Meir Brecher & Freide Frohner

Meir Brecher and Freide Frohner

Kapnikbánya, Nagybánya and Sighet

Meir (Majer) Brecher HaKohen kept a tavern in Kapnikbánya (today Cavnic), a mining town in the hills above Nagybánya. A national directory of tradesmen and merchants printed in Budapest in 1892 lists him there, and in March 1900 a court notice in the Felsőbánya paper named “Brecher Mayer” among several people of Kapnikbánya. Meir’s grandson Shimshon (Alex) later named his own father in print as “David son of Meir”.

His wife Freide (Fani) was the daughter of József Frohner, a house-owner of Siret in Bukovina, and Reize Korber, which explains why their sons Asher and David were born in Siret; Freide herself was born in Siret about 1856 (Confirmed, from her death act). Freide died in Máramarossziget (Sighet) on 19 June 1900; the civil death act names her as the wife of Meir Brecher, tavern keeper of Kapnik. Meir was still in Siret when Asher and David were born there, about 1877 and in 1881, and had moved to Nagybánya by 1887, when Chaim Yehuda was born. In January 1906 Mayer Brecher of Kapnikbánya, then 54, signed as a witness at a wedding at Nagybánya, which places his birth about 1851–52 (Likely). In 1913 Meir was living in Nagybánya: his daughter Rosa gave “father Maier Brecher, Nagybánya” as her nearest relative when she sailed for New York. Rosa’s own New York death certificate of 1948 names her parents as Meyer Brecher and Frieda Froner.

The children of Meir and Freide known from the records are Asher, Rosa (Róza), David, and Markus (Mátyás), with Chaim Yehuda (b. 1887), Feige Rachel (b. 1890) and Jakob (b. 1893), who appear in the Jewish birth register of Nagybánya. Each family is followed in the pages below.

Meir Brecher HaKohen and his children

• Meir (Majer) Brecher HaKohen, b. c. 1851–52; tavern keeper of Kapnikbánya; living in Nagybánya 1913 = Freide (Fani) Frohner, b. c. 1856, Siret; d. 19 Jun 1900, Sighet; daughter of József Frohner of Siret and Reize Korber
• Asher (Uszer) HaKohen Brecher, b. Siret, c. 1876–77; of Sighet; d. 29 Tishrei 5701 (31 Oct 1940) = Pesel (Pepi) Kupferman
• Freida 1904, Tema 1906, Izsák (Yitzchak) 1909, József (Yosef) 1912, Farkas 1914, Lázár (Eliezer) 1916, Chaim Leib, Leah, David 1923
• Rosa (Róza) Brecher, b. Kapnikbánya; d. 7 Jul 1948, Brooklyn = Samuel Eilender, 1879–1937
• David Brecher, b. 20 Jul 1881, Siret; d. 3 Mar 1955 = Esther (Sheindel) Klein
• Markus (Mátyás) Brecher, b. 18 Feb 1886, Felsőbánya; wood merchant Likely
• Hugo Chaim 1921–2004, Fana Ruzena 1925
• Chaim Yehuda (Miksa) Brecher, b. 8 Dec 1887; d. probably 10 Feb 1940, Satu Mare = (1) Zali Grunberg, d. 1921; (2) Pessel, d. 1941 Likely
• Frida 1913, Elemér 1915, Izrael (d. 1924)
• Feige Rachel, b. 5 Jul 1890 · Jakob, b. 13 Apr 1893 Possible
• Meir’s brother: Abraham Brecher, b. 1864, Rădăuți; of New York = Miriam Langsner Likely

R’ Asher Brecher of Sighet

Asher, Pesel and their children

Asher (Uszer) Brecher, born in Siret, married Pepi (Pesel) Kupferman in Szurdok (Strâmtura) on 8 July 1902. The civil act names his parents as Majer Brecher and Fani Frohner. Pesel’s father, Izsák Kupferman, born in Kosów in Galicia, had died in Szurdok the year before. The family lived for a time in Felsőbánya, where their son Lázár was born in 1916, and then in Sighet.

In Sighet R’ Asher HaKohen Brecher was head gabbai of the Kosov kloiz, where his son R’ Yosef gave the daily Gemara shiur, as the Sighet memorial book records. He died on 29 Tishrei 5701 (31 October 1940) and was buried in Sighet. His printed spiritual will names him the son of Meir Brecher HaKohen and asks that his stone read “Asher ben Freide Brecher”. Pesel and their children Yitzchak (with his wife Frimet), Yosef, Leah and others were lost in 1944; their portraits are preserved in Holocaust memorial records.

The children of Asher and Pesel

Six of Asher and Pesel’s children appear in the civil birth registers. Five were born at Szurdok (Strâmtura), where Asher, recorded as born at Siret in Bukovina, is entered as a dealer in 1904 and 1906, a licensed liquor seller in 1909 and 1912 and a merchant in 1914: Freida on 23 October 1904, Tema on 20 August 1906, Izsák (Yitzchak) on 7 April 1909, József (Yosef) on 28 February 1912 and Farkas on 11 July 1914. Lázár (Eliezer) followed at Felsőbánya on 13 August 1916; Chaim Leib and Leah, whose portraits appear below, were younger, and a son David was born at Strâmtura in 1923. Notes in the margins of the birth acts record Freida’s marriage to Moses Wasserstrom at Sighet on 15 June 1931, Tema’s to Mihai (Chaim) Tabak at Sighet on 31 May 1934 and Yosef’s to Ida Grenstein in 1939; Yitzchak married Frimet Kreindler at Tiszabogdány on 24 June 1935. A son of Asher, R’ Nachum Ze’ev ben Asher HaKohen Brecher, survived the war and died in Bnei Brak on 24 Adar 5743 (9 March 1983) Confirmed; he was very probably Farkas Likely.

