Karnofsky/Karnovsky
Here is a picture of my great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Annie Karnofsky and Max Neyman. Annie was born in Vilkija, Lithuania.
My story picks up with the birth of Chaya Sarah (Annie) Karnofsky in Vilkija, Lithuania in September 1885. She lived there with her parents, Shmuel and Beile (maiden name Friedland or Fisher), and siblings, Simon, Azriel Baruch, Chaim Leib, and Girsh Abram. Shmuel was a wood dealer, and probably dealt with the mill in Vilkija. By the time Annie was 20, she had emigrated to England. This may have been the same year that her brother Azriel Baruch died at age 29 in Vilkija, leaving a wife and two children.
In London, Annie married Meir (Max) Neyman on September 3, 1905 at the East London Synagogue in Mile End Old Town. She gave birth to Sol Neyman in 1906 in Bethnal Green, London. Following this, Annie gave birth to my grandmother, Lillie, in 1907. Meanwhile, Max emigrated to New York this same year. There is a family story that Lillie's birth occurred on the boat on her way to New York, and I have not been able to find a record of the birth in either England or New York. Annie and Sol emigrated to New York in 1908 along with Annie's brother, Simon.
Max and Annie settled in Brooklyn, NY. They had two more children, Nathan and Rose. Max moved up from being a tailor to a business owner and even received a patent for a cloth he invented, Nymacloth. Max belonged to an Orthodox synagogue in Brooklyn at 18th Avenue and about 50th or 52nd Street. It was a tiny place. Max was president of the congregation for many years. Later, his son, Sol was president for many years. Within the synagogue on 18th Avenue, there was an organization called the United Willkier and Srednikier's Benevolent Association. If one belonged to this association, you automatically had burial plots in their section of Mt. Zion Cemetery. The towns are now known as Seredzius and Vilkija, Kovna Guberniya, Lithuania. [According to Where Once We Walked, it was known as Serednik, Srednik, Srednius, pop 449. 38 km WNW of Kaunas 55d05'N 23d25'E. Willkier=Vilkija (Vilki), Lithuania, pop 829. 32 km WNW of Kaunas. 55d03'N 23d35'E.]
Max put up the money for a drug store which his son and son-in-law ran. It was located on Broadway and Palmedo in Brooklyn. They lost the store around December 1942 or 1943 because of the war.
Beile Karnofsky died in Brooklyn in 1916 at age 60. Simon Karnofsky died in 1932 at age 42. Max Neyman, for whom I am named, died in 1963. Annie Karnofsky Neyman died in 1967. All are buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Maspeth, New York.