PAGES 33-42 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Sidney Ellis Family
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In memory of the Members of the Eliashevitz and Krelitz Families Who
Were Victims of the Shoah
THE YURBURG I KNEW
By Mordechai Zilber
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
In a few days I shall be 63 years old (written in January 1970).
The years have gone by. Writing these lines, I don't want to
scrutinize the days of my life that passed, but I mainly want to
remember my little town, in the land of Lithuania. The people of my
generation are slowly disappearing, and soon there will be no memory
of those born in the little towns and no one will be left to remember
them.
We remember those little towns and they are the best memories we
have from those days. Indeed, the little towns are no longer.
Hitler's "deluge" flooded them, destroyed them, desecrated their
temples and dispersed their bones over the fields and forests of
Lithuania.
Shall my humble pen be able to set up a memorial for the semblance
and image of our little town on the shores of the Neiman? My town was
destroyed by villains, the Germans and the Lithuanians. For hundreds
of years they were our neighbors. We were like everyone else, we
Jews, part of the Lithuanian landscape, we the sons of a southern
Semitic tribe in the far North.
*
The name of my little town was Yurburg. The Jews called it
Yurbrik. The little town was situated on the shores of the Neiman, 80
kilometers (50 miles) from the then capital Kovna. About 600 Jewish
families lived in Yurburg and about 50 Christian families. Yurburg
was situated in a small valley; on one side were the fields of the
Lithuanian farmers and on the other side the Neiman was its border,
its steely blue waters flowing along courageously and sometimes
flooding its shores. Beyond the Neiman were dense forests and the
farmers' homes covered in straw of the little Jewish village Shodina
(Saudina). On the side of this village was the estate of a Baron, its
white houses could be seen from afar. The connection with the capital
was via the Neiman on which steamships sailed with glorious names
such as "Kistotis", named after one of the historic Lithuanian
princes, "Laitova" -Lithuania and "Tavina" - fatherland.
The water of the Neiman flowed into the Baltic sea. But my little
town was the last stop for the steamships, while the German border
was merely 10 kms. away. Rafts would sail on the Neiman as well, made
of tree trunks, harvested in the Lithuanian forests.
The Jewish tradesmen would sail these rafts to Germany. "Good"
Jews would sail on these rafts, praying and studying Talmud . . .
thus a "good" Jew would stand next to the large steering wheel while
his small prayer shawl flowed in the wind and he would study the
Torah. And at night the stars would shine brightly and the dark
shadows would move along silently on the water. Rafts from the world
of imagination! These were Jews from the little towns of Vilki and
Sardanik. Jews, Torah scholars who chose hard and dangerous work to
make a living. The Neiman was their source for making a living.
Jewish fishermen, porters on the steamships, carriage owners who
transported the "Passagiere" to the little town, ticket vendors on
the ships and visitors.
When you would come to our little town from the side of the
Neiman, you would see the entire town in front of you. First of all
you would see the sand lands, humble vegetable gardens planted with
potatoes, and the Mitova river next to them, whose water flowed into
the Neiman. The shrill voices of frogs would be heard in the water of
the small lake in the "Zarda", before the town.
And here comes the town itself - a gray block of one-storey wooden
houses, while on one side the red bell towers proudly rise up and the
red roof of the Lithuanian Catholic church, and on the other side -
the high house with the three roofs of the synagogue.
In my dream I am walking through my town, which is no longer,
which was destroyed and burned down while the bones of its martyrs
were collected in the forest next to my little town and buried in a
large mass grave in the cemetery, at the initiative and with the
efforts of the few who were left behind.
Here comes the street of the butchers "Yatkaver Gass", with its
crooked doors and windows, as in the paintings of Chagal. The street
is paved with cobble stones, and here too is the large bakery shop of
Kraid (Ben Craine's mother's bakery....note added by Joel Alpert).
And the butchers - Jews who observe the Torah, who in the days of the
high holidays would "lead" at the synagogue and the sounds of their
prayers would lament the bitter fate . . . only the last and terrible
fate, that of Hitler - may he burn in hell - the days of the
Holocaust they could not lament and they were sent to their death as
sheep to slaughter.
And from the street of the butchers, through short alleys, we
arrive at the main street of our town - "Kovner Gass" (Kovna Street),
a street on which almost all the houses are two-storey brick
buildings. Most of the town's shops were on this street.
I remember there were weaving workshops there, and a grocery store
and a wholesaler and retailer, and there were pharmacies, three
hairdressers, Lapinsky's beer agency, two shops for kitchenware and
paint. And there was the large store for farming tools and
agricultural machinery of Greenberg, who was one of the town's
wealthy men and engaged in thriving business with the Lithuanian
village. And further on the shop where hides were sold, and the large
store for stationery and books of Shachnowitz. And there were the two
hotels of Matel Kamel and Feinberg. And thus we arrive at the
municipal market, which each Monday and Thursday would be full of
horse carts and the noise of the villagers. Next to this market stand
the town's two synagogues - the House of Prayer and the Great
Synagogue.
Further on is Feinberg's hotel and the Lithuanian citizen's club,
the large yard of the Feinberg brothers; four brothers in the family,
owners of the lumber mill, the flower mill and the electricity plant
which supplied the town's electricity, from 6 o'clock in the evening
to midnight. The electricity allowed the town's two little movie
houses to show movies and bring the inhabitants of Yurburg in touch
with the beautiful world outside - to get to know Emil Yaningas,
Konrad Feit, Paula Negri, Charley Chaplin, and all the other famous
actors. If a successful movie was shown at one of the movie houses,
the other was empty that evening. The town's youth loved the movies,
which took them out of their isolation. The movie house was open on
Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday. Movies at that time were
still "silent"; the movie was accompanied on the violin by Poliak
Steimatzky and an old spinster played the piano - it was said she had
a profoundly philosophic view of life. The second movie house
operated without musical accompaniment. The movie house owner was
afraid to incur unnecessary expenses. The movie house's billboards,
the "Affiches" painted in various colors were set up in a wooden
frame next to Shachnowitz's book store. The boards were painted by
Levin, a nice young man, who would receive a few cents for this and a
few free tickets.
The movies would stir up longings for the world outside, would
entice people to leave the town and its boring life behind. There was
always talk about emigration in town, and the imagination traveled
around the globe. Distant countries were mentioned. And some boys and
girls went on training courses organized by "Hehalutz" and they would
wait a few years in order to obtain one of the few available
certificates to go to "Palestina". Mexico was mentioned, Argentina,
Uruguay, Peru, and Chile. America, Canada and South Africa were not
mentioned, as these countries were "locked with seven locks," and
there was no hope of getting there.
These were the 1920s and they "excelled" in lack of purpose . . .
, however, only part of the town's youth was lucky enough to be saved
and arrive in one of those distant countries. It is presently
possible to find people from Yurburg all over the world, even in
far-away Australia. Thus part of the youth was saved from destruction
in the days of the Holocaust.
Let's walk on along the roads of our town. The next street is
Kalishu street, named after a neighborhood village. What is so
special about this street? - Nothing at all, except for the fact that
it is our street, the street of my family and my aunts Rocha and
Friedel. This street starts at a two-storey house where the Kizel
family lived, a family all of whose members emigrated to distant
Canada. One of the sons was my best friend, Rafael, or Rafelke Kizel.
The others, the grown-ups, did business with the Lithuanian village,
fodder, hides and linen. The younger ones studied at the Kovna
gymnasia. The Kizel family was a large family blessed with many sons
and daughters.
Further on, on the same street, there were a few modest shops and
the "Stadola" of the hotel owner Motel Kamel. The "Stadola" was
usually empty, but once, not in my time, it was used as a stable for
the horses of the "Posta". The post coaches would go in and out
there. The coachmen would rest at the hotel, and the horses in the
stables. Opposite the large horse stables was the small house of Hane
"Der Zaigermacher", the only clock maker in town, a kind Jew, who
adopted an orphan and took him into his home. All sort of clocks were
ticking on the walls of his workroom. When Hane would repair a clock
this would be in "Garantia" - the clock "ran" for a long time. Hane
would also be called upon to repair the large wall clocks of the
"Knaiz" palace, of Prince Vasilchakov, at the end of town, in the
large park.
Further on we stand in front of the large two-storey home - a
beautiful house - of Rabbi Yehuda Rabinowitz. This was the most
beautiful and largest house of which the town was very proud. This
house could easily have stood next to other houses even in
Petersburg, Russia's capital. It was not only a home, but also a
large yard with all sorts of structures. The yard was paved with
stones, not like the other yards in town, which in fall and spring,
when the snow melted, would be full of dirt and mud and puddles of
water impossible to pass. The house was a luxurious residence with
strong brown oak doors with bronze handles. The windows were high and
shining. When I was a little boy, Yehuda Rabinowitz was no longer
alive. I knew that Rabinowitz had built the "Talmud Torah", a large
wooden building with an attic. And there was a large yard around it
too, a place where the town's poor children could play.
Rabinowitz was the richest businessman in town, he traded in
timber and he had business connections with Germany. His picture hang
in the school's largest hall, where all the town's weddings were
held. In one of the houses, green in color, lived Doctor Rabinowitz,
the late Yehuda's son. He was the town's important physician, a
bachelor, who was only interested in medicine. The town's carriages
would arrive at his home filled with fresh straw and carpets in order
to take the doctor to a patient in the village. On one of Dr.
Rabinowitz's visits to "Shaodina" (Saudina), the little Jewish
village on the other side of the Neiman, he suddenly felt ill. He
said to one of the Jews: "go tell my family that I am not feeling
well and that I am about to die". He arrived at his home very sick
and died.
My late mother, blessed be her memory, sent me together with the
other children of the town to recite psalms next to his body covered
in black. Dr. Rabinowitz often treated me during his lifetime and he
stitched the sole of my foot which I injured once. Dr. Rabinowitz was
a doctor for all illnesses - a general physician - he would deliver
babies, carry out surgery, and he was also a doctor of internal
medicine, what is called a country doctor in America. Needless to say
that he was a kind man who assisted the town's poor people and
treated them free of charge.
In that same large yard stood a small house with an honorable
neighbor, the famous gentile of the town who was the servant of the
Rabinowitzes. He was a tall gentile, "a gentile and a half", a
drunkard, whose main job it was to clean the yard and front of the
large house. The gentile never let go of the large broom he held in
his hand. This gentile came of a distinguished lineage. Everyone knew
that he was a "potshotni promestavni grazdanin" - an honorable
citizen by birth. This gentile did not go any further in life for he
was a drunkard and had no relations with anyone; he lived on his own
and was solitary. It was said about the gentile that he still had
medals from the time of the Russian army, but no one had actually
seen them.
All this happened in the days of the Czar, prior to World War I.
Later on, when our family returned from Russia, after four years of
World War I, the general picture in Yurburg had not changed. One of
the sons lived at the Rabinowitz residence, an aristocratic Jew, who
was also an important timber merchant, like his father, who did
business with Germany. At the doctor's home there was another doctor
already, not a member of the family. His name was Dr. Gerstein. A
handsome man who was also the principal of the Hebrew gymnasium in
our town.
Yosef Rabinowitz, the son, had a special carriage, on which one
sat as on a horse, with the legs on both sides. In this carriage he
would ride to his forests in the town's vicinity. He was married to
one of the daughters of businessman Fein (the largest wholesaler in
town according to the grocery shop), a great beauty. . . .
Opposite the home of the Rabinowitzes, at the Beth laBanim (Home
of the Sons) was a coffee shop, where the young and idle youngsters
of the town would go on Saturdays, to "kill" time. This was already
in the early twenties. Usually they would come to this coffee house
to play cards, look through the Russian newspaper "Ahu", a poor
newspaper appearing in Lithuania. The youngsters broke away from
their fathers' tradition. When a serious person would enter the
coffee house they would steal away through the yard.
Down the road, further on, stood the home of Abramson, the
photographer and typographer, which occupied a place of honor in one
of the Rabinowitzes buildings. He was one of the two photographers in
town, but he was the only typographer-printer.
As photographer he would determine the "pose", position of the
head and hands of the person whose picture he was taking. After that
he would decide when one had to "freeze", not to move or blink an
eye, for photographing was an art. It would take a very long time to
take a picture, until the "client" managed to attain eternity on the
"negative". Mr. Abramson had a permanent exhibition of the pictures
next to the door of his home and here the "photographies" could be
seen. As a printer, he would mainly print the wedding invitations of
the town's inhabitants.
Opposite the home of photographer and printer Abramson stood the
house of Levitan, a respected citizen of the town, who was the owner
of the "Apothekarski Magazin". In this "magazin" one could obtain
cosmetics, as far as they were being used by the town's ladies.
Usually iodine was purchased at the "magazin", alcohol, cotton wool
and "Schlack Trapens", on Yom Kippur (Atonement Day) eve. To say the
truth, there was another "Apothekarski Magazin" in the "Kovner Gass",
the one belonging to Mr. Rikler.
Here we pass Rasain street, the "Rasainer Gass" and see the hotel
of the Polish woman in the corner - the widow Bilman, who lived here
with her two sons and daughter. Gentile visitors would stay here,
preferring this hotel to the two Jewish ones.
Downstairs was the tavern with the large buffet. The few officials
of the town council - the Head of Police and two policemen - would
frequent the tavern. Rich farmers from the surrounding area would
also come here on market day, to wet their throat and brush their
tongue. The hotel owner and her sons did not look fondly upon the
town's Jews. They were Polish - and anti-Semitism was in their blood.
Nevertheless, when the Jewish actors would come to town, to perform
Yiddish plays, they had to stay at the Polish woman's hotel, because
of the large hall, where they could hold their rehearsals, the
"Repetities".
The best Yiddish actors would come to Yurburg, they also performed
in Kovna, the temporary capital. When they came to town it was a real
celebration. The people in town loved theater. Middle-aged people
still remembered the time when they themselves took part in the play
" The Sacrifice of Isaac".
The actors of the "Kadish veHash" group performed the musical
"Malkele Saladat" and "Komedies" with songs and dance. There were
actors with a serious repertoire as well. When the actors were
rehearsing for a musical they would ask the town's Kleizmer singers
to join them - the Polish man with his violin, the one who played at
the cinema and weddings, Mr. Fidler with the flute from the wedding
band, who also had a fish store and who would lease fruit gardens in
the summer, and the one with the big bass and another one. All of
them together, in a joint effort, worked hard to produce the sweet
melodies of "Malkele Saladat". The beautiful sounds could be heard
from the windows of widow Bilman's hotel. A large crowd gathered
outside and stood close to the windows, enjoying themselves
tremendously. The theater!
Those were the happy moments provided by the theater. We were
amateur actors ourselves in those days, and we performed plays for
"Bikur Holim" (sick fund), "Mehabeh Esh" (fire fighters),"Gmilot
Hesed" (charity). We didn't care on whose behalf we were performing,
the main thing was to act and act! And the pretext helped. We
performed the "Hasia Di Yetome", "Yankel Der Schmid", "Mirele Efrat",
"Mashke Hazir", "Di Spanische Inquizitia" etc. We rehearsed for
weeks, took down clothes from the attic, decorations etc. . . . and
the good Fidler, the barber, would take care of our make-up - on
condition we did not look in the mirror - so that we never knew what
we really looked like after his make-up.
On the other side of the street, opposite the house at the corner
of the Bilman hotel, stood the house of Aunt Friedel and Aunt Roche.
Aunt Roche was a sick woman and she was supported by the goodhearted
and generous Uncle Mendel. Uncle Mendel was an industrialist from
Kovna. He was a partner in the chocolate and candy factory which had
the Hebrew name "Kadima". My uncle was a wealthy man.
In the house where my aunt lived was "the bakery of Leah"
(probably Leah Krelitz... the mother of many Krelitz's who immigrated
to the US....note added by Joel Alpert) who would bake bread and
challot, "beigelech and pletzelech" (challas, bagels and pretzels).
The smell of her bakery was like a smell from heaven.Till today, when
I pass a bakery, the wonderful smell of the bread calls to mind
pleasant memories of "Leah's bakery", and then I nostalgically
remember "Leah's bakery" in my little town. I remember that we used
to bring the "hammin" (meat stew) to Leah's bakery, the "cholent" of
Shabbath. And on Shabbath, after our fathers returned from the
synagogue, we would gather at the bakery, boys and girls, and we
would not wait until everybody was there in order to open the oven
just once "so as not to let the cholent grow cold" . . . and we, the
children, would run very fast with the cholent over the snow, on a
winter day, to bring it to our home while it was still hot.
