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Shapiro (Shklov, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Leningrad)

Looking for relatives with the surname Shapiro is no easy task. In addition, my ancestors came from Shklov (Szklow), for which very few archival records survive.

My great-great-grandfather was Itsek Shapiro from Shklov. His father was Abram-Shaya. According to the only fairly reliable document, Itsek was married to Sura-Rivka Zusman.

They had children: Abram-Shaya, Gershon, Leizer Movsha (my great-grandfather Moses), and Tsipa (or Tsilya). Almost everything about them is known in detail. But there is a discrepancy regarding Sura-Rivka. In the registration card for Gershon, who survived the war in Warsaw, Itsek and Sura Livshits are listed as his parents. Why her surname appears there as Livshits is unclear.

Of Itsek's children, only Moses and Tsipa have living descendants. I would very much like to find the descendants of Tsipa (married name Podoksik). My grandfather Isaac Moiseevich Shapiro kept in touch with them, but unfortunately did not introduce me to them, and I do not even know their names. Tsipa was married to Berka Podoksik, and their children were named Evsei (Ishie), Moisei (Meishe), Saveliy (Seel), and Emma (Esther). Descendants of Emma Borisovna Podoksik lived—and hopefully still live—in Moscow. Alas, I know neither her married surname nor the names of her children. Moisei Borisovich Podoksik apparently lived in Leningrad. I do not know anything else about them.

According to the memoirs of Moses Shapiro, Itsek had a sister (name not mentioned). I believe I found this branch in the USA: the Raskins of New York. Alas, finding Raskins in New York is not much easier than finding Shapiros. I know quite a lot about them (from published US censuses), but absolutely nothing about the descendants living today. Here is their tree as I know it: Raskin family tree Itsek's sister married Joseph Raskin. Her first name, however, is unclear. Different documents mention the names Alice and Sadie. What their names were before emigrating is unknown. I would very much like to find their living descendants!

According to Moses's memoirs, Itsek also had two brothers—both in Warsaw. Their names are unknown. One brother had two daughters and two sons. One son was named Abram Shapiro (engineer, Moscow). He had a daughter, Rita, who taught English at MAI (Moscow Aviation Institute). She had a daughter who studied at the Gnessin State Musical College. The second son was named Isaac (Leningrad). As for the daughters, I only know that one lived in St. Petersburg and the other in Gomel. Tree of Abram-Shaya's descendants, excluding the descendants of Abram, Moses, Gershon, and Tsipa.