Minnie Helfet is the sister-in-law of Sarah Ann Levin, my 2x great aunt. Helfet family HERE
Born: 1 April 1888 in Chernuch, Russian Empire, nowadays Chornukhy (Ukrainian: Чорнýхи; Russian: Чернýхи), a rural settlement in Lubny Raion, Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine
Migration: The family came to Liverpool, England in 1892 when Minnie was 4 years old. Minnie then migrated to the USA arriving on 11 February 1903, age 14
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Married: Joseph Michael Cohen in Chicago, USA in 1906 when Minnie was 18 and Joseph 25
Children
Their first child was born in 1908 when Joseph was 27 and Minnie 20. Their last child was born in 1922 when Joseph was 41 and Minnie 34
- Leona Cohen (1908 - 1991) married Isadore Goffen (1913 - 1988)) on 28 June 1950
- Rea Cohen (1913 - ?)
- Jerome Cohen (1915 - 1916)
- Bernard Cohen (1918 - 1920)
- Eugene Cohen (1922 - 1992)
Census details
1901
The younger members of the Helfet family are, following the death of their parents, living at 23 Warren Street, Liverpool, England. Minnie is age 13 and she is living with her siblings; Harry age 20, Esther age 18 and Sarah age 16. Also at the house is her married sister Mary, her husband Nathan Dobrofsky and their infant child Jacob
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1910
In 1910 Minnie and her husband Joseph are living at 10a Oto Street, Sioux City, Iowa, USA. Joseph is 28 and a self-employed peddler. Minnie is 21 and their daughter Leona is age 1
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1920
In 1920 the family is living at 311 West 15th Street, Sioux City, Iowa, USA. Joseph is 39 and a fruit peddler, Minnie is 32 and the children are Leona age 11, Rhea age 6 and Bernard age 2
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1930
In 1930 the family is living at Unit 113, 4942 Spaulding Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Joseph is 49 and a chauffeur in the furniture moving industry. Minnie is 41 and the children are Leona age 21, Rhea age 17 and Eugene age 7
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Minnie is age 51 and an inmate at Manteno State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Manteno, Kankakee, Illinois, USA
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Biographical information
Minnie's brother-in law, Jacob Dobrofsky, wrote a detailed autobiography entitled "This is my Life", which includes information on Minnie and her family and which is available HERE
Here is an excerpt: Aunt Minnie was the baby of the family and when a little girl in England she had had an accident and lost an eye. So everyone babied and petted her and she became spoiled and also very nervous. Because of her affliction everyone gave in to her and, as time went on, she became more and more nervous and more and more difficult to control. She could not stay in any one place any length of time and she kept going from one place to another. One day, while making her home with us (in Chicago), she decided she would like to go back to Sioux City. Though we all worried about her and felt responsible for her, we were very glad to see her go and she returned to Sioux City where she met a young man named Joe Cohen.
Here is a personal reminiscence from George Kroloff:
"When I was a kid my mom, dad and sister Susan occasionally…better word might be rarely…visited Aunt Minnie/Minnah/Mushie. I remember a long streetcar ride to the famous city transit “L”, changing trains to an extension and somehow walking or catching a bus to their house. House. That was a big deal. It probably was the first time I had been in a single family dwelling in my hometown. Everyone we knew, including schoolmates, lived in apartments.
I don’t remember much about Minnie. The info on her eye caught my eye, While reading an Ellis Island document reporting that she had, what I recall, was a “low” eye. And thinking about how nervous she would have been. People deemed to be undesirable for one reason or another would be sent back to their embarkation port. Minnie was with her sisters Sarah and Esther getting off a rather posh, for its time, Cunard Line cruise ship with a large number of last class passengers. The promotional literature for the ship indicated that they could be sailing with their own cabin in steerage with a sink and running water
So I remember Minnie was small. Uncle Joe was a large man. I remember little more, other than he didn’t seem to be of the type who would take advantage of people. BUT, one thing I do remember is learning that he was the driver of a lumbering moving van. Probably, mostly peoples’ furniture. Also, I was told he was getting on in age and the the lifting and carrying of heavy items was a bit difficult, so he had been promoted, or however it was explained, to the easier job of driving.
