Aron Smushkevich
Aron's children were Moisei (Moisha) Aronovich Smushkevich, Leibal Smushkevich, Zeival Smushkevich and Boruch Smushkevich.
This part of the memoirs was written by Aaron’s great-granddaughter (Moisha’s granddaughter) Nelli Medvinsky.
January 2005
Our ancestors came from Lithuania. My great–grandfather, Aaron Smushkevich, moved from Lithuania to the Ukraine (the Poltava region) in the middle of the 19th century. At this time it is impossible to locate any information about him because European Jewry in the shtetls1 could not register the dates of their birth or death. We do know however that all of his sons were born in the Ukraine (Poltava region). Also, it is known that some of Aaron’s siblings moved from Lithuania to the Ukraine because his grandchildren (children of Zeival, Moisha and Boruch) had paternal second cousins there. Other members of the Smushkevich family remained in Lithuania. From these Lithuanian Smushkeviches came the famous Soviet pilot, general Yakov Smushkevich, who was killed under order by Stalin. Aaron’s grandchildren recalled that general Yakov Smushkevich was their second cousin.
Aaron’s family was quite large. Unfortunately, we have no information about his wife and all of his children. All of Aaron’s grandchildren have since passed away, and their memories seem to have vanished with them. We do, however, have some information about Aaron’s four sons; Zeival (1865 – 1941), Moisha (1869-1942), Boruch (1874 –1952) and Leibal. We know that they came from a poor family. They received a Jewish education and they lived a typical lifestyle in the shtetls with Jewish traditions and culture. This lifestyle was greatly altered after the Revolution and disappeared almost entirely during and after the Holocaust.
I believe that Aaron died between 1899 and 1909 because his son Moisha did not name his first-born son (who was born in 1899) after his father and named his second-born son (who was born in 1909) after his father Aaron. Traditionally, Jews could only name their children after the deceased.
Currently, Aaron’s descendants are living in Russia, the Ukraine, the USA, and Israel.
