The Real Knish! tells the story of Yonah Schimmel's Knishery
Explore the history of this NYC landmark
The Real Knish! tells the story of Yonah Schimmel's Knishery
Explore the history of this NYC landmark
The knish is a traditional Jewish snack food...
Yonah Schimmel's Knishery
Dating back to 1910, Yonah Schimmel's Knishery at 137 E. Houston St. is a New York City landmark and is one of the last remaining Jewish culinary institutions of the Lower East Side. The Real Knish! explores the history of Yonah Schimmel the founder, the knish store, and its various owners over the decades. My great-grandfather, Josef Berger, owned the store for two decades. His son, Arthur Berger, operated the store for another four decades. Arthur's widow, Lillian, then ran the store for another two decades. The knishery website is here: http://www.knishery.com/
What's a Knish you ask?
A knish (pronounced: kuh-nish) is a traditional Jewish snack food that originated in Eastern Europe. It's made of a filling wrapped in dough and baked or fried. Knishes are often round or square, and can be fist-sized. Savory fillings include potato, groats (grain kernels), and broccoli. Sweet knishes include blueberry and cherry cheese.
Will the Real Yonah Schimmel Please Stand Up!
Knish King
Yonah Schimmel is regarded as the "Knish King" and one of the original purveyors of this Eastern European delicacy. However, anyone searching for biographical information on Yonah Schimmel the baker will be immediately flummoxed by the absolute non-existence of any official recordings of the name "Yonah Schimmel."
You will find no Census, Marriage, Business Directory, nor Death records with the famous baker's name.
Schimmel, Shimmel, Schimel, or Shimel?
That’s because the legal name of Yonah was Jonas Schimmel. In all Census, Marriage, Business Directory, and Death records his name appears as Jonas (or Jonah) Schimel, Shimel, or Schimmel. But the majority of official documents record the man as Jonas Schimmel, and never Yonah.
Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian?
To make the man's identity more elusive, his tombstone lists his name as Shimel AND he’s buried in the “Roumanian” plot section in Mount Zion cemetery, but he was not Romanian. When he disembarked in New York City, the manifest of arriving passengers records Yonah as Hungarian.
This name and origin ambiguity exists at the knishery at 137 E. Houston as well. One large sign says “Yonah Shimmel,” and most of the other signs read “Schimmel.” One article on the bakery wall says he's Romanian while another states he's Bulgarian.
Three Jonas Schimmels
Jonas (Yonah) Schimmel was born July 15th, 1866 in Galicia (a province in the Austro-Hungarian empire), and died in New York on April 6th,1931.
He should not be confused with another Jonas Schimel who also was born around 1866, immigrated in 1895, but died in 1912. And one must also distinguish our Yonah from yet another Jonas Schimel (born 1866), who immigrated in 1896, and was in the fish business (on Rivington St. in the Lower East Side), not knishes. This Jonas Schimel was most likely a cousin to our Yonah Schimmel.
"Mr. Schimmel had a Beautiful Beard"
Our Jonas (Yonah) Schimmel’s Naturalization document lists the knish baker as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 180 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, and possessing the distinctive feature of a beard.
Apparently, Schimmel’s beard made quite an impression on humorist Harry Golden, who wrote about the knish baker in one of his essays: “Mr. Schimmel had a beautiful beard. Everybody on the East Side knew him by his first name, Yonah. Originally these knishes were three cents each and they were a meal in themselves.”
Yonah Schimmel the Immigrant
Yonah’s ship to America, the Noordam, set forth from Rotterdam, Netherlands and arrived in New York on the 4th of June 1907. Jonas (Yonah) Schimmel resided at 168 E. 2nd St. in 1917 at the time of his Naturalization petition, and lived at same address at the time of his death in 1931. According to his Death Certificate, his parents were Joseph and Lena Schimmel. His tombstone's Hebrew inscription confirms his father's name as Joseph. CLICK HERE FOR FULL BIO
Yonah Schimmel Fact and Fiction
Yonah Schimmel was not Romanian!
Yonah Schimmel hailed from Austria, not Romania as many articles suggest. Unfortunately, once incorrect information gets out in the internet age, it’s hard to stop it from proliferating. He was born in the town of Radikhov (now known as Radziechow in Ukraine) and most likely lived (at some point) in the Galician town of Bialy-Kamien, now a part of western Ukraine. We don't have his birth certificate, but Yonah's cousins Rose and Chaskel Schimel both came from Bialy-Kamien. His partner in the Houston Street store (Josef Berger) came from Bialy-Kamien. His nephew and fellow restauranteur, Leo Schimel, also hailed from this region.
Jonas "Yonah" Schimmel was from Galicia, Austria
The town of Bialy-Kamien is near the present day major Ukrainian city of L’viv (formerly Lemberg). In 1866, when Jonas Schimmel was born, the province of Galicia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Looking at the map (showing pre-WWII Poland), Bialy-Kamien sits between L'vov and Tarnopol (lower right, shaded area). On the ship manifest, Yonah stated his last European residence as Stanislowow (in gold letters at bottom of map).
After World War I, the region of Galicia was part of Poland. After World War II, it became a part of the Soviet Union. And after the decline of the Soviet Union, the region became part of present-day Ukraine.
Yonah Schimmel was not a Rabbi
There are various accounts that describe Yonah as a Rabbi and others as a teacher. A New York Times article described Yonah as a Torah Scribe. Sure—it makes for better storytelling to say that a Rabbi turned to knish making. But, according to my grandmother (the daughter of Schimmel knishery owner Joseph Berger), Yonah Schimmel was a melamed, a position we could think of today as a religious educator.
