Malka Taub Elkes, Shimon Elkes, Israel Abraham Elkes, Aydel Taub, and Dvora Taub may they rest in peace

Today I will write about a new discovery I made while searching for photographs in the Yad Vashem web site.

היום אני מתארת מה גיליתי באתר של יד ושם. גיליתי תמונה של אחות של אמא שלי מלכה אלקיס (טאוב) ותמונה של בנה ישראל אברהם אלקיס. התמונות מ1940. שניהם וגם בעלה כנראה נספו בשואה. עד עכשיו לא היה לנו אף תמונה ברורה ושום מידע.

While searching for pictures of my Uncle Sam's first wife and daughter, who died in the holocaust, I came across something very interesting. As I wrote in a previous post, my mother Yitke, had an older sister, Malka. This sister did not come to America with the rest of the family in World War 2. My mother told both me and my sister that she was run over by a horse or a trolly (my sister remembers a trolly, I remember a horse). The only picture we had was a very small, unclear photo with her name written on the back.

I found out more information from my sister's neighbor who has alot of knowledge about our family. He found the name of Malka's husband and child, Shimon and Israel Elkis written in a book.

Today I discovered to my astonishment a very clear picture of

Malka in the Yad Vashem archives. Her name was written as Manya Taub Elkes and was attached to an application for a rescue passport. The same address is written on the Malka's picture as well as Aydel and Dvora Taub's picture, Nalewki No.42, Apt. 8a, Warsaw. I don't know if that's where they lived or if it's the address of the photographer. My mother told me that Sam's wife, Aydel and daughter Dvora, lived with a Polish family until they were told there was a way they could get passports and come to America. This took them out of hiding but in reality, the passports were never given and they were sent to a concentration camp. The fact that these pictures were attached to passport applications seems to fit with what my mother told me. But it seems that it was also true for my mother's sister Malka and her son as well.

On the right is a picture of Aydel Taub - Rotenberg and her daughter Dvora Kina.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding Malka. How did the pictures get to Yad Vashem. What exactly happened to Malka, her husband and her son. Why did my mother say she died in an accident (Maybe that's what she was told). But at least we have a clear pictures of Malka and her son and quite possibly she was together with her sister-in-law Aydel and her niece Dvora Kina.

In the Yad Vashem archives it says that the pictures were submitted by "A. Silberschein (Relico) Geneva". I found, by searching the internet that relico stands for relief committee and that it was organized by A. Silberschein in order to save jews during the holocaust. Here are the details I found in the below web site.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.22845
Text Only

RELICO, short for ‘Relief Committee’, was founded in Geneva in 1939 by Dr Abraham Silberschein. Funded mainly by the World Jewish Congress, it tried to aid Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. Silberschein managed to secure the release of a number of Jews from German concentration camps by finding immigration routes for them to Bolivia and Palestine. RELICO co-operated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with consuls of occupied countries in Geneva, and with the Catholic and Protestant Churches. Its widespread network of contacts allowed RELICO to transmit information and to send food and medicine to Jews in need.

In 1942 Silberschein became involved in a new plan to rescue Polish Jews. Certain Latin American countries extended citizenship to anyone who owned land in their country, so RELICO bought parcels of land in the names of Polish Jews. In return, the governments issued promesas – promises to issue passports on receipt of the necessary documentation. By coincidence, the German Foreign Office had in the meantime initiated the Exchange Action and the Repatriation Action (see Netherlands), reopening the possibility of emigration.

Silberschein sent thousands of these promesas to contacts in Warsaw, but by then most intended recipients were already dead. The Gestapo intercepted the documents and let it be known that, for a price, they would sell them to anyone who came forward. The offer lured about 2,500 Jews out of hiding. Most were transported to holding camps at Vittel in France or Bergen-Belsen, but the countries that had issued promesas now said that the passport applications they received were forgeries and refused to honour them. Those refused were then deported to Auschwitz and killed. The only survivors were 200 Jews with immigration certificates for Palestine from the British government, which turned a blind eye to the forgeries.

