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My mother
Sara Fryher ( nee Rapoport ), age 23
Born in Kremenchug, Ukraine
1939
Photo taken in Tel Aviv.
Also kept by Gedalia Rapoport in Russia.
The following are the only photographs I have of,
Raisa ( Risha ) Rapoport ( nee Nachatovich )
On the verandah in Jablonna, Poland
1939
1938 ?
The Great Synagogue in Warsaw.
Raisa, 3rd. from right
1939
In Legionowo
1939
1939
My Hypothesis :
With the death of both his parents, Leizer Rapoport ( Sara's father ), in about 1900-1905, decided to leave Kovno Lithuania and travel to Kremenchug in the Ukraine.
Leizer's sister travelled to Riga Latvia and married an Abramovich.(*)
Some brothers went to Warsaw Poland.
The reasons for Leizer leaving were ( maybe ) :-
- Some family members were already there
- There was already some correspondence with Raisa
- Economic persecution in Kovno
Leizer married Raisa in about 1905-1910 in the Kremenchug area.
Note:
- There is no documentation of their marriage in Kovno
- Nachatovich is a name "found" in the Poltavia Gubernia ( of which Kremenchug is a city )
- Raisa's sister married a Zlotopolski in Kremenchug(*)
( Zlotopolski is a name "found" in that area )
In approximately 1910 Izaak Rapoport is born
In approximately 1916 Sara and Pessach ( the twins ) were born
Because of civil war and pogroms the family left for Warsaw in about 1918-1920.
Leizer's brothers/cousins set up their businesses there already.
Gedalia was born in Warsaw about 1919-1920.
(*)
The only face to face talk I had with my mother about her family.
She even wrote down a "Zlotopolsky" and I managed to scribble down some relationships.
There was a Doba Rapoport married to a Hirsh Abramowitch in Riga.
Jewish Marriages in Riga, 1854-1921
| Groom | Bride | Year of Marriage |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| ABRAMOWITSCH, Hirsch | RAPOPORT, Doba | 1902 |
But a Doba , not a Mira.
On a map.
The travelling Rapoports.
The Address in Jablonna, Poland, as discovered on an envelope.
About Villa Gallowej.
The Rapoport either owned or rented this villa. They spent most of their time there.
They also owned an apartment at Mylna 5 in Warsaw.
They were well off. Eliezer Rapoport was in the jewellery business.
From Sara's address book.
Note that her future husband was a neighbour of hers. Her future father-in-law was Rabbi Yosef Fryher who "ran" a small synagogue at Mylna 1.
Kremenchuk, Ukraine
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| Jewish Population in 1900: | 29,768 (in 1897) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: | Ukrainian: Кременчук. In central Ukraine, on the Dnieper. 65 miles NE of Kirovohrad (Elizavetgrad), 63 miles SW of Poltava. |
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From the "Jewish Virtual Library"--
KREMENCHUG
KREMENCHUG, Poltava district, in Ukraine. The earliest information on Jewish settlement in Kremenchug dates from 1782; 454 Jews were registered as poll-tax payers in the district of Kremenchug in 1801. In accordance with the policy "of directing the Jews toward productive professions," the Russian government opened a weaving mill in the city in 1809, designed to teach this craft to Jews who lacked a profession. The number of Jews employed in the mill in 1810, together with the members of their families, amounted to 232. After this date the Jews began to leave the mill because of the difficult conditions there, and in 1817 it closed down. Later in the 19th century, the Jewish population increased rapidly, as a result of emigration from the northwestern provinces of Russia to the southeastern ones. In 1847 there were 3,475 Jews registered in the community of Kremenchug, while by 1897 there was a large Jewish population of 29,869 persons (47% of the total population). The Jews played a most important role in the economic development of the town, especially in the grain and timber trades and the manufacture of tobacco. They owned ten sawmills and several tobacco factories. Early in the 19th century a Jewish hospital was opened, and in 1844 a Chabad yeshivah was established. By the end of the century, there were two talmudei torah, one with carpentry and metalworking classes, and Jewish private schools for boys and girls. During World War I, the yeshivot of *Lubavich and *Slobodka (from Kovno) were transferred to Kremenchug. Pogroms were staged in October 1905, in April 1918 by armed bands of Grigoryev, and in August 1919 by the soldiers of the "Volunteer Army" of General *Denikin. In the 1920s the Jews made up 50% of the workers in the factories, and about 75% in tobacco production, shoes, and carpentry. In the 1930s there were two Jewish schools and an electro-mechanical college. In 1926 there were 28,969 Jews (49.2% of the total) living in the town.
In February, 1939, Sara emigrated to Israel.
Raisa wrote to her in YIDDISH , the common language of the Jews of the Pale of Settlement.
In April, 1940, the final letter Sara received, Raisa wrote in Russian. Was that knowledge from her Ukrainian background?
The translation:
My dear Sara and Noach.......and lovely granddaughter.
I am anxiously awaiting a letter from you as we still do not know the name of your daughter. Please write what are your news and how are you feeling. Dad and I are well. Our only wish is to receive a letter from you.
Stay well, we are wishing you all the best.
Mum, Rysha.