And here comes our home. The home of my parents. A wooden house,
square and covered by a tin roof. This roof was the source of great
financial efforts on our part. First of all we talked about the roof
for months, for there was no money. However, we somehow managed to
"scrape together" - "man hat zusammengekratzt" - money by loans and
we covered the roof. We decided to use solid material, for once and
for all, for a roof covered by wooden boards, called "Shindeln" in
Yiddish, did not last very long; it would rot and let the rain
through.
At our home was our store too, the grocery store. In Russian the
shop was called "Kolonialaia Lavka", a store for colonial goods,
perhaps because of the black pepper, the cinnamon, the tea and
coffee, which were imported from colonial countries. Such a store was
also called "Kalania Lavka" in town. Proceeds would depend on the
farmers, who would come twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, to
the municipal market. When they came they would fill our house with
the smoke of "machorke", cheap tobacco from their pipes. The young
farm girls would coquettishly look into our mirror, arranging
themselves . . . The farmers would sit together for hours, inhaling
the strong tobacco, which they grew themselves, and would spit onto
the floor. We used to hear the word "sako-fa-sako"- all over again,
which meant "he said" in Lithuanian - farmers' gossip.
These market days were a burden to my good and compassionate
mother, but there was nothing we could do, for they were customers.
On the other side of the road was the large Lithuanian cooperative
store, which looked upon our customers with envy. This store was
opened in accordance with the new Lithuanian policy to take business
away from the Jews. But my father had had connections with the
farmers for tens of years, and therefore they preferred his store to
that of the cooperative. In cold winter days the farmers found a
place for their belongings in our warm home, a corner to have
something to eat and meet friends. Our large yard, behind the house,
was used for the farmers' horses and carriages. A farmer who would
dare to be unfaithful to us and was seen shopping at the cooperative
was simply told to "go away"! After such a market day my mother,
blessed be her memory, would work very hard to clean the house and
get rid of the smell of the "mechorka" and turn the house into a
Jewish home again. (By the way, my father's name was "Abba", and that
is why the farmers called him "Abakitis", and they called mother
"Abakaine"). We never felt there was any hatred against us on the
part of the gentiles. We had many friends among the farmers. And I
remember that when World War I broke out and the Jews were deported
from Lithuania, a rich farmer came to our house, with a large
carriage with two horses and transported all our furniture and
everything else in our home to his estate. When we returned from
Russia to Yurburg in 1919 the farmer returned everything to us, and
nothing was missing. The farmer's name was Yurgis Tamosheitis,
blessed be his memory. Later on his sons became priests and officers
in the Lithuanian army. Once he came to father and said furiously - a
Jew called me "goy" (gentile) - should I be called a goy? He was very
offended and kept saying 'I'?, "I"?! His sons, the priests and
officers, would always come to our home when they were in town and
express their feelings of friendship for our family.
At the corner of Kalishu street and "Daitsche Gass" - in the
wooden house - was the town's post office. Before, during the reign
of the Czar, this was the "Monopol", the place where the government
booze was sold. That is why the bottle of booze was jokingly called
"monopolka". I remember that on the eve of World War I a decree was
issued by the Czar, to destroy all the booze at the "Monopol".
Policemen stood there and broke hundreds of bottles of booze and
threw the contents into the gutter. The gentiles in town looked sadly
how this precious beverage was thrown into the gutters. They stood
there muttering sadly " that is the war - what a tragedy!"
The Czarist regime was afraid the Cossaks, who were near the
border, would "attack" the "monopol" and get drunk instead of
"attacking" the enemy. And that is indeed what happened. When war
broke out the Cossaks, who were in our vicinity, entered the shops in
town and asked for sweets, tobacco, cigarettes, free of charge. Their
requests were more like threats. My father, beloved be his memory,
good-naturedly weighed candy for them and handed out cigarettes, to
stress that not everything was licentious. Those were the defenders
of "Mother Russia". These sturdy Cossaks, short men with a mane of
hair, the splendid tschuperinot and the red stripes on their trousers
and hats who inspired awe and fear in the Jews and in general.
In the days of the Lithuanian regime the town's post office took
the place of the "Monopol" of the days of the Russians. Towards
evening many towns people would go to the post office, as they had
nothing else to do. This was called "picking up the mail". Even those
who stood no chance of receiving any mail went there. It was a way of
"killing" a few hours of boredom. The post office would be crowded
and it was mainly a meeting place for the youngsters. The little
window of the post office was still closed and in the meantime the
latest news would be circulating about the world beyond the little
town. Our town too was full of news - and when the little post office
window opened only a tenth of the people would receive mail.
Afterwards everyone would happily go home.
That is the end of the story which unfortunately was not completed
. . . .
Mordehai Zilber
Herzliya, January 1970
Bridge across the Imstra
Page 42
PAGES 43-44 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by Gary Schuman of Miami,
Florida
In memory of the Members of the Krelitz Family Who Were Victims of
the Shoah
OUR YURBURG
From a Former Residents of Yurburg Association
Conference
By Bat-Sheva Ayalon-Stok
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
What was the difference between our little town Yurburg and other
towns? - Naturally we only remember the good things - could it be
that we are nostalgic? When one reaches a certain age one tends to
look back longingly.
Am I really nostalgic? Would I like to be back there? - Of course
not, after all, that is why I emigrated to Israel.
My vision of Yurburg is that of a town of working people. Work was
the essence of life. Some people were not so rich, others were
richer, all of them worked. No one in Yurburg asked for charity,
except for the beggars who came to town and stayed at the "hekdesh"
(sanctum) behind the synagogue. There was concern for others- "the
people of Israel take care of each other"- this lofty principle was
carefully observed.
Yurburg was a town with a high cultural level. No home was without
books. People did not live in large, luxurious homes, but in most of
them there was a shelf with books on it, holy books and secular
books. The Jews loved to look at a book; the children studied at the
"heder" and graduated at least from primary school. Before compulsory
education became the law of the land, the Jews of Yurburg themselves
adopted the law of compulsory education.
The Lithuanian government set up a Lithuanian gymnasium in town.
The Jews did not want to send their children to study there, and with
great effort they set up their own Hebrew Gymnasium, where studies
were held in Hebrew. Thanks to the nationalist-Hebrew education
received by the students at the Hebrew Gymnasium, they were attracted
to Zionism - and thus to aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.
There were also libraries in Yurburg, in Yiddish and Hebrew.
Emanuel Koplov's mother fought for the establishment of the Hebrew
library. There was a popular and simple culture in our town.
Our forefathers established a splendid synagogue in Yurburg,
decorated with beautiful ornaments, and a pulprit and Elyahu's chair;
this old furniture - how lovely it was!. . . ..
Where did our fathers find the means to set up all this, if not
from their meager savings?
The Keren Kayemet box (the Blue Box) was to be found in each home
next to the charity boxes of Rabbi Meir Ba'al Hanes and others. The
students would empty the boxes, they would sell "Sheqalim"
towards the Zionist Congress. The grown-ups participated in the
elections to the Zionist Congress and considered this an important
event for the Jewish people.
In general, Yurburg was a very well organized town, for example
there were organizations such as the "Froien Verein" and
women's organizations to assist the needy. Our mothers organized
these associations; they also took care of brides, visited the sick
etc.
The memories of my youth in Yurburg accompany me wherever I go. We
are now going through a difficult period in Israel. In the daily
press we read about murders, killings and robberies. It seems to me
that there were no Jewish murderers or thieves in Yurburg ... I don't
remember such a phenomenon.
That is what Yurburg was like. It is nice to remember our little
town, where we grew up and which we loved with all our heart.
Givat Brenner
Bat-Sheva Ayalon-Stok
PAGES 45-51 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by Gary Schuman
In memory of the Members of the Krelitz Families Who Were Victims of
the Shoah
YURBURG -MY UNFORGETTABLE TOWN
By Hinda Levinberg (Becker)
A Few Memories
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
A long time ago, more than tens of years ago, I left the town of
my birth, Yurburg. However, when I think of it, it seems as if I left
only yesterday, and all the memories reappear, pleasant and sweet
memories of the years of my youth.
Yurburg, or Yurbrik, as its Jewish inhabitants called it, was a
beautiful town, not large, but compared to the other little towns in
Lithuania, Yurburg was a town, a real metropolis. . . .
Yurburg was close to the German border, about ten kilometers from
the little town of Samalnikan, in the Memel district. The Jews of
Yurburg had close business ties with Germany and they were suspected
of being "smugglers" -"Kontrabandisten" in Yiddish. The Yurburg
residents would cross the border and arrive in Samalnikan in torn and
faded clothes, and return dressed in new festive attire.. . .
Yurburg was located on the banks of the Neiman river, which
originated in the Pinsk swamps. From here the water of the Neiman
flowed slowly to a two hundred to three hundred meters wide river
bed, until it flowed into the Korishi bay, near Memel, near the
Baltic sea.
Yurburg was divided into two parts by the rivers which flowed into
the Neiman. One of them was the Imstra which divided the town into
two parts - west and east. The western part was called
Uziaimstra, i.e. "beyond the Imstra." A
wooden bridge was erected over the Imstra for
the crossing of vehicles, at the end of Kovna street. A few small
bridges (Klatkes) were used by pedestrians. In summer the inhabitants
would stroll along the dusky paths, covered by tree branches and
green bushes growing on both sides of the Imstra. In this shallow
area water flowers and beautiful weeds grew. Ducks and geese
frolicked in the waters of the Imstra to the joy of the little
children, who chased them, their laughter rising up everywhere.
The Mitova was a real river, separating the town from the
beautiful Kaliani woods to the west. The Mitova river flowed into the
Neiman, and thereby formed a broad water harbor where the steamships
would anchor during the freezing winter days. In summer it was very
nice to bathe in the Mitova and sail on it in boats.
The youngsters would rent boats from the farmers and would go on
excursions on its clear water in which the high tree branches were
reflected, creating a mysterious atmosphere. We would sing romantic
songs and accompany our singing with the mandolin. Till today my ears
resound with the sentimental melodies we sang in those days.
Yurburg's pride was its main street, Kovna
street (Kauno Gatve), built along the right side of the Neiman. A
street full of traffic. Parallel to Kovna street are the Rasainou
Gatve and the German street. A few other narrower streets crossed
these streets vertically, to the north and south. The southern area,
such as Yatkauwer Gass, Bad Gass and others were densely populated.
Kovna street had a beautiful urban look. Its two- storey buildings
were made of brick, built in the Gothic style. All the town's streets
were paved in stone. On Kovna street there were pavements made of
wooden boards or tiny mosaics. Flower gardens graced the front of the
buildings on Rasainu street and German street.
The shop windows displayed all kinds of industrial products such
as clothing, shoes, household utensils and foodstuffs. In the center
of town there were banks, pharmacies, hotels, an electrical power
plant and flour mills. There were workshops in town as well,
bakeries, a candy factory etc. The economy was mainly based on the
businesses connected with the steamships which transported passengers
and goods to Kovna and back to Yurburg. The Jews also exported farm
produce, mainly to nearby Germany.
Yurburg's business center focused on the market square. The
old synagogue - a wooden building constructed in
1790 - stood out here in its special form and style. Inside the
synagogue was the striking Holy Ark, the pulpit and
Elyahu's chair with their artistic
ornaments carved in wood by unknown artists. The synagogue drew
Jewish and non-Jewish tourists to Yurburg, from all over Lithuania
and from abroad, who came to see the beautiful building and its
artistic treasures. Not far from the synagogue stood the prayer
house, a brick building used by worshippers and Torah scholars. For
many years there was a "yeshiva" here and in the last years only a
small yeshiva, in addition to the general studies.
The Jews of Yurburg took care to observe their forefathers'
tradition. At the end of the town's streets they set up "eruvs" to
carry their belongings on Sabbath.On Shabbat they observed the
Shabbat rest, but some of them went for a stroll in the streets and
parks. The youngsters played soccer.
Yurburg was a clean and quiet town. The Police insisted
cleanliness be observed in the streets. Those who did not observe
police instructions received a steep fine.
It was nice to live in Yurburg. The inhabitants loved their town
and were proud of it.
*
On the other side of the Neiman river, opposite Yurburg, was a
small town called Shaodina (Sudina), where only a few Jews lived.
Some of them dealt in trade and were shop owners and others worked
the land and grew poultry, sheep and cattle. There was no school at
Shaodina, therefore the parents had to send their children to the
schools in Yurburg. Each day the parents would transport the children
on a boat or ferry to Yurburg. On the ferries horses too were
transported tied to a carriage, and goods and animals. Only in winter
when the Neiman was covered by a thick layer of ice was it easy for
the town's inhabitants to cross the river. They lived in symbiosis
with Yurburg and depended on it for their daily life, making daily
use of its economic and cultural institutions. In winter Shaodina
became an inseparable part of Yurburg, which in a way was its parent
town.
*
The summer of 1914.
Immediately after the Shavuot (Pentecost) holiday many Jews in
Yurburg used to go to summer resorts (Datshas in Russian), mainly to
Kaliani, a Lithuanian village in a pine forest. At these resorts the
Jews would rest from work, relax and forget their daily worries. They
would rent an apartment or room at the farmers' homes and spend the
warm summer months here. They would bring along very few belongings
(Baviches in Yiddish), only the strictly necessary, such as bed
linen, cooking utensils, clothes - that was all.
Two carriage owners (Balagules in Yiddish ) were available to
those going on summer holidays - the first was "Boreh Kliatscha" (the
horse creator in Yiddish), and the other Yasha Noch. Each of them had
a large carriage with thin horses.
The wealthy vacationers would rent a carriage from Shlomke Hadas
or Bezalel the coachman (Zalel dar Vorman in Yiddish) in order to
reach the Kaliani village in comfort. Most vacationers were women and
children. The men would join their families only on the weekend, and
they would spend two to three days together in the forest.
The vacationers hoped to strengthen their lungs in the pine
forests with the fresh and pure air. Many people in Lithuania,
particularly in Yurburg, suffered from lung diseases, apparently
caused by the cold and wet climate. Indeed, a government sanitarium
was set up in Yurburg for lung patients.
The food at the summer resorts mainly consisted of dairy products
- fresh milk, straight from the cow's udders, white cheese and cream.
Tova, who sold beigels (Toive die Beiglantzia, in Yiddish) would
breathe deeply and bear the heavy burden of bringing fresh beigels to
the vacationers.
-"What can I do, Kinderlech, what can I do?" - Toive would say. I
need the income, I have to make a living . . . and indeed there was
work - for "man was born to toil". . . And Toive would sigh deeply
and continue to bring beigels and rolls each morning, to the delight
of the vacationers.
*
- How would we spend the time at the summer resort?
- Very simple.
Building in the Big Park, 1917
Page 48a
(Better translation needed)
PAGES 52 - 54 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Steven Koppel Family of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In memory of the Members of the Eliashevitz and Krelitz Families Who
Were Victims of the Shoah
SIAUDINE (Shaudine) - YURBURG'S NEIGHBOR
By Meir Leibush
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
After World War I the Baltic states, including Lithuania, gained
independence.
Prior to independence, Lithuania was divided into two regions -
Zemaitija and Aukstaitija. They had two different laws. While the
Napoleon Codex prevailed in Aukstaitija, the Russian law prevailed in
Zemaitija, up to Napoleon's time (1812).
The little town of Shaudine was situated in the Aukstaitija
region, near the Neman, thelargest river in Lithuania. On the other
side of the Neman was Yurburg, in the Zemaitija region. Most Shaudine
residents were hardworking Jews, who worked in small trade and tilled
the land. In fact, the Jews of Shaudine acted as go-between between
the Shaudine farmers and the merchants fromYurburg.
About 40 Jewish families lived in Shaudine in the past, about 220
people. A few other families also lived in town, who were of German
origin, and the others were Lithuanians. There was only one small
plant in the town, for combing and processing sheep wool destined for
the weaving of threads, to enable the farmers to knit gloves,
stockings, vests etc. in the long winter nights.
When the economic and cultural situation of the Lithuanians
improved, nationalism started to raise its head among the Lithuanian
leadership, and this was reflected by trying to remove Jewish
merchants from their economic positions, thus affecting their
economic situation.
For this and for other reasons people started to leave our town -
some went on alyiah to Israel in the framework of "Hehalutz"
(Pioneers), others emigrated to the United States. When one family
member emigrated to the U.S., he would be followed by his family and
relatives. Thus it came about that many Jews from Shaudine were
concentrated in one town - El Paso, Texas, Arizona (and New Mexico
&endash; noted added by Joel Alpert).
