Welcome to the Silbiger Family Website

In 1997 we started to undertake a research project to learn about our family's roots. In the process we have discovered many fascinating facts which we would like to share with you.

Did you know?

There is a Silbiger Street located in Ruzomberok, Slovakia.

There is a Silbiger Theatre located in Richmond, Indiana.

A popular business text entitled "The 10-Day M.B.A." was written by a Silbiger.

The Dean of the University of South Florida College of Medicine is a Silbiger.

A Silbiger was married to a former president of Poland.

The origin of the Silbiger name is not known for certain. According to one theory, it may be derived from the German "silbig" meaning monosyllabic or a term used to describe a quiet, non-talkative individual. According to another, Silbiger refers to a silver ornament once worn on physicians' uniforms in the Prussian or Polish Army. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II of Austria promulgated the Edict of Toleration for the Jews, which established the requirement for mandatory hereditary surnames. The Jews of Galicia did not adopt family names until 1785. Family names were then required throughout the Austrian Empire by the year 1787. The first Silbiger to adopt the surname was probably named Feivel. He had 12 sons and one daughter. We know that he traded tobacco and was in all likelihood quite wealthy. He was originally of Sephardic ancestry, but the Silbigers eventually assimilated into the predominant Ashkenazi culture of Polish Jewry. It is noteworthy that all of the Silbigers we have thus far contacted in our genealogical research are Kohanim. This fact is quite significant and it argues rather strongly that all Silbigers are related, as only 5% of all Jews are Kohanim.

Where did the Silbigers come from? According to our research the Silbigers came from small towns in the western part of the former Austrian province of Galicia, located in the south of modern-day Poland. Silbigers who lived in the 19th century came from shtetls such as Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Bielsko-Biala, Chybie and Andrychow, among others. From their roots in Galicia the Silbigers are now spread all over the world including the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Poland and Israel.

The Silbiger Y-DNA Project has been developed to see whether or not various branches of the Silbiger family tree are related. To date, DNA testing has determined that 5 branches of Silbigers are related. A simple DNA test determines if participants are descended from a common Silbiger ancestor. The test provides a yes or no answer and is useful for distantly related groups that cannot be connected by birth, marriage, or death records. The project is a work in progress and we welcome new members.

Through a simple cheek swab, we can determine genetic links. The test is painless, appropriate measures are taken to ensure privacy, and we have established a fund so that the test will be free of charge. Participants must be male and they should have the Silbiger surname or spelling variant. Results from each person tested are applicable to all of that person's known male and female Silbiger relatives. For further information about the Silbiger Y-DNA Project, contact Jeffrey Silbiger at jjsilbiger@gmail.com. For general information or technical information about DNA testing, look at the Family Tree DNA website at http://www.FTDNA.com.

To date, we have assembled a database of over 1100 Silbigers (Zilbigers) from the 19th and 20th centuries. If you are using Internet Explorer 4 or higher, you can search for your relatives on our spreadsheet by clicking here. Alternatively you can download the database here. To view the database you will need Microsoft Excel.

We welcome you to share any history about the Silbiger Family with us and we would be happy to have you contribute to our website. Send all e-mails to Mirek at: mirek@msiba.co.uk and please send a cc to Jeffrey at: jjsilbiger@gmail.com.

The following is our own "branch" of the Silbiger Family Tree. It begins with Jeremiazs who was born circa 1812, probably in Oswiecim.

The SILBIGER Family Tree



                Mendel		|				

           	 M. Fanny 	Heinrich	|	

		|  Tramer	  M. Franziska 	Malvi 5.3.1910 - 1994	|

		|		   Lewkowitz	   M. Ernst Eisinger   Ilana Eisinger 4.3.1951

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Else 26.7.1913		|     23.5.1946	

		|		|		   M. Erich Leskly      Mira Leskly 		|

		|		|		|  (Lichtblau)	         M.Ivan Oren     Tal 30.9.1967

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|	          Rani 23.1.1971

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|	          Amir 19.6.1976

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|     20.6.1948			

		|		|		|			Roman Leskly 		|

		|		|		|			   M. Mira         Karin 3.8.1979

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Renata 13.8.1917

		|		|		 M. Frantisek Dinda

		|		|

		|		Anna		|

		|		 M. ? Guter	Ida Guter

		|		|		|

		|		|

		|		|

		|		Rosa		|

		|		   M. Max Herz	Berta Herz

		|		|		|

		|				|

		|				Ferda Herz

		|				|

		|				|

		|				? (son)

