Saturday, August 6, 2011

Lejbzon from Biala-Podlaska to Israel

I'm trying to locate the family of my great-grandmother's sister, Chwalysz/Hulke Lejbzon, daughter of Moshe-Hirsch Tokar and Szprinca Last. Hulke, born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland (now Brest, Belarus) c. 1891,  was married to Szaya-Wigdor Lejbzon, born in Biala Podlaska, Poland on Mar 20 1892. They had a religious marriage circa 1910-1911 but were not "legally" married until the civil registration in 1932. According to the 1939 Biala-Podlask census which I found on http://www.jri-poland.com/, they had 5 sons: Aron (Jul 17 1912), Lejb (May 25 1915), Jakow/Jankiel (Mar 14 1920), Jehuda (Jan 31 1923), and Wolf (Jun 3 1927). The 1932 marriage record does indicate that all 5 boys were born from their union which is how I know that Hulke is not a second wife.

The 1939 census records provide additional details about their whereabouts/fate during WWII. According to the census record, it was reported that Lejb and Jankiel had left Biala-Podlaska, presumably escaping into Russia, by January 1940. All evidence on the census records indicates that Szaja-Wigdor, Hulke, and the 3 other boys were still in Biala-Podlaska when Jews were evacuated to nearby Miedzyrzecz on Sept 26 1942. From there they would have been transported to Treblinka and murdered.

I know that Lejb and Jankiel survived the war. A cousin who has lived in America for many years remembers knowing their families when she was growing up in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately the families lost touch over time. Lejb took the name Leon. According to another researcher interested in the Lejbzon name in Biala-Podlaska, Leon married Maria(?) and they had 2 children, Shmuel and Sheieh. Jankiel also married (don't know his wife's name) and had 3 children, Adam, Leon, and Lena.

I don't know which spelling version of Lejbzon they adopted in Israel and unless they have a web presence in English I won't be able to find them using Google. One spelling variation is Leibson. If anyone has any knowledge of this family I would appreciate you letting me know or pointing then in my direction.

2 comments:

bizon said...

jestem wnukiem jankiela z bialej podlaski

Sharon said...

I just tried to send you an e-mail but received an error. Click on my profile and use the e-mail address in the e-mail link. Use the word Lejbzon in the subject line so I know it is not spam