On the back of the pictures the address Nalewki 42, Ap 8a, Warsaw and the date 1940

Filling in the Missing Gaps

In this post I will describe how my visit to the states in October 2009 helped me find out more information about my ancestors.

ברשומה הזאת אני אתאר איך גיליתי עוד מידע על המשפחה שלי.

While staying at my sister's house we visited a neighbor of hers who is very knowledgable about the Chasidic dynasties and the Modzitz dynasty in particular. I will call him Mr. N.

I didn't know how some of the relatives, names I heard while growing up, were connected to our family. Mr. N. gave me information that helped clear that up.

1. My grandfather Isaac Zvi Taub had a daughter Malka, who died in Poland. We knew nothing about her. Through Mr. N. we found out that Malka was married to Shimon Elkis and they had a son Israel. All three of them died in Warsaw. My mother told us that Malka died by being hit by a trolly. She never said anything about Malka being married and I don't know how her husband and son died. Mr. N. knew about them from a book that had their names written in it.

This is the only picture we have of Malka. Her name is written on the back of the picture.

2. Rabbi Israel Taub had a son Yaakov David (who was my grandfather Yitzchak Zvi's brother).

He had a son Shmuel Eliyahu Taub. His first wife was killed along with his children (he had many children but I don't know the exact number). He married again to Molly Fastag. They

never had children. He was also called Shmilelelondener (that's how it sounded when it was said fast by my parents) I found out that this was because he went to London, and there were so many Shmuel Eliyahu's in the family that they distinguished him by say Shmuel Eliyahu from London. Molly was at our house practically every Shabbat. She liked to play card games with us. When she wasn't at our house on Shabbat, she would call after Shabbat in order to hear the Havdala

I remember being invited to her house on Quentin Road on Chanuka. The Fastags were also invited.

3. Yechezkel Wyzkowsy was both mine and my sister's history teacher in high school. His mother, Malka, was Shaul Yedidya Taub's daughter. Shaul Yedidya is Israel Taub's son and Yitzchak Zvi's (my grandfather) brother.

Daniel Sacolick's letter to David Benzaquen

I am posting a copy of a letter my nephew, Danny, wrote to his cousin, David, in honor of his Bar Mitzva. The letter is about my father (their grandfather) and what he meant to Danny. From the letter we can learn alot about my father, may he rest in peace, and his personality.

אני מביאה ברשומה זאת מכתב שהאחיין שלי, דני, כתב לבן דוד שלו, דוד לרגל הבר מצוה של דוד. המכתב מספר על האבא שלי ז"ל (הסבא שלהם) ומה דני למד ממנו בתור ילד. מהמכתב אפשר ללמד הרבה על האבא שלי והתכונות שלו.

October 13, 2009

Dear David,

You finally made it to your Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov!

I wonder what may be going through your mind now. I am sure that you are excited. Maybe a little nervous.

I remember my Bar Mitzvah well. It was an important milestone in my life. Wearing tiffilin, being called up to the Torah, giving a speech, getting gifts, and spending time with family will all certainly be memorable to you too.

I also remember the speeches. The advice. The words of wisdom. Well, actually I remember more being bored from these discourses, rather than remembering any of their content.

The bits of wisdom I attained as a Bar Mitzvah actually came to me most from our Grandpa than anyone else. He did not give a speech. He did not need to. He taught with stories, advice, jokes but mostly by his actions.

I thought I would list a “Top Ten” of some of his pearls of wisdom, many of which I am still myself just starting to appreciate.

