Zalk family

alternate spelling: Salk

Leyzer Zalk is the earliest known family member. His son Zalkind Zalk married Freyda. The six children of Zalkind and Freyda Zalk are:

I.  Shmuel (Samuel) Zalk was born in Trashkun ~1830. Shmuel's first wife was Reyza, born ~ 1831. There are no known children from this marriage. Shmuel married his second wife, Hannah Shifra, around 1850. Around 1860, Shmuel married Roche Shule (Rose) Este, born ~1843. In 1905, Shmuel and Roche emigrated from Trashkun to the U.S., where they joined Max Zalk (Shmuel's son by his second marriage) in Duluth, Minnesota. Shmuel died ~1925.

• The two children of Shmuel and Hannah Shifra Zalk:
• Charles Zalk, born 1853, died 1937. Charles married Esther Lindeke, born ~1865, died 1930. The six children of Charles and Esther Zalk:
• Louis S. Zalk, born 1885, died 1972.
• Edward Isadore Zalk, born 1887, died 1977. In 1917, Edward married Lucille Ann Howe, born 1888, died 1981. The children of Edward and Lucille Zalk:
• Dorothy Jane Zalk, born 1918, married Clifford Leroy Collard and had three children.
• Robert William Zalk, born 1921, died 2000. Robert married Dois Juanita Seaton.
• Sadie Zalk, born 1890, died 1977. Sadie married Charles W. Gordon, born ~1886, and had two children.
• Raleigh Gordon
• Sadie Gordon
• Ida (Adele) Zalk, born 1893, died 1978. Married Michael Levine and had three daughters:
• Rhoda Levine
• Betty Levine
• Gladys Anne Levine, born 1925, died 1986.
• Samuel Zalk, born 1895, died 1976. His first wife was Sonia Weinstein (born 1905, died 2000). His second wife was Eleanor Rose Trieber Volpe (born 1905, died 1996). The two children of Samuel and Sonia Zalk:
• Ellen Zalk, born circa 1936-38. Married Steve Nemer and had two children; later married Mr. Pinski.
• Michael Charles Zalk, born 1941, died 1970. Married Marcia Lynn Fornas and had one son; later married Dahlia.
• Edith Ruth Zalk, whose married name was Bronson.
• Max (Mortkhel) Zalk, born 1857, died 1920. In 1872, Max married Gitl (Gitla) Lass, born ~1856. Gitel died in 1937. Max later married Erma (born 1887).
• The two children of Max and Gitl Zalk:
• Sara (Sora) Zalk, born ~1877. Sara married Robert Buchman and had five children:
• Morris Buchman
• Sidney Buchman
• [girl] Buchman
• Marion Buchman
• Harold Buchman
• Louis (Leyb) S. Zalk, born 1883, died 1964. In 1906, Louis married Estelle Levy (born 1886, died 1953). He later married Erma (born 1887).
• The five children of Louis and Estelle Zalk:
• Arlyne Zalk, born 1908, died 1911.
• Allan Frances Zalk, born 1916, married Sylvia Goldman and had two children. He later married Edith Argandona.
• Helen Lois Zalk, born 1919, died ~1968. Married Lawrence Walter Beckman and had one child. Married Joseph Pollock and had two more children.
• [baby boy] Zalk, born and died in 1922.
• [baby girl] Zalk, born and died in 1923.
• The child of Louis and Erma Zalk:
• Eva R. Zalk, born 1889, died 1979. Married Jacob Wilk (born 1886, died 1956) ~1956 and had three children:
• Ruth Wilk, born 1915, married Marvin Notkins, later married Paul Nathan. She had one child by each marriage.
• Max Wilk, born 1920.
• Doris Wilk, born 1923, married name Palca, had two children.
• The ten children of Shmuel and Roche Shule (Rose) Zalk:
• Haskel B. (Yechezkiel) Zalk, born 1858, died 1933. Haskel married Miriam Leavitt and had three children:
• Leonard Zalk, born ~1882, married Gute Gaisinovitz, born in 1887. Leonard died ~ 1921. They had one son:
• Marvin Zalk, born 1921.
• Robert Zalk
• Louis Z. Zalk, born 1886, died 1966. Louis married Lylian S. Shapiro (born 1897, died 1991) and they had three children:
• Marjorie Z. Zalk, born 1920, died 1990. Married Dr. Sidney Weisman and had two children..
• Morton Louis Zalk, born 1922, died 1986. Married Eunice Ella Herzenberg (born ~1922) and had three childen. His second wife was Suzanne Feld. His third wife was Thelma Probstein, with whom he had three more children.
• Charles L. Zalk, born 1924. Married Cleo Deutsch and had three children.
• Mina Ita Zalk, born ~1867, married name Fine.
• Zeicek Zalk, born ~1870.
• Zigmund (Zalkind) Zalk, born ~1872, died 1958. In 1895, Zigmund married Ida Flax, born 1877, died 1949. The five children of Zigmund and Ida Zalk:
• Reuben Louis Zalk, born 1896, died 1970. Married Sarah Pauline Resnick and had four children.
• Annette Esther Zalk, born 1921, died 2002. Married Albert F. Schwartz in 1943 and had three children.
• Sybil Zalk, born 1924. Married Alfred Krausz in 1945 and had three children.
• Riga Zalk, born 1930. Married Robert Lewis Cline in 1952 and had two children.
• Mark Norman Zalk, born 1932. In 1960, he married Judith M. Durschnitt (born 1940, died 1992) and had four children. He later married Myra T. Sussman (born 1935).
• Goodman Zalk, born 1899, died 1965. Married Sylvia Luftman and had one daughter:
• Joan Zalk, who married Sanford C. Adams and had two children.
• Morris Zalk, born 1899, died 1944. Married Harriet B. Schapiro and had two children. He later married Ida C. Katzman. The children of Morris and Harriet Zalk:
• Ronna Fern Zalk, born 1927, died 1977. Married Victor Goldsteen and had three children.
• Donald Bennett Zalk, born 1930, died 1993. Married Barbara R. Hunt, later married Julliette Josephine Erickson (born1921) and had six children.
• Irving Zalk, born 1903, died 1948. Married Ethel Bernstein and had one daughter:
• Carol Zalk
• [baby boy] Zalk, born and died in 1905.
• Pesa Zalk, born ~1877.
• Joseph (Yosel) Zalk, born ~1878, died ~1925.
• Ida (Chaya) Zalk, born 1880, died 1970. Around 1901, Ida married Roy L. Edelstein (born 1878, died 1931). The five children of Ida and Roy:
• Abraham Edelstein, born ~1902.
• Bertha Edelstein, born ~1903, married name Karon.
• Ruth H. Edelstein, born 1904, died 1992. Married name Karon.
• Philip Edelstein, born ~1906.
• Julius Edelstein, born ~1908.
• Julius (Yudel) Zalk, born 1882, died 1908.
• Louis Zalk
• Samuel Zalk

