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When I was 13 I created my first tree along with a scrapbook of photographs for my grandmother; over time my mom told me the history of both sides of the family; from these stories came my family genealogy and my postion with JewishGen...but until recently, I never had a web site for my family; well, it's time! I'm delighted to begin this project and I would love to hear from anyone who has something to correct or add.
I am grateful to those who came before me; who
battled the old world and the new to create a better life for
their children...this is really their story. They shall not be
forgotten...
Leib is listed in the 1926 and 1930 Polish business directories under JaJa-handel (oeufs) - an egg dealer. Leib had two houses one of which was a shop (gevelb), mostly for grains, where he bartered with local farmers. After Golda died, Leib remarried a redhead around 1910 (never found out her name) but they had no children. She came to the U.S. with Leib, but remained here with her daughter when Leib returned to Poland.
In Europe they called my grandmother Gittaleh Shikah; she was
being watched 
by older sisters Tillie and Zelda,
but she managed to get to a cask of liquor. Drank so much they
found her unconscious and thought she was dead. Golda came with
a mirror (how clever); holding it under her nose she declared
her daughter alive, and promptly put her in the bed. Gussie
didn’t eat solid food for two month!
Why 
did my grandmother come here? The
story was that Gussie & Tillie came to US because the air
was better! But the sisters knew that Tillie was in love with a
baker from 
Zmigród and the baker's family
didn't have "yichas"; so Tillie followed him to America,
bringing her kid sister along with her. Tillie and Ben married,
lived in Hartford and raised 3 children. That's Tillie & Ben
on their 50th anniversary!
Many celebrations were held in that huge hartford home with the
parquet floors that Tillie was so proud of. Here are more photos
of their 1948 anniversary. That's my mom and aunt Goldie on the
right. 
But where are you Richie? I've looked everywhere. Please contact me if you read this.
I won't put in the names, as privacy is important...but here is
a collection of relatively recent photographs from the STECHER
Family, including our Israeli branches: 
Her parents were Herschel and Leah (Leie) TRACHMAN from Zmigród. Her siblings were Morris born 1865, Schmiel 1866, Sarah 1868, Jenny, Fanny 1860 and Lillie. (Details below).
Grandma Golda ran the business in Zmigrod; grandpa Leib was busy riding around to all the rabbis as he, like his peers, was a student. Women didn't resent this, they were proud of husbands well learned; in the gevelb the polish peasants brought in eggs and grains, were paid off in barter, probably groceries and household items.
SCHEINER 10/09
in NYC, -- the photograph at the right was taken in the 1920s.
(The SCHEINERS and KANDELS are discussed in detail below) 
married Ester Guterman
from Philadelphia and then Lillie GEIGER (a
distant cousin) from DUKLA. Boy was he a looker! Family
stories include lots of showgirls and a Stutz Bearcat. Badish
would dress up my uncle Tully as a chauffeur when going to his
“amours”. 
also in the egg business in Zmigród. Her
children, born in Zmigród include: Jack 1916, Shimsha, Naftuli
Josef, ChinChin and Itchie. Jack escaped, but the rest of the
family was killed by the Germans. 
Leib STECHER had a brother Hersch STECHER from
the Zmigród area.
Hersh married Pesche SCHUSS in New York City
(the Schuss family was from nearby DUKLA): Herris and wife
settled in NEWARK NJ. They had 8 children: (girls
pictured at left) 
I have contacted over 15 of Hersch's descendents (at least one
from each branch). Lots of stories there too...Herris appears to
have had 4 wives...and left a legacy of some broken dreams.
But I've connected with Nan Rudin, Mary Rusinow and Beth
Corets...and they have grown from fellow genealogists to good
friends.
Hersh and Peshe's children:
One last puzzle...did Hersh have had a son by a former marriage; we found a Herman STECHER (born before 1890), in the reconditioned motors business in Philadelphia, whom cousin Baerish/Bernard Stecker was quite friendly with.
Judith STECHER, Leibs' older sister, married Mendel DEUTSCHMAN in Zmigród. They had 5 children, Rifka (born 9/25/1867), Schmeil "Sam" (born 1/15/70, married Sophie HOCHNER), Ben (born 1879 married Maisminal KORN), Majer (born 11/12/88), Tcheite (born 6/21/81, married ZELL). Sam and Ben settled in Easton, Pa. I've visited with granddaughter Catie who lives in Ashville, North Carolina.
