Brick Wall People – Part 3 – Benzion Kresch

No Known Photo
Name: Benzion Kresch
Birth: unknown
Death: before 1919
Marriage: Before 1890
Location(s): Czudek, Galicia (Poland); Czendei, Galicia (Poland) (location not found)
Relation to me: Benzion Kresch is my paternal grandfather's maternal grandfather, which makes him 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): FeigeGolda Reich
Children: Naftali Mendel, Dora, Minna, ?, ?
Other Family: No other direct family known.
Details:
I know very little about Benzion. He lived and died in Galicia, and made a living as a teacher of some sort, but I do not know what sort of teacher. He and his wife likely lived in Czudek most of their married lives, as I know at least two of their children were born there. I have heard from a family relation that they may have had as many as five children, but I am still uncertain of the names of their other two children at this time. As for his death, I found a report on Jewish Gen about an attack on the town shortly before his daughter left for Frankfurt, so it is possible he may have died in that attack, or because of it.
Other than that, I know nothing about the man, other than my great grandmother named her eldest child for him.
Proof:
1)      Like the other branch of my Jewish heritage, I got all my information originally from my grandfather, who never met his grandparents except for his grandmother Feige. Up until recently, that information was all I had on Benzion.
2)      Benzion is also in the Hillinger Family book. It mentions Benzion was a teacher, and at least two place names: Czudek and Czendei in Galicia. Unfortunately, I don't know where Czendei might be, but I have at least found Czudek on a map.
3)      The last bit of information I have on Benzion is one of the most recent records I have found: his son's immigration record to Brazil. He is only mentioned on it, but it gives Mendel's birth as Czudek, so that is confirmed, at least.
Needed:
Like Alex's parents, I have no BMD information on Benzion, so I can only speculate at those dates. I have no clue where to even start looking for information on him, given he lived in Galicia around the time when Jews were under attack by the gentiles around them. Likely few records existed even before the Nazis came to power, and the ones that did likely didn't after their regime.
I would also love better records about his children. I was lucky enough to find Mendel, and I know a great deal about Dora's life, but Minna I have only a couple of photos and a story of how the two sisters came to Frankfurt together from Czudek. Of the other children, I have nothing at all, though I fear that they likely went the way of so many Jews in their area—Trablinka, or similar. To be honest, it scares me to find out, so it stops me from looking. Until the next time I try, of course.
Even more, I would love to know about his parents, siblings, and the people he came from. Was he an only child? Was his father a teacher too? What kind of life did they lead? I tend to speculate that he was from the vague Rzeszów area, just north of where Czudek is located in Poland, but as of yet, I have no real proof he was from Galicia at all, and he could have just settled there because Rzeszów was a center for Jewish learning at the time.

And really, for now, that's it. I just have so little about Benzion, I have no clue even where to start. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

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About this blog

This blog is maintained by two sisters who have had a life long interest in geneology.
Mika writes here mostly about our family (Hansen, Hillinger, Bordewick, Park, etc), and her search for more information.
Shannon mostly uses this space as a place to make the many stories written about and by her husband's family (Holly, Walker, Walpole, etc) available to the rest of the family, present and future.

Our blog is named Oh Spusch! mostly because Shannon is bad at naming things. The first post I put up includes a story about the time Walker's great grandfather took his whole family out to see a play and the littlest kept saying "Oh! Spusch!" No one ever figured out what she meant by that.