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Genealogy with Rabbi Scott

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Genealogy with Rabbi Scott

Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff is a professional Jewish genealogist based in NYC.

He conducts private, personalized genealogical research for those interested in discovering their family history.

01/19/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

According to his World War Two draft card, Leslie’s grandfather, Hebert Roskind, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on December 8, 1908. We found the Roskind family living in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1920 US Federal Census. Herbert was the son of Morris Roskind and Annie Matison. We then found Morris’ social security application which taught us that he was the son of Sam Roskind and Ida Rivkin, Leslie’s great-great grandparents.

We learned that Sam and Ida also immigrated to the United States, settling in Nashville. By searching on Newspapers.com, we found obituaries for both Sam and Ida. According to his obituary in the Nashville Banner in 1917, Sam was “Mr. Roskind was born in Minsk, Russia, in 1839, and lived there until 1908, when he came to America to visit his children. After spending a few months with his daughters in Hartford, Conn., he came to this city to visit his sons. He was so pleased with Nashville that he decided to make it his permanent home and has resided here ever since. Mr. Roskind was a man of fine personality. He always had a kind and cheering word for everyone and made many friends in this city. "

We located Sam and Ida’s burial location in Temple Cemetery in Nashville and found a picture of their grave. According to the headstone, Sam’s Jewish name was Shimon, son of Moshe Roskind and Ida’s Jewish name was Chaya Leah, daughter of Chaim Getzel Rivkin. Moshe Roskind and Chaim Getzel Rivkin are Leslie’s great-great-great grandfathers. Using this information, we searched to find the Roskinds in Minsk and found Sam and Ida in an 1874 revision list living in Okolovo, Belarus which was part of the Minsk province.

Paulo, visiting from Brazil, asked to research his grandfather and find out where the family comes from. We found his grandfather’s death record on FamilySearch.org. Hanani Forshaid died in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 14, 1969. According to the death record, Hanani’s parents were Shmerel and Leah Forshaid. We then learned that Hanani had four siblings who had also immigrated to Brazil, Aaron Forshaid, Lipa Forshaid and Aida Grimberg, and Luba Poloponsky. According to Aron’s death record, their mother’s name was Chaya and according to Lipa’s death record, their mother’s name was Chaya Leah and according to Aida’s death record, their mother’s name was Leah. We concluded her full name was Chaya Leah.

The records also taught us that the Forshaid family came from “Kamenka, Russia” which is modern-day Camenka, Moldova. We searched for information about the Forshaids in the old country and found the grave of a woman named Chaya Leah Forshaid who died in Soroca, Moldova in 1932 and concluded that this is the grave of Paulo’s great grandmother. According to the headstone, Chaya Leah’s father’s name was Chaim, Paulo’s great-great grandfather.

We also looked up the origin of the name Forshaid in Alexander Bieder’s A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire and discovered the surname Forshaid is a Yiddish word meaning “wanton” or "licentious."

Catherine asked if we could research her grandfather’s family. According to his WW2 draft card, Louis Seidenstein was born on December 2, 1898 in NYC. We found his birth record and learned that his parents were Nathan Seidenstein and Molly Schwartz. The Seidensteins were residing at 197 Moore Street at the time of Louis’ birth.

I then found Nathan Seidenstein’s naturalization papers showing his living at that same address in 1906. According to his naturalization papers, Nathan was born on May 16, 1871 in Romania. I then searched for records for the Seidensteins in Romania and found a transcript of Nathan’s birth record. According to the transcript, he was born Nachman Zeienstein on May 14, 1871 in Iasi, Romania, the son of Zelik and Malka Zeidenstein. Nachman was one of eleven children born to Zelik and Malka.

We then learned that Zelik and Malka also immigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn. Zelik died on July 13, 1917 and Malka died on August 29, 1914. They are buried in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn. According to their graves, their Jewish names were Sheima, son of Yaakov Moshe Seidenstein and Malka, daughter of Yisrael Ginsburg. Yaakov Moshe Seidenstein and Yisrael Ginsburg are Catherine’s great-great-great grandfathers.