Children of Asher and Pesel Brecher

Freida	b. 23 Oct 1904, Szurdok (Strâmtura) Confirmed; = Moses (Moshe) Wasserstrom, Sighet, 15 Jun 1931 Likely
Tema	b. 20 Aug 1906, Szurdok Confirmed; = Mihai (Mihály, Chaim) Tabak, b. 22 Jan 1907, Bárdfalu (Berbești), Sighet, 31 May 1934 Likely
Izsák (Yitzchak)	b. 7 Apr 1909, Szurdok Confirmed; = Frimet (Frantiska) Kreindler, b. 18 May 1910, Tiszabogdány, 24 Jun 1935 Likely
József (Yosef)	b. 28 Feb 1912, Szurdok Confirmed; = Ida Grenstein, 20 Apr 1939 Likely
Farkas	b. 11 Jul 1914, Szurdok Confirmed; very probably the later R’ Nachum Ze’ev ben Asher HaKohen Brecher of Bnei Brak, d. 24 Adar 5743 (9 Mar 1983) Likely
Lázár (Eliezer)	b. 13 Aug 1916, Felsőbánya Confirmed; = Devora
Chaim Leib	portrait below Confirmed
Leah	portrait below Confirmed
David	b. 1923, Strâmtura (Sighet register of 1945, as indexed in the JewishGen Hungary database) Likely

Portraits of Asher’s family

Asher (User) Brecher and his wife Pepi, née Kupfermann, had sons named David and Moses (Moshe). A 1945 displaced-persons card and a 1947 list of survivors in Sweden record Moses as Asher’s son, born in Satu Mare Confirmed. These two were the nephews “David and Moshe Brecher” who signed a notice on R’ David Brecher’s death in March 1955.

Rosa and Samuel Eilender

Kapnikbánya to New York

Rosa (Róza) Brecher, Meir’s daughter, was born in Kapnikbánya and owned a share of a house there. Samuel Eilender, a merchant of the town and the son of Eliyahu (Elia) Eilender, a tailor of Felsővisó, and Eigye (Agnes), née Katz in the Felsővisó register (“Agnes Rosen” on his New York death certificate), was her husband. Their son Elemér was born in Kapnikbánya on 18 April 1907 and the twins József and Frida on 6 April 1909; in each act Samuel came before the registrar to acknowledge the children as his.

Samuel sailed from Hamburg on the SS Cleveland and reached Ellis Island on 25 July 1909, bound for his “uncle Abraham Brecher” at 185 Orchard Street; in December 1910 he declared his intention to become a citizen, giving his birth as 26 January 1877 in Felső Visó. The Jewish register of Felsővisó (Vișeu de Sus) records the birth of Samuel (Zeinvel), son of Elia Eilender, tailor, and Eigye née Katz, on 8 January 1877 (Confirmed); his sisters Eszter (Feiga), born in December 1867, Feiga, born in 1870, and Devora, born in 1873, appear in the same register (Likely). Eszter died in infancy in 1868 and Devora in 1876. Rosa arrived in New York on the SS Potsdam on 3 July 1913 with Elemér, József and Frida, joining Samuel at 178 Brook Avenue in the Bronx.

The family lived in the Bronx and later in Brooklyn, where Samuel worked as an insurance agent. Samuel (Shmuel Zanvel) died on 7 July 1937, at 2865 West 17th Street, Coney Island, and is buried in Beth David Cemetery, Elmont; that October their son, now Alex Eilender, married Anna Kiviat in the Bronx: the Paterson Jewish Post announced the engagement in September, reported a bridal shower given by the bride’s mother, with Rose and Frieda Eilender among the guests, and announced the wedding at the Burnside Manor on 24 October 1937, with the groom’s brother Joseph and his cousin Eugene Brecher among the ushers. In 1940 Rose lived at 2853 West 28th Street with Joseph and Frieda, and later at 5001 14th Avenue in Borough Park, where she died on 7 July 1948; she was buried in Beth David beside Samuel.

Alex (Elemér) Eilender’s first wife, Anne (Chana) née Kwiat, daughter of Solomon Kwiat and Bessie Halpern of Paterson, New Jersey, had been a public school teacher there; she died on 21 Adar 5704 (16 March 1944) and is buried in Congregation B’nai Israel Cemetery, Saddle Brook, New Jersey, leaving two daughters, Sandra and Norma (Confirmed). In 1950 Alex lived in Paterson with his second wife, Pauline (Pnina Perl) Eilender, née Kirschenbaum (8 September 1912 – 18 September 2005) Likely. Frida (Frieda), Joseph’s twin, married Isidor Geldzahler (born in Belgium, 13 May 1913; died in Brooklyn, October 1985) in Manhattan in 1953; she died in Brooklyn on 17 March 2005 (Likely). Joseph H. Eilender died in Los Angeles on 24 November 1982 (Likely). Rosa’s nephew Hugo Brecher, Markus’s son, later lived in the same house at 5001 14th Avenue, and Frieda was the witness to his naturalization.

Joseph H. Eilender’s death is recorded in the California death index, which gives his mother’s maiden name as Brecher; Alex Eilender’s death is recorded in the New Jersey death index for 1963.

Markus Brecher and Abraham Brecher

Felsőbánya, Radautz and the Lower East Side

Markus (Mátyás) Brecher, born in Felsőbánya on 18 February 1886, is recorded as a son of Meir and Freide. He was a wood merchant. He married Frida Moskovics at Taracköz in 1918 (Confirmed: their son’s Social Security record names his parents as Marcos Brecher and Frieda Moskowitz). A Lea Brecher was born in Felsőbánya in December 1918 to Mátyás Brecher, wood merchant, and a mother entered as Frida Herskovics. Their son Hugo Chaim Brecher was born in Felsőbánya (Baia Sprie) on 12 April 1921 by his naturalization papers (12 May 1921, at Baia Sprie, in the civil birth register; 12 May 1921, at Baia Mare, in his Social Security application; 15 May 1921 in the death index). He married Bertha, of Felsővisó, at Linz in 1946, reached New York on 27 February 1949, lived at 5001 14th Avenue in Brooklyn — the house of his aunt Rosa Eilender’s family — and was naturalized on 26 April 1955. He died in Brooklyn on 1 October 2004. A daughter of Markus and Frida, Fana Ruzena, was born in 1925 at Királymező (Ust-Chorna), when the family was living at Brașov. Confirmed A Márkus Brecher appears among the paying guests at a charity ball in Nagybánya in 1908. Meir’s son Jakob, born in 1893, may be the Jakab Brecher of the Nagybánya district listed by the conscription office in 1914, and the Jákob Brecher, merchant, who married Rozália Sapira in Felsőbánya on 5 May 1926.

