Poland, Zuromin.
The first child of Mendel and Sura is a daughter Laja (Leah), born on the 20th of july 1865. Laja (Leah) will married Mordecai Gruszka, a merchant (a horse trader, as a zurominer told Monica). Laja and Mordecai will have 6 children all born in Zuromin : Moritz, Judith, Selma, Mania, Leiser and Klara Gruszka. Three of them Moritz, Judith and Klara, and a grand-son Yocheved will perished in the holocaust.
Moritz Gruszka. We know almost nothing about Moritz, not even if he had descendants.
Judith Gruszka. Thanks to Sol Plotka, who contacted Monica Seeber through Jewishgen, we know the names of Judith's children and grand-children. Sol Plotka is a Zurominer who knew well the Gruschka families. The little we know today is here : Motek, Judith's eldest son, went to Venezuela and his children were all born there, though they now live in the USA and one in Israel.
Selma Gruszka married Bernard Sonnabend in Zuromin in the late 1910s. The wedding of Selma and Bernard in Zuromin was grand - It is said that it lasted one week ! Selma left Zuromin with her husband and 3 or 4 years old Fred to Dresden, Germany in 1922 or 1923. They also lived in Strasbourg where Mireille was born. Bernard went to Rhodesia in 1934. Selma and her daughter Mireille were living in Paris at that time, then they followed Bernard to Rhodesia in 1937.
Mania Gruszka left Zuromin for Paris (?). Mania and her husband Francis Bott, an artist, lived for a while in Brussels with Dvora Ryzow (her first degre cousin) and Joseph Tac (Tatz) before going back to Paris. They were living in boulevard de Grenelle in an artist's garret. Betty Tac ( Dvora's daughter) and Jacky Kerszberg visited them in 1950 during their honeymoon. Gouaches and charcoals of Francis Bott are still displayed on Betty's wall in Brussels, at Monica's in Johannesburg and at Monique's, Fred's and Mireille's homes.
Leiser Gruszka left Zuromin as a young man for Dresden and Berlin, then went to London in 1933 where his daugther Monica was born. Leiser and his family live then in Wimborne Mansions, Glenloach road, Belsize Park in the flat right above Celia Ritoff, his cousin. In 1951 Leiser emigrated to Bulawayo in Rhodesia where his sister Selma had already settled.
Klara Gruszka went to France in 19??. Klara and her husband Leo Frank perished in Auschwitz. Their daughter Monique lives in London.
| Second generation : Leah Ryzow and Mordecai Gruszka |
| 3rd generation | 4th generation | 5th generation | 6th generation |
| 1. Moritz Gruszka born 18??, Not known if he ever married or had children, Perished in the holocaust | ?? | ||
| 2. Judith Gruszka, born 18??, married a Mr Popiol, died in Auschwitz or Warsaw ghetto | Moshe Popiol,
born 1912 in Zuromin (Russia that year). Moshe died in 1977 in Israel married in 1943 or 1944 to Soshana Pergament, born in 1913 in Dubienka (Russia that year). She died in 1990. |
Mordecai (Moty) Popiol, born 1945 married Ilana. They live in Ramat-Hasharon (Israel) | Tomer Popiol, born 1972 |
| Dekel Popiol, born 1976 | |||
| Avigdor Efrat (changed from Popiol), born 1950, married Michaela in 1976 | Dana Efrat, born 1979 | ||
| Eyal Efrat, born 1981 | |||
| Edna Popiol, born 1952 in Tel-Aviv, married to Beny Sivan in 1974 | Offir Sivan, born 1975 | ||
| Mayan Sivan, born 1978 | |||
| Lior Sivan, born 1985 | Motek (Mietek) Popiol, born 1923, survived Auschwitz, married Celia Schnaider | Victor Popiol, born 1964, married Yasmin, lives in Florida | Yocheved Popiol born 1988, Florida |
| Mordechai Moshe (Motty) Popiol born 1995, Florida | |||
| Judith Popiol, born 1965, lives in Raamana, Israel | Miguel Rafael Toledano Popiol, born in 1990 | ||
| Leonardo Popiol, born in 1974, married Ines, lives in Florida | |||
| Yocheved Popiol, born ??, died in the holocaust | |||
| Ruth Popiol, born ??, lives in Israel | |||
| 3. Selma Gruszka, born 18??, married Bernard Sonnabend in Zuromin, went Dresden in 1922 or 1923, then to France, then to Bulawayo, Rhodesia in 1937 | Fred Sonnabend, born 1919 in Zuromin (he left when he was 3 or 4), first married Gracia Manashe, then Teresa ?, lives in San Diego | ||
| Mireille Sonnabend, born c1930 in Strasbourg, married Fred Feinstein, lives in Johannesburg | Sharon Feinstein, born ??, lives in London | Lara Feinstein, born in ?? | |
| Michelle Feinstein, born ??, married Solly Kramer, died c1995 | Stacey Kramer, born in ?? | ||
| Kelly Kramer, born in ?? | |||
| David Kramer, born in ?? | |||
| 4. Mania Gruszka, born 18??, lived in Bruxelles and Paris, married Francis Bott (a painter). Mania died in 1961 in Basel (Switzerland) | |||
| 5. Leiser Gruschka, born 1900 in Zuromin, married Judith Goron, lived in Berlin, after 1933 in London, then Bulawayo Rhodesia from 1951. Leiser died in 1961 | Monica Gruschka, born 1939 in London, married Anthony Seeber. Lives in Johannesburg | Jeremy Seeber, born 1966 in Bulawayo, married Janet Smith. Lives in London | Angela Seeber, born in 1989 in Pretoria, lives in Johannesburg |
| Nathanael Seeber, born in 1991 in Pretoria, lives in Johannesburg | |||
| Gabriel Seeber, born in 1969 in Bulawayo, married Sabina Gutjahr, lives in Johannesburg | Julian Seeber, born 1996 in Johannesburg | ||
| Lola Seeber, born 1998 in Johannesburg | |||
| 6. Klara Gruszka, born 19??, married Leo Frank in ??. Klara and her husband both died in Auschwitz | Monique Frank, born 1939 in France. Married David Blake, lives in London | Laurence Blake, born 1963, married Tracy Rosenbaum | Joshua Benjamin Blake, born 30th July 1997 |
| Keziah Hannah Blake, born 23rd Seprember 1999 | |||
| Keven Blake, born 1966, married Ingrid Copperman | Antony Morgan Blake, born 30th July 1995 | ||
| Charles James Blake, born in 30th March 1998 |