Allan asked if we could conduct research on his grandfather, Herman Haber. He was told that his grandfather’s original last name was Haberblatt and that his Jewish name was Tuvya. We found Herman immigrating to America in 1913 under the name Tobias Haberblatt. He sailed on the SS Kroonland from Antwerp, Belgium and arrived at Ellis Island on December 24, 1913. Herman was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland.

We then found Herman’s marriage certificate. He married his first cousin, Lena Flashenberg. According to the marriage certificate, Herman was the son of Isaac Haberblatt and Eva Kohill and Lena was the daughter of Joseph Flaschenberg and Bluma Haberblatt. Herman’s father and Lena’s mother were brother and sister.

We then searched to find information about the Haberblatt family in Warsaw. We found the graves of Allan’s great grandparents who are buried in the main Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. Isaac Haberblatt died on July 28, 1905 and Eva died on August 5, 1913. According to their headstones, Isaac’s father was Tzvi Hersh and Eva’s father was Leibush, Allan’s great-great grandfathers.

01/12/2026

For those in the Hartford, CT area:

"Come join the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford & Mem Global's Moishe House Without Walls (MHWOW) program for an evening with Genealogy with Rabbi Scott! Let's do a deep dive into family roots and how to uncover more about who you are.
The event is on Thursday 2/5 at 6:30pm at the JCC and refreshments will be served. RSVP before 2/3 at 4pm. Looking forward to seeing you there!"

01/05/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Marian stumbled upon the center while visiting the museum with her husband. She asked if we could research her grandfather’s family. We started by finding her grandfather’s WW2 draft card which taught us that Hyman Mohel was born in NYC on December 21, 1908. Using this information, we found Hyman’s birth record which provided us with his parents’ names: Leo Mohel and Minnie Halperin. We then found Leo and Minnie’s marriage certificate. They were married in NYC on February 18, 1908. Leo’s parents were Kalman Ber Mohel and Doba Podbielski, Marian’s great-great grandparents.

We learned that Kalman and Doba also immigrated to the United States. They settled in Lakewood, NJ where Kalman owned and operated the Carmel Hotel. Doba passed away in 1929. According to his obituary, Kalman retired in 1931 and then moved to Israel. He died in Jerusalem in 1956. He was active in Jewish communal affairs in Lakewood, having been instrumental in the founding of the Talmud Torah there in 1916 and serving as the president and secretary of Congregation Sons of Israel.

The Mohel family came from Lomza, Poland and we found the Mohels in a list of residents of Lomza. According to the list, Kalman Ber Mohel was the son of Chaim Leib and Sheina Perl Mohel and Doba was the daughter of Leizer and Rochel Podbielski, Marian’s great-great-great grandparents. Chaim Leib and Sheina Perl were married in Grajewo, Poland in 1855. According to their marriage record, their fathers were Eliasz Mohel and Ber Zeligsohn, Marian’s great-great-great-great grandfathers. We learned that Marian’s great-great-great grandmother, Sheina Perl Zeligsohn Mohel, also immigrated to the United States, arriving in 1905. We found Sheina Perl living with Kalman and his family in the 1905 NY State Census. Marian had no idea that so many generations of her family lived in the US.

Steve’s brother, Bob, visited the center two weeks ago to research their mother’s family. Steve visited so we could focus our research on their father’s family. He was interested in knowing more about his paternal grandfather, Samuel Gelber, the only grandparent Steve never met. We found the Gelber family in the 1910 and 1920 US Federal Censuses and in the 1915 and 1925 NY State Censuses. According to all of the censuses, Samuel Gelber was born in Romania and was a baker by profession. We also found the family in the 1930 US Federal Census. Steve’s grandmother, Rose, was listed as married, but her husband, Sam wasn’t living with them. According to Steve, Sam had abandoned the family.

Steve wanted to know where exactly Samuel Gelber came from and when he immigrated to the US. We found his WW1 draft card and naturalization papers which taught us that Sam was born in Mihăileni, Romania. He immigrated to the US in 1909, arriving at Ellis Island on March 19, 1909 under the name Zalman Gelber. According to his ship’s manifest, Sam was single when he arrived, which meant he had to have gotten married between his arrival in March of 1909 and the time of the 1910 US Federal Census in April 1910. We learned that Sam and Rose were married on March 26, 1909 in NYC. Their marriage certificate taught us that Sam was the son of David Gelber, Steve’s great grandfather.

Ben visited the center hoping to learn more about his grandmother, Ida Kadish. We found Ida’s marriage certificate which taught us that her maiden name was Toltz. She was the daughter of Jacob Toltz and Eva Jaffe. Using this information, we learned that Ida had at least two siblings, a sister named Bessie and a brother named Sam. Sam was a butcher and lived in Rochester, New York. He married Rose Goldstein on April 2, 1916 in Rochester.

We found Sam’s WW1 draft card which taught us he was born in Vitz, Russia, which we identified as modern-day Vidzy, Belarus. We then found newspaper articles about a rivalry between Sam Toltz and another butcher in Rochester named Harry Gordon. The feud between the two men became so heated that Harry shot and killed Sam in February of 1927. Three other butchers were shot, one of them, Harry Katz, was also killed.

We found an article about the shootings that was written in Medium in January 2024:
“On the evening of February 11, 1927, 34-year-old Harry Gordon snapped. Formerly a butcher in the Rochester area, he believed he had been unfairly forced out of his work by rivals in the same trade because of disagreements and violent clashes they had had in the past.

Armed with two pistols, Gordon first went to the apartment of Harry Katz, who was preparing to go out on a date. The agitated Gordon forced his way through the door and fired three shots into the surprised victim, killing him almost instantly.

Driving away from the scene of the murder, Gordon next went to the butcher shop of Sam Toltz. There, a similar scene ensued, as Toltz was on the receiving end of eight bullets. As he lay dying, customers and employees of the shop fled in panic.

The rampage wasn’t over yet, however. Having already killed two men, Gordon proceeded to the deli owned by Frank Cohen and Morris Klass. He emptied his gun into the pair, shooting Cohen in the leg, and Klass in his torso. At first, it appeared that Klass might succumb from his wounds, but he eventually pulled through.

Shortly after the killings, once the killer was suspected, there was neighborhood mania, with hundreds of people flooding the police station demanding protection. Gordon was arrested at his home by the friend of a policeman who was lying in wait for him. He quickly confessed, explaining:

“I had been planning these killings for several weeks and when Katz passed me on the street and refused to stop when I called to him, I decided the time had come to carry out my program.”

Robert had dabbled in genealogical research over the years and had collected records and documents for his ancestors. He was unable to find his grandfather’s ship’s manifest. Robert would like to acquire Romanian citizenship in order to get an EU passport. He knew his grandfather was from Bessarabia, a province of the Russian Empire which became part of Romania. Bessarabia officially became part of Romania on March 27, 1918, when its legislative body, the Sfatul Țării, voted to unite the Moldavian Democratic Republic with the Kingdom of Romania, following its declaration of independence from Russia. Residents of Bessarabia automatically became citizens of Romania after the region was united with Romania.

We started by finding a picture of his grandparents’ grave which taught me that Sam Schoenberg’s Jewish name was Yehoshua (Joshua). We then found Sam’s naturalization papers which taught us he was born in Telenesht, Russia which is modern-day Teleneşti, Moldova. He immigrated to the US in 1921, arriving at Ellis Island under the name Ovshei Scheinberg. Ovshei is the Russian version of Sam’s Jewish name, Yehoshua. Using the information in the naturalization papers, we found Sam’s ship’s manifest. According to the manifest, his most recent place of residence was Paris, France. Robert said that according to family lore, his grandfather had studied at the Sorbonne, the historic University of Paris.

12/29/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Brian had visited the center back in October. During that visit, we identified the name of the town his grandparents came from. We also learned that his two oldest uncles, Nathan and Abraham, were born in Russia, while his father and their other siblings were born in Baltimore. We didn’t find any records showing Brian’s grandparents and their two oldest children immigrating to the US. Brian hoped we would find a record of their immigration on his second visit.

