Sura’s Marriage

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I finally have news to share on the Scheshko family front. Inna Vayner has been able to track down the marriage record of Isidore Scheshko’s sister, Sura. Sura, born in 1891, was married in 1920 in Odessa. She was 29 years old, and she and the groom, Elya Brener, had never been married before.

To remind you: we believe that Sura is the young lady seated on our right. The young man on our far left is her twin brother, Mendel. We believe that the gardener’s sister was named for Sura.

Here is the record book and pertinent pages. I wasn’t sure why there are so many pages, and this is what Inna told me: “these images include the title page and the page with requisition information. The other three images were taken to ensure the record could be easily read., so I included these as well since I have them.” Of course, I can’t read them so I am not sure what is what ;).

This is a translation of the record:

Governorate register’s office of Odessa

Marriage registration book

Registry entry number and recording registration book number 5510/5

Year, month and date of marriage March 4, 1920

Given names, patronymic names, surnames and occupation of bride and groom

Elya son of Khuna Brener, shoemaker

Sura, daughter of Shemel Sheshko, a factory worker

Groom’s address: Privoznaya [str]

Bride’s address: Rybnaya 93

Year, month and date of birth of groom November 1886

Bride’s date of birth September 5, 1891 [Her birth was recorded that date, but the actual birth date was September 3, 1891–Inna explained that the date of record often became the official birth date]

Marital status of the bride and groom (single, married) Groom single, Bride maiden

Special marks: groom – Tir. (?)

You can see that Sura was a factory worker and married a shoemaker.

I wish I could imagine more about Sura’s big day. Forget images of Fiddler on the Roof. Sura and Elya were married in the big city in 1920. But was it a big wedding or very small or somewhere in the middle? What did they wear? How traditional was the event?

Since I wanted to see an image of their wedding, I google-searched for “1920 Odessa Jewish wedding.” I found an amazing article with a first-hand account of a pogrom in Odessa in 1905 that also has a photograph of a Jewish bride and groom, Harry and Lisa Fogel, and their parents from their wedding in Odessa in 1920. You will want to read the account of the pogrom as well as take a look at the photograph. CLICK HERE

The article makes me think that all the violence might have had something to do with whether the Scheshkos were really from Tiraspol or from Odessa.

15 thoughts on “Sura’s Marriage”

  1. It’s great that she was able to locate that record and translate it for you. And I think German is hard to read!

    I read the article about the pogrom. Just horrible. I have to admit that I can imagine it happening here these days.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • When I first “read” those documents that was actually my thought: I was craving going back to German which I found very frustrating.
      I went over to Wikipedia to read what that so-called but useful source has to say about the Odessa pogroms. There are some surprises in that information. It’s also no surprise that the gardener’s grandparents left within a few years, although his grandfather first had to serve in the Russian military. So scary to think of anything like that happening in this country.

      Liked by 2 people

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      • And when I see right-wing paramilitary groups carrying their semiautomatic weapons and marching to the state house or in the streets, that’s why I think of.

        Like

    • I read the Wikipedia article on the Odessa pogroms. Some very interesting info that I did not realize although I knew there was a lot of violence during this particular period. I also believe that there is a story in the gardener’s mother’s family folklore about a pogrom in Ukraine, but in a different area. I haven’t gotten to that side of the family yet, but I need to look for that story.

      Liked by 1 person

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    • I went over to Wikipedia to read about the Odessa pogroms. Of course, there were many that happened elsewhere in the Russian empire over a period of time, but specifically in Odessa they started in 1821. 1905 was the worst one. Much more complicated according to Wikipedia than I thought.

      Liked by 1 person

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    • Thank you, Sheila. It is exciting. I never dreamed this would be findable. I have hope we can find out their fate through the war and pray they made it through. Someone did because there were censored letters in the 60s that made it to the US.

      Liked by 1 person

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  7. Wonderful posting. Inna found a treasure trove of info for you. I hopped over to the article you shared. It is so bitter sweet that testimony like this is remembered and shared. We must preserve these events and yet they are so hard to read. I use to say its so hard to imagine and yet today we are seeing a hint of it and what could actually be. OY –

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Hello
    I’ve been reading your posts for a time now without commenting, primarily because they’re not directly relevant to my family – though I have a sense that one Jewish history is the history of all.

    Having said that, I enjoy what you say and how you present stuff you find. It’s a lovely blog.

    Long may you continue.

    best wishes/ Alan Kahn

    Liked by 3 people

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