I looked in vain for years for the family of 
Samuel STECHER, with whom my grandmother lived
in 1900 (cousins in the 1900 census). I never found Samuel
STECHER again. He seemed to have disappeared from the earth. But
I broke through this brick wall when i was contacted by a fellow
researcher on JewishGen's Family Finder, who was looking for
STECKLER from the same shtetl... Zmigrod...and when we exchanged
trees, it appeared that Samuel Stecher had changed his name to
Zanvil Steckler (we never found out why). That lovely photograph
below is Zanvil and his family 
And...that's how i met my good friend, and Stecher descendant
Jonathan Cohen. Together we tracked down the 1929 hand drawn
tree on the right. 
And that is
how Jonathan and I became aware of the STECHER Family Circle.
We deduced that Leib's father Samuel and Fischel were
brothers's (see Fischel's tree above) and were invited to the
Stecher family reunion in 1999 in Florida...representing Leib's
side of the family! 
Just recently i met the patriarch of the LEHR family (one of
the branches of the tree above). Doc LEHR 
returned to Zmigrod last year; (his story is on
the web page devoted to our ancestral town of Zmigrod; click
here to go to
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/zmigrod/zmigrod.htm .
Doc Lehr is very interested in researching our ancestors before
the 1800s, but alas, we have not been able to do that. The vital
records which our researcher uncovered do not go back further
than the 1870s.....maybe someday?!? We recently connected with a
frenchman who had a LEHR in his family from Warsaw...and
wouldn't you know it...the Polish JRI-P vital records index told
us he was born in ZMIGROD!! So we know there's a connection, but
we don't know what it is...yet. Can anyone out there help?
Golda TRACHMAN's brothers and sisters emigrated earlier to the US and settled in Chicago and Joliet, Illinois. When my grandmother first came here, she stayed with them:
Other TRACHMAN cousins from Dukla
emigrated to NYC and included Esther TRACHMAN (born 1876,
married Abe GEIGER), Fichu TRACHMAN (married PACHER of the
Brooklyn supermarkets).
Jacob TRACHMAN (1867-1938, married Leah and Hanna SOLOMON from
DUKLA, was a grocer) This was interesting as Jacob followed
the age old custom of marriage. Jacob's first wife died and he
then married her sister; sounds very controlling, but think
about it...makes sense for those days where marriages were
arranged by the parents; and it keeps the children within the
family; securing a second marriage to a caring woman.
Want to know about this shtetl? Go to ZMIGROD
Great Grandfather Abraham KRAMER (~
1863--~1942) lived in Jasienica.
--Heni WISNER (c 1865 - 1895), Esther BEIM (c 1860-1901),
Carolyn, and Ruchel.
Two of his children emigrated to the United States, Ella
KRAMER (born 1899, married Joe Hoffman) and Jacob
KRAMER (born 2/84, married Annie LINDNER, whom he met on
the boat). Jacob was a talmudic student; here he
was a tailor, like many other Jewish immigrants. .
My two grandfathers, Jacob KRAMER and Abraham Scheiner, came from the same area; it was said that at my parents' wedding...Abraham embraced a KRAMER cousin, as they had last seen each other in Chaydah (Hebrew School), 40 some years before. At that wedding too, they celebrated by remembering Jasienica, known to the Jews as Yashnitz, a dairy town, for which Yashnitzers (omelets) were named.
Annie and Jacob had 4 children:
Rubin (my dad), Daniel, Carrie (married Morris Sobel) and
Emanual (Mickey). That's my dad Ruby and his brother Denny on
the right>>. All raised wonderful families in the New
York area. We even have a famous descendent, the drummer of
Aerosmith, Joey KRAMER.
There were other KRAMERs who emigrated from Jasienica, and it
took over 10 years to make the connections: they include Dora
KRAMER (born 1889, married Samuel KLEVE),
Fani (born 1895) married Efroim SPEVAK, and Amelia (born
1897). 