Brian knew that although his family was known as Schwartz in the United States, their original surname was Chernobulsky. We sat together for two hours, searching manifests to find Brian’s family immigrating to America. We finally found a ship manifest for a woman named Golde Schwartz who was immigrating to the United States with her sons, Nisel and Avrum (Nathan and Abraham). According to the manifest, their most recent residence was Kolerka, Russia. Kolerka, now known as Mokra Kalyhirka, Ukraine, was the town the Chernobulskys came from. Golde and her children were going to their husband and father, Meyer, who was already living in Baltimore.

Golda and her sons sailed from Bremen, Germany on the SS Main and arrived at the port of Baltimore on January 4, 1907. Brian was thrilled that we found his grandmother and uncles immigrating to the United States. We will search for his grandfather coming to America during his next visit.

Rick, visiting from California, asked if we could find information about his grandparents. He wasn’t 100% sure what his grandfather’s name was. By using the names of Rick’s father and his father’s siblings, we found the Cooper family in the 1920 US Census living in Chicago. The census taught us that Rick’s grandfather was Hyman Cooper and his wife’s name was Belle. We then found the Cooper family in the 1930 US Census, but Belle was listed as a widow. We concluded that Hyman had to have died between the 1920 and 1930 censuses.

By searching on FamilySearch.org, we found Hyman Cooper’s death record. He died on June 26, 1925 in Chicago and is buried in Waldheim Cemetery. I then found a picture of Hyman Cooper’s grave which included a picture of Hyman Cooper himself. It was the first time that Rick had ever seen a picture of his grandfather. According to Hyman’s death record, he was born in Kishinev, Russia, which is modern-day Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

Lisa's grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Unfortunately, not much was known about them or their families because they passed away when Lisa’s mother was just a teenager. Lisa hoped we might learn something about them and their families.
We learned that Lisa’s grandparents, Samuel Holtzman and Liza Bregman, were both born in Pinsk, Belarus, Samuel on September 15, 1905 and Liza on September 15, 1910. According to his displaced person’s card, Samuel was the son of Michel Holtzman and Zlata Rolnik, Lisa’s great grandparents.

We searched for records for the Holtzman family in Pinsk and found a transcript of the marriage record for Samuel’s brother, Meyer Holtzman, who married Mirl Lukhtan in Pinsk in January 1934. Meyer and Mirl had a son, Avraham Abba Holtzman, who was born in Pinsk in November 1934. These were Lisa’s mother’s uncle, aunt and first cousin. No one in their family had known these names until we found them. Presumably, these relatives were killed in the Holocaust.

Lisa’s father was told that he is a Kohen, a direct male descendant of Aaron in the Bible. In ancient times, the Kohanim served in the Temple in Jerusalem, where they performed sacred rituals and sacrificial offerings. Kohanim also recite the priestly blessings on holidays and are the first ones to be called to the Torah. This status has been passed down, from father to son, generation after generation. Lisa’s father wanted to be able to confirm that he is a Kohen.

We found Lisa’s father’s family in various census records, including the 1940 US Census. The Rosenberg family was residing at 542 Hopkinson Avenue in Brooklyn. We then found Lisa’s great grandfather’s WW2 Draft Card which also said his address was 542 Hopkinson Avenue. Using this address, we learned that Hyman Rosenberg died on January 8, 1943. According to his death certificate, he is buried in Montefiore Cemetery in Queens. Lisa and her family will visit the cemetery to visit Hyman’s grave. They hope that information on the grave will confirm that they are indeed Kohanim.

Dan’s aunt has been conducting genealogical research for years, but there were a few questions that were still unanswered. Dan called his aunt while he was visiting the center. She had been told that her grandmother’s maiden name was Bick, but couldn’t find any documentation that proved that that was the case. I found her grandmother’s ship manifest, but she was already married when she immigrated to the United States, so she arrived under her married name. I noticed that her grandmother listed her own mother as her point of contact in the old country on the ship’s manifest. The manifest said that her mother’s name was Golda B*k, proving that her grandmother’s maiden name was Bick/B*k.

