Biterman Family Tree
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FAMILY ORIGINS Biterman family history is explained HERE. Additionally, photos of the family are available OnLine. The family resided in Hrubieszow, Poland from the middle part of the 16th century onward. Prior to that, the family was in Spain. Evidence that the family was originally Sephardic includes: 1. Dual Hebrew names (Yehuda Aryeh ben Yosef Tzvi) is a Sefardic practice. 2. Conclude Shabbat davening with Ayn Kelahaynu instead of Adan Olom (a Sephardi practice). 3. There was one Sephardic shul in Hrubieszow before WWII, which my Zeyde and Elder Zeyde attended. 4. The family was religiously observant but not Hassidic. Hrubieszow was a Hassidic town. 5. There is an oral tradition of arrival in the area in Poland in the mid-1500s. PRE-HOLOCAUST  The Biterman family was well-respected in their community of Hrubieszow, Poland. My grandfather Judah was a businessman who sold grain and other products to people in the community and elsewhere. His grandfather Josef operated a farm that produced goods that were bundled and sold. My ancestors had no formal education other than in Torah and Talmud. They were highly respected in the community despite this fact. My grandfather had three siblings: Malka who married Nachman Truk and moved to Zamosc; Chana; and Moshe. Little is known about the latter two siblings. My grandfather was married to Bluma in the 1920s and they had two children, Chaim and Sala. Indicators are that my grandfather was close with the Joseph Cymet family (his aunt and uncle) and his cousin Michael Drori. THE HOLOCAUST See below under "Judah Biterman" for details of my grandfather's terrible experience in the Holocaust. FAMILY MIGRATION My grandfather met Tauba Fuks at the Displaced Persons Camp in Zeilsheim, Germany in 1945 or 1946. Michael Finger (Drori) from Israel, my grandfather's first cousin and only surviving relative, emigrated to Israel in 1946. Instead of waiting for permission to go to Israel, my grandparents decided to emigrate to the U.S. In June/July of 1946, they applied for emigration to the U.S. They emigrated to New York from Bremen in January and February of 1948 on the ship Marine Marlin. They left from Hamburg and traveled to New York. Before they boarded the ship, an announcement was made -- the Prince of England (Charles) was born. They arrived in New York on Feb. 2, 1948. LIFE IN AMERICA The Biterman family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was involved in the city's small Jewish community. Judah Biterman was a locksmith, store owner, and laborer. He took the name Edward Biterman when assimilating in the United States. Despite assimilation, the family was still quite religiously observant. Mr. Biterman became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 25, 1953. More coming soon.   Surnames of those in my direct ancestral line appear in BOLD. 1 Josef Biterman b: Abt. 1815 in Hrubieszow d: unknown in Hrubieszow (Note: Josef was the son of Lejb Biterman and his wife Chai.) .. + Chana Zlota Gruber b: Abt. 1815 in Hrubieszow m: 1835 d: unknown ........ 2 Aron Biterman b: 1841 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1843 in Hrubieszow, Poland ........ 2 Mordko "Moszek" Biterman b: 1843 in Hrubieszow d: Aft. 1896 in Hrubieszow ........... + Sura Marya "Miriam" Adler b: 1848 in Hrubieszow m: 1862 d: 1928-1938 in Hrubieszow, Poland ................ 3 Golda Biterman b: 1865 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown .................. + Ela Ajdelman b: unknown m: 1883 in Hrubieszow d: unknown ............................... 4 Balcha "Bilja" Ajdelman b. 1900 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown ................................... + Yitzkhak "Eisig" Finger b: in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown ............................................Michael and Sara Finger with son, in Israel after the war. ............................................  ........................................... 5 Michael Drori b: April 24, 1920 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: Oct. 21, 1998 in Holon, Israel ............................................... + Sara Rothstein b: private ...................................................... 6 Nitza Drori b: private ........................................................ + Daniel Peremen b: private ...................................................... 6 Eitan Drori b: private ........................................................ + "Miri" Schwartz b: private ...................................................... 6 Avishai Drori b: private ........................................................ + Orit Ghelman b: private ........................................... 5 Chana Finger b: 1924 in Hrubieszow d: 1939 in Hrubieszow, Poland ................ 3 Liba Biterman b: 1869 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown .................. + Benjamin Judah Geryng (Haring/Heryng) b: 1867 in Hrubieszow m: 1891 d: unknown ............................... 4 B. Harris b: unknown d: in Brooklyn, New York Notes on B. Harris: .............In 1948, my grandparents came to New York. They met, for a single meal, with my grandfather's first cousin, B. Harris in Brooklyn, NY. Originally the surname may have been Hering; when the family came to the U.S., the surname was likely changed to Harris. B. Harris was most likely Benjamin and may be connected to Dwojra Hering, b: 1888, and her daughter Chana Hering, b: 1915, who are both listed as emigrants from Hrubieszow. They emigrated in Dec., 1924 and their record is listed in the Ellis Island database. They left from Cherbourg, France and sailed on the Olympic. The manifest line number for the ship was 0022. There was also a Berko/Baruch Geryng born in Hrubieszow in 1903 (akt 119). -- ............................... 4 Abraham Hering b: 1912 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1939-1945 in Ludma, Poland ................................... + Batya Riter b: 1914 in Poland d: 1943 in Ludma, Poland ................ 3 Josef Gersz Biterman b: 1870/1872 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: Oct. 1939 in Hrubieszow, Poland .................. + Sura Gela Golomb b: unknown m: Aug. 16, 1896 in Krylow, Poland d: 1915/1916 in Hrubieszow -- Notes on Josef and Sara Biterman: ............. The marriage certificate states that it occurred in Krylow on Aug. 16, 1896 at 6pm. 57 year old Mordko Biterman and 35 year old Chaskiel Gran came to announce the marriage of Joseph Gershon Biterman, aged 23, born in Hrubieszow, son of Moszko and Marya [nee Adler] and Sura Gela Golomb, aged 21, daughter of Idel + Chawa [nee Kiper]. Rabbi Moshko Adamchek performed the ceremony. Sara (Golomb) Biterman died in 1915 of gall stones. Yosef Biterman remarried after the death of his wife. Together they had four children; Yosef worked in the farm (dairy) industry. ............. According to oral tradition, Josef Biterman's mother, Miriam, was living with him until she reached the age of 102 years. The Cymet family used to transport goods to her for Shabbat (a gift on behalf of Riwka nee Biterman and Josef Cymet, see below). -- ............................... 4 Malka Biterman b: 1899 in Hrubieszow d: 1942 in Belzec, Poland ................................... + Nachman Truk b: 1899 in Krylow d: 1942 in Belzec, Poland -- Notes on Nachman and Malka Truk: ............. Nakhman Truk was a merchant in Zamosc. The Truk family owned and worked at a store in town. Nachman and Malka Truk were very tall -- six feet or more. Mrs. Truk was hefty. The family was killed in the Belzec Concentration camp in 1942. -- ........................................... 5 Sara Truk b: 1924 in Zamosc d: 1942 in Belzec, Poland ........................................... 5 Wolf Truk b: in Zamosc d: Bef. 1942 in Zamosc, Poland ........................  ............................... 4 Moshe Biterman b: Bet. 1896 and 1903 in Hrubieszow d: Bef. 1939 in Hrubieszow ............................... 4 Judah "Judka" Biterman b: Dec. 6, 1901/1904 in Hrubieszow d: Aug. 30, 1975 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ........................Bluma Biterman, circa 1938. ........................  ................................... + Bluma Folk / Polk b: Abt. 1905 d: 1944 in Stutthof, Baltic Sea, Prussia -- Notes on Judah and Bluma Biterman: .............Yehuda Biterman lived in an apartment that Josef and Riwka (Biterman) Cymet leased to the Biterman family. It was located in Podzamcze #15 (today #1 or #10) in Hrubieszow. Judka and his business partners manufactured grain and distributed it to bidders. ............. Yehuda Biterman survived the Hrubieszow ghetto, Auschwitz (for only a small period of time in 1942), Buchenwald (time unknown), Wieliscska (time unknown), Krakow-Plaszow (time unknown), Mielic (April 1943-Early 1944), Flossenburg and sub-camp Leitmeritz (1944), Dachau (1944), Augsburg-Pfersee (1944), Natzweiler and sub-camp Leonberg (1944), and then Dauchau (1944-1945) again. In Mielic the Nazis tatooted his arm with "KL." ............. In the concentration camps Buchenwald, Mielic, Wieliscska, and Flossenburg as well as the Frankfurt displaced persons camp (November, 1946), Biterman was with his younger cousin Michael Finger (Drori). ............. Biterman emigrated to New York from Bremen with wife Tauba Fuks Biterman in January and February of 1948 on the ship Marine Marlin. He was a locksmith, store owner, and laborer by trade. He took the name Edward Biterman when assimilating in the United States. Despite assimilation, the family was still quite religiously observant. Mr. Biterman became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 25, 1953. .............Bluma Folk's surname may have been spelled Polk or Polak. Bluma survived the bulk of the war. Judah and Bluma were in the Hrubieszow ghetto from July of 1941 to sometime in 1942. In 1943, a small labor camp (of approximately 100 people) was set up in Hrubieszow (on Jatkowa Street) to clean out the Jewish homes. These were the last Jewish survivors of Hrubieszow. When that camp was liquidated (in July, 1943) all the men and women were sent to the Budzyn labor camp. The few children that had been hidden in Hrubieszow by the camp members were shot. In Budzyn, they avoided being killed in the "Harvest Festival" -- the murder spree in which the Nazis liquidated all inmates at all the remaining Polish labor camps, only because the Budzyn inmates had some skills in assembling airplanes, and their slave labor employer (Henkel) needed their work. ............. In February, 1944, the Russians were getting close, so they were moved to camp Mielec, where they received the "KL" tatoos on their arms. In August, 1944 they were sent from Mielec to Wieliczka. It was here that the women were separated. The men were sent on to Flossenberg for a brief period, and the women to Auschwitz. Bluma survived the selections in Auschwitz, and was sent to camp Stutthof in Prussia, a very large concentration camp with mostly women. .............Very late in the war, with the area surrounded by the Russians, the Nazis put thousand of Jewish women who had survived all of these other camps onto boats, which were sent out into the Baltic sea and sunk. Only one or two survived by swimming to shore. Bluma Biterman drowned in the Baltic Sea at Stutthof in late 1944 or early 1945. After the war, my grandfather met my grandmother in Zeilsheim, Germany at the displaced persons camp located there. -- ..........................................Chaim Biterman, circa 1938. ..........................................  ........................................... 5 Chaim Biterman b: 1925 in Hrubieszow d: 1939 in Hrubieszow -- Notes on Chaim Biterman: .............Chaim was shot in 1939 in the Hrubieszow ghetto. His father, Judah, witnessed the shooting. -- ..........................................Sala Biterman, circa 1938. ..........................................  ........................................... 5 Sala Biterman b: 1929 in Hrubieszow d: 1944 in Baltic Sea, Stutthof, Prussia .................................. *2nd Wife of Judah Aryeh "Edward" Biterman: ................................... + Chaja Tova "Tauba" Fuks b: private ........................................... 5 (private) Biterman b: private ............................................... + (private) Kolb b: private ...................................................... 6 Aaron Biterman b: private ........................................... 5 (private) Biterman b: private ............................................... + (private) Fuld b: private ...................................................... 6 (private) Fuld b: private .......................................................... + (private) Steinway b: private ...................................................... 6 (private) Fuld b: private .......................................................... + (private) Gurovitsch b: private ............................... 4 Chana Biterman b: Aft. 1903 in Hrubieszow d: unknown ................ 3 Rivka Biterman b: 1880 in Hrubieszow d: unknown .................. + Jojzen "Joizep" Cymet b: 1876 in Hrubieszow m: 1894 in Hrubieszow d: unknown -- Notes on Rivka and Josef Cymet: ............. Josef was the owner of some butcher shops together with his brothers; they also had a contract with the army to provide them with meat. Josef and Riwka lived with Jehuda and Bluma (Folk) Biterman. Both died in Hrubieszow. ............. Josef and Rivka were very religious. Rivka was very superstitious. She was said to be good looking, sensitive, and warm. -- ..........................................Hinda and Moishe Cymet, circa 1915. ..........................................  ............................... 4 Chawa Ginda "Hinda" Cymet b: 1901 in Hrubieszow d: in Mexico City ................................... + Moszko Icko "Moishe" Cymet b: 1893 in Hrubieszow d: in Mexico City ........................................... 5 Ichel Hersch "Enrique" Cymet b: Sept. 10, 1918 in Hrubieszowv d: June 6, 2009 in Mexico City, Mexico ............................................... + Estela Wlodawer b: private ...................................................... 6 Miriam Ratusnik Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Isaac Ratusnik b: 1933 in Mexico d: 1985 in Mexico City, Mexico ...................................................................... 7 David Ratusnik b: 1962 in Mexico, d: 1979 in Mexico City, Mexico ...................................................... 6 Janet "Jenny" Blatt Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Bernardo Blatt b: private ...................................................................... 7 Rafael Blatt b: private ...................................................... 6 Rebecca Geldzweig Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Mario Geldzwaig b: private ........................................... 5 Ruben Cymet b: 1922 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1988 in Mexico City ............................................... + Sara Ginzburg b: private ...................................................... 6 Malke Libe Cymet b: unknown d: 1976 in Mexico City, Mexico ........................................... 5 Shmuel "Samuel" Cymet b: in Mexico City, Mexico ............................................... + Debora Wulfovich b: private ...................................................... 6 Jose Daniel Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Deborah Schlam b: private ...................................................... 6 Israel Arie Cymet b: private ...................................................... 6 Chana Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Isaac Lan b: private ...................................................... 6 Bashe Cymet b: private .......................................................... + Eyal Baron b: private ...................................................................... 7 Itai Baron b: private ........................................... 5 Rebecca Cymet b: in Hrubieszow, Poland .........................................  ............................... 4 Abraham Cymet b: 1904/05 in Poland d: Dec. 27, 1997 in Mexico City, Mexico ................................... + Cecilia Ramirez b: in Mexico City, Mexico d: in Mexico City, Mexico ........................................... 5 Enrique Eduardo Cymet Ramirez b: private ........................................... 5 Max Enrique Cymet Ramirez b: private ........................................... 5 Cecilia Rebeca Cymet Ramirez b: private ........................................... 5 Jose Bernardino Cymet Ramirez b: private .........................................  ............................... 4 Hersh Cymet b: 1908 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: Abt. 1975 in Mexico City, Mexico ................................... + Perla Hecht b: in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1939-1945 in Europe ..........................................Picture of a Young Malka Cymet. ..........................................  ............................... 4 Malka Cymet b: 1910 in Hrubieszow d: 1939-1945 in Europe ............................... 4 Chana "Jane" Cymet b: in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1939-1945 in Europe ................................... + Bentsche Meir Meyer b: unknown (moved to Chelm) d: 1939-1945 in Europe ........................................... 5 Guenik Meyer b: in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1939-1945 in Europe ........ 2 Chaja Sura Biterman b: 1850 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: 1851 in Hrubieszow, Poland ........ 2 Gitla Ruchla Biterman b: 1855 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown ........ 2 Ester Malka Biterman b: 1856 in Hrubieszow, Poland d: unknown |
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My Family Genealogy |