Newly Uncovered Photos Said To Be of the Rebbetzin

Two unknown photos that are claimed to be of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, as an infant and as a young child, were recently uncovered. One photo has a Russian inscription that seems to be from the Rebbetzin’s grandparents.

By Anash.org reporter

Two unknown photos that are claimed to be pictures of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, daughter of the Frierdiker Rebbe, and wife of the Rebbe, recently came to light.

The two photos are black and white, one showing a baby girl, and the second showing a girl of approximately two years old. Both seem to have been taken in a professional studio.

A number of photos of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka exist from her wedding and later years, but only a few were ever published from prior to that time. One such photo shows the Rebbetzin’s mother with all three of her daughters, and the newly published photo of the Rebbetzin as a young girl bears a significant similarity to the picture with her mother.

The later picture bears no date or writing. The earlier photo has an inscription in Russian on the back of the photo, partially torn but for the most part legible. Translated into English, the inscription reads: My dear – Tzvi and Sonia – (..) a picture of – our dear granddaughter – Our Moussia’nke – Nechama Dina. The last line has a few letters that seem to have been the end of the words Yosef Yitzchok.

Based on the inscription, it would seem that the photo was sent by Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka’s grandparents, Rabbi Avraham and Yocheved Schneerson, to his sister and brother-in-law, R’ Tzvi and Sheina Sheinberg. From there it would have made its way back to the family album, where it remained unseen until recently.

Anash.org reached out to a number of experts on Chabad history and the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s early years for their opinion on the photos. As of the publication of the article, none would go on record confirming or denying the claims that the photos were of the Rebbetzin.

Know any details? Let us know in the comments.

Discussion
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    1. If there is a discussion in regards to the authenticity of these pictures, don’t you think the reason is, because the supposed letters itself, are itself suspect?

      As an aside, there are letters in regards to a number of other items, and those letters and items are clearly con items.

  1. BH

    The following note should be made.

    That the babies hair and eyes are dark.

    The girls hair is blond and has fair eyes.

    In the next picture, Rebbitzin Chaya Mushka’s eyes and hair is dark again.

    It is true, that the color of ones hair and eyes change of the years. However, it usually changes from light to dark, not dark then light and then dark again. Second of all, it does not change that fast. Third of all, one can always answer such things, and the Sha’ar of Tirutzim is never locked, however it has to be noted, that one can no longer say, that there is a seeming discrepancy between the various pictures.

    1. the lighting is different in the 2 pictures, and in the later confirmed picture(where the lighting is darker) you can tell clearly that the rebbetzins hair is much lighter than her older sisters so it makes a lot of sense that it looks darker in the later picture.and in the first picture when she is a baby there is no way to tell the hair color,there is barely any hair

      1. BH

        Whatever, I am not going to argue to the lighting int he pictures (I certainly disagree), but in regards to the Babies hair, I need to point out that had the hair been lighter hair, then it would have been a lot less noticeable. The very fact that it is noticeable is a proof in how dark it is.

  2. The source reporting this discovery/offering these items for sale is well known in this field as of questionable reliability/motivation.

    nor is this the 1st item of “Rebbe’s family memorabilia” that he has ‘produced’ in recent months.

  3. Which of the Rebbetzin’s grandparents would have written in Russian? Other verified correspondence is in Yiddish

  4. Just another point:
    There is Russian writing on the back of the picture of the baby (the rounded picture). The writing is cut off at the edges. The question is: Why would the writing be cut off—there was never any more space to write on the back of the picture to begin with..!

    1. You can see clearly that the picture is cut out. It looks like that the border of the picture was originally on a square paper later it was cut out with part of the writing on the back.

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