12/22/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Kobi, a flight attendant from Israel, was in NYC for one day and wanted to visit the center to research his grandfather, Jacobo Vidzer, a Holocaust survivor from Lithuania. Kobi brought a number of documents and old family photos with him to help us with the research, including his grandparents’ ketubah. According to the ketubah, his grandparents were married in Montreal, Canada in 1950 and his grandfather was the son of Moshe Vidzer. In another document, Jacobo’s name was Jacobo Vidzer Svirski.

Using this information, we went to JewishGen.org to search for records for the Vidzer family in Lithuania. We found a birth record for a Yankel (Jacob) Vidzer who was born in Vilnius, Lithuania on December 20, 1905, the son of Moshe Vidzer and Aida. We concluded that this must be Jacobo’s birth record, since Jacobo’s daughter’s name was Aida. Jacobo named his daughter after his mother. The birth record told us that Jacobo’s family originally came from Haydutsishok which we identified as Adutiskis, Lithuania.

We then searched for records for the Vidzer family in Adutiskis and found a divorce record for Jacobo’s parents. According to the divorce record, Jacobo’s parents, Moshe Vidzer and Aida Svirski, were divorced on January 23, 1906 in Adutiskis, just a month after Jacobo was born. Moshe Vidzer was the son of Ber Vidzer and Aida was the daughter of Zalman Svirski, Kobi’s great-great grandfathers.

Kobi thought that his grandfather may have had another family. By searching on Familysearch.org, we found a marriage record showing that Jacobo married Edelma Pezzaola in Uruguay on June 20, 1942. We will look into whether Jacobo had a family with Edelma during his next visit to NYC.

During her first two visits to the center, we researched Debra’s grandfather’s family in preparation for her trip to Hungary. This time, we focused our research on Debra’s grandmother’s family. According to her grandparents’ married record, her grandmother’s maiden name was Dora Chudnoff, the daughter of Herman Chudnoff and Frida Ulano.
According to Dora’s naturalization records, she immigrated to the US in 1923 under the name Dvora Chudanovsky. She was from Rosava, Russia which we identified as modern-day Rosava, Ukraine. Debra noticed the names of the women serving as witnesses on Dora’s petition for naturalization, Hilda Levitt and Ruth Lanoff. Hilda was Dora’s sister and Debra knew that the Lanoff’s were relatives, but wasn’t sure exactly how they were related.

We then found Hilda’s marriage record which showed that her father was Chaim Chudnoff (Chudanovsky) and her mother was Frieda Ulanoff (Dora’s marriage record said her mother was Frida Ulano). This confirmed that Dora’s parents were Chaim Chudanovsky and Frieda Ulano(ff). But how were the Lanoffs related to Dora and Hilda?

We found records for Dora’s relative, Ruth Lanoff. Ruth’s husband was Abraham Lanoff. Abraham and Ruth had four children: Sam, Sonia, David and Edith. Sonia married Jack Miller. Debra had memories of her cousin Sonia and knew she was a Lanoff, but wasn’t sure how they fit into the tree. We found Sonia Lanoff Miller’s naturalization record which informed us that she immigrated to the US under the name Ulanowsky. The family changed their name from Ulanowsky to Lanoff. On Dora and Hilda’s marriage records, their mother’s maiden name was listed as Frieda Unalo(ff). We concluded that Dora and Hilda’s mother’s maiden name was Frieda Ulanowsky/Ulanovsky. Her brother was Abraham Lanoff, married to Ruth Lanoff. Sonia Lanoff Miller was Debra’s grandmother’s first cousin.

Using this information, we found the Ulanovsky family in an 1883 list of residents of Rosava, Ukraine. The list showed Debra’s great grandmother, Freida Ulanovsky, living with her parents, Shalom and Chaya Ulanovsky, and their son, Abraham, later known as Abraham Lanoff.

