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Topic starter
04/06/2024 1:58 pm
A supercentenarian unknown until now:
Bessie (Levine) Krakow, of Montreal, born on 10 August 1912 in Vilna, Lithuania.
diego reacted
Topic starter
04/06/2024 2:01 pm
A supercentenarian unknown until now:
Bessie (Levine) Krakow, of Montreal, born on 10 August 1912 in Vilna, Lithuania.
The post is her 110th birthday in 2022, as I couldn't find confirmation of her 111th birthday last year.
diego reacted
04/06/2024 2:51 pm
@filipe93 Are we sure she is alive as of today?
http://www.supercentenariditalia.it/persone-viventi-piu-longeve-in-italia.
Persone viventi più longeve in Italia – Supercentenari d'Italia (supercentenariditalia.it)
Topic starter
04/06/2024 3:21 pm
But if she is alive, her 112th birthday is approaching and perhaps we will have a confirmation
04/06/2024 6:20 pm
It's great to see another (hopefully) living Canadian SC case. Hopefully there are more people born in 1913 as well as we only know of two and they are both born near the end of the year
Also it's crazy that there are Latvian and Lithuanian SCs both living in Montreal
20/06/2024 12:37 am
On Bessie Krakow, I have posted what I believe to be her birth record in another thread.
I wanted to post more of my research on the case. These first two sections will be on the siblings
Spoiler
Irving Levine
There is a 1972 obituary for an Irving Levine in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that mentions a sister "Bessie Krakow".
This Irving's death record (link here - paid access) gives his parents as "N Levine" and "E Szlep" and his date of birth as 20 Jul 1923. This matches the obituary saying Irving was the son of the "late Nathan and Ethel Levine". (Nathan is probably an Anglicization of "Nison")
The 1972 obituary also mentions a sister Luba Mahler.
All of Bessie Krakow, Irving Levine and Luba Mahler all resided in Mont-Royal, Montreal, Quebec in the 1960s and early 1970s according to voter records. (attached on the Ancestry page for Irving here and Luba here - only need a free account to access).
Irving Levine's 1923 date of birth matches closely with a birth index for a "Izaak Levin", son of Nison, born in Vilnius in 1923:
| LEVIN, Izaak - - 1923 | Nison, | Vilnius | Birth Index Vilnius | Lithuanian State Archive LVIA/1817/1/448 | Index only. Original record # 456 This record is from the LitvakSIG |
We continue right from this record in the next spoiler
Spoiler
Luba Mahler
The same birth index also records a 1919 birth of a "Liuba Levina", daughter of "Nison"
| LEVINA, Liuba - - 1919 | Nison, | Vilnius | Birth Index Vilnius | Lithuanian State Archive LVIA/1817/1/447 | Index only. Original record # 101 This record is from the LitvakSIG
|
But there is a more specific record for "Lyuba" / "Liuba", which gives her birth as 29 Mar 1919, born to Nison Levin and Etel Shlep:
| LEVIN, Lyuba 29 - Mar - 1919 27 Adar II | Nison, Mordukh‑Shmuyl Etel SHLEP, Zorukh | Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius | Birth Vilna / [Vilnius] 1919 F101 | Lithuanian State Archive LVIA/1817/1/342 | Father from Traby This record is from the LitvakSIG |
This matches the records for the Luba Mahler mentioned in the obituary of Irving Levine above: following her first husband Max Mahler's death in 1985, she married a Morris Field (1904-2005) in 1989 in Delray Beach, Florida. Her date of birth was recorded as "28 Mar 1989" in that record, as well as in her social security death index entry:
| Name | Luba Field |
|---|---|
| Social Security Number | 589-88-6633 |
| Birth Date | 28 Mar 1919 |
| Issue year | 1989-1992 |
| Issue State | Florida |
| Death Date | 26 Mar 2011 |
Coincidentally, when I went back to look at my compiled research in my Ancestry tree, it seems somehow had identified a perfect match for the family's immigration record in 1934, as well as an obituary for the mother Ethel, attached to their tree today (this tree seems to have a number of the relatives of Bessie in it - cousins, aunts, uncles, grand-nieces/nephews, etc).
Immigration record for the family
Here is the transcription for Bessie:
| Name | Basse Parnaby[] |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Race | Hebrew |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Arrival Age | 21 |
| Birth Date | abt 1913 |
| Birth Place | Wilno, Poland |
| Embarkation Port | Copenhagen |
| Arrival Date | 12 Mar 1934 |
| Arrival Port | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Final Destination | Montreal |
| Ship | Pulaski |
| Occupation | Housekeeper |
| Person in Old Country Name | Bina Szeres |
| Person in Old Country Residence Place | Wilno Kalwaryjska 85 Poland |
| Person in Old Country Relationship | Aunt |
| Person in Canada Name | Hersz Kucer |
| Person in Canada Relationship | Uncle |
The whole family: "Nisen", "Etel", "Basse", "Luba" and "Issi" arrive.
