What Do We Know About Our Families?
From Sharlene Kranz:
My great-grandmother Gittel and grandmother Hannah were born in Dzikow Stary:
Gittel Kupferschmidt, born in Dzikow Stary, Poland in 1868, daughter of Samuel and Rose Kupferschmidt, married Markus Zimmerman of Cieszanów born in 1893.
Gittel gave birth to 7 children, of whom 4 died young. The three surviving children of this marriage, all born in Dzikow Stary, were:
- Fannie (Feige), born 1898;
- Hannah Beatres, born March 10, 1899; and
- Aris (Aaron), born 1905.
Markus Zimmerman came to America the first time in June, 1902 on the S.S. Noordam; on the ship's manifest he gave his occupation as laborer, age 41, Destination: Brother L. Zimmerman, a butcher in Newark, NJ.
Markus went back to Cieszanów, fathered his son Aaron, and came to America the second time with Hannah and Fannie in 1910, arriving in NY on July 12 on the S.S. New Amsterdam. He gave his occupation as butcher.
Also on the same ship was Moses Schwartz, of Dzikow Stary, age 33, going to his cousin Nathan Kupferschmidt at 250 146th St., N.Y.C. Nathan was Gittel's brother.
Markus again joined his brother Louis (also called Moshe, later known as Morris) in Lyons Farms, NJ, but soon returned to New York City where Markus became a fruit peddler, and his daughters worked in garment factories.
Leaving Hannah and Fannie in New York, Markus returned to Dzikow Stary in 1913, and in 1920 emigrated to the U.S. permanently with wife Gittel and son Aaron, arriving in NY Sept. 14, 1920 on the S.S. Ryndam. They were held at Ellis Island for four days until an inspector approved their admittance into the U.S.
Gittel had a brother in New York, Nathan Kupferschmidt, another sister in Dzikow Stary, Malle Kupferschmidt, a butcher, and brothers Ya'akov, Zelig Asher, Mordechay, Leib, and Arish. Malle married Leiser Schneider, a tailor. Their son Shlomo Schneider lives in Israel. Malle died 1937 in Dzikow Stary.
Hannah Zimmerman married Abraham Louis Kranz in New York City in 1921. They had two children:
- Harry, born 1923;
- Roslyn, born 1928.
They lived in the Bronx until Abe Kranz bought a grocery store in Jersey City, NJ in 1933.
Harry Kranz graduated from Rutgers University in 1945; he married Shirley Lipnick in 1943 and they had two children:
- Sharlene, born 1946;
- Roger, born 1950.
In 1985 Harry Kranz visited his mother's town of Dzikow Stary and his father's town of Cieszanów.
Content last updated Sunday, August 15, 2010 at 08:47 AM US Eastern Standard Time
