Kuperblum & Kierszenbaum Families

Kuperblum (Kupferblum / Blum)

& Kierszenbaum Families

As told by Neil Dukas

My mother, Ruth Dukas (of Kingston, Ontario, Canada), was born in Ostrowiec (in 1928), as was her late brother, Morris Bloom, and sister, Pearl Druker (both of Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

My grandfather, Gierson Blum, emigrated with his wife, Sura (Kierszenbaum) and children out of Poland in 1929. My mother was just a toddler at the time.

Our family has preserved several documents and photographs from Ostrowiec mostly dated from the 1920s when some members of my mother’s family had the foresight to emigrate to Canada.

Item 1

My grandfather’s passport indicates his place of residence as Ostrowiec. My mother is listed in the passport as “Rywka-Bina,” last name Blum (prior generations went by Kuperblum or Kupferblum).

Item 2

Photograph of my grandfather, Gierson Blum (of Ostrowiec) in his Polish Army uniform. He served in the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Communications Regiment, Polish Army Reserve.

Item 3

A current photograph of the building that once housed the fruit market at 2 TYLNA, STAROKUNOWSKA-14 that, I understand, was run by my mother’s grandmother, Rojza Kierszenbaum, before the war.

Item 4

A photograph of my great grandmother Rojza (or “Rojzy”) Kierszenbaum (married to Israel-Szulim Kierszenbaum of Ostrowiec). Sadly, Rojzy, like many others of her generation, was a victim of the Holocaust.