Rav Nachum Weidenfeld of Dombrowa, the Chazon Nachum, was born in Hermilov, Galicia, to Rav Yaakov (the Kochav MiYaakov) and Rebbetzin Rochel, a direct descendant of the Shach. One of his brothers, Rav Dov Berish, became famous as the Tchebiner Rav.
After the Kochav MiYaakov passed away in 1894, Rav Nachum and his elder brother, Rav Yitzchok, supervised the studies of their younger brother, Rav Dov Berish, who had just celebrated his bar mitzva. After marrying his wife, Taibah, he went to live with his in-laws in Yassi, Romania. A year later, he replaced his maternal grandfather, Rav Shabsi HaKohen Rappaport, as the Rav of Dombrowa, Galicia. Although Dombrowa was relatively small, it was intensely Jewish, having a population of about 2,400 Jews and only six hundred gentiles. Jews had lived there since the end of the sixteenth century. Nazi troops seized Dombrowa on September 8, 1939, only eight days after the war started. At the last possible moment, Rav Nachum fled the town with nothing but his stick and a knapsack. He had sent dozens of manuscripts to his son-in-law in Kolbasov, but not one member of that family survived and all his writings were lost.
