Benjamin Strauss

The fourth child of Moshe Ephraim was my great-grandfather. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren who knew him called him Zayda.

1940

approximately 1944

1954

1964

1969

Benjamin Strauss (Hebrew name Dov) was born as Berek Moszkowicz Strzyza between May 1 and May 13, 1877, according to his birth record registered in the town of Pultusk. The original record was handwritten in Russian Cyrillic script, because the geographic area was part of the Russian Empire at the time.

A volunteer translator extracted the relevant facts:

*place of birth: the village of Shiski

*father's occupation: blacksmith

*father cannot write

*birth was not registered until 1879 because of an illness in the newborn

The form "-wicz" is referred to as the patronymic, or name derived from the father (or sometimes the mother). Perhaps the listed middle name means simply "son of Moshe," as I do not remember ever hearing that used a middle name.

Benjamin married Pesia (Bessie) Dubner (original spelling Dybner from the translated Russian), who we called Baba, in 1904. The marriage was registered in the town of Wyszkow (pronounced similar to "Vishkoff"). I have not yet found the actual marriage record online, but there is an index entry.

The M indicates a marriage record, and 26 is the paragraph number in the original record book.

After their marriage, they lived in a small village near Wyszkow which our family records list as Pludy or Plides. The couple had three children there:

Samuel

Isadore

Sarah

Unfortunately I don't know anything about their life in Russia/Poland (except that they spoke Yiddish rather than the local language).

There is a ship manifest (passenger list) showing that Benjamin traveled to the United States in 1912, with his name spelled Berl Strusa. He sailed in steerage class on the S.S. Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, leaving Hamburg on November 22 and arriving on December 2 to Ellis Island.

His record is on line 22, which reads Strusa, Berl.

Age: 30 (not quite right, should be 35)

Occupation: shoemaker

Race or people: Hebrew

Country: Russia

Town: Wiszkow (though the online transcription mangled the curly script to Misykoiv)

Nearest relative left behind: "wife Heschie Strusah" (which was the official's attempt at writing Peschie Strzyza, or Strusa to match passenger name)

Destination: New York, NY

The manifest continues onto a second page.

Has a ticket: yes

Passage paid by: self

Name and address of relative/friend at destination: cousin Yankel Zilbermann, 243 Monroe St, New York. This is likely one of Bessie's cousins, as that was her mother's maiden name. More on the Zilberman/Zylberman family later.

Height: 5'5"

Complexion: fair

Hair color: brown

Eye color: blue

Town of birth: Wiszkow (this is not correct; perhaps the question was unclear)

Has not been imprisoned, is not an anarchist, is not a bigamist, has not been solicited for a job, is not deformed or crippled, and is in good physical and mental health.

Passenger ID number: 101044070165 in Ellis Island records

The S.S. Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, an ocean liner built in 1905-06 by Vulcan AG shipyard in Stettin for the Hamburg America Line. The ship regularly sailed between Hamburg and New York City until the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. Was sold in 1921 to the Canadian Pacific Steamship Line of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and renamed RMS Empress of Scotland. The ship suffered a fire in 1930 and was broken apart in 1931. (Credits to Wikipedia and the Titanic Inquiry Project for ship information.)

On November 25, 1919, Benjamin filed a Declaration of Intention to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. By that time he was living in Philadelphia at 2120 Diamond St.

He listed his place of birth as Warsaw and his birthdate as May 15, 1876. While the exact date in May was not clear in the birth record, the year was definitely 1877. Warsaw was the "gubernia" (province) in which Wyszkow was located at that time.

Meanwhile, Bessie and the three children arrived at Ellis Island in 1921, and their fourth child Jacob ("Jack") was born in the US. They also raised Bessie's nephew Martin Dubner alongside their four biological children. They'll get their own posts later.

Before naturalization could be approved, a Certificate of Arrival was needed, to prove lawful entry into the country. On September 28, 1923, this was obtained. The arrival date of the ship differs slightly from the date on the ship's manifest, though it only varies by a few days.

Having determined that entry into the country happened legally, the Petition for Naturalization could go forward.

The Petition was signed on October 30, 1923. The birthdates of the children vary slightly from the dates in other sources. Witnesses attesting to his "good moral character" were Abraham Strauss (his youngest sibling) of 1520 Susquehanna Ave and Morris Perelman of 3421 Frankford Ave, both in Philadelphia.

On March 7, 1924, Benjamin was sworn in as a US citizen.

He and Bessie continued to live on Ridge Avenue, a residence that I remember from my early childhood, including going to Seders there. I don't know the exact date (that's the subject of a future search, unless Uncle Arnold knows) when they moved to the apartment at 6801 Kindred Street (with my grandparents Sam and Lena Strauss living above them at 6801A), though that is where my family visited them (always finding the Yiddish edition of the Forward newspaper on the table) throughout my childhood and teens.

He died on July 13, 1979 and is buried in Mount Sharon Cemetery in Springfield PA.