II.  Shlioma Zalk born ~1845. Shlioma's first wife was Shora Chasa, born ~1849. His second wife was Liba born ~1845.

• The three children of Shlioma and Shora Chasa Zalk:
• Shmuel Zalk, born ~1871. Married Liba, born ~1875, and had three children:
• Peysach Zalk, born ~1893.
• Gershon Zalk, born ~1897.
• Frada Zalk, born ~1898.
• Eliash Berko Zalk, born ~1872. Married Rochla, born ~1880, and had four children:
• Leyb (Aryeh) Zalk was born in 1905. He married Nechama Puner in 1932, and they went to Palestine in the 1930s. They had three children. (Leyb [son of Eleber] and Nechama [daughter of Avrom] are mentioned in Part I and Part II of Berl Glezer's memoir. Nechama is shown in 1932 photo of Zionist pioneers from Trashkun.)
• Shlioma (Shlomo) Zalk was born in 1907.

• Fayvl (Shraga) Zalk was born in 1909. He went to Palestine in the 1930s.
  PHOTO Fayvl Zalk with other Zionist pioneers from Trashkun (1932)
• Binyomin Zalk was born in 1914. He died in Israel on 4 February 2003. (Binyomin [Binyomke son of Eleber] is mentioned as a chalutz in Part II of Berl Glezer's memoir.)
  PHOTOS Binyomin Zalk with Hashomer Hatzair group in Trashkun (~1930)
• Frada Zalk, born ~1874.
• The six children of Shlioma and Liba Zalk:
• Girsha Zalk, born ~1876.
• Chava Zalk, born ~1878.
• Ayzuk Zalk, born ~1885.
• Ester Zalk, born ~1888.
• David Zalk, born ~1893.
• Itzik Zalk, born ~1892.

