The Brecher Family
A family history in records, photographs and memory
Felsőbánya · Kapnik · Sighet · Rădăuți · Siret · Chyrów · Dobromil · Berlin · the Bronx · Monsey
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A family history
The Brecher Family
From the Kohanim of Bukovina and the mining towns of Maramureș, from Chyrów, Dobromil and Berlin, to the Bronx and Monsey.
- 322
- ancestors & relatives
- 642
- photos & records
- 7
- generations back from the four siblings
Picture: Felsőbánya in the 1910s, the town where David and Esther Brecher raised their children. — Contemporary postcard view
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The family story
The Brechers were Kohanim. In the nineteenth century their names appear in the registers of Siret and Rădăuți in Bukovina, and in Maramureș — the mining towns of Kapnik and Felsőbánya, and Sighet. Anne’s family, the Wahrsagers and Ungers, came from Chyrów and Dobromil in Galicia and lived in Berlin before America.
Alex Brecher, born in Felsőbánya in 1910, and Anne Wahrsager married in the Bronx in 1938. Their children are Yosef Osher Gavriel, Meir (Myron), Yehuda Aryeh (Leiby) and Freidy; the family went on from the Bronx to Monsey. Many of those who stayed in Europe were murdered in the Holocaust; their names are remembered here.
The Bronx, 16 March 1938
Alex (Shimshon) Brecher & Anne (Chana Pessel) Wahrsager
Alex, born in Felsőbánya in 1910, and Anne, born in Germany, took out their marriage licence in the Bronx (no. 1991). Their children: Yosef Osher Gavriel, Meir (Myron), Yehuda Aryeh (Leiby), Freidy (Frida Dvora).
Watch the family film (18 min)
A narrated history, told from Yosef Osher Gavriel, Meir, Leiby and Freidy back one generation at a time: Alex and Anne; David and Esther in Felsőbánya, the Bronx and Monsey; Meir Brecher and Freide Frohner of Kapnik and Sighet; the older Brechers of Siret and Rădăuți; and the Wahrsagers and Ungers of Chyrów, Dobromil and Berlin. The original records and photos appear on screen with their credits; subtitles are burned in.
The family lines
Alex & Anne Brecher
Felsőbánya · Berlin · the Bronx · Monsey · Borough Park Read the family → Felsőbánya and the BronxDavid & Esther Brecher
Felsőbánya · Nagybánya · Trieste · the Bronx · Monsey · Spring Valley Read the family → Kapnikbánya, Nagybánya and SighetMeir Brecher & Freide Frohner
Kapnikbánya · Nagybánya · Sighet · Szurdok · Radautz · the Lower East Side Read the family → Eisig Brecher of Rădăuți and the Kohanim of SiretThe Older Brechers in Bukovina
Siret · Rădăuți · Volovăț · Gura Humorului · Banila · Stryj Read the family → Chyrów, Dobromil, Berlin and the BronxWahrsager & Unger
Chyrów · Dobromil · Kraków · Vienna · Berlin · the Bronx · Jerusalem Read the family → Beth Moses, Beth David, Lakeside Memorial Park and Har HaMenuchotResting Places
New York · Florida · Jerusalem Read the family →From the family book
Highlights
- Alex (Shimshon) Brecher, the siblings’ father, was born in Felsőbánya on 4 September 1910 — act 128 of the town’s civil birth register. Confirmed
- David and Esther Brecher sailed from Trieste on the SS Vulcania with their four children and reached New York on 31 December 1928. Confirmed
- R’ Asher HaKohen Brecher, David’s brother, was head gabbai of the Kosov kloiz in Sighet; he died on 29 Tishrei 5701 (31 October 1940). Confirmed
- Eisig Brecher’s mother Rivka was a daughter of R’ Yaakov Zeev, Av Beit Din of Sereth, who died in 1844 “aged eighty”. Likely
- Anne’s parents, Elias (Elisha) Wahrsager of Chyrów and Malka née Unger of Dobromil, came by way of Berlin to the Bronx. Confirmed
- New: a witness signature “Eisig Brecher” in the Rădăuți marriage register, 19 November 1902 — perhaps our Eisig’s own hand (Possible, leaning Likely). Possible–Likely
How to read this site
Every person and every record carries the label the family book gives it. Confirmed: the record itself was read and names the person. Likely: one good record or a careful index supports it. Possible: the identity or the family link fits by name, place and date but is not yet proven.
A living record
Everything here comes from the family book, The Brecher Family; new finds will be added as they are read. Living members of the family appear by name and relation only.