Chaim Yehuda Brecher

Meir’s son Chaim Yehuda Brecher, born on 8 December 1887 and known in civil records as Miksa, married Zali (Szali) Grunberg, daughter of Markus Grunberg and Chaja née Katz. Their daughter Frida was born at Huszt in 1913 and their son Elemér there in 1915; a younger son, Izrael, died at Munkács in 1924. The family lived in Szatmár (Satu Mare). Zali died at Zugó in Bereg county on 17 October 1921, aged 31. Chaim Yehuda probably married again: a Chaim Yuda Brecher who died on 1 Adar I 5700 (10 February 1940) lies in the Orthodox cemetery of Satu Mare, section 16, and his wife Pessel, who died on 14 Iyar 5701 (11 May 1941), lies in the same section. Likely

Chaim Yehuda Brecher’s family Likely

Chaim Yehuda (Miksa)	b. 8 Dec 1887, Nagybánya register; of Huszt 1913–15, of Szatmár 1921–24; probably d. 1 Adar I 5700 (10 Feb 1940), Satu Mare
First wife	Zali (Szali) Grunberg, daughter of Markus Grunberg and Chaja née Katz; d. 17 Oct 1921, Zugó, aged 31
Children	Frida, b. 1913, Huszt · Elemér, b. 1915, Huszt · Izrael, d. 1924, Munkács
Second wife	Pessel, d. 14 Iyar 5701 (11 May 1941), Satu Mare
Source	Civil registers of Huszt, Zugó (Volovec) and Munkács, State Archive of Zakarpattia Oblast (Berehove), fonds 1606 and 1610, as indexed in the JewishGen Hungary database; Satu Mare Orthodox Jewish Cemetery burial register, JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry, records J_MARAMURE_0001124 and J_MARAMURE_0001132

Abraham Brecher in New York

Abraham Brecher, born about 1864 in Austria, was the “uncle Abraham Brecher” to whom Samuel Eilender travelled in 1909, and was a son of Eisig Brecher and Lea Bernstein of Rădăuți — a brother of Meir (Likely). He and his wife Miriam née Langsner, daughter of Mordechai Langsner, had children born in Rădăuți in Bukovina — Regina on 25 December 1891, Chaje (Ida) on 6 April 1893 and Mordke on 11 June 1897; they married there, according to the civil register, on 4 July 1892. Abraham landed in New York with his son Benjamin on 25 February 1904 on the Moltke, declared his intention to become a citizen in 1906 while living at 141 Stanton Street, and was naturalized in 1911. In 1920 the family lived on the Lower East Side with their daughter Ida (born about 1894), and in 1940 on East Fourth Street. Miriam died on 6 February 1944 and is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Queens.

Harry Brecher

Abraham and Miriam’s eldest child was Harry Brecher — Hersch in Yiddish, Binyamin Tzvi in Hebrew — born at Mihăileni, his mother’s home town, on 10 October 1888. In May 1910, a 21-year-old tailor, he sailed from Hamburg on the SS Amerika to join his father on Ludlow Street; the passenger list names his grandfather, Eisig Brecher, still living in Rădăuți, as his nearest relative at home — a record that ties Abraham to Eisig as father and son. Harry declared his intention to become a citizen on 21 November 1910 and filed his petition on 21 July 1915, with his father Abraham and his sister Ida signing as witnesses. On 27 August 1915 he married Mollie (Malka) Rudich, born in Bukovina on 22 December 1892, daughter of Selig (Asher Zelig) Rudich, a cutter, and Feige Lobel. In 1917 Harry was a sales clerk at J. B. Greenhut Co.; by 1942 he ran his own business in the Bronx. He died on 3 September 1962 and Mollie on 19 March 1980; they lie together in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, under a stone that calls him the son of “Avraham HaKohen Brecher”. Confirmed

Harry Brecher’s family Confirmed

Harry (Hersch, Binyamin Tzvi) Brecher	b. 10 Oct 1888, Mihăileni, on the Siret at the Bukovina–Romania border; arr. New York 28 May 1910; d. 3 Sep 1962; buried Montefiore Cemetery, Queens
Parents	Abraham (Avraham HaKohen) Brecher and Miriam Langsner
Grandfather	Eisig Brecher of Rădăuți, living in May 1910
Wife	Mollie (Malka) Rudich, b. 22 Dec 1892, Bukovina; m. 27 Aug 1915, Manhattan; d. 19 Mar 1980
Wife’s parents	Selig (Asher Zelig) Rudich, b. 15 Feb 1866, d. 23 Jul 1927, the Bronx · Feige (Fagie) née Lobel, b. 12 Sep 1866, d. 24 Apr 1944, the Bronx
Sources	SS Amerika passenger list 1910; New York County declaration 1910 and petition no. 52045 (1915); NYC marriage certificate no. 19380 (1915); draft cards 1917 and 1942; 1950 census; gravestone, Montefiore Cemetery; NYC death certificates of Selig and Feige Rudich

Ida

Abraham’s 1911 citizenship petition names the children then with him in New York, among them Harry and Ida. Ida was the Chaje born in Rădăuți on 6 April 1893. She came over with her mother on the SS Patricia in June 1907, worked as a dressmaker, and married Charles B. Schwartz (Kalman Baruch ben Moshe), a salesman born in Romania. They lived in Brooklyn; Ida died on 27 March 1976 and lies beside Charles in Mount Judah Cemetery, Queens, under a stone that reads “Chaya daughter of R’ Avraham HaKohen”. Confirmed

The civil registers of Rădăuți add another child of Abraham Brecher and Mirjam Langsner born there: Jakob Wolf (Yaakov Zeev), born 30 August 1900, who died on 13 June 1903. (Likely: Bukovina births and deaths index, JewishGen Romania Database.)

