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.