A wedding
It happened in the city of Zgierz, March 10th, 1845, at 3pm. Local Orthodox [Rabbi] Herz Kohn appeared together with Orthodox Oli Liverant, a bachelor age 28. Living in the city of Łask also born of Michal & Sury… and the Orthodox Bajla Horowitz a young lady aged 18 residing in Zgierz born to Berek and Haia Horowitz (spouses whose mother is deceased and whose father lives in Płock)….
He declared that today a religious marriage was concluded before him. … Nevertheless, there was an extra permission from the groom’s parents as well as the bride’s father. The spouses declared and concluded a prenuptial agreement before Zgierzow district court. … They established the law of partnership among themselves after which this act was read and signed by asking witnesses. [1][i]
On the 10th of March, Avram Moshe Olej (Liverand) married Baila Horowicz. We learn a bit about them from their grandson, Leon Olej:
This grandfather [Avram Moshe Olej] married a very rich woman, one aunt said that the bride received trousseau of linen in silk. In those days, the very rich were marrying their daughters to learned young men. When he got married, his father-in-law, my great grandfather, made for him a business in an oil mill from which our name Olej (which means oil in English) comes.[ii]
There is debate concerning the statement that Berek Horowicz was rich. It is also unclear if he would have had an oil factory to give to Avram Moshe. That said, from now on, the surname of Avram Moshe and his offspring would be “Olej”, so maybe there is something to the above statement.
Other than the description above, we just don’t know much about Baila’s parents beyond the fact that at the time of the marriage, her mother was deceased, and her father Berek, lived 150km north in Płock. How Bella remained in or near Łask is a matter for speculation. My view is that she moved in with her relatives while her father went to Płock for business reasons.[iii]
Building a large family
Nine months and seven days after getting married, on the 17th of November 1845, Avram Moshe and Baila had their first child, Aharon Mayer Olej.[iv] Aharon Mayer was the first of their ten children. Aharon Mayer was followed by his sister, Chaya-Bina, on the 27th of May 1847.[v]
Sadly, 1848 proved to be a difficult year. Chaya-Bina, still an infant, passed as did Avram Moshe’s father, Machel Olej. Machel’s wife, Sura survived him until 1866 when she passed at the age of 88.[vi] 1848 did not exclusively represent loss as on the 20th of November, Machel Olej, named after his deceased grandfather, was born.[vii] Over the next 23 years, they would have 8 more children: Chana Dvora, Yosef, Rifka, Isaac, Berek, Ruchla and Laya. Ruchla passed in 1854, she was merely four years old. On the 3rd of May 1871, Baila passed away (reason is unknown). Laya Olej, passed away shortly after her mother in 1873.[viii]
Shortly after the death of his wife, Avram Moshe moved to Zdunska-Wola.[ix] Situated 16km to the west of Łask, Zdunska-Wola was a relatively new town.[x] By the time that Avram Moshe moved there, it had a population of 17,500, 35% of it Jewish. Like other towns around it, Zdunska-Wola had a thriving textile industry.[xi]
While in Zdunsk-Wola, Avram Moshe became a Synagogue Sexton,[xii] also known as a gabbai or shamash. As a Sexton, Avram Moshe was responsible for running the synagogue services and maintaining the building grounds. Given that he was known to be an educated man who could speak four languages, he was a good choice for this job.[xiii]
In 1872, Avram Moshe married the widow, Chana Glevistsky. Her prior husband was Elias Saltz. From her prior marriage, she had two children, Sucher and Shlomo. Her grandson, Pinchas Saltz, provides us with some insight into Chana:
Bobbe Chana, I remember very well. She was a Yiddish teacher. She taught Jewish boys and girls how to write Yiddish. She had another occupation. She wrote letters for Jewish boys and girls, and for girls who were maids. She wrote letters for them to their parents, to their friends, to their loved ones. She was very happy helping those people. Bobbe Chana used to come to us for the Yom Toivin (Jewish holidays), and whenever she came there was a great rejoicing. She was a wonderful woman and a good-natured person. Whenever she talked, she had a bright, jolly smile on her face.[xiv]
Avram Moshe and Chana had one child in 1876, Mordichi-Volv (Wolf) Olej. In 1894, Avram Moshe Olej passed away at the age of 77. In total he had 8 surviving children who over time had 62 of their own.[xv]
Avram Moshe’s children
Avram Moshe’s descendants will play a major role in the later chapters. Therefore, I would like to provide you with a more in-depth introduction:
