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Shapiro (Shklov, Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad)

My great-great-grandfather was Itzek Shapiro from Shklov. Searching for relatives with the surname Shapiro is not an easy task. In addition, very few archival records from Shklov have survived.

Itzek’s father was Abram-Shaya. According to the only reasonably reliable document, Itzek was married to Sura-Rivka Zusman.

They had children: Abram-Shaya, Tsipa (or Tsilya), Gerszon, and Leyzer-Movsha (my great-grandfather Moisey).

More or less detailed information is known about them. But there is an inconsistency regarding Sura-Rivka. In the survivor card of Gerszon, who survived the war in Warsaw, the parents are listed as Itzek and Sura Livshitz. Why Livshitz suddenly appears is unclear.

Podoksik family (Belynichi; Moscow; Leningrad, Saint Petersburg)

Among Itzek’s children, only Moisey and Tsipa left living descendants. I would very much like to find descendants of Tsipa (married surname Podoksik). My grandfather Isaac Moiseyevich Shapiro kept in touch with them, but unfortunately he did not manage to introduce me to them, and I do not even know their names. Tsipa was married to Berka Podoksik, and their children were Yevsey (Ishiye), Moisey (Meyshe), Saveliy (Seel), and Emma (Esther). Descendants of Emma Borisovna Podoksik lived (I hope still live) in Moscow. Unfortunately, I do not know either her married surname or the names of her children. Moisey Borisovich Podoksik apparently lived in Leningrad. I know nothing more about them.

Raskin family (New York)

According to the recollections of Moisey Shapiro, Itzek had a sister (name not mentioned) who emigrated to the USA. I think I found this branch. These are the Raskins from New York. Unfortunately, searching for Raskins in New York is not much easier than searching for Shapiros. Especially since I know only deceased members of this family: Joseph, Alice / Sarah / Sadie, Sonia (Shapiro), Ida, Hannah, Albert Samuel, Charles Louis, Jacob, and Gussie Deborah. I know quite a bit about them (from published US censuses and documents I obtained related to Gerszon’s move to New York after the war), but nothing at all about living descendants.

Their tree is also on FamilySearch (link), but I do not know how reliable it is. At least one error is there: Albert Samuel is listed twice, as Albert and as Samuel. In addition, it is completely unclear who was Itzek’s sister: Joseph’s wife or his mother. According to FamilySearch, both of their maiden names were Shapiro. Most likely this is an error. It is also unclear what her actual name was. Different documents mention Alice, Sarah, Sadie, and Chaya (see screenshot). I would very much like to find their living descendants!

More Shapiros (Warsaw, Moscow, Leningrad, Gomel)

According to Moisey’s recollections, Itzek also had two brothers, both in Warsaw. Their names are unknown. One of them had two daughters and two sons. One son was named Abram Shapiro (engineer, Moscow). He had a daughter Rita, who taught English at MAI. She had a daughter who studied at the Gnessin School. The second son was named Isaac (Leningrad). About the daughters I only know that one lived in Saint Petersburg and the other in Gomel.