ASIMOV, Aaron Menachem

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Dealer in grain: rye, oats, barley, buckwheat. In the family mill they prepared it to be cooked and eaten.
• Occupation: Dealer in raw linen:“penka,” “len,” and “poskany.” Able to sort out the linen by grade and quality.
• Religion: Jewish
• Residence: Petrovich, Russia

Notes:

In 1979, Serafima Asimova wrote to her cousin, Isaac Asimov, from Leningrad, and said that her Grandfather Aaron Asimov and Grandmother Hana Leikin Asimov had six children: Judah, Rachel, Dvosja, Boris, Ephraim and her father, Samuel.

Judah (1896 -1969) wrote a recollection of years in Russia and said that Aaron Asimov had been a grain dealer who sold rye, oats, barley and buckwheat.

Judah wrote that his father was a great believer in G-d.

He wrote that Aaron did not hit his children--except once. Judah was about 18 when he and his father asked the local rabbi to rule in a business dispute between them and another man whom they believed had deceived them. When the Rabbi ruled against Aaron and Judah, Judah objected. Aaron slapped Jack, saying that the decision was the Rabbi's to make and that they would abide by it.

Aaron was smart. When a new tax collector came to town, it was Aaron who noticed that the townspeople weren't being given receipts for the money they paid. Instead, the tax collector had them sign a paper after they paid. So Aaron asked for a receipt. The tax collector refused, so Aaron said he would neither pay nor sign.

It turned out that the paper everyone was signing was a lease that turned over their property to the tax collector and permitted him to raise their rent at will. So Aaron and the other townspeople took the tax collector to court in a case that went up to the Russian Duma. No one knows how the judge would have decided, however, because the year was 1917, and the Russian Revolution turned everything upside down.

Here is an excerpt from a 2006 email from Serafima Asimova, the daughter of Aaron's youngest son, Samuel, referring to the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in the 1920s:

"By then, it is the middle of 20 years [1920s], family of grandfather Aaron have deprived with all earned, mills, have forced to go to work ( hi there were 70 years) in collective farm."

Serafima also wrote that Aaron went to live in Leningrad with his son, Boris, in later years, and died in a hospital after an operation.

Died:
In an email much later, 2019, Serafima says Aron died in 1937

Aaron married LEIKIN, Hanna about 1893 in Petrovichi, Russia. Hanna (daughter of LEIKIN, Husband and UNKNOWN, Ziva) was born about 1870 in Hislavichi near Petrovichi, Russia; died about 1936 in Petrovichi, Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. ASIMOV, Girl was born in 1894 in Petrovichi, Russia; died in 1894 in Petrovichi, Russia.
2. ASIMOV, Judah was born on 21 Dec 1896 in Petrovichi, Russia, 53.58 deg N lat; 32.10 E long.; died on 4 Aug 1969 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA; was buried in Mt. Golda Cemetery, Huntington, Long Island.
3. ASIMOV, Rachel was born about 1900 in Petrovichi, Russia; died about 1939 in Russia.
4. ASIMOV, Dvosja was born about 1901 in Russia; died in 1977 in Leningrad.
5. ASIMOV, Abraham Ber (Boris) was born in 1902 in Petrovichi, Russia; died on 30 Aug 1986 in Hadera, Israel; was buried in Netanya Cemetery on Shikun Vatikim Street, Israel.
6. ASIMOV, Ephraim (Afoim) (Avram) was born in 1907 in Russia; died about 1943 in Missing in action.
7. ASIMOV, Boy was born in 1904 in Petrovichi, Russia; died about 1904 in Petrovichi, Russia.
8. ASIMOV, Samuel Aronovich was born on 7 Nov 1909 in Petrovichi, Russia; died in 1963 in Leningrad, USSR.

Notes:

Mendel was the youngest of 12 children of Abraham Ber and his first wife, and the only one of his siblings to survive infancy, according to the written recollections of his grandson, Judah (Jack) Asimov, 1896-1969.

In his recollections, Judah writes that although Mendel was "not a scholar," neither was he ignorant of Jewish reading and prayer -- only of the Talmud. Yet he was clever, and was elected several times to the "Society of Psalm of David Sayers." He also was in the Chevro-Kadisho, a volunteer group that took care of holy burials. Mendel's decision would prevail if there were disagreements in burial location, as there often were.

Mendel married UNKNOWN, Wife. Wife was born about 1850 in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In his written recollections, Judah (Jack) Asimov, 1896-1969, wrote that his great-grandfather, Abraham Ber, died when Jack was 3 years old, but that he remembers being brought over to the death bed to be blessed, and that Abraham Ber gave him some sort of red jelly. That's all he remembered and could not visualize the old man's face.

But Jack remembered hearing stories that A.B. was smart, a great scholar, a "great and charitable man in town" and, "like his predecessors, a dealer in rye and other products."

A.B. and his first wife had 12 children -- all but the youngest, Mendel, died. So Mendel was, of course, precious to Abraham Ber.

Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) quotes his father, Jack, in "In Memory Yet Green" regarding Abraham Ber: "The stories I heard about him were that he was a natural-born smart man, and that he was a great scholar. ... Like his predecessors, he was a dealer in rye and other products, and he was well known in town as a great and charitable man."

Abraham married SHEPSHELEVA, Sosya. Sosya was born in 1827 in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and Abraham Ber Asimov had 12 children, according to "In Memory Yet Green," which relies on the recollections of Judah "Jack" Asimov (1896 -1969). But only Mendel, the 12th child, survived.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Traveling Jewish preacher

Notes:

According to Judah's great-great grandson, Judah (Jack) Asimov (1896-1969):

Judah was a great scholar. The name Asimov came to his predecessors whenever last names were given to the Jewish people because he, like everyone in the family, were dealers in rye planted in the fall and kept warm under the snow all winter. The rye is known as "asimy chleb." So the the first dealer was given the name Asimy, and his sons, Asimov.

Judah lived in Petrovichi and, like all the town's people, paid taxes to the land owner. Each person had the right to sell it or transfer it, subject to a tax by the land owner.

Judah exchanged his great piece of land in the middle of town for a "third of land" at the west end of town.

With the money he received, he became a traveling Jewish preacher, walking everywhere. He had written a book advising piety and moral behavior. He gave out this book wherever he went.

Judah married MENDELEVA, Rochlya about 1820 in Russia. Rochlya was born in 1802 in Russia; died in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]