Aharon Mayer Olej
Born in 1845, Aharon Mayer stayed in his hometown of Łask. In 1867 he married Ruchla Wajc,[xvi] (Polish version of “Weis”). Ruchla and Aharon had three children prior to her passing in 1873.[xvii] Their children were named: Shayna (1868), Szyja or “Shio” (1869) and Beresz (1873). Beresz passed the same year as Ruchla (1873). It is not known if the deaths were related.[xviii] [xix]
In 1873, Aharon Mayer married Ruchla’s sister Rana.[xx] Aharon Mayer and Rana would have seven children, Chaja Bajla (1875), Eliezer (1876), Glikel Rakhel (1878), Machel (1881), Szymon or “Shimoo” (1883), Mendel (1888), and Jacob Isaac (1893).[xxi] [xxii] Chaja Baijla and Mendel Olej passed at a young age.[xxiii] [xxiv]
Machel Olej
He was born shortly after his grandfather passed and was, therefore, named after him. He married Chana “Hannah” Leya Joskowicz who had divorced Adam Falek. Their marriage was officially recorded in Łask in 1900, but it was likely that they had a religious wedding prior, as they started having children between 1893 and 1906. They were: Hersz Olej, Mordka Olej, Lajzer Olej, Hercke Olej, Icek Menachem Olej, Chaja Bina Olej, Szyja Olej, Baila Olej, Jakob, and Mackla Olej. Sadly, both Hersz and Hercke passed while still an infant.[xxv] [xxvi]
Chana Dvora Olej
Chana Dvora married her stepbrother, Shlomo Salz and moved to Pabianice. They are the progenitors of a very large family. Pinchas Saltz’s memoir described Chana Dvora as follows:
My Mother, aleha hasholom, (peace be upon her) was a remarkable person. She had a strong character. She carried the whole burden on her shoulders. She bought and sold. She took care of everything. She managed the entire household, she saw to it that tuition for the children’s school was paid on time, she did the shopping and cooking, and saw that debts were paid. … We were not the greatest earners but were 12-14 people at the table and that costs a lot of money, so she had to – as they say in America – “cut corners.” And she really cut? She was very stingy about everything, but one thing astonished me; when someone came and asked for charity, when it came to giving to the poor, she always gave very generously.
Regarding his father Shlomo:
My father was mostly busy in the bakery shop. He also gave a lot of time to social activities. I remember poor people came to our house very often asking my father for help. Some people needed money for food or rent, other people had sickness in the family, and they needed money for doctors, others needed money for coal in the wintertime. We had plenty of poor people there. … He [Shlomo] helped as much has he was able. Whatever he couldn’t give himself, he went out and collected from his friends … He had a heart full of goodness.
Their children were named Bajla Zalc “Salz” (1881), Hersz “Hershel” Salz (1882) , Chaia Salz (1885), Aron Pinchas Salz (1886), Machel Salz (1889), Sura Salz (1892), Benjamin Salz (1893), Abraham Morris (1896), and Berish Dov Salz (1900).[xxvii]
Yosef Eliezer Olej
Yosef was the Author’s great-grandfather. Like his sister, he moved to Pabianice where he met and married the author’s great-grandmother, Mindel Levin. They will be discussed in detail in later chapters. They had nine children: Machel Olej (1893), Abraham Morris Olej (1896), Beresh “Benjamin” Olej (1898), Masha Olej (1900), Yankle Olej (1901), Bella Olej (1905), Ayre “Leon” Olej (1908), Sarah Olej (1913), and Ester Olej (1914). They also had one child who did not survive their birth and therefore was not named.
Rifka Olej
Born Rywka Olej in Szadek, she also moved to Pabianice where she married Hersz Gerszon in Zdunska-Wola. Hersz was born in Prussia and was living in Sieradz. They had four children: Bajla Gerszon (1888), twins Sura and Estera Gerszon (1893), Michael Gerson (1894).[xxviii]
Isaac Olej
Born Icek Olej in 1861, Isaac accompanied his father to Zdunska-Wola around the age of ten. On the 6th of May 1889, he married Sura Pik. Together they had eleven children whose descendants live in both the United States and Australia. Their children were: Bella Olej (1890), Vovov “Willie Wolf” Olej (1891), Abram Moshe Olej (1896), Toba Olej (1898), Machel “Max” Olej (1906), Lifcha Olej (1910), and Devora Olej (1914).[xxix] [xxx] In addition they had the following whose birth dates are unknown: Esther Olej, Pesa Olej, Rachel Olej.[xxxi]
Isaac and Sura met in Zdunska-Wola. Isaac was a religious man and would spend most of his time in the Yeshiva where he would study the Talmud and attended daily shiurims (lectures/classes). Issac was well educated in both Jewish literature and Hasidic philosophy.
