestones are seen in the background.  The sign at the entrance appears to be a history of the cemetery and is written in Polish.  There is no English translation at the present time. 

To see larger versions of the above 3 photos, go to: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukowsko and click on the photos on that site.

 

·        Jewish Cemetery Directions and Updated Report– June, 2002 *

·        Jewish Cemetery Map *

·        Jewish Cemetery Photos *

*Debbie & David Greenlee, for the report, map, and photos!

 

The Jewish cemetery site was visited on 6 August 1992. Cemetery: forest, 3 km E of village center. Present population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.1921 Jewish population (census) was 623 persons. Orthodox Jews used this cemetery. The isolated wooded hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing private property, access is open to all with no wall, fence, or gate. The size of the cemetery is 0.5 hectares. No gravestones are visible. Stones were incorporated in roads or structures in the premises of the Agricultural Circle in Bukowsko. The cemetery is now overgrown by young forest. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Private persons visited rarely. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II with no maintenance. There are no structures.

[Source: As reported by the US Commission (No. POCE000718)]


Bukowsko Cemetery (Jewish), located 3 km E of the village. The year of establishment is unknown. Size 0,5 hectares, not fenced in, demolished, only a few gravestones have been preserved. 
(Source: Pamiatki i zabytki kultury zydowskiej w Polsce by Przemyslaw Burchard, Warsaw (1990) p. 225-226)

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 “Central Database of Shoah Victim Names”

This database went online on Nov. 22, 2004 and there are 345 Holocaust Victims associated with the town of Bukowsko

 (some names may be repeated)

                                                          ~ Click Here ~

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                               1772 Town Inventory - Bukowsko - Addendum

                                               (includes surnames: Moszkowicz, Arendowicz , Krolicki, …)

                                  Source: Marek Silarski

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People, Places & Things ~

·         Mini-Photo Tour of Present-Day Bukowsko

·         The Faces of Bukowsko

·        ‘Erech Chaim’ or ‘The value of Life’ (a title page)

·          Pre-War Photos

·         Bukowsko Today through Photos

 

Maps/Province Information ~

·        Bukowsko Today (Expedia)

·        Town Location (MapQuest)

·        Bukowsko Region (includes maps for Bukowsko, Dynow, and the Bukowsko Region)

·        When a part of Galicia - Bukowsko was in the Administrative District of Sanok.  Bukowsko is, also, listed as part of the Administrative District of Sanok and the Province of Lwów  in the “1929 Polish Business Directory”.

·        Until recently – Bukowsko was in the Administrative District of Krosno

·        Today - Bukowsko is in the Administrative District of Podkarpackie

         Are you confused, yet?

 

Town History ~

(Town Seal – date unknown)

Click on town seals above for 7 additional town histories. Lots of good stuff!

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Newly Translated “BUKOWSKO” Entry !!

