• Parents of: Jennie Levin Spiegel

• Grandparents of: Harry Spiegel

• Great Grandparents of: Sanders "Sandy" Spiegel

• Great Great Grandparents of: Shelly Spiegel, Terry Spiegel Thal, Jamie Spiegel Levick, Brad Spiegel

• Great Great Great Grandparents of: Ben Spiegel, Will Spiegel, Olivia Levick, Harrison Levick

Esther Levinson and Hirsch Levin were married in 1868 in Kiev, Ukraine.

In Kiev, Esther and Hirsch had two children: Hannah ("Hannie") and William.

Hirsch was a cabinet maker and skilled and wealthy craftsman who was employed by the government of Czar Alexander II.

In the spring of 1881, the was a second pogrom* in Russia a year after Czar Alexander II was assassinated. His successor, Czar Alexander III cracked down on revolutionaries and Jews. Kiev and other Russian Jewish cities were targeted.

During the second pogrom, Hirsch's cabinet shop was completely destroyed. Hirsch and Esther also lost most of their personal possessions.

*A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at the massacre or expulsion of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews. The first pogrom in Russia took place in 1821.

During the second pogrom, Esther and Hirsch, like many Russian Jews, fled the country with their families. Esther parent's, Leah and Leib "Beryl" Levinson and their children, joined the Levin's and headed for Hamburg, Germany.

Upon their arrival in Hamburg, the Levin's and the Levinson's quickly found that the German Jewish community was unwilling to help their fellow Jews who were fleeing Russian persecution.

While in Germany, the Levin's and the Levinson's heard about a new Jewish farming community that was forming in Norma, New Jersey called the Alliance Colony. Norma is an unincorporated community located within Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, New Jersey.

So they set sail once more – this time for America** and Norma, New Jersey aided by money from the financiers of the Alliance Colony:

1. The Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris, a Jewish philanthropic organization headquartered in Paris

2. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of New York and Philadelphia

3. The German railroad builder and philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch.

The Levin's and the Levinson's arrived at Ellis Island in early 1882 and several months later, on May 10, 1882, they along with 41 other families, founded the first of several all-Jewish farm communities in South Jersey – the Alliance Colony.

**Esther gave birth to another child on the ship. Sadly, the child did not survive.

On May 10, 1882, Hirsh Levin and Esther Levin moved to the Alliance Colony in Norma, New Jersey.

After immigrating to the U.S., Esther and Hirsch had six more children -- Abraham, ("Abe"), Fannie, Samuel, John, Mendel, and Jennie – for a total of eight children.