Some more assorted records:
1944 engagement announcement of Bessie Levine and Jack Krakow
1945 birth announcement of son
Parents marriage record:
Spoiler
marriage record
| Groom Bride | LEVIN, Nison SHLEP, Etel | 24 25 | Traby Oshmiany | Mordukh Shmuil Zorukh | Marriage 8 - 10 - 1911 Vilnius / Vilnius / Vilnius | Vilnius 1911 399 | 2205081 2 128-345 LVIA/728/4/202 | Husband from Traby; Wife from Oshmiany This record is from the LitvakSIG |
1922 Passport application record:
Spoiler
passport
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Nisson Mordukh | born in 1887 Traby, Belarus | married Head of household Merchant | Portowa I st. 3-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Internal Passport Application 4 - Apr - 1922 LCVA/53/13/6316, 6513 | His mother's name was Sara WERZOVSKA / [VERZOVSKY]. The Russian Passport #5 issued in Traby, Belarus 11-Jan-1911, the Permissions to stay in Vilnius #8756 issued in 4-Oct-1921 and #8111/7470 issued in 7-Apr-1922 are in the file. Had applied for the new Internal Passport in 16-Apr-1925. This record is from the LitvakSIG | |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Basia Nisson | 10 in 1922 | single Daughter | Portowa I st. 3-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Internal Passport Application 4 - Apr - 1922 LCVA/53/13/6316 | This record is from the LitvakSIG | |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Liuba Nisson | 3 in 1922 | Daughter | Portowa I st. 3-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Internal Passport Application 4 - Apr - 1922 LCVA/53/13/6316 | This record is from the LitvakSIG |
1933 foreign passport record:
Spoiler
passport 2
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Nisson Mordukh | born in 1887 Vilnius | married Head of household merchant | ./627-AI7-771 | Straszuna st. 13-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Foreign Passport Application 5 - Dec - 1933 LCVA/53/8/4748 | His mother's name was Sara. He went to Canada together with his family to work. The Internal Passport #001326/3838/4327 issued in 29-Apr-1925 is in the file. This record is from the LitvakSIG |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Basia SZLEP / [SHLEP] Nisson | 10-Aug-1912 Vilnius | single Daughter | ./626-AI7-772 | Straszuna st. 13-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Foreign Passport Application 5 - Dec - 1933 LCVA/53/8/4747 | The ID #O21/2945 issued in 14-Nov-1933 is in the file. This record is from the LitvakSIG |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Liuba Nisson | born in 1919 Vilnius | Daughter | Straszuna st. 13-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Foreign Passport Application 5 - Dec - 1933 LCVA/53/8/4748 | This record is from the LitvakSIG | |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Isaac Nisson | born in 1923 Vilnius | Son | Straszuna st. 13-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Foreign Passport Application 5 - Dec - 1933 LCVA/53/8/4748 | This record is from the LitvakSIG | |
| LEWIN / [LEVIN], Etel Zorukh | born in 1887 Oshmyany, Belarus | married Wife | Straszuna st. 13-21 Vilnius Vilnius Poland | Foreign Passport Application 5 - Dec - 1933 LCVA/53/8/4748 | Her mother's name was Basia. The ID #O21/3042 issued in 30-Nov-1933 is in the file. This record is from the LitvakSIG |
Summary of the case:
- Proof of birth (1927 record of her birth is within the 20 year window, 1922 passport application lists her as age 10)
- Proof of name change (engagement announcement in newspaper, mention in mother's obituary, mention in brother's obituary)
- Immigration record
- Proof of survival (to 110)
20/06/2024 12:52 am
Unfortunately, I think Mrs. Bessie Krakow is deceased. In last October 2023, her nursing home celebrated the lives of its centenarians in an article here. They mentioned that the oldest resident was 104 years old:
"La célébration de cette année, la première depuis la pandémie de la COVID-19, n’était pas différente. Plusieurs mois avant l’événement, les éducatrices de l’Équipe des loisirs, Barbara Lopez, Sabrina Cabral et Stana Cvitan ont contacté les membres des familles pour recueillir les récits des vies des résident(e)s qui franchissaient ce jalon à trois chiffres. Parmi ces dernier(ère)s, la personne la plus âgée a 104 ans."
20/06/2024 2:41 am
Unfortunately, I think Mrs. Bessie Krakow is deceased. In last October 2023, her nursing home celebrated the lives of its centenarians in an article here. They mentioned that the oldest resident was 104 years old:
"La célébration de cette année, la première depuis la pandémie de la COVID-19, n’était pas différente. Plusieurs mois avant l’événement, les éducatrices de l’Équipe des loisirs, Barbara Lopez, Sabrina Cabral et Stana Cvitan ont contacté les membres des familles pour recueillir les récits des vies des résident(e)s qui franchissaient ce jalon à trois chiffres. Parmi ces dernier(ère)s, la personne la plus âgée a 104 ans."
I wonder if that means the oldest resident in the whole nursing home was 104 or that just some of the centenarians were celebrated. Either way, it makes sense to put Mrs. Krakow into limbo and maybe someone could contact her care home
The oldest resident of that home is Bella Bernstein (b. 10 Sep 1919) who was interviewed last fall
20/06/2024 4:45 am
@mrcatlord Here is the English version of the article.
To me it seems in the phrasing "the eldest among them", "them" refers to "residents who’d reached a three-digit milestone" from the previous sentence.
I believe I saw at least 16 different faces in the video I linked, so it seems that at least most were there.
Either way, I have found confirmation of her death here. Seems she died circa 5 Sep 2022.
20/06/2024 8:28 am
@musicotic So, Ms. Krakow never entered Top 10 OLP in Canada. May she rest in peace.
http://www.supercentenariditalia.it/persone-viventi-piu-longeve-in-italia.
Persone viventi più longeve in Italia – Supercentenari d'Italia (supercentenariditalia.it)
