Lubavitsch (Lubavicz)

See note on the spelling of the family name at the bottom. Until recently, there may have been confusion regarding the true pronunciation and spelling of the name.

 Family Tree to be constructed                                          

(caption to picture below:)

The Family Lubavitsch in Mazeikiai, early 1920's. Bottom row, left to right : Pessa (youngest of the 5 daughters, later, in South Africa: Pauline), Berre Leib Lubavitsch (perished in Lithuania), baby Ray -Raske- (daughter to Tirze and Joe, to South Africa), Henne Leah (maiden name: Friedman, passed away 1930 in  Mazeikiai), Joe Abramovitz (to South Africa);

Top row left to right : Shoshana Itzikson (1936 to Israel, married Eliezer Arenstam), her mother Esther, the eldest of the 5 daughters (perished in Lithuania), Yoseph Itzikson (married to Esther, perished in Lithuania), Mirjasha (3^rd eldest of the 5 daughters, later married Shapiro, perished in Lithuania), Tirze (2^nd daughter, later Tilly, married Joe Abramovitz, mother of baby Ray -Raske-, to South Africa), Tzirre (4^th daughter, later Celia, to South Africa in 1927), Chanan Poliakov from Berdyansk, Ukraine (married to Tzirre; later to South Africa, known as Alex Poliak - see webpage on the Poliakov Family :  http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Colonies_of_Ukraine/family_poliakov.htm During World War I the entire family were in exile in Berdyansk, Ukraine, where they came into contact with (perhaps lived with) the Poliakov Family. Chanan returned with them to Mažeikiai after WWI. Tzirre and Chanan were later married and they emigrated to South Africa, first Chanan in 1925, followed by Tzirre and their two infants aged 4 and 2, Archie and Shulamith in 1927.

 

 (picture below:) Inside the Lubavitsch house. This picture was taken after World War I, after the Lubavitsch Family had returned from exile in Berdyansk,Ukraine. From left to right : Mirjasha, Chanan Poliakov who returned with the Family to Mazeikiai after WWI, Pessa, Tzirre (married Chanan), Berre (Ber), Henne-Leah. The two boys behind Henne are unknown.

Picture below: Chanan Poliakov and Tzirre Lubavitsch ... were married in Berlin. This picture could well have been taken just before their wedding in 1921 or 1922.

(caption top picture below ...) The date 3-10-1926 is inscribed on the back of this picture. Tzirre and Mirjasha with Tzirre's two  children, Shulamith and Archie. 

Picture below (roughly 1918-1919) Mirjasha (left) and Tzirre are in the window. Pessa is in the middle row on the left. The others in this picture are unidentified. This is probably in front of the Lubavitsch home.

.

 Picture below (taken about 1926) The five Lubavitsch sisters, from left to right: Esther, Mirjasha, Tirze, Tzirre, Pessa.

 

Picture below (from roughly 1905-1907) Ber and Henne Lubavitsch with their 5 daughters and son-in-law, from left to right: Mirjasha, Tzirre, Tirze, Pessa, Yoseph Itzikson and Esther Itzikson- Lubavitsch.

Picture below (about 1912) from left to right: Tirze, cousin Raisa from Riga, Joe Abramovitz (later married Tirze), Tzirre, Mirjasha, Shapiro, who later married Mirjasha - the two figures on the right are unidentified.

Picture below (about 1912) Mirjasha and Tzirre

Picture below, 1926 Mazeikiai "Gan Yeladim" (pre-grades school). Archie, son to Tzirre and Chanan, is in the front row, fourth from the right.            

(Olschvang, grandmother to Amit Shuali ~see Guestbook comments~, is sitting in the first row, second from left)

 

Picture below (about 1934)  Mazeikiai Gymnasium - middle row, second from the left : Shoshana Itzikson (see also the very top picture - Shoshana is in the top row on the left, next to her mother, Esther). (see also Jewish Elementary School in Mazeikiai, 1930 ~ scroll down to picture: Shoshana appears in  this picture, too : fourth row from the bottom.) 

Picture below, 1930   At the grave-stone of Henne-Leah Lubavitsch-Friedman; from Left to Right : Ber, Mirjasha, Tirze (not long before departure for South Africa), Esther Itzikson-Lubavitsch, Yoseph Itzikson.

Picture below (early 1930's) Yoseph and Esther Itzikson in front of their shop - probably together with their 5 children, of whom Shoshana survived by emigrating to Palestine in 1936; the other siblings and their parents perished.

Picture below (mid- or late 1930's) Mirjasha and her husband Shapiro (first name unknown).

Picture below (approx. 1920) Pessa, on the right, in Kovne (Kaunas) with cousins or friends.

Picture below (about 1912) Morris Wald on the right, married Pessa - both to South Africa. The other figure is possibly a brother to Morris.

Picture below (1928) Shoshana Itzikson in Mazeikiai (inscription at back dated 15/IV/1928)

 

Picture below: The 3 Leibowitz sisters Pessa, Tzirre and Tirze, in later years in Johannesburg, South Africa, approximately 1960.

Note on the spelling of the family name :

(From documents found at The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, we know that the family name in Yiddish was spelt in such a way as to pronounce: Lubavitsch ~ or, as the old spelling goes : Lubavicz;  from the YIVO documents, we know there was at least one other family in Mazeikiai with a similar name, spelt in Yiddish to pronounce : ‘Lay-bovitz,’ or ‘Lee-bowitz’ as the name is often pronounced in the English-speaking world,  i.e. Leibowitz ~ the documents from the Committee of Jewish Community of Mazeikiai (Vaad ha’Kehila), early 1920’s, bear the names of Berre, Hene-Leah and Mirjasha Lubavitsch with a signature, one of the documents bears the name and signature of Berre’s daughter Tzire Poliakov, maiden name Lubavitsch ~ ).

This page has been constructed by grandson to Tzire (Celia) Poliak- Lubavitsch, Raymond Ravinsky (co-webmaster of this site : rrrainbows1111@gmail.com)