The Godashevich Family of Krivichi

other spellings:  Gadasievich, Godasievich, Chadashevich, Chadasiewicz, Chodasiewicz, Hadashevitz, Khodoshevich, Khadushevich, Kadushevich, Kadishevich

Krivichi was a very small town in the 19th century, with a Jewish population of 457 in 1897. A number of Godashevich families appear in various revision lists (census documents), the most important documents for genealogical research in the Russian Empire. It was only in 1804 that Jews in the Russian Empire were required to have surnames (see article 31 of the Statute Concerning the Organization of the Jews). Despite the absence of surnames in the earliest records and the inevitable gaps in revision lists, dates and recurring names in this small community of Jews give credence to the lineage presented here.

• ZALMAN DOVID GODASHEVICH was born in Krivichi in 1846. He married ROKHEL LIBERMAN and they had seven children. Rokhel then died, likely between 1898 and 1905. It was probably in Myadel that Zalman Dovid married his second wife, GEYLE (Galina) GLEZER, with whom he had three sons. The family later moved to Dolginovo, probably after the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1920). Zalman Dovid died sometime before 1924—at Tisha B'Av, according to a family letter. Geyle's sons joined the Polish army. Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, one son was captured by the Germans and the other two were arrested and deported by the Soviets. As a mother of Polish soldiers, Gelye herself was among the thousands of people who were deported by the Soviets to labor camps in the east, where she is presumed to have perished.
  ◉ PHOTO probably Zalman Dovid Godashevich
  ◉ PHOTO Geyle (Glezer) Godashevich
• The seven children of Zalman Dovid Godashevich and his first wife, Rokhel Liberman:
  ⇨ (See below for the children of Zalman Dovid Godashevich and his second wife, Gelye Glezer.)
• JUDIS GODASHEVICH was born in in Myadel in 1870. She married SHIMON LEIB (Yirmiyahu) FUTERFAS, and they lived in Vorniany. Judis died in Vorniany on 30 January 1933. She was predeceased by her husband.
• The four children of Judis Godashevich and Shimon Leib Futerfas:
• Chaya Malka Futerfas, born in Vorniany on 15 February 1906.
• Aron Zelig Futerfas was born in Vorniany on 1 May 1907. He joined the military.

• Rokhel Rivka (also Rivka Rokhel) Futerfas was born in Vorniany on 7 July 1909. On 8 November 1938 in Vilna she married Efraim Lekovedshabes (later Leikovitz), who was born in Vilna on 10 May 1900, son of Yakov Shimon and Leya. This was Efraim's second marriage. Around the time of World War II, the family changed their surname to Leikovitz. The family was imprisoned in the Vorniany ghetto, then transferred to a series of other ghettos and forced labor camps. The two younger children were deported and killed in Auschwitz. The parents and one daughter survived the war and migrated to Israel in 1949. Rivka died in Rehovot, Israel, on 1 June 1981. Efraim died in Beer Yakov, Israel, in August 1984.
  ◉ DOCUMENTS Windsheim DP camp resident lists, including the Leikovitz family
  ◉ PHOTOS Rivka Rokhel (Futerfas) Leikovitz, Efraim Leikovitz, and daughter Sora after the war

• The three children of Rivka Rokhel Futerfas and Efraim Leikovitz:
• Sora Lekovedshabes (later Leikovitz) was born in Vorniany on 22 July 1932. During World War II she was imprisoned in a series of ghettos and forced labor camps, including Kovno in Lithuania and Stutthof in Poland. She was liberated in 1945. After two years in a displaced persons camp, she migrated to Israel and married Mordecai Ben Yaakov (born in 1920). They had three children.
  ◉ DOCUMENT Record of Sora Leikovitz' incarceration during World War II
  ◉ DOCUMENTS Windsheim DP camp resident lists, including Sora and her parents
  ◉ PHOTOS Sora Leikovitz as a child and after the war
  ◉ PHOTO Sarah Ben-Yaakov
• Judis Lekovedshabes (later Leikovitz) was born in Vorniany in 1933. During World War II she was imprisoned in the Vorniany ghetto and perhaps others, before being deported to Auschwitz, where she and her younger sister Sima were killed in 1943.
• Sima Lekovedshabes (later Leikovitz) was born in Vorniany on 5 April 1937. During World War II she was imprisoned in the Vorniany ghetto and perhaps others, before being deported to Auschwitz, where she and her older sister Judis were killed in 1943.
• David Ayzik Futerfas, born in Vorniany on 15 June 1915. He became an apprentice shoemaker.

