Löbl Kohn-Zerkowitz

LOBL [JEHUDAL LOBL] KOHN-ZERKOWITZ, aka LOBL JAKOB, aka LOW KAZ, b. c1716, son of Jakob Kohn-Zerkowitz, d. in Ober Czerekwitz, c1770.

He may have spent a few years in Prague, but later returned to his native Ober Czerekwitz. Although it was initially believed that he moved to Mahr. Weisskirchen later in life, there is no evidence that he did so. Instead, it was his widow Fradl who moved there, c1779, with the family of her youngest son Michael.

Lobl Kohn-Zerkowitz was m. c1738 to FRADL, b. Ober Czerekwitz, c1722, d. Mahr. Weisskirchen, 15 Nov 1809, “age 83 yrs.” [but actually, about 87 years of age]. Fradl’s father’s name was David [surname not determined, deceased by 1774].

Subsequent to the death of her husband [which about 1770], Fradl lived in the home of her third son Michael. About 1779, she moved with Michael and his family from Ober Czerekwitz to Mahr. Weisskirchen, Moravia [now Hranice, Czech Republic] where she died in 1809. Her death record: “Fradl Zirkwitz, age 83 yrs., d. Mahr. Weisskirchen, household #113, 15 Nov 1809.”

Letter written by descendant Emil Zerk [born Zerkowitz] (1892-1988) in January 1964:

"Zerkowitz -- in the German spelling -- is a town in Moravia (Maehren), former province of Austria, later on became Czechoslovakia. Our forefathers had their home there, and according to family tradition, all of them were 'Kohanim', so, one branch called themselves 'Cohen' (or perhaps 'Kohn', but we never knew this branch), and the other ones called themselves after this town Zerkowitz… One branch of the family moved across the nearby Hungarian frontier into Hungary, the northern part, now Slovakia, and kept the name, in German spelled 'Zerkowitz', in Hungarian 'Czerkowicz' (or better would be 'Czerkovicz'). We had also relatives in Budapest and Vienna.... The birthplace of my father was this northern Hungarian town where they came to from Moravia, the name of this place is Trencsen in Hungarian, Trencin in Slovakia. My grandfather was Nethane'el (Nathaniel), my great-grandfather - I can no more recall his name, although my Uncle Philip, older brother of my father, had told it to me as a child, upon my inquiry. He also told me about our being "Cohen", and that the great-grandfather was a jeweler at the town of Trencsen (Hungary) — he had to go to the Leipzig fair for business, and finally, on his return from Leipzig, was murdered and robbed...”