[Page 412]

Eliyahu Milner
[photo:] Eliyahu Milner

        Eliyahu Milner, a son of R. Tsadok and Shifra, was born in 1876 in Drohitchin, and studied in the kheder school and Talmud Torah. After he married Ethel, a daughter of R. Shmuel and Liba of Pruzhany, he opened a bakery and a confectionary in town. His wife Ethel was especially good in business, and the Milners' bakery products were famous in town and the surrounding area. Eliyahu was the first person to bring a matzo-making machine into town to make “machine matzos,” and was also the first person to manufacture ice cream for sale in Drohitchin. When World War I broke out in 1914, as a reservist, Eliyahu was drafted into the Russian army and sent off to the front.

        Once on a dark night Eliyahu was sent on a reconnaissance mission to spy on the German positions. He came up with an idea, and shot himself in the foot with his gun. As a result he was sent to the hospital in Kazan. Not long thereafter his wound healed and he had to return to the front. He sat in the synagogue in Kazan and recited psalms. A well-dressed man approached him, greeted him and started to ask where he came from as a Russian soldier. This was the beginning of an amazing story.

        When Eliyahu served as a new conscript in the Russian army in Astrakhan, he spent his free time working in a tailor shop owned by a Jew. There was another employee there by the name of Motel Nechamkin, with whom he got along well. One day Motel received a telegram that his wife was ill and needed money. Motel had no money, and Eliyahu lent him 25 rubles, which Motel sent to his wife. The years passed and Eliyahu forgot about the whole story. Now, twenty years later, Eliyahu was standing face to face with his old poor friend Motel Nechamkin, who eventually became wealthy and a supplier of military clothes for the army, which brought him great success.

        The now-wealthy Motel Nechamkin wanted to thank Eliyahu for the favor he did for him years earlier. Motel brought Eliyahu home and was quickly able to arrange Eliyahu's discharge from the army. Eliyahu then went home to his family a happy man. (Information is from G. Kaplan in the Amerikaner).

        In 1920 Eliyahu arrived in New York with his daughter Feigel. In 1927 he also brought over Ethel and the other children. Eliyahu died on 19 Shvat [21 January], 1938. Ethel [lives] in New York with her children: Feigel, Shifra, Yudel, Tordos, Sarah and Devorah. A son, Yisrael, lives in Cuba. W.

Shlomo	Fishman	Esther-Chaya
29 Nisan		25 Adar
David Wolin	Liba Klein

For a memorial, the Broners

Choneh Greiber
[photos:] Choneh and Chaya-Sarah Greiber

        Choneh (Chonya) Greiber, a son of Mordechai and Riva Greiber, was born in Drohitchin, and arrived in Chicago in 1911. He worked in a kosher meat store removing the sciatic nerve from beef. He was the first contributor to the free loan society of the Drohitchin Progressive Club. He died on 18 Adar [there were two Adars that year – one date was February 19, and the other March 21], 1938.

        Chaya-Sarah, a daughter of Velvel and Yochna Yarenkas of Drohitchin, was Chonye's wife. She supported Torah scholars, the Motele synagogue and the home for the aged, etc. She died on 5 Tevet [14 December], 1950. The Greibers had 6 children: Dova-Reizel, Avraham-Yaakov, Shmuel, Meir, David and Golda. Their son-in-law was Yisrael-Zalman Amilinsky.

[Page 413]

SENDER DVINSKY
[photo:] Sender Dvinsky

        Sender Dvinsky, a son of Hershel Dvinsky of Drohitchin, moved to Palestine after World War I, and was one of the people who built the Mekor-Chaim neighborhood near Jerusalem. See p. 416. Sender was one of the leaders of the Haganah in his neighborhood. During the day he worked, and at night he guarded the area from Arab attacks. In 1929, during the Arab pogroms, Sender and his friends prevented a tragedy in Mekor-Chaim. He had to leave his family many times to go to defend other settlements. In 1938, Sender came to visit Chicago, and remained there. He and his family here got along well, and he was an active member of the Drohitchin branch, serving as its chairman for a time. Sender died young in 1952, and left behind his wife, Sheindel (daughter of Hershel Goldwirth of Mekor-Chaim), and two daughters in Chicago.

EZRA WEISSMAN

        Ezra Weissman, a son of R. Shimon and Lotsa Weissman, was born in Drohitchin. He studied both Jewish and secular subjects, loved music and art, and was active in community affairs in Drohitchin. After World War I he arrived in the United States and quickly became accustomed to the country. Unfortunately he died tragically in Chicago in 1949.

Avraham Yitzchak Lev
[photo:] Avraham Yitzchak Lev

        Avraham Yitzchak Lev, a son of Yaakov Shimon and Sarah Lev, was born in Drohitchin in 1890, and studied in the kheders in town. Even in his youth he was active in the Socialist Zionist movement and brought this spirit into his efforts to convince the workers of his father's workshop. He joined the self-defense group in 1905, and was hunted by the czarist gendarmerie. At the age of 18 he left for the United States, where he became an active member of the Poalei Zion and a cultural activist. He was also one of the first supporters of the Drohitchin yizkor book. Avraham Yitzchak died suddenly in 1944, leaving behind his wife, Yehudit (daughter of Yaakov and Chava Pollack of Drohitchin) and two daughters.
(See p. 225. W.)

My Memorial
With a broken heart I am memorializing my dear and beloved husband and son, Yehoshua and Reuvele, who loved their Drohitchin so much.

With eternal grief,

See p. 225        Rasha Leah Schmid, New York

For an Eternal Memorial to my dear parents

Yehoshua	Warshavsky	Michlya
(son of R. Yeshayahu and Gittel)		(daughter of R. Moshe Kushner)
born on July 10, 1867		born on July 14, 1866
	died
21 Tammuz, 1952		4 Sivan 1936
14 July 1952		25 May 1936
	Sister
Chaya-Rachel Warshavsky		11 Cheshvan 1929
		14 November 1929
See p. 243	Bessya Warshavsky, Chicago

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