• FAIVUSH GODASHEVICH was born in Myadel or Krivichi in 1871. He married HENIA JUDIS BIKOVICH in Myadel, where they raised their family. Henia suffered from a long illness and died in 1919. In 1920, Faivush moved with his children to Panevezys, Lithuania. There he had two short-lived marriages: on 2 February 1922 he married Hena Levit (1889- ), and on 29 August 1925 he married Leia (Pekirov) Kotsin (1887- ). In the early 1930s, Faivush lived with his oldest daughter Chaya and her husband, Chaim Tsimerman. In 1935 Faivush emigrated to Brazil, where he died on 23 March 1953.
  ◉ PHOTO probably Faivush Godashevich and his wife Henia Judis Bikovich
  ◉ PHOTO Faivush Godashevich
  ◉ DOCUMENT Foreigner's Testimony for residency in Panevezys, Lithuania
  ◉ DOCUMENT Application for Residency Permit in Lithuania
• The five children of Faivush Godashevich and Henia Judis Bikovich:
• Chaya Godashevich was born in Myadel in 1898. On 14 March 1923 in Panevezys, Lithuania, she married Chaim Tsimerman, who was born in Zarasai, Lithuania, in 1899, son of Abram and Ella. A seamstress by profession, Chaya led a hard life. As the oldest daughter, she cared for her siblings during her mother's long illness and after her mother's death. Her father lived with her family in Panevezys before they emigrated to Brazil in the early 1930s. Letters show that she continued to suffer hardship and poverty when her husband became seriously ill and she was forced to ask relatives for help.
• Rokhel Godashevich was born in Myadel in 1905.
• Klara Godashevich was born in Myadel in 1911. She emigrated to Brazil in 1927.

