Rachel Levin (1873 - 1952)

Rachel Levin is my 2x great aunt. Levin family HERE. Morris family HERE

Parents: Aaron Levin (1844 - 1910) and Gertrude

Tombstones for her father Aaron Levin and her step-mother Annie Isabella Levin (Nee Broude). They are both buried in the Rice Lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England

Born: December 1873 in Sislowitz, Grodno, Belarus

Hebrew name: Rochel daughter of Aharon HaLevi

Siblings

• Simon Bernard Levin (1869 - 1936) married Julia Rosenthal (1872 - 1957) in (July to September) 1896 in Leeds, England
• Jacob Levin (1873 - 1917) married Hannah Baum (1878 - 1938) on 27 February 1898 in Manchester, England
• Esther Reizel Levin (1877 - 1921) married Simon Bernard Glynn in (January - March) 1898 in Liverpool, England
• Sarah Ann Levin (1880 - 1953) married Leon Helfet (1877 - 1945) on 22 January 1905 in Cape Town, South Africa
• Leah Lilian Levin (1888 - 1972) married Harry Ark (1889 - 1966) on 4 September 1961 in Liverpool, England
• Abraham Levine (1891 - 1954) married Henrietta Glass (1892 - 1984) in (October - December) 1919 in Swansea, Wales

Migration: The family came to Liverpool, England in 1884 when Rachel was about 10 years old. Rachel and her family then settled in Palestine sometime in the early 1920s

Married: Jacob Morris in (October - December) 1892 in Liverpool, England. Jacob was 42 and Rachel 37

Rachel and Jacob Morris

Children

Their first child was born in 1893 when Jacob was 23 and Rachel 19. Their last child was born in 1912 when Jacob was 29 and Rachel 26 

• Eli Morris 1893 - 1956
• Gertrude (Gertie) Morris 1897 - 1948
• Isaac Morris 1898 - 1984
• Abraham (Abe) Morris 1902 - 1988
• Amelia (Millie) Morris 1903 - 1981
• Leah (Lily) Morris 1907 - 2001
• Minnie Morris 1912 - 1942

Census details

1891

The Levin family is at 88 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England. Rachel's parents are Aaron age 48, a furniture broker and Isabella age 33. The children are Jacob, age 19, born in Russia and a draper, Rachel age 17 and a shopkeeper, Esther age 13, Sarah age 11, Leah age 4 and Abraham age 1 month, There are also 3 boarders; Isaac Broady age 48 and a commercial traveller (also a distant cousin of Isabella), Nap Finestone age 32, Judah Rapmorly age 26 and a sick nurse, Sarah Menca age 40

1901

In 1901 Jacob and Rachel are married and living at 30 Fairclough Road, Liverpool, England. Jacob is 30, a butcher on his own account and working from home. Rachel is 26. The children are Elijah age 7, Gertrude age 4, Isaac age 2 and living with them is Jacob's sister Dinah age 27 and a machine knitter

1911

In 1911 the family is living at 29 Paddington Lane, Liverpool, England in a house with 5 living rooms. Jacob is 39 and still a butcher on his own account working from home but he is now also listed as a dealer, so maybe he is now in the wholesale trade? Rachel is 36 and the children are Elijah age 17 and a picture framer canvasser and enlargers, Gertrude age 14, Isaac age 12, Abraham age 9, Emelia age 7 and Leah age 3. The census return also lists one child who has died. I don't know their name but as they were not listed in the 1901 census they must have been born and died between 1893 (after their marriage in late 1892) and 1901 or 1901 and 1911. There is also a housemaid, Elizabeth Curran age 21

1921

In the 1921 census taken on 19 June 1921 the family is living in a house with eight rooms at 154 Grove Street, Liverpool, England. Jacob is age 50 years and two months and is now a draper on his own account operating from home. His place of birth is given as Panevezy, Kovno, Lithuania. Rachel is age 46 years and seven months and is listed as being born in Svisloch, Grodno. This gives her as being born in December 1873. The children are Eli age 27 and nine months and a draper on his own account operating from home, Abraham age 19 years and eight months and a wholesale boot warehouse assistant for H. Hyman leather factors, Amelia age 17 years and six months and Leah age 13 years and 7 months. Both Amelia and Leah are attending educational institutions