Leon Brecher of Baltimore

Abraham’s brother Riwen Mordko (Reuven Mordechai) also had a son in America. Jakob Leib Brecher, born on 15 September 1895 at Mănăstirea Humorului (Kloster Humor) in Bukovina, came to New York from Siret on the Rotterdam in January 1921, a student of 26 whose nearest relative at home was Marcus Brecher of Siret. He settled in Baltimore, was naturalized there on 2 March 1927 under the name Leo, and was known as Leon Brecher. He and his wife Fanny (Fruma Yetta) are buried in Shaarei Tfiloh Cemetery, Baltimore County; his stone reads “Yaakov Aryeh ben Mordechai Reuven HaKohen”, and gives his birth date exactly as the Bukovina register does. He died on 10 October 1988. Confirmed

Other Kohen Brechers from Siret

Siret was home to more than one family of Kohanim named Brecher, and several of them also reached New York. How they connect to the family of this book is not known; they are set apart here for that reason.

Related Siret Kohen Brechers in New York

Joseph Ira Brecher (Yosef ben Yaakov HaKohen)	b. 15 Jan 1883, Siret; arr. New York from Hamburg May 1899; son of Jacob W. Brecher and Bessie Rosenblatt; m. Annie Rita Jaffe (Chaya Rachel bat Shmuel, 1889–1981), Manhattan, 2 Jul 1911; d. 26 Oct 1973, aged 90; Mount Hebron Cemetery, Queens Confirmed
Max Brecher	b. 7 Apr 1872, Siret; a tailor and salesman in New York; son of Jacob Brecher and Sarah Landau; d. the Bronx, 24 Nov 1920 Confirmed
Josef Brecher (Yosef bar Yaakov HaKohen)	b. 4 Aug 1874, Siret; a clerk in Vienna; arr. New York July 1921 to join his nephew Morris Brecher; d. 11 Sep 1951, aged 77; Mount Hebron Cemetery, Queens; very probably Max’s brother Likely

12 people across 5 generations. Tap a name for the family card. Dashed lines: the person is graded Likely. People graded Possible are not drawn. Open this chart full size · interactive tree

