The Chazanov family originated in Sosnitza, which lies in the Chernigov Province of Ukraine. We have traced the family back to living in the town through the 1700s.

Through marriage and immigration branches of the family settled in Chernigov, Nezhin, Krolovets, Odessa, Semenovka, and other towns in the surrounding Ukrainian areas. We have also found a Chazanov branch who eventually settled in Minsk.

The distance between Sosnitza and Nezhin is 40 miles. Upon immigration to America, many of our branch settled in Philadelphia.

The town of Sosnitza appeared to me to be one of the few "charming" towns I saw in Ukraine.

As we stood on the banks of the Dneiper River, I could not help but visualize our ancestors spending time there.

According to the census taken in the 1930s, the Jewish population was then 1,141. Today, there are no Jewish people living in Sosnitza.

Bernard Chazanoff, my great grandfather from Sosnitza, married Mire Chaiken from Nezhin.