1. Take pride in your family roots. Grandpa always reminded how Grandma came from a family of great Rabbis. He showed me Grandma’s father’s streimel, pointed to his Torah at his shteibel, and showed me his big tall imposing Talmud volumes. He spoke warmly of his parents and was grateful for their courage to leave Poland and come to America.
2. Appreciate, respect, and trust your parents. I remember one time sitting at my home’s front steps in Brooklyn with Grandpa next to me. I was about to go to sleep-away camp. I was scared and really not too excited to go. Grandpa told me that my parents loved me and that everything they did was for my betterment. He was right. The same is certainly true for your parents.
3. Be humble, but do take pride in your accomplishments. Grandpa was extremely proud of his military service. He was a medic. Once he cut his finger while cutting tall grass we used for schach on the Belt Parkway. He taught me the appropriate first aid and explained how he would treat his comrade’s injuries. Grandpa was also proud of his role as Gabbi, his big red truck that he used for deliveries, his printing press, and his strong biceps muscles.
4. Love your family and take pride in their accomplishments. Grandpa would take me and Isaac on his “rounds” to visit family members from Manhattan to Queens. He once took me to Crown Heights and showed me a garage where Shimshon and Martha kept Pesach goods intended for the poor. He had a picture of my Father at the NYU graduation he often showed me and reminded me how my dad was brilliant.
5. The biggest Mitzvah is to help others. Grandpa was always doing for others, and people adored him. He seemed to always be giving people lifts back and forth to the airport. He felt that the greatest thing to do for a person was to go to a funeral or visit a grave, because there was no possibility of reciprocity.
6. Be an optimist.
7. Always try to see the best in people. Don’t judge others and give them the benefit of the doubt.
8. The biggest joy is making kids happy. He never actually said this to me, but it was certainly evident to me as a child and later when Dina was born.
9. Don’t be vain. Always look at what is really deep inside and especially don’t judge a bottle of scotch by its label. At your parent’s engagement party, Grandpa showed me how he poured cheap whiskey into an empty bottle of the fancy kind. He said that nobody would know the difference, and that they would enjoy it more this way. He was right!
10. Be generous with compliments and with showing appreciation. I remember a huge shaloch manos Grandpa gave to your other grandparents once. He told me that he wanted them to know how much he appreciated everything they did for him. Your Grandparent’s were evidently very impressed. They showered Isaac and I with gelt galore!


If Grandpa seemed like some kind of too good to be true super hero, well to me he certainly was. Grandpa once told Isaac and I a story about how he was shipwrecked during his military service and found himself tied up with little strings by little tiny people. Grandpa was, and will always be, my Gulliver.

Grandpa unfortunately died about five months after my Bar Mitzvah. I still miss him dearly. I wish you could have known him first hand too. But Grandpa’s legacy lives on. It continues with your parents. And now, it continues with you.

David, I know you from when you were born. You are kind, caring, sensitive, smart, curious, polite, friendly and fun. Your Grandpa would certainly have been proud, as is our whole family.

Mazel Tov,

Love,

Danny, Lisa, Ilana, and Jonathan

Leon Sacolick 1917 - 1985

Leon Sacolick was born on June 21st 1917 to Ben Zion and Chana Fruma Sacolick. His Hebrew birthday was Rosh Chodesh Tamuz. He was born in Warsaw, Poland. He married my mother Irene Taub in June 1946 and they had 5 children. He passed away on the 5th day of Tishrei, between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur 1985. In this post I will talk about his life, his interests, and his personality.

ליאון סוקוליק נולד ב-21 ליוני 1917 לבן ציון וחנה פרומה סוקוליק. התאריך העברי ליום הולדת היא ראש חודש תמוז. הוא נולד בורשה, פולין. הוא התחתן עם אמי איריין (איטקה) טאוב ביוני 1946 ונולד להם 5 ילדים. הוא נפטר ה' תשרי 1985.

ברשומה הזאת אני אתאר את חייו, תחביביו, והאישיות שלו.

Leon Sacolick was born in Warsaw, Poland to Ben Zion and Chana Fruma Sacolick - Bik.His grand parents (his fathers parents) were Abraham Yekutiel Sacolick and Sara Michle.Abraham and Sara were born in Czyzewe, Poland. Abraham was born in 1867 and Sara was born in 1864. They married in 1887. They had 4 children, Rivke Rosenfeld who emigrated from Poland to America and mader her home in Youngstown, Ohio, Ben Zion (my grandfather) was born on July 12, 1896, he lived on 30 Herzl St., Brooklyn, NY, Henry, born 1898 and Herman, born in 1900, and who lived in Youngstown, Ohio with his wife Dora and his children Eugene and Sylvan. On June 25, 1925 Abraham and Sara emigrated to America on the ship called "Belgenland" from Antwerpen.

