The Argentine Gubers
Growing up I knew my mother, Sylvia, had a cousin who was a Holocaust survivor living in Argentina. That generation was close and as they passed on so did the inter-family relationship. My generation lost contact- so there must have been something that drove us to start to look for each other again. (I’ll get back to both of these points later on in this post.)
One of the most rewarding results of researching my family has been finding cousins and establishing relationships. When Judi and I were planning a trip to Argentina in 2015, I knew I had to reach out and try and find my relatives. My Bubby’s, (Dora), brothers had landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1923. They couldn’t get into the US because of the Immigration Act which put quotas on how many immigrants were accepted from Eastern Europe.
This part of the story was added after it was postsed because Andres was able to help with more details. Thanks Andres!
My grandfather Wolf arrived in Buenos Aires in 1923 and my grandmother Eta arrived a year later. My uncle José was born in 1925.
My father Saul told me that Wolf boarded a ship via France. When passing by Paris in 1923 he climbed the stairs of the Eiffel Tower since he didn't have money for the elevator.
I think that Wolf and Abraham migrated to Argentina due to the open doors immigration policy and to the general prosperity that many immigrants enjoyed then.
I wrote a letter to all of the Gubers in the Buenos Aires Phone Book, introducing myself as Doby Pseny’s grandson. If this name was familiar, I wanted to connect. I wrote it in English & had a friend translate it into Spanish. I got zero responses!
But, out of the blue, I got an email from an Andres Guber in Montreal asking if I was related to Dora Pseny and the Mink family that owned a restaurant in Philadelphia. BINGO!
After a few short exchanges, we verified that our great grandfather was Asher Lieb Guber of Siemiatycze, Poland. This made us second cousins.
Asher Lieb Guber, great grandfather to David Mink, Sharon Mink Rosenthal, Susan Nancy Mink Davis, Andres Guber, Ana Guber and Dana Tenenbaum.
These are the two towns in Poland where my great grandparents are from. The Guber side is from Siemiatycze, Poland and the Pseny side is from Siedlce. My mother, Sylvia, was born in Siedlce. The towns are close to each other, close to Warsaw, and close to the Bug River. At that time the Bug River was the border between Poland and Russia.
My Argentine family found me - at the same time I was looking for them! It must be in the genes, what I referred to earlier as that, “something that drove us to look for each other. “
Andres shared the contacts of those living in Buenos Aires, and our trip there took on a whole new dimension.
When we traveled to Argentina we met Saul Guber. Saul was born in 1939 and is my mother’s first cousin. Sylvia’s mother, Dora, and Saul’s father, Wolf, were brother and sister. I pulled out a family picture that I had which was taken in Buenos Aires, and they pulled out the same one., ( see further down in the post.) That was pretty crazy.
We had dinner with Saul and family twice. It was great to get to know them. Now we all keep in touch through email and social media. What’s been especially exciting for me is that the younger generations have made connections too.
L to R: Ana Guber, Saul Guber, David Mink Argentina 2015
Back Row L to R: Jackie Herchcovitch, Jere Herchcovitch, Judi Mink, Lola Herchcovitch, David Mink
Front Row L to R: Saul Guber, Ana Guber
In May of 2016, I had the pleasure of hosting Andres’s family ( Andres is Saul’s son & Ana’s brother) from Montreal as they were driving to the south for vacation. They’re daughter, Nina , was born in 2013, so she is just a year older than Asher one of my grandsons.
Front Row L to R: Sam Mink, Asher Mink, Sandra Guber, Nina Guber
Back Row L to R: Judi Mink, David MInk, Andres Guber
I also keep in touch with Dana Tenenbaum. She is my second cousin, grand daughter of Abraham Guber. She now lives in Israel.
I mentioned earlier about my mother’s cousin who was a a Holocaust Survivor. His name was Wolf. There are two Wolf’s in this picture.
This is the family photo both Saul & I pulled out when we met.
Standing L to R: Rebecca Guber(Jose's first wife), Eta Guber (Wolf's wife) Wolf Guber, Dora Pseny, Abraham Guber, Saul Guber (Wolf's son whom we met in Argentina), Lia Guber (Abraham's wife)
Seated L to R : Jose Guber (Wolf's oldest son), Elena Guber, Wolf( the son of Samuel Guber, the brother who did not survive the war & nephew to Wolf, Dora, and Abraham) and Julia Guber (Abraham and Lia's daughter)
One is the tall man to the left of Dora standing and one is seated, to the right of Dora. The Wolf seated is the son of Samuel, one of Dora’s brothers who did not survive WWII.
When WWII broke out, Wolf ( the one seated) was drafted by the invading Russian Army in Poland and thus survived the war. His mother, younger brother, and sister were all murdered at Treblinka by the Nazis. His father may have been murdered at Treblinka too but I have not found any corroborating evidence.
Tuvia Guber & Freida Guber, Wolf’s brother & mother who didn’t survive the war.
Beyla Guber, Wolf’s Sister who didn’t survive the war.
Wolf was interviewed by the Shoah Foundation about his experience during and after the war. After the war, he made it to a Displaced Persons Camp in Munich and eventually was sent to Paraguay to start a new life. He knew he had an aunt in America and uncles in Buenos Aires ( see interview.) When he got sent to Paraguay he knew he was close to the family in Argentina. The family in Argentina was able to smuggle him across the border and he joined them in Buenos Aires. Below is a transcript of his interview.
Wolf’s Transcript, page 1
Wolf’s Transcript, page 2
I know that I have left out many important details of this family’s story such as, when did they arrive in Argentina? Why did they pick Buenos Aires? What happened to Samuel, Dora’s older brother? If I have made mistakes, please let me know and add more details in the comments below.
Have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.
Love,
David