Shaudine, like most other towns in Lithuania, looked very poor.
The houses were built of wooden logs and most of the roofs were
covered in straw. Perhaps that accounted for the Lithuanian name for
our town (straw town. .. .) . The government did not invest any money
in developing our little town or other towns for that matter.
The streets were not paved. In summer the sand land was swampy and
each carriage that passed through the street would leave clouds of
dust behind it. In fall the rain would turn the streets into mud and
the carriages would drown in the mud up to their axis.
After the rainy fall came the cold winter. The snow covered
everything in a white blanket. The only means of transportation out
of town was the winter coach drawn by two horses. The link with the
little town of Shaki, about 20 km. (15 miles) away, took half an hour
to an hour in winter and in fall, during the rainy season, it took
three hours. To Kovna one would travel in sledges, along the frozen
Neman, and the connection with Yurburg was the easiest - one would
cross the Neman in a winter carriage or on foot and be there in no
time.
The Shaudine residents waited for the coming of spring for many
months. Spring was the most beautiful and nicest period of the year.
When the first sun's rays appeared on the horizon everyone would be
glad. The snow melted and the land would change. The ice on the Neman
melted too. Large blocks of ice started to move down the river.
Sometimes these blocks of ice would stop somewhere, accumulate and
together form a kind of huge and threatening iceberg (ice dam). . . .
at the same time the water of the Neman would flow over the shore,
inundate the town and cause serious damage to the population. After a
while, sometimes after a couple of days, the ice dam would collapse
and the "dam" would burst to let through the blocks of ice and the
streaming water. Then life would return to normal and timber rafts
would sail along the river for the German paper industry. The
connection with Yurburg would be renewed. Again it would be possible
to get to Yurburg by ferry. The students would now cross the Neman
each day on the ferry to attend Yurburg's institutions of education.
It is noteworthy that the parents were glad to see their sons and
daughters make progress in their studies at the gymnasium (in
Yurburg) and that they were proud of their achievements. In spite of
their poverty, the parents in Shaudine would make great efforts to
send their children to the gymnasium, even when tuition fees were
high and beyond their capacity. Some parents did not merely provide
studies at the gymnasium, but even sent their children to
institutions of higher education, such as medical studies in Italy
and at other universities. My family, the Leibush family, sent my
brother to study at the "Herzlia" Gymnasium in Tel Aviv when he was
merely thirteen years old. My sister studied at the nurses school in
Kovna. I myself and my sister studied at the gymnasium in Yurburg.
Zalman Leibush, our relative, studied at the Kovna gymnasium and
at the same time took part in the drama circle of "Habima", which was
guided by actors from Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), such as
Michael Gur, Rafael Zvi, Miriam Bernstein-Cohen and others. When
Zalman Leibush went to Israel he became a famous actor and producer.
As a matter of fact, all the youngsters in Shaudine wanted to
study at the gymnasium and the university and their parents made
extreme efforts to send them there, even when at home they merely ate
herring, dipping bread and boiled potatoes into the salt water in the
barrel. That is what many parents ate during most of the days of the
week. The most important aim was that their children would study and
acquire learning and intelligence. The Shaudinians were very proud of
the fact that one of their sons, Shimon Volovitzky, became the mayor
of Kybartai, a large town on the German border. The fact that their
sons and daughters became more educated was compensation for the hard
work and suffering of the parents.
(Kybartai was not a large town and Shimon Volovitzky was never
the mayor of the town, he was for some years a member in the
Municipality Council-J. Rosin)
We should also mention the beautiful and impressive landscape
around our town - lawns, orchards, grain fields and green forests. It
was a typical rural landscape, with a pastoral atmosphere,
heart-warming. But the Jews of Shaudine did not have time to enjoy
the scenery, for they toiled from morning till night, and if they
went out into the country they used their time to gather berries,
mushrooms, weeds for soup and fruit in season - in order to prepare
for winter. All those who went on an outing knew that at home a few
hungry mouths were waiting for them and all "ownerless" food would
fill the empty stomachs. Therefore each outing had a purpose and was
not merely a pleasure trip . . . .
*
We have spoken about the Jews in our little town of Shaudine. Jews
who lived there for hundreds of years with their dreams and their
hopes. Jews in heart and soul, they prayed and believed. They worked
hard to make a living, brought up their children and taught them
religion and knowledge.
These were innocent Jews, with human values, they did not have the
good fortune to enjoy the success of their offspring, and one sad day
they were uprooted and were cruelly destroyed by the Nazis and their
barbaric Lithuanian helpers.
Only few managed to go to Israel, before the Holocaust, and only
one person remained in Shaudine after the Holocaust, who emigrated to
Israel. Those born in Shaudine fondly remember the Jews of their town
who are no longer.
Meir Leibush
PAGES 55 - 65 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Steven Koppel Family of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In memory of the Members of the Eliashevitz and Krelitz Families Who
Were Victims of the Shoah
YURBURG - REGIONAL TRADE CENTER
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
Yurburg was an important regional center for trade and transport.
There were close trade ties with neighboring Germany. Merchants from
Yurburg exported farm products to Germany which greatly needed them,
such as: linen, corn, eggs, butter, fruit, poultry, hides etc. The
main export was timber used as raw material for the paper and
celluloid industry. Herring was imported from Holland and Germany and
coal from the mines in Silezia, iron, steel and various machinery.
Agents-commisionaries handled the foreign trade relations, trading
between the merchants in Yurburg and trading companies and the
industrial plants abroad. Among the trade agents in Yurburg we
remember Yitzhak (Itzik) Karnovsky and Shlomo Chanas. The agents in
Yurburg made a handsome profit through their trading. In the 1920s a
large group of exporters operated in Yurburg, unparalleled in the
other Lithuanian towns which were far away from the German border and
west-European countries. The exporters bought farming products from
the traders who would go to the villages and buy direct from the
farmers. An entire network of small and large traders served the
export carried out by exporters who were greatly respected in
Yurburg. Well-known exporters were Leib (Leon) Bernstein and Efraim
Haselowitz, who, by the way, were related. They both had large
warehouses for processing linen, combing, refining for export. Leib
(Leon) Bernstein was an expert in the linen business, a man with
vision and initiative, who inspired considerable confidence abroad.
In his warehouses were machines and combs with iron teeth, which
would comb and improve the quality of the linen. Tens of workers
prepared the shipments, mainly to Germany and Great Britain, from
which linen threads were made for the weaving of cloth. After a while
Bernstein expanded the scope of his linen export business called
"Semilinas". In recognition for his extensive activity L. Bernstein
was elected to the government trade bureau - "Handels-Kammer" in
Yiddish. He traveled abroad frequently and had trade relations with
many countries in western Europe.
The government granted "Semilinas" the special right to deal in
export, while this right was not granted to other exporters. However,
this license was limited to the Shavl region only. This went on till
the revolution when the U.S.S.R. entered Lithuania. (in 1940 -J.R.)
In addition to linen, the exporters in Yurburg also dealt in linen
seeds, from which oil was produced. The linen seeds were carefully
measured in a sieve (large volume) in order to send them in bags
abroad. Thus large shipments of produce were sent abroad, mainly to
Germany.
In 1921 an exporters company was established in Yurburg, after
lengthy negotiations, in order to prevent competition among the
export traders - the EXPORT -HANDEL COMPANY. In addition to
preventing competition, the company also aimed at expanding the scope
of trade activities and improve ways and means of export.
Michael Lashatz was elected Chairman of the
"Export-Handel", he was the most senior member. For efficiency
sake the activities were divided into three sections, each
specializing in a different field.
A. The linen and linen seeds section - headed by Yehuda
Leib (Alter) Petrikansky.
Members of the section: Michael Lashatz,
Yacov-Shlomo Weinberg, Hirsch Weinberg. The produce was sent
for processing to Memel and from there to Manchester (Great Britain).
B. The harvest, eggs and hides section - headed by Yehuda
(Yudel) Mintzer.
Members of the section: Kobelkovsky, Mordehai
Levin, Menahem Levin. The farming produce was mainly sent to Hamburg
(Germany); the hides of animals such as foxes, rabbits and martens
were sent to Fraenkel's factory in Shavl and in part abroad.
C. The timber section -headed by Israel Levinberg.
Members of the section: David Karabelnik, Ossip
Rabinowitz, Haim-Reuven Danilevitz, Zeev (Velvel) Levin. The produce
was sent to Memel, Tilzit and Koenigsberg (Germany). Treasurer and
Manager - Dov (Berel) Levinberg. Bookkeeper - Nahum Triberg.
The company operated and expanded economic activity in Yurburg; it
allowed many small traders and merchants to make a profit.The company
saw its task as a blessing. Trade was in many millions of Litas (the
official currency, a sort of Sheqel or Dollar).
At the end of 1928 the activity of the "Export-Handel"
company came to an end, when the Lithuanian government decided to
nationalize all the import/export businesses. Traders in
Lithuania in general, and in Yurburg in particular, could not cope
with this anti-Semitic decree and lost a lot of money, many of them
became very poor. All the alternatives to export were useless. The
cruel deprivation continued till the bitter end arrived for
Lithuanian Jews in 1941.
In addition to the commercial activity of "Export Handel"
at the time, traders from outside the company also dealt in export,
like Shmaryahu (Shmerl) Poliak,who exported geese to the U.K. The
shipments were carried out on rafts. The geese shipments were called
"musical transport" in Yurburg, for the geese "sang" with their
throaty voices, making a lot of noise . . . .
Other traders sent turkeys to England before the Christian
holidays, at the end of the year. Fruit was packed into crates. The
winter apples were wrapped separately in paper before they were put
into crates which were sent to Germany. Many workers were employed in
egg shipments, for each egg had to be checked separately in candle
light or under electrical lighting whether it was fresh, did not have
any cracks and did not have a drop of blood. . . . The checked eggs,
fit for shipment, were packed into special crates earmarked for
export. Traders also dealt in pig-hair, which was combed and cleaned
before being shipped abroad. Work was hard and full of dust. In the
storeroom of one of the traders there were no windows and the doors
were closed. The workers asked the trader to open the door a little
to let the air in, but the trader refused, claiming the wind might
blow away the pig hair. . . . pig hair was much in demand abroad and
was good business.
In the winter months, when export of farming produce, such as
fruit etc. came to a halt, the traders dealt in wood and employed
many workers. The trees had to be chopped, sent to the saw mill and
prepared for spring, when the ice on the Neman melted and it was
possible to send the wood on rafts abroad. There were large forests
in the surroundings of Yurburg that produced the wood that was in
great demand abroad for the factories where paper and celluloid were
produced. Many families made a living in Yurburg from the forests and
the trees. This situation continued until the crisis arrived that
eliminated the livelihood of the traders in Yurburg and in Lithuania
in general.
The Jews mainly made a living ( "Parnoses" in Yiddish) on trade,
groceries, mediation and crafts. The Jews were mainly occupied in
"trivial deals" ("Wind-Gescheften" in Yiddish) on which they made a
living, some better some worse.
The question arises whether Jews in Yurburg and in general also
tilled the land? The answer is no. Only a few took a small part in
tilling the land. There were Jews in Yurburg who rented fruit and
vegetable gardens in spring and summer, invested some work in them,
sold the fruit and vegetables they produced and that was that.
A number of Jews in Yurburg should be mentioned who tilled an area
of land they leased from the municipality, called Zarda ("Die Zarde"
in Yiddish). This was an area of land from the shores of the Neman to
the town's buildings. The land of the Zarda was fertile and suitable
for growing vegetables. Families who were thus occupied enjoyed their
work and made a handsome profit.
In fall the rain water was absorbed into the land of the Zarda and
in winter the entire area was covered by snow. When the snow melted
the water of the Neman flooded the Zarda and enriched its land with
organic materials which benefited the gardens for the planting of
vegetables in spring. This good earth would produce an abundance of
vegetables, mainly potatoes. Thus the owners of the plots were
rewarded for their hard work. Although the work was hard, those who
tilled the plots and their family got attached to their land and
thought of it as creation. However, they were unusual "farmers", and
they were but few, unfortunately. The Jews who worked the land proved
beyond any doubt that they were capable of being real farmers.
In general, Jews were not inclined to turn to farming as a source
of livelihood. In addition to work on the Zarda, there were a few
Jews who dealt in farming as an suppliment to their profession
earnings for the upkeep of their family.We know that Jews from the
east of town kept one or two cows. In the morning, in summer, the
cow-herds (non-Jewish) would come and collect the cows and take them
out to pasture. In winter the Jews would be assisted by herders who
helped them take care of the cows in the small sheds. The cow-owners
enjoyed fresh milk for their children and a little cheese and cream,
but it was not possible to make a good living on this.
A small number of Jews had yards with small gardens for growing
vegetables, and a small poultry-pen to provide fresh eggs. This was
but a hint of farming, not more.
The Jews of Yurburg, as in all the towns of Lithuania were not
close to the land and had to deal in trade and crafts - that was
their destiny in the Diaspora.
"Heaven and earth" existed in all the towns of Lithuania, but in
Yurburg there were both "heaven and earth" and . . . .the river
Neman. And on this river the steamships sailed. The majority of these
ship owners were wealthy Jews, residents of Yurburg. Those we
remember are Israel Levinberg, Rabinowitz, Feinberg, David Karabelnik
and others. The steamships employed many Jews.
Yurburg without ships was unthinkable from the economic and social
point of view. The Jews would get up to the sound of the whistles of
the ships leaving and would go to bed with the whistles. Their entire
life-style was affected by these ships. Two kinds of steamships
sailed on the Neman - passenger ships (mainly) and ships transporting
cargo and "towing" boats (Baidkes in Yiddish). The cargo ships would
carry merchandise from Kovna to Memel, Tilzit and Koenigsberg.
Yurburg was an important passageway. The cargo ships sailed day and
night. On these ships the Yurburg merchants would send their wares
abroad. The cargo ship owners made a good living, without being
particularly noticed by the population. On the other hand, the
steamships carrying passengers ("Passagieren" in Yiddish) were
definitely noticed. Everyone needed the steamships. Some for business
and others for cultural and social activities, to visit relatives, go
on excursions etc. All the inhabitants of Yurburg were attracted to
the large town of Kovna, and to Memel (Klaipeda). When the ships
sailed to and from Kovna they would stop at a number of little towns
on the shores of the Neman. When the ships stopped, passengers could
go down and it was possible to take on new passengers.
The steamships therefore were the Yurburg residents' most
important means of transport. The train station was tens of
kilometers away from Yurburg, on a difficult dirt road. That is why
the Jews of Yurburg and the other small towns on the shores of the
Neman only used the ships, like the Christian Lithuanians, though
many of these would travel in coaches.
The owners of large coaches in Yurburg would compete with the
cargo ships by transporting goods to and from Kovna at an inexpensive
rate. To those traveling to Memel the coachmen would offer a cheap
trip to Smalinikai, in order to travel on from there in the narrow
train to Memel.
Due to the fact that the Yurburg residents traveled to Kovna on
ships, the authorities did not pave a road to Kovna, which was the
capital in the period between the two World Wars. The trip by boat to
Kovna was sometimes a little tiring - upwards stream - 6-8 hours of
sailing and back to Yurburg - downwards stream - merely 5-6 hours.
The passengers usually enjoyed the trip. They usually sat on the deck
of the ship watching the beautiful, pastoral landscape go by. When
one had to travel to Kovna, one would leave on the ship late in the
evening and arrive in Kovna early in the morning in order to do one's
business; in the afternoon one would again board the ship and return
to Yurburg in the evening. During their trip at night most passengers
would doze in their seats in the passengers lounge or on the ship's
deck.
However, wealthy passengers would rent a "cabin" - a small room
with a bed. The youngsters loved the boat trip. Organized groups of
hundreds of youth movement members would sail from Yurburg in order
to meet their friends in Kovna. (The steamships transported 500-600
passengers and more ). The Kovna youngsters would pay a return visit
and enjoy Yurburg's splendor, its parks and forests. Some even say
its beautiful girls. . . .
"Maccabi" and the sports club "I.A.K." would organize parties in
Yurburg and invite their friends to Kovna to have a good time. The
young guests would fill Yurburg's streets with joy and fun. From the
center of town the youngsters would go to the parks on excursions,
and dance to the sound of music, like the "Geguzines" of the
Lithuanians. The meetings of the youngsters created a lively youthful
atmosphere in town, an exciting experience, fondly remembered.