Chana Fruma's maiden name was Bik. She had a sister, Pessa Jacobowitz. Pessa escape the Nazis through France. She had one son Leon, who married Elsie. Every year, Pesse would come to our house for Passover. Sometimes she came with her grandson Mark. She would always bring the same gift, red pistachio nuts, and honey cakes. On the right is a picture of my grandmother Chana Fruma and her sister Pesse when they were young.

Leon was the name he used in America, but friends and family called him Label. There is some confusion as to what his real full name was. His sister, Martha, said that on his wedding invitation his name was written Arie Lev. He also used the name Yehuda Dov, and that is the name written on his gravestone. My father always told us that when he was born at the end of World War I, food was very scarce, and what saved him from starvation was the cans of condensed milk that the Americans brought with them.My father had 2 older sisters both of whom died. It must have happened before my father was born or when he was very young because he never talked about them or mentioned their names. He also had a brother, Nahum, that died after hurting himself on a swing.

When my father was 3 years old, his father Ben Zion left for America to find a better life for his family. He left alone, leaving his small son Label and his wife in Poland. The plan was for him to get settled in America and then send for his family. During that time Chana Fruma sent her husband pictures of herself and Label so her husband could see Label growing up.

On the right is a picture of Ben Zion Sacolick taken in America.

When my father was 12 years old in 1929 he and his mother emigrated to the United States. I don't know too much about his childhood in America but I remember him telling me that he studied in Torah Vadaat Yeshiva.

My father and his parents were close to the Lubavitcher Chasidim.

Ben Zion was the secretary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his wife Chana Fruma worked as the Rebbe's cook. When my father was 15 years old his sister, Martha, was born.

I don't know too much about his early life in America. For a while he worked as a milkman, delivering milk. In 1941, when United States declared war on Japan and Germany, my father joined the army. He mostly worked as a medic in the army and a dental assistant. He was always very proud that he was a United States veteran.On the right is a picture of my father taken right after the war in 1945 with is cousin Harold Sacolick.

The war ended in 1945, and in June 1946 my father married my mother whom he met in her uncle's house - The Tzanzer Rebbe. They lived with my mother's parents The Modzitzer Rebbe and Rebbetzin in their Shul (Synagogue) in the Bronx. My Oldest brother, Israel Abraham, was born there on July 16th, 1947.

My father had various occupations. He had many interests and was good at everhything he undertook. He always said he wanted to be "his own boss". I already wrote that at one point he was a milkman. He also opened a delicatessen on 18th Avenue in Boro Park together with my mother's brother, Sam. In those days 18th Avenue was considered the outskirts of Boro Park. Today it's considered the heart of Boro Park. My brother Izzy had the job of collecting the bottles from the tables. My father used to say that the restaurant business was hard because there were no set hours. You had to be prepared a whole day for customers and in the evenings he was always busy. It was hard to have a family life.

Eventually he worked delivering meat to butchers for "Teddy Friedman's WholeSale Meats". He had odd hours. He would get up in the middle of the night, and finish work about 9 AM. He drove a big truck and would sometimes take us kids with him on the truck. He worked in a terrible neighborhood and we were always worried about him.

He was very strong and was able to lift whole sides of beef on his shoulders.

My father also had a side line. He was a printer. When we lived in Boro Park, the printing press was in the garage. The picture on the right is not a picture of the actual printing press, but if I remember correctly it looked something like that. He would do wedding and bar mitzva invitations, business cards, receipt books, and new year cards. Sometimes we would help him by sorting out the different colored pages of the receipt books, envelopes. Sometimes he would ask me to draw something or write Hebrew lettering. Sometime we would even be asked to go by train to paper factories to pick up envelopes. These trips were always scary because the factories were usually not in good neighborhoods. My father had these big

albums with different samples of wedding and bar mitzva invitations and birth anouncements. I loved looking at them.

