Blum-Subow Family History

Blum family history appears to begin in a village called Golawanewsk (Golavanevsk or Golovanevsk), which was then in the Russian Empire and was a community in the Odessa district of Ukraine.

I believe the modern-day town of Holovanivs’k is the site of the community they lived in, which is now in Kirovohrad Oblast.

As a Jewish family, life was not peaceful in the Russian Empire. Family stories tell of having to hide as the Russian Pogroms were going on and Cossacks were hurting Jewish people everywhere they could be found. Luckily for us, they did indeed choose to leave.

They arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1909 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At that time, the Blum family name was used. Some, like Hillel Subow, adopted Americanized names such as Harry Blum. My birth 2nd Great Grandfather, for instance, was Jack/Jacob Blum but was born Janke Subow.

Birth Great Grandfather Jack Blum relocated from Pennsylvania to Chicago, Illinois where he raised his family. I believe he may be buried at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights, IL, but have not confirmed a gravesite location.

Some parts of the family have been quite accomplished. Birth Great-Uncle Murray Blum was a famous entomologist. Birth first cousin once removed Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

Grandfather Paul Blum settled in Los Angeles after the Korean War, where he served as as a Navy Hospital Corpsman (HM3). I was in Los Angeles where my birth met my birth Grandmother. My Father was adopted, and raised in the Schultze family.

Paul Blum is buried at Mt. Sinai Hollywood Hills in the Kedron section, site LA-KE-8-7497-3.

It was a huge surprise when my Father was able to finally locate his birth parents after taking an AncestryDNA test. I had all but given up on knowing anything about his birth family, due to time and California’s policy as a closed adoption State.

While my Father would not be able to meet his birth parents, he added family on both sides. For the Blum line, he now has a Brother Michael and Sister Thelen to call family, and that makes for a positive result.

Thank you to second cousin once removed Lisa Craven for her assistance in parts of this family history.