Photos

Rachel and Jacob Morris outside their home in Bat-Yam during the British Mandate of Palestine late 1930s

Rachel and Jacob Morris in their home in Bat-Yam during the British Mandate of Palestine late 1930s

Left to right: Shaul Hareli, his wife Lily and her parents Rachel and Jacob Morris, mid-1940s. Lily served as a secretary in the Administration of the British Mandate of Palestine. Shaul was a Professor of Hebrew Language and Literature in the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, USA

Travel

In May 1948 Rachel and her daughter Gertrude travelled from Haifa, Palestine to Liverpool, England aboard the Samaria arriving on 23 May 1948. Her country of permanent residence is given as Palestine and her address in England is given as 1 Dudlow Gardens, Liverpool, England. Her age is given as 73 which means she was born in around 1874

Notes

Rachel was born with a withered right arm and was therefore paralysed in her right hand but she did everything in her home and was a wonderful baker and cook. Jacob would help her, baking bread and cream, salting the meat and turning on the Sabbath clock (his invention - an old alarm clock that the alarm button would turn and cause the wire to pull the circuit breaker). They lived in Jerusalem in the 1930s and then in Bat Yam from around 1938 onwards. After the death of her husband Jacob in November 1947, she went to live in Jerusalem. Prior to the end of the Mandate in Israel in May 1948, Rachel, along with her daughter Gertie, were evacuated by the British from Jerusalem to England. They lived in Liverpool and then moved to Southport - a seaside tourist town. After Gertie passed away in November 1948, Rachel moved to a nursing home in Southport. (From the autobiography of her grandson, David Morris). My mother remembers that even though she lived in Palestine for a couple of decades she never really mastered Hebrew!

Death

28 April 1952 in Southport, England age 77 from pulmonary oedema caused by a heart condition. She is buried in the Rice Lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England, plot no C-22-27

Death certificate for Rachel Morris

Tombstone for Rachel. "In loving memory of Rachel Morris who died 28th April 1952 - 3rd Iyar 5712 aged 77 years. Deeply mourned by her sorrowing sons and daughters. May her dear soul rest in peace

Hebrew translation: "Here is buried Mrs. Rachel, daughter of Aharon Halevi (The levite), the wife of late Yakov Menachem Morris"

Burial record for Rachel

Probate

MORRIS Rachel of Sandhurst Private Hotel Southport Lancashire widow died 28 April 1952 Administration Liverpool 2 August [1952] to Elisha Morris costumier and Isaac Morris university lecturer. Effects £950 7s. 8d.

Place of Birth

Rachel Levin was born in Sislowitz in the Grodno Province of Belarus

SVISLOCH (Pol. Swisłocz ), town in Grodno district, Belarus; within Poland before 1795 and between the two world wars. A number of Jews settled there at the beginning of the 18th century on the invitation of the owners of the locality, the princes of Tyszkiewicz. In 1752 the Council of Lithuania imposed a poll tax of 215 zlotys on the Svisloch community, which numbered 220 in 1766. Until the middle of the 19th century the Jews of Svisloch earned their livelihood mainly from trade in timber and grain, shopkeeping, and crafts; they later also engaged in innkeeping and the lease of public houses. After a great fire, in which most of the Jewish shops were destroyed, the fairs were no longer held in Svisloch and the Jews were deprived of their principal sources of livelihood. Around 1870 Jews began to pioneer in the tanning industry and improved methods of manufacture with the assistance of German experts whom they invited. By the end of the 19th century a number of tanneries had been established in Svisloch, which employed hundreds of workers. Many Jews from the surrounding areas went there in search of employment. As early as the middle of the 19th century Jewish craftsmen in Svisloch attempted to organize themselves into guilds. At the beginning of the 20th century the Bund Movement developed in Svisloch and it embraced the whole of the Jewish working populace (tanners, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters. smiths, and bakers), who organized strikes for the amelioration of working conditions in tanneries and factories. In 1905 the workers' organization was established for Jewish self-defense against pogroms.

