Kamenetsky Family from Mir |
Sheina CONNOK married Aaron KAMENETSKY (also spelled, Comiensky) before 1875 in Mir, Belarus. They had six children Baila, Bashe, Jakov, Ethel, David, and Malke. Sheina ran a tavern/pub in the market place. It was later passed to her daughter Bashe. After Bashe and her family emigrated to South Africa, the business was run by Sheina's daughter Malke. |
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Baila Kamenetsky Horowitz
in Chicago, 1960s |
Horowitz boys in Chicago |
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Baila, the oldest, (1875-1971) married Gherson HOROWITZ in Mir. Their chilldren included three boys, born in Mir. The family emigrated to Chicago in 1912. The boys English names were Abe, Harry and Jerry. The photo was taken about 1918 in the US. |
Bashe (c. 1877-1967) married Israël BELSKY in Mir.( Israel was from Warsaw). The photo of Bashe (on the far right) was taken around the time of her marriage. Israel went to the diamond diggings in Kimberley, South Africa and died there in 1904 at the age of 23.
Bashe Kamenetsky Belsky
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Yisroel Leib Belsky
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Bashe and Yisroel had a daughter named Chaya (1901 Mir-1994 Benoni, South Africa). Chaya married Dovid DANCIG in Mir. The children of Chaya and Dovid Dancig were Brocha (later Bee Joffin) (born in Mir 1927), Israel (Danny) and Sonia.
 
left: Dovid Dancig in Mir cemetery
right: Baby Brocha and mother Chaya Belsky Dancig,
Mir 1928
The Dancig family emigrated in 1928, taking Chaya's mother Bashe with them to South Africa. On their way, they stopped in London to visit with Ethel and her family.
There are additional photos of the Dancig family and friends in Mir, including theatrical performances from the 1920s. |
Tombstone of Yisroel Belsky/Israel Belske in Kimberly, South Africa
click to see full size image
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Jakov Kamenetsky, the oldest son of Sheina and Aaron Kamenetsky, married another Mir resident named Mira who was a distant relative. Their children were Aaron, Abe/Arele, Helen, Clara and Oscar. The family emigrated to Los Angeles and changed the family name to Keimon.
Arele Keimon
photo 1940s USA |
Oscar Keimon (1914-1984)
photo 1975 Los Angeles CA |
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Ethel (Alte) (1885-1957) married Israel (Nochum) COHEN/KAPLAN (1883-1953) who was also born in Mir. Their daughter Rachel was born 10 May 1905 in Mir.
The family emigrated to England. Israel Cohen emigrated from Mir to London in 1904. Ethel followed in 1906 with their daughter Rachel. Ethel and Israel's second daughter Anne was born in London. (Note: the last name on Anne's birth certificate was Kaplan not Cohen. Perhaps the name was changed later?) Other children were John/Jehuda and Harry.
Ethel and Israel Cohen survived, but most of their family pictures were destroyed in the Blitz. Their house was bombed on 20 April 1941 when 1,000 tons of high explosives and 153,000 incendiaries fell on their East End neighborhood in London.
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Ethel and Israel Cohen in London |
Rachel Cohen in England.
She lived to age 79, and died in Brighton, UK on 8 Feb 1984.
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David (b. abt 1885) visited his sister Ethel and her family in London before he went to the United States in 1911. He is listed as a bookmaker on the ship's manifest. David had hopes of setting up a movie theater in Mir on his return from the United States, but was not successful. He married Khalia (1880-1941) in Mir and they had several children. None of his family survived.
Their son Aharon (1916-194?) became a merchant in Mir and during the war served in the Soviet military forces. Their daughter Khana/Hannah (1918-1942) died in Nowogrodek.
David
(left) with daughter Khana/Hannah and wife Khalia (right) in a family New Year card
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Children of David
Standing centre-Aharon (1916-1941)
Standing left- Sonia (1919-1942)
Sitting right- Hannah
Sitting left- ?
Standing right-cousin Aharon Koch
(son of Malka & Jacob Koch) |
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Malke (1890-1941) married Jacob KOCH. They had four children. (See photo on right from Mir, 1938.)
Malke was widowed young. Her two oldest children joined the partisans, where the younger one was killed. Isser/Israel, who had been in the Mir ghetto was 19 when he died. The older son, Arel, survived, went to Israel after the war and at age 90 is still living there. He provided the family information available at Yad Vashem.
Malke, Leibel (1930-1941) lower left and Hannah (1928-1941) lower right were killed in Mir. |
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| KAMENETSKY Family |
| Aaron Kamenetsky & Sheina Connok Kamenetsky |
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Baila & Gherson Horowitz |
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Abe |
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Harry |
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Jerry |
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Bashe & Israel Belsky |
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Chaya & David Dancig |
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Brocha |
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Israel/(Danny |
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Sonia |
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Jakov & Mira |
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Aaron |
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Arele/Abe Keimon |
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Helen |
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Clara |
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Oscar Keimon |
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Ethel & Israel/Nochum Cohen |
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Rachel |
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Anne & Joseph Kerman |
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Ken |
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John/Jehuda (last name changed to Conway) |
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Harry (last name changed to Conway) |
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Peter |
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David & Khalia |
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Aharon |
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Sonia |
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Hannah/Khana |
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? |
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Malke & Jacob Koch |
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Arel (died) |
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Isser/Israel |
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Leibel |
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Hannah |
Information about the family and their photos has been provided by Bee Joffin (died 23 September 2014), daughter of Chaya & David Dancig and her cousin Ken Kerman (died 17 November 2023) whose mother was London born Anne Cohen/Kaplan.
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