Blejer (Blyakher, tree on Geni)
Two Blyakher brothers are signatories on the 1843 Letter to the Novorussia and Bessarabia General Gubernator Vorontsov from the Novo Poltava (Novyj Poltava) colony colonists petitioning for help due to the bad harvest conditions.
These brothers are Vulf and Girsh. Girsh and a younger brother, Yosel, are the ancestors of the two Argentine branches of the Blejer family. The brothers Chaim Alter and Wolf Blyakher (Blejer in Argentina) settled in Moises Ville / Monigotes in Santa Fe Province, Argentina, which was a Baron Hirsh settlement. Their cousin, Moises Aron Blejer, settled in Entre Rios in the Baron Hirsh settlement of Basavilbaso.
I was unable to find the Blyakher family in the Courland - Kherson lists, nor did I find any family with a different surname that matched them. But they married other Courland famiies who settled in Novopoltavka, i.e., Natonson, Litmanovich, and Aronson.
In the 1858 Revision List from Novopoltavka, Girsh Blekher, son of Leib, is the head of one household with his wife, Ita, and their children Shmuel, Movsha, and Eta.
Movsha in the last paragraph is the Moises Aron Blejer mentioned above, who settled in Basovilbaso in Entre Rios, Argentina.
Others in the household of Girsh include his brother, Yosel; Yosel's wife Khana; and Yosel's children Beila, Mirka, Basya, and Altor.
Altor (in the last paragraph) is Chaim Alter Blejer, who with his brother Wolf Blejer, and his cousin Movsha (Moises Aron) Blejer constitute the first generation of Blejers in Argentina.
Ben Zion Zeev (Wolf) Blejer was born in 1867, after the Revision List.
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** Chaim Alter Blecher (Blejer) **
A family group headed by Chaim Alter sailed from "Nowogrigoski" via the ports of Boulonge-Sur-Mer; Southampton; Coruna; Teneriffe; La Plata. Departure date was: 23 Nov 1904. Destination was: Buenos Aires. Ship's name Cap. Blanco.
The family members were given as:
Alter Blecher -- age 48 (abt 1856)
Hene Blecher -- age 46 (abt 1858)
Gershon Blecher -- age 20 (abt 1884)
Nachman Blecher -- age 17 (abt 1887)
Itzke Blecher -- age 14 (abt 1890)
Moses Blecher -- age 11 3/4 (abt 1893)
Schloimo Blecher -- age 10 1/2 (abt 1894)
There are two adult children of Chaim Alter missing: Azriel and Jinnie who may be listed with their own families on the same ship.
We have photos of two of Chaim Alter’s children, Jinnie Selser (1878), nee Blecher and her brother, Shloime Blejer (1894), both born in Novopoltavka. Shloime married his sister’s daughter, Tube Selser, who was born in Monigotes.
From 1911 Census of Moisés Ville;
Alter age 53
Heni R age 52
Itze age 22 (Itzke, Itzhak)
Moises age 19
Schloime age 17
Rubin age 1
hijo casado Azriel age 35
su mujer Rachel age 32
Leib age 1/2
hijo casado Nachum age 24
su mujer Ester age 23
Chaim Alter Blecher’s descendants include several famous Argentinians:
- Jose Bleger, His father was Itzhak Blecher, son of Chaim Alter.
- Mario Blejer, an internationally renown Argentine economist, who held senior positions in the IMF and World Bank, and was the President of the Central Bank of Argentina. His grandfather was Chaim Alter’s son, Gershon.
** Ben Zion Zeev (Wolf) Blecher **
Wolf Blecher (Blejer) joined his older brother, Chaim Alter, in Monigotes / Moises Ville, Santa Fe, eight years later, in 1912, with his wife Sara and children Issac, Etel, Moses, Nachman, Feige, Gershon, and Chanie. This branch for some reason is not in touch with the other two Argentinian branches of the Blecher family.
** Moises Aron Blecher **
Moises Aron, as his descendants call him, was the first cousin of Chaim Alter. He was born a twin, but his twin, Shmuel, died. His father was Girsh, brother to Yosel, the father of Chaim Alter and Ben Zion Zeev / Wolf Blecher. Moise Aron came later than Chaim Alter and settled in Basovilbaso, Entre Rios. We know he was born in Novopoltavka but the ICA records say he came from Yazer (Israelovka), a nearby Jewish agricultural settlement. Moises Aron’s wife was Sara Etel Aronson, whose family was among the founding settlers of Novopoltavka from Courland.
Their children were: Tsvia, Chaya, Shlomo, Rajel, Gersh (Gregorio), Reise, and Isaac, all born in Novopoltavka or perhaps in Yazer.
Gregorio Blejer was the father of the third famous Argentinian Blejer,
- David Blejer, who was the first Jew to serve as a cabinet minister in the government of Argentina, serving as Minister of Labor and Social Security of Argentina, appointed in 1959.