III.  Zlotta Zalk, born ~1858, died 1928. Zlotta married Abe Slonim (who died in 1944) and had five children:

• Sigmond M. Slonim, born ~1883, died 1981. Sigmond married Lena Epstein and they had two children:
• Ruth Slonim, born 30 July 1918, died 16 February 2005. She was a published poet and an English professor at Washington State University.
  PHOTOS Ruth Slonim (1950s and 1967)
• Edward Slonim, born 18 June 1921, died 23 October 2014.
• Bessie Slonim, born ~1885, married Frank Kohn and had three children:
• Morris Kohn
• David Kohn (later Dave Kahn), born 14 October 1910, died 3 July 2008. He was a composer and arranger of music for TV and film (obituary).
• Wilbur Kohn, born 10 July 1921, died 1 March 2012. A B-26 pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corp, he served in the European Theater during World War II.
• Dora Slonim, born 1886, died 1971.

• Samuel J. Slonim, born 1888, died 1960. Married Susie and had three children:
• Gilven Slonim, born 13 October 1913, died 22 November 2000. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he was a Navy captain, combat commander and wartime intelligence officer who served in World War II and the Korean War (obituary).  PHOTO Gilven Slonim
• Dorothy Slonim, born ~1917, married Benjamin Weiner, died 18 November 1999.
• Charles Slonim, born 20 August 1925, died 3 December 2013. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, was a Navy captain and served in the Navy for 27 years.
• Dorothy Slonim, died 1910.

IV.  Gitla (Geta) Zalk, birth date unknown. Gitla married Beryl Yosefovitz and had two children:

• Lazer (Louis) Josephs, born ~1863, died 1928. He married Victoria and had five children:
• Sam Josephs
• Gertie Josephs
• Harry Josephs
• Edith Josephs
• Leonard Josephs
• H.Y. Josephs, born 1869, died 1948. He married Etta Cook(born 1884, died 1972) and had four children:
• Sylvia Josephs, married name Berger.
• Dr. Irving Josephs
• Dr. Arthur Josephs
• Muriel Josephs

V.  Elliot (Elie) Zalk, birth date and wife's name unknown. They had three sons, names and dates unknown:

• [male] Zalk
• [male] Zalk
• [male] Zalk, married Clara (maiden name unknown).

VI.  Moses (Morris) J. Zalk, born 1874. He escaped from the Russian army and fled with his small child Sarah to Duluth, Minnesota, where he had relatives. The fate of his first wife is unknown, as is her name. His second wife's maiden name was Cohen. His third wife was Fannie Mandel, born ~1885, whom he married ~1911.

• The child of Moses and his first wife:
• Sarah Zalk, born in Trashkun in 1891, died in the US in 1978. In 1916 Sarah married Rymal Olesky (born 1892, died 1946). Sarah and Rymal had two children:
• Rita May Olesky, born 1919. Married Ray Butwin in 1939 and had two children:
• Beryl Anne Butwin, born 1943. Married Bernard Berke in 1963.
• Ronald J. Butwin, born 1946.
• Miriam Helen Olesky. Married Dr. Leonard Blumberg in 1944 and had two children. After Leonard Blumberg's death in 1950, she married Raphael Strauss in 1951. The two children of Miriam and Leonard Blumberg:
• Roger Neil Blumberg, born 1947. Married Debra Greenfield in 1973.
• Janna Blumberg, born 1950, married Robert Bunn in 1973.
• The child of Moses and his second wife:
• Mae Zalk took her mother's maiden name Cohen after her parents divorced. She was a teacher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and died in her late thirties.
• The two children of Moses and Fannie Mandel Zalk (Moses' third wife):
• Elliot Zalk, born 1914, died 1971.
• Sidney Zalk, born ~1918, deceased.

The Garon Extended Family Website, created by Allan Garon, focuses on his family and the history of the Jewish community in Duluth, Minnesota. The Zalks immigrated to Duluth from Troskunai. The Yosefovitz family from Troskunai also settled in Duluth.

— Michael D. Zalk

(back to top)

KehilaLinks Directory   |   JewishGen Home page

This site is hosted at no cost by JewishGen, Inc., the Home of Jewish Genealogy. If you have been aided in your research by this site and wish to further our mission of preserving our history for future generations, your JewishGen-erosity is greatly appreciated.

• Compiled by Sonia & Johanna Kovitz
• © 2014 Sonia Kovitz & Johanna Kovitz
• Updated November 2019