The Ancestors

(Who They Were)

. Last update 10 june 2009

Rabbi Yakov Richter, Dayan of Kiralyhaza

Yacov Richter (Appx 1838 to 1921) was my great grandfather. He was the son of Itshak-Menahem (1) Richter, and is said to have come out of the West (Bohemia?) to make an advantageous marriage ("wive it wealthily") and take up a rabbinic apointment. Both of which he did (2).
Yacov married Hensce (aka Hanna), one of the daughters of Josef Glick, a prosperous resident of the nearby village of Klein-Kopanye (aka Alsoveresmart). Hanna was the mother of all of Yacov's children. She died about 1910 and is assumed to be buried in the Kiralyhaza cemetary. He subsequently married the widowed sister of Zishe Greenberger of Kiralyhaza.

Yacov had two brothers, Yisroel and Gedalia-Lev. I have been unable to learn anything about Gedalia-Lev, but the youngest brother,Yisroel, lived in Beregszasz (a town about 30 km E of Kiralyhaza). Yisroel's son Dov (aka Berty) lived in Nagyszollos and later emigrated to Israel.


(1) His father's name was noted on Yacov's gravestone. The gravestone has been destroyed, but it had been photographed and a copy of the photograph is in the posession of Sarah Perlstein (daughter of Yacov's son Avraham) who lives in Brooklyn New York.
(2) As much as I like this opening sentance there is some doubt about its veracity. That R'Yacov probably came from Bohemia, was imparted to me by his great-grandson - Yacov Drummer of Azor, Israel; while another of his great-grandsons - Yacov Richter, of Chicago, IL - tells me that he was born in Alsoveresmart, a village not far from Kiralyhaza.

The Children of Yacov & Hanna Richter were:

The photograph of R'Yacov was given to me by Yacov Drummer of Azor, Israel.

Shimon Schorr of Tur-Terebes

Shimon Schorr is my paternal and maternal great grandfather! He was the father of my father's mother (Fanny) and of my mother's mother (Pauline). Shimon's wife was Frumme (?).

The children of Shimon & Frumme Schorr were:

    • Pauline (Schechter) - my grandmother
    • Fanny (Richter) - also my grandmother
    • Avigdor Shmuel
    • Regina (Mayer)
    • Lena (Bleier)
    • Serena (?)

For more about Schorr see the Schorr Page

The Schechter Connection

Harry Schechter was my paternal grandfather. He was the first husband of Pauline (Pepi) Schorr. He was born somewhere in Russia to parents I have, thus-far, been unable to identify. As far as I can make-out, his parents had two children:

  • Harry Schechter (Appx 1872 to 1910); he married (Appx 1904) Pauline Schorr (Appx 1868 to 23 May 1942) in New York City.

  • Sarah Schechter(Appx 1872 to 1936); she married (Appx 1898) Harry Greenberg.

For more about Schechter see the Schechter Page

Feige Richter (Appx 1860 to 1944)

. . . (aka Valeria) was married to Meir, the son of Mendel-Wolf Drummer of Szkyrnytsya (a village appx 10 km SE of Huszt). They were married in Kiralyhaza, and lived there until about 1900 when their shop (Dry Goods and Leather) was
destroyed by fire; the family then moved to Irsheva (about halfway between Mukachevo and Huszt) where Meir's family lived. In Irsheva Meir started a bank, prospered, and was a respected member of his community. he died in 1941 and is assumed to be buried in Irshava. Feige survived to be transported to Auschwitz in 1944. She is assumed to have died there.
Their first son Josef was born in 1888, when (as shown on his birth-certificate) his mother Feige was 28 and his father Meir was 26 years old. The descendents of Meir & Feige Drummer are:

Baruch Richter (Appx 1867 to 1928)

. . . in his youth he studied at a yeshiva in Moravia (Pressburg?). He was a wine salesman and managed estate of local landowner (Baron Farani?). His wife Fanny was the daughter of a local farmer and Judaic scholar Shimon Schorr. He and his wife Fanny died in Sevljus Cz in the 1920's and are assumed to have been buried in the Sevlus cemetary.

The children of Baruch & Fanny Richter were:

Avraham Richter (Appx 1870 to 1944)

. . . Avraham was a Talmid Haham, and follower of the anti-Zionist Monkach Rebbe (Name?). He studied in Bohemia, and later went into business in Prague. He prospered and was well-off when he returned to the region of his birth. He came to Szollos from the city of Apariash/Eperjes (Presov) where he served as shohet and cantor. In Sollos he aquired vinyards and became a tavern-keeper. He is remembered as sitting in the synagogue on Sabbath discussing difficult passages of talmud with fellow Hassidim.

