Ryzow Family

This website details the descendants of Mendel Jakob Ryżowy born 1835 and Sura Wielodróż born 1838 who lived in Zuromin Poland.

During 2021 there was some extensive research made into the family tree and this will be published periodically and circulated to known family members.

The purpose of this website is to share information and also to seek information from descendants around the world, that we may not be aware of, in order to add to the story of the Ryzow family for the benefit of future generations.

During the course of the extended research we now know of at least twelve members of the family that were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. 

This site is dedicated to their memory.

The roots of the Ryzowy family tree can be traced back to Żuromin, 70 miles North West of Warsaw, Poland.

The beginning of the Żuromin settlement dates back to the 13th century. In 1795, after the Third Partition of Poland, Żuromin became part of the Prussian Empire. In 1807, it became part of the Warsaw authority. From 1815 until WWI, it was within the Polish border. In 1867, many of the residents perished in a cholera epidemic. In 1915, during WWI, the German army invaded Żuromin and occupied it until the end of the war in 1918.

There is no information about the beginning of Jewish settlement in Żuromin. There are no records before the 19th century. In the last 60 years of the 19th century, the Jewish community became very well-organised. They had shuls and study-halls. The heads of the community were successful businessmen who dealt in importing grain and horses. As the community grew, the townspeople took on trades such as tailoring, shoemaking, and making leather goods. Others became barbers and millers. 

During the period between the world wars, the Jews continued to live off their trades and grain businesses. With the help of the Jewish Council, the townspeople re-established the free-loan society, which had been suspended during WWI. In 1927 alone, this free-loan society gave out 220 loans to the needy.

Units of the German army entered Żuromin in 1939, and as they did in other places, tormented the Jews. When Poland fell to the Reich, the Germans drove out the Jews. Their fate is unknown, but it appears that they suffered the same fate as the Jews of Poland.

In 1835, Mendel Jakob Ryzowy was born. We know nothing about him accept that he married Sura Widodroz (born 1838) around 1865 when he was 31 and she 27.  Mendel and Sura had four children that we know of. Their stories unfold in individual blog posts.

*Translation based on “Żuromin,” Pinkas HaKehillot Polin: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, Volume IV, Pp. 221-222, Yad Vashem