I also think I told my parents on the trip home that I was fascinated by Joe’s extremely thick glasses, thicker than I thought existed, and wondered if they had any way of forecasting when he might be in our neighborhood so I could warn my friends to keep off the street for safety’s sake.
Meanwhile, their son Eugene was a really nice, soft-spoken chap. My recollection was that he had a typical Chicago/Midwest accent. After the end of WWII Eugene was working in a shop that sold leather goods. My prize Bar Mitzvah present came from Eugene. It was a very professional looking leather briefcase that I used until it just fell apart twenty or so years later.
All this leads up to the most interesting “thing” about Eugene. Soft spoken, Midwest accent, US Army, Battle of the Bulge near the end of the War … Eugene was captured by the Canadians and held for several days before the-powers-that-be agreed that he really was an American and not a Nazi infiltrator. "
Death
COHEN - Minnie Cohen, nee Helfet, beloved wife of Joseph, fond mother of Leona, Rhea, Eugene. Funeral Wednesday, 10 a.m. at funeral chapel, 5145 Broadway. Interment Westlawn. Family at 3747 Giddings. Chicago Tribune, Wed, 4 June 1941, p. 14
Poltava Region
Jews began to settle in the region during the early 17th century in the process of Jewish participation in the colonization of Ukraine. By 1610 there was a Jewish community in Berezan (to the north of Pereyaslav), and within a few decades about a dozen Jewish communities were established in the districts of *Pereyaslav and Mirgorod, of which the largest were in Pereyaslav and *Lubny. Jews engaged in commerce and the leasing of estates, flour mills, liquor distilleries, breweries, and inns. There was strong competition from Christian towns-men, and during the *Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 these communities were among the first to be destroyed. After the region came under Russian rule Jews were not permitted to live there until the first partition of Poland in 1772. Individual Jewish families, however, settled in various estates under the protection of their owners despite frequent expulsions by the authorities.
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Jewish settlement on the eastern bank of the river Dnieper was renewed, and by 1792 there were over 700 Jews in the region, most of whom lived on estates or in villages. In 1794 this region, which then formed part of the province of Yekaterinoslav, was incorporated within the *Pale of Settlement. In 1803 there were 82 Jewish merchants and 2,030 Jews classed as townsmen living in the province of Poltava, which was formed in 1802. The community of *Kremenchug was the largest in the district, and developed in particular owing to its position on the Dnieper, the main waterway from Lithuania to the south. It accounted in 1897 for 30% of the Jews in the province. In 1847, 15,572 Jews were counted in the 18 communities of the province (which also included the Jews in the small settlements and their environs). Their numbers increased as a result of a large emigration from Lithuania and Belorussia, and were estimated at 84,000 in 1881. The census of 1897 recorded 111,417 Jews (4% of the total population) in Poltava province (the lowest percentage of Jews in all the provinces of the Pale). The Russian-Ukrainian majority had a strong assimilationist influence on the Jews in the province, who were a minority in all the towns; it was only in Kremenchug that their numbers approached half the population. On the other hand, *Chabad Ḥasidism, which penetrated from the north, was an important spiritual influence (the tomb of *Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the founder of Chabad Ḥasidism, is in *Gadyach in Poltava province).
About one half of the Jews of the province of Poltava earned their livelihood from commerce (in contrast to 38.5% in the whole of Russia), and about 30 percent were engaged in crafts and industry. Commerce was principally conducted in grain and other agricultural produce. Although some Jews owned sawmills, brick-kilns, flour mills, alcohol distilleries, and other enterprises, the overwhelming majority of the workers in them were non-Jews. During the spring of 1881 pogroms occurred in the north of the province of Poltava. In 1905 a wave of pogroms swept across 52 settlements of the province. The most severely affected were Gadyach, Kremenchug, Romny, and Zolotonosha.
During World War I thousands of refugees and Jews expelled from the battle zone arrived in the province of Poltava and found refuge in the Jewish communities. During the Civil War, the communities of the western section of the province suffered especially from pogroms by bands of Ukrainians and the "volunteer army" of A.I. *Denikin. In 1926 there were approximately 93,000 Jews in the five districts (Kremenchug, Lubny, Poltava, Priluki, Romny) of the former territory of the province of Poltava.