		|				|

		|				|

		|				? (son)

		|				|

		Fischel (Felix)	|

		   M. ?		Rosa

		|		|

		|		|

		|		Tekla

		|		|						

		|		|

		|		Pola				     ___

		|		   M. Icek 				|	

		|		|      Seelenfreund			|	

		|							|	

		Zurtel ?						|		

		|							|	

		|							|	

		|    1850 - 1929					|	

		Bernard 						|	

		    M. Regina 	|					|			

        	|     Windholz	Max		|			|	

		|		   M. ?		Herman (drowned 1926)	|	

		|		|		|			|	

		|		|					|	

		|		Sali		|			|	

		|		   M. ? 	Ervin Seelenfreund	|

		|		|  Seelenfreund	|			|	

		|		|		|			|	

		|		|		Samuel Seelenfreund	|	

		|		|		|			|	

		|		|		|			|	

		|		|		Icek Seelenfreund	|

		|		|		   M. Pola Silbiger  ___|
		|		|		|		       

		|		|

		|		|

		|		Rosa 20.6.1886	|

		|		   M. Max 	Regina Marmor 29.3.1910 - 1988

		|		|        Marmor	   M. Bruno Schanzer

		|		|		       (changed to Siba)

		|		|		|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Adolf Marmor 29.8.1912	 |

		|		|		   M. Jarmila		Monika Marmor b 1965	|

		|		|		|			 |  M. Frantisek       Vit

		|		|		|			       Mladejovsky	|

		|		|		|						|

		|		|		|			 		       Ondrej

		|		|		|						|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Edita Marmor 14.10.1921 - 1995

		|		|		   M. Kurt Polacek

		|		|		|

		|		|								|

		|		|						  Stefan Siba 26.9.1967

		|		|							M.Michaela 

		|		|							    Theiszova

		|		|								|

		|		|								|

		|		|					|	     Lea Siba 5.5.1981

		|		Ignatz 3.7.1883	|   (changed to Siba)	   M. Tana		|

		|		   M. Emma	Bruno 15.10.1913		Mirek Siba 2.3.1946	

		|		|     Grosser	  M. Gusta Weissbrod	   Rem. Noreen		|

		|		|		|			|	    Karina Siba 9.6.1990

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|			|

		|		|		|			|	         Alexander Siba 

		|		|		|			|		   18.11.1992

		|		|		|			|			

		|		|		|		         M. Marek Svoboda

		|		|		|	 	        Tamara Siba 15.10.1948	|

		|		|		|	                 Rem. Ivan Pavlicek Zuzana Pavlicek

		|		|		|			|		     26.9.1979

		|		|		|						|

		|		|		|				            Lucie Pavlicek

		|		|		|					     13.2.1981

		|		|		|			

		|		|		Melitta 26.3.1916 - 1943

		|		|		|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Herta 1924 - 1932

		|		|		|

		|		|									

		|		Adolf

		|		   M. Ida

     M. Ida	|		|

  Jeremiasz 1812

     Rem. Pepi 

    Gross 1862	

		|

		|

		|

		Berta

		 M. Markus 	|		|

		|   Guter	David Guter	Njuscha Guter

		|		   M. ?		|

		|		|		|

		|				Halina Guter

		|				|

		|		

		|

		|		     25.10.1920	

		|		Alfred 		|

		|		   M. Hela	Jakob

		|		|		|				

		|		|		|

		|		|		Eton

		    M. Zofie	|		|

		Jacker 1.9.1892

		    Rem. Leni	|

		|		Otto

		|		   M. Lilly 1939?

		|		|

		|

		Jakob 1880?	|

		    M. ? Unger	Jeremiasz

		|		|   1907 - 1939

		|		|

		|		Schayndl 

		|		|    1912 - WW2

		|		|

		|		Leo  11.4.1921	|

		|		   M. Dorka 	Eva 29.10.1946		|			   

		|		|      Weinberg	 M. PaulKlenoff	 	Ross Klenoff 1.7.1972

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|			Joshua Klenoff 5.11.1975

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|			Sara Klenoff 8.11.1978

		|		|		|			|

		|		|		|

		|		|		|

		|		|		Jeffrey 5.12.1954

		|		|		 M. Carole Weinstein

		|		|

		|		Moses 

		|		|       1916 - 1917

		|		|

		|		Berta 1910 -

		?

		|

Created by Jeffrey Jacob Silbiger & Miroslav (Silbiger) Siba on 20.4.1998