Elena had conducted research on her grandmother’s family, the Browns, a number of years ago, but was not able to find more than a few census records. She really wanted to know more about the Browns and hoped to identify exactly where her great grandparents came from. She also knew that Brown was a name change and wanted to know what the original name was.

We found the Browns in the 1920 US Federal Census. Abraham and Rachel Brown were living in Englewood, NJ with their children: Sarah, Mildred, Frank, Lena, Benjamin and Nettie. According to the census, Abraham and Rachel were born in “Russia” while all of their children were born in NYC. We then found the Brown family in the 1910 US Federal Census, but some of the family’s names were listed a bit differently. Rachel was listed as Rosie in the 1910 Census, Mildred was listed as Minnie, and Nettie was listed as Mamie. In 1910, the Brown family was living in Brooklyn.

Elena knew that her great grandparents were buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens. We searched on the cemetery website and saw that there were four Abraham Browns buried in Mount Zion. By searching for death records, we figured out that Elena’s great grandfather died in May of 1937. Buried next to that Abraham Brown was a Rachel Brown who died in July of 1949.

According to Abraham’s death record, he was born in “Mush, Russia” and he and Rachel are buried in the Musher & Baranowitcher Benevolent Society. We learned that Mush is modern-day Novaya Mysh, Belarus, a town outside of the city of Baranavichy, Belarus. During her next visit, we are going to try to find out what the Browns’ original last name was.

Bob scheduled an appointment to visit the center to research his grandparents, Max Zimmerman and Celia Berman. According to their marriage record, Max and Celia were married in NYC on March 18, 1917. Celia was the daughter of Abraham Berman and Fannie Mednikov. Bob told me that Abraham and Fannie also immigrated to the US and that Abraham lived to be almost 100 years old.

We focused our research on the Berman family to learn when they came to the US and where they came from originally. None of the records we found for Abraham, Fannie or Celia told us where they were from or when exactly they immigrated, nor could we find any ships’ manifests for the Berman family immigrated to the US. We shifted our focus to Celia’s siblings: David Berman, Tillie Newberg and Sophie Berman.

According to the census records we found for Celia’s sister, Tillie Berman Newberg, her children had been born in Sweden. This triggered Bob’s memory. He said he remembered that his family lived in Stockholm before coming to America. We searched for the Newberg family immigrating from Sweden and learned that Tillie arrived at Ellis Island on September 15, 1912. She was travelling with her children from Stockholm to New York where her husband was already living. According to her ship’s manifest, Tillie’s father, Abraham Jaffsaeff was still residing in Stockholm.

We then found David Berman’s naturalization records which taught us that he immigrated to the US in 1910 under the name Berko Jewseiff. We concluded that Berman was not Celia’s family’s original last name. The original last name was Jewseiff/Jaffsaeff. Celia, her parents and siblings changed their name from Jewseiff/Jaffsaeff after arriving in America. We found Abraham and Fannie immigrating to the US in 1914 under the name Jewsejeff, arriving at Ellis Island on June 21 and travelling with their daughter, Sophie, and her future husband, Harry Glass.

We thought Jewseiff/Jaffsaeff/Jewsejeff was a funny surname and wondered how it was pronounced. We came to the conclusion that the surname was Yevseyev, coming from the Hebrew name Isaiah, Yevsey being the Russian form of Isaiah.

12/21/2025

This is the Hanukkah Menorah of my great-great-great-great-great-great (6 greats) grandfather, Rabbi Raphael Ries, who served as the rabbi of the Swiss Jewish community in the towns of Endingen and Langnau from 1788 until his death in 1813. The Menorah is in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.

The Hebrew inscription says הגאון הגדול מהר"ר רפאל אב"ד דק"ק ענדינגן ולענגנואי וזוגתו הרבנית מרת מרים ת
“The great Gaon, our teacher and Rabbi, Raphael, head of the religious tribunal of the holy community of Endingen and Lengnau and his wife, the Rebbetzin Miriam.”

It was through years of genealogical research that I discovered my connection to Rabbi Raphael Ries. I contacted the Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel to find out if they had any more information about Rabbi Raphael. They were kind enough to send me this picture of his menorah. During the summer of 2023, I visited the museum to see the menorah in person.