This left the child rearing and running the family’s wayside tavern to Sura. In doing so she demonstrated resourcefulness by making her own alcohol and procuring what was needed to feed travelers.[xxxii]
Berek Olej
Berek (Berish) Olej also accompanied his father to Zdunska-Wola where he was a tinsmith. On the 25th of May 1894 he married Ajdla Goldberg in Zdunska-Wola. Berek and Ajdla had at least seven children: Avram Moshe Olej (1895), Bajla Olej (1898), Manya (Mania) Olej (1900), Zyskind Olej (1901), Cerla Olej (1903) and Machel Olej (1905), Luba Olej (unk).[xxxiii] [xxxiv]
Mordichi-Volv Olej
Mordichi-Volv (Wolf) Olej was the only child born to Avram Moshe and Chan Glevitsky. In 1906, Mordichi-Volv married Brajna Rozynowicz. Very little is known of Mordichi-Volv’s early life, but we do know that he and Branja had six children: Esther Malka Olej, Machel Olej, Avram Moshe Olej, Golda Olej, Chaskiel Olej, and Rajzl “Raisel” Olej (1912).[xxxv] [xxxvi]
[1] Thanks to Barbara Vicary for facilitating the transcription and translation. The author took a few liberties to highlight the key lines.
[i] Translated and transcription of figure 17.
[ii] Memoirs by Leon Olive, see appendix
[iii] Parents and their locations were stated in figure 17.
[iv] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.)
[v] IBID
[vi] IBID
[vii] IBID
[viii] IBID
[ix] IBID
[x] “The Zdunska-Wola Book” Translation of “Zdunska Wola” Edited by Elchanan Ehrilich and Leila Kaye-Klin; available online at: Zdunska-Wola, Poland (English Pages 3-30).
[xi] IBID
[xii] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.)
[xiii] Memoirs by Leon Olive, see appendix
[xiv] Pinchas Saltz memoirs courtesy of Sheldon Nadler.
[xv] [xv] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.)
[xvi] “Marriage Record” JRI-Poland; “Aron Majer Oli” and “Ruchla Wajtz”, date 1867, ref Microfilm 767128; available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xvii] “Death Record” JRI-Poland; “Ruchla Oli”, date 1873, available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xviii] “Death Record” JRI-Poland; “Beresz Oli”, date 1873, available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xix] “Birth Record” JRI-Poland; Names: “Szajna Oli, Szyjz Oli, and Beresz Oli”, dates 1868, 1869, and 1872, available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xx] “Marriage Record” JRI-Poland; “Aron Majer Oli” and “Rana Wajc”, date 1873; available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xxi] “Birth Record” JRI-Poland; Names: “Chia Bajla, Lajzer, Glika, Michail, Szymon, Jakow Icek”, dates 1875 – 1893; available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xxii] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.)
[xxiii] “Death Record” JRI-Poland; “Chaia Bajla Oli”, date 1881, available online at JRI-Poland | Preserving Jewish Records of Poland.
[xxiv] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.).
[xxv] IBID for Hersz Olej (1893), Mordka Olej (1900), Lajzer Olej (1902), Hercke Olej (1904) and Icek Menachem Olej (1906).
[xxvi] Obtained by Keith Olive and Judith Silberg through interviewing cousins, aunts, uncles, and his parents. They were Provided to Sean Logan via family sheets. Notes in the possession of Sean Logan.
[xxvii] Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.).
[xxviii] IBID
[xxix] IBID except for Lifcha
[xxx] “1950 United States Federal Census”, database and image at Ancestry.com, Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972, Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington; Census for Abram Olive and family, Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, Accessed 2 Apr 2025.
[xxxi] Obtained by Keith Olive and Judith Silberg through interviewing cousins, aunts, uncles, and his parents. They were Provided to Sean Logan via family sheets. Notes in the possession of Sean Logan.
[xxxii] Story provided by Frances Anita Oliver, Isaac’s and Sura’s granddaughter.
[xxxiii] Marriage date and Birth dates for Avram Moshe, Bajla and Zyskind provided by – Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.).
[xxxiv] Supplemental names and birth years provided by Bernard Markowicz, great-grandson of Berek and Ajdla.
[xxxv] Marriage date and Birth date for Rojza Olej provided by – Professional Genealogist Petje reviewed birth, marriage, and death records on Metryki GenBaza, source of vital records. Petje transcribed and summarized in a tree located in Appendix C. Available online at (Metryki GenBaza – Księgi metrykalne i USC. Genealogia.).
[xxxvi] Provided by Beni Olej, son of Machel Olej, grandson of Mordichi-Volv Olej.
Becoming Us 