Other than his name and the fact that Sara Lea Hurwicz (née Frydland) was his granddaughter, all I have been told about Abichke* “Ragoler” – the earliest known ancestor in the Frydland/Kocyn/Hurwicz line – is that he operated a karczma (Polish for “inn” or “tavern”). Innkeeping was a traditional Jewish occupation in Poland from the 16th through the 18th centuries, in part because Jews tended to be more literate, numerate and sober than other segments of rural Polish society, causing nobles to prefer them as leaseholders of the taverns. (See “Tavernkeeping” in YIVO Encyclopedia.)

Leo told me that “Ragoler” meant “from the town of Eiragola” (or Ejragola) in Lithuania. Since “Abichke” is a nickname for “Abraham”, “Abichke Ragoler” means “Abie from Eiragola.”

Although I have seen “Abbiszke (‘Ragoler’) Frydland” in a family tree, my father always referred to him simply as “Abichke Ragoler”. My guess is that Abichke, like many Jews born in the early 19th century, did not use a surname. Quite likely, his son Cheskel Frydland was the first known person in that line of descent to take a surname, as many Ashkenazi Jews were compelled to do by order-seeking governments in the early 19th century.

This name “Ragoler” is, of course, another strong indicator of our family roots in Lithuania: As of June, 2017, https://lastnames.myheritage.com/last-name/Ragoler indicated that people with the last name “Ragoler” were living 75% in Israel and 25% in Lithuania. So I think it’s safe to say that Abbiszke “Ragoler” Frydland-Friedland was a Lithuanian Jew!

(Our family has other connections to Lithuania, as well. The family tree says that Max Hurwicz‘s brother, Moses, was born in Lithuania in 1869. Klara Samuels says in “God Does Play Dice” (p. 19) that her mother’s family was in Vilnius in Lithuania. When Klara’s family became refugees in World War II, their immediate goal was to get to Vilnius.)

* “Abichke” may be just a phonetic spelling. I have also seen it spelled “Abbiszke”, which I believe would be a phonetic spelling in Polish. (Although “sz” in Polish is pronounced like the English “sh” rather than like the English “ch”.)

Abbiszke ("ragoler") Frydland
b:
d:
Facts
  • Death - Y
Ancestors
   
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Family Group Sheet - Child
PARENT (U) ?
Birth
Death
Father?
Mother?
PARENT (U) ?
Birth
Death
Father?
Mother?
CHILDREN
MAbbiszke ("ragoler") Frydland
Birth
Death
Marriageto ?
Family Group Sheet - Spouse
PARENT (M) Abbiszke ("ragoler") Frydland
Birth
Death
Marriageto ?
Father?
Mother?
PARENT (U) ?
Birth
Death
Father?
Mother?
CHILDREN
MCheskel Frydland
Birth
Death
Marriageto Miriam Batszeva Kocyn
Descendancy Chart
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Gitla Friedland d: 1942
Mark Maniek Solow b: 3-16-1905 d: 9-14-1983
Guela Solow b: 28 AUG 1958
Cathryn Tobin b: 1954
Shlomo Solomon Kocyn Kotzin b: 1906 d: 1994
Chana Ann Kotzin (Née Brickman) b: 1907 d: October 3, 2003
Michael Kotzin b: 6 MAY 1941 d: ABT OCT 2015
Judy Walchirk b: 11 NOV 1943
Morissa Kocyn Kotzin b: ABT 1937
Alon Amittai b: 1969
Dekel Amittai b: 1971
Oren Amittai b: 20 AUG 1975
Moshe Morey Kocyn Kotzin b: 1928 d: 1946
Leib Yechezkel Kocyn Kotzin b: 1942 d: 1991
Sara Lea Frydland b: 1862 d: May 6, 1934
Maks Mojzesz Hurwicz b: 1862 d: March 7, 1927
Tobjasz Stefan Hurwicz b: 22 AUG 1887 d: 13 SEP 1949
Chaja Ejdla - Helena Minc b: 25 AUG 1888 d: 25 MAR 1967
Malwina Malka Mala Hurwicz b: 14 AUG 1910 d: 20 MAR 1978
Izaak Izydor kowalek-Kowalski b: 13 JUN 1907 d: 10 MAR 1972
Roy Benjamin Kowalsky b: 27 JUL 1976
Max Maksym Mika Kowalski b: 13 JUN 1941
Varda Roza Kowalski b: NOV 1947 d: 25 NOV 2008
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Tzachi Karol b: 16 SEP 1973
Hilla Karol b: 12 DEC 1974
?
Liam Benishti b: 19 FEB 2005
Romi Benishti b: 19 FEB 2005
Adolf Abraham (Adek) Hurwicz b: 10 DEC 1889 d: 4 AUG 1981
Sophie Zina Salamon b: June 12, 1893 d: February, 1956
Henry Hurwicz b: 1922 d: 2010
?
Leo Leonid Hurwicz b: 21 AUG 1917 d: 24 JUN 2008
Evelyn Jensen b: 31 OCT 1923 d: 22 NOV 2016
Ruth Hurwicz b: 25 MAY 1951
Prof. David Markovitz b: 25 FEB 1954
Lara Markovitz b: 1983
Adam Markovitz b: 13 FEB 1987
Michael Mike Hurwicz b: 18 JAN 1949
Linda Cheryl Bryant b: 2-8-53
Maxim Hurwicz b: 5 SEP 1953
Roxanne Blanco b: 14 Jun 1959
Roxanne Blanco b: 14 Jun 1959
Nicole Blanco-Hurwicz b: 13 Nov 1982
Sarah Hurwicz b: 7 DEC 1946
Jon Kogut b: 17 MAY 1945
Sophie Kogut b: 23 AUG 1967
Brian Ashley Judd b: 5 JAN 1968
?
Paul
Dwojra Dora Hurwicz b: 1892 d: 1933
Mara Marina Zacharin b: 1928 d: 2006
Max Zacharin b: 17 MAY 1958
Kira Volvovsky b: 19 SEP 1968
Yonatan Zacharin b: 15 FEB 2003
Daniel Zacharin b: 27 DEC 2004
Uri Zacharin b: 16 MAR 2010
Naum
Helen Hurwicz b: 9 MAY 1905 d: 6 MAR 1998
Masha Shavzin b: 1964
Boris Abramson b: 1945 d: 1984
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