My direct line to Rabbi Raphael Ries:
Scott Kalmikoff, born in 1991 in Staten Island, NY.
Howard Kalmikoff, my father, born in 1947 in Brooklyn, NY.
Sylvia Weill Kalmikoff, my grandmother, born in 1918 in Brooklyn, NY.
Charles Weill, my great grandfather, born in 1882 in Brooklyn, NY.
Marie Grumbach Weill, my 2nd great grandmother, born in 1847 in Breisach, Germany.
Seligman Grumbach, my 3rd great grandfather, born in 1803 in Breisach, Germany.
F***y Levi-Burgheimer Grumbach, my 4th great grandmother, born in 1787 in Breisach, Germany.
Jachet Ries Levi-Burgheimer, my 5th great grandmother, born in 1764 in Hagenthal-le-Bas, France.
Raphael Ries, my 6th great grandfather, born in 1728 in Hagenthal-le-Bas, France.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Hanukkah!

12/15/2025

On Hanukkah 1931, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this photo of the family Hanukkah menorah from the window ledge of the family home looking out on to the building across the road decorated with N**i flags.

On the back of the photograph, Rachel Posner wrote in German (translated here):

“Chanukah 5692
‘Death to Judah’ the flag says,
‘Judah will live forever’ answers the light.”

The spirit of the Jewish People lives on. Our light will always prevail over darkness.

Happy Hanukkah.

12/08/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Sophia wanted to learn more about her great grandmother, Dorothea Ziegel Rapaport. She specifically wanted to know if her great grandmother had any siblings. We started by finding Dorothea’s marriage certificate which taught us that she was born in Nyack, NY, the daughter of Robert Ziegel and Lena Schwersenski. We then found the Ziegel family in a number of federal and New York state censuses. We learned that Dorothea had three siblings: Jennie Ziegel Falk, Bertha Ziegel Kramer and Herman Ziegel.

Dorothea’s parents, Robert and Lena, both died in 1915, just two months apart from each other. According to their death records, their parents were Herman Ziegel and Dorothy Strang and Abraham Schwersenski and Sarah Meyer, Sophia’s great-great-great grandparents. Using these names, we learned Robert Ziegel had two brothers who lived in America, Michaelis and Ferdinand Ziegel. We found Michaelis immigrating to the US in 1867 with a brother named Ruben and concluded that Robert Ziegel was originally Ruben Ziegel. According to their Hamburg Passenger List, they came from Wangrowitz, Prussia which is modern-day Wagrowiec, Poland.

We also found four of Dorothea’s US passport applications, each featuring a picture of her from different years of her life. Sophia loved finding these photographs of her great grandmother and seeing all of her different outfits and hair styles.

Daniel’s grandmother, Lilly Greenblatt Veron, was a Holocaust survivor from Hungary. The Greenblatt family lived in Debrecen, the second-largest city in Hungary, after Budapest. We found Lilly, her mother and siblings in a list of Jewish residents of Debrecen in 1945. We learned that Lilly’s mother, Josephine Greenblatt, was born Pepi Thau in Vasarosnameny, Hungary. We noticed that Lilly’s father, Gyula Greenblatt, wasn’t on the list. This was because he had immigrated to Palestine before 1945, leaving his wife and children in Debrecen.

We then found Josephine’s displaced persons ID card from after the war and learned that her parents were Emil Thau and Eszter Weisz. We found a transcript of Josephine’s birth record which taught us she was born in Vasarosnameny on September 3, 1903. Her father, Emil Thau, was from Jablonov, a town in modern-day Slovakia.

We learned that Lilly’s father, Gyula Greenblatt, immigrated to the US in 1947 from Palestine. His wife and children, survivors of the Holocaust, immigrated in 1949, finally reuniting with their husband and father. The family settled in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn which is where they were living at the time of the 1950 US Federal Census.

