Gershuny Family

Velvel Gershuny, c.1860-1941, a rabbi and teacher, married Zlate, bat Moshe-Kasriel Trapido and Chana Cantor (her parents were Bunim and Mina Cantor, the great great grandparents of Linda Cantor). They had eight children: David Gershuny, 1881-1964, Benjamin Gershuny, 1892-1948, Golda Gershuny, 1897-1941, Motla Gershuny, c. 1909-1941, Unknown, 1911-1941, Isaiah, Elizabeth, Max. The two eldest children came to New York and the rest of the family were killed in 1941 as far as is known.

Shebse Gershuny, 1857-1929, was married to Gitla and had four children, and they were related to the Paul and Jachilevich families:

Sholom-Josel Gershuny, 1891-1941, married in 1922 to Reveka, bat Izrayl and Feige Zeligman. He served in the Army in World War I and was known to have been gassed during the war. He returned to Kupiskis, married and had three children: Israel or Shroyel Gershuny, Feige Gershuny, and Sara Gershuny. He was a co-founder of the Kupiskis grammar school with his first cousin. His wife Reveka, born 1892, was the only practicing Jewish dentist in Kupiskis.  She graduated with a degree as a Dental Surgeon in Warsaw in 1911.  He left on one of the two last trains out of Kupiskis in June, 1941. The train was bombed in Latvia, he survived, started running and was shot. His two daughters survived and live in Israel..

Their son, Israel or Shroyel Gershuny, was one of the few Kupishokers who was able to take a stand or revolt against the Nazis. He and his friends (along with two Lithuanian students), who were between the ages of 17-20 years of age, joined the Russian Brigad Militsia which was formed prior to the arrival of the Germans. One of their efforts was against the Lithuanian students who had joined the Nazis. They killed two of the students and this incited more hatred against them and the Jews of Kupiskis. The Nazis killed them on July 25, 1941, behind the railroad station Shepta Beloe in the Shepata Marshes. Among those killed with Shroyel were his friends Berele Ash, Davidke Glazer, H. Shoistevnia, Yoske Shusterman, Laibel Tuber, Unknown Tzundel, Chaim Yutin, and others. They were buried in a common grave behind the old Jewish cemetery. There is a monument erected in their memory that is located in the Shepata marshes which reads in Lithuanian and Russian: "To those who fought the Fascist murderers".

Abraham Gershuny, 1894-1988, left Kupiskis and arrived in London on August 4, 1914, the first day of World War I. In London, in 1916, he met and married Fanny Schraer and they had five children: Sydney, Charles, Morris, Walter, and Hilda. Her father had fled Riga, Latvia, in 1879-1880, after their home was burned, and came to England. Her maternal grandfather was Otto Kahn, a corn chandler, who served in Napoleon’s army.

Gershon Gershuny, the youngest brother, married Roche and had several children. Gershon was a clockmaker. They tried to escape on the last train out of Kupiskis in 1941, but the train was bombed. Their daughter survived and lives in Haifa, Israel, according to Malka Napoleonaite Greizer, who knew her.

Sleimse Gershuny, the only daughter, died in 1941. It is not known whether she married or had children.

In 1938, Abraham and Fanny Gershuny traveled from their home in London to try and convince their family to let them bring the children to safety in England. The family did not feel there was something to be worried about and many were then killed in 1941.

A photograph taken of the family on this trip to Kupiskis in 1938 follows:

Bottom row, seated, left to right: (1) Sholom-Josel ben Shebse Gershuny; (2) Gitel Gershuny, wife of Shabse; (3) Abraham ben Shebse Gershuny; and (4) Gershon ben Shebse Gershuny.

Photo donated by Sydney and Charles Garson (Gershuny) in memory of parents Abraham and Fanny Gershuny and their family who perished.