Thursday, August 02, 2007

Steven Spielberg's Family From Sudilkov


Reitzel bat R' Shmuel Spielberg - Steven Spielberg's aunt?
(Jewish cemetery in Sudilkov, Ukraine)

Excerpt from Steven Spielberg: A Biography:

Steven's grandfather Shmuel Spielberg, who in America would change his name to Samuel, was born in 1873 in Kamnetz-Podolsk, Russia. Samuel (Shmuel) Spielberg's wife Rebbeca Chechik "Grandma Becky" to Steven's generation was the daughter of Nachman Morduhov Chechik and Reitzl Nigonova Hendler, who had eight other children. The Chechiks had a brewery in Sudilkov, a shtetl that no longer exists. Sudilkov was in the Kamnetz area, near the larger town of Shepetovka, where some other family members lived. Arnold Spielberg relates that his grandfather Nachman Chechik "prayed and studied the Torah. His wife ran the brewery business. She was a shrewd woman. She and the children ran the business. My uncle Herschel, the oldest son, was the brewmaster. In those days, the old Jewish men, if they could get out of business and study the Torah, that's what they did."

5 Comments:

At August 2, 2007 at 10:38:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The family of Miriam Wiener, of Routes to Roots, also is from Sudilkov. So Miriam and Steven Spielberg might be your distant cousins!

 
At August 2, 2007 at 10:43:00 PM EDT, Blogger Neil Harris said...

Very interesting!

 
At November 2, 2012 at 10:28:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At November 2, 2012 at 10:30:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kamnets-Podolsk(no russia) - UKRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
At May 14, 2023 at 1:00:00 AM EDT, Blogger Bel-Ami said...

My Great Grandfather was also a Hendler from Sudilkov, Too bad it's not possible to find records from there.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home