Eric wanted to learn more about his maternal grandparents, Jacob Rebisch and Minnie Fermaglisch. We started by finding their marriage certificate. Jacob and Minnie were married on February 25, 1923 in NYC. According to their marriage record, Jacob was born in Lemberg, Poland, which is modern-day Lviv, Ukraine, the son of David Rebisch and Kreindel Klieger. Minnie was the daughter of Hersch Fermaglisch and Etta Gartenberg.

According to his WW2 draft registration card, Jacob was born in Szczerzec, Poland, which is modern-day Shchyrets, Ukraine. Jacob and Minnie are buried in Montefiore Cemetery in the section of the Independent Szczerzecer Sick & Benevolent Association, an organization for Jews from Shchyrets. Shchyrets is a town outside of Lviv, which is why some of Jacob’s records say he was from Lviv.

We found Jacob’s birth record, showing him being born in Shchyrets on June 11, 1885. The birth record said his parents were David Rebisch and Kreindel Klieger and his maternal grandparents were Jacob and Sara Rifka Klieger. We found a picture of Jacob Rebisch in his Declaration of Intention. We also found Minnie’s birth record showing her being born in Drohobycz, Ukraine in November of 1891, the daughter of Elias Hersch Vermoglich and Etta Gartenberg. Eric told me that his grandmother’s family was involved in the oil industry. This made sense because Drohobycz was at the center of the petroleum industry in 19th century Galicia. The Jews of the area were directly involved in the petroleum business from its early beginnings.

Newton visited the center while on vacation in NYC from New Hampshire. He asked if we would be able to learn more about his grandmother’s parents, particularly his great grandmother who the family knew nothing about. Newton believed there was a story we might uncover about his great grandmother which would explain why so little was known about her.

We started by finding his grandparents’ marriage license which taught us that Newton’s grandmother, Esther Laiks, was born in Passaic, NJ in 1915. According to the marriage license, her parents were Harry Laiks and F***y Green. Using this information, we found the Laiks family living in Passaic in the 1920 US Federal Census. Harry, F***y and their children were residing at 63 Second Street and Harry worked in a tire factory.

Searching for more records, we found Harry Laiks in the 1930 US Census, but he wasn’t living with his family. He was living as a roomer in someone’s home. Harry was listed as being married, but where were his wife and children? We then located F***y Laiks in the 1930 US Census. She was living in Morristown, NJ in the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane, currently known as Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. We also found F***y’s obituary in The Herald News in 1948 which stated that she died in Morristown and that her husband lived in Passaic. It seems that F***y spent the last years of her life in the insane asylum which explained why so little was known about her.

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201 West 92 Street
New York, NY
10025

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My Story

Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff was born and raised in Staten Island, NY. He grew up in a two family home where he lived with his parents, younger brother and maternal grandparents. Growing up, Rabbi Scott had a particularly close relationship with his grandparents who shared many stories with him about their lives, relatives and family history. These family stories inspired a curiosity within Scott who wanted to learn more about his family tree. Rabbi Scott began his genealogical research fourteen years ago at the young age of fifteen. Since then, he has traced parts of his family tree as far back as the 1600s and discovered roots in Belarus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Wales. Rabbi Scott has traveled across the globe, visiting the towns his ancestors emigrated from and meeting distant relatives. Rabbi Scott received a BA in Jewish Studies with a concentration in Jewish History from Yeshiva University. He was a recipient of the university’s Altshul, Pearlman Memorial Award for Highest Ranks in all Jewish Studies. Following graduation from Yeshiva University, Scott began his studies at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and was ordained in June 2018. He currently resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In 2020, Rabbi Scott was inspired to offer his genealogical expertise in American and European Jewish Genealogy to those who are interested in connecting with their roots. For Rabbi Scott, genealogy isn't just a hobby or profession. Genealogy is a wonderful journey of personal exploration and self discovery. While learning about our ancestors we learn about ourselves. While learning about our history we connect with and deepen our Jewish identities. Jewish history and our families' stories are our story and deeply influence who we are today in ways we may never fully comprehend. Genealogical research provides us with a precious gift we can pass to the next generation, L'Dor VaDor.