I knew from my sister's memories, that aunt Ella HOFFMAN visited KRAMER cousins in the Bronx. Many years later I had lunch with a lady who remembered Aunt Ella, as she had lived with them in JASIENICA after her mother died and her father remarried. (that's Ella and niece Carrie KRAMER on the left; they adored each other!). That was an exciting afternoon as we shared what we knew of the Beck, Weiss, Kramer and Hoffman families!
I won't put in the names, as privacy is important...but here
is a collection of photographs from the KRAMER Family: 
Want to know about Yashnitz? Go to YASHNITZ
I have a tree of all the KRAMER/Beim/Wisners and would be
happy to share that with anyone interested.
Return to Table of Contents
1880 and settled in her shtetl, Strzyzow.
(details below) A few years later, Josef SCHEINER took his wife and son and emigrated to the United States; there he became a schochet. Joseph had a red beard and was a very clever man.
He also had beautiful voice; neighbors would listen to sedar through the window; one pesach it was cold, and neighbors called to ask window be opened so that they could listen to his sedar. Joseph's sons Sam and Abe were tenors (supposidly Abe made two records with Belle Baker but i've never been able to locate them).
My great grandfather Josef SCHEINER (born 1858) was the eldest son of Naphtuli SCHEINER and Sarah GREENBERG. His siblings were Channuch (born 1868) who emigrated to Israel, and Tsipora (born 1870) who came to New York. (details below)
Josef SCHEINER, b. 1858 Dubiecko, Galicia, m. 1880 Strzyzow,
d.1930 224 E 4th St, New York
m. Frieda KANDEL, b. Nov, 1860 Strzyzow, Galicia, d. Oct 15,
1931 NYC
, 1914-1974 NY,
married Benjamin ROTHSTEIN, born NYC; that's their
wedding photo on the left!
It is still fabulous; the main floor, crowned with a
marvelous metal ceiling,
is three stories high! The current owner asked why
there were kitchens on both floors; I explained they
often had more than one reception at a time in the
Hall. 
My grandfather Abe SCHEINER's siblings were:
I won't put in the names, as privacy is important...but here
is a collection of photographs from the Scheiner Family: 
Joseph's sister, Tsipora SCHEINER married Yechial
ROTHAUS from Dubiecko (they kept the Scheiner surname) and
emigrated to the United States; here she celebrates her 
50th wedding anniversary in 1936.
I remember my sister and i (on the right) meeting her
grandchildren 
and seeing the home
made films from this celebration, and recognizing my
grandparents. But the story told to me was that my grandfather
wasn't happy at the wedding as they were seated in the back,
and left soon after the ceremony. Sounds like many a story i
have heard before!
Another interesting story is that two of Tsipora's sons, Jack and Louis, fought in World War I...but on opposite sides! One was drafted into the army in Austria, the other had immigrated to the United States.
In 1989, a Scheiner cousin, Beatrice Scheiner Schoedes,
received this letter from Kalman Scheiner, the son
Channuch Scheiner, the nephew of Tsipora and Josef Scheiner.
It tells an interesting story (albeit some of the "facts" are
incorrect):
"Thank you very much for the letter. I am happy to learn that
you have a family circle of cousins (there should be in the
tens of cousins from the Scheiners family. I will try my best
to help you...
My grandfather (your g. grandfather) Naftuli Scheiner,
lived in the city Dubiecko near Przemysl. He had two sons.
Josef Scheiner the oldest went to the USA in 1878, a few years
later came back to Dubiecko, took a wife and went back to USA.
In NY he was a shooter (editors note: schochet)...Had 6 sons.
All meried with children and grandchildren. The wife of uncle
Josef left for US with great bitterness because the mechitunem
were against the shiduch. So she swore that they will never
here from their son. And so was it. My father used to write
letter after letter but no answer. She took care of the mail.
He was working all day and she burned all the mail from the
family.
After about 30-40 or even 50 years a grandchild got a letter
and by a miracle handed over to her grandfather. This was in
1927. We received (my father) a letter from his oldest
brother. This letter was a gance megille. He never new if
somebody lives from his family to answer him as soon as
possible, but he never got anymore letters from US."
Who knows what gems of truth are in this family story?
Want to know about this shtetl? Go to DUBIECKO.