All the parties took place in the Tel Aviv park, particularly the
party of "Maccabi", the national sports movement. To the youngsters
the park was the symbol of the link with Eretz Yisrael (the Land of
Israel). The guests were proud and happy that the Yurburg Jews were
able to keep a beautiful park and Hebrew Gymnasium, called "Herzl".
No wonder that the Yurburg residents loved the Neman and the
ships. They recognized each ship from afar, knew its name - Laisve,
Lietuva, Kestutis etc. The Neman and the ships were not merely a
source of living but also a source of greater social and cultural
life.
Jews would go out onto the pier of the port in order to meet
acquaintances, or merely curious Jews to hear the news from Kovna;
and as the Lithuanian radio did not mention what was happening in the
Jewish world and Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), the Jews hurried
to acquire a new newspaper from Kovna and take a look at its
headlines in order to satisfy their curiosity. Kovna served as a
bridge for the Jews of Yurburg and a cultural connection with the
Jewish world. Without this cultural link Yurburg would become a
provincial town, without life and vision. But to Kovna, Yurburg also
served as a kind of bridge and a link to the western world next to
which it was situated (Prussia was just across the Neman river from
Yurburg &endash; note added by Joel Alpert) and from which it drew
its economic and cultural nourishment. Yurburg and Kovna were like
sisters, close to each other, linked by trade and cultural ties.
The relations between the ship owners were usually good. However,
from time to time, a quarrel broke out. And then the passengers would
enjoy the situation. Each ship would compete with the other and
announce a drop in the price of the ticket, and moreover, would
promise a bonus . . .. a glass of beer with a roll etc. In the days
of the "competition" the number of passengers who traveled back and
forth almost free of charge increased. The passengers enjoyed the
fierce "competition", but the ship owners lost. Only after all the
ship owners became exhausted and lost because of the "competition",
they would return and unite, ashamed. After the lust for
"competition" was defeated everything returned to normal.
*
In the winter season, days of rain and storm, snow and cold,
Yurburg changes its face. The temperature drops to 20 degrees C.
below zero ( -6 degrees F.) and lower. People stayed at home. The
streets are empty. Yurburg is cut off from the world and becomes a
kind of independent republic. The Neman freezes and is covered in a
thick layer of ice. The steam ships are gathered together at the
mouth of the Mituva river which serves as home port in the winter
days. The only transport is the winter coach (the sled). Everyone
travels in winter coaches drawn by two horses with bells ringing.
People wear sheepskin coats or warm clothes and winter hats which
make it difficult to distinguish their faces. At first, this seems
very romantic, but only on a short ride. On a long trip it becomes
tedious. The ways to Kovna -as to anywhere else - are covered in a
thick layer of snow and they constitute a welcome opportunity for the
coachmen to transport people and make some money. There were coachmen
who traveled to Kovna along the frozen Neman, but this way too was
too complicated.
What can one do? Winter comes and goes - man must get used to
changing weather conditions. He has no choice.
However, there is no shadow without a light. It is in winter that
the farmers often come to the market in order to sell and buy. When
there is no work on the land, the farmer has more time, collects his
merchandise and comes to the market. It is in winter that business is
brisk - and the Jews enjoy the situation. Twice a week - Mondays and
Thursdays, there are market days, full of people, a real fair in
town. The Jews do good business in their shops and say happily "A
Yerid in Shtettel, a mehaye ...."
Life in winter slowly becomes a routine. Export continues - how is
that? - There are coachmen and winter coaches. The merchants load the
merchandise earmarked for export on the winter coaches and carry it
to Smalinikai, a short trip - merely 9 to 10 kms. (6 miles) From here
there is no problem to transfer the merchandise from the winter
coaches directly onto the railway wagons, traveling to Tilzit and
Memel. This is a welcome solution both for the exporters and for the
coachmen. Everyone makes a profit.
However, there are many Jews in Yurburg who are left without a way
of making a living in the winter months and they have to find other
sources. There is no choice, if they don't find what they want they
have to make do with what there is; and thus they pass the winter,
each year, until the much awaited spring arrives.
*
The winter months are very long in the minds of the people.
Therefore the Jews in Yurburg try to make the best of it and increase
social and cultural activity. People are more willing to read a book
and the librarians have a full time job. Newspapers are being read as
well as journals; some people play chess, others play cards, whatever
they fancy. The winter evenings start at four o'clock in the
afternoon and everyone has to find something to do in the long
evening.
Some people go to the movies and others to study circles. The
local drama circle is active and presents plays in Yiddish. Usually
an actor or singer are invited to a cultural evening to provide
entertainment for the Jews of Yurburg and its surroundings. An
important event took take place when a drama group from Kovna was
invited. That was a real treat for theater lovers. By the way, all
these events took place in Yiddish.
In winter, when the inhabitants were cut off from Kovna, every
cultural-artistic event would be welcomed in town. Many activities
were devoted to social causes. Tickets were sold and the proceeds
were given to local charity institutions. Sometimes a lottery was
held. The parties also became active in winter, held lectures and
debates - and if this was the year of the Zionist Congress - the
debates were very lively. There were activities on behalf of the
national funds as well. And if an emissary arrived from Eretz Yisrael
(the Land of Israel) or a Zionist leader, this was an important and
popular event in Yurburg. The youth movements also increased their
activities in winter at their clubs. They played snow- ball and had a
good time . . . .
On days when it was not too cold and the sun would shine through,
adults, children and youngsters would go for a walk in the
surroundings. They would walk in the snowy forests, climb mountains
and slide down the slopes. Others would visit friends in the
Lithuanian villages, and were warmly received. The youngsters would
skate on the frozen rivers, fall down and get up again to the
laughter of the bystanders . . . . it was good to be young in winter,
as in all the other seasons . . . .
*
Everything comes to an end, even the long winter. It gets less
cold. The sun rays become warmer and warmer. The land slowly unwraps
its white "cloak" and becomes covered in green. Soon spring arrives
with its colors and enchanting smells; it bursts into the yards and
the homes. Life changes. Winter clothes are discarded and everyone
gets ready to go about his business. Nature wakes up and so does man
- towards the renewed life.
Spring is nice, very nice, but there are special "spring problems"
too in Yurburg, sometimes they are very serious. As mentioned before,
Yurburg has the Neman, which is usually a blessing, but in spring it
sometimes becomes a curse. What happens? This is the story - when the
ice on the Neman starts to melt and large blocks of ice flow along
the stream they sometimes form a "traffic jam"; a kind of huge
iceberg is created which blocks the giant stream of water and causes
the Neman to overflow. The water floods the streets that are close to
the Neman and enters the houses. The flood is expected in spring each
year, but the inhabitants are sure that "this year it will not
happen". However, it does happen. The flood causes tremendous damage
to the people in the houses that are close to the Neman and are
flooded. Imagine you wake up one morning to find yourself in a room
full of water; in the yard and the storerooms there is water too;
destruction is extensive and so is the damage.
Within hours people are bereft of their belongings and many
families are left without anything. Although the municipality helped
defray in the heavy financial costs of the inhabitants and the
community committee donates its part to the assistance fund, this
does not solve the complicated problems each family faces when their
home is destroyed. Sometimes the people themselves would get
organized and set up their own assistance fund to repair the damage.
The rescue action was praiseworthy but those who were affected did
not forget the tragedy for a long time.
Luckily the catastrophic flood and destruction did not recur every
year.
The only people to enjoy the flood were the children who sailed on
planks and wooden boards through the streets and among the houses,
happy and merry. However, the "financial disaster" and the broken
hearts belonged to the parents. . ..
*
After a few days of suffering the flood subsided. As suddenly as
it had come it disappeared. Sun-rays brought a smile to the faces.
Spring gradually healed the wounds and life returned to normal. The
homes were renovated and optimism returned. Many days after the flood
the Jews would still talk about it and tell grossly exaggerated
tales. The flood was a popular subject among gossip tellers,
chatterboxes, and fabricators, who told all sorts of stories about
the flood and in general.
There was someone in Yurburg called Elia (Eliahu) Hamalagos (the
fabricator) who told the following story:
"It was at the time of Sylvester (Christian New Year) when he,
Elia Baruch, traveled on the winter coach drawn by two strong horses
on the ice of the Neman. All of a sudden the ice started to crack and
explode and the carriage started to sink in the water . . . .
Elia started to yell at the top of his voice: "Gevald! Help!
Gevald Help!"
The farmers who were harvesting on the shore of the Neman heard
his cries. . . .
The farmers hurried to the river, climbed onto the ice and with
their sickles they tugged and tugged and saved Elia and the winter
coach with the horses . . . "
As far as the floods in spring were concerned, which brought
destruction to many families in Yurburg, many entertaining stories
were told, such as the following:
"One story-teller (Malagos) said that during the flood in Yurburg
he saw a house rise and float on the water and on the chimney of the
house stood a hen shrieking koo -koo-ree-koo, koo-koo-ree-koo
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -
- - - -- - -- - --
Stories and jokes, truth and imagination, seriousness and
light-mindedness, tears and laughter - mingle in our stories,
reflecting the nature of our life in Yurburg, our town.
Hinda Levinberg (Beker) Translated from Yiddish
(into Hebrew) and edited - Paz
PAGES 66 - 67 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Beiles Family of Canada
In memory of the Members of the Beiles and Kizell Families Who Were
Victims of the Shoah
JEWISH OCCUPATIONS IN YURBURG *
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
The majority of the Jews in Yurburg dealt in the trades. Others
were members of the free professions, clerks, craftsmen, etc.
Unfortunately, we do not have the full list of the occupations of the
Jews in Yurburg and we can only provide a partial list, as follows:
Exporters - traders
The "Export- Handel" company (see the list of its other members in
Hinda Levinberg-Becker's articles).
Shmaryahu (Schmerl) Poliak & Sons (Shlomo and Avraham) -
potatoes, fruit;
David Yitzhak Baiman - the same;
Efraim Heselovitz - Linen, fodder, eggs and hides.
Importers-traders
Mendel Feinberg - agent of a German company for the import of salt
and cement, supplier to small towns in the region;
Zvi (Hirschel) Fein - cement and iron;
Neta Aharonovsky - the same;
Zvi (Hirsch) Yozopovitch - petrol, beer, herring and dried
fruit;
Israel Levinberg - coal from Slesia and herring;
Mordehai Greenberg - iron and agricultural machinery;
Tzadok Yozlit - salt and flour;
Sheitel Levinson
Kratchmer - hides for shoemakers and shops.
Traders -peddlers - suppliers to exporters
Shachna Heselkovitz
Eliezer Meirovitz
Yacob Meirovitz
Avraham (Ortchik) Fein
Kalman Friedland.
Meat traders - supply of meat to Kovna and abroad
Aba Kaplan and his sons Moshe and Yacov-Baer
Nathan Kaplan, Aba Kaplan's brother; Hirsch Hess
Reuven Hess
Yacov Hess
Tuvia Hess
Daniel Hess
Israel Mar.
Agriculture - small parcels of land
Leib Feinberg
Yosef Greenberg
Shachna Heselkovitz
Small gardens - adjacent to the houses.
Business owners
David Polovin - fabrics wholesale and retail;
Meir Polovin - the same;
Mordehai (Mottel) Perlman - fabrics, the same;
Akiva Fliar - fabrics, the same;
Alter Simonov - iron and hardware business;
David and Berl Lapinsky - beverage agency of Wolf, Kovna;
Pinhas Shachnovitz - books and stationery;
Yaswansky - Shachnovitz's father in law - haberdashery and
children's games.
Banks and their managers
The Volks Bank - the National Jewish bank, branch of the Central
Bank in Kovna. Board members: Yitzhak (Isaac) Feinberg, Simon
Zondelevitch, Yosel Rabinovitch.
The Komertz Bank - Lithuanian bank - its manager Shmaryahu
(Schmerl) Bernstein.
Physicians
Yitzhak Rabinowitz
Goldberg
Gerstein
Sultz
Karlinksy
Simonov (dentist).
A. Koplov (dentist).
Pharmacies
Bargovsky (Kolia and Sasha);
Moshe Rikler - Magazin Apothekai
* Supplementary information to Hinda Levinberg-Becker's article.
TRANSLATION OF PAGES 68 - 70 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
I Remember
By Zebulon Poran
Translated by Rosi Sherman-Gordon,
Mexico City
I remember my pretty little shtetl
Between the flowing clean waters
Between the marvelous and grand
From our more important dreams and our values
I remember the gardens and the fields
I see the mountains and the valleys
Where we spend our youthful years
I remember the shtetl and her streets
Illuminated and full of life
Where Jews use to live very happily
I can still see the synagogue and the Bet Hamidrash
The old Synagogue had the presence of God
And the Bet Hamidrash for prayers and to implore the Lord
I remember the old wood synagogue
The great pride of Yurburg
Our World famous synagogue with its carved wooden Holy Ark
That is my deep memory
I remember the teachings of the Torah
The High School, the elementary school and the Talmud Torah
I remember the scouts from Hashomer Hatzair
And the discussions concerning Zionism and the Sabbath walks
And who does not remember the Achshara Kibbutz
(preparatory training for kibbutz life)
And the youngest ideals from the chalutzim (pioneers)
I remember the library named Mendel
Where the readers were thirsty for knowledge
And the library named Brenner
For the young students that knew Hebrew
I remember the young people who performed in the theater
That the theater artists expressed themselves in the performances
Everyone in the shtetl was happy
Everyone dances, sang songs and were carefree
That way the Zaides and Bobes used to live the way the parents
used to like
And strive to live life with happiness and joy
Until the difficult days came
Which were were not prepared for the bleeding lines
They hit us, they killed us
One child shouted in a shutter and horror
In a terrified shout, they finnished off the Jews of our shtetl
The end of the world
Oh Yurburg, Oh Yurburg, you are my shtetl, my life
What happened to you, what was the cause
Wild bandits, killing like wild people
They hit, they killed, they buried them without discency
You are now an empty town
There are no Jewish homes, no Jewish beds
Only bodies dispersed around the town
Only dry broken bones!
We will always remember Yurburg with bitter tears
And with deep memories will we miss you
Cursed is the modern Hyman
Cursed is Hitler's name
Zebulon Poran
Page 70
TRANSLATION OF PAGE 71-73 FROM THE YURBURG
YIZKOR BOOK
Our Town Yurburg
By Simon Simonov
Translated from Yiddish by Yosef Rosin, Haifa, Israel
and Max Sherman-Krelitz, Mexico City
Max's mother, Leah Krelitz-Sherman emigrated from
Yurburg in 1937
In Memory of Leah's sisters, Feiga and Rochel (Kravitz)
and brothers Moshe and Leib Krelitz and their spouses and children
who were murdered in the Shoah.
The town Yurburg (Jurbarkas in Lithuanian) on the shore of the
Neman river with its tributaries, the Mituva and the Imstra, is 100
km (62 miles) away from Kovno and 9 km (5 miles) away from
Smaleninken. Its long and wide streets were paved with stones and
there are concrete sidewalks on both sides. Forests and fields
surrounded Yurburg.
The Lithuanians had inherited a big and beautiful park, which had
belonged to the Russian Duke Vasilshchikov. In the middle of the park
sprawled a palace, surrounded by bushes and flowers. On both sides of
the palace beautiful buidings could be seen. These buildings housed
the state-supported high school attended by the Yurburg Lithuanian
(non-Jewish) youngsters and others from the vicinity. On Sunday
afternoons the Fire Brigade band would play dance music and the
public would have a pleasant time. Though most of the public were
members of the Shauliai (who were anti-semitic) nationalist
quasi-military organization, Jews also participated in the
entertainment, called in Lituanian "Geguzhines."
One nice day Lithuanians decided to forbid the Jewish youth from
participating in this entertainment. At the entrance of the park the
Lithuanian extremists erected a sign: "Entrance of Jews and dogs
is prohibited". This anti-semitic inscription was an insult to
the Jewish population. Immediately a committee was formed, and it was
decided to buy a nice garden with a big building. The garden was
converted into a park and the building housed the Hebrew gymnasuim
(high school) which served the Jewish population of Yurburg, Tavrig
and other towns along the Neman river. The Jewish park was named
"Tel-Aviv" in honor of the newly built town in Eretz-Yisrael. Jews
appreciated the park; which was close to town and together with the
high school the park formed an important cultural center. Every
Sunday entertainment, concerts and sport were organized in the park.