Residences

In the 1891 census the family was listed as living at 88 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England and by the time they were naturalised in 1893 the family had moved to 93 Richmond Row. Both properties no longer exist

In 1901 the family are living at 30 Fairclough Road, Liverpool, England. The property no longer exists

In the 1921 census the family are living at 154 Grove Street, Liverpool, England. The property appears to no longer exist

This is Rehavia, a suburb of Jerusalem, in the 1930s. On what nowadays appears to be Menahem Ussishkin street, No 12 is the house of Rachel and Jacobs' son Isaac Morris and his wife and no 13 is the house of Jacob and Rachel Morris

In this picture the house where Jacob and Rachel lived is no 3 and where their son Isaac and his family lived is house no 1

Jacob and Rachel's grandson David Morris recounted in his autobiography that "In the late 1930s, my grandfather sold his house in Jerusalem and moved to Bat Yam. In 1938 he built a one-story house there with two apartments and with the possibility of building more floors. The house was on King George Street, after the War of Independence called Independence Boulevard". It is now called HaAtzmaut Boulevard

Vula Baum (1888 - ?)

Vula Baum (Beym in Yiddish) is my 1st cousin 3x removed. Baum family tree Here

Parents: Israel Itsyk Baum (1859 - 1929) and Hinde Aronson (1858 - 1941)

Born: 1888 in LIthuania

The one and only reference I have to her is from a 1912 document where her age is given as 24. At the time the family were living at Siluva, Raseiniai Uyezd, Kaunas Gubernia - (Šiluva [Lithuanian], Shidleve [Yiddish], Shidlovo [Russian], Szydłowo [Polish], Schidlau [German], Šilava, Šidlavas, Šidlava, Šėlova, Shiluva, Shidlova, Szydława)

Death

Unknown

Kreyne Baum (1880 - bef 1892)

Kreyne Baum (Beym in Yiddish) is my 1st cousin 3x removed. Baum family tree Here

Parents: Israel Itsyk Baum (1859 - 1929) and Hinde Aronson (1858 - 1941)

Born: 4 December 1880 in Vorne, Russia (now Varniai in the Telz district of Lithuania)

Birth details for Kreyne. Unfortunately the listed image number is incorrect

Death

Before 1892 as another sister born in 1892 was named after her

Place of Birth

Kreyne Baum was born in Vorne, now Varniai in the Telz district of Lithuania

It was established in the 14th century, on the bank of the Varnelė River, near an important Samogitian castle. It was the center of Samogitian Catholic church: after the baptism of Samogitia, the Samogitian Bishop resided in the town. Around 1414–1416 the first church was built, and c. 1464 the first cathedral. Varniai was the center of Samogitian episcopate until the middle of the 19th century, when authorities of the Russian Empire moved it to Kaunas.

The first Jews probably settled in Vorne in the second half of the seventeenth century. The bishop granted rights to a few Jews to run taverns, sell liquor and collect taxes during the fairs. Later, peddlers, merchants and artisans arrived in town. Jews, provided the majority of tradesmen, including tailors. Their workshops were small and run by families. The tradesmen of the time numbered twenty-two tailors, ten carters, sixteen shoemakers, six blacksmiths, three carpenters, three hatters, two builders, one book binder, one painter and one mould-maker. There were also well known timber tradesmen: one of these, Aharon Raskin, was a very prominent member of the community. The timber was loaded onto rafts and sent to Memel (Klaipeda) en route to Germany. The local flour mill was owned by Rafael Zax. Liquor distillation plants were also run by Jews. Several families kept stores, and they would travel to the large regional town of Shavl (Šiauliai) to stock up on goods.

As the population grew, a cemetery and prayer houses were built – the Kloiz and the Shtiblekh on two of the sides of the Shul, a building with a high dome for prayers in the summer. Later, welfare associations were established. Linath HaTsedek, Bikur Holim, Gemiluth Hesed, Hakhnasath Kalah and Hakhnasath Orkhim were among these. Social assistance was mostly provided by generous women with initiative. One such was Ida-Pesia, the wife of Aharon Raskin the timber merchant. He was also the Gabai of the local Yeshivah with its 60 students. This Yeshivah was established and directed by Nahum-Lipa Hananyah, and it existed for 35 years until his death in 1910. Many of the young people in the town studied in the Telz Yeshivah and in other Yeshivoth in the area. Quite a few acquired a general education as well.

