Schmerler Family Genealogy

The Schmerler family name appears to belong to - at least - two distinct groups of families. One group of families, to which I belong, is Jewish and comes a small area in what is now Western Ukraine known as Galicia. It is tempting to hypothesize that all of these Jewish Schmerler families are indeed branches of the same family tree. I believe that this is true. However I have no real evidence to prove this assumption.

Except when noted otherwise I will be referring to the Jewish Schmerler families from Galicia simply as the "Schmerler Family." In contrast, the other Schmerler family group is located primarily in Germany, Austria and the Midwest of the United States and is not Jewish. There are genealogical records for this Schmerler family going back to at least 1654 in Saxony, Germany. It is interesting to consider whether the Jewish and non-Jewish Schmerler families may have been related at some point in the distant past. However I am aware of no evidence to support this speculation.

(Note: The man in the photograph is Rabbi Binyamin Schmerler in around 1940.)

Origin of the Schmerler Name

Because of the very limited genealogical records in Eastern Europe - especially for Jews - information about most branches of the Schmerler family prior to the 1800’s is virtually non-existent. The origin of the Schmerler name is obscure as well. "Schmerle" is a type of fish (loach) in German - so perhaps some of the early Schmerlers were fisherman. But this is speculation at best.

Galicia

Every Jewish Schmerler family that I am aware of can trace there roots to some city or town in a relatively localized region of Eastern Galicia - Stanislav, Solotvina, Borochin, Vishnitz, Suceva, Nadworna, Zablotov, Vorochin, Otonya, Ravitch, Dolina, Rakhov, Manistrich. These towns are mostly in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains between the cities of Czernowitz and Stanislav. Over the last 150 years this area has been ruled by many countries including Poland, Austria-Hungary, Roumania, the Soviet Union and the Ukraine. A good map for Eastern Galicia and neighboring Bukovina is available here. As can be seen from the map, all of these towns are within a radius of approximately 100 miles (the towns are all in the lower right hand corner of the map).. For a more "first-hand" description of this geographical area, you may be interested to read my journal and see some photosfrom my travels to the Western Ukraine in search of links to my Schmerler past.

Like other Jewish families of Eastern Europe, the Schmerlers either emigrated or perished in the Holocaust. Several branches wound up in the United States or Israel. Currently I am aware of members of the Schmerler family in seven countries (US, Israel, Canada, England, Australia, Peru, Switzerland and Germany).

Family of Charles Schmerler

Family of Charles and Frieda Schmerler, c. 1900.

Some Schmerler Family Facts

The Schmerlers appear to have been very religious. Nearly every branch of the family had some rabbi or scholar among their ancestors.

One branch of the family - that goes back to Rabbi Chaim Schmerler who lived around 1800 in Manistrich (Galicia) - has approximately 20 rabbis or other religious scholars in its direct lineage including present day rabbis in Israel and Zurich Switzerland.
By marriage, the Schmerlers were related to even more well known Jewish religious families - including the family of Rabbi Meir "The Great" of Premishlon as well as the Hager family of the "Vishnitzer Rebbe"

Of course there are many interesting facts about the Schmerlers outside of the religious realm (most of which I am sure I don't know). A few examples:

Isak Eisig Schmerler was the mayor of Vishnitz for almost 40 years before his death in 1904.
The Schmerler family seems to have been on good terms with the Schattner family. Within the last 150 years, there are at least three examples of a Schattner marrying a Schmerler (including my grandparents Schulim Schattner and Devora Schmerler).
Shaya Schmerler eloquently documented the awful fate of his family and neighbors during the Holocaust in the Memorial Book of the village of Nadworna.
Shaya Schmerler also wrote about a chapter in Memorial Book of the village of Stryj
Other Schmerlers from the village of Nadworna also survived the Holocaust and wrote about their memories of the Nadworna Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery in the Nadworna Memorial Book.

The Charts

The Schmerler Family Charts are an attempt to give an indication of the complexity of all the branches of the family and some of the places where they over the last 150 years. I make no claim as to the accuracy - and certainly not to the completeness - of the information. Information generally came from oral recollections of family elders. I believe I have recorded their recollections faithfully - but memories can dim over the years.

Because the family "branches" are mostly unconnected, it is may be somewhat difficult to follow the charts. If two branches do not have an actual line connecting them on the drawing , it means that I do not know the relation between them and the fact that they may been otherwise drawn in proximity to one another on the chart has no significance whatsoever. If there is a dotted line or a line with question marks connecting branches, one should infer that I was given some indication that the link is valid but either the person wasn’t sure or one person said the link existed and some else believed it did not.

More Information

Gayle Olson has put a comprehensive listing of information on the branch of the family descendent from Joseph Schmerler of Solotvina which is available at the American Jewish Historical Society, Lee M Friedman Memorial Library, 2 Thornton Rd, Waltham MA 02154.

For more information on Jewish genealogy, an excellent place to look is the Jewish Genealogy Website. The Jewish Genealogy Website now has pages describing some of the towns and shtetls from which the Schmerler Family came - including good sites for the villages of Nadvorna, Otonya, Dolina and Delyatin.

Feedback and Acknowledgements

My intention is to maintain and improve this site over time. I could use some help - if any of you have any old and/or interesting photographs that you think might be appropriate for inclusion in this site please let me know. Similarly if you have any other relevant family information, I'd be glad to hear about it. Many people have already helped me greatly in gathering the Schmerler Family information found on this website - especially Eugene Normand, Gayle Olson and David Sotkowitz - thank you so much! Or even if you just have feedback on the interest and usability of the information here, I'd enjoy receiving e-mail at schattnerATalumDOTswarthmoreDOTedu (just replace the "AT" with "@" and the "DOT"s with "."s). Thanks.

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This page last updated on 7/7/08