Rachmeil Oifman                 Pessie (Shore) Oifman

     Rachmeil Oifman, Mordecai's oldest son, was married to Pessie Shore, daughter of a successful dairy merchant in Nikolayev. Rachmeil was my great grandfather and if Nikolayev resembles Anatevka in "Fiddler on the Roof," then Rachmeil is "Tevye," the dairy merchant with the domineering wife. Although no one in the family described it exactly in this way, I can only assume that Rachmeil went into his father-in-law's business and his wife probably never let him forget it!

    Of all the female family members in Nikolayev, Pessie is the one most remembered by everyone. Meyer described his uncle's wife as a very capable businesswoman, a strong and bossy one, a "Cossack." Isaac remembered her much the same way.

    Gussie Katz Axelrod knew Rachmeil and Pessie better than anyone else alive today, since she was raised by her maternal grandparents, when her own mother died at a very young age. Gussie's remembrance of Rachmeil and Pessie is one of warmth and gratitude.

    Ida remembered her grandparents' home as large, with a nice yard containing fruit trees. Ida recalled that her grandparents had a horse and wagon and she remembered that they processed smetina and cheese in their cellar.[Page 31] Rachmeil and Pessie sold milk products and vegetables in the village.

    Bluma recalled an incident with her grand-father that had occurred more than 70 years before.

As a three year old, Bluma was spending the night at her grandparents' house, following the wedding of her aunt, Sarah Oifman Krell, Rachmeil and Pessie's youngest child. During the night Bluma became homesick and cried until Rachmeil walked her home. Rachmeil had been suffering from failing eyesight for many years and he stumbled and fell into a ditch. (According to Meyer, this was not too unusual an occurance for Rachmeil.) However, this time Rachmeil broke his leg.

    The remainder of his life, Rachmeil was not only blind, and deaf, but also lame, as his leg never healed properly.The thing that made such an impression on Bluma, was that she was made to feel guilty and responsible by the family. She recalled her arrival in St. Louis many years later, being met by cousins she scarcely remembered, and being greeted with the comment, "SO YOU ARE THE ONE, WHO BROKE ZAYDE'S LEG!!"

    Pessie died around 1919 and Rachmeil a few years later, in his 70's.

    Rachmeil and Pessie's oldest child, Zipora, mother of Joe and Gussie Katz, died in child-birth from a bad heart, in 1893 when Joe was 7 and Gussie 3. Their father, Morris Katz, was from another village (Gesilver). He left his children in the care of their maternal grandparents, Rachmeil and Pessie, and was not heard from again. It is believed that Morris emigrated to the U.S., settled in New York and began a new life there, probably with another wife and children.

    Joe emigrated to the U.S. in 1906 or 1907 with his uncle Frank Hoffman. He sent for his sister, Gussie, who joined him in St. Louis in 1913. Joe's first marriage to a Shore cousin, which I will discuss later, ended in divorce. His second marriage was to Etha Maupin, a gentile woman, who Lena Komm remembered as being very kind. They settled on a farm in Glascow, Mo. and had three daughters.

    Gussie married George Axelrod, a furrier, and lived in St. Louis with their three daughters. [Page 32]

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