He went to the U.S. c. 1904-05 with Nichama’s uncle Herzel Rudevitsky to work in a Pennsylvania steel mill, possibly in Pittsburgh, and to save money.  Schmerel wanted Nichama to come to the U.S. with him, but her mother Rivka did not want her to go, so he returned to Russia in 1906.  Nichama & Schmerel perished in the Holocaust.  At least some of their children (born in early 1900s?) survived: