I am a descendent of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Heller, and I just returned from visiting his grave in Budapest. (He was exhumed after World War II from Obuda, where he died in 1834, and reburied in the Orthodox cemetery in Pest, in the Rabbinical section of the cemetery.) His daughter Mindel married my great-great-grandfather Jozsef, and they lived in Ungvar. I have solid proof of this from Ungvar civil records and from headstone inscriptions.
Though Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Heller's father was indeed Aryeh Leib Heller, I don't think he is connected with Aryae Leib HACOHEN Heller. ("Kahana" is an equivalent of "HaCohen.") If you look in any of his sefarim ("Chiddushei Tiv Gittin," for example), nowhere does it state that he was a Cohen. And I have a picture of his headstone that I took last week in Budapest and it does not include "HaCohen" anywhere. If indeed he was a Cohen, it is inconceivable that the tile "Cohen" would not have been included with his name. I can send anyone who is interested a photo of the headstone. I believe that Aryae Leib HaCohen Heller has been confused with Aryae Leib Heller, After all, Aryae Leib was a common name.
Richard Nemes
