A divorce of Chana Hermelin and Awram Mosze Fingerhut

A few days ago we received a mail from a family searching for information about a woman called Chana HERMELIN. The story they told is a little sneak-peak to the life of women in the pre-war Jewish community in Poland, and in the world, and it corresponds with a previous post about the status of ’Aguna’.

Chana Hermelin married Avraham Moshe FINGERHUT, probably in Warsaw. Avraham Moshe was a rabbi, from a family coming from a city named Turek in Poland. Not being connected to a strong rabbinical family he searched for jobs in far-away places. The young couple moved to France, where their first son was born. From there Avram Moshe moved to Lisbon and Algiers. Chana did not come with him. From unknown reasons she returned to Warsaw. A few years later — already in a position in the town of Algiers in northern Africa, Avram Moshe got a request from Chana for a divorce.