In 1874, a blood libel was initiated by a local priest who gave money to a Christian boy to disappear from the town. Then he announced that the Jews had murdered the boy for his blood. The priest, together with a group of peasants armed with knives and sticks, went out in the streets and attacked every Jew they met. A few were injured and taken to hospital. The uproar stopped when the boy returned home. In 1847, 1,084 Jews lived in the town. Half a century later, according to the government census of 1897, there were 3,121 residents in Varniai, including 1,226 (39%) Jews.

Jewish homes in an alleyway

One of the prayer houses in Vorne

Helene Liachowsky (1892 - 1970)

Helene Liachowsky is the mother-in-law of Marlene Viva Levinson, my 2nd cousin 1x removed. Levinson family HERE. Dover (Dworetzki) family HERE

Parents: Abraham Josef Liachowsky (1849 - 1913) and Pauline Tunik (1850 -1937)

Born: 20 January 1892 in Konigsberg, Germany

Siblings

• Lina Liachowsky (1872 - ?)
• Waldemar Lea (Liachowsky) (1874 - 1958) married 1) Paula Lewin (1887 - 1931) in Berlin on 7 April 1919, 2) Miriam Blum (Nee Heidelberger) (1885 - 1958) in Philadelphia on 7 October 1938. He was a concert pianist
• Charlotte Liachowsky (1876 - 1959) married Oskar Schapiro (1869 - 1927)
• Eugen Liachowsky (1879 - ?) married Clara Selma Silber (1889 - ?) on 19 March 1925 in Danzig. Eugen appears to have died in WW2 and Clara appears to have survived
• George Liachowsky (1881 - 1975) married Cecilia Kalabus (1895 - 1979) on 16 Jan 1920 in Konigsberg, Germany
• Else Liachowsky (1883 - 1887)
• Gertrud Liachowsky (1886 - ?) married Nison Thal (1885 - ?) on 8 April 1913 in Konigsberg, Germany
• Jenny Liachowsky (1888 - 1976) married Ludwig Pelz (1881 - 1933) on 27 January 1914 in Konigsberg, Germany

Helene was the youngest of nine children. She was a professional violinist and viola player

Hebrew name: Hinda daughter of Avraham

Emigration: Helene and her family came to England from Danzig on holiday in December 1937 when she was 45 and the family managed to remain in England

Married

Herman Dworetzki on 12 June 1924 in Konigsberg, Germany. Herman was 37 and Helene was 32

Marriage certificate for Herman and Helene who were married on 12 June 1924 in Konigsburg, Germany

Children

Their first child was born in 1925 when Herman was 39 and Helene 33. Their second and final child was born in 1929 when Herman was 43 and Helene 37

• Martin Dover (1925 - 1995)
• Oskar Dover (1929 - 2020)

Census

1939 Register

In the 1939 register the family are living at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England. Herrman / Hirsch is a retired corn broker and Helene is a housewife. Their eldest son Martin's record is partially redacted. Below him is Jenny Pelz, Helen's widowed sister

Electoral Register extracts

1948

In 1948 Herman, Helene and their son Martin are listed as living at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England

1969

In 1969 Helene and Hirsch are listed as living at 4 Langdale Road, Liverpool, England

Death

4 December 1970 in Liverpool, England age 78. She is buried in the Long Lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England plot no B-I.12

Tombstone for Helene. "In loving memory of Helene Dworetzki who passed away 4th DEcember 1970. Deeply mourned by her children, grandchildren and all her family"

Hebrew translation: "Here lies the beloved and respected woman, Hinda daughter of Avraham. Passed in good name on 6 Kislev 5731 for the sorrow of her children, grandchildren and all her family. May her soul be bound up in the bond of life."

Cemetery record for Helene

Probate

DWORETZKI Helene of 4 Langdale Rd Liverpool died 4 December 1970 Probate Liverpool 12 July [1971]. £22,916

Residences

At the time of their son Martin's birth in 1925 the family's address was 27 Langgarten Street, Danzig; now Długie Ogrody, Gdańsk, Poland

In the 1939 register and till at least 1961 the family lived at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England

In the 1960s the family lived at 4 Langdale Road, Liverpool, England

Herman Dworetzki (1886 - 1969)

Herman Dworetzki, also known as Hirsch, is the father-in-law of Marlene Viva Levinson, my 2nd cousin 1x removed. Levinson family HERE. Dover (Dworetzki) family HERE