• Confirmed Samuel Eilender’s First World War draft card, the Bronx, 12 Sep 1918: 1034 Tiffany Street, born 28 Dec 1878, a naturalized citizen, agent for the New York Life Insurance Co.; nearest relative his wife Rose.WWI draft registration cards, NARA M1509 (FamilySearch 1:1:W74X-FMW2)
• Likely The Eilenders in the 1915 New York State census, the Bronx: Samuel 37, Rose, and Alex (“Alemer”) 8, Frieda 6 and Joseph 6.NYS census 1915, Bronx, A.D. 30, E.D. 38, p. 98 (FamilySearch index 1:1:K9XG-Y3K)
• Confirmed R’ Asher and Pesel’s civil marriage at Szurdok, 8 Jul 1902 (act 29), read in full: Asher an innkeeper of Kapnikbánya, born at Sereth in 1877, son of Májer Brecher, innkeeper of Kapnikbánya, and the late Fáni Frohner; Pepi Kupfermann born at Szurdok on 10 December (1882 on the act; 10 Dec 1881 in her birth register), daughter of the late Izsák Kupfermann and Háni Lebovics. Pesel’s birth is now Confirmed.Strâmtura civil marriages 1902, act 29 (Romanian National Archives, Maramureș); JewishGen Máramaros births Book 564, p. 88 row 13
• Confirmed A new sister of Pesel: Szlova Kupferman, born at Szurdok on 6 May 1896. Her birth act gives their father Izsák as a grocer-merchant born at Kolomea, Galicia, about 1861 (his death act says Kosów, kept as a variant), and their mother Háni as born at Szurdok about 1864. Three more siblings from the Szurdok register — Perel (1887), Chajem Leb (1891) and Frajem Samuel (1894) — are Likely; József Jánkú (1898) and Amália (1900) are Confirmed from their own birth acts.Strâmtura civil marriages 1902 act 29 and births 1896 act 47 (Romanian National Archives, Maramureș); JewishGen Máramaros Vital Records index
• Likely Six more children of R’ Chaim Leib Lebovits, Chaya Rivka’s brothers and half-sisters, all born at Szurdok: Iczik (1873) and Salamon (1875) with his first wife Pessel; Szura (1881), Roza (1883), Joszef Jakob (1887) and Neche (1889) with his second wife Szilke Dub. His civil death entry (11 Mar 1891, aged 49, “spouse of Szilke Dub”) agrees with his stone (Confirmed).JewishGen Máramaros Vital Records index (births Books 564, 1100, 1101; marriages Books 31 and 235; deaths Book 1107)
• Confirmed Samuel Eilender’s mother Eigye Katz died at Felsővisó on 18 Jan 1877, aged 36, ten days after his birth. Two older children of the family, Alter (6) and Devojra (4), died there in December 1867, and a daughter Reize was born in Oct 1874 (these three Likely).JewishGen Máramaros Vital Records index, Felsővisó deaths Book 569 and births Book 565
• Confirmed Pessel (Perl) Brecher’s stone in the Orthodox cemetery of Satu Mare, plot 16-01-20, in the same row as her husband Chaim Yehuda: daughter of Eliezer, died 11 May 1941.szatmar.us Satu Mare Orthodox cemetery register, row ‘Brecher Perl’
• Confirmed Samuel Eilender’s declaration of intention, New York County, 9 Dec 1910: born at Felső Visó 26 Jan 1877, last residence Kapnik, arrived 26 Jul 1909 on the Cleveland.New York County declaration of intention no. 24099 (FamilySearch)
• Possible Benjámin Brecher, an agent, was 34 when his daughter Izabella was born in Nagybánya on 21 November 1918; her mother was Berta Sarfstein, also 34. A son, Jenő, was born there on 24 August 1917. Benjámin was born about 1884, which would fit Meir’s family, but the register gives neither his birthplace nor his parents.Nagybánya civil birth registers 1917 and 1918 (Maramureș county branch of the Romanian National Archives, online name index and register images)
• Searched The online name indexes of the civil registers of Kapnikbánya (births and marriages 1895–1909), Felsőbánya (from 1895) and Nagybánya (1895–1920) were read for Brecher, Frohner and Eilender. Every Brecher entry in Kapnik and Felsőbánya is already on the site; Nagybánya adds only Benjámin Brecher’s two children. Meir’s death was not found.Romanian National Archives, Maramureș county branch, online register indexes
• Likely Mayer (Meir) Brecher was a witness at three civil weddings of Kapnikbánya families registered in the Nagybánya district: 20 March 1904, 6 August 1905 and 28 January 1906 — he was still living in Kapnikbánya then.JewishGen Máramaros Vital Records, Marriages, Nagybánya district, 1904–1906 (Romanian National Archives, Baia Mare branch)
• Confirmed A portrait of R’ Asher Brecher exists: the Sighet memorial book prints his photograph in its Sighet chapter, p. 23, captioned “ר׳ אשר ברכר” (R’ Asher Brecher). It is the only known photograph of him. The book’s reuse terms are not stated, so the portrait is not copied here; it can be seen on the scanned page: https://archive.org/details/nybc314151/page/n182/mode/1upSefer Marmarosh (Tel Aviv: Bet Marmarosh, 1983), Sighet chapter p. 23, Yiddish Book Center collection on the Internet Archive (nybc314151, leaf n182)
• Confirmed The facing page, p. 22, in the memorial book’s own words: “קלויז של חסידי קאסוב. גבאי ראשי היה ר׳ אשר ברכר ובנו ר׳ יוסף היה מגיד שיעור בגמרא ותוספות.” — “The kloiz of the Kosov chassidim. Its head gabbai was R’ Asher Brecher, and his son R’ Yosef gave the shiur in Gemara and Tosafot.” The page goes on: the printers, the Rosenthal brothers, prayed there, and the Kosov Rebbe (author of Leket Ani) came to Sighet often. Scanned page: https://archive.org/details/nybc314151/page/n181/mode/1upSefer Marmarosh (Tel Aviv, 1983), Sighet chapter p. 22, Internet Archive nybc314151, leaf n181
• Confirmed Devora née Josef, wife of Simcha Eliezer: daughter of Shlomo Elazar Josef and Sima née Zoldan; her brothers were Hersh Dovid and Elya (Eli) Josef, born in Salish (memorial records).Holocaust victims’ central names database, a memorial record, archive file 25052022_9244, pages 55–56
• Confirmed Izrael died at Munkács on 4 February 1924, aged two and a half; his parents are named as Miksa Brecher and Zali née Grunberg, of Szatmár (Munkács death register) — raised from Likely.JewishGen “Subcarpathia and Vicinity Deaths”, State Archives of Zakarpattia, Fund 1606, Opus 15, Delo 121, entry 1924-44
