More than 80 years after the passing of the Rebbe’s uncle, his identity, photograph, and even his name have finally come to light.

Harav Zusil (Zusim) Kazatzkov, the older brother-in-law of the Rebbe’s father, Harav Levi Yitzchak, had until now remained virtually unknown. To date, no mention of him has been found in published Chabad literature.

The breakthrough came when a New Jersey shliach discovered that a woman in his community was Rabbi Zusim’s great-granddaughter. That discovery led to contact with the family, the gathering of photographs, memories, and historical records, and the identification of the long-forgotten figure.

The newly uncovered information has now been compiled and published in a teshurah, bringing to light another previously unknown branch of the Rebbe’s family.

Unlike her husband, Rebbetzin Radzya Sima Schneersohn-Kazatzkov (1877–1924), the eldest sister of Harav Levi Yitzchak, is mentioned several times in Chabad sources. In a letter from the Rebbe dated 7 Kislev 5708 (Igros Kodesh, vol. 2, p. 272), containing corrections to Toldos Mishpachas HaRav MiLadi, the Rebbe writes: “Mrs. Radia Kazatzkov of Dobrinka.”

She is also mentioned several times in Reshimos HaRabash, where her father, Harav Boruch Shneur Schneersohn, recorded conversations with the Rebbe Rashab. On page 81, recording a conversation from Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Vayigash, 9 Teves 5675, he writes, “I spoke… regarding my affairs… and regarding my daughter.”

On page 114, recording a conversation from Wednesday, Parshas Mishpatim, 26 Shevat 5675, he writes, “…matters concerning my daughter Radzya Shima.”

On page 141, recording a conversation from Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Ki Sisa, 20 Adar 5675, he writes, “I spoke with him regarding my daughter, that he should bless her that Hashem grant success to her shop.”

For at least four generations, the family lived in Podobranka, in the Gomel region of the Russian Empire, today Belarus. The grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek, Harav Levi Yitzchak, served as the town’s rav there, and his son, Harav Boruch Shneur, the Rebbe’s grandfather, also lived there.

Reb Zusim, a learned talmid chacham, served as the rosh yeshiva in Podobranka and would often dine in the home of Harav Boruch Shneur and Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel, the Rebbe’s grandparents. Around 5656 (1896), he married their daughter, Radzya Sima, and together they raised their five children in the small town of Podobranka until her untimely passing at the age of 47.

In the teshurah printed this week for the Zaklikovsky-Shemtov wedding, Reb Zusim’s great-granddaughter, Anastasia, recounts many stories about her beloved great-grandfather, as she heard them from her grandmother, Babushka Chaya Rimma Kazachkov. She describes the family’s dramatic escape during the Russian Civil War following the collapse of the Russian Empire, when they fled from Podobranka to the nearby city of Gomel during the pogroms.

She also shares what is known, and what remains unknown, about the fate of the rest of the family, including the presumed timeline and circumstances surrounding Reb Zusim’s untimely passing during the Holocaust.

Most significantly, she includes a photograph of Reb Zusim, bringing to light, for the first time, the face of the Rebbe’s uncle, a member of the Rebbe’s family about whom virtually nothing had been known until now.