Here's an addition...to this tale...in the early 2000s, in
Florida, i found out a friend's family came from the same area
in Galicia. We exchanged notes and indeed, there is a SCHEINER
in her family from Dubiecko too! We are related...and someday
we may find out how!
Return to Table of Contents
My ggm Freida Necha is very special to me; i am named for her. I treasure the
candlesticks she brought with her from Europe. Recently i gave
cousin David Scheiner our grandfathers tallis 
and gave his son Brett Scheiner his great
great grandmother's candlesticks, trusting they will stay in
the family for generations to come.
Frieda KANDEL was born Nov, 1860 in Strzyzow, Galicia; her parents were Sara Langsam and Jacob Kandel. Jacob had a hebrew school (Chaydah).
Frieda followed her husband Josef Scheiner to the United States in November of 1898...with daughter Sarah. Joseph was living in Oliphant, Penna (near Uniontown, Fayette county) though I've never found out why. Immigrants settle where there are others they know, but i cannot find anyone who ever lived in this town. But when i do, i'll bet its family!
By 1900, the family was rooted on Ridge Street, on the Lower East Side of New York City.
Freida had a sister, Rose/Ruchel KANDEL, b. 1867, Strzyzow
who married Micheal SCHIMMEL (1857Strzyzow--1942 Bronx).
Their children were: 
Another possible relative: We wintered in Savannah in the
90s; 
a wonderful neighbor told me her
maiden name was KANDEL; we did some genealogy research
together and found that her grandfather, Philip KANDEL, was
born in Rzeszow...only 15 miles North of Strzyzow; we
researched the family: 3 sons of Zvi Kandel: Philip, Jacob
& Benjamin (born 1872-7); we know we are related, by
temperament at least, by blood very likely. But we haven't
nailed it...yet!
My great grandmother Dora EICHEL was born in Rohatyn in 1862. She married Reuven LINDNER (i finally found out that he was born in Burstyn, 10 miles south, in 1858); the photo is circa 1893-my aren't they a handsome couple! I know the first two children were born in Burshtyn, the third claimed Budapest, and many of the others were born in the US, as the couple came back and forth many times; Charles was even born on the boat! He's the adorable baby.
Reuven, I was told, was a "dayan", but one who travelled from town to town (is that possible?). We do know that son Izzie's bar mitzvah was moved up to 1904, as Reuven had to return to Europe, supposidly seeking a cure for his ailments. I don't know where he died either, but Dora returned to the States in 1906, with the children.
Dora's father, Anschel EICHEL was a tailor who specialized in making uniforms for the Pravoslav priests and monks. We can trace the Eichels back to Yitzhak Eichel, who lived in Hamburg at the end of the 18th century; he was a scholar who published a textbook of the Yiddish language and was a pupil of the German philosopher Kant.
Here is the EICHEL family tree: Anschel EICHEL married Beile BERLIN in Rohatyn around 1850. Their children were:
Daniel EICHEL who married
Rachel HAUSMAN from Bolekov; he studied baking in Rohatyn,
was raised by his elder sister Scheindel after Beile died;
his children emigrated to Israel, produced the Bolechov
Yizkor book in Israel; and the family prospers there
today. We knew of these cousins, but couldn't locate them
for many years, as they had changed their surname to
ESHEL. I finally found these cousins through the wonderful
expertise of Batya UNTERSHATZ and her wonderful Search
Bureau in Israel. Granddaughter Rachel had a history of
the Eichel family that went clear back to the 1700s, when
one of the EICHELs was a student of Kant, and wrote a book
on the Yiddish language. One of these days i hope to meet
all the grandchildren.
Hersch/Harry EICHEL, the
youngest, and the son of Anschel's second wife Riwe 
RUBINFELD from Bursztyn, emigrated to the
United States, married Esther STAMLER from ZUPNIK, and
raised a family in Brooklyn (photo at right). I am
grateful that Harry's youngest son, Morty Eichel (pictured
at left) was a fount of information and stories of the
family; I miss you Morty. Maybe you could have put
together the WEICHes and the WEISSes, whom i am convinced
came from Rohatyn and are somehow related. 