• Confirmed Rosa died in Brooklyn on 7 July 1948 and was buried at Beth David Cemetery; her death certificate names her parents as Meyer Brecher and Frieda Froner.New York City death certificate, Kings County, 1948, no. 14036 (NYC Municipal Archives)
• Confirmed Feige Rachel (b. Nagybánya, 5 Jul 1890) and Jakob (b. Nagybánya, 13 Apr 1893) were children of Meir Brecher of Kapnikbánya and Freide née Frohner (Nagybánya birth register, Romanian National Archives, Baia Mare) — raised from Possible. A Chajim Juda born there on 8 Dec 1887 to Majer and Freide Brecher is Likely their son; that he is the later Chaim Yehuda (Miksa) stays Possible.JewishGen Máramaros Vital Records, Births (Romanian National Archives, Baia Mare branch), Nagybánya register book 39, entries 34-20, 50-17, 22-35
• Confirmed R’ Asher’s grandchildren, from every Brecher page of the memorial-record file: Nachum Ze’ev and Minda had at least two children, among them Usher (Asher), born in Grosswardein in 1940; Tema and Chaim Tabak had four children, among them Motti; Chaim Leib’s wife and their four children perished with him; Yosef (Yossel), his wife and their two children, both born in Grosswardein, perished; Yitzchak and Frimet’s three children perished at Auschwitz with their parents; Simcha Eliezer and Devora’s only child, a baby of about six months, perished in the ghetto. None of the children’s first names is recorded; each now has a place on the tree.Holocaust victims’ central names database, a memorial record, archive file 25052022_9244, pages 11–38 and 46–47
• Confirmed R’ Asher’s family, from memorial records read page by page (every page names the parents “Usha” and “Pessel”; Pessel’s own page gives her father as Yitzchok): Chaim Leib Brecher, born in Sighet in 1921, married, with children, died 1945 (a memorial record, item 15040134); Leah, born in Sighet, unmarried, perished at Auschwitz; Simcha Eliezer (Lázár), born in Sighet, perished with his wife Devora née Josef (daughter of Shlomo Elazar Josef and Sima née Zoldan) and their baby; Yosef, living in Grosswardein (Oradea), perished with his wife and two children; Yitzchak and Frimet perished with at least three children (Frimet: a memorial record, item 15040135); Tema (Temtcha) and her husband Chaim Tabak perished with their children, among them son Motti; Freida, married, with children.Holocaust victims’ central names database, archive file 25052022_9244 (filled in 2020 by a family member), pages read one by one
• Confirmed Nachum Ze’ev’s first wife, Minda, and their children perished at Auschwitz — among them Usher (Asher), born in Grosswardein (Oradea) in 1940 and named for his grandfather R’ Asher (memorial records).Holocaust victims’ central names database, archive file 25052022_9244 (filled in 2020 by a family member), pages read one by one, pages 13 and 11
• Confirmed Correction: in 1946 Nachum Brecher was a board member of Agudath Israel in Oradea; the report names Gershon Ulmann as chairman of the kibbutz committee there.Agudath Israel Romania report (1946) p. 25, HebrewBooks.org 37049
• Likely In 1946 David Brecher headed the list of the Sighet youth committee of Agudath Israel (the listing is certain; that he is David b. 1923, R’ Asher’s surviving son, is Likely).Agudath Israel Romania report (1946) p. 36, HebrewBooks.org 37049
• Confirmed R’ Asher’s son David HaKohen Brecher placed two printed dedications naming his parents, “R’ Asher ben R’ Meir HaKohen of Sighet and Pessel bat R’ Yitzchak”. His wife was Bracha Sima, daughter of Shraga Rafael ben Avraham David and Rachel Schwartz.Likutei Chaver ben Chaim vol. 11 (reprint) p. 256, HebrewBooks.org no. 20787; Divrei Yoel II (New York 1982) p. 415, HebrewBooks.org no. 20339
• Confirmed The same memorial lists R’ Asher’s household who perished at Auschwitz: Pessel; Freida and her family, Yitzchak and his family, Yosef and his family, Simcha Eliezer and his family, the young Chaim Yehuda and the unmarried Leah, and Tema with her husband R’ Chaim — and Bracha Sima’s parents and their children Miriam, Tzvi, Yosef Mordechai, Leah and Mindel.Likutei Chaver ben Chaim vol. 11 (reprint) p. 256, HebrewBooks.org no. 20787
• Likely Chaim Yehuda (Miksa) Brecher’s gravestone in Satu Mare (1940), with the priestly hands of a Kohen, reads “son of R’ Meir HaKohen Brecher”, aged 52 — so he is now Likely Meir’s son (was Possible). A survivors’ index names his children Jenő (Eugen), Zwi Hugo, Lázár Szimha László and Béla Adalbert, and his second wife’s maiden name, Kesztenbaum.szatmar.us Satu Mare Jewish database: Orthodox cemetery index (plot 16-01-01a) and survivors’ index
• Likely R’ Asher Brecher is listed as a tavern keeper and a shopkeeper (mixed goods) at Strâmtura in the 1924–25 national directory.Anuarul Socec al României Mari 1924–25, Maramureș county, Strâmtura
• Likely Pesel Kupferman’s mother was Chaya Rivka Lebovits (b. 1864), daughter of R’ Chaim Leib Lebovits of Strâmtura (d. 11 Mar 1891) and granddaughter of R’ Yosef Yaakov Lebovits (b. 1815), a chassid of the Kosov rebbe who moved to Safed in 1868.Shmuel Yosef HaKohen Brecher, Alei Zikaron no. 39 (2017), pp. 67–71
• Likely Nachum Ze’ev Brecher (Farkas, son of R’ Asher) sat on the Oradea board of Agudath Israel in 1946, with a printed portrait — the first known photograph of him; in Bnei Brak about 1964 he was among the Kosov chassidim.Agudath Israel Romania report (Oradea 1946) p. 25, HebrewBooks.org no. 37049; Maayan HaChasidut vol. 1 p. 25, HebrewBooks.org no. 28214
• Likely Yosef Brecher of Sighet, son of R’ Asher, had his engagement greeting printed in Leket Sheshana, Satu Mare, 1939.Leket Sheshana (Satu Mare 1939) p. 34, HebrewBooks.org no. 12962
• Likely Markus Brecher’s wife Frida was born 16 May 1896 at Taraczköz (Teresva), daughter of Mózes Moskovics and Chaja née Dikker; they married there on 27 Feb 1918.JewishGen Hungary Database, Máramaros marriages, Teresva 1907–1925, Fund 1606, Opus 11, Delo 478, p. 77
• Confirmed R’ Asher Brecher’s grave, Sighet: register entry 1971, “Asher Brecher, [parents] Meir and Frida, 5701, HaKohen”, grave 57, row 2, block 2.Sighet burial register (rebuilt 1972), sighet.org PAGE11