• Alter Godashevich (later Alteras Godosevicius) was born in Myadel on 26 July 1913. He was a tailor by profession, and in 1933 he emigrated to Brazil. On 30 May 1944 he married Sura Reider, who was born in Romania on 29 December 1924, daughter of Abraham and Lia. Alter died in São Paulo, Brazil, on 24 July 1993.
  ◉ PHOTO Alteras Godosevicius with his wife Sura and daughter Henia Judith (1946)
  ◉ PHOTO Alteras Godosevicius
  ◉ DOCUMENT Alter's application for temporary residence in Lithuania (1931)
  ◉ DOCUMENT Marriage certificate of Alteras Godosevicius and Sura Reider (1944)
• The three children of Alter Godosevicius and Sura Reider:
• Henia Judith Godosevicius, born on 8 August 1945 in São Paulo, Brazil
  ◉DOCUMENT Birth certificate of Henia Judith Godosevicius (1945)
• Sima Godosevicius, born on 5 December 1948 in São Paulo, Brazil
• Fabio Godosevicius, born on 20 November 1959 in São Paulo, Brazil
• Mera Godashevich was born in Myadel in 1915. In 1935 she emigrated to Brazil.
  ◉ PHOTO Mera Godashevich
  ◉ DOCUMENT Application for Residency Permit in Lithuania
• LIBERMAN (Abraham Liberman) GODASHEVICH was born in May 1879, probably in Krivichi. He moved to Dolginovo and married ZLATA VOSOFSKY. The family emigrated to New York in 1913, and the parents took the names LEO and ESTHER CHADASH.
  ◉ PHOTO Liberman Godashevich
  ◉ PHOTO Leo and Esther Chadash with Leo's brother Joseph Kadish
• The two children of Liberman Godashevich and Zlata Vosofsky, later Leo and Esther Chadash:
• Ruth Chadash, born in Dolginovo in 1910 and came to the US as a young child.
• Hilda Pauline Chadash was born in Dolginovo in 1912 and came to the US as a young child. In 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, she married Solomon Cogan.
• ABRAM YOSEF (Yosel) GODASHEVICH was born in 1881, probably in Krivichi. He married SORA-RIVKA SOLOMIN (1887-1946) in 1907 in Troskunai, Lithuania. The family settled in Kovno [Kaunas], Lithuania. In 1913 Josef emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he took the name JOSEPH KADISH. The plan was that his wife and children would soon follow, but at the outbreak of World War I they fled Kovno and were trapped in Russia for years. They finally sailed to the U.S. from the Far East (route). One child died in Russia, and a second died soon after arrival in the U.S. The couple had four more children in Boston. Sarah Kadish died on 3 September 1946 in Boston. Joseph died on 12 July 1971 in Randolph, Massachusetts.
  ◉ PHOTO Abram Yosef Godashevich in Russian Army uniform
  ◉ PHOTO Joseph Kadish with his brother and sister-in-law Leo and Esther Chadash
  ◉ PHOTO The family of Joseph Kadish in 1947
• The seven children of Abram Yosef Godashevich and Sora-Rivka Solomin, later Joseph Kadish and Sarah Kadish:
• Rochel Ita Godashevich was born in Kovno on 9 August 1908. She died in 1916, probably in Syzran, Russia.
• Isaac (Itze) Godashevich was born in Kovno on 27 July 1910. He died in 1919, soon after arriving in the U.S.
  ◉ PHOTO Isaac in Harbin, China, en route to the U.S. (1919)
  ◉ DOCUMENT Record of Isaac's arrival in the U.S. (1919)
• Golda "Goldie" (Grace) Godashevich (later Kadish) was born in Kovno on 16 October 1912, and came to the U.S. in 1919. She married Louis Chiklis, and they had two children. Goldie died in Massachusetts on 22 December 2002.
  ◉ PHOTO Golda in Harbin, China, en route to the U.S. (1919)
  ◉ DOCUMENT Record of Golda's arrival in the U.S. (1919)
• Lillian Kadish was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 8 July 1920. She married Leo Simblist and they had three children. Leo died in Newton, Massachusetts in 1950. Lillian died in Massachusetts on 16 September 2012.
• Esther Kadish was born in Boston on 25 September 1922. She married Samuel Widrow and they had five children. Esther died on 3 August 2007.
• Samuel David Kadish was born in Boston in ~1924. He died at age 7 on 19 December 1931.
• Milton Kadish was born in Boston on 18 November 1926. He married Harriet Nathan and they had two children. Milton died on 29 January 2020.

• MALKA (Esther Malka) GODASHEVICH was born in Krivichi in 1887. In Myadel she married JACOB KODISH, who was born in 1885, possibly in Myadel. Around 1905, couple emigrated to the US and settled in Akron, Ohio, where Malka took the name Molly (Anna Molly). The couple owned an auto scrap business and a service station. Jacob died on 4 June 1921, and Molly continued to raise the family and run the business on her own. She died on 27 July 1987 at the age of 100 in New Philadelphia, Ohio.
  ◉ PHOTO Malka Godashevich, later Molly Kodish (painting by her grandson)
  ◉ DOCUMENT Immigration document for Anna Molly Kodish
• The six children of Malka (Molly) Godashevich and Jacob Kodish:
• Robert (Meil) Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1907
• Lewis/Louis (Labe) Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1909.
• Abraham (Abe) Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1911.
• Leo (Libs) Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1912.
• Julia Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, on 29 July 1914. On 13 March 1938 in Akron she married Harry Liberman, who was born in 1911 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Harry died on 26 October 1992, and Julia died on 23 May 2006, both in Akron, Ohio.
  ◉ PHOTO Julia Kodish Liberman
  ◉ PHOTO Wedding photo of Julia Kodish and Harry Liberman
  ◉ PHOTO Gravestone of Julia and Harry Liberman
• Hannah Kodish was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1918.