Parents: Moses Dworetzki (1851 - ?) and Sara Solomjanski

Born: 15 October 1886 in Svislach or Svisloch (Belarusian: Свiслач, romanized: Svislač, Russian: Свислочь; Polish: Świsłocz; Yiddish: סיסלעוויטש), a town nowadays in the Grodno Region, Belarus

Siblings

• Isaac Dworetzki (1870 - 1942) - perished in the Holocaust
• Solomon Dworetzki (1879 - 1959) married Marta (Miriam) Hirsch (1879 - 1919) on 23 May 1907 in Danzig, Germany
• Lena Braine Dworetzki (1887 - 1985) married Manuel Dover (1887 - 1968)
• Annie Dworetzki (? - 1942) - perished in the Holocaust

Hebrew name: Tzvi son of Moshe

Emigration: Herman and his family came to England from Danzig on holiday in December 1937 when he was 51 and the family managed to remain in England

Occupation: Cornbroker in Danzig, Germany

Naturalization

Herman was naturalised on 2 December 1947 (The London Gazette, 16 January 1948)

Married

Helene Liachowsky on 12 June 1924 in Konigsberg, Germany. Herman was 37 and Helene was 32

Marriage certificate for Herman and Helene who were married on 12 June 1924 in Konigsburg, Germany

Children

Their first child was born in 1925 when Herman was 39 and Helene 33. Their second and final child was born in 1929 when Herman was 43 and Helene 37

• Martin Dover (1925 - 1995)
• Oskar Dover (1929 - 2020)

Census

1939 Register

In the 1939 register the family are living at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England. Herrman / Hirsch is a retired corn broker and Helene is a housewife. Their eldest son Martin's record is partially redacted

Electoral Register extracts

1948

In 1948 Herman, Helene and their son Martin are listed as living at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England

1969

In 1969 Helene and Hirsch are listed as living at 4 Langdale Road, Liverpool, England

Death

6 March 1969 in Liverpool, England age 82. He is buried in the Long Lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England plot no B-I.11

Tombstone for Herman. "In loving memory of Herman Dworetzki who passed away 6th March 1969. Deeply mourned by his wife, children, grandchildren and all his family"

Hebrew translation: "Here is buried (abbreviated)/a beloved and respected man/Reb (Mister) Tzvi, son of Reb (Mister) Moshe/Died with a good name on the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, (5)729/to the sorrow of his wife, his sons, his grandchildren,/and all the members of his family./May his soul be bound in the the bond of life(abbreviated)"

Cemetery record for Herman

Place of Birth

Herman Dworetzki was born in Svislach in the Grodno province of Belarus

SVISLOCH (Pol. Swisłocz ), town in Grodno district, Belarus; within Poland before 1795 and between the two world wars. A number of Jews settled there at the beginning of the 18th century on the invitation of the owners of the locality, the princes of Tyszkiewicz. In 1752 the Council of Lithuania imposed a poll tax of 215 zlotys on the Svisloch community, which numbered 220 in 1766. Until the middle of the 19th century the Jews of Svisloch earned their livelihood mainly from trade in timber and grain, shopkeeping, and crafts; they later also engaged in innkeeping and the lease of public houses. After a great fire, in which most of the Jewish shops were destroyed, the fairs were no longer held in Svisloch and the Jews were deprived of their principal sources of livelihood. Around 1870 Jews began to pioneer in the tanning industry and improved methods of manufacture with the assistance of German experts whom they invited. By the end of the 19th century a number of tanneries had been established in Svisloch, which employed hundreds of workers. Many Jews from the surrounding areas went there in search of employment. As early as the middle of the 19th century Jewish craftsmen in Svisloch attempted to organize themselves into guilds. At the beginning of the 20th century the Bund Movement developed in Svisloch and it embraced the whole of the Jewish working populace (tanners, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters. smiths, and bakers), who organized strikes for the amelioration of working conditions in tanneries and factories. In 1905 the workers' organization was established for Jewish self-defense against pogroms.

Residences

At the time of their son Martin's birth in 1925 the family's address was 27 Langgarten Street, Danzig; now Długie Ogrody, Gdańsk, Poland

In the 1939 register and till at least 1948 the family lived at 28 Claremont Road, Liverpool, England

In the 1960s the family lived at 4 Langdale Road, Liverpool, England