Tag Archives: Family history

Hirshel Bloshtein, Yiddish Poet

By Monty Starr (Birmingham, UK) Hirshel Bloshtein 1895-1978 My mother’s uncle was the well-published Yiddish author Hirshel Bloshtein. Hirshel lived in Czernowitz from 1932 until his death in 1978. Hirshel was born in Kėdainiai, Lithuania to Dovid Bloshtein, a poor … Continue reading

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Exodus, Interrupted

The story of Keidan’s Sroelov and Smilg families By Tamar Dothan (Jerusalem) My grandparents, Chaya Smilg and Chaim Ber Sroelov, were married before World War I. Chaim Ber was operating the family’s wholesale beer business, as his father had passed … Continue reading

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Riva Starr’s Journey

Riva Starr (1904-1993), born Riva Schneider in Keidan, emigrated to the U.K. in the early 1920s. In 1991, her son, Monty Starr, recorded an interview with her in Birmingham, England. The following is a transcription of that interview. M. It’s … Continue reading

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The Road of Suffering

By Rachel Shlapobersky-Ratner (Kiryat Chaim, Israel) Based on testimony from Yad VaShem, IX – 2939 / 252.  I was born in Keidan in December 1912. My father, Yudel Shlapobersky, owned a flour mill. My mother was Chasya Rivka Shlapobersky, neè … Continue reading

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