Schattner Family Genealogy
The Schattner family name appears to belong to, at least,
two
distinct families. One family - to which I belong - is Jewish and
comes from the town of Kuty (or Kitev in Yiddish) which is
currently
part of the Ukraine. Except when noted otherwise this is the
family
that I will be referring to in this website as the "Schattner
Family."
(The other Schattner family is located primarily in Germany, Austria
and
the Midwest of the United States and is not Jewish. There are
genealogical
records for this Schattner family going back to at least 1665 in
Germany.
It is interesting to consider whether the two Schattner families may
have
been related at some point in the distant past. However I am
aware
of no evidence to support this speculation.)
Origin of the Schattner Name
Because of the very limited geneological records in Eastern Europe -
especially
for Jews - information about the Schattner family prior to the early
1800's
is virtually non-existent. The origin of the Schattner name is obscure
as well. Most members of the family appear to believe that the
name
stems from the German word "Schatten" meaning shadow. However an
alternative explanation in the "Encyclopedia of Jewish Names" suggests
that the name Schattner came from the Polish word "szata" meaning
garment.
This interpretation appears plausible especially since several of the
Schattners
of the 19th century appear to have been in the garment business.
Yet another claimed origin comes from an old German genealogical book
which claims that the name Schattner comes from old Lower German word
"Schatter" meaning appraiser or money collector.
Kuty
In the 1800's, essentially all of the Schattners appear to have lived
in
the village of Kuty. Kuty is located at the base of the
Carpathian
Mountains on the Czermosz River on the border between the provinces of
Bukovina and Galicia. The nearest city of any size is Czernovtsy.
A good map
of this area is available on the Web. (Kuty is in the lower right
corner of the map - it is located approximately 50 km west of
Czernovitz). At
various
times in the last two centuries, Kuty has been part of Poland,
Austria-Hungary,
Roumania, the Soviet Union and the Ukraine.
Kuty was a small town of approximately 5000 people. In
medieval
times, Kuty was for seven years the home of the Jewish scholar, Baal
Shem
Tov. At the turn of the twentieth century approximately half of
the
population was Jewish. Many left Kuty during World War I and in
the
years between the World Wars. The Jews who remained were killed
in
the Holocaust. At present there are essentially no Jews in
Kuty.
There are two good books available on Jewish life in Kuty prior to
World
War II - "The Kuty Memorial Book" written after
World War II by the survivors from Kuty in Israel and "Kitov, My
Hometown
- Survivors of Kuty Tell the Story of their Hometown" by Chiam
Zins.
Unfortunately these books are available only in Yiddish and Hebrew
respectively.
More information about Kuty
is also available on the Web. For a more "first-hand"
description,
you may be interested to read my journal
and see some photos
from my recent travels to the Western Ukraine in search of links to
my Schattner past.
Family History
The most consistent characteristic of the members of the Schattner
family
in the 19th and early 20th century appears to be how religious they
were.
Nearly every branch of the family remembers at least one rabbi or
scholar
among their ancestors. Some of these scholars achieved
considerable
respect in the community. For example,the Kuty Memorial Book
contains
two references to the Schattners:
- "Rabbi Chaim Schattner who had a reputation of the best scholar
of
Kitev.
He mainly tutored privately and later became principal of Kitev Talmud
Torah."
- "Until the beginning of WWI there was an excellent Hebrew School
in
Kitev
under the supervision of the highly educated Hebraist Rabbi Yakov
Schattner
(see photo below). His students, boys and girls, were among the
first
who popularized modern Hebrew literature and created the basis for the
next generation of Jewish youth." (Note: this Yakov Schattner is
the son of Joseph Schattner on page 2 of
the Schattner Tree).
Around the turn of the century a few members of the family such as
Philip Schattner (page 15 of the
Schattner
Charts)
, Joseph David Schattner (page
8), Joseph Schattner (page 6) and
Wolfe Shatner (page 9) immigrated to
the United States and Canada. Their descendents form the majority
of the Schattner family members in the US and Canada today. (Wolfe
Shatner
changed the spelling of his family name when he arrived in Canada).
Several other branches of the family moved to Vienna at the time of
World War I and lived there until they were forced to flee during World
War II. A page from the 1936 Viennese
telephone book shows the addresses of several of the family members
who lived in Vienna at that time. Other members of the family
moved
to Palestine, Shanghai, Australia, Switzerland and South America during
this time period often for the purpose of escaping the Holocaust.
As a result descendents of the Schattner Family of Kuty can now be
found
in - at least - 10 countries (US, Canada, Israel, Venezuela,
Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Peru, England). However scores of
other
Schattners perished during the Holocaust in Europe.
Well Known Family Members
Probably the best known member of the Schattner Family is William
Shatner, the noted actor of "Star Trek" fame. As the grandson
of Wolfe Shatner - after whom he was named - William Shatner shares the
atypical family surname spelling common to members of the Canadian
branch.
(William Shatner is on page 9 of
the
Family Chart)
Wolfe Shatner
and family around 1900.
Within the realm of modern Jewish history, two other important
members
of the Schattner family stand out - Berl Loker and Mordechai Schattner.