• Confirmed Freide Brecher née Frohner’s grave, Sighet: register entry 1036, “Freida, [husband] Meir, Kohen, [father] Yosef, 5660”, grave 55, row 18, block 1.Sighet burial register, sighet.org PAGE34
• Confirmed R’ Asher’s will tells his sons to say daily the words “of my uncle the Rav R’ Avraham David of Buczacz” (author of Daat Kedoshim). That he makes the claim is Confirmed; the actual kinship is Possible (the rabbi died in 1840). The will (p. 3, 1933) also shows a daughter still unmarried in 1933.R’ Asher Brecher’s printed will (Sighet, 1930s) pp. 3, 15, HebrewBooks.org no. 34687
• Confirmed Pessel (Perl) Brecher, d. 11 May 1941, Satu Mare: her father was Eliezer (parcel/row/place 16-01-20, in the row of Chaim Yehuda Brecher).Satu Mare Orthodox cemetery catalogue, szatmar.us
• Likely Two sons of Markus (Mátyás) Brecher and Frida née Moskovics appear in the 1945–46 lists: Emanuel (born at Brașov) and Jenő, both of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș), both survived the war. The lists give the mother as Frida and as née Moskovits; no record names the father. (Not the same man as Jenő/Eugene Brecher, David’s son.)Holocaust memorial records, items 12759366, 7619416 and 7619518 (1945 list of Jews from Romania; card file of survivors returning to Hungary, 1945–46)
• Searched Meir Brecher’s death is not in the Kapnikbánya deaths 1907–20 either, so the Kapnik deaths are now read from 1895 to 1920. Nagybánya town deaths after 1906 are not online, so a death there (he was in Nagybánya in 1913) cannot be checked this way. The Dobromil Unger rows in the Jewish records indexes add nothing beyond what the site already has.Romanian National Archives, Maramureș, Kapnikbánya deaths 1907–20 index (unit 13914907); JRI-Poland, Dobromil
• Confirmed Pesel’s brother József Jánkú (b. 4 Jun 1898) and sister Amália (b. 5 Aug 1900): their original civil birth acts at Szurdok name their father Izsák Kupferman, merchant, born at Kolomea, Galicia, and their mother Hánna Lebovits, born at Szurdok — the same parents as Pesel. A margin note on Amália’s act records her marriage to Pinkas Zelig Fruchter at Strâmtura on 14 May 1937 (act 23/1937). Both acts are in the gallery.Strâmtura civil births 1898 act 49 and 1900 act 75 (Romanian National Archives, Maramureș, MM-F-00743, units 00458 image 144 and 00459 image 39)
• Likely Pesel’s great-grandfather: R’ Shmuel Leib (Shmuel Aryeh) Bach, also written Bak and Junger, died at Bárdfalu (Berbești) on 22 Dec 1889, aged 78 (the death entry is Confirmed). He used both surnames, which explains why his daughter Pessel Lebovits is “née Bach” in one source and “née Junger” in another. He was sandak at his great-grandson Volf Kupferman’s bris at Szurdok in May 1889. His wife Szluve died a widow at Bárdfalu on 22 May 1894, aged 75 — possibly Pessel’s mother.JewishGen Hungary Database, Máramaros Vital Records (index of the original registers, Romanian National Archives, Baia Mare branch), Bárdfalu deaths 1889 Book 1107 p. 4 row 15, 1894 Book 1107 p. 10 row 2; Szurdok births 1889 Book 1101
• Likely Pessel’s sister Chaje Szure Junger (also Bak) married Marku Tabak at Bárdfalu on 24 Feb 1887 (her parents Smiel Leb and Szluve); she died there in 1894. Marku Tabak was very likely the later father of Mihai Tabak, Tema Brecher’s husband (a note on Mihai’s page).JewishGen Hungary Database, Máramaros Vital Records (index of the original registers, Romanian National Archives, Baia Mare branch), Bárdfalu marriages 1887, Book 1104 p. 2 row 2
• Confirmed Samuel Eilender’s naturalization file, Bronx County, petition no. 3671 (1915): Rosa (Brecher) Eilender born in Bukovina, Austria; the children Elmer (Alex), 18 Apr 1907, and the twins Josef and Freida, 6 Apr 1909, born in Hungary; the family at 169 Brook Avenue; Samuel a rabbi, a citizen from 28 Dec 1915 (certificate no. 647339).Petition for Naturalization no. 3671 (vol. 15), Supreme Court, Bronx County, filed 8 Jun 1915, with certificate of arrival no. 814011 and declaration of intention no. 24099 (Bronx County Clerk – NY State Unified Court System naturalization records, viewed online 26 Oct 2026)
• Confirmed Searched, nothing found: the civil birth indexes of Kapnikbánya (Oct 1895–1909), Felsőbánya and Nagybánya (Oct 1895–1920) and Máramarossziget (Oct 1895–1912) were read whole, and no child of Meir Brecher and Freide Frohner was registered after civil registration began in October 1895. The only Brecher births there are ones already on the site. Any missing child of theirs would have been born before 1895. No Brecher death or second marriage of Meir was found in the same towns’ registers to about 1910–1920, so his death is still not found.Romanian National Archives, Maramureș County Branch, civil registers, fond MM-F-00743, unit name indexes read on descopera.arhivelenationale.ro (27 Oct 2026)
• Confirmed Searched, nothing found (October 2026): no record yet names Meir’s parents, siblings or death. Checked: every Brecher row in the JewishGen Hungarian births, marriages and deaths (204 rows), the Bukovina births, deaths and marriages (271 rows) and the Romania vital records; the burial registry for Bukovina, Transylvania, Maramureș and Hungary; FamilySearch (Brecher with Sereth/Siret, Osias Brecher, Majer Brecher with Baia Mare); all 510 Brecher entries in the GeneaSearch Bukovina indexes (which include no Siret registers), all 1,475 Siret epitaphs, the Chernivtsi archive lists on Wikimedia Commons (none covers Siret or Storozhynets births) and the Storozynetz gymnasium roster 1911–14. The Czernowitz Meier Brecher whose sons were born 1878–1898 was a different man (his wife was Ruchel). His descent from Eisig stays Likely; the Kohen Brechers of Sereth in Bistrița (see Reuven Mordechai’s card) are a Possible collateral branch only.JewishGen databases and burial registry, read 27 Oct 2026; FamilySearch historical records; GeneaSearch Czernowitz/Bukovina indexes; Siret epitaph documentation; Chernivtsi archive (DAChO) fond 1 lists on Wikimedia Commons