Pinkas Hakehillot Polin ~ Bukowsko

~~~~ Click Here ~~~

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BUKOWSKO (Yiddish – Bikavsk) Lwow district, Poland.  Jews settled in the 18th century, much of their livelihood revolving around the town’s annual trade fair and later bolstered by the establishment of a dominant Hasidic court connected with the Dynow dynasty.  The Jewish population stood at 748 (total 991) in 1900, but dropped to 494 in 1921 after emigration and the tribulations of WWI took their toll, with many on the verge of starvation.  The advance of the Germans in 1939 brought a stream of refugees and subsequently a regime of forced labor and extortion.  Those Jews not sent to labor camps were deported to the Belzec death camp in the summer of 1942, probably via Zaslawie.

 

Source:  The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust Shmuel Spector (editor) & Geoffrey Wigoder (Consulting Editor), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem [2001] 0-8147-9356-8

 

Social and economic development resulted in the establishment of a new category of social classification - townsman.  The townsmen class was mostly Jewish. 

The newly erected synagogue(built most likely before 1745) located in the upper part of the Bukowsko square became the irrefutable symbol of their domination.  Documents confirming the ownership of two apartment houses survived to the present day.  The buildings were owned by two Jews: Moszek Litman and

Tobiasz Aronowicz.  Documents prepared by the Austrian government, clearly illustrate the structure of the population as far as the ethnic segmentation is concerned.  According to a manuscript from 1790 there were 18 Jewish and 220 Catholic families residing  in Bukowsko.  Ten years later, the number of Jewish families increased to 33 while the number of Catholic families experienced a rather insignificant increase to 221 families.  The Jewish people supported themselves mostly through commercial dealings with the Rusyn population residing in nearby villages.  The cattle exchange and the Bukowsko Markets would take place in February on Ash Wednesday and in June, just before the feast day of Saints Piotr(Peter) and Pawel.(Paul)  At the same time the Jewish merchants participated

(as the middleman) in herring trading.  This product was especially valued and desired by the Polish and Rusyn people around the time of Lent.

Polish townspeople constituted a significantly lower number of the population as compared to the Jewish population of the same social class...."

 

Source:  W gminie Bukowsko Jerzy Zuba, ROKSANA, Krosno, Poland, 1999 -  ISBN 83-87282-84-7

               (English Translation: Bukowsko Gmina – Edited by Deborah Greenlee – page 26)

 

The Jews dominated in Bukowsko’s population from the beginning of its existence. Already in 1745, the number of Jews must have been very high as they had their own synagogue in the upper part of the Market Square. In 1790 the Austrians, who owned this land by now, took a census which showed that 18 Jewish and about 220 Catholic families were living in Bukowsko. The trade in cattle was the best developed branch of the local economy, and the Bukowsko Fairs, which took place several days before Ash Wednesday and SS Peter’s and Paul’s day, were famous in the neighbourhood.

On 6 September 1772 the manor in Bukowsko burnt down. The historical records of this fire also mention a brewery, a town hall and fish ponds in the town. In the 19th century our town started to develop fast. At the end of that century, it was at the height of its development and became one of the most populated and biggest centres of handicraft and trade in Sanok County, next to Sanok and Rymanów.  (for the complete history as recorded at the town’s website, click here)

 

 

 

Jewish Statistics from Cadastral Records – 1766

 

Rymanów 245 persons
