Mechel & Bat Sheva Menczer

Mechel and Bat Sheva Menczer are the paternal grand parents of Emanu’El member Micha Menczer.

Mechel Menczer we believe was born in Storozhinets (Bukovina) Romania in 1872. He was from a large well-established family and had seven siblings (Shlomo Menczel; Leah Baer; Moshe Menczer; Shmuel Menzel; Yitschak Menczer; Berl Menczer; Yisrael Srul Menczer). He was among the younger of the children of Chaim Menczer and Devorah Levy.   

He inherited one of the family businesses, a dry goods store, in Storozhinets and operated this until retirement at which time his son Mottel took over management of the business. Mechel died in Storozhinets in the early 1940’s. His grandson Micha Menczer of Victoria is named after him. 

Bat Sheva Shorner-Kerner was the wife of Mechel Menczer. No dates are available for the date or place of her birth. She and Mechel had four children: Simon (born 1890, died 1979); Esther (died 1982); Pearl (killed by Nazis in Vienna 1941) and Mottel (born 1901, died 1959). It is believed Bat Sheva died in 1941 just prior to Mottel and Regina’s deportation to Bershad, Ukraine.  

Mottel Menczer wrote stories in Yiddish about his family’s experiences during the Shoah and after. One of these stories “Bat Sheva” is about his mother’s death and the difficult attempts for her burial under Romanian/ Nazi control. This story and others written by Mottel Menczer (including photos and English translations) can be seen in a digital exhibit prepared by Micha Menczer through University of Victoria at the link: omekas.library.uvic.ca/s/memory/page/michamenczer

December 6, 2022