In the mid-1930s 3,000 Jews lived in Yurburg. The community was
concentrated in the center of the town. Lithuanians (non-Jews) lived
in the surrounding areas of the town, but the Catholic church stood
at the end of the Kovno street, the main street of the town. On
Shabbath and Jewish holidays all the businesses were closed. Jews of
Yurburg felt like they were living in a Jewish town, where Yiddish
and also occasionally Hebrew were heard spoken in the streets.
Mondays and Thursdays were market days in Yurburg. The plot of
land between the old wooden Synagogue and the solidly built [brick -
still standing in the 1990s - note added] Beth-Midrash served
as the market place for the Lithuanian peasants and the Jewish
population. The Lithuanian peasants would sell agricultural products
and the Jews would sell them haberdashery and other industrial goods.
The old wooden Synagogue, built in 1790, was famous in Lithuania
and all over the world for its artistic wood carvings of the
Aron-Ha Kodesh (sacred ark), the Bimah (pulpit) and the
Chair of Eliyahu. In Yurburg there were many learned men, doctors,
lawyers, bankers etc. Well known rabbis also came from Yurburg, the
last one was Avraham Dimant, a famous Rabbi, a Dayan
(religious judge) was Chaim-Reuven Rubinshtein. There was also a
cantor Alperovitz who would write tunes for the lithurgical melodies
for the Jewish High Holy Days.
In Yurburg there were two Jewish schools - the Yiddish school and
the Hebrew School. The town also boasted a Hebrew High School and two
libraries - The "Mendele" library (Yiddish books) and the "Brener"
(Hebrew books) Library.
Several youth organizations were formed in Yurburg- "HeKhalutz",
"Maccabi", Jewish Scouts - "HaShomer HaTsair," "Betar." Thanks to
"HeKhalutz" a large number of youth immigrated to Eretz-Yisrael.
Jewish political parties were active in town. The Jewish "Folksbank",
the "Commerce Bank" and social institutions like "Bikur Kholim" (Sick
Fund), "Hakhnasat Kala" (Fund for the Needy) and others were the
famous Jewish institutions of Yurburg.
Jews made their living from different sources. In Yurburg there
were steamship owners who employed a great number of staff. Other
popular occupations were exporters, merchants, hotels owners,
shopkeepers, artisans and workers.
*
When Hitler took over the rule in Germany it was immediately felt
in Yurburg. The Lithuanian Sauliai and other anti-Semites became
vocal. For many Jews it became difficult to make a living. Life was
becoming harder with evey passing day, and for young people the
future became doubtful. Some of the youth went to Eretz-Yisrael or
abroad and others left for Kovno.
On June 22, 1941, at five o'clock in the morning, parts of the
Nazi-German army invaded Yurburg. Dark clouds enveloped the future of
the Jewish population. Only a couple of the Jews survived, and the
entire community perished. In the first "action" 350 men were
murdered, among them 40 Lithuanian communists. The remaining men,
women and children of the Jewish population were murdered and buried
in a forest near Smaleninken.[note added: Many of the murderers were
the Lithuanians themselves.]
In 1945 Yurburg was freed from the murderers, but unfortunately no
Jews were left in YurburgÉonly pain remained in our hearts forever.
Shimon Shimonov
TRANSLATION OF PAGE 74-78 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Once There Was A Shtetl
By Motl (Mordechai) Zilber
Translated from Yiddish by Yosef Rosin, Haifa,
Israel
English Editied by Fania Hillelson Jivotovsky,
Montreal, Canada
I am beginning my writing the same way my late father would start
a story when I was a child "once upon a time there was ..."
This is a story that sounds like a dream.
Forty years have passed since I left Yurberik and I still see it
in my eyes as if it was yesterday. I have traveled the world - Russia
and France, Canada and USA and now- Israel, but I could never forget
Yurberik, it has always been in my heart. Yurberik has always
remained in the hearts of all the Yurberikers who were scattered all
over the world.
I often think about Yurberik, I see it in my fantasies where I
visit Yurberik often. I meet with the people, my friends and I recall
events. I visit places and forget that Yurberik was in ashes after
the Nazis and the Lithuanians burned down the town; I forget that the
people of the town were taken by force and murdered. I want to forget
all thatÉI go back to the past, when Yurberik was alive and we were
happyÉ
I see the town as I open the iron gates of Duke Vasilshchikov's
park. The park is fenced in with a stone wall. The entrance is
through an iron gate between three thick brick pillars. In front I
see the ruins of the Duke's palace. The palace sprawls near the
Mituva river and on the other side, in the forest near the meadow
there still is a wooden mushroom, its cap is red, its stem is white
and it is covered with many inscriptions of couples in love. The duke
built it, apparently, as to protect couples from rain.
The duke would come here only in summer months, and nobody would
be allowed to walk near the palace, except outside the property .
There were two other buildings - both for the servants. Later the
buildings would house the Lithuanian high school. The duke had
everything he wished for his comfort - a greenhouse covered with
glass, stables, workrooms and a beer brewery outside Yurberik.
The legend goes that one of the duke's ancestors was the lover of
Queen Katharine II, like brothers Orlovs and others, after the love
became cooler, she would "exile" her lovers, endow them with estates
at the borders of the great Russian Empire. Our duke Vasilshchikov
was one of those who were "exiled" to our town of Yurberik.
Before we leave the park we will see a small Pravoslavic church.
It is a small church built for the duke and his family and for the
servants. People said that the big stone in front was a meteorite, a
body that fell from the sky.
Now we are going back. On the right side of the building there are
the two movie theaters of Yurberik. On the screen of the movie
theaters we saw the films of Emil Janings, Marlene Dietrich, Konrad
Vaidt, Paula Negri and sometimes performances of Ivan Mazhukhin.
The house of the Altmans was next to the movie theater. This was
the house of the diva of Yurberik, Fanichka Altman. With her
excellent voice she made her listeners fall in love with her.
And here is the Imstra, a small creek flowing into the Mituva and
then into the Neman. In summer a hen could cross the creek without
wetting "hens feet", but in spring when the Neman was full of ice
tide would flood the areas around. Then in this part of the town
people would use boats, like in Venice. Even the priests garden was
flooded.
Let us look at the side lane which leads to the park. The house of
the Levinsons is there and on the porch two boys are waiting- they
are Tony and Izzy Levinson (now in South Africa). They are waiting
for their father who works in the "Taryba" (Town Council). On the
left there is a narrow lane along the Imstra leading to Rassein
street. It passes along the priest's garden and house. A small wooden
bridge crosses the Imstra. It is so good to stand on the bridge and
look at the small fish in the waters of the Imstra. Tailor Chertok
lives near the bridge, he suffers greatly from the floods .
The road right of the bridge leads to the Mituva where the
steamships are mooring before winter comes.
Our way leads us to the Kovno street, past a church fenced by a
stone wall. The church has two high towers and looks like a big
fortress. It is a praying house for the entire community. The rural
population gathers here. When someone dies the body is brought to the
church and photographer [Natan] Abramson takes the last picture. The
same happens when there is a wedding.
The rural community of Yurberik is considered rich. It was said
that the Jewish population of Yurberik participated in financing the
construction of the church with the calculation that it will increase
the living opportunities of the town.
In front of the church, to the right, a road leads to the Neman
River. If you have time, let us wait for a steamship coming from
Kovno in the afternoon - may be it is the staemship "Laisve", or the
"Lietuva" or may be the "Kestutis".
Afterwards it will be announced who arrived. 20 people and 3
Germans, they would say. Like Germans could not be counted among
people.
The road leads us through the Kovno street; opposite the church we
see the house of the Leipzigers . Eliezer Leipziger, was a very
talented person, a lawyer and later the director of the Hebrew high
school. . He married Fani Krechmer. At the end he and his wife were
murdered by the bloody animals. This was also the house of Freidale
Leipziger, today a teacher in Kibbutz Afikim.
Over there is the house of the "Minzers," a fine Jewish family,
with two beautiful daughters and one son who immigrated to Cuba. He
is a tailor and I unfortunately forgot his name.
And then there is the second movie theater of Yurberik. Films are
shown by Pola Skeltz and an older woman. Skeltz has several trades
but makes a poor living. He plays music at Jewish weddings, he
catches fish. When he plays at a Jewish wedding, he would play a
"Krakowiak". He is an ardent Polish patriot and when he plays the
"Krakowiak" he becomes very exited, sings in a high pitched voice and
stomps with his feet. After the movie is over he goes to the boarding
house at the Feinberg's . An old bachelor who, people say, plays the
violin in the middle of the night when nobody hears. I never saw
anybody coming to his boarding house.
And here is the green house of the Aizenshtats, the brothers
Aizenshtat. They were considered the "elite" of the town. Liova died
young from Typhus. He was married with Betty Yazelit. A sister, Leana
Aizenshtat, lives in Canada. Opposite the Aizenshatats is the great
yard of the Feinbergs. They are four brothers and one sister. They
are considered the rich people in town. They own a sawmill, a flour
mill and the power station. We get electricity from 6 o'clock PM
until 12 o'clock midnight. Before the power is switched off we hear a
warning to the public: "Here, we are getting off..."
One of the Feinberg brothers, Meir, is in arts, he declaimed very
good in Russian and we enjoyed not once his declamations.
Motl
Zilber
It's a pity that we didn't receive the end of his
descriptions...Motl (Mordekhai) passed away...all his friends and
relatives will never forget him .
For another article by the same author, go to:
That Was the Yurburg That I Knew - Mordechai
Zilber on page 33.
TRANSLATION OF PAGE 79-81 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
The Beautiful Town Yurburg
By Ben Dvorah
Translated from Yiddish by Yosef Rosin, Haifa,
Israel
English Editied by Fania Hillelson Jivotovsky,
Montreal, Canada
Several kilometers before reaching Yurburg you can immediately
feel the ambiance of Western Europe. The fields are more intensly
cultivated and exploited. The behavior of the rural population is
more cultural. The German border is already close and its smells
German.....
Yurburg makes a nice impression. Wide streets, many quite nice
buildings, nice shops with pretty shopwindows are adding to the
impression of a big town. Also the landscape of Yurburg is pretty. On
one side - the Neman river and on the other side - the sportive
Imstra, flooding the whole area and causing much damage, when the ice
in the Neman starts moving. This pleasing geographic situation helps
the Yurburg population to make its living. The forests serve as
recreation and rest areas. Its obvious why the Health Department has
established in town one of its two centers and hospitals for
respiratory desease. The marvelous park, that once belonged to the
Russian duke Vasilshchikov adds to the beauty of Yurburg. The
backbone of the economic life of Yurburg is the Neman River. Many
Jewish families make their living from this big river. When the
favorite summer season comes life around Neman becomes intense. The
several tens of steamships, belonging to Yurburg citizens, sail
without pause upstream and downstream the Neman River.
Rafts are floating by and the oarsmen buy their necessities here.
Carts, harnessed with strong horses, are going to and from the river
bank carrying stones, timber and other goods brought by the
steamships.
Tens of meters of fish nets are put in the water by fishermen,
whose life is strongly linked with the Neman. The Neman is the very
life source and the pride of Yurburg Jews.
The population of Yurburg is mixed. In addition to Lithuanians and
Jews, there are large German and Russian colonies. They all have
their priests, their churches and schools. For some time the mayor of
Yurburg was a German. Yurburg is a clean and relaxed town. All state,
municipal and Jewish institutions have suitable and more or less
convenient offices. All Jewish schools in bigger towns than Yurburg
could only wish to have such facilities like the Hebrew and the
Yiddish schools here. The Hebrew high school has its own building
with a big and beautiful park named "Tel-Aviv", where all the
entertainment takes place.
Though the economic crisis has affected Yurburg as well, but it
seems that the Jews don't loose hope for better days to come.
Yurburg is proud of its beautiful Beth-Midrash, but in particular
they cherish their really interesting old synagogue. The Aron-Kodesh
of the synagogue is a rare object of art in wood carving. Also the
Bimah is beautiful. The blind Shamash of the synagogue complained to
me that the Bimah was carved by another artist, who was jealous of
the person who built the Aron-Kodesh and for that he concealed the
Aron-Kodesh with the Bimah.....
The older generation of Yurburg has special sense of self-esteem.
They are classic-nicely dressed folks, with felt hats and dark gray
summer coats as they come on holidays to the synagogue. Yurburg has a
large number of students, boys and girls, who are studying in Kovno
and many others abroad.
Yurburg was never looking for public and political activity, for
that it got a Jewish-democratic Kehilah (Community Committee) late.
In Yurburg there are no extremists. The Zionists, the orthodox and
the Yiddishists don't make much noise. Its characteristic for Yurburg
to have a Gabbai of the old synagogue Alter Shimonov who also happens
to be the dentist, a man with a modern outlook and manners, a
sympathizer of Zionism, who goes to the Beth Midrash on Shabbat and
every morning put on phylacteries and would not eat dinner before a
"ma'ariv" prayer. On Friday evening you can see the wife of the
dentist lighting candles. On the other side we can see an important
personality living in Yurburg with a woman whom he married in a civil
wedding.
The relations between the Jews and Lithuanians in Yurburg are
generally friendly. The Jews and the Lithuanians are proud of the
fact that Yurburg gave Lithuania several famous personalities. Jews
of Yurburg became reknown scientists, writers, artists and
philanthropists and Lithuanians became such stately people as
professor Tamashaitis, consul Sidrauskas, prosecutor Bila, lawyer and
public worker Taliushis.
Many projects were planned to improve the economic situation of
Yurburg , such as pavement of new roads, improvement of
transportation and other projects that promised a better future.
But all these were pleasant dreams. For the Jews the future would
be bitter. During three months-in the summer 1941-the Jewish Yurburg
was annihilated by Nazi-German soldiers with the active help of cruel
Lithuanians with whom Jews lived together for generations and where
Jews established their homes on Lithuanian soil.
Ben Dvorah
( from the periodical "Funken")
(edited by ZP)
TRANSLATION OF PAGE 82-84 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Yurburg under Water
Adapted by Z. Poran
Translated from Yiddish by Yosef Rosin, Haifa,
Israel
English is edited by Sarah and Mordekhai Kopfstein,
Haifa, Israel
On Wednesday, the 17th of March 1937, at 1 pm, the section of the
Neman river adjacent to Yurburg awoke from its winter sleep. As
happens each year, so this year too, curious people gather on the
banks of the Neman, happy to see the ice move and hoping that by
Pesach a steamship will already sail on the river. The Neman flows at
such speed that you can hear the ice blocks crashing. And so,
standing there in circles and debating the subjects of ice, water,
floods, they suddenly look back and see that the water is already
creeping up behind them.
The flow continues relentlessly at full speed up to a blockage
near Smaleninken, as a result of which the water level in Yurburg
rises more and more. At 5 P.M. the municipal siren wails for help.
People start to run, all curious to see how the water is rushing
into the town. Police, firemen and all citizens are on duty to fight
the intruding water.....
Slowly the market is flooded and water is even flowing into Kovno
street. At first the flow is slow, but then it increases in strength
and volume.
Yatkever (Butcher) street begins to flood - a howl, a yell: "Help!
Rescue! We are inundated!" Mothers with sleeping children in their
hands call for a boat to take them to a dry patch, panic is great.
A Jewish woman stands in the water, her hair disheveled,
complaining to her neighbors that her stove, which had been renovated
just a year ago, is now disintegrating, and in another woman's flat
the table and chairs are swimming.
Lots of people congregate in Kovno street, half of which is
already flooded. It is now late evening, electric lights are on,
small boats sailing to and for. People are walking on the still-dry
sidewalks, but for the young this is entertainment, just like Venice!
Nobody is thinking of going to bed. The time is already 1 am, 2
am, 3 am, and the water is still slowly flooding more and more areas.
The shop owners of Kovno street decide to move goods from lower
shelves to the upper ones, thus packages of goods, appliances,
cigarettes and textiles are lifted up. Some put the goods on chairs
in order to have them at least a few inches above the surface of the
water. People are standing on sidewalks about to be flooded and wait,
maybe God will show mercy -
On the other side of Kovno street the situation is also bad. Here
is a boat with bedding, there one evacuating children and old people
from dangerous places, someone is running with a package on his
shoulders, and someone else with a table. Policemen are patrolling
the streets, helping victims and guarding against looting. It is
already 7 am in the morning and the water level is still rising. The
"padriads" (special bakeries for Matzah baking) ought to be baking
Matzos for Pesach, which is already imminent. What can be done?