2 June 1941 in Manteno Township , Kankakee County, Illinois, USA, age 53. Minnie was buried in the Westlawn Jewish Cemetery in Chicago, USA on 4 June 1941
Obituary
Place of Birth
Minnie Helfet was born in Chernuch, Russian Empire, nowadays Chornukhy (Ukrainian: Чорнýхи; Russian: Чернýхи), Chernich (Yiddish) and Chernuchi (German), a rural settlement in Lubny Raion, Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine.
Chornukhy
The earliest known Jewish community was by the end of the 18th century. In 1900 the Jewish population was 275 and in 1926 it was 366. Chornukhy was occupied by the Germans on September 17, 1941. During that month 132 Jews were shot by local police in the Chornukhy County park. The village was liberated by the Red Army on September 17, 1943. The present town population is 1,000-5,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
Poltava Region
Jews began to settle in the region during the early 17th century in the process of Jewish participation in the colonization of Ukraine. By 1610 there was a Jewish community in Berezan (to the north of Pereyaslav), and within a few decades about a dozen Jewish communities were established in the districts of *Pereyaslav and Mirgorod, of which the largest were in Pereyaslav and *Lubny. Jews engaged in commerce and the leasing of estates, flour mills, liquor distilleries, breweries, and inns. There was strong competition from Christian towns-men, and during the *Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 these communities were among the first to be destroyed. After the region came under Russian rule Jews were not permitted to live there until the first partition of Poland in 1772. Individual Jewish families, however, settled in various estates under the protection of their owners despite frequent expulsions by the authorities.
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Jewish settlement on the eastern bank of the river Dnieper was renewed, and by 1792 there were over 700 Jews in the region, most of whom lived on estates or in villages. In 1794 this region, which then formed part of the province of Yekaterinoslav, was incorporated within the *Pale of Settlement. In 1803 there were 82 Jewish merchants and 2,030 Jews classed as townsmen living in the province of Poltava, which was formed in 1802. The community of *Kremenchug was the largest in the district, and developed in particular owing to its position on the Dnieper, the main waterway from Lithuania to the south. It accounted in 1897 for 30% of the Jews in the province. In 1847, 15,572 Jews were counted in the 18 communities of the province (which also included the Jews in the small settlements and their environs). Their numbers increased as a result of a large emigration from Lithuania and Belorussia, and were estimated at 84,000 in 1881. The census of 1897 recorded 111,417 Jews (4% of the total population) in Poltava province (the lowest percentage of Jews in all the provinces of the Pale). The Russian-Ukrainian majority had a strong assimilationist influence on the Jews in the province, who were a minority in all the towns; it was only in Kremenchug that their numbers approached half the population. On the other hand, *Chabad Ḥasidism, which penetrated from the north, was an important spiritual influence (the tomb of *Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the founder of Chabad Ḥasidism, is in *Gadyach in Poltava province).
About one half of the Jews of the province of Poltava earned their livelihood from commerce (in contrast to 38.5% in the whole of Russia), and about 30 percent were engaged in crafts and industry. Commerce was principally conducted in grain and other agricultural produce. Although some Jews owned sawmills, brick-kilns, flour mills, alcohol distilleries, and other enterprises, the overwhelming majority of the workers in them were non-Jews. During the spring of 1881 pogroms occurred in the north of the province of Poltava. In 1905 a wave of pogroms swept across 52 settlements of the province. The most severely affected were Gadyach, Kremenchug, Romny, and Zolotonosha.
During World War I thousands of refugees and Jews expelled from the battle zone arrived in the province of Poltava and found refuge in the Jewish communities. During the Civil War, the communities of the western section of the province suffered especially from pogroms by bands of Ukrainians and the "volunteer army" of A.I. *Denikin. In 1926 there were approximately 93,000 Jews in the five districts (Kremenchug, Lubny, Poltava, Priluki, Romny) of the former territory of the province of Poltava.
Residences
According to the 1920 census the family lived at 311 West 15th Street, Sioux City, Iowa, USA. The property no longer exists
In the 1930 census the family is living at Unit 113, 4942 Spaulding Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, USA