Kalman bar Reuven Wank & Dwojra Weinstein
The tailor from Wólka Podleśna
Kalman Wank (also Wang, Vank) was born in 1876 at Wólka Podleśna, a village about 10 km north of Rzeszów in western Galicia. His gravestone names his father: “Kalman bar Reuven”. He married Dwojra (Dora) Weinstein of Sokołów on 1 June 1899. No register entry for Kalman’s own birth has been found in the Rzeszów, Sokołów or Głogów indexes.
Kalman went to New York first in 1907, went home, and came again on the SS Main from Bremen in March 1912: a tailor from Wulka, leaving his wife Dwojre in the village, going to a friend named Solomon Schlanger. By 1923 he was a presser at 242 Rivington Street.
The family followed one by one. Bella came in September 1923. Dwojra and the younger daughter Sara (born at Pogwizdów) came in January 1925 on the SS Albert Ballin, giving their home as “Wulka pod[leśna]” and their nearest relative as a cousin, Samuel Weinstein of Stobierna. Sara married Samuel Fish in 1930.
Kalman died on 9 Elul 5709 (3 September 1949) and lies in the Dunajewer society plot at Mount Zion. His stone calls him “a man of integrity and uprightness who walked in the ways of G-d”. Dwojra was a widow in Manhattan in 1950; her death and burial have not been found.
At a glance
| Kalman (Kalmen) Wank (Wang), son of Reuven | b. 1876, Wólka (Podleśna), Galicia · d. 3 Sep 1949 (9 Elul 5709), New York · Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth: Dunajewer society, 14L-ROAD-79-259 Confirmed |
|---|---|
| Dwojra (Dora) Wank, née Weinstein | b. 28 Sep or 11 Nov 1878, Sokołów · d. after 1950 Confirmed |
| Reuven Wank | great-great-grandfather of the three sisters (father’s side) Confirmed |
| Bella (Beila) Bald, née Wank (Wang) | b. 15 Jun 1903, Rzeszów (husband’s papers and the Social Security index) · d. April 1975, New York Confirmed |
| Sarah (Sara) Fish, née Wank | b. 1906/1909, Pogwizdów Confirmed |
| Samuel Fish | b. c.1901, Galicia Confirmed |
Records and stones
Living relatives appear by name and relation only.