THESE ARE THE PIKHOLZ OF
GRIMAYLOW
49°20´ - 26°02´  - 7.3 miles / 11.7 km S of Skalat
Map of the area here

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We have several families with connections to the town of Grimaylow, but the fact that the records for Grimaylow are not available makes it difficult to make sense of them.  On one hand, there seem to be things that fit together but on the other hand, perhaps not at all.  The purpose of this page is to put all the information in one place.  Perhaps that will help see it more clearly.
 

I'll be pleased to see your comments. Israel P.

1.  The family called GRIMAYLOW.
The family described in detail here is based on testimony of living people, in particular two daughters of Israel-Aharon Pikholz and his wife Rosa Horovitz.  The two daughters live in Herzeliyya, another lives in Argentina and two brothers live elsewhere in Israel but are not interested in this project.  The eldest of the daughters Leah - was born in 1919 and I met with her in August 2000.  Leah was quite sure of all her facts, including the names of her grandparents - even both her grandmothers' maiden names.

Her grandfather Yaakov (ben Leib and Leah) Pikholz was born around 1870 and married Malka Mosels.  They had two children - Israel-Aharon and a daughter known as "Babeh."  Leah was quite sure that there were no other children, as her father had gone to America before he was married but returned to Grimaylow because he was the only child aside from "Babeh" and didn't want his parents to be alone as they got older.  Israel-Aharon married Rosa (bat Yitzhak) Horovitz and they had six children. The eldest was Samuel who was in the Polish army and was murdered by the Nazis while a POW.  Samuel went by Rosenstrauch, which was Rosa's mother's maiden name.  The other five children, their parents and their grandfather Yaakov hid from the Nazis in the forests around Skalat.  The five children - who were in their teens and early twenties - survived.  Leah's husband also survived, but their young son did not.

2. IZRAEL PIKHOLZ goes to America US - at least temporarily
On 23 May 1907, Izrael Pikholz (age 21) arrived at Ellis Island on the SS Sicilia.  He was going to a cousin in New York, named Leia Goldenberg, best I can make out.  (The lines following are young people named Bienstock, also from Grimaylow, but I see nothing that indicates a family connection between them and Izrael Pikholz.)  We have found no other reference to him in the US.  This may be Israel-Aharon above - the one who eventually returned to Grimaylow.  But he may be the brother of Libe and Leike below and that he is not Israel-Aharon.

(There also seems to a reference to a similar sailing - this time in 1905 - of the a ship called Sicilian with a passenger named Israel Pikholz, age 21.  The record is from Philadelphia, but we haven't seen that this ship landed in Philadelphia.)

3. The family called ISRAEL
This family, described in detail here, is headed by two brothers, Israel and Yehiel.  Israel had two sons we know of, both of whom came to Israel. Yehiel had a son Israel who was killed by Cossaks, according to family tradition, and three daughters all of whom lived in the US.  Yehiel lived in grzmaylow.  It is not clear where his brother Israel lived.

Yehiel is not a common Pikholz name, but we have a Yehiel married to Maria who had a son Israel.  He died on 3 June 1893, at fourteen days.  I have no idea if this couple is connected to the ISRAEL family.

4. Another ROSENSTRAUCH-PIKHOLZ couple
In addition to the Rosenstrauch reference above, we have another Rosenstrauch-Pikholz family, this one in Skalat.  Kopel Pikholz and Ester Rosenstrauch had eight births in the period 1864-1890.  The first was named Israel, but he died in childhood.  Ester's family is from Pleskowce - I'm not sure just where that is.  I have no reason to think that this family is connected to any of the Grimaylow families listed on this page, but I'm mentioning it because of the Rosenstrauch connection.

5. The PIKHOLZ-KWALER family lived in Grimaylow for awhile
Leib Pikholz and his wife Rachel-Gittel Kwaler (sometimes Qualer) had six children in the period 1876-1889.  Although most of the children were born in Skalat, one's (Moses Hersz b. 1877) birth record says that the family lived in Grimaylow, even though the birth itself was in Skalat.  The Kwalers were from Zalosce, so that cannot explain the Grimaylow connection.  This was apparently a temporary move to Grimaylow and they may therefore have nothing to do with any of the other Grimaylow Pikholz families.

6. The PIKHOLZ-GRUBERG family
We have birth records for two children of Joseph Pikholz and Sussel (bat David-Eisig and Chaje) Gruberg - Markus (1889) and Gittel (1892)  The record for Gittel contains a note (below) with a reference to Grimaylow.  I'm not sure what exactly the
note says.  Gittel's birth (in the Tarnopol records) is in Bereszow Wielkie. She probably married a man named Salomon Lippman. We have recently found living descendants of Gittel and Salomon Lippman. 

Markus' birth is also in the Tarnopol records.

Another son - Maurycy was born 1881 in Grimaylow, according to testimony of his daughter Michaelina Pikholz (who adopted the name Olga Barnitsch during the War and

eventually came to Israel, where she died in the 1960's at about age fifty-one).  Another child of Maurycy was Arnold Henryk Pickholz, a medical doctor who was last seen in Ghetto Lwow.

A fourth child of Josef and Sussel is Freida, who married Gustav Migden (from Tarnopol) and lived in Skalat.  There is a living descendant who declines contact.

7. RITA's two connections
Rishi Epstein, the wife of Ari Leib Pikholz of Kozowa, was from Grimaylow.  Ari Leib had a nephew Moshe Hersch who was buried in the Rymalower section of Baron Hirsch Cemetery in NY.  I don't think these are significant to the Grimaylow families, but I cite them in order to complete the picture.