• Possible Pessel Lebovits’s mother was possibly Szluve Junger (d. Bárdfalu 1894, aged 75), the wife of her father R’ Shmuel Leib Bak/Junger; no record names Pessel’s mother (Possible; JewishGen Máramaros deaths, Bárdfalu, Book 1107).
• Possible Hers and Szimon Lebovits of Szurdok each named a son Chajem Leb soon after R’ Chaim Leib died in 1891, so they were possibly his brothers or other close kin (Possible; JewishGen Máramaros deaths Book 1107).
• Possible Zanvel Katz, merchant of Felsővisó (d. 30 May 1890, aged 45), Samuel Eilender’s sandak, was possibly Eigye Katz’s younger brother (Possible; JewishGen Máramaros deaths Book 557, births Book 565).
• Possible Freide’s Frohner and Korber kin in Siret: Salomon Leib Frohner, a businessman of Sereth, and Chaje Sure née Gutmann had a son Uscher (born in Sereth about 1878) and a daughter Hudie, married in Sereth in 1901; a Moses Hersch Korber and Taube née Fischler, and a Mendel and Beile Korber, were also of Sereth. Freide’s parents were József Frohner and Reize née Korber of Siret, so these are very probably relatives, but no record links them yet (Possible; JewishGen Bukovina births, Putna 1903 and others).
• Possible Benjamin (Benő) Brecher, born about 1885, and Berta née Scharfstein had daughters Frida (5 May 1911) and Aranka (3 May 1912, died five days later) in Nagybánya, where Meir’s family lived. His parents are not given (Possible kin; JewishGen Máramaros births, Nagybánya, Inventory 1480, Book 20).
• Possible The 18th-century host R’ Yitzchak (Itzik) of Strâmtura (b. 1763) may stand above the Lebovits line through his son-in-law R’ Binyamin Abba (d. 1852) — the author’s own suggestion, disputed (Possible).
• Possible A pre-war photograph of “the Brecher family of Sighet” is held, not digitized, in the Brecher family collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (accession 2008.379), donated in Brooklyn in 2006 by David and Bernice Brecher. The record does not name the people in it; whether they are R’ Asher’s family is Possible (right surname and town).
• Possible Traditional kinship, unproven: R’ Asher’s “my uncle the Rav R’ Avraham David of Buczacz” is R’ Avraham David Wahrman (1771–1840). His published biographies name his parents, R’ Asher Anshel son of R’ David Wahrman of Nadwórna and Rachel daughter of R’ Avraham Rachlis, and his father-in-law, R’ Zvi Hirsh Kara, rav of Buczacz. If the kinship runs through the Buczacz side of the family (Lea Bernstein’s parents, Benjamin Hersch Bernstein and Chaje Frenkel), it would join the family to those 18th-century rabbis, but no record shows how they were related (Possible at most; Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Wahrmann, Abraham David ben Asher Anschel”; R’ Asher’s will, p. 15).
• Possible Traditional lineage, unproven (1600s): Y. Kamelhar’s Dor De’ah, reprinted in Sefer Buczacz (Tel Aviv, 1956), p. 74, opens its life of R’ Avraham David Wahrman with “ויצא חוטר מגזע המהרש"א” (“a shoot came forth from the stock of the Maharsha”). The Maharsha is R’ Shmuel Eliezer Eidels (1555–1631), rabbi of Lublin, Tykocin and Ostroh. The same page names the rabbi’s parents as R’ Asher Anshel and Rechil of Nadwórna. This is the only 1600s name found above anyone tied to this family, and it is not on the tree. Two links are missing: how R’ Asher Brecher’s family was related to the rabbi (his will says only “my uncle”), and every generation between the Maharsha and the Wahrmans, which the book does not name or say whether it runs through the father or the mother. Many families claim descent from the Maharsha. Possible at most (Sefer Buczacz p. 74, English translation on JewishGen; daat.ac.il, “R’ Avraham David of Buczacz”).
• Possible Jenő Brecher, born at Nagybánya on 24 Aug 1917, son of Benjámin Brecher (already a Possible lead for this line): a list of persecuted persons gives the same birth date and 18 Jul 1944, Mauthausen (date and place only). Possible.
• Possible Two infant children of a Feige Eilender, wool carder, of Felsővisó, Samuel Eilender’s home village: Rifke, died 21 Nov 1904 aged about two months (death act 162), and Elias, died 20 Oct 1908 aged 2 (death act 180); no father entered. Feige is the only one of the name in the county index, and the name Elias recalls Samuel’s father Elia, so she is possibly Samuel’s sister Feiga (b. 1870): records Confirmed, kinship Possible. Pages in the gallery.
• Possible Izrael (b. 23 Mar 1900, act 102) and Regina (b. 7 Mar 1901, act 73) Eilender, born at Nagybánya to Eszter Eilender, a cook; both births reported by Mrs Jakab Klein née Borcsa Eilender. Izrael died in April 1900, a few weeks old (margin note on his birth act, death register no. 101). Records Confirmed; kinship to Samuel Eilender Possible only. This Jakab Klein of Nagybánya is not Esther’s father Jakab Hers Klein of Felsőbánya. On Izrael’s act Eszter’s birthplace is not Felsővisó (it reads “Kolozser…”, most likely Kolozsvár), so she is not Samuel’s sister Eszter, born at Felsővisó in December 1867, though the ages match; that sister’s death in 1868 stands. Page in the gallery.
• Possible Leib Zalman Frohner died at Czernowitz aged 76, living at 26 Strada Sf. Treimi (Czernowitz civil death records, vol. 4, no. 770, Romanian-era register, 1919–1940; the record itself is Confirmed in the index). He may be the “Leib Frohner” who kept the Bierpalast hotel in Sereth, and his age would fit a brother of Freide Frohner — Possible only.
• Possible PENDING — Lea Brecher, born 21 December 1918 at Felsőbánya (Kereszt utca), birth act 93: father Mátyás Brecher, wood merchant, 32; mother Frida Herskovics, 21. Re-read on the register page on 26 October 2026: the mother’s surname is clearly Herskovics, and there is no margin note. The father fits Markus (Mátyás) Brecher, and the mother’s age fits his wife Frida née Moskovics (born May 1896), but no second record ties Lea to them yet, so she stays Possible and off the tree (Baia Sprie births 1907–1919, act 93, unit MM-F-00743-2-00621, image 310, Romanian National Archives, Maramureș).
• Possible Michael Korber of Mușenița, near Siret, on an 1807 list of Jewish peasants of Bukovina (Reifer 1938, p. 109, not yet seen): a possible forebear of Reize Korber and the Siret Korbers (Possible).

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