Lewis was born Yehuda Leib Kossower about 1896 in Krasilov, Khmelnytska Oblast, the second of nine surviving children of Rabbi Pinchos Kossower and Gitel Beitchman Cosover.
When the family was forced by circumstances to migrate, the two brothers closest in age to Lewis, Maurice and Nathan, were sent to America with the mandate to send for the rest. Lewis' father had spent his life in study and prayer and then was killed in 1919. In response, Lewis earned a living for his mother and younger siblings for years by managing a sugarbeet factory in Krasilov. He was very young for such a responsibility, but he was a serious person.
Once the rest of the family had fled the Ukraine, Lewis secured them safe haven in Paris, France for a year while they were awaiting the documentation necessary to continue their journey.
Lewis was the last family member to arrive in the US. He immigrated through Ellis Island on Feb. 3, 1922 in possession of $367. He lived in the Bronx, New York.
His brother Nathan bought him a newstand, then Lewis opened the Cosover Gas Station on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, which sold Sunoco products. He declared his intention to naturalize as a US citizen on Aug. 16, 1928 under the name Louis Kossover.
A very modest and religious man, he was the brother most like his father. He knew all the Jewish prayers.
Lewis was a protector and father figure for his littlest brother Eddie.
He passed away from Polycythemia Vera, which is a type of blood cancer. His death was a huge blow to the family.
Thanks so much to New York Historian for finding out where Lewis was buried and kindly sponsoring this memorial, and to ronzoni for graciously photographing and uploading the gravestone and translating part of the transcription from Hebrew.
When the family was forced by circumstances to migrate, the two brothers closest in age to Lewis, Maurice and Nathan, were sent to America with the mandate to send for the rest. Lewis' father had spent his life in study and prayer and then was killed in 1919. In response, Lewis earned a living for his mother and younger siblings for years by managing a sugarbeet factory in Krasilov. He was very young for such a responsibility, but he was a serious person.
Once the rest of the family had fled the Ukraine, Lewis secured them safe haven in Paris, France for a year while they were awaiting the documentation necessary to continue their journey.
Lewis was the last family member to arrive in the US. He immigrated through Ellis Island on Feb. 3, 1922 in possession of $367. He lived in the Bronx, New York.
His brother Nathan bought him a newstand, then Lewis opened the Cosover Gas Station on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, which sold Sunoco products. He declared his intention to naturalize as a US citizen on Aug. 16, 1928 under the name Louis Kossover.
A very modest and religious man, he was the brother most like his father. He knew all the Jewish prayers.
Lewis was a protector and father figure for his littlest brother Eddie.
He passed away from Polycythemia Vera, which is a type of blood cancer. His death was a huge blow to the family.
Thanks so much to New York Historian for finding out where Lewis was buried and kindly sponsoring this memorial, and to ronzoni for graciously photographing and uploading the gravestone and translating part of the transcription from Hebrew.
Lewis was born Yehuda Leib Kossower about 1896 in Krasilov, Khmelnytska Oblast, the second of nine surviving children of Rabbi Pinchos Kossower and Gitel Beitchman Cosover.
When the family was forced by circumstances to migrate, the two brothers closest in age to Lewis, Maurice and Nathan, were sent to America with the mandate to send for the rest. Lewis' father had spent his life in study and prayer and then was killed in 1919. In response, Lewis earned a living for his mother and younger siblings for years by managing a sugarbeet factory in Krasilov. He was very young for such a responsibility, but he was a serious person.
Once the rest of the family had fled the Ukraine, Lewis secured them safe haven in Paris, France for a year while they were awaiting the documentation necessary to continue their journey.
Lewis was the last family member to arrive in the US. He immigrated through Ellis Island on Feb. 3, 1922 in possession of $367. He lived in the Bronx, New York.
His brother Nathan bought him a newstand, then Lewis opened the Cosover Gas Station on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, which sold Sunoco products. He declared his intention to naturalize as a US citizen on Aug. 16, 1928 under the name Louis Kossover.
A very modest and religious man, he was the brother most like his father. He knew all the Jewish prayers.
Lewis was a protector and father figure for his littlest brother Eddie.
He passed away from Polycythemia Vera, which is a type of blood cancer. His death was a huge blow to the family.
Thanks so much to New York Historian for finding out where Lewis was buried and kindly sponsoring this memorial, and to ronzoni for graciously photographing and uploading the gravestone and translating part of the transcription from Hebrew.
When the family was forced by circumstances to migrate, the two brothers closest in age to Lewis, Maurice and Nathan, were sent to America with the mandate to send for the rest. Lewis' father had spent his life in study and prayer and then was killed in 1919. In response, Lewis earned a living for his mother and younger siblings for years by managing a sugarbeet factory in Krasilov. He was very young for such a responsibility, but he was a serious person.
Once the rest of the family had fled the Ukraine, Lewis secured them safe haven in Paris, France for a year while they were awaiting the documentation necessary to continue their journey.
Lewis was the last family member to arrive in the US. He immigrated through Ellis Island on Feb. 3, 1922 in possession of $367. He lived in the Bronx, New York.
His brother Nathan bought him a newstand, then Lewis opened the Cosover Gas Station on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, which sold Sunoco products. He declared his intention to naturalize as a US citizen on Aug. 16, 1928 under the name Louis Kossover.
A very modest and religious man, he was the brother most like his father. He knew all the Jewish prayers.
Lewis was a protector and father figure for his littlest brother Eddie.
He passed away from Polycythemia Vera, which is a type of blood cancer. His death was a huge blow to the family.
Thanks so much to New York Historian for finding out where Lewis was buried and kindly sponsoring this memorial, and to ronzoni for graciously photographing and uploading the gravestone and translating part of the transcription from Hebrew.
