For countless years, hearing about a long-lost cousin, Zisil, and the fashionable fabrics she sent from Paris to her relatives back home made her sound like a family icon. With the help of social media, we know now that Cousin Zisil was born in Chudnov, Ukraine in 1878. She married in Chudnov, the shtetl of my father’s birth, and had several children before immigrating to Paris with her family. There, she bore two more children.

While working at the computer one day, a post on the private Facebook group, Chudnov Children, caught my attention. Gardner Semet of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey offered, “My great-grandmother, Anna Semyatich, née Broun, was born in Chudnov. She was also known as Chantzia or Chanze. Before emigrating to the U.S., her family settled in Paris. I would be happy to share what I know of the Broun, aka Brun, family with those who have some connection to the same. Apparently, they lived in Chudnov before 1[9]10 and many moved to Paris before World War I.”

As a co-administrator of the Facebook group, I responded, “Hopefully someone in this group will have more information for you. My grandparents left Chudnov in 1911 and 1912.” Semet then asked, “directly to the U.S. or did they stop elsewhere for a few years?”

My response led to an unexpectedly fruitful outcome. I answered, “directly to U.S.” After giving it a quick thought, the fact that he mentioned family members settled in Paris, I added, “My grandparents had a cousin who went from Chudnov to Paris and we don’t know what happened to her. Her name was Zisil Weinerman (could be other spellings such as Vanerman). She was one of six sisters: Sheindl (aka Jennie), Tabl (aka Tillie), Chaika (aka Clara), Ayda and Raisel, who married Yankel Shusterman and never left Chudnov. The first three sisters immigrated to America…”

Semet’s query referencing a relative in France born in Chudnov caused me to wonder if that person knew Cousin Zisil. While Paris is a large city, the fact that they were both from Chudnov gave me the idea that they may have engaged with the same circle of friends or acquaintances.

Although none of our living relatives knew Zisil’s married name or whether she had any offspring, Zisil, being an uncommon given name, made it somewhat easier to pinpoint whether or not he knew her.

When Semet responded by suggesting that I check Facebook Messenger, I never expected to find what the message announced. To my surprise, he revealed they knew each other quite well; they were husband and wife with seven children. He wrote, ‘ZISSEL married my great-great uncle, Maurice Mosko Broun. Here is everything I know about them.”

His facts fit the bill. “Zisil or Gisele Vaynerman/Waindermann Broun, born Zissel (1878-1936), married Maurice Mozko Broun (1878-1948) in Chudnov.” After reading that quote, I posted on the Chudnov Children Facebook page, “A miracle — Zisil, z”l has been found!”

Realizing it was too difficult to cut and paste all his information to share, Semet called me that evening and we engaged in a lengthy conversation. Both of us were on a mission to learn about our long-lost relatives and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

During our discussion, I referenced my 18-part series, which dates from March to August 2022 and offers a clear history of the Jews of Chudnov. You can learn more about my family from Chudnov at sharonmarkcohen.com. “The Legacy of the Six Weinerman Sisters,” covering the Rose Temnogorod Weinerman family, is dated July 26, 2022.

Risya (aka Rose) Temnogorod married Yitzhok Dov (aka Yisrael Ber) Weinerman on July 29, 1868, in Chudnov. Over 150 years later, we are still piecing together the history of the sister of my paternal grandparents. Zisil’s mother, Rose, was the sister of my grandmother Sarah’s father, my great-grandfather Yehuda Hersh Temnogorod. My grandparents were first cousins, and Rose was also a sister of my grandfather Nathan’s mother, my great-grandmother Rachel Leah Temnogorod Murovanny (aka Muravina or Mark).

That blog post contains part of a 1920s letter seeking Zisil’s whereabouts in Paris. Written by his brother Louis in Philadelphia, that letter was addressed to my grandfather Nathan in Newark, who lived near two of Zisil’s sisters. Granduncle Louis wished to have Zisil translate for his wife, who stopped in Paris en route to be reunited with her husband in the U.S. He mentions that his wife Bluma does not speak French. His worry is evident in the tone of his words.

Upon invitation to Semet’s MyHeritage account, much of the next day involved gathering information about Zisil, her husband and their descendants, and charting it on my family tree program. The information was mainly taken from the 1921 Paris census records. That research allowed me to speak knowledgeably when I broke the coveted news to my octogenarian cousins. Those sisters relied on me, the family historian, to learn what happened to their bubby’s sister, Zisil, who sent packages from Paris.

When I telephoned one of Zisil’s grandnieces with the miraculous news, she exuberantly questioned how I found Zisil’s family. As we spoke, she told me she was looking at a picture of her mother framed and perched on the table in her living room and that she could “hear” her mother saying, “Tante Zisil sent me that outfit from Paris.”

Upon calling the next eldest grandniece of Zisil, she was equally enthralled and curious. She said that she often thought about her mother’s aunt and wondered what happened to her and her family during the Holocaust and if they survived. She remembered her mother telling her that when she lived in Chudnov, her Aunt Zisil would send fabrics from the business she and her husband owned in Paris. Her Aunt Raisel, Zisil’s sister who remained in the shtetl, would take the silks and other fine fabrics to a tailor to make into clothing.

Semet and I, being fellow sleuths, shared stories, topped with priceless photographs. Zisil’s tombstone in Paris bears a picture of her, which Semet saved in his files. We now have an image of the cousin who sent fabrics from Paris to her family back home before her untimely passing in 1936. To complement that, we have a picture of her niece wearing one of those fashionable outfits.

My curiosity about Zisil paid off. In this case, social media made the impossible a reality, and a new “friend” brought Zisil to life. Taking the time to reply to Semet’s post in Chudnov Children was worth it. The foresight to ask about any knowledge of my Cousin Zisil in Paris was paramount. While it may have been a long shot, years of genealogical research demonstrates the importance of using the most minute details and asking probing questions.

Sharon Mark Cohen, MPA, believes everyone deserves a legacy. Follow her at sharonmarkcohen.com.