Spinner Family History
Shlomo ("Solomon") and Blima ("Bertha"; Sobler) Spinner lived in Zurawno in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They ran a store on the main square, and Shlomo also was a grain merchant. They had five children: Itzik( "Fred"; b. ca. 1887), Lotte (b. 1889), Lena (b. ca. 1891), Chaim, ("Charlie"; b. 1896), and Dovid (b. ca. 1901).
In approximately 1906, Fred and Lotte left for Vienna to receive training in the production of clothing before immigrating to the United States in 1907, where they would settle in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. In the fall of 1912, soon before Lotte's marriage to Simcha ("Samuel") Jonas (also a native of eastern Galicia), Lottie's mother Blima (now a widow) came to the US with Charlie. Blima would return to Austria-Hungary sometime in the second half of 1913, planning to return with the two younger children as soon as practicable. Unfortunately, WWI would breakout in less than a year, and Zurawno was on the frontlines of the conflict between the Russians and the Austro/German armies. The region, including Zurawno, Stryj, Lemberg, and Pzresmsyl would change hands multiple times in the first two years of the war, 1914-1916.
In the meantime, Lotte, Fred, and Charlie established themselves in the USA. Lotte worked in the garment trades and was a member of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU). Her marriage to Samuel Jonas produced three children, Henrietta, Irene, and Oscar (this author's father). Fred and Charlie would become officials in the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE). They would also build families in the new world of America. Fred married Lena Reiss and had two children, Lenny and Rose. Charlie married Nettie Kleiger and their children were Sidney and Dottie.
It appears that the family's store in Zurawno did not survive the trials of WWI. But the family persisted and grew. Dovid, in his father's footsteps, would become a grain merchant. He married Bronia, and it is believed that they had two children, one named Moshe. Lena also married and had two children, but the details of her family have been lost. Lottie and her two brothers stayed in touch with the family, corresponding up to soon before the outbreak of WWII, but any efforts to help them escape were unsuccessful. Blima, her children Lena and Dovid, and her four grandchildren would all perish in the Shoah.
The descendants of the siblings who came to America participate in this Shtetlinks site to honor our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, their lives, experiences, history, and fates. Zichronam l'Vracha ; may their memories be for a blessing. And, may the memory of the Jewish community of Zurawno live brightly in our hearts and the hearts of our descendents.
By Samuel K. Jonas, July 23, 2010
Photos: (1) Believed to be cousins Victor and Yalus Spinner , ca. 1934, in Zurawno; (2) Henrietta (age 7), Irene (age 1), Lotte (Spinner) and Samuel Jonas; photo ca. 1920; (3) Believed to be cousin Victor Spinner , ca. 1934, in Zurawno.
Permission to use the photos on this page granted by Samuel K. Jonas, Robert Boehm and Steven Boehm on July 23, 2010.