His wife Esther was the daughter of Sollos inn-keeper Reuven Roth. She died in Sevljus, Cz some time in the 1920's and is assumed to be buried in the Sevljus cemetary. For much of his life, Avraham was at odds with his brother Baruch, who lived on the opposite side of the same city. He was murdered in 1944 in the Saxenhausen Death Camp.

The children of Avraham & Esther Richter were:

Josef Richter (Appx 1878 to 1888)

. . . he was named in memory of his grandfather R'Josef Glick and is assumed to have been born very shortly after the death of R'Josef (1878/1879). Josef, son of Yacov, drowned when swimming in the river Tisza while still a youth. He must have died shortly before the birth of Feige's first son Josef (1888) whom, she said, she had named for her deceased brother. In fact, each of his siblings named a son for him (see children of Baruch and Avraham Richter).

Descendents of Avraham & Aranka Rothkirchen

Olga Rothkirchen - born 2 Feb 1913 in Nagyszollos, Hungary.
Olga died 5 Jan 1995 in Haifa Israel.

Hannah Rothkirchen - born 6 Jun 1917 in Nagyszollos, Hungary.
Hannah married (3 Apr 1950 in Magdiel Israel) Yekutiel Mintz (born 22 Oct 1909). Hannah survived the Nazi concentration camps and came to Israel after WW II. In Israel she married citrus grower Yekutiel Mintz. They lived, and raised a family in Magdiel. Hannah died 20 Jan 1995 in Magdiel (age 77) and is buried in the Magdiel cemetary, Israel. Her husband Yekutiel emigrated to Israel in 1920's, purchased land in Magdiel and planted citrus orchards. He died 13 Sept 1968 in Magdiel (age 58), and is buried in Magdiel cemetary. The children of Yekutiel & Hanna Mintz are:

Shimon Rothkirchen - born Appx 1919 in Nagyszollos, Hungary.
Shimon died of appendicitis sometime before the outbreak of WW II (Appx 1939).

Livia Rothkirchen - born 2 Nov 1922 in Sevlus, Cz.
Livia survived the Nazi Death Camps. She received a PHD from the University of Prague and became a noted historian. Livia resides in Jerusalem. She specializes in the history of the Jews of Carpathia and Czechoslovakia, as well as the Holocaust.

Blanka Rothkirchen - born 25 Jul 1924 in Sevlus, Cz.
Blanka married (25 Sep 1948 in Prague Cz) Jan Lederer (born Appx 1920). Jan died Appx 1970 in Haifa, Israel. After her husbands demise Blanka worked as the manager of old age homes - the last one was in Ramat Chen where she died 10 Jan 1995 (age 70). Blanka is buried in the cemetary of Kibbutz Ainat, Israel. The children of Jan & Blanka Lederer are:

Descendents of Josef & Ella Richter

Livia (aka Raize) Richter was born Appx 1923 in Sevlus, Cz. Livia married (Appx 1946) Manhard Kiss (Appx 1918 to 1988. The children of Manhard and Livia Kiss are:

  • Joseph Mordhai - born Appx 1947 in Satu Maria, Romania

  • Elka - born Appx 1949 in Prague, CZ

  • Meir Yacov - born Appx 1951 in Lido De Ostia,Rome, Italy (while the family waited as Displaced Persons for visas to the US)

  • Boruch Yida - born Appx 1953 in Boston

  • Haim Moshe - born Appx 1955 in Boston

  • Abraham Sholom - born Appx 1959 in New York City

  • Zvi Elimelech - born Appx 1961 in New York City.

  • Haya - born Appx 1963 in New York City.

Yacov Richter was born Appx 1925 in Sevlus, Cz.
Yacov is assumed to have died Appx 1944 in Auschwitz.

Feige Richter was born Appx 1926 in Sevlus, Cz.
Feige is assumed to have died Appx 1944 in Auschwitz, Poland.

Hencse Richter was born Appx 1927 in Sevlus, Cz.
Hencse is assumed to have died Appx 1944 in Auschwitz.

Edith Richter was born 19 Mar 1929 in Sevlus, Cz.
Edith married (Appx 1955 in Israel) Baruch Luria (born 6 Aug 1925 in Austria). The children of Baruch & Edith Luria are:

Bracha Richter - born Appx 1930 in Sevlus, Cz.
Bracha is assumed to have died (Appx 1944) in Auschwitz..

Descendents of Emil & Rose Richter

Barry Richter - born Appx 1935 in Brooklyn, NY.
Barry married (Appx 1959 in Brooklyn NY) Fran Reiner (born Appx 1942 in Brooklyn NY). The children of Barry & Fran Richter are:

  • Alyse Richter - born Appx 1965. She married (Appx 1989) Mitchell Reiffman (born Appx 1959).