Reuven LINDNER and Dworsha EICHEL
had 9 children; the first two, born in Burshtyn, Galicia (now
Ukraine) did not live past infancy, and died in nearby
Rohatyn. 
(from left) Mark, Pauline, Jack, Sadie,
Izzie, Annie (my gm) & Charlie.
The 1947 photograph on the right is the next generation;
the American children of these immigrants:
the
oldest, born 1881 in Budapest (so he claimed, but i'm not
sure), was quite the man! He wrote plays but is best
remembered as an actor; he was known as the "Man of 1000
Faces". Mark was the first to move to Los Angeles in the
1930s. He was most famous for the play he wrote for Mae
West, "Diamond Lil". He married a cousin, Tillie LINDNER,
pictured at the right.
knew
the place and date) married Fay ROSE and was a vaudeville
producer and talent agent. In 1951 Jack and Mark had a
television show “The Bowery” (it didn't last long in those
early days of slapstick). 
born 1893 in
Galicia, married Irving TANNER (originally TARNOWER or
TARNAFKER fro Kansuga, Galicia). Irving had a mens clothing
store, 'Modern Haberdashers' on Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn.
Children Rita and David. My sister and I had dinner with
David in 2010! He has written many books and is still
lecturing!
born on Norfolk
Street in 1890, married Bertha BERMAN, children Julius "Jay"
and Gertrude "Gerti" who married Jerry LIEBERMAN. Izzie
LINDNER went to school in Budapest, with sister Annie; he
also had a haberdashery and he was famous because he would
sweep the store at night and somehow he became very
superstitious; he would wash hands after dealing with nuns.
I remember the cousins club where my parents partied with
all their cousins in the 1950s and 1960s. It was Gert who
gave me the wonderful photograph of Harold's bar mitzvah.
married
Jacob KRAMER...my grandfather. Unfortunately he died quite
young (age 49) and my dad, the oldest, went to work to
support the family. Dad began by working for his uncle 
then took his own "line" as a travelling
salesmen, eventually opening up Jambi Incorporated, his
hosiery business. We dearly remember the business slogan the
'sox with sox appeal'! 
Mickey married Doris SCHWARTZ, Denny married
Bea REMIS who had a pocketbook and jewelry store next door
to his haberdashery. Mickey was in the marketing business,
and son Joey is quite famous as the drummer for Aerosmith!
Charlie stayed behind in WWI and
created a silk tie business which supported him in grand
style (on the Grand Concourse); Charles married Sadie
SCHWARTZ (we called her SadieCharlie, to differentiate her
from sister-in-law, Sadie LINDNER) and they had 3 sons:
Robbie, Manny, and Harold. That's Dora pictured with
Charlie's son Robert Lindner, who went on to become the
famous psychologist and author of "Rebel Without a Cause"
and "The Fifty Minute Hour".
Fortunately I was able to contact all of Charlie's grandchildren and am friendly with many today (see photos below).
I won't put in the names, as privacy is important...but
here is a collection of photographs from the LINDNER and
EICHEL Families: 
Reuven LINDNER had 2 brothers who were very close; my
aunt Carrie told me that as children, all the cousins
lived at 1103 Washington Avenue in the Bronx. (quote): We
each lived on a different floor: Auntie Chipper lived on
ground floor, Izzie on another, Charlie on another. Long
narrow halls, big rooms.
The family gave support to Dora when she returned in 1906 after Reuven died.
Berl LINDNER's parents were Jacob and Rebecca GUEMAN LINDNER (my ggg gp). I have found four of Berl's siblings and traced them to the United States; the grandchildren have met each other!
So you want to do family research? Where do you start? Start with your family; make a tree. Then go to the U.S. census to find clues and fill out the tree.(you will find Ancestry.com in many public libraries). Next, vital records (birth, marriage, death records) to find parents names. Then Try these wonderful websites:
Up until 2019, Phyllis Kramer (OBM) developed and maintained this KahilaLink. Phyllis did a wonderful job documenting and sharing information about this shtetl. Starting in July 2021 Jeff Alexander is trying to fill Phyllis’ shoes. Please contact Jeff Alexander for anything related to this shtetl
Copyright © (2022) Jeffrey Alexander. All
rights reserved.