Krakow: Five burials, one tombstone

A Schamroth tombstone identified in Krakow’s Miodowa Street cemetery opens up a new family branch previously unknown.

The tombstone has three sections. The curved writing and first two lines in the upper section reads:

Here lies the betulah [young maiden] Rivka Judessa, daughter of Isaac Halevi Horowitz.
She died on 1 Adar 5691 [18 February 1931].
In this grave lie 3 generations

The rest of the inscription reads:

In eternal memory: Yitzhak Halevi Horowitz
And his grandson, Avraham Arie s/o Dov Ha’levi Ehrenstein
Killed by the Germans in the year 1942.
May Hashem avenge their blood

The middle section forms the main part of the tombstone. At the top is written:

Rivka Judessa, daughter of Ha’rav [the Rabbi],

Ha’Gaon [the great Torah scholar] Yitzhok Itsche Schamroth
Died on 5 Tamuz 5665 [8 July 1905]

Below that is a poetic description of Rivka Judessa’s attributes… each line beginning with an initial from her first name.

The lower section reads:

Here lies Doba Fradel
wife of Yitzhok Halevi Horowitz
daughter of Avraham Tzvi Klein
Died on 29 Tevet 5687 [3 January 1927]

In summary, there are actually five people buried beneath this tombstone, including a mother (Rivka Judessa Schamroth), her daughter (Doba Freidel Klein), and her granddaughter (Rivka Judessa Halevi Horowitz). Based on these inscriptions as well as other data, the family structure has been reconstructed below. (As an aside, the Halevi Horowitz family is one of the few well-established lineages that can trace their origins back to Rashi, and from there back to Adam and Eve).

Click image to enlarge

This information was writen by Julian Schamroth and published on the Horowitz Family Association website.