Welcome to the Kassemoff Home Page

The Kassemoff Family originated in the small town of Zarasai in North-East Lithuania which was founded ca.1506. In 1836 the town was temporarily named Novo-alexandrovsk in honour of the Russian Tsar Nicolas II's son Alexander. It is known that the Kassemoff family lived there until around the 1880s when they moved north into modern Latvia where most settled in the town of Resitza (now Rezekne) in South-East Latvia. It is also possible that many Kassemoffs moved to Daugavpils in South-East Latvia and/or Yurburg now Jurbarkas in South-West Lithuania. From there most of the Kassemoff family immigrated to the United Kingdom, USA and Israel by ca.1905 most likely due to the poor living conditions for Jews living within the Russian Empire and the Russian Revolution of 1905. Today much of the Kassemoff family are spread across the world with having adopted new surnames such as Cohen/Cowan, Conway and Scott.

First Generation

Hirsch Kassemoff:
Born: Before ca.1825? most likely in Zarasai, Lithuania/Russian Empire.

Spouse is unknown however he had 1 known child:

Zeev Halevi ham Mowscha Hirsch Kassemoff: ca.1845-1897

Second Generation

Zeev Halevi ham Mowscha Hirsch Kassemoff:
Born: ca.1845 in Zarasai, Lithuania
Died: After 1897 in Daugavpils, Dvinsk Mogilevskaya, Latvia.

He married Hascha Kassemoff daughter of Vigdor (surname unknown). She was Born between 1840 and 1850. The All Russian Census of 1897 states that she was 42 in 1897 which puts her birth year at around 1855 and that she was born in Ponovezh, Lithuania. However this date does not fit in with the estimated birth year of her only known son Mordechai.

They had 1 known child:

Mordechai Shmuel ham Max (Moti) Kassemoff: 1860-1939

Third Generation

Mordechai Shmuel ham Max (Moti) Kassemoff:
Born: ca.1860 in Novo-Alexandrovsk (Zarasai), Kovenski, Lithuania
Died: 10 March 1939 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England

He married Freya (also known as Freda or Frema) Sokolov daughter of Mikhel Sokolov. Born in 1862 in Rezekne, Latvia they married in Rezekne in 1880 and had 13 children: (all were born in Rezekne)

Haim-Michal Kassemoff: Born 28 November 1881

Haja Kassemoff: Born 1884

Leiser-Jankel Kassemoff: Born 10 July 1884

Mary Kassemoff: Born 1885 (she is not registered in 1897 so she may have died in childhood)

Vittel Kassemoff: Born 1886 (died in childhood)

Alexander-Ziska Kassemoff: Born 1 March 1887

Josef Kassemoff: Born 1889, Died 11 December 1957

Ilya-Moisey Kassemoff: Born 20 June 1891, Died 31 May 1996

Morris Kassemoff: Born 1893, Died 1923

Annie Kassemoff: Born 1894, Died 1995

Wulf Kassemoff: Born 18 September 1896, Died 12 May 2004

Rachil Kassemoff: Born 14 March 1903

The records relating to the family of Mordechai Shmuel Kassemoff have often conflicted with each other. Mordechai was registered as 20 years old at his marriage to Freya Sokolov in 1880 putting a birth year of 1860, he is registered in Rezekne in 1902 as being 52 years old making him born in 1850, whereas he was registered as 54 years old in the 1911 England Census putting his birth year at around 1857 and on his tombstone at the Hilltop Cemetery in Leeds, England it reads that he was 78 years old at his death in 1939 which would put his birth year at around 1861.

Fourth Generation

Josef (Ziskind) Kassemoff:
Born: 1889 in Rezekne, Latvia (Russian Empire)
Died 11 December 1957 in Leeds, Yorkshire, england

Josef was born in Rezekne, Latvia in 1889 as 7th child to Mordechai and Freya Kassemoff. Not much is known of his early years from 1889 to 1905 however it is known that he came with his parents to England between 1905 and 1907. He first appears in his marriage certificate in January 1907 when he married Zelda (Jane) Magidovich daughter of Azriel Zelig and Esther Reize Shlemovna Magidovich (Esther fell victim to Nazi prosecution and was murdered in her village of Jurbarkas, Lithuania in 1941 during the Holocaust). Zelda was born in 1889 in Jurbarkas, Lithuania and was the eldest of 9 children, 5 of which became victims of the Holocaust. She was registered as 19 on her marriage certificate in 1907 however her tombstone reads that she was 50 when she died in 1939 putting her birth year at 1889.

Josef and Zelda lived at 44 Camp Road in West Leeds, Yorkshire, England. They had 7 children together:

Jack: 1909-1980 married Annie Tiger 1905-1981. Had 2 Children

Kitty: 1909-1988 married Reuben Simons 1905-1963. Had 2 Children

Wolfe (Wilfred): 1910-1978 married Sophie Iris Green 1915-1997. Had 2 Children

Michael: 1911-2000 married Beattie Richman 1913-2002. Had 2 Children

Charles Benjymin: 1913-1982 married Joan Nellie Boam 1927-1985. Had 2 Children

Harold (Hymie/Haim): 1916-2003 married Rosa Tate 1917-2002. Had 1 Child

Henry: 1917-1989 married Rita Cowan ?-1974. Had no children

Josef's wife Zelda sadly perished on July 24 1939 in Leeds, England. She was just 50 years of age. Josef lived another 18 years of his life before passing away on December 11 1957. He was the last known Kassemoff to take the Kassemoff surname even though he was known as Joseph Cohen which reads on his tombstone. All of his children adopted different surnames especially during the Second World War when Jews all over Europe were being murdered and deported by Nazi Germany. Cohen (also Cowan), Conway and Scott were the three main surnames adopted by his children many of who later on immigrated to Israel and Australia in the 1950s and 1960s

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