William Schulkin papers

William Schulkin (1887-1963) was born to Abraham Schulkin and Maryashe Slotar in Stowbtsy, Russia (now Stoubtsy, Belarus). William had seven brothers and sisters, named: Isaac, Rachel, Ida, Celia, Fanny, Elena, and Yakov. In addition, William had three additional siblings from Abraham’s first marriage to Esther Briny before she died, whose names were: Jesse, Nechama, and Nathan. Abraham worked as a manager for a local branch of a German timber company called Stolz, and was wealthy enough to afford maids and cooks. In the early 20th century, Jesse, Nathan, Nechamky, Rachel, and William moved to the United States. However, William did not like living in America, and returned to Europe. Abraham’s business relocated soon after to Vilnius, to take advantage of the growing commercial center there. With the outbreak of World War I, William was sent back to New York to avoid being drafted. He trained to become a dental technician, and married Fannie Shapiro. His business grew in the 1920s, and was prosperous before he bought gold from a dentist supply company and was later robbed, placing him in debt. William and Fannie had two children, Victor and Ben, though Victor died at the age of 14. While living in the United States during World War II, William kept in contact with his siblings living overseas, and attempted to obtain visas for them to immigrate to the United States.