Irvin and Goldie Jean as teenagers. This old photo belonged to their cousin, Rosita Kaplin, whose daughter, and my dear friend, Jackie Posnansky just gave it to me.

A FAMILY TREE

Below is a beautiful hand-drawn family tree from David Wasserman, 

showing the generations of our family back to our Polish ancestors, 

Zelman Meekorborsky and Leyb Finkielsteyn. 

David says of this work:

This family tree clearly showing the relationship of the Abramsons to the Hollanderskys, and then Plattuses.  It also shows, of course, Mimi Bessie's relationship to Abbie Abramson through his daughter Anna from his first marriage.  It clearly depicts the relationship of Abe Hollandersky to the Plattuses and back to Abbie Abramson.  

It also shows the Hollanderskys more distant relationship to Jerry Abramson through Gitla Meekaborsky Finkielsteyn, Abbie Abramson’s sister, according to Aubrey Abramson’s notes.  I think it is possible that Rabbi Finkielsteyn lived a very long life, or it might have been Peretz Hollandersky.  Abe said his grandfather lived over one hundred years in his book, though I take that with a grain of salt. . . . Logically, this would have been the Rabbi, since Peretz would have had children named for him, Perry Hollandersky, and Perry Plattus, long before his death if he had lived this long.  We are not completely certain of Peretz’s birth date, but we think around 1812, the same year as Rabbi Finkielsteyn, which we are more certain of.

Jerry Abramson was descended from a child of Abbie Abramson's second marriage.  So Abbie Abramson was related to the Hollanderskys through Gitla Meekaborsky Finkielsteyn, the Rabbi's wife, and Falk Hollandersky's mother-in-law. This background may explain why Falk was one of the last highly religious Hollanderskys.  There is also a small, but interesting chance that Morris Plattus was named after his mother's grandfather Mowsza (Moshe) Finkielsteyn, as Morris's Hebrew name was Moshe. It would not be to difficult to trace our ancestors back to the 1700's through either Mowsza Finkielsteyn (bc 1812) or Peretz Hollandersky (Ollender?), the oldest ancestors.  We do know the name of Moshe Finkielsteyn's father who would have been born in the 1700's for sure.

Anyway, this family tree took several months of research, and a large team of people to come up with this including Aubrey Abramson, Perry Plattus, Linda Hollandersky Speer, and most importantly Marlene Silverman, the geneologist who found the more critical Polish records.

Photos from the Old OLD Days

Here are the scans I've been promising, of the old folks in the Old World, the Still Pretty New World, and the Rapidly Aging World. Happy New Year to everyone in whatever world you may find yourself, and enjoy the pictures.


Great-grandpa Joe Wasserman drives into Louisville, but what year? Who is with him in that old-time buggy? I think the woman with glasses in back looks like Aunt Rose Krenitz, Mimi Sarah's sister; could the woman next to Grandpa Joe be Aunt Bassie Uroper? Stan thinks the little girl sitting on the hood is Aunt Goldie! It's not impossible that the older woman in back is Joe's mother, Great-great-grandmother Fannie, who came from Russia with Uncle Nathan when Irvin was a boy. Since she came in 1925, and the little girl seems to be about 4 (Goldie Jean was born in 1923), the photo could be dated ca. 1927. If anyone has an idea, please contribute!

Jeanne in May 1948: is she going to her prom? Is this photo from Louisville or Syracuse?

Aunt Goldie Jean, Minnie Thompson, and Grandpa Irvin. Looks like prom night, again.

This 1904 photograph has Mimi's handwriting on the back:

Charles Levitch, B. 1894
Sarah Levitch Wasserman B. 1986.
Age 8

Jeanne told me this picture was of Joseph Wasserman as a child in Russia.

Grandpa Joe and Mimi Sarah, in front of their stone house on Kings Highway, Louisville, Kentucky, in the fifties.

March 14, 1965, from the Louisville Courier-Journal

The family gathers in the living room of 2545 Seneca Drive, as a staff photographer from the hometown paper takes a picture. This was Stan's bar mitzvah year; Rosanne was 12; David 9; Bobby 6. Jeanne was 34, and Irvin, with his wonderful V-neck sweater and Goya classical guitar, was almost 46.

Sunrise sunset, sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly flow the days,
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as they gaze...
Sunrise sunset, sunrise, sunset!
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.

Our Old Kentucky Homes

2545 Kings Highway

Mimi Sarah and Poppa Joe's House

Mimi Bessie and Grandpa Morris's House

2545 Seneca Drive

3006 Hayfield Drive

Thanks to the street views on Google Maps!