“The first time we wrote the family name in English was here, in 
Israel,
” Ira said.
A relative suggested that Ira access the online Shoah Victims’ 
Names Database of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial 
museum in Jerusalem. The database includes scanned Pages 
of Testimony from the museum’s Hall of Names. (See 
sidebar.)
In 2011, Zygie took the time to complete a Page of 
Testimony for his nine lost immediate family mem-
bers. Zygie’s name and address are at the bottom 
of each document. This mitzvah ensures that his 
Allweiss parents and siblings are remembered 
always as among the 6 million Jewish victims of 
Nazism.
When Ira located her father’s page using the 
name “
Allweiss” and saw my dad’s relationship 
to Fishel stated as “brother,
” she learned for 
the first time what her grandpa had only 
dreamed of — that his younger brother 
Zygie (and she was soon to find Sol) were 
survivors of the Holocaust, just like Fishel 
himself. New relatives all around!
I was the first in our family that Ira con-
tacted on April 28. Below my comment on 
a picture posted to the Facebook “
Allweiss 
Family” page, Ira wrote: “Esther, my name 
is Ira. I am from Israel. I found documents 
that your father filled out at Yad Vashem. 
Your father and my grandfather, Fishel 
Allweiss, were brothers. 
“I would like to contact you to match. My 
grandfather thought all his life that there is 
no one alive from the family. He searched in 
Poland after the war and didn’t find anyone.
” 
She attached a photo of her grandfather’s Page 
of Testimony with my father identified as the 
submitter. She wrote another message below: “My 
Grandfather Fishel Allweiss.
” Ira then asked me: 
“Did I get to the right place?”
What? I thought, then, Wow! I took a beat as the 
enormity of what I’
d just seen and read registered. Then 
I clicked the Facebook “Love” emoji and sent Ira, my new 
first cousin once removed, this message: “I am surprised, 
shocked and delighted. We must communicate! God bless 
Facebook. I will PM [Private Message] you, Cousin.
” 
I immediately shared the exciting news with my sisters Irene 
Wise of Hartland and Janice Allweiss Young of Farmington Hills. 
For the next few hours, which, in retrospect, felt very surreal, Ira 
and I sent each other questions, family information and pictures 
on Facebook Messenger. I immediately forwarded what she was 
sending me to a Zygie family message group. I also emailed my 
Aunt Frieda Allweiss in Arizona and her and Sol’s three surviving 
children.

FISHEL ALVAIS 
(ALLWEISS)

Lived: May 10, 1921-

Aug. 23, 1981

Born: Jaslany, Galicia, 

Poland

Died: Belarus, USSR

Work: Watchmaker for a com-

pany

Wife: The late Klara, formerly Avshtein, of Belarus

Children: The late Arkady (the late Raya) and the late 

Michael Alvais; the late Faina (Felix) Kuravsky, all of Israel

Grandchildren: Gershon (Olga) and Alexander (Marina) 

Alvais, and Irina (Yaron 

Zonnenshein) Kuravsky, all of 

Israel

Great-grandchildren: Nick 

and Rada Alvais, Linoy and 

Lian Zonnenshein and Liam 

Alvais, all of Israel

SALEK “SOL” ALLWEISS

Lived: Sept. 15, 1925-Aug. 1, 

2004

Born: Jaslany, Galicia, Poland

Died: Farmington

Work: Partner, Sol & Zygie’s 

Standard & Mobil Oil gas and 

service stations in Detroit 

and Southfield; Owner, 

Sol’s Complete Car Care in 

Berkley

Wife: Frieda, 89, formerly 

Schiller, of Chortkow, Poland. 

She lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Children: Jack (Patty) 

Allweiss of California, Ben 

Allweiss of Arizona, Ilana 

Moss of Oregon and the late 

Phil (Kat) Allweiss of Michigan and Florida. 

Grandchildren: The late David (Meghann) and Jonathan 

Allweiss, both of California; Erin (Paul) 

Lietzan of Washington state and 

the late Sara Sophia Allweiss of 

Michigan 

ZYGA “ZYGIE” 
ALLWEISS

Lived: May 8, 

1927-Aug. 20, 2014

Born: Jaslany, 

Galicia, Poland

Died: West Bloomfield

Work: Partner, Sol & Zygie’s Standard & 

Mobil Oil gas and service stations in Detroit 

and Southfield; Owner, Prime Auto & Truck 

Repair in Troy

Wife: The late Irma, formerly Burg, of Bronx, 

N.Y.

Children: Esther (Mike Ingber), Irene Wise, 

Janice (Loren) Young, Elizabeth Allweiss and 

Michael Allweiss, all of Metro Detroit

Grandchildren: Erica Bak, Alison Tschirhart, 

Jennifer (Mat) Stolman, Sarah Allweiss-

Rosenbaum, Julianna Tschirhart, Renee Wise 

and Aiden Allweiss, all of Metro Detroit

Great-grandchildren: Benjamin, Nathan 

and Ella Bak; Clara and Violet Stollman, 

all of West Bloomfield

OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER

continued from page 12

14 | AUGUST 25 • 2022 

continued on page 16