Chaim Blei: Son of Seli from Debica

Chaim-Efraim Blei was born in 1844 in Sadagora, just north of Czernowitz. Chaim’s father Shimon Dov ha-Levi (Levi tribe) Blei likely emigrated to the area from a town called Dembica, as the marriage record reads that the groom is “son of Selig Blei from Dembica”. This could be Debica, Poland, which was part of the province of Lesser Poland, part of the Sandomierz Voivodeship.

Debica and the origin of the surname Blei

Evidence of a Jewish community of Debica, Poland dates back to the 1600s, where, according to author Daniel Liebel in his History of the Jews of Dembitz, the fees for the Jewish slaughter of animals was included in a butcher’s guild charter. In the first Polish census of the area in 1764, there were 911 Jews in residence – though this was probably not accurate and there were many more who avoided the census taker as a matter of course. In that census, the professions of the Jews included one grain dealer, 1 cantor, several teachers and tradespeople and 1 medic. In 1773 the region became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (known as Galicia.)

In 1787, Ashkenazi Jews were required to take German surnames by the Holy Roman Emporor Joseph II – to promote assimilation. “Blei” translates into “lead” or “lead worker” in German – so might explain the origin of this surname in my family. This is all just an educated guess on my part. My research of early Galicia records shows many with the name Blei.

According to researcher Mimi Taylor, in her History of Jewish settlement in the Bukowina, the increase in the Jewish population of the Bukovina in the mid 1800s can be attributed to immigration from Galicia and other areas where Jews had fewer civil rights and were subject to discrimination by the Polish majority who wanted to break away from Austro-Hungary.

Life in Sadagora

Sadagora is to the north of Czernowitz, across the Prut river. When Chaim was born there in 1844, the town was part of Austria, as was Czernowitz. Sadagora was a Jewish cultural center, surrounded by over ten communities  with shifting borders: Rohozna, Neu-Zuczka, Cameral-Lenkoutz, Privat-Lenkoutz, Bila, Buda, Unter-Szeroutz, Szubranetz, Zadobrowka, Waschkoutz, Czernawka, Rarancze, Toporoutz, and Dobronoutz.

A great synagogue and weekly market were part of local life. Citizen life centered around the market, with many merchants, makers of shoes, clothing, bread, butchers, barbers and street vendors, and coachmen handling passengers and goods traveling between Sadagora and the bigger city of Czernowitz across the Prut river.

According to the Czernowitz chapter of the book “On the history of the Jews in Czernowitz“, an event of crucial importance for the Jews in Austria was the passing of the Land Ownership law on December 21, 1867, bringing the right for Jews to own land and move freely within Austria. This brought on an increase in the Jewish population. In the year following the passing of the law allowing Jewish land ownership,

Marriage and Children

On 2 June 1868, Chaim Blei married Chana Rose Stanger in the Czernowitz area. The rabbi was Dr. Lazar Igel, who was known to be a free thinker and a divisive figure in the religious community.

For the next twenty years, a ridiculous number of children are credited to Chaim and Rose. They say that fresh country air is stimulating, or perhaps Chaim and Rose did not have very much in common, so needed diversion.

• 1870 – Brane Blei is born
• 1871 – Samson Selig Blei is born on 8 May (my great-grandfather). Samson goes on to marry Golde Sandberg in 1897, and has children (Sigmund, Samuel, Ettel (my grandmother), Isidor, Adolph, Mina and Regina).
• 1873 – Leon Leib Blei is born, on 27 April. He married Marjem Freiberg in 1897 and they had six children. Lieb and Marjem both died at the Bug river in Transnistria.
• 1875 – Ester Marjem is born (and died the same year, on 10 July)
• 1877 – Mordche Blei is born, 20 March (his short life ended on 15 April of the same year)
• 1878 – Chaja Blei is born listed as “unehelich” (illegitimate) and died on 23 July the same year.
• 1879 – Rebeca Blei is born
• 1881 – Beile Blei is born
• 1885 – Ruchel Blei is born
• 1887 – Samuel Blei is born, and a person of the same name married a Flora Kreisler in 1911. He worked as a barber in the inner city on Strada Romana in 1936. There may have been a son, Bernhard, born in 1913.
• 1889 – Josef Blei is born
• 1891 – Ettel Blei is born

Career

On his marriage license, Chaim is listed as working as a Kutscher (coachman). In the book History of the Jews in the Bukowina, there is a colorful scene from the life of a coachman, “There stood an old stone bridge over the Moszkow stream; this was also a waiting area for the wagon and carriage drivers, in other words, the hub of traffic, next to a considerable number of guest houses. One traveled from here to Czernowitz and to the Sadagura train station...The competition was fierce, and not uncommonly there were bloody fights among the drivers for the goodwill of the traveling public. The fights among the coachmen originating in their business competition were often waged with wagon parts and wheel wrenches, while at the same time providing the opportunity to settle long overdue family feuds.‘ Related: From the Ehpes Blog: Coach Ride in Czernowitz (photos)

By 1898, he was working as a Makler (estate agent). His business address was listed as  #3 Pumnulgasse (now Arona Pumnula Street.) This part of Chernivtsi is in a residential area, with the pretty, pink stone buildings reminiscent of Vienna, so probably built during Habsburg rule, from 1775 to 1918. Nearby, in present-day there is a small grocery store “Magazin Produkty.”

In the 1908 Czernowitz Census, Chaim was working from home as a Vermittler (mediator) at Jenknergasse #13. It appears to be a pretty rural lane with pink stucco cottages. There is a mention of Chaim Blei in an article in the newspaper “Bukowinaer Rundschau”, dated 6 July, 1906. He is listed in an article as part of the “Jewish Community Association of Czernowitz” along with names Anna Gruber, Johann Blazinsli, Josef Stein, Levi Honig, and others. LINK

In 1921 a mention of Chaim Blei appears in the newspaper Judische Presse – a German weekly reflecting an Orthodox viewpoint. Chaim is mentioned in a section headed, “Spendenausweis” (Proof of Donation) for “Judengruppe” (Group of Jews). Chaim died in 1924, in Czernowitz, and is buried in the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery, Area 109, Parcel 46b, Plot 177.