Families
in Peschanka
The Silber (Silver) family lived in Peschanka, Russian Empire in the 1800's-WWII. Yossel (Joseph) Silber married Breince Cohen and had ten or eleven children by the end of the 19th century. Yossel either owned or managed a limestone quarry. One of Yossel's children was Wolf (Velvel, Ze'ev). Wolf Silber, born about 1886, was a young man when he secretly left Peschanka to travel to the United States. The family story is that Wolf deserted the Czar's army as he did not want to serve under such harsh, anti-Semitic conditions. He feared that his family would be punished for his escape. He left his parents, brothers and sisters without telling them what he was doing or where he was going. He wanted them to believe hat he had died so that they would never be fined, jailed or sent to Siberia by the Russian authorities for aiding his escape. Wolf made his way to the port of Bremen, Germany and sailed the USS Frankfurt to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He arrived on December 31, 1910 at the age of 24 years. At the time, he listed his occupation as a laborer and went to reside with his cousin. His cousin's name was either H. Silber, Alder or Alter of Philadelphia. Wolf Silber changed his name to William Silver and married Sarah Imber. They moved to New Jersey and had four children: Abraham, Bernie, Raymond and Ruth. William worked as a sweatermaker, delivery truck driver, baker, and finally the owner of two successful grocery stores in Burlington and Camden. Peschanka relatives of the Silver family may have emigrated to Canada but these family names are unknown. William never had further contact with any of his family from Peschanka. William Silver died in Camden, N.J. in October, 1960.