Berl Loker (page 2 of the family
chart)
started out as the editor of the "Yiddisher Arbeiter" (Jewish Worker)
Newspaper
in Lvov, Poland. He also was one of the early leaders of the
Zionist
Labor Movement. Later he became chairman of the Jewish
Agency.
His autobiography - "From Kuti to Jerusalem" - was published in Israel
in 1970 (in Hebrew). In the introduction
to his autobiography, Loker describes interesting anecdotes from
his
childhood including why his last name was not Schattner - even though
his
father was Yakov Schattner (the Hebrew teacher mentioned in the Kuty
Memorial
Book). In addition, Yakov Schattner and Berl Locker's branch of
the
family are mentioned in the Memorial book of the village of Zablatov.
Mordechai Schattner (son of Meschulim Schattner - see page
1 of the Family Chart) was also a Zionist pioneer who helped in
the
development of one of the early kibbutzim in the 1920's. In the
late
1930's he returned to Europe as an emissary from Palestine to try to
persuade
Jews to leave Europe for Palestine before it was too late. Later,
he became a close associate of David Ben-Gurion and was one of the
signers
of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. (Apparently Ben-Gurion
wanted
him to change his family name to something more "Israeli" - as
Ben-Gurion
and most of his other associates had done. But Mordechai
Schattner
replied that he didn't want to distance himself from his family origins
- and declined to change his surname.)
Other Interesting Facts
Wedding of Laura Schattner (daughter of Hirsch Schattner - page
5) in Buenos Aires, 1922.
Obviously there are more stories of the Schattners than I have the
space
or knowledge to include here. A few "tid-bits" will need to
suffice:
- Family legend spoke of a family ancestor - "Yossele Ha-Sandler"
(Joseph,
the Shoemaker) - who besides being a shoemaker was also widely known
medieval
Jewish sage.
- Many members of of the Schattner family have been physicians. One
was
Robert
Schattner who invented the popular oral antiseptic, Chloraseptic. (Son
of Isadore Schattner - page 8).
In 1999, Robert Schattner donated $4 million to create the Robert
Schattner
Center at the Dental School of the University of Pennsylvania.
- Yitzhak Schattner was a well known geography scholar and author
in
Jerusalem.
(Son of Abraham Schattner - page 3)
- A few members of the Schattner family became quite wealthy.
According
to a family legend, one of them was a Mordechai Schattner (not the same
Mordechai Schattner who signed the Israeli Declaration of Independance)
who became rich by seeing a winning lottery number in a dream.
- The Schattner family seems to have been on good terms with the
Schmerler
family. Within the last 150 years, there are at least three
examples
of a Schattner marrying a Schmerler (including my grandparents Schulim
Schattner and Devora Schmerler).
- At least one "family history" book of the Schattners was compiled
by
Leepa
Schattner (Son of Joseph Schattner - page
6), some fifty years ago. It was apparently deposited in the
New York Public Library. Unfortunately no one can find it anymore!
- The branch of the family descended from Mordechai Schattner and
Devora Stein (which is found on pages 1 to 5 of the charts) appears to
have an even longer illustrious religious heritage. Devora Stein was
the daughter of Rabbi Dovid Stein of Kuty who is believed to be
descended from several other reknowned Jewish religious leaders
including Rabbi David
Halevi (1586-1667)
known as "the Taz".
Tombstones of Leepa and Henrietta Schattner.
The Charts
The Schattner Family Charts are an attempt to give an indication of the
size and movement of the Schattner family over the last 150
years.
I make no claim as to the accuracy - and certainly not to the
completeness
- of the information. Information generally came from oral
recollections
of family elders. I believe I have recorded their recollections
faithfully
- but memories can dim over the years.
Because there are so many people involved the charts can be a little
hard to follow. Also many of the same names keep recurring - e.g.
Mordechai and Joseph. The problem is compounded by the fact that
in many cases, links between family branches are speculative or
completely
unkown.
One way to follow the charts is to start with the "19th
Century Family Outline", to find the name of the ancestor of the
branch
of interest, and then to track "back to the future" to find the branch
of the tree which is of interest.
More Information
For more information on Jewish genealogy, an excellent place to look is
the Jewish Genealogy Website.
Malkie Griffel has compiled the information on the Mordechai Schattner
- Devora Stein branch of the family into two genealogical books. For
more information or to purchase these books, contact her at
barmag@netvision.net.il.
Feedback and Acknowledgements
My intention is to maintain and improve this site over time. I
could
use some help - if any of you have any old and/or interesting
photographs
that you think might be appropriate for inclusion in this site please
let
me know. Similarly if you have any other relevant family
information,
I'd be glad to hear about it. Many people have already
helped
me greatly in gathering the Schattner Family information found on this
website - especially Saralea Altman, Jehuda Schattner, Ruth
Switzer, Margarita Blei and Malkie Griffel - thank you so much!
Or even if you just have feedback on the interest
and usability of the information here, I'd
enjoy receiving e-mail at schattnerATalumDOTswarthmoreDOTedu (just
replace the "AT" with "@" and the "DOT"s with "."s). Thanks.
Return to Peter Schattner's Personal
Home Page.
This page last updated on 07/09/07