Sam Pugach

Sam ( Eliezer Solomon ) Pugach was born  13 Jan 1894 in Polonnoye, Ukraine.  He left at the age of 17 from Libau, Lithuania on the S.S. Kursk and arrived in New York on the 14 Aug 1911 . His name on the New York Passenger List was Luser Pugacz and his contact was his brother A. Pugacz  ( I don't know an A. Pugach ) at 64 Dominique in Quebec City. This is the same address as Eliahu Endler in Quebec City.

When his mother, Tema Felhendler, arrived 25 Jun 1923, she was heading for Eliezer/ Sam at 174 Laval Ave, Montreal. She sailed from Riga, Latvia, 16 Jun 1923 on the ship, S.S. Canada. Here Tema's name was spelled Thema Pugatsch.

Tema gave the name of her niece, Zisel Birstein in Anopil, Volyn . This person is unfamiliar to me.













Sam married Anna Levine 5 Nov 1933.

It is this Marriage Record that gave Felhendler as the maiden name of Tema Pugach. This would mean that Tema was the sister of  Nuchum and Eliahu.

Sarah Pugach Gold, Sam's niece, told Brian Furstman, my Jewish Family Finder Jewishgen contact, the very tragic story of Sam's life. Sam went back to the Ukraine before WWll with the intention of staying and building the country. He returned to Montreal disillusioned. He had seen terrible starvation and the disparity between the starving masses and the privileged class of party functionaries. Sam committed suicide while his wife was away in the US visiting her brother. He apparently took steps to ensure that the plants weren't harmed by the gas from the stove that he used to kill himself.