Lillian Berger, who operated the Houston Street knishery with her husband Arthur (son of Josef Berger) for approximately six decades, stated as much in an interview (excerpted in Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food): “The original Yonah Schimmel was a part-time Hebrew teacher-- a 'melamed.' He began the business with a pushcart, then rented a small store.” On the ship passenger list when he came to America, he is recorded as a "baker" not a "Rabbi."
Yonah Schimmel did not begin selling knishes in 1890
Yonah Schimmel did not begin selling knishes in New York in 1890 as many narratives state. According to the 1920 census, Yonah’s year of immigration to the United States was 1907. According to Yonah’s Declaration of Intent for Naturalization (1917), he lists the date of immigration as June 1906. In the 1930 U.S. Census, Yonah’s immigration date is recorded as 1908. Maybe Yonah didn't have the best memory, but none of these dates are near 1890. And we do have the official ship manifest showing Yonah arrived in New York in June of 1907.
Yonah Schimmel did not sell knishes on Coney Island
There are many narratives stating that Yonah Schimmel began selling knishes on Coney Island in 1890 before opening his Manhattan stores. We know that Yonah did not arrive in New York until 1907, and a thorough review of publicly available documents does not support this story, nor does the settlement history of Coney Island. All documents show Yonah arriving in Manhattan, living in Manhattan, and opening stores in Manhattan. Furthermore, according to the Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative, Jews began populating the Coney Island area in the 1910s. Before 1910 there would have been few customers to support a pushcart knish business. By contrast, the Lower East Side housed 500,000 Jews.
The first actual Yonah Schimmel knish store may not have opened until 1913
Legend has it that Yonah began selling knishes from a pushcart, and then opened a store in 1910. The 1910, 1911, and 1912 NYC Business Directories list another Jonas Schimel, who was in the fish business at 242-247 Rivington St. in the Lower East Side. There is no mention of Jonas Schimmel a baker or restauranteur.
The 1913 NYC Business Directory is the first listing of our Jonas Schimmel (Yonah) as having an eating establishment with a location at 156 Allen. According to Nathan Ausubel, a Lower East Side humorist and folklorist, Yonah’s first retail bakery was a “little knish shop on Allen St.”
By 1916 Yonah was a "Knish Mogul"
The 1916 NYC Business Directory lists the above-mentioned fish guy Jonas Schimmel (with double m) on Rivington St. and our Jonas Schimmel (Yonah) as a baker with FOUR locations at 156 Allen, 74 Rivington, 44 Ave. B, and 144 E. Houston (across the street from the present knishery location).
This 1916 listing of multiple locations is congruent with my grandmother’s narrative that Yonah had several establishments, which were very popular with Lower East Side residents. The knish shops were especially well patronized by folks after they attended Yiddish Theater performances.
Yonah Schimmel Knishery moved to its present location in the 1930s
My great-grandfather Josef Berger purchased the 144 E. Houston St. location from Yonah Schimmel, who was a cousin to Berger’s wife Rose (nee Schimel). The New York Times incorrectly stated Rose was Yonah's daughter (in a 2010 article). Berger’s name appears in the NYC 1925 Business Directory denoting his profession as “Baker,” with his location at 144. E. Houston St.
In the 1930s, a widening of Houston St. was undertaken in order to accommodate construction of the Subway system’s Sixth Avenue line. At some point in the 1930s the Houston St. store moved from the North side of the street to its present location at 137 E. Houston.
Explore The Real Knish! Photo Gallery
Aug 1, 1970, Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery survived a Cadillac crash next door. Located at 137 E. Houston, the bakery was previously located on the north side of Houston until the 1930s.
Prior to his first retail shop, Yonah Schimmel sold knishes from a pushcart. At one point the Lower East Side had 2,500 licensed pushcarts and thousands of unlicensed carts operating as well.
Pushcarts were made illeg
The old dining area of Yonah Schimmel's. Today the bakery is takeout only. In addition to knishes, the bakery once served kugel, borscht, yogurt, and egg creams.
This 1976 Hedy Pagremanski painting depicts Yonah Schimmel's and the variety of customers who frequent the eatery. It is part of the collection of the Museum of the City of New York, but not currently on display.
This photograph from approximately 1977 shows the website's author as a child along with his father and Aunt, Lillian Berger. Lilllian Berger helped run the knishery for nearly six decades.
On the interior walls of the knishery are an array of photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and celebrity autographs.
According to reports, Robert F. Kennedy visited Yonah Schimmel's during a campaign stop. Kennedy’s motorcade, followed by huge crowds, toured the Lower East side. He had melon, split pea soup, and chocolate milk in Ratner’s Dairy Restaurant at 138 Delancey St.
Then he went next door to Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery at 140 Delancey St. “Did he eat a knish?” people outside wanted to know. “He didn’t hav
A 1985 article in "The Record" provided wonderful illustrations of the interior and exterior of the knish bakery.
A 1985 article in "Newsday" showcased the knishery and a proud Lillian Berger. Ms. Berger helped run the knish bakery for nearly six decades.
The aforementioned 1970 car crash from an eastward looking viewpoint. According to the New York Times, the car's driver was killed and 10 people were injured. After finding firearms in the building a police inspector said: “Nothing unusual about a few guns in a building in this neighborhood.”
Dedicated to the Loving Memory of Claire Stern
Claire Stern 1904-1986
My grandmother, Claire Stern (nee Berger), was the daughter of knish bakery owner Josef Berger. Her mother was Yonah Schimmel's cousin, Rose Schimel. Her brother Arthur, and sister-in-law Lillian, ran the knishery for six decades. A wonderful and kind woman, she always had pleasant things to say about people. She had an outstanding memory and could provide endless details on family members and their backgrounds. She would patiently accompany me to New York libraries in support of my genealogical pursuits. She also made the best split pea soup you'll ever have!
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