  • Lauren Beth Richter - born Appx 1969 in Queens, NY. She married (5 Apr 1997 at Waldorf Astoria, NYC) Brian Goff (born Appx 1962 in New York City.

  • Eric Shawn Richter - born Appx 1970 in Queens, NY. He married (13 Apr 1996 at the Park Avenue Synagogue, NYC) Lori Robyn Gross (born Appx 1974, New York City).

Robert Richter - born Appx 1939 in Brooklyn, NY.
Robert married (Appx 1970, in Brooklyn NY) Shiela Litof (born Appx 1940, Bronx NY). The children of Robert & Sheila Richter are:

  • Elana - born Appx 1966 in Queens NY.

  • Caryn - born Appx 1968 in Manhasset NY.

  • Rebecca Richter - born Appx 1974 in Manhasset NY.

Phyllis Richter - born Appx 1940 in Brooklyn NY.
Phyllis married (Appx 1971 in Brooklyn NY) Leonard Nurkin (born Appx 1939 in New York City). The children of Len & Phyllis Nurkin are:

  • Emily - born Appx 1971 in Brooklyn NY.

  • Andrea - born Appx 1974, Brooklyn NY.

  • Steven - born Appx 1977, Brooklyn NY.

PROFILES

Yacov Richter (Appx 1838 to 1921)

By 1840 there were Jews in the village of Kiralyhaza. In the early years Jewish residents used the community facilities including the cemetary) of the nearby village of Vorece (less than a kilometer away). Slowly facilities were established in Kiralyhaza itself including a synagogue, a shochet and a 'mikve'.

For many years Rabbi Yacov Richter served as Dayan and teacher in this community which was attached first to the Rabbinate of Sollos and later, to the Rabbinate of Halmin.

R'Yacov was a respected Dayan and teacher. He is listed in 'Otzar Hagdolim' of Hungary, and in 'Otsar Harabanin' which gives the date of his accession in Kiralyhaza as 1870 (5630). A number of his responsa appear in the book SHU"T 'Bet Hayozer' (compiled and edited by Rabbi Yoel Zvi Roth, Dayan and Rosh Mesivta in Huszt; published by printers Blayer and Kohn of Monkacs in 1896).

In an article 'Nostalgia' (translated from the supplement to the 'Memorial Book for the Jewish Community of Nagysollos and Vicinity' Rabbi Dr Natan Blum writes ...

"I recall the town of Kiralyhaza where I grew up, was educated and pleasantly passed the years of my childhood and youth ... It was a town without sidewalks with a total population of about 6000 including about 120 Jewish families (500 to 600 individuals) ... the public school was set at the base of a hill upon whose crest were the ruins of a royal palace (which gave the town it's name - Kiral Haza = the king's house) ... I remember the days of the communist rebellion of Bela Kuhn (March thru October 1919), the first shots I heard in my life ... great fear reigned in our house, everyone was assigned a task and I, all of five years old, ran around without knowing what to do - and amused myself by dressing up in my grandmothers skirt ..."

"I was seven or eight years old (1921-22) when the aged Dayan Rav Yacov Richter (may his memory be blessed) died. In spite of the fact that I was still a child I was deeply impressed by the gloom which descended on the community who had lost it's beloved leader. They made the casket for the Dayan from planks of the table at which he studied. The preparations and funeral ceremony were as impressive as those for an Admor".

Elsewhere in the article, Dr Blum mentions that he was about five years old at the time of the Bela Kuhn rebellion (mid-1919), which would date the death of R'Yacov at about 1921/2.

At his death R'Yacov was well off and is said to have willed his possessions to the community, including tracts of forest and funds to be used for advancing the education of Hassidic youth.

R'Josef Glick

R'Josef was a prosperous and respected resident of the village of Kleine Kopania (aka Alsoveresmart). R'Josef married all three of his daughters to learned men; his sons-in-law were Rabbi Yacov Richter (Dayan in Kiralyhaza), Rabbi Shmuel Weiss (of Hust) and Rabbi Yonatan Binyamin HaKohen (later, Dayan in Sollos). In the days of his prosperity R'Yosef built a 'mikve' and 'bet midrash' in his village; he also fed and maintained young men in the village at his expense, in order to encourage their studies and to insure a 'minyan' for weekday prayer. In 1878 R'Yosef suffered financial reverses and is assumed to have died shortly afterwards (ie 1878/1879).