Nowotaniec 74 persons
Nadolany 7 persons
Bukowsko 56 persons
Jasliska 9 persons
Rogi 7 persons
Jacmierz 15 persons
Brzozow 11 persons
Jasienica 58 persons
Zarszyn 8 persons

 

 

Source : Manuscript Ossolineum 2502/II , 114 r. - 115 r.
by Kronika , Pr. E. Tomaszewski,
Prepared by Marek Silarski.

 Jewish Records ~ New!!!!!
A big thank you to Debbie Greenlee, who while researching her Polish roots located some Jewish records within the Spis Parafialny (church census) of the  Roman Catholic church in Bukowsko. She has been generous enough to allow this information to be posted on this site.  To see preliminary records along with an explanation, click on the link provided. Newly Located Jewish Records
 
Town Name ~

The Derivation of the town name may be based on Bukowski. Bukowski's original name was Buk (from Ukrainian "buk" / beech), and he was a minor squire.   After a victory in Vienna over the Turks, the armor-bearer Buk, in reward for service to his knight, was ennobled - becoming Bukowski. On the other hand, it may simply refer to beech trees.

 

World War II in the Bukowsko Area ~

 

:

Sanok District – Jews Killed by Nazis in 1939-44

Bukowsko

 

STERN Szloma -                     killed in June 1942
GOLDKLANG Golda -           born in 1899 in Lesko - killed on 15.08.1942
GRABER family -                     killed on 15.08.1942
JERMEREK -                          a child - killed on 15.08.1942
MENASZKO -                        killed on 15.08.1942
NEJECH Abram Pinter with two sons - killed on 15.08.1942
PIUBER family -                      killed on 15.08.1942
SIGEL' three brothers -            killed on 15.08.1942
STERN family -                        killed on 15.08.1942
SZMERGLOWSKI Srul -        killed on 15.08.1942

 

Holocaust Database –

JewishGen’s Holocaust Database is a collection of databases containing information about Holocaust victims and survivors.  As of January 22, 2005, the Holocaust Database incorporates 74 databases, which contain over 900,000 entries. It is a work in progress with additional lists being added, as the data is transcribed. The people listed below resided in Bukowsko at some point.  Additional information appears for each individual on the database itself.  If you recognize a name and would like to see if additional information is available for this person, please go to: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust and search using the surname.  If you want more information on the database associated with one of the people listed below, just click on the hyperlink next to the name.  To see a list of all databases included on the Holocaust Database, go to: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust and scroll  down just a bit to “Component Databases”.

BECK (GRÜNN), Chana (born 15 Apr 1888) – Temporary Passports for Jews in Germany 1938 to 1941

BEDNARZ, Andreas (born 14 Jan 1912) – Dachau Concentration Camp Records

BERGLASS, Salomon (born 1912) - Polish Jews Liberated from the Bergen-Belsen Camp - 2A 

FISCH, Mechel (born 15 Jan 1904 / died 30 Oct 1939)– Unpublished List of Polish Men Murdered in Buchenwald in 1939

GRÄBER, Hersch (born 18 Feb 1908) –  Dachau Concentration Camp Records

MARKEL, Chasim (Chaim?) (born 19 Apr 1881 ) – Vranov Transport Lists

MARKEL, Sara (born 9 Jun 1883 ) – Vranov Transport Lists

TYM, Jakub (born 1896) - Surviving Jews in Poland - the Krakow Committee List -15 

 

Yad Vashem List (Pages of Testimony)

Appel, Jetty

Balbirer, David

Balbirer, Faiga

Balbirer, Gitl

Balbirer, Rosa

Baldinger, Ernestine

Banach, Sara

Baumol, Pinchus

Baumol, Raizel

Baumol, Sosha

Baumol, Yehoshua

Baumol, Yosef

 

(Click here for hundreds of additional names)

For more information/searches: http://www.yadvashem.org/lwp/workplace/IY_HON_Welcome

 

 

Those who perished at Auschwitz

 

Luczynski, Eugeniusz (1911-04-07 - 1942-06-10) Catholic
Majdecki, Wiktorja (1917-03-22 - 1942-11-05) Catholic

Pietrzycki, Jan (1915-06-25 - 1942-09-07) Catholic

Rebhun, Markus Israel (1903-04-27 - 1942-06-21) Jewish
Rosen, Mojzis (1898-02-16 - 1942-12-01) Jewish
Schiff, Etel (1910-09-28 - 1942-07-08) Jewish

Wallach, Naftali (1924-04-23 ÷ 1942-05-21) Jewish

 

Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau Database at: http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/szukaj/index.php?language=PL 

            (Search using the 'surname' in the area labeled "Nazwisko")

 

 

 

Bukowsko Residents Listed in the “1891 Galician Business Directory”

Click Here! ~ Names & Occupations! ~ Click Here!

 

 “1929 Polish Business Directory”

Ksiega Adresowa Polski (Wraz z w.m. Gdanskiem dla Handlu, Przemyslu
Rzemiosl I Rolnictwa) –(written in Polish/French)

Click on blue link above.  Type “Bukowsko” in order to download the original page! 

Doctor: Abraham Holler
Lawyer: J. Ringel and E. Zuk
Notary: Witold Witoszyski
Land Owner: Kazimierz Rodkiewicz (231 hektars)
Store Merchant: A. Storn
Midwife: F. Cytlan and Katarzyna  Szaszowska
Pharmacist: Klara Appel
Tinsmith: M. Berger
Fabric merchant: S. Dobras, W. Pinter, and S. Stern
Carpenter: M. H____ and J. Sokol
Savings and Loan:: Kasa Stefczyka  (registered  business)
Import Items: D. Binder, J. Ehrlich, L. Gunzberg, Fr. Langzam, L. Pinter,  and T. Szmerlowska
Stonemason: K. Stebnik
Horsemarket: I. Gunzberg and L. Gunzberg
Co-op: Polish Trade Cooperative; registered business
Beauty Products: P. Zablotny
Blacksmith: J. Liwacz
Tailor: M. Werner
Sewing Supplies: A. Senk
Bookstore: N. Idler
Kitchen items: R. Werner
Bricklayer: M. Fajczewicz and M. Hertig
Musical Instruments: N. Idler (sales)
Dairy: S. Katz
Shoes: W. Feigenbaum and H. Lustig
Baker: S. Haselmus, Ch. Schnell and S. Schuff
Sundries: M. Kellerman, Polish Trade Business; registered business
Kosher Butcher: P. Chrzaszcz, J. Luczynski, S. Wrobel
Leather: M. Klein
Cabinetmaker: J. Zablotny
Shoe repair: Dabrowski, F. Orlowski and M. Wialgus
Sawmill: Sz. Stern (waterwheel)
Tobacco: S. Mazur
Clothing: D. Malz and S. Schonberg
Pork Butcher: Kubasiewicz
Liquor: S. Barth, Ch. Gunzberg, J. Idler, Sz. Muller, J. Pieszczach, A. Pinkas, M. Rebkom, L. Rokach,   M.Wilk and S. Felbusch.
Grain: Fisch and I. Gunzberg
Iron worker: M. Ehrlich, M. Langsam and M. Rand

 



"Nazwiska Z~ydowskie z akt sadowych Bukowska (z lat 1926-1946)"
"Jewish surnames from Documents of Bukowsko County 1926-1946"

David BABIERER; Hersch BEER; Chaja BEILA; Efraim BERGLASS; Chaima / Perle / Sara,/ Hersch / Chana BRAND; Teodor CHARAMAN; Pinkas DORLICH; Basia FARBER; Hersch FEIT; Berta FESSEL, Izaak FIALENBERG; Adaf FRIED; Silka / Debora FRIEDMAN; Mendel FUCHNER; Filsch GEMINDER; Mojzesz GLANZBERG; Jakub GLEICHER; Zlata GRUN LANG; Izaak GUNBURG; Chaim GUNSBURG; Samuel HERZIG; Izrael HESKUS; Leopold HIRSCH; Papka HOLLENDER BARBER; Salomon and Samuel JOSSEL; Srul / Sandra KATZ; Kulaszne KERN GABRIEL; Perl KLIJOW; Berisch / Nachim KNOBEL; Millech KORNREICH; Matha, LAI; Raud LENTEL; Amalia LISZNER; Berisch LOWI; Leib LOWIN; Izrael MAJER WILK; David MALZ; Rachela / Mindla MARKIEL; Fulse / Efraim MELLER; Schacher PINKAS; Friedy PLANKER; Mindla RAUCH; Lemel REND; Regina ROT PLASNER; Leon ROTCH; Roza ROTSCH KATZ; Chana Ryfka / Rachela SCHACHNER; Channa SCHELLER; Suss SCHLIESSELFELD; Eisig SCHWERD; Luzan STEFFNER; Peisech STERN; Chaima STRENGER; Abraham Izaak SYNSONOWICZ; Sara SZPONDER; Malka Gilka / Abraham TANENBAUM; Chaja Laja TEICHTEL – CHOROWITZ; Ilka TRIRKA; Izaak WEG; Chaja WEISTEN; Ruchli WEITCHMAN; Lacia WERNER; Mendel / Regina WILDSTEIN; Hersch / Estera WILLNER; Izaak WOLF PENNER  (prepared  by Marek Silarski)
 
 

Termination of Polish Citizenship

The names below were obtained from a list of almost 1,500 names of Jews who - in order to emigrate - had to renounce their Polish nationality. This took place prior to the year 1939. The original documents contain destination, occupation, comments, and photographs.  Those wishing to obtain copies of the original document - and hence ALL of the information - should E-mail the Krakow Archives by proarchivo@poczta.fm

 

Surname

 Name

 Date & Place of Birth

 Family Members

KATZ

 Samuel

 14.08.1911 Bukowsko

 pow. Sanok Reizla Katz

ZIEGLER

 Zyłko

 14.09.1906 Bukowsko

 Chaim i Rachela

 

Ellis Island: Immigrants from Bukowsko from 1892-1924

(List of over 75 Jewish immigrants, who had resided in Bukowsko, has been deleted due to copyright restrictions of the Ellis Island Foundation.)

Surnames include: Berger, Birndorf, Braun, Chinsberg, Diller, Engel, Figer (Maid), Frankfurt,Gottieb, Katz, Kellerman, Kellermann, Kern, Klepcsyk, Knobel, Korneich [Kosnreich, Korwisioh], Kratz, Lerner, Lustig, Malamet, Mayeowitz, Meller, Mellinger, Neller, Pinkas(?), Rabbi, Raff, Rand, Rasner, Rubisch, Salzmann, Schiff, Schmidt, Schupowitz, Urysz, Weingarten, Weinstein, Winter, Wrubel, Zins [Ziws].

(to locate someone go to: Steve Morse Website at: http://stevemorse.org/ )

Be aware that the town name may appear as: Bukowsko, Bukowska, Bokowski, Bekowska, Bnkowsko, Bokowska, Bukowsbo, Bukowko, Bwkowsko, Bukow..., Bukowka, Bukovsko, Rukowska, Boiska, and Bunkuonsko!

(Some of the variations are due to transcription errors.)

The Bukowsk Yizkor Book Section is now online!!!

A major thank you to William Leibner (translator) for bringing our little shtetl’s past back to life!   For a list of Bukowsk residents mentioned in this book, please click here and scroll down just a tad.

 

Sanok Yizkor Book (Bukowsko section -pages 579-605)

[Part of the “Yizkor Book Project” at JewishGen]

 

* Mini-biographies of the following people are located on pages 595-597. (R’ Eliyahu Posner - R’ Tuvia Rand - R’Moshe Rebhuhn – Stern Family (R’ Yitzchak Stern) – R’ Yehuda Schpatz) [If you can read Hebrew, and can assist translating these names properly, please contact me.]

** Photo: R’ Josef Roth(606) & mini-biography(306)   Photo: R’ Chaim Ruttenberg(606) & more information (60)  Photo: Leibish Segal(607)   Photo: Itte Silberman, wife of R’ Mordechai Silberman(607)   Photo of painting: Itte Segal, wife of Leibish Segal(609)  Photo: R’ Shlomo Amster(610) and mini-biography(275-276)   Photo: Tsvi Schwartz(610) and more information(61)  [click on Resemblances and Images to see online photos]

 

After the passing of the Tzadik of Sanz, Rabbi Elazar became the head of the Rabbinical court of Bokowsko.               

Source:  Rzeszow, Poland: Kehilat Raysha; sefer zikaron (Rzeszow community; memorial book) 1967

 

“Bukowsko Family Trees” – to add yours contact webmaster

Raff Family Genealogy

Surnames: RAFF / SICHERMAN / FISH/FISCH / MEISNER/ KATZ / GRUNSPANN/GREENSPAN / EICHNER / ZWICK / HILLER from Zmigród Nowy / Bukowsko / Dukla / Dynow / Korczyna, Poland  and HERBACH /BIRNBAUM / SCHNEIER / LAWNER / KORNFELD from Nowy Sacz, Poland; Lipany, Slovakia;  and Ukraine

Great Grandparents: Yehoshua ‘Osias’ RAFF and Necha SICHERMAN of Bukowsko.  Osias RAFF is listed in the ‘1891 Galician Business Directory’ as watchmaker.  There were at least four children: Jacob Zev ‘Wolf’, Marcus ‘Max’, Esther, and Rusa ‘Rose’. Wolf was my grandfather.  Max and Wolf immigrated to the United States.  Esther and Rose immigrated to Cuba where they married into the ZWICK family.  Esther married Leon ZWICK and Rose married Israel ZWICK.  In the 1960’s many of the Cuban RAFF / ZWICK / FRANKEL family moved to the United States.

My grandfather, Wolf (born 21 August 1886/died 17 January 1982) of Bukowsko, marries Yittela "Yetta" MEISNER (born 8 September1880/died 20 September1962) of Zmigrod Nowy. They live in Zmigród Nowy and have 3 children (Ida, Ike, and Israel "James"). James was my father. Wolf immigrates to New York (USA) in 1922 and is followed in 1928 by his wife, "Yetta" and their 3 children. Wolf owns a small jewelry store on the Lower East Side of  NY for over 50 years and becomes an active member of the Brezower Landsmanshaft.