• PESA (Pesya) GODASHEVICH was born in 1890, probably in Krivichi. She married MEIR SHMUEL MEKLER, born in 1885, and they lived in Kurenets. The family was poor, and Pesa had to ask for financial help from relatives who had emigrated to America. One son died at age five. The parents and remaining children were killed in the Holocaust in 1942 (see Holocaust by Bullets, Kurenets).
• The four children of Pesya Godashevich and Meir Shmuel Mekler:
• [son], name unknown, died in Kurenets at age five.
• Hillel Mekler was born in 1915 and was killed in the Holocaust in 1942.
• Rokhel Mekler was born in 1921 and was killed in the Holocaust in 1942.
• Zalman (or Yekhiel) Mekler was born in 1928 and was killed in the Holocaust in 1942.

• KEYLA GODASHEVICH was born in 1898. Her married name was GENDEL. Keyla and her family lived in Postavy, where her husband died before 1941 and the rest of the family was killed in the Holocaust in 1941 or 1942 (see Holocaust by Bullets, Postavy).
  ◉ PHOTO Keyla Gendel
  ◉ PHOTO Keyla Gendel with her daughter Nesha

• The only known child of Keyla Godashevich Gendel and her husband:
• Nesha Gendel died in the Holocaust in 1941 or 1942.
  ◉ PHOTO Nesha Gendel with her mother Keyla
• The three children of Zalman Dovid Godashevich and his second wife, Gelye (Galina) Glezer:
  ⇨ (See above for the children of Zalman Dovid Godashevich and his first wife, Rokhel Liberman.)

• ZELIG (Zenon) CHADASIEWICZ was born in 1910, likely in Myadel, and his family moved to Dolginovo, probably after 1921. Zelig was a tailor and lived in Vilna for a time. He served in the Polish army, and after the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland on 17 September 1939, he was arrested by the NKVD (Soviet secret police, precursor to the KGB). He was sent to a Siberian labor camp, where conditions were dismal but he received extra privileges by making dresses for the wives of Soviet officers. In 1941, along with thousands of other Polish soldiers held as prisoners by the Soviets, Zelig was recruited to join Anders' Army to fight the Germans. He was released around 1947 and sent to Wroclaw, Poland, where he married HALINA (Helen) DABROWSKI (1931-2008). The family emigrated to the US in 1968 and lived in New York City. Zelig died in 1986.
  ◉ PHOTO Zelig Chadasiewicz
  ◉ PHOTO Group photo, including Zelig
• The two children of Zelig Chadasiewicz and Helen Dabrowski:
• Mark Chadasiewicz (later Mark Chadason)
• Zygmunt Chadasiewicz (later Paul Chadason) was born in 1951.

• MEIR (Mejer, Yankev Meier) CHADASIEWICZ was born in Myadel on 12 April 1912, and moved with his family to Dolginovo. He worked as a saddler and joined the Polish cavalry as a lancer. After Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, he was captured near Radom on 18 September 1939 and held at several German prisoner-of-war camps. Records of his slave labor in POW camps end in December 1940, and he next appears on a list of Jewish prisoners in POW camps in Lublin, Poland. He is presumed to have died in 1941 in or near Lublin, possibly at the Majdanek concentration camp.
  ◉ PHOTO Group photo possibly includes Meier
  ◉ DOCUMENT German prisoner-of-war record for Mejer Chadaciewicz

• ASZER (Asher) CHADASIEWICZ was born in Myadel on 28 August 1914, and moved with his family to Dolginovo. He was a shoemaker and a saddler. Like his brothers Zelig and Meir, Aszer joined the Polish Army. After the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, as a Polish soldier, he was arrested and sent to a labor camp in Siberia, where he was put to work making boots for officers. He was released in 1947 and sent to Wroclaw, Poland, where in 1950 he married PAULA FRANKEL (born in 1923). The family emigrated to Israel in 1956. Both Aszer and Paula died in 2010.
  ◉ PHOTO Aszer Chodasiewicz
  ◉ PHOTO Group photo, including Asher
  ◉ DOCUMENT Unidentified Polish record(s) for Aszer Chodasiewicz (1948)
  ◉ DOCUMENT Aszer's ID in Wroclaw, Poland (1952)
• The two children of Asher Chadasiewicz and Paula Frankel:
• Galia Chadasiewicz, born in Wroclaw, Poland, in 1950.
• Batia Chadasiewicz, born in Wroclaw, Poland, in 1953.

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