University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections
The Shpikover Hilfs Verein was a mutual aid organization in Pittsburgh. It was established around 1922 by Jewish immigrants from Shpikov, in present-day Ukraine,
In early years, the Shpikover Hilfs Verein met in the Shaaray Tefilah Congregation synagogue at 23-25 Miller Street in the Hill District. With the outmigration of the Jewish population from the Hill District in the late 1940s, the group began meeting at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in the East End. The Shpikover Hilfs Verein never owned an independent cemetery but many members were buried in the Beth Abraham Cemetery.
The Shpikover Hilfs Verein initially helped settle and support recent immigrants to Pittsburgh. As its membership gained economic stability, it shifted its focus toward supporting their landsmen (countrymen) still living in Europe. The group hosted cantor and singer Moishe Oysher in Pittsburgh in concert in November 1940, held a memorial to Rabbi Itschok Nachim Twersky in 1943, and sent more than $3,000 in food and clothing to Shipkovers in Europe in 1946. With the closing of Displaced Persons camps in Europe, and the creation of the State of Israel, the Shpikover Hilfs Verein began raising funds for projects in Israel, often working through Pioneer Women and the Jewish National Fund. The Shpikover Hilfs Verein dissolved in the early 1970s, as its founders passed.
Some of the families known to be active in the Shpikover Hilfs Verein include Banchek, Begler, Besser, Bodell, Dunn, Exler, German/Gherman, Ginsberg, Granoff, Green, Greenberg, Gonallo, Heiss, Isenberg, Kleinerman, Klein, Katz, Kracoff/Krakoff, Lipsman, Mallinger, Mermanstein, Pattak, Perchesky, Podolsky, Port, Portnoy, Reifman, Roth, Scherb, Seltzer, Serbin, Shector, Shullman, Smolever, Supcoff, Tabachnick, Torbin/Torban, Tracht, Treelisky, Tolchin, Vishnev/Wishnev, and Waldholtz.
Bibliography
Rauh Jewish Archives
- Ann Sheckter Powell oral history, from Homestead Hebrew Congregation Records [CSS 4] (online).
- Teplitzky, Jenna. “Moishe Oysher: A Legend Comes to Pittsburgh,” January 11, 2021 (online).
University of Pittsburgh
- Shpikover Hilfs Verien Silver Anniversary Dinner Program, 1917, from Archives of Industrial Society (AIS) Information Files [AIS.Info.Files] (catalog record).
Lara’s Jewnealogy
- Diamond, Lara. “Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community & HIAS,” October 28, 2018 (online).
Exhibit history
- Author: Eric Lidji
- Original: March 17, 2026
- Current: March 17, 2026