

Harry grew up believing that his dad purchased papers with the name Besnoy so that he could escape from Russia. Harry was also told that his dad was shot while escaping from the Russians and went through China and Canada, eventually settling in Buffalo, NY. It was also believed that the family name was Nemurofsky and shortened to Nemo. Apparently, Joe's sister, Anna, left Buffalo and went to NYC. She returned to Buffalo with the last name Nemo. Recollections from Harry's older cousins, Ralph Caprow, 84 and Jack Caprow, 87, indicate that she may have married, but details are quite fuzzy. Anna was a bit of a mystery. Harry's cousin, Jack (87), told us that, as a kid, he used the name Jack Nemo for a while, thinking, too, that it may have been a family name.
From research obtained by Ruth Caprow (Ralph's daughter-in-law), it appears that Joe Besnoy was born Jozef Pesnai in Uman, Ukraine and sailed from Belgium with his mother, Ruchel (Rose), and arrived in Canada in April 1922. They were sponsored by Joe's sister and her husband, Ida and Louis Caprow, Buffalo, NY. From Jack Caprow, we learned that Joe was conscripted into the Russian Army and, was indeed, shot but now the details are sketchy - was he escaping the army?
So now we know that the family name was Pisnai and it was probably changed to Besnoy at the immigration station in New Brunswick, Canada. The "P" might have been pronounced "B" with the European accent and the immigration officials got creative. Since Joe was the only son in the family, the name Besnoy has survived and his descendants are the only known Besnoys.