DFA Most Wanted is a weekly spotlight on one specific Dillman family group with no representation yet in the Dillman DNA Project — who they were, what’s still unknown, and what a single Y-DNA test could resolve. Know this family, or think you might be connected? Read on.

Family Group 42: Chaim Dilman of New York and Romania

Chaim Dilman, a hatmaker from Galatz, Romania, arrived in New York in February 1921, one of the Jewish and Hebrew-origin family groups documented elsewhere in this series. He traveled with his sister and niece, Rivka and Fsharny Schmukler, bound for Buffalo, New York, where an uncle, Mr. M. Schmukler, was already established.

What’s Unresolved

No DNA testing has been done from this family, so there’s no way yet to connect Chaim’s line to any of the DFA’s other documented families from Romania or the wider Pale of Settlement region.

What a Test Could Answer

A Y-DNA test from a descendant of Chaim Dilman could establish whether this Galatz-area family connects to any other tested lines with similar Eastern European Jewish origins already in the DFA’s records.

Are You Connected?

If you’re a male-line descendant of Chaim Dilman of Galatz, Romania and Buffalo, New York, the DFA would like to hear from you. Contact the DNA project administrator at dnaprojectadmin@dillmanfamilyassociation.org to get connected and learn about testing.

This spotlight is drawn from the Dillman Family Association’s Family Group Sheet Database and written with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic.