Tag Archives: Scheshko family history

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.

Murray in His IDF Uniform

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A year ago, I wrote in the post Murray’s Further Military History about how Murray went to Israel after WWII, where he served during the time of the Israel’s War of Independence. I mentioned that he served with a Canadian soldier who eventually introduced him to his own SIL, Diana Shulman. Murray and Diana eventually married.

In that same post I shared an AP news article showing Murray and his future brother-in-law as soldiers in Israel.

Recently I found a document in the same envelope with Murray’s U.S. Army transcript and discharge paper that proves that Murray served in Israel. This was a treasure to discover because Murray’s service during 1947-1948 has been unfindable up til now. We have his stories, which we know are absolutely true because Murray was not a “storyteller” and he was very realistic about his accomplishments.

You will see that one side of this document is written in Hebrew and shows Murray in his Israeli Defense Forces uniform!

My next door neighbor, who is Israeli, said that the Hebrew doesn’t say anything different than what the other side, in English, says, but he didn’t spend a lot of time translating it. If anybody knows differently, please let me know.

Here is the photo closer up:

Now the flip side of this document is a letter from the American  consul.

This is a document that will allow Murray entry back into the United States as a native-born citizen without a passport.

That is because his belongings, including his passport, were destroyed, according to this document on 21 June 1948 in Tel Aviv.

Murray was right in the middle of things when he was in Israel. He had some impressive stories. Without documentation, however, I don’t want to garble the stories or tell stories he might not want told on a public blog. However, he did know many of the movers and shakers of Israel from that period. He was on the Altalena when it was full of refugees fleeing Europe after the Holocaust. He was also around for the Altalena Affair, as well as other events. He did say, and I believe him, that if he had stayed in Israel he would have ended up a general, but he had family back home and decided to return to the United States.

Charlotte and her Father: Late 1920s

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I discovered a box of photographs I had forgotten that I had and had never gone through.I was thrilled to spot a photograph of Charlotte with her father, Isadore Riskin!

The photo is not in the best shape as it has been crumpled and bent and the image is not that clear. At the bottom, Charlotte has written, “Me and My Father.” She looks to be about nine or ten years old to me. Since she was born in 1919, that would be put this photo around 1928 or 1929. On the 1930 census, they lived at 43 Townsend Street, Port Chester, NY. I wrote about this on an earlier post: Why Port Chester?

And that address is what is written on the back of the photo.

This image is about ninety years old. Charlotte had many health problems and yet she lived longer than her cousins Murray and Eileen (Isidore and Celia Scheshko’s children). She passed away 19 December 2007 in Stamford, Connecticut.