DOV BERISCH KAHAN AND DVOYRA SEGAL FAMILY
My great-grandfather Dov Berisch Kahan was probably born in Sziget, where his father Yehuda Yaakov was a rabbi. Based on the birth dates of his known children and customary practices, it’s a reasonable guess that he was born about 1840. He married Dvoyra Segal, probably about 1860. According to birth records in the archives in Baia Mare, Romania, and family recollections, they had at least 10 children.
Czipre, probably the oldest, was born in May 1862 followed by Nechemye in April 1864, and Fradel in December 1865. Birth records for my grandfather Chaim and his brother Naftule Herz, the only two who emigrated to the United States, have not come to light but other sources give their birth dates as 15 June 1869 and 12 December 1871. Dov Berisch and Dvoyra were living on Balvany utca (Blue street), when a Juda Henoch was born on February 1, 1873. He died two months later on April 26th. The next child, Marjem, was almost two when she died; the records give drowning as the cause of death. Family members also recall the names of two daughters for whom no records have been found--Rikele, born about 1875, and Gittel. The records show that another son, Avraham Jakob, was born 12 November 1878. Sziget burial records indicate that he died in 1902.
Balvany utca was probably in the Jewish Quarter and may have been near the Kahan Synagogue. Dos Kahanische Schilichel was at the back of a courtyard on Jewish Street (Yiddishe Gass). A number of the Kahan families lived in the so-called Kahan Court, which was probably similar to the one shown in the old print to the right.
Unlike his father, uncles, and at least one of his brothers, Dov Berisch was not a rabbi. He could have been a tanner like his sons Chaim and Nechemye. His name and his son Nechemya’s are included among the 32 Kahanas who were members of the the Sziget burial society (Chevra Kadish) and benevolent society (Bikur Cholim). He may also be the Dov Berish son of Pela who helped to fund the publication of Sefer Likutey Tora VeHashas, a religious work published in Munkacs in 1886.
Dov Berisch died in 1899, the same year as his father, and his buried three graves away from Yehuda Yaakov in Sziget. His burial is recorded on line 65 of the Sziget Pinkas (burial records) excerpt shown below. Dvoyra died before September 1899, when her son Chaim and his wife Lottie had their first child, a daughter whom they named Dvoyra. The child died about a year and a half later. No information has so far come to light about Dvoyra’s parents or the location of her grave, which might provide some clues. (Dvora bat Tzvi, who died the same year and is listed on line 68 below, was probably not the wife of Dov Berisch because they would have likely been buried near one another, especially if they died about the same time.)
