The Handelman (originally: Gendelman) family is connected to the Nikolsky family via the father of Don Handleman, Ronit Nikolsky's stepfather.
The family came to Canada from Slovechna, a village in Ukraine. The father of the family had already moved to Canada when in 1919 the mother and two young children were killed in a pogrom. Three other children moved then to Canada (and one married daughter stayed in Slovechna), among whom was Abe (Abraham) Handleman, Sabba Don's father.