My parents were not your typical polish types. They were not worriers. We were given a lot of freedom when we were young - we could go into the ocean in deep water, we didn't have to call home whenever we went somewhere, we were allowed to go on the train by ourselves. I was always amazed when I saw pictures and home movies of my seven year old sister diving off a high diving board.

Both my parents were unbelievably generous, warm hearted good people. We always had people over for Shabbos meals, and they were usually people that were alone. For example,

Mrs. Kapalman was a steady guest. She was supposed to tutor Jackie in Hebrew, but when Jackie refused she tutored Izzy. My mother also brought a pot of cholent every shabbos to Mr. and Mrs. Pion, who was in a wheel chair.

My father would loan strangers money, just like that, when he heard that someone was in need. He was always willing to help anyone who needed help.

When his sister, Martha, wanted to get marriedto Shimshon Stock, my parents put off buying a house and used the downpayment to pay for Martha and Shimshon's wedding. After the wedding Martha and Shimshon used their wedding presents to pay for the downpayment of the house and that's how my parents were able to buy their first house. It just shows how close my father was to his sister Martha. He visited his sister very often and always brought something for their kids - Bengy Chanie and Feigie (usually cracker-jacks). Martha and Shimshon's kids have the same names as us so I was called "Big Chanie" and my cousing who was a year younger than me was called "Little Chanie". My brother Bengy was called "Big Bengy" and Bengy Stock was called "Little Bengy". I will talk more about my Martha and Shimshon, may they rest in peace, later.

My father was like a magnet for children. He loved all children and they somehow sensed this and loved him too. Even strange children, that he would meet in a park or on a bus. In Shul he was the candy man, giving out lollypops. In general my father loved people and people loved him.

Daddy was very musical. One day out of the blue he bought a piano. He never took lessons, but if he heard a tune he could play it on the piano. Another time he brought home a violin. Every once in a while he would take out the violin and try to play. He was better with the piano.

He also loved taking pictures and movies.

Most of the people my age don't have movies of when they were children. But we have tons of pictures and home movies of ourselves growing up. Whenever a new reel was filmed, we would all gather in the living room, my father would take out the big screen and show us all the movies. He liked playing the movies forward and backward. There was one movies showing Zayde (my mother's father) giving us a present of money, my father would play that backwards and it would look like Zayde was taking money from us! He would also mix two movies up so that it would be snowing while everyone was wearing summer clothes.

Another trait of my father's that I have to talk about is his ability to tell stories. He was the most fantastic story teller, and he loved when he had an audience. When we were little, every Friday night after the Shabbos meal we would lay down next to my father in his big bed and he would tell us a story. He had his own special version of "The Three Bears Go Fishing" (which is a story that I think he made up because I never heard it anywhere else). He told bible stories - for example about Joseph and his brothers. Aladdin was another story. He would tell the stories as if they happened to him. I remember he told me that during the war he was on a boat. There was a storm and he was washed ashosre. He fell asleep and when he woke up he was tied up and there were little people all around him. He said he had a picture and he would show it to me some day. The next day, I told my friend, Ellen Geller, about what an amazing thing happened to my father during the war. She was 3 years older than me and told me that the story reminder her of a story she read "Gulliver's Travels" more about Gulliver's Travels later)

A map depicting the different places Irene (Itke) Sacolick lived

View Irene (Itke) Sacolick - Her Path Throu in a larger map

Irene Sacolick (Taub) 1914 - 1974 - About Her Life

In this post I will describe my mother's life - her childhood in Poland, her family, her coming to America, meeting my father and her life in New York.

ברשומה הזאת אני אתאר את החיים של אמא שלי, איריין - הילדות שלה בפולין, המשפחה שלה, איך היא הגיעה לאמריקה, פגשה את אבא שלי ועל החיים שלה בניו-יורק.

