Mini and Family Exhibits
The Genee Family Exhibit
Presented by Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
Half the Jewish community of Ioannina would immigrate to the USA from 1902-1924. They came seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Initially, most settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Genee family was typical of this immigration.
The Jenny Family Exhibit
Presented by Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
Leon (Judah) Jenny came to the USA from Greece in 1910 on the Martha Washington, leaving Patras on August 8, 1910 and arriving at Ellis Island on August 21st. He is listed as a 17 year old single farm laborer and was travelling with his mother, Stamoula, and his sister, Esther. He would meet his future wife, Katie Abolafia, a Sephardic Jew, in New York.
The Joseph and Hametz Family Exhibit
Presented by Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
Leon Joseph came in 1906, followed, in 1909, by his wife Sarah and their 3 children (Joseph, Esther and Mollie). The Hametz family arrival in the United States began in 1920 when the oldest daughter of Israel and Pernoula, Sarina, came by herself. Her grandfather Ovadia Solomon at 546-8 Broadway was listed as her destination. Israel and Pernoula Hametz arrived with the rest of their children April 1928.
The Moses Family Exhibit
Presented by Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
Mollie (Malka) Mosis and her husband Mordechai came to the USA from Greece in 1908. Their five children (Abraham, Sophie, Anita, Joseph and Rebecca) would join them the following year (1909). The family is listed as living at 39 Allen Street in the 1910 census. In addition to the 7 members of the Mosis (Moses) family, there were two female boarders (Louise and Esther David) living with them in the small apartment.
The Politis and Mordecai Family Exhibit
Presented by Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
Esther Mordechai was born in Ioannina in 1920, the daughter of Iakov and Anneta Politis. There were five children in the family: Iosef born in 1912, Nissim in 1916, Fortouni in 1918, Esther in 1920, and Moisis in 1923. Iakov sold yarn and thread, and would prematurely die at the age of 48, leaving his widowed wife to raise the children on her own.