Zishe Greenberger of Kiralyhaza

It is noted in the 'Memorial Book for the Jewish Community of Nagysollos and Vicinity' that Zicha Greenberg of KiralyhazaI Was the brother-in-law of R' Yacov Richter. I was then told (by a member of our family) that the name of R'Yacov's second wife was Bluma, that Yacov and Bluma had no children though Bluma did have children by her previous marriage and that Bluma outlived Yacov and died a victim of the Holocaust. Some time ago I was contacted by a researcher whose research concerned the family of Yacov Aron Lebovits - a one-time resident of Kiralyhaza - who was married to Perl, also a sister of Zishe Greenberger. In the course of our interchange, the researcher told me that in one of Zishe's letters to his daughter he refers to Mime Beile (Aunt Beile) as the wife of R'Yacov, Dayan of Kiralyhaza. The letter also refers to Beile's daughter-in-law Gitel, wife of Moshe Yosef (presumably, Beile's son by a previous marrriage). Another interesting intersection revealed in Zishes letters to his daughter is that yehoshua Lebovits (the son of Yacov Aron) opened a store in Kiralyhaza under the patronage of Yosef Drummer (of Monkacs), son of Meir Drummer and father of Yacov Drummer(of Azor, Israel).

Yisroel Richter

Yisroel was the younger brother of R'Yacov Richter and is listed as one of the members of the Jewish community of Beregszasz who supported the publication of 'Nefesh Yehonatan' by R'Yacov's brother-in-law R'Yehonatan Benyamin Hakohen. Yisroel's son Dov (Berty) Richter was born in 1889. Berty earned his living as a groceries wholesaler and was Gabbai of the big synagogue in Sevlus (it is recordrd that during his time many repairs and improvements were made to the synagogue). Berty had one son who died as a youth; he escaped from Carpathia, before being deported, with the assistance of his friend, a local landowner, Baron Farani and eventually made his way to Israel (1949). He died on 2 Tishrei 5733 (9 September 1972) and is buried in the Old Cemetary of Hadera. A number of other Richters are included in the list of Beregszasz's Martyrs of the Holocaust (Bozsi & wife, Rezso, Helen and Reuven & wife) some or all of whom may have been descendents of Yisroel Richter.

The story behind my Grandma's picture

(By her granddaughter Rina Vizer)

In 1941 Aranka received a letter from her younger brother Emil, who lived in New York: "My dear sister, I will really be happy to get a photograph of you, so I will not forget your beloved face". Her daughter, Livia, says that she will always remember the day that she and her mother went to the photographer's studio so that her mother could be photographed. The photo was made and a copy sent to Emil Richter, in New York. Three years later, on Shavuot 1944, the family was packed into cattle cars headed to Auschwitz. Sadly, Aranka and her husband were murdered in the Nazi Death Camps - but their four daughters survived.

After the war the sisters returned to Sevlus. One of their first destinations was the backyard of the family home where they intended to dig up the box that contained the family's documents and photographs. They were heart broken to find that the box, and it's contents were gone.

For many years my mother and her sisters tried to keep their mother's image alive in their memories - I remember them sadly exclaiming: "If there would be only one picture!" Then one day in 1956, Olga - the eldest sister who lived in Haifa - received a letter from a Robert Richter in New York. This Robert Richter is my grand-uncle Emil's son, and in the envelope was the copy of the photograph of my grandmother that had been made some 15 years earlier in Sevlush. Robert found the photograph among his late fathers belongings and decided to send it on to Aranka's daughters. The excitement was overwhelming. For the sisters to see their beloved mother's face peering at them from the photograph, after so many years, was like a dream come true. This is the image I have of the grandmother I never knew.

Avraham (Avi) Mintz

(Part of the National 'Yiskor' Project, prepared by the Israeli DOD)

Avi, the son of Hannah and Yekutiel Mintz, was born on 20 Tevet 5712 (18 January 1952) in Magdiel. His family, one of the first families of Magdiel, and among its founders, was a family of farmers from whom Avi absorbed his love of the land.

Avi received his primary education in the local grade school of Magdiel and continued his studies in the Ami Assaf high school in Bet Berl. He was a member of 'Young Maccabi' and 'Hapoel' and participated in all the 'Gadna' activities in his school. However, his favorite diversions were the fields, faemsteads and orchards. His cousin Tali recalls that: “he could be found wandering among the (irrigation) tubes and fittings – moving tubes for better effect and checking fruit to determine

ripeness. He always had about him the heady smell of the orchards – it was there he felt best of all. His acquaintances knew him as a shy, reserved young man and they liked him for these qualities".