My mother was born in 1914. I am not sure of the exact date, even though the date written on her immigration papers was September 10th, I think that date was given to people who were not sure of their exact birthday. She was born in Demblin, Poland to a Rabbinical family. Her father was Itzchak Zvi Taub, a Modzitzer Rebbe, who was the son on Israel Taub, the Admor MeModzitz. Modzitz is a Rabbinical dynasty, well known for their Chasidic melodies. Her mother was Miriam Rotenberg, also from a well known Rabbinical family, dating back to the Maharam Merotenberg.

At some point in her childhood, her family moved to Warsaw. I don't know too much about her life there. She had an 2 older sisters. One was called Malca, but she died in Warsaw, run over by a trolly or a horse. On the right you can see the only picture we have of Malca. Another sister was Hene. She also had 3 brothers, Shmuel (Sam), Yechezkel (Herman), and Avraham (Abie). Before World War II Sam had a wife and a daughter. They were murdered by the Nazis. Sam came to America and started a new family, my Aunt Thea and cousin Lenny. The Rest of the family came to America before the war. The only thing I remember my mother telling me about their trip on the boat was that they didn't feel well. On her immigration papers (see right), it's written that she arrived on the ship SS Palaski, on December 5th 1931 from Gdynia, Poland when she was 17 years old. When she arrived in America, my mother started working as a dressmaker. She sewed wedding gowns. They lived in the Bronx, where my grandfather was the Rabbi of a shul (synagogue). She was 22 years old when she applied for citizenship in the United States.

She met my father Leon Sacolick at her uncles house, the Tzanzer Rebbe, who lived in Benzenhurst, Brooklyn. They married in June 1946. There was an article in the Yiddish newsaper anouncing their wedding.

About a year later, On July 16, 1947 they had their first child, Israel Avraham (Izzy), whom they named after the 2 grandparents, Rabbi Israel Taub of Modzitz and Abraham Sacolick (Abraham was also a great grandfather - Avraham Chaim). When Izzy was a baby they moved from the Bronx to Brooklyn, and rented an apartment on 1425 51st . Yaakov Yekutiel (Jackie) was born ion November 28th1948 and Ben-Zion (named after my father's father) was born on January 1953.

After 3 boys, they had their first girl, me. I was born on May 24th 1957. I still remember the apartment house on 51st Street even though I was only a year old when we moved to our own house because my parents had friends there and we went to visit them. Among their friends were The Lasks, Francis and Jack, and their children Mindy, Gail and Julia. We were also friends with the super of the building. His name was Marty. His wife Edna decorated my crib when I was born. Me and Gail were good friends growing up. We went to school together from kindergarten up till we graduated from high school. We recently met after not seeing each other for many years. It was great. We caught up on what happened to us in our lives and she told me that the super and his wife's name were Marty and Edna Pravato.

When I was about 1 years old we moved to 1369 53rd Street in Boro Park, Brooklyn - a 3 family house.

We lived on the ground floor, the Gazelle's lived on the second floor. and the Green [?] family on the 3rd floor. I think Mindy Gazelle spent more time in our house then in her own. Ours was a house full of children, friends and family. My Parents were best friend with the Gellers. They lived on the corner of 13th Avenue and 53rd Street. Their son Martin (Marty) was my brother, Bengy's good friend and their daughter Ellen was my friend.

When I was almost 5 years old, on March 29th 1962 my sister Miriam was born. She was named after my mother's mother Miriam Rotenberg.

We had a happy household. There were always children and relatives at the house. There was always a big pot of something good cooking on the stove.

My grandfather Itzchak Zvi remarried and he and his wife lived with us. I remember, my brother,bringing him the Yiddish newspaper everyday.
On Shabbat, my grandfather would wear a black coat (kopote) with a black silk belt (gartel) and a fur hat (shtramel). He would sing melodies at the shabbat table (nigunim).

In the Winter months he would go with his wife to Florida.

I remember the family circle meetings that were always held in our home. My aunts, uncles and cousins would come to our house on a Sunday. Of course there was good food. My father was the president, my mother's first cousin's husband Mel Trokenheim was the secretary. There were dues collected and minutes taken of the meeting, at which was discussed family business, and to which charity the money would be donated.

