Shown here is the same photograph with identifying
numbers followed below by a list of corresponding names.

The handwritten Yiddish source of the men's identification
is shown here. This item comes from the collection of
Paul Shyken.

If you can provide additional details or corrections,
please contact this web page designer

A note on the back of the photo

And its rough translation:

To our brothers in Lechovicz
Stand up the donors for ______ and accept the blessings!
Look around and see we are your relatives and acquaintances! We all gathered today to
celebrate the holiday (Chag)! In adding a Sefer Torah, which will be a witness to our
nation, in all the lands that we are scattered, that we are all one for thousands of years!
We are happy and celebrating because the donor is one of us, a bone of our bones,
flesh from our flesh! And this is forever! Because there’s physical distance, but close at
heart! We will not separate! Because we are all one heart. And so, hear please, the
donors R’ Naftali Hertz and his spouse and Shim’ka (?) and his spouse It should be His
will that this precious Torah to all of us that you have given to God great honor _____
with such holy articles! Should always protect you and should rain down all the good
blessings and promises that are written in it. And we shall say Amen in the name of the
entire congregation!
With emotions of respect, one of your friends Aharon son of Mr Yisroel the Kohen
Edelstein.

Note: All Yiddish to English translations on this page were provided by Esther Chanie Dushinsky.

The following photographs depict residents of Bilohirya/Lechowitz.  They were provided by Sue Friedman Millward. The woman pictured on the left is Chavah Fellman, sitting next to a table with a portrait, possibly of her late husband Lazar. Chavah and Lazar ran an inn, locally known as "the Jew's Inn." On the right is Thamar Fellman, one of Chavah's daughters. Thamar and her husband Joseph Riseman had six children, and the whole family immigrated to the United States and settled in Omaha Nebraska, where many Lechowitz landsmen had settled.

---

The Cheichenitz family hailed from Lechowtiz. Pictured below, top left, is Yeshia Cheichenitz, who became Shia Shyken. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and settled in Council Bluffs Iowa, across the river from Omaha Nebraska. Yankel Cheichenitz, top right, emigrated from Lechowitz to Omaha in 1921. His American name was Jake Shyken. Feiga Cheichenitz, lower left, is believed to be a niece of Shia and Jake, and she is picture here in 1934. She was murdered in the holocaust. On the lower right is pictured Jake Cheichenitz (Shyken) with two relatives, probably brothers. Nearly all Cheichenitz relatives who remained in Lechowitz were murdered by the Nazis. Israel Cheichenitz, bottom center, fought against the Nazis in the USSR military and survived the war. He was able to move his family to safety in Uzbekistan, where they settled after the war. Photographs provided by Sylvia Shyken Kirshner and Semyon Kozin.

---

The following photograph shows a dinner of the St. Louis Lechowitzer Society, honoring Sam and Sarah Guller. Lechowitzer emigrants often settled in St. Louis Missouri and Omaha Nebraska. If you recognize any of the attendees, or can provide additional details, please contact this web page designer. Photo donated by Bob Guller.

---

JewishGen Home Page | Kehilalinks Directory

This page is hosted at no cost to the public by JewishGen, Inc., a non-profit corporation.
If it has been useful to you, or if you are moved by the effort to preserve the memory of
our lost communities, your JewishGen-erosity would be deeply appreciated.

Compiled by Miriam Kirshner
Copyright © 2017 Miriam Kirshner

Last Updated: 17 August 2021

Top of Page