Families Reunited
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Even though the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, this uneasy alliance broke up quickly after the war as the U.S. and U.S.S.R. engaged in a nuclear arms race and the Cold War began. The Iron Curtain went up and prevented the members of the Bezbrozh family who had been separated by the war from seeing each other. Finally, a few years after the brutal Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) passed away, the Bezbrozhs and Lyutrovniks were finally able to see their long lost siblings and cousins again.
The first visit was made by Fannie Chilkov (born Feige Litrovnik) and her husband Phil Chilkov who arrived in the Soviet Union on May 20th, 1959. Feige had not seen her sisters Slava and Ester for thirty-eight years. To the left is a photo from that reunion in the U.S.S.R. Slava’s son Yusik Bezbrozh was already an officer in the Soviet Army at this time, and would not have been allowed to meet with Americans.
Back Row, From Left: Yakov Beider, Samuil Yusim, Esther Beider, Slava Bezbrozh
Front Row, From Left: Phil Chilkov, Janna Beider, Fannie Chilkov
Back Row, From Left: Boris Lyutrovnik, Samuil Yusim, Abe Litrov, Yakov Beider
Front Row, From Left: Slava Bezbrozh, Ann Goldenson, Jana Beider, Esther Beider
Abe Litrov, Slava and Esther’s brother, visited the Soviet Union in the early 1960s and brought his daughter Ann Litrov Goldenson. To the left is a photo from that visit, showing Slava’s family, Esther’s family, Abe and his daughter, and Boris Lyutrovnik, the son of Abe, Slava and Esther’s brother Chaim who had died fighting in the war.
In 1964, my grandmother Fannie Bernstein, her cousin Isidore Litrov and his wife Leeza Litrov returned to the Soviet Union to see Fannie's cousins and Isidore's sisters Slava and Esther. Fannie also visited her sister Mariasi Shafir. (My grandmother Fannie is on the bottom right holding hands with her sister-in-law and first cousin once removed Slava Lyutrovnik Bezbrozh.) To the left is a photo from that visit, taken in the Soviet Union.
Back Row, From Left: Yakov Beider, Isidore Litrov, Yakov Pavlenko, Samuil Yusim, Slava Lyutrovnik Bezbrozh
Front Row, From Left: Zhan Bezbrozh, Leeza Litrov, Esther Lyutrovnik Beider, Fannie Bernstein
There is a rather poignant story that accompanies Fannie Bernstein's visit with her older sister Mariasi.
Mariasi in about 1919 and in abt. 1964
Fannie and Mariasi had not seen each other for forty-five years when Fannie came to visit in 1964. (On the left, you can see Mariasi how she looked when Fanny left Russia in 1920, and when Fanny returned in 1964.) They had both been through a lot, after all, their father and their two younger sisters were both killed in the Holocaust, and they had lived an entire lifetime separated from each other. When Fannie returned home from Los Angeles, she received a letter from Mariasi. In the letter, Mariasi said that she was sorry that she had not opened up more when Fannie was visiting. She said that she had so much to say to her sister, but that it was difficult to open up after so many years. After she received the letter, Fannie called Mariasi in the Soviet Union only to find out that her sister had passed away after sending the letter.
The contacts between the Soviet and American relatives continued, and Esther Beider actually visited her relatives in Los Angeles in 1967. This was highly unusual for a Soviet citizen to be allowed to visit the U.S. at that time. Below is a wonderful photo of Esther’s visit to Los Angeles where is surrounded by her sister Fanny Chilkov (born Feige Lyutrovnik) and husband Phil Chilkov, her brother Isidore Litrov (born Isak Lyutrovnik) and his wife Leeza, and her cousins Anita Lippert and Jack Barton, and Jack’s wife Bonnie.
Left to Right: Jack and Bonnie Barton, Esther Beider, Fanny Chilkov, Sam Chilkov, Leeza Litrov, Isidore Litrov, Anita Lippert
A few years later, Phil and Fanny Chilkov’s son Sam, and his wife Dorothy, visited Sam’s aunts Esther and Stella in the U.S.S.R. While they were there, they also saw their first cousin Boris Lyutrivnik, the son of Chiam Lyutrovnik.
Boris Lyutrovnik, Esther Lyutrovnik Baider, Dorothy Chilkov, Slava Lyuotrovnik Yusim.
Stella Bezbrozh (later called Stella Besberas) came to the United States in 1926, leaving behind her six brothers and sisters. Finally, almost forty years later, in the mid-1960s, Stella and her husband Isidore Cotler flew to the Soviet Union, and she was reunited with her siblings Zus Bezbrozh (also known as Yakov Pavlenko), Misha Bezbrozh and Zhan Bezbrozh, and their wives and children. See the photo below.
Stella, seated in front, with her three brothers and their families.
Many visits continued in the ‘60s and ‘70s, including a gathering in Kiev in 1976 with Fanny Chilkov and her sisters Slava and Esther, Stella and her brothers Zus and Zhan and many other Bezbrozh cousins.
Family gathering of Bezbrozh and Lyutrovnik relatives in Kiev in 1976
Between 1977 and 1979, Stella finally did reunite her family, bring all of her siblings who were still alive — her brothers Zhan Bezbrozh and Yakov Pavlenko, and her sister Mania Azov — along with their families to Los Angeles where they all lived for the rest of their lives. Stella passed away in 1996, at the age of 96 and her brothers and sister passed away in the early 2000s.
And, many of the Bezbrozh descendants in the Los Angeles area kept a "cousins club" going until the 1980s, as you can see below.
From left to right: Ralph Bernstein, Janice Bernstein, Violet Jaffe, Ed Jaffe, Phyllis Bernstein, Shulamit Witenoff, Yehuda Witenoff, Jim Bernstein, Marty Menkes, Beatrice Menkes, Sherman Moldavon, Ida Moldavon, Bill Bernstein, Mimi Bernstein, Jerome Karno, Beatrice Karno, Clara Bernstien, Paul Eliash, Rose Eliash.
As the years pass, we become more spread out and most of us don't know each other, but we share one amazing thing in common, our ancestors knew each other. They lived together in the towns of Lysianka, Tagancha, Medwin, Zvenigorodka, Dnepropetrovsk, Kishinev and Bucherest. They lived together in crowded apartments in New York. They worked in fish stands and fruit markets together. They went to weddings and Bar Mitzvahs together. And we share one other amazing thing -- we are all descendants of Yankel and Feige Bezbrozh who lived in a town called Lysianka near Kiev. I'm sure they would be proud of all of us.
If you have any questions about the Bezbrozh family, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].