Many of the families celebrations took place in the house. My brothers, Izzy and Jackie's bar mitzvas were at home.,

One traumatic experience that I remember, from our house in Boro Park is this: One Friday night when we were sitting at the table to start our Shabbat meal, someone was knocking very loudly at our door and screaming Fire! Fire! Our garage was a flaming mass of fire. We banged on our neighbors door, and everyone left the house. I went across the street to a neighbors house, and I saw my father run back in the house. I was petrified. Firemen came and put out the fire. To this day I am terrified of fire. After the fire our house was not the same. The whole back of the house was burnt. My parents decided to sell the house and started looking for a new house.

We moved to 1082 East 12th Street in Flatbush when I was 13 years old, in 7th grade (1970). Miriam, my sister was 7 years old. I didn't want to move and leave my old neighborhood, and getting used to the new house wasn't easy. Me and my sister Miriam had to take the city bus home from our school "Shulamith School for Girls" in Boro Park and my sister remembers that one time I forgot to take her home and she had to come home by herself.
About a year after we moved to Flatbush my mother became sick.

Sacolick, Irene (Taub) 1914 - 1974

Irene (Itke) was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1914 to Isaac Tzvi Taub The Rabbi of Modzitz and Miriam Rotenberg. She married Leon Sacolick and had 5 children. This post describes the process of finding my mother's roots up till the Maharam meRotenberg in the 13th century.

אירין (איטקה) נולדה בורשה, פולין בשנה 1914 ליצחק צבי טאוב הרבי ממודזיץ ו מרים רוטנברג. היא התחתנה עם ליאון (יהודה דב) סוקוליק ונולדו להם 5 ילדים. המאמר הזה מתאר התהליך שעברתי במציאת השורשים של אמא שלי שמגיעים עד למהר"ם מרוטנבורג באלף שלוש מאות

I am Chanie Zilbertzan (Sacolick). My mother, Irene, passed away when I was young (17). I have always wanted to search for my roots and to know exactly how the family my mother and father used to mention were related. I tried a few times without much success. My opportunity came when I was offered by the head of the library where I work, to participate in a geneology course. Of course I jumped at the chance. The course gave me the tools I needed and the knowledge to search for my family's roots. I had very little information about my mother except a newspaper article (obituary) in Yiddish about the death of my grandmother Miriam Rotenberg's sister Hene Rochel in 1957. The article mentions her husband Menahem Ben-Zion Halberstam (the Tzanzer Rebbe). It also mentions her father Avraham Chaim Rotenberg, her children and her sister Itke (Irene) who married the Modzitzer Rebbe. It also says that Avraham Chaim Rotenberg was the nephew of Chiddush Harim and a descendent of the Maharam MeRotenberg. I looked up "Chiddush Harim" in google and discovered that his name was Yitzchak Meir Alter. His father was Israel Rotenberg and Yizchak Meir changed his name to escape the authorities in Poland. I concluded that Yizchak Meir had a brother or sister who was the father of Avraham Chaim Rotenberg (my mother's grandfather). but I didn't know who that was. I googled "Israel Rotenberg" and one of the results was a geneology site with the names of people who were also searching for their ancesters. I contacted someone who researched the Rotenberg family, and received a reply. He said he knew who the brothers of Yizchak Meir were. There names were Yaakov Yossef, Moshe Chayim, Aharon Eliyahu, and Moshe Yerucham. He, himself, is a descendent of Yaakov Yosef. He also told me that I am also a descendent of the same Yaakov Yosef, and that he knows this from the cover of a book that Avraham Chaim wrote and Menahem Ben-Zion Halberstam published. To my surprise and delight he also said that he knows my family history up till the Maharam MeRotenberg's father (the 13th century). He merged my family tree with his and I was able to see my family tree till the year 1215! I was amazed. . I also found another tree through Jewish Gen. I contacted the person managing this family tree and he turned out that his grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister. We are both aquainted with the same relatives, but we didn't know of each others existance till now. I had a really nice conversation with him. He gave me information that I was looking for about cousins that I had lost touch with and now I can contact them also. I hope I can meet the cousins I lost contact with and the cousins I just discovered.