Simon Aaron Haskel

Simon Aaron (Aharon Shimshon) Haskel, was born on Sunday, November 18, 1866, in Wielun, Poland to Salamon (Shlomo Zalman) Haskelowicz of Czestochowa, Poland and Esther Rashka Cymerman. He was one of six children. The family lived in Bendin, Poland. He immigrated to the U.S. sailing from Hamburg, Germany on the boat Blucher departing May 4,1906 and arriving at the port of New York, Ellis Island, on May 14, 1906. Simon's residence in New York was 122 Fresh Hill Road in Richmond County, NY at the time of his 1911 U.S. Petition for Naturalization. At the time when Simon's Certificate of Naturalization was issued on June 11, 1924, he was living at 999 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. He died at 61 years old in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, died on Thursday, February 9, 1928.

Simon Aaron married his first cousin, Fannie Haskell. Fannie was born in 1868, in Wielun, Poland, she was the daughter of the late Lewek (Arieh Leib) Haskelowicz and the late Ruchel Ajzner. Simon and Fannie had 11 children, the first 9 born in Poland and the youngest two were born in the U.S.

Simon Haskel, first came to America in 1904 and started establishing his granite business. Granite work had been the family business since at least 1852, when Simon’s grandfather, Icky Yitzchak Haskiel died and his death certificate described his profession as a stonecutter. Simon immigrated and continued his craftsmanship in granite. After establishing himself in the granite industry, he formed a company, S Haskel and Sons and engaged in importing granite from Europe, particularly Sweden and Germany. The family owned quarries in Massachusetts. His granddaughter, Sylvia Lelonek remembers going to the quarry and watching her father William Haskel, Simon Haskel’s son, jump from stone to stone. He was the founder of the largest granite fabricating plant on the East Coast of the United States. His company was awarded contracts to furnish and erect the granite for such edifices as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Theodore Roosevelt State Memorial (now known as the Museum of Natural History), President Warren G. Harding Memorial and numerous outstanding buildings in Washington, D.C. For the Chrysler building “the first 3 floors were clad in a dark green, almost black Norwegian granite known as Shastone. Flaked with iridescent mother-of pearl, this exquisite material formed the shop windows and outlined the entrances of the building in a most imposing fashion.”

In addition to the building industry, S. Haskel and Sons, was the largest supplier of granite to the monument industry and established a retail monument outlet known as Shastone Monument Corporation. ['SHASTONE' = S. HAS(kel) STONE']. He owned stone quarries in New England. Fannie Haskel and her sons were part of the founders of the Yeshiva of Flatbush; they were active Zionists; and workers for the United Jewish Appeal and other charities.

The Haskels had relatives who died in the Holocaust. Simon’s daughter. Sophie Urstein, recorded the death her (maternal?) uncle Yankel with his wife and 3 of his children during the Holocaust. Arnold Haskel remembers his father, William Haskel, sending financial assistance to Moshe Haskel to escape Europe and resettle in Israel. The American Haskels purchased or helped in the purchase of a co-op in Tel Aviv. William visited with him and his wife when in Israel and found him to be a very personable fellow and very likeable.

Sylvia Lelonek remembers going to her grandparents once a week and enjoying Fannie’s sour pickles. She reports having warm feelings towards them. She said that in addition to being a successful businessman, Simon was very learned and religious.

Simon and Fannie were active supporters of the Jewish community. In 1924, Simon hosted a fundraiser for the chief rabbi of Palestine, Rav Kook, with a rabbinical delegation including Rabbi Moses Mordechai Epstein dean of the Slobodka Yeshiva and Rabbi Abraham Bear Shapiro chief rabbi of Kovno. The rabbis were raising money for the poor people in Palestine. They had visited President Collidge at the White House. At the fund raiser at Simon Haskel’s house they raised $15,000, with a $2,000 donation from Simon. Simon was nieghbors with New York City Mayor John Hylan, who attended the banquet as well. Rav Kook priased the philathropists at the dinner saying “That we should strive for the perfection of the individualistic learning and inspire every member of our race with an aptitude for public affairs has been the past role of the Jewish race, and no matter in what country a Jew may live in, for that country should he give the benefits of his toil. The support of Jewish instituions of learning is, in our cae, the highest form of charity. It even ranks beyond the name of charity, because it sustains the character of soul and spirti of our race.”

After Simon’s death in 1928, Fannie continued to be active in the community. She was Haddasah with her children and grandchildren. She was a founder of the Yeshiva of Flatbush, for which there is a plaque hanging. She was an active Zionist; and a worker for the United Jewish Appeal and other charities. She died at 93 years old, in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, on Sunday, August 27, 1961.

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 14 2017, 20:47:20 UTC