Peasants are coming to the market and stop, they are scared. The
market place is inundated.
Jews are standing around, worried and waiting for a miracle.
Waiting and waiting - and suddenly - a miracle! The water starts to
recede. Yurburg citizens lift their heads and smile - but most of
them immediately feel the painful aftermath and cry silently. What
will be? What will be? A help committee is set up immediately, but
the damage is great. Can the committee manage to relieve the damage?
The situation is bad. But during all previous years of flooding
people get over it and this year too they will recover and start
again. True, the damage is great. May be the committee will be able
to help. We must hope - because it is forbidden to lose hope!
(Edited by Z. Poran)
Flood in the Shtetl
Page 84
TRANSLATION OF PAGE 85-87 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
- The Town
Jurbarkas
-
Translated from Yiddish by Yosef Rosin, Haifa,
Israel
English is edited by Fania Hilelson Jivotovsky,
Montreal, Canada
-
- The article "The town of
Jurbarkas" was published in the Yiddish daily newspaper
"Folksblat" on July 16, 1939, in the days of the deep
crisis for Lithuanian Jews just before the outbreak of World
War II. The anonymous author of this article, as it seems from
its content, was one of the supporters of the Yiddishist
anti-Zionist circles, as he criticizes the Jewish youth who are
getting Zionist education, and are interested only in
"Hakhsharah" (preparation for moving to Palestine) and
certificates for Aliyah. The author is disappointed that these
Jews are not concerned with strengthening the (local)
"existence "---what "existence " in the Diaspora.
-
- (Z. Poran)
-
- The town Yurburg is located in
Raseiniai district. It has long, beautiful, wide streets, with
concrete sidewalks on both sides, nice houses; some of them built
in brick. It is getting more modern and spread out. A new quarter
of the town was built, and it is called the New Town- reaching
villages nearby. In the New Town a park was planted, where a
monument for Vytautas the Great was built. Near the park you can
see the Yurburg stadium. In the old-town, as we call it now, the
old buildings are being demolished.
-
- This difficult situation affects the
poor and they are becoming weaker. Some will not have a place to
live because the rents are becoming higher and there are no
opportunities to earn a living in Yurburg. They used to live in
small affordable houses but Yurburg is becoming more modern but
not through private undertakings. The builders are the state and
the municipality.
-
- The municipality built a
slaughterhouse and is maintaining the streets. The government
built a second floor for the Yurburg Lung Sanitarium. This was the
only Sanitarium in Yurburg. A road was also constructed several
kilometers long joining Klaipeda and Jurbarkas. Two concrete
bridges were built over the rivers of "Imstra" and
"Mituva".
-
- The government also intends to build
a harbor for the steamships.
-
- Yurburg is like a valley between
high mountains. Around Yurburg there are big areas with splendid
forests and fields with hills and valleys. There are two parks -
one is the Jewish park named "Tel-Aviv" where trees and their
branches look like in a dream, inviting passers-by to enter and
smell their pleasant odors. The second park is the Lithuanian
Park, well maintained and in a continuous process of maintenance.
Once it belonged to a Russian duke, today it belongs to the
Lithuanian high school. The park has tens of paths, one very small
leading to the Mituva, which is winding between the park and the
forest. One big path leads to a place behind the park where you
can see all the Yurburg surroundings.
-
- The third river is the Neman running
along the shores of the town. The steamship traffic connects
Yurburg with the economic and political center of Kaunas.
-
- When a newcomer arrives to Yurburg
he is impressed with the beautiful nature around town. The town is
home for 6,000 people, 2,000 Jews among them from different social
classes: merchants, artisans, and shopkeepers. The town is facing
an economic decline it has been affected by the big world crisis,
and by the persistent phenomenon of Hitler politics which slows
trade with Germany.
-
- Although Yurburg does not compare
with other towns, there are people here too who learnedto hate.
These are the so-called Lithuanian patriots who consider only
their own pockets. They have their own shops and call for boycott
of the Jewish business.
-
- Often we can hear anti-Semitic
slogans not only from the simple folks but more from the youth and
the "Intelligencia".
-
- The only institution watching over
the Jewish economic situation is the Folksbank, which gives out
loans. But how can the loans help when there is nowhere to use the
money? From the cultural standpoint our town is better off than
the adjacent towns. It has a state high school, 4 elementary
schools, (2 Lithuanian schools, 1 Hebrew School and 1 Yiddish
School), a Hebrew high school, a Lithuanian agricultural school, 2
libraries named after Mendele and Brenner.
-
- Jewish children don't go to either
the Lithuanian high school or the elementary school. Most of them
attend meetings of "HeKhalutz" and "Betar". They care only about
"Hakhsharah" and certificates, but not about the local Jewish
Community.
-
- We also have an advantage of having
the famous Lithuanian sculptor H.Gribas live in the area, his
monuments can be seen in many cities and towns of Lithuania.
Yurburg citizens are proud of their town and are proud to show
their town to visitors.
-
- The first object of pride a
Yurburger could show a newcomer is the ancient synagogue built in
1790 with its rare fixtures. The second object is the atelier of
the sculptor Gribas with its marvelous artistic works. The third
thing to show would be the beauty of nature [in and surrounding
the town].
-
- There is a cinema in town with
occasional shows of nice films. It still belongs to Jews. There is
little industry in town. Nonetheless, there is a small furniture
factory which was awarded a medal at an exhibition abroad and a
flourmill with a power station.
-
- The economic and social situation of
our town is very sad, but let us not be depressed. One hour before
dawn it becomes very dark and there is a struggle between darkness
and light where the light becomes the winner.
-
- A Yurburger
PAGES 88 - 113 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Steven Koppel Family of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In memory of the Members of the Eliashevitz and Krelitz Families Who
Were Victims of the Shoah
YURBURG UNDER THE SOVIET REGIME
(From the Lithuanian encyclopedia)
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
(Note added by Joel Alpert: During this period there were
either no Jews or at most two Jewish families in Yurburg)
The town of Yurburg in the Soviet republic of Lithuania is
surrounded by the Neman and Mituva rivers.
The town is 12 kms. (7 miles) away from the borders of the
Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsberg) district.
In 1959 - 4,422 inhabitants - situated on the right side of the
Neman on a low and sandy place. The area was 413 hectars.
Yurburg's old city was established close to the shore of the
Neman. The buildings in the center of town were built in the Gothic
style. The streets of the new town were well planned. The main part
of town was built on the left side of the Mituva; the small Imstra
river crossed it in part. Development was started on the right side
of the during the years of the Soviet regime.
The shore of the Neman includes a strip of soft sand over 1 km.
Not far from the town - the Smalinikai forest - and the large Wasvile
(Vashvile). In the southern part of town there is a large factory for
processing linen seeds (established in 1950).
[The town contained] a boat dock, the base of the Ministry of
Transport, a butter factory (established in 1931), a saw mill,
carpentry workshops, factories for production of blocks and tiles, a
flour mill, bakery and the Neman fisherman's harbor.
Now roads connect Yurburg to Kaunas (Kovna) and Klaipeda (Memel).
Roads lead to Raseiniai (Rasein) and Skaudvile (Shkudvil). A ferry
crosses the Neman from Yurburg to the other side of the river and
from there to Shaki. Steamships sail to Kaunas and Klaipeda.
Most streets are covered in asphalt - where transport is is
provided by buses. On the site of the market, the entire center of
town is presently covered in green.
On both sides of the Mituva is the park of the former Kniaz, from
the 19th century. In 1950 a memorial statue was set up here to honor
sculptor I.Grivas. At the end of the park is a cemetery for those who
fell in the battles of World War II. There is a 100-beds hospital in
town, built before World War I, and a hospital for tuberculosis
patients. There is a 30-beds maternity ward at the hospital.
Culture and education - As early as in the 18th century a high
school was established in town. In 1924-27 a pro-gymnasium existed in
Yurburg - "Saule" (Sun) and from 1931 a national gymnasium. There is
also an evening school for high school education (1946-53 - pro
gymnasium), a kindergarten for children, in 1947 a cultural center
was set up, a cinema and 300-seats theater. A museum in memory of
I.Grivas was established in 1956. From 1963 there is a regional
newspaper called "Sviesa" (Schviessa) ("Light") in town. Before that
there was a newspaper called the "Flag" (1949-62).
In the northern part of town was the "Bishpil"(?) mountain,
crossed by the Imstra, creating a deep valley. On top of the mountain
was a look-out post from which the 5 m. (17 feet) high wall of the
old castle could be seen. At the observation post remnants of an
ancient culture could be seen. In excavations various archeological
findings were uncovered, such as ceramic utensils, bows and arrows
and other articles from the 12th and 14th century. Some of them were
transferred to the history museum in Kaunas. On the shore of the
Neman, 3 kms. (2 miles) from the mouth of the Mituva - there were 2
small hills called "Bishpiliokais", from which there was a good view
of the surroundings. It is thought that the Georgenburg (Yurenburg)
fortress stood on these hills, mentioned in the German chronicles and
used as one of the ancient crusader fortresses along the Neman.
In 1259 or close to this year, the "Bishpil" mountain was
established by the Lithuanians. In 1260 the Lithuanians led by Dorbas
attacked the crusaders who retreated from Georgenburg.
In 1353 the crusaders returned and took over the fortress again.
Battles continued here almost until the 15th century. In early 1403
the fortress was set on fire by Vytautas' army.
After the Zalgiris battle, where the crusaders were defeated, the
place lost its strategic value. When the crusaders retreated the
place called Yurburg started to develop as a permanent settlement.
In 1422 when the borders of Lithuania were determined, Yurburg
turned into a border point. In the first half of the 15th century a
customs post was set up here as it was an important commercial point,
and also because of the Neman river, which was a passageway for goods
from Kovna to Tilzit, Memel (Klaipda) and Koenigsberg.
The town started to grow quickly and mainly gained its commercial
importance since the 16th century, when trees started to be harvested
from in the surrounding forests for transport to Gdansk and
Koenigsberg where boats were built.
In 1557 the first primary school was established. In 1611 the
Mandenburg Law was accepted in Yurburg and already then it had 3000
inhabitants. Yurburg maintained its status as a commercial center
till the 19th century. Already in 1862 goods passed through customs
in Yurburg in the sum of about 10 million rubles. In those days
railway tracks started to be laid and this affected Yurburg's
importance as a commercial center.
In 1864 there were 320 families in Yurburg with 2659 inhabitants;
in 1880 3000; in 1901 Yurburg served as a "transit station" for the
"Iskra" underground newspaper edited by Y. Lenin, which was sent from
Germany to Kovna. In 1906 a large part of the town burnt down. In
1915 the German army destroyed the town which at that time already
had the status of district town. In 1923 there were 4409 inhabitants
in Yurburg.
Small factories started to be established in town, such as a flour
mill and windmill which supplied electricity, a saw mill and dairy.
The branch of the Lithuanian bank was opened and the agricultural
bank, in addition to small private and public banks (*).
Trade stores were also opened, a hospital, schools, a library,
orphanages and a home for the elderly. In 1928-33 illegal material of
the Communist party continued to be transferred through Yurburg from
Germany to Kovna.
In the period of the conservative regime rightist parties were
active in Lithuania as well as the Communist party L.K.P.-L.K.J.S. A
branch of the Red Cross was also active in town. From 1929 the
sculptor I. Grivas lived and worked in Yurburg. He was murdered by
the German conquerors in 1941 together with another 350 inhabitants
(Jews) of Yurburg. During World War II Soviet soldiers fought heroic
battles against the German fascists, such as Prolov, S.Sergejev,
I.Tolstikov. They received the "Hero of the Soviet Union" medal.
After World War II the town was rebuilt, its main streets were
expanded. Many houses were built, public institutions set up, among
them a new high school (1960) and a cinema - a new theater (1960).
Yurburg lies on both sides of the road leading to Klaipda (Memel).
Translated into Hebrew by S. Simonov
(*) Editor's note - At that time the Jewish Volks
Bank was also set up in Yurburg which served the Jewish population.
According to Holocaust survivors who visited Yurburg in recent years
the town developed at a fast pace, but there are hardly any Jews. One
family lives in Yurburg (?) which returned to settle there, the last
remnant of the lively Jewish center which existed and is no more.
Unfortunately, there is no mention in the encyclopedia of the
bitter fact that in 1941 when the Nazis entered Yurburg - in June,
July, August and September - over 2000 defenseless Jews were brutally
murdered, men, women children and old people; with the active
assistance of the fascist Lithuanian murderers who had been the Jews'
neighbors for hundreds of years and had built and developed the town
together and finally - as a reward for what they had done - the Jews
were murdered without mercy.
PAGES 91 - 90 FROM THE YURBURG YIZKOR BOOK
Translation Funded by the Steven Koppel Family of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In memory of the Members of the Eliashevitz and Krelitz Families Who
Were Victims of the Shoah
THE LAND OF OUR FATHERS
by Zevulun Poran
Translated by Irene Emodi, Tel Aviv
For hundreds of years our fathers and our fathers' fathers lived
in the land of Lithuania.
The following pages are a description of the land, its Lithuanian
inhabitants and their history. Of course the Jews too will be
mentioned, for they found a refuge here in this country, and lived
there for a period of history of hundreds of years. The Jews,
together with the Lithuanians, developed their land, established
towns and villages with exemplary Jewish communities. The excellent
relations between the Jews and the Lithuanian people, were upset in
the years 1941-1945 and ended tragically and with bitter cruelty when
the Nazis entered Lithuania.
More is to follow.
*
Lithuania is one of the three Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia, on the shores of the Baltic sea. Lithuania is the
largest of them. It presently occupies an area of about 80,000 sq.m.
Formerly this land went from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and
occupied large areas of the land of Russia, Ukraine, Belorus, Poland
and Prussia. At present Lithuania only controls areas that are mainly
occupied by Lithuanians.
Lithuania is a flat country without high mountains rising above.
This is how Yitzhak Katzenelson, the Lithuanian poet describes it:
My Lithuania, my Lithuania,
All of it a plain, all of it flat,
A land without mountains;
Highways run through it
Roads pass along.
During most of the year Lithuania is a gray country. Narrow
horizons. Rain. Very hot in some months of the summer and cold in
winter (20 degrees C. below zero and less, that is — 6 degrees
F. ).
There are hundreds of rivers and lakes in Lithuania. The lakes are
covered by moss weeds and algae. These lakes are called swamps
(Falkes). The bottom of the black swamp is turf (peat) (Tarf) which
is good for heating and fertilizing.
The soil of Lithuania is mainly clay and does not absorb water,
which therefore remains on the surface and creates rivers and swamps.
The land of Lithuania is in part "black land", very fertile, yielding
a rich crop. Most of the Lithuanian land is good for agriculture.
The crops are: linen, wheat, rice (??), oats, barley and sugar
beet. Vegetables and plants are also grown in Lithuania, suitable for
woven materials, such as linen and canvas. Lithuania grows excellent
soft linen and has linen seeds that are very good for producing oil.
Potatoes are grown for food (common food!) and some of it for liquor
and starch. The fruit orchards are also important and here apples are
grown, pears, plums etc.
Animals are raised in Lithuania as well, such as cows, horses,
sheep, pigs, poultry and bees.
In spite of all these achievements, farming in Lithuania between
the two World Wars was considered primitive compared to farming in
Germany, where the land was ploughed with sophisticated agricultural
machines and was of very high quality. In the period when Lithuania
was under Russian control cooperatives and farms were set up.
Tilling the land was improved by the use of farming machines.
Lithuania's main export was agricultural produce such as: fodder,
timber, dairy products, eggs, meat etc.
There are no natural resources in Lithuania, except for turf.
Names of towns such as Kazlu-Ruda and Visakio-Ruda indicate iron lead
(Ruda!); in the past iron was extracted in a primitive way.
The forests were Lithuania's natural and blessed wealth. The
forests in Lithuania cover 16% of its area of land, enhance its
landscape, supply wood and improve the climate. The forest is varied
and has both evergreen trees and trees with leaves.
The most well-known trees in Lithuania are: the fir tree
(Yalke) - mainly for export for the paper industry. The pine tree
- good for heating, building and furniture. The birch tree
(Berioze) - good for the furniture and household utensils industry.
The elm tree - a soft tree from which matches are produced at
factories, and also boxes for packing merchandise. The oak
tree - which was not present in large numbers and which was a
strong wood from which furniture and tools was made.
