[1][2] His children utilized the synagogue to save European Jews from the Holocaust by helping them immigrate to the US, hiring them as a rabbi and then firing them.
After arrival in the United States, three more children were born to Zecharia and Lea: Gussie, Hymie and Rosie.
Zecharia Dershowitz and his family left Pilsner, Galicia, months before boarding the boat to the US.
Sadie later married Barney Hochhauser; Gussie - Boris Mines; and Rosie - (Joe) Zalman Hillel Fendel.
Dershowitz and his four sons: Leibish (Louis), Shmeil (Sam), Shulem (Sol), and Yechezkel (Hyman) had their names engraved on the right door post of the synagogue cemetery plot.
The deed to the building stated that one side of the property was the border between the City of Brooklyn and the town of Williamsburg.
Zecharia had opened a hole in the floor of his apartment, right above the synagogue's reading table, and covered it with a grate and a carpet.
He was known as the “Tzaddik of Williamsburg.” The saga of Leah and Zecharja influenced the history of the American Jewish Community.