Avi was called up for compulsory military service in the IDF in August 1970 and per his request he was assigned to the Armored Corps. During his military service he passed courses in Tank-Craft, Communications, Tank Operations, and Tank Command. His brother says that: ”Avi's best day was the day he was assigned his own tank. He was proud of his assignment and, unlike many of his comrades, never complained of rough field conditions, accepting everything with equanimity, as a decree from on high, to be fulfilled in the best possible way".

In the beginning of August 1973, two months before the Yom Kippur War began, Avi completed his compulsory military service, was assigned to a reserve unit and discharged. He returned to his first love, the land, and decided to study Citrus technology in the 'Mikve Yisrael' agricultural School. His studies began in September 1973.

Avi did not succeed in realizing his dream of building his own Citrus farmstead. In the Yom-Kippur war he served as a Tank Commander on the Sinai front. When hostilities began he did not wait to be called up, but rushed to join his unit. On 17 Tishrei 5734 (8 October 1973) he was killed when his tank was hit in a battle to 'brake' the enemy's advance in the Kamutal zone. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home-town, Magdiel.

In his letter to the mourning family, his commanding officer wrote: “Avi was an exemplary soldier and comrade who became one of the most talented and devoted tank commanders in his group”. Defense Minister, Moshe Dyan, wrote: “Avi was an outstanding soldier and a loyal comrade – he was loved by all”.

Rabbi Yehonatan Binyamin Hakohen

Yehonatan Binyamin Hakohen was born in 1853 in Kirtvaliash, a village near Armihaly-Falva, Hungary. His father (R'Moshe-Arye) died when he was two years old, and when he was four years old his mother (Zelda) died. He was raised by his uncle Shlomo-Natan Hakohen.

He was ordained by Rabbi Shmalka Weiss of Sollos. In 1873 he married Eszter, daughter of Josef Glick of Kleine-Kopanye. He lived with his f-i-l, studied Torah and taught the young-men that his f-i-l maintained in his home. In 1878 his father-in-law lost his posessions and Yehonatan and his wife Eszter were obliged to leave his home. They moved to the city of Sollos where Yehonatan opened a shop and sold flour. When his clientele grew so large that he did not have time to study, he sold the shop and bought a house in the city. Wealthy Jews from the surrounding villages sent their children to be taught by him, and he subsisted on the tuition he received.

Eszter died in 1888, at 31 years of age (her eulogy is printed in her husband's book 'Nefesh Yehonatan'), and left him with a young daughter to raise. Yehonatan then married Raizel, daughter of R'Zvi Rottenstein. Raisel intelligent, well educated woman. She raised her husband's daughter, Leah, as her own (over the years, she acted as mother to many of the poor orphans of the city - and was affectionately known as Raisl-Nani, ie Auntie Raisl). Leah became the wife of Rabbi David Meir Weiss of Satmar; she died in the Holocaust in 1944.

R'Yehonatan became DOMA"Z in Sollos; he was a serious scholar and a devoted teacher; he was attached to the 'Land of Israel' and to the Hebrew language and was very disturbed by the fact that leading rabbis of the age could or would not find the means of supporting the Yishuv in the framework of Torah - however, he never publicly proclaimed his dissatisfaction. R'Yehonatan died peaefully on 12 Nissan 5694 (1934). He was eulogized by the AB"D of Sollos R'Shlomo Israel, by the AD"MOR of Spinka and by his sons.

His book 'Nefesh Yehonatan' (in three parts: commentary on Torah, commentary on five megillot and novellae on thirty Talmudic subjects) was first published in 1922 in Beregszasz, Hungary; it was republished in Jerusalem, with introductory remarks by his son Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Hakohen, in 1978. In 1925 he published a 'Pessah Haggada' with interpretation according to 'Nefesh Yehonatan' (Sighet, Hungary). His major work, however, was 'Binyamin-Zev' (on Halacha with novellas on the tractate 'Holin'). Itwas presented for publication, with endorsement and much praise, by great rabbis of the day among them R'Josef Zvi Duchinsky. Unfortunately, publication was interrupted by anti-Jewish decrees precediing the Holocaust, and all copies including the hand-written manuscript were destroyed.

Those who supported publication of Nefesh Yehonatan include a number of members of the Richter clan including my grandfather Baruch, his brother Avraham and brother-in-law Meir Drummer also Dov Richter of Sollos, and Yisrael Richter of Beregszasz as well as Shimon Schorr's son Avigdor-Shmuel and Avrham-Itshak son of Yehiel Schorr of Szaszfalu. Also listed are Zev-Wolf and Hiam Weiss, sons of Yonatan's other brother-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Weiss of Huszt.

(c) 1997 donb@012.net.il

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