Sachs and Herzel Family Papers

Suzanne Shapiro is the daughter of George Herzel, and this collection contains genealogical information and documents pertaining to his family.

George Nathan Herzel was born Gershon Nissan Sachs on July 4, 1878 in Zuddick, Latvia, which was in the County of Telz in the Kovno Province. A teacher of Hebrew and Judaic studies in Boston, he also taught in Denver from 1928 to 1946. A prolific writer of many unpublished manuscripts, he also wrote two guidebooks for his students, called The Hebrew Day and The Hebrew Year. Many of his writings are in Hebrew and Yiddish, and in 1942 he wrote an autobiography in Yiddish, which is in the archives of the YIVO Institute in New York.

Herzel came to America after escaping service in the Russian Army in 1904. En route to Boston, he changed his name to Herzel in honor of Thedore Herzl. Once in Boston, he earned his high school diploma from English High School in 1909 and married Fanny Krinsky on December 30, 1910. Fanny Krinsky was born on December 3, 1881 in Zhaludak, Poland and immigrated to New York City on June 26, 1906. She later moved to Boston and graduated from Central Evening High School in 1910. George and Fanny had four children, Abraham (b. October 21, 1911), Hilda (b. December 6, 1917), Hannah (b. June 30, 1913, d. January 2, 1918) and Suzanne (b. February 15, 1919). Naturalized on February 28, 1910, he moved to Boston in 1927. Herzl died on December 2, 1946.