There are other kinds of trees and bushes of which there are
smaller quantities in the forests of Lithuania, adding color to the
woods. The Lithuanian forests are full of all kinds of berries
(Yagdes) and mushrooms, good for eating,.
The evergreen trees in the Lithuanian forests are good for
people's health. In the summer months people would go to the villages
or rest homes near the pine tree forests which were used for rest and
recreation and for recuperation, mainly for lung patients.
Industry in Lithuania was minor most of the time. It gained
impetus only after World War II. Textiles were produced, leather,
paper, building materials and furniture, farming machines, electrical
appliances etc.
Docks were set up in Klaipeda (Memel) where ships were built and
repaired. The Klaipeda (Memel) port was used for Lithuania's foreign
trade.
Transport in Lithuania was by railway lines, roads and
waterways.
The population in Lithuania numbered over 3 million
inhabitants, 80% of them Lithuanians and the others - Russians, Poles
and others; there was a small minority of Jews among them, Holocaust
survivors. In the past the Jewish population constituted over
7%. Vilna is presently the capital of Lithuania (about 400,000
inhabitants), Kovna (about 300,000 inhabitants), Klaipda (about
150,000 inhabitants) and then, with a smaller number of inhabitants,
Shavl, Ponivezh - each of them less than 100,000 inhabitants. The
Neman - NEMUNAS - is the father of the Lithuanian rivers. When
speaking of Lithuania, it is impossible not to mention the Neman,
which is not simply a waterway, but a source of life and national
pride. The Neman originates in the region of Minsk, the capital of
Belorussia. It is 960 kms. ( 600 miles) long. Near Grodna the Neman
is about 100 meters (330 feet) wide, 230 meters ( 700 feet) near
Yurburg and 170 meters (500 feet) near Klaipda, where it flows into
the Kurian bay; many small rivers flow into the Neman. The beautiful
725 kms. (450 miles) long Viliya - NERIS - joins it near Kovna. The
Neman captures the heart of those who see it, with the magic of its
beautiful shore adorned with trees and shrubs, and many poets, who
admired its beauty, devoted their best songs to it. The poetess
Elisheva writes in her poem "On the shore of the Neman":
On the shore of the Neman
Far away beyond the border, the water
flows on, heavy and slow.
The gray sky is full of sorrow
silent grief - in the flowing waves.
On they flow to the sea,
riding along the strong current
losing themselves in the waves.
However, in addition to its poetic side, the Neman was very
important, as it served as the main route for the transport of
merchandise abroad, such as trees and farming produce and industrial
goods to Lithuania.
The Neman also served as an important internal way of transport,
linking Kovna with the Baltic Sea. Numerous boats, the steamships
(called "Kitoriot" by the people and "Dampfer" in Yiddish) among
them, sailed to Kovna and Klaipeda and from Klaipeda back to Kovna.
Yurburg was the middle stop on these sailing trips, especially as
most ships belonged to the townspeople, most of them Jewish.
The link with the Baltic Sea is very important for Lithuania, for
in this way it was possible to do business with the neighboring
Baltic countries and with the people from Western Europe and America.
The Baltic Sea is also an important source of living for the many
fishermen. The Baltic Sea is rich in all kinds of fish. Another
important source of income for many, mainly Jews, was amber, the
precious "bernstein", discharged by the sea and used as a creative
material for making precious jewels.
The shores of the Baltic Sea were also used by the Lithuanians as
beach resorts, such as Zandkrug, Schwartz-Art and Palangen (Palanga)
a little town where the Jews would often come in summer in order to
bathe in the sea and rest and find healing for their aches.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE
LITHUANIANS
The Lithuanians, as all the people in Europe at present, are
Aryans, of the Caucasian race, of the Indian-European group of
people. The mother of the Lithuanian language is Sanskrit, the source
of almost all the European languages.
In the distant past the Lithuanian tribes were pushed towards the
north by tribes and peoples, mainly the Slavs; the Lithuanian tribes
were forced to hold on to both sides of the Neman river, a cold and
muddy land, the present Lithuania.
The Lithuanians are slender, slightly above average height, have
blue eyes, flax-colored hair, pale skin and long faces, rather
similar to the Finnish and German type.
The tribes that settled on the heights were called Aukstaiciai,
and the tribes that settled in the west were called Zemaiciai. There
also was a Yotvingiai tribe which settled near Grodna, but this tribe
was pushed away and mingled with the inhabitants of the surrounding
area.
The dialect of the Lithuanians who settled on the heights, became
the cultural-literary language of the Lithuanian people. The
Lithuanians are already mentioned in the chronicles of the beginning
of the 11th century. At the time they lived in tribes and were
pagans. They lived in a primitive lifestyle, but the muddy land and
the forests assisted them in times of war.
Mindaugas was the first king of the Lithuanians. he became
Christian in 1251. He conquered areas of land in White Russia
(Belorussia). After his death his sons inherited his kingdom.
Gediminas, the Great Prince of Lithuania (1316-1341) fought
against the Poles and the German noblemen and won. In those days the
Vilna-Vilnius capital was established. After his death he was
succeeded by his two sons -Algirdas and Kestutis (1345).
Algirdas fought against the Russians and even reached the
Black Sea.
Kestutis fought against the German noblemen and freed the
areas of Lithuania held by them including Kovna (1362). When Algirdas
died he left the regions of Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine to his son
Jogaila.
Yogaila revolted against Kestutis and killed him together with the
German -Teutons in 1382. However, Kestutis' son, Vytautas
renewed the war against Jogaila and won. Jogaila established
relations with Poland, married Jadviga, the Queen of Poland, became a
Christian and was crowned the King of Poland called Vladislav II.
Vytautas became Jogaila's deputy (1392) and ruled over Lithuania.
Vladislav II granted the Polish Boiars and Lithuanian noblemen as
well as the Christian priests special rights.
Vytautas was declared the Great Prince by the Boiars. In
1410 Polish and Lithuanian forces joined ranks and went to war
against the Teutonic Germans, led by Vytautas, who defeated them in
the Greenwald-Tannenberg (Zalgiris) battle.
Vytautas also fought against the Russians, conquered areas of land
and established his rule there. He granted rights to tradesmen and
intellectuals and invited them to come and settle in Lithuania. Among
those who were invited to do so were also Jewish and Karaite
tradesmen. Since that time Jewish settlement in Lithuania grew.
Vytautas died in 1447. After his death the Poles did not observe the
agreement with Vytautas. However, Russian pressure forced the
Lithuanians to take the side of the Poles. The Lithuanian nobility
mingled with the Polish "shlachte" and the Polish language became the
language of the Lithuanian nobility.
In 1569 the Polish and Lithuanian Seimas (parliaments) met in
Lublin and decided to unite Lithuania and Poland - the Lublin
merger -(Lublin Unija) the Lithuanians had no choice but to agree
to this. The "Polish Republic" was set up with a joint parliament, in
which the Poles outnumbered the Lithuanians by three. In the
subsequent years Poland, including Lithuania came under Russian
pressure. From time to time areas were handed over to Russian rule.
Lithuania under Russian rule. In 1795 Lithuania was annexed
to Russia. The Russian Czars were also called the Great Princes of
Lithuania. The official language in Lithuania was Russian and thus
the policy of "Russification" of Lithuania started. Use of Lithuanian
writing was forbidden. Lithuania became the north-western region
of Russia. However, the Lithuanian intelligentsia did not abide
by the Russian decrees and started to strive for national revival. In
1883 a Lithuanian newspaper started to appear in Tilzit (Prussia),
edited by the physician Jonas Basanavicius. The newspaper was sent in
a clandestine way via Yurburg for distribution in Lithuania.
In 1905 during the days of the first revolution in Russia,
Dr. Jonas Basanavicius convened a conference of Lithuanians in Vilna
where it was decided to demand national autonomy for
Lithuania.
In World War I (1914-1918) the Germans conquered Lithuania.
In 1917 a national conference was held in Vilna where the "Council"
(Taryba) was elected headed by Antanas Samtona. The council announced
Lithuania's independence under German patronage and at the advise of
the Germans crowned Wilhelm Urch, the Prince of Wuerttemberg,
King of Lithuania. The King called himself Mindaugas II.
In 1918 the "Red Army" conquered Lithuania and a Soviet
government was set up for Lithuania and Belorussia, However, under
the pressure of the Lithuanians the Russians agreed to grant
Lithuania the right to set up an independent state. Jews also
participated in the negotiations in favor of Lithuania and exerted
considerable influence. That is how the independent state of
Lithuania was established on 16 February 1918.
A short while later the Poles conquered Vilna and the dispute
between Poland and Lithuania continued until World War II.
Klaipda (Memel) was annexed to Lithuania, and here "Seimik"
was established as an expression of partial autonomy. The regime
in Lithuania was democratic. In the first years of Lithuania's
existence the Jews had "national autonomy". The Jews felt they
were full citizens in Lithuania. However, at the end of 1926 a
military upheaval took place - Smetona became the President and Prof.
Voldemaras, head of the nationalist movement, became the Prime
Minister. The constitution was abolished and the "Seimas"
(parliament) was dispersed.
In 1929 Voldemaras was displaced and his extremist-nationalist
group was dismantled.
Antanas Smetona was in fact the sole ruler in Lithuania. The party
supporting the President was the nationalist "Tautininkai" party.
In 1934 Lithuania signed the Baltic agreement with Latvia
and Estonia. In 1938, when Lithuania existed for 20 years a new
constitution was created, ensuring return to the parliamentarian rule
in the country. A new government was formed, but before it started to
function World War II broke out.
In 1939 Poland demanded Vilna be handed over and asked for
diplomatic relations.
Lithuania had to agree to the Polish demands and the border to
Poland was opened. In March that same year Lithuania also had to
agree to the German demand to hand over rule over the Klaipeda
(Memel) region.
1939 was the year of upheavals in Lithuania. On August 23, 1939 it
was agreed in a German-Soviet agreement that Lithuania would be under
German influence, but in that same year, in September 1939, it was
decided by Germany and the Soviet Union that Lithuania become a state
under Soviet influence.
On October 10, 1939 Vilna was returned to Lithuania including a
9000 sq.km. area around the town.
On June 15, 1940 Lithuania was forced to form a regime that was
friendly towards the Soviet Union. When the new government was
formed, headed by I. Paleckis, the Red Army took over Lithuania.
President Smetona fled, the Lithuanian leaders were exiled to
Siberia. The parties were dismantled. A popular Seimas was
elected, 99% of which were Communists. The Seimas unanimously decided
that Lithuania would join the Soviet Union.
When war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union on June
22, 1941 a revolution took place in Lithuania which made it easier
for the Germans to conquer the land. The Germans declared an
independent Lithuania but united it with all the Baltic countries and
Belorussia into an area of land called Ostland, where they
planned to settle Germans. Nevertheless, the Lithuanians took the
side of the Germans, particularly in the help they extended in the
extermination of Lithuanian Jews - till the end of the war.
In July 1944 the Red Army conquered Vilna and in August it took
over Kovna. Klaipeda (Memel) was only conquered in January 1945.
Lithuania was a Soviet Republic, member of the Soviet group of
peoples - up to the present day.
Recently, under the influence of Gorbachev's "Glasnost" the
Lithuanians are asking for more independence, though not yet total
separation. As to the future - who knows?. .
Lithuanian language -writing and literature. For hundreds
of years there was no Lithuanian language-writing and literature.
After Lithuania's merger with Poland, Lithuanian "nobility" was
influenced by the Polish "shlachte". In those days the Lithuanians
did not write in their own language. However, oral literature had
always flourished in Lithuania - folklore, popular songs, stories and
tales. They sang songs to their children in the cradle, during work,
at weddings, holidays and celebrations. The Lithuanian peasants also
had their own folk-dances. Such a popular lyrical song was called
Daina.
The first book to be translated into Lithuanian was the book
written by Father Martinas Mazovidas (1747), and the first original
book to be written in the Lithuanian language was by K. Donelaitis
(1714-1780). The book's contents - songs about the peasants' work
during the year's seasons.
At the same time there were Lithuanian authors and intellectuals -
university graduates - who wrote in Polish and German. One of them
was Adam Mitzkevitz (1798-1855) who, although he wrote in Polish,
created subjects dealing with Lithuania. One of his books of poetry
starts with the words: "Lithuania, my fatherland.. . "
Lithuanians claim that also the philosopher Emanuel Kant
(1724-1804), who lived in Prussia, was a Lithuanian and even
developed a Lithuanian grammar. A street in Kovna was called after
him - Kanto Gatve.
After the Russian occupation (1795) the Lithuanian authors were
influenced by Russian liberal and revolutionary literature.
In the years 1883-1886 the first underground newspaper called
"Ausra" (the dawn) was published and this determined the unified
Lithuanian-literary language.
One of the famous Lithuanian authors, who laid the foundations of
the new Lithuanian literature was Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899).
One of Kudirka's songs - "Lithuania our fatherland" - "Lietuva tevine
musu" was chosen as Lithuania's national anthem.
The authoress Julia Zemaite (1845-1921) described the life
of the peasants in the village. The most famous poet of the
generation of national awakening - rather like our Bialik - was
Maironis (1862-1932). Karova (?) Mickevicius was also greatly
admired (1882-1954).
Lithuanian literature flourished in independent Lithuania until it
was conquered by the Soviet Union (1940). Till today Lithuanian
authors and poets are influenced by the socialist realism common in
the Soviet Union. The socio-cultural changes taking place in the
Soviet Union at present will probably also influence the character
and spirit of Lithuanian literature.
In conclusion we would like to add that the Jews too assisted in
the development of the Lithuanian language (Avraham Kissin and
others) and its literature. Yitzhak Meras, the Jewish-Lithuanian
author, presently lives in Israel and writes in Lithuanian which is
translated into Hebrew.
JEWS IN LITHUANIA
When did the Jews arrive in Lithuania? There are no historic
documents in this respect, but it is most likely that by the 10th
century there were Jews in Lithuania, individuals as well as groups,
who served as brokers and go-between in matters of trade. They
established connections between tradesmen in southern Russia and the
commercial towns on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Jewish immigrants arrived in Lithuania in two ways. The first were
immigrants from the Kaukasus, Krim and southern Russia. The names of
these Jews and their customs resembled those of the Russians. There
were Jews who came from the other direction,
in the days of the crusaders in the 10th-13th centuries, from
western Europe, mainly from Germany. In the days of the crusaders the
German Jews were persecuted and they had to emigrate to the north,
that is how they arrived in Lithuania, where Christianity had not yet
taken root. These Jews brought the Yiddish language along with them,
other names and customs influenced by the Germans. Till now it is
possible to distinguish between the two streams of immigration
according to the color of their skin: the German Jews were light in
color while the Russian Jews were dark skinned. The names were also
different, those who came from Germany carried names such as
Weissberg, Zucker, Sternberg, Grosman etc. Those who came from Russia
were called Ansky, Kaplansky, Rabinov, Ritov etc. Most of them spoke
Russian and a few of them Tatarit. After a couple of hundreds of
years the two streams of immigration merged and became one division.
There was no trace left of the differences. Over the years the merger
created the Jewish type of the special "Litvak" character.
Jews who were not particularly fond of the Litvaks criticized them
and their supporters blessed them. This is how the late Professor
Klausner describes the two groups: "The Lithuanian, i.e. the
Lithuanian Jew, is dry: mind wins over feeling. He is "Mithnaged"
"refuser" and lacks the sparkle and enthusiasm of the "Hassid".
The Lithuanian is clever, sharp-witted and outwits the Polish Jew
and the Podoliholini Jew and, needless to say, the German and
western-European Jew; however, this cleverness has a certain element
of guile, which the Lithuanian uses to cheat the Jews of Poland and
the other countries. The Ashkenazi Jews said the Lithuanian Jew's
fear of God was not deeply rooted and sincere and he was suspected of
concealed heresy and of thinking lightly of religious customs and
obligations.
That is how the Lithuanian was criticized, but even his enemies
recognized his great attributes:
"The Lithuanian is a "Talmid Haham", knows the Torah better than
other Jews and takes his Torah with him wherever he goes. On his many
wanderings, caused by his poverty, he spreads the word of the Bible.
The learned scholars, rabbis, cantors and shamases (caretakers), all
these Jews carrying out the religious duties and included in the name
"kley kodesh" come from this group. The intellectuals and Hebrew
authors come from Lithuania as well, and not only from eastern
Europe, most of the "learned men" and Torah teachers come from
Lithuania,and this applies to western Europe as well as to the United
States."
