Early one morning last week my daughter got on a plane. for a 10 day birthright trip to Israel sponsored by the Jewish Federation. The holiest site to the Jewish people is called Hakotel HaMa’aravi or The Wailing Wall. This is a small section of the Western Wall of the Second Temple and is the […]
The story of the family of Yankel Zelbovich
Yankel Zelbovich was born in Ponidel in 1920. His father was Motel, mother was Khaia Sara. He was the second oldest of 7 children whose names were: Leibe, Feivel, Feigel (married last name Ioneson), Gershon, Henekh, and Mendel.
What’s in a Name? – Feivel Nosson
Feivel Nosson Zelbovitz (1871-1906) was born in Ponedel. Upon attempting to immigrate to the US with family, he was turned back after a medical inspection showed that he had conjunctivitis. His daughter Elka went back on the boat with her father. Feivel Nosson died on the boat back to the Old Country at age 34. […]
A Zelbovitz descendant in the Civil Rights movement
Eugene Feldman (1915-1987) The basis for this story is an obituary of Eugene Feldman in the Chicago Tribune in 1987… Eugene Pieter Romayn Feldman (1915-1987), one of the founders in the early 1960s of the Du Sable Museum of African American History, served as its director of development and planning for many years. He also […]
Bernard Silbowitz – missing in action over Crete on Oct 28, 1942
As Memorial Day comes and goes, I would like to remember Second Lieutenant Bernard Silbowitz, who died in action over Crete in 1942. Bernard (1917-1942) was son of Abba Zeev and Jennie Silbowitz. Abba Zeev in turn was son of Chaim Gedalia Zelbovich of Grodno. As a very young girls, my friend and distant cousin Laurie Caspe […]