Zimmerman

his “Russian” name was “Pavel.” Dorothy’s mother, Rose Sabascavatch, the daughter of Bernard (Sobol) Sabascavatch, married Phillip in 1887 in Kiev. Rose was a feisty lady surrounded by some degree of mystery herself. The common quote was that my (Sometimes spelled Zimmermann)

grandmother Dottie “Was different than the rest of us,” and there has been some speculation that she was the offspring of Rose and a Russian officer (or official), whom Rose fell in with for “permission to emigrate” papers. I like this story, but it is probably not Max’s father (last name Schindlermann)

true. The large Zimmerman nose from her father was passed down to my father. More than likely, this comment refers to Dorothy b. approx. 1810

being ambitious, climbing, and prone to expensive purchases.

Max Zimmerman

We have a sampler sewn by Rose with the inscription: “Home is where the heart is, in mansions great and small.” (Dated b. 1845, Kiev, Ukraine

1935). We also own two blue glass mugs brought over from the Ukraine by the Zimmermans. Rose was said to be extremely d. 1932, NYC, Age 87.

bright, funny, and energetic. There is a picture of me as a baby with Rose Zimmerman and Sam Greenstein, my two great grandm. Ida Brownstein, b. 1843

parents who lived long enough to see their first great grandchild.

Served entire enlistment in Russian Jewish Cavalry and retired on a pension.

Zimmerman was not their original name, which was Schindlermann. Philip’s father was Max (Mordko/ Motel) Zimmerman,

b. circa 1840, yet his father was a Schindlermann. Max married Ida (Guda) Brownstein, circa 1864. Max sold Passover “things,”

Phillip Zimmerman

and later on, went into the “newspapers business.” His children had paper routes. Ida became a midwife and used to hide the b. 1865, Kiev

money she made in a stocking because her husband demanded she turn all of the money she earned over to him.

d. 1932, NYC, Age 77.

The Sabascavatch family came over on the same boat as the Zimmermans. The elder Sabascavatch, Bernard, was a First

m. Rose Sabascavitch (aka Sobol), d. 1950. Daughter of Lieutenant Sobol or Sabascavitch, of the Czar’s (Jewish) Cavalry.

Lieutenant in the Russian Cavalry. My father remembers him as a bony little figure who smoked Russian cigarettes and smelled Grew up on army base in Kiev, Ukraine.

of necrotic lungs. He lived into his 80s in Brooklyn.

Sarah Dorothy “Dottie” Zimmerman

The Sabascavatches were a military family, and Dorothy’s grandfather lived on a “concern” (Army post) in Kiev – a mark of b. 1890, NYC.

prominence for a Jew in the Czar’s Army. He was a Lieutenant in the Cavalry and retired on a pension, then moved to New York.

d. 1952, Hartford, CT. Age 62.

Either I imagined being told, or actually was told he was a soldier in the Crimean War during the 1850s war between Russian and m. Dr. Morris David Liftig

England. I used to think they were related to Bob Dylan (same nose) until I read that Robert Zimmerman’s family’s name was actually something different. Then I found out that our Zimmerman’s name was Schindlermann. Now I have to find out what Bob Dr. Alvin Bernard Liftig

Dylan’s (phony name itself) phony Zimmerman’s name was, and see if it’s the same as ours. We could be cousins, or the Russians b. 1922, NYC

might just have needed a lot of carpenters back then.

d. 2009, Avon, CT. Age 87.

Talking about phony family names, a search of the Internet and Facebook for Sabascavitch turns up nothing at all (Sebasovich m. Francine Barbara Greenstein

does, in Pennsylvania)– except a guy in Meriden, CT. – most likely one of “our” phony people.

Dr. Robert A, Liftig

Zimmermans are in many other ways a bundle of mysteries and contradictions. They are comfortable with their Jewishness, b. 1947, Frankfort, Germany (U.S. Army Dependent)

and this has apparently made them relaxed about marrying non-Jews, such as: Pennsylvania Dutch, Japanese, General American, m. Inez Fugate. 1971

Italian, Swedish, and Irish, and they all have a lot of kids.

Anya Liftig

b. 1977

Aunt Kate (nee Katherine Friedlander)

m. Noel Hartman

Aunt Kate was my father’s favorite aunt, although she was not related to him by blood. That’s another Zimmerman contradiction.

Dorothy Allyson Liftig

Aunt Kate had brought my father home from the Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn in 1922. Dad loved Kate more than he loved his b. 1981. Norwalk, CT

mother, who he claimed was very strict with him and his brother Bud – which leads to still another Zimmerman contradiction: m. David Martin

Dottie was reported to have been desperate for children, doted on them as boys, and then later hounded them mercilessly and tried to run their lives, with the result that my father Al ignored her, and my Uncle Bud rebelled.

Aunt Kate was married to Uncle Al Zimmerman, a dental technician, and my father’s favorite uncle. They had a child who

Family Snapshots:

died and then adopted my cousin Martin. Al reportedly “stepped out” on Aunt Kate from time to time, and the situation must have been very depressing for her – and, depression, as we know, can shorten your life. Aunt Kate lived into her 90s, blind from

“Dottie” Zimmerman Liftig

diabetes, almost deaf, living alone in the tiny house she had lived in with Uncle Al – which soon after Al’s death became part of Brooklyn born Sarah (Dorothy) Zimmerman (aka “Dottie”) married my grandfather Morris twice: in 1910 and then again, in 1913

Hartford’s growing North End ghetto. Kate worked at G. Foxes in the Complaint Department – which seems appropriate.

– why twice, is a mystery. Dorothy was born on her immigrant ship off Long Island in 1891 before it docked (presumably at the We remember her with fondness, because she was always a fixture at Thanksgiving.

new Ellis Island), but she was considered native born, and was therefore an American citizen at birth. She came from a family of Aunt Kate (Friedlander) was born on a farm in New Jersey.

five: four sisters and one brother, Al. Her family was from Rady, just outside Kiev (known also as Radyslomyl), which my Aunt She told us about other Zimmerman relatives who were farmers: the Plitt family of Spring Valley, NY. Others were the

Bea, in her Brooklyn accent described as a “Beau-ti-ful suboib of Kiev.”

Polaners of N.J. who owned a humble berry farm, and later made a fortune producing Polaner Jellies. The Zimmerman family Dorothy’s father, Philip (b. Kiev, 1865, died, 1932) was a clothing salesman and traveled a lot. He had a “trimmings” busi-always bought Polaner and would encourage others to do the same. We were only buying Polaner until we found out they had ness which went broke during the Depression, although the family paid back all his debts, according to Aunt Bea. In Cyrillic, sold the business years before.

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