JEWS IN THE DAYS OF THE KINGS OF LITHUANIA
Under the rule of King Gadiminas the Jews received a bill of
rights ensuring protection of body and property as well as freedom of
trade, craft and religious observation.
The great prince Vytautas brought Jews to Lithuania, tradesmen and
craftsmen, when he fought against the Tatars of the Krim peninsula
and southern Russia. At that time he also brought Karaites, a group
that separated from the Jews, to Lithuania; Vytautas
allowed this tribe to set up a Karaite community in Trakai (1399).
This community exists until today.
In 1495 Alexander Jagelon threw the Jews out of Lithuania and
confiscated their property. However, in 1503, after he was appointed
King of Poland, he allowed them to return and their property was
returned.
When Lithuania and Poland merged into one state, the Lithuanian
"nobility" received the same rights as the Polish "shlachte". The
situation of the Jews did not improve.
In the 16th century the "Committee of the Lithuanian State"
was created in which the main communities were represented by
leaders ("Heads of State") and rabbis. The "Committee of the
Lithuanian State" collected taxes for the requirements of the
communities. In 1633 the Jews received a bill of rights.
Lithuania became known as a Torah center. Students from Poland and
Russia came to the yeshivas there. However, the pogroms of
Hemlenitzky - decrees of (1648-9) - destroyed and annihilated the
Jews of Lithuania. In 1764 the "Committees of the Lithuanian State"
were cancelled and a one-year levy of gold was imposed on every Jew,
from the age of one year old.
In 1795 the Russians conquered Lithuania and Russification of the
population started. The Russians allowed the Jews to attend the
general schools and encouraged them to work on the land and in
industry.
Czar Nicholas I ordered the enlistment of Jewish youngsters [into
the army] and children for 25 years (the "Cantonists"). The children
were brought up in peasant homes in Siberia, in the spirit of
Christianity, while they were totally cut off from their parents and
the Jewish community. Army service was very long. This terrible
decree divided the Jewish community, for the rich people found a way
to set their children free while the poor Jews were forced to carry
out their duty. The "recruitment" of the children was carried out by
Jewish kidnappers who handed them over to the authorities.
When Czar Alexander II came to power in Russia he canceled the
"recruitment" of the children and allowed large traders and
high-school graduates to settle in the large cities, outside the
settlement area. The settlement area was also reduced. The Jews were
ordered to live together in small towns. The Czar wanted to spread
education among the Jews. And indeed, many of them studied and
learned, yet did not mingle with the people of the land. Education
led the younger generation not only to study and get acquainted with
the foreign culture, but also to develop their Jewish-Hebrew culture.
Learned scholars and authors writing in the Hebrew language sprung
up from among the Jews. A Jewish printing house of the " Rom Widow
and Brothers " was opened. A study center for rabbis and teachers was
set up. Indeed, the youngsters made good use of the opportunity to
study and gain an education. The custom of a " government appointed
community rabbi" was established for purposes of registration etc.;
and a rabbi who was a publicly accepted yeshiva graduate.
Under the rule of Alexander III the situation of the Jews got
worse and emigration to western Europe and the U.S.A. increased. At
that time Jews who did not believe in a solution by emigrating from
one Diaspora to another set up the "Hibat Zion" (Love of Zion)
movement, with the aim of emigrating to Eretz Yisrael (the Land of
Israel) and establishing Hebrew settlements there.
*
The first alyiah (immigration) to Eretz Yisrael (the Land
of Israel) started in 1882. The Jews of Lithuania were among the
first to set up settlements for tilling the land. However, many good
youngsters did not chose the way of "Hibat Zion" but devoted their
energy and strength to underground activity against the Czarist
regime.
In 1897 Dr. Herzl convened the representatives of Hovevey Zion
from all the countries to the Zionist Congress - the first Zionist
Congress in Basel. After lengthy debates the Congress decided to
establish the World Zionist Federation, with the following
purpose: "Zionism strives to create a fatherland for the people of
Israel in the Land of Israel as ensured by general rule". Dr.
Benjamin Zeev Herzl was elected President of the World Zionist
Federation. At first, response was minor to the Zionist Federation,
but from one congress to another activities increased, it gained
momentum and created tools for building Jewish settlement in historic
Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). Lithuanian representatives
fulfilled an important task in the congress and subsequent
activities.
The second alyiah (1904-1914) was an immigration of
unmarried working youngsters, unlike the first immigration, when
families arrived with their own financial means.
The Jews of Lithuania showed great sympathy for the activities of
the Zionist Federation. In 1903 Dr. Herzl returned from a visit to
Russia and stopped over at Vilna. He was enthusiastically received by
all the Jews of the town.
In 1905 a revolution took place in Russia. The "Duma"
(Parliament) was elected. The Jews hoped they would be able to
participate in government and that their situation would improve.
However, after a short while the "Duma" was dispersed and hope
abided.
In World War I (1914-1918) the Jews of the Kovna region
were banished to Russia, among them Jews from Yurburg, and only when
the war ended were they allowed to return to their homes in
independent Lithuania. Vilna was conquered by the Poles and Kovna
became their temporary capital. The Jewish population within the
reduced borders of Lithuania numbered about 160,000 people, i.e. over
7% of the total population. In the first years of Lithuania's
independence the Jews attained national-cultural autonomy and
self rule on matters pertaining to the Jews. However, even after the
autonomy was canceled, the Jews were allowed to act in the cultural
spheres. The primary schools were financed by the government, but not
the high schools. The schools in general educated their pupils in a
nationalist-Zionist spirit. And so did the religious schools
("Yavne"), except for a number of Yiddishist schools. There were
large yeshivas as well in Slabodka and Teltz, which were among the
most famous in the world. There was a Hebrew Teachers College in
Lithuania as well - "Tarbuth" - which was recognized by the
government. Furthermore, there was a chair for Hebrew studies at the
Lithuanian university in Kovna, headed by Dr. H.N. Shapira. A few
daily newspapers appeared in Lithuania in Yiddish and Hebrew
periodicals. There was a Hebrew drama studio as well and a Jewish
theater. Hebrew Jewish student organizations were active at the
university. Zionist parties - General Zionists, Youngsters of Zion,
Z.S.I. Workers Movement, the Revisionists and Mizrahi. There were
sports clubs as well for the youngsters - Maccabi, V.A.K.and Hehalutz
and Hehalutz Hatzair, the Scouts, Shomer Hatzair, Beitar, Hamizrahi
youth movement etc.
In the last years the economic situation of the Jews deteriorated.
The Government restricted the tradesmen and forbade them to deal in
import/export business; many of them fell into poverty.
When Vilna was annexed to Lithuania, right before World War II,
the Jewish population numbered about 250,000 people. The Soviet
regime canceled Hebrew education and dismantled the Zionist parties
and Zionist youth movements. Many Zionists and rich Jews and yeshiva
students were exiled to Siberia.
The Holocaust in Lithuania started the moment the Nazi
warriors [soldiers] entered Lithuania. Only few [Jews] managed to
escape. Small communities were destroyed and wiped out by the Nazis
and their Lithuanian helpers, already in the first days of the
invasion; their belongings were taken away and their houses
demolished.
The nationalist Lithuanians organized themselves into "activist
partisans" and helped the Nazis to destroy the small communities.
Only three communities in fact existed for a longer period of time -
Vilna, Kovna and Shavl, where ghettoes were set up for Jews in small
areas. At Ponivezh and Keidan there were only labor camps. The Jews
in the ghetto were forced to wear a yellow badge. The elderly,
children and weak were executed. In Kovna at Fort 7 and 9 and
in Vilna at Ponar. The healthy people in the ghettoes were
sent to forced labor in towns or labor camps. Many were sent to work
in Estonia as well. The living and economic conditions were bad.
The Nazis appointed "Jewish councils" (Eltesten-Rat)at the
ghettoes. In Vilna the council was headed by Yacov Gans, a former
officer in the Lithuanian army and a teacher of Lithuanian at the
Hebrew gymnasium in Yurburg. In Kovna the Eltesten-Rat was headed by
Dr. Elkes and when he died he was replaced by advocate Leib
Garfunkel.
(Dr. Elkes died in Dachau.
Garfunkel was a member of the Eltesten Rat--J.R.)
Underground groups of Jewish youngsters were formed at the ghetto,
they collected arms, went into the woods and operated there as
partisans, in coordination with the
Red Army. There were about 1000 partisan fighters from Lithuania
in the Rudnitski forest.
Thousands of youngsters, who fled to the Soviet Union, joined the
Lithuanian division which fought in the framework of the Red Army
against the Nazis in order to free Lithuania.
*
When the Jewish survivors got together at the end of the war, it
transpired that merely 10,000 had survived, and they were but a small
percentage of the total former Jewish population of Lithuania. At
present most of them live in Vilna and a few in Kovna. There are
synagogues in these towns, but in the present situation there is no
Jewish community life there as yet. A certain revival is taking place
recently among the Jews. A few Jews come on visits to Israel.
Although the gates of exit were opened in Lithuania, there is no
significant movement of immigration to Israel for the time being.
HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF
LITHUANIA
The Jews of Lithuania who had lived in the land of Lithuania for
hundreds of years, lived as in a kibbutz, separated from their
neighbors, the country's citizens. The Jews observed their own way of
life which was founded on the Torah and religious duties. The Jews of
Lithuania had a great and deeply rooted love of the Torah.
The man who personified the rule of Torah, in the mid-18th
century, was Rabbi Eliahu Shlomo-Zalman, called the "Gaon of
Vilna" (1720-1797). "The Gaon of Vilna" and his students, the
"Prushim" considered Torah study a guarantee for the survival of the
nation, although they did not deny that in order to understand Halaha
it was essential to study science. The "Gaon of Vilna" was one of the
greatest philosophers and spiritual leaders of the Jews in the new
era. He headed the Mithnagdim-Prushim" who fought against Hassidism,
because they considered it a deviation from the historical tradition
of the Torah. The "Gaon of Vilna" encouraged the establishment of
"yeshivas" and "kolelim" for Torah study which trained rabbis for the
small and large Jewish communities. The most famous yeshivas in
Lithuania were - Volozhin, Mir, Slabodka, Telzh etc. Rabbi Kook and
Haim Nahman Bialik were among those who studied at Volozhin. In his
poem "Hamatmid" Bialik expresses his love for the Torah and its
studies at the yeshiva.
It is noteworthy that after the death of the "Gaon of Vilna" Rabbi
Menahem Mendel from Shklov came on alyiah to Israel at the head of a
large group of Lithuanians and settled first in Safed and then in the
old city of Jerusalem. That is how the alyiah of the "Prushim" was
able to renew the Jewish-Ashkenazi settlement in Jerusalem.
In the 19th century the Musar (Morality)movement was founded in
Lithuania, at the initiative of Rabbi Israel Salanter (Lipkin)
(1810-1882), who wanted to strengthen rabbinical Judaism by studying
the Musar theory as a barrier against Hassidism and Haskala.
Among the well-known rabbis in those days in Lithuania was the
Rabbi of Kovna, the Gaon Rabbi Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor
(1817-1896), one of the greatest rabbis of his generation. Nahlat
Yitzhak in Tel Aviv is named after him. Torah Judaism under the
leadership of Rabbi Yitzhak Elhanan occupied an important place in
the Lithuanian community.
The Haskalah. In those days the "Berlin Haskalah" started
to spread in the world and in the towns of Lithuania. The rabbis
fought against this phenomenon and warned the Jews of Lithuania
against the negative results of this Haskalah that was strange to the
Jewish spirit. The rabbis warned about Jews assimilating with the
indigenous population, for this was spreading among the German Jews.
However, the gentile education, which was spreading in the
towns of Lithuania was completely different from that in Germany. Not
only did the Haskala not lead to assimilation, but it even
strengthened the love for the Jewish people and its cultural values.
Intellectuals rose up in Lithuania, educated people, authors and
poets - such as - Adam Hacohen Levinson, Micha"l, Yalag (Yehuda Leib
Gordon) and story-tellers such as Kalman Shulman, Avraham Mapu,
Peretz Smolenskin, M.L. Lilienblum, and critics such as A. Kovner,
Paparna and others. The Jews, who were educated at the universities,
spread general culture among the people and raised its standard.
The life of the Jews in Lithuania was reflected in the work of
many writers who were born or lived in Lithuania when they were young
and absorbed the special Jewish experience, such as: Isaac Meir Dick,
Mendele Moher Sefarim ("In Those Days"), Prof. Joseph Klauzner, Ben
Avigdor, Y.H. Brenner, G. Shofman, Zalman Shneur, Yitzhak
Katzenelson, Yacov Cohen, Y.L. Baruch, David Shimoni, A.A. Kabak, H.
Lansky, Avraham Kariv etc. And there were writers who wrote memoirs
about Lithuania, such as A. A. Lisitzky, M. Vilkansky, Hirshbein, D.
Tsherni, Z. Segalowitz, Bergelson, Zvi Visalvsky, M. Ungerfeld and
many many others.
The period between the two World Wars was a time of rejuvenation
for Hebrew and Yiddish literature in Lithuania. From this time we
remember authors, poets and translators such as Haim Nahman Shapira,
the son of the Rabbi of Kovna, who was a lecturer of Hebrew
literature and language at the Lithuanian university.
Dr. Joshua Friedman, Nathan Goren (Greenblat), Israel Kaplan,
Isidor Eliashev (Ba'al Mahshavot), Esther Elyashev, Nave Yitzhak
Gotlieb, Yacov Gotlieb, Zvi Osherowitz, Jehoshua Latzman, Ella
Greenstein-Kaplan, Eliezer Heiman, Noah Stern, Daniel Ben Nahum ,
Yacov David Kamzon, Meir Yelin, Yudika, Sara Eizen, Joseph Gar,
Aharon Goldblat etc. Most of them wrote in Hebrew and some of them in
Hebrew and Yiddish, others wrote only in Yiddish.
In the thirties a group of Hebrew writers "Petah" of the
Shlonsky-Steinman school became known. Among them were: Lea Goldberg,
A.D. Shapira (Shapir Dr), Ari Glazman (among the first to perish in
the Holocaust), Shimon Gans and others.
The following are the publications that appeared at different
times in Hebrew: Hatzofe, Hed-Litha, Netivot, Olameinu, Galim, in
educational paths edited by Dr. Avraham Kissin. This Week (orthodox),
"Ziv", - Hashomer Hatzair- edited by Yacov Gotlieb (Amit) and Daniel
Ben Nahum.
Yiddish literary publications: Vispa, Sleihen, Mir Alein, Toieren,
Better, Ringen, Briken etc.
The daily newspapers - in Yiddish: "Yiddishe Stimme" edited by L.
Garfunkel (first editor), Reuven Rubinstein; "Dos Wort" edited by
Efraim Greenberg and Berl Cohen; "Folksblatt" edited by Dr. Mendel
Sudarsky, Yudel Mark and Helena Chatzkeles; "Yiddisher Leben" -
Agudath Jisrael (short period). In 1940 the newspapers "Yiddishe
Stimme" and "Folksblatt" turned into a newspaper called "Emmes".
Painters and sculptors in Lithuania. We should mention
artists here, born in small towns, whose creations became known in
Lithuania and all over the world - Yitzhak Levitan (Kibart), Mark
Antokolsky and Ayala Gintzberg, Victor Brenner (Shavl), the sculptor
Jaques Lifshitz, the painter and sculptor Zerach William (Yurburg),
the painter and sculptor Baruch Shatz (Vorna) - founder of "Bezalel";
Max Band (Neishtot), Arbitblat and Markus, the painter Yehezkel
Streichman (Sapizishok), who is now a famous painter in Israel, the
painter Abramowitz (in Israel), the paintress Bluma Odes-Ronkin
(Plungian), Zlipher, Yudel Pen (Ezhereni), the sculptress Gurshein
(in Israel), Liova Kansky-Shlatofer (in Israel) and many others, some
of them perished in the Holocaust. We should also mention the name of
Esther Lurie, the painter from the Kovna ghetto.
Hebrew and Yiddish theater. They loved theater in
Lithuania. There was hardly a town without a drama circle.
Performances were usually in Yiddish and at Hebrew schools in Hebrew.
However, real theater at a Yiddish artistic level was not to be found
in Lithuania.
Immediately after World War I (1919) Leonid Sokolov, producer and
actor on the Russian stage, founded a drama group in Kovna, which
performed a few successful plays in Yiddish and Russian. When Sokolov
left Lithuania the group dismantled.
From that time on they limited themselves to