The Raff Family (photo on left): (standing) Ida Raff Frankel (my aunt), Isaac Raff (my uncle), with Yetta Meisner Raff (my grandmother) holding Israel "James" Raff (my wonderful dad!)

 

Wolf and Yetta’s children are:

At the age of 6 (1928), my dad (James) left Poland with his mother and siblings to reunite with his father in New York.  He served in the U.S. Army during WWII; was an active member of the Jewish War Veterans; and a volunteer coordinator for his local police department, until his death in 1999. He practiced his Yiddish by translating some stories from the Sanok Yizkor Book for JewishGen.

For More Information, email: Debbie Raff

 

Schwerd / Ginzburg Family Genealogy

To the left is a picture of my great-grandfather, R' Shlomo Zalman (Salamon) Ginzburg. He passed away in the 1930's. So, 

this picture may have been taken around 1890. He is buried somewhere in the Jewish cemetery in Bukowsko. He was the

father-in-law of Isaac Schwerd. (see photo directly below this one)

 

 

“Selling of liquor was a government monopoly and one had to bid for the license. Mordechai Wilk and Shlomo Ginzburg owned the liquor license of the township that in effect gave them control over the sale of all alcoholic beverages in Bukowsk and the surrounding areas.” ~ from Bukowsko section of Sefer Zikaron le-Kehilat Sanok ve-ha-Siviva

 (Memorial Book of Sanok and Vicinity) at: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/sanok/San579.html

Photo to the left : Courtesy of Neil Schwerd

 

 

 

My grandparents were Isaac (see photo on left) and Sara (Ginzberg) Schwerd.  They lived in

Bukowsko along with their 5 children – Bernard (born 1929), Abraham, Leo, Regina (Rivka)

Sprecher nee Schwerd and Bella Reich nee Schwerd.

 

They all left Bukowsko in1941, the day before all the Jews were ordered to appear at the town

square and all the Christian neighbors were ordered to take a Jewish family to the train station.

It was on a Friday night under the cover of darkness that they escaped into the woods after lighting

the Shabbos candles. The Jews were ordered deported on Sunday. Everyone survived and this

branch of the family all now live in New York.

 

More information on Isaac/Eisek Schwerd is found at: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/sanok/San579.html#Page593

Source of this Schwerd Photo and the one below: “Sefer Zikaron le-Kehilat Sanok ve-ha-Siviva”[1970]

 

My grandfather’s first cousin was Chaim Schwerd. Chaim was brought to Sanok by Isaac, who had earlier married and setttled in nearby Bukowsko. Isaac introduced Chaim to Chaya Sarah, and they eventually  married.

Chaim became a shochet (ritual slaughterer) in Sanok, due to my grandfather, Isaac, arranging for him to get this position.  Sadly, Chaim perished in the Shoah along with most of his family. His son, Elazar Sharvit (Schwerd Hebraicized), and a daughter, Judith Shkedi nee Schwerd survived.  They had joined the Zionist Movement and  settled in Israel prior to World War II. Both married and raised families there.

 

Elazar Schwerd (Sharvit), who was the author of Sefer Zikaron le-Kehilat Sanok ve-ha-Siviva (Memorial Book of Sanok and Vicinity), passed away in Jerusalem in 1988, and Judith Shkedi (Schwerd), his sister, passed away in November, 1999. 

 

 Photo - top row: Chaim Schwerd is in the center, surrounded by his two sons Meir and Elazar

 middle row: L-R: Judith Shkedi (Schwerd), Chaya Sarah (Chaim’s wife) and Lea (daughter-in-law)

 holding Pinchas (grandson) bottom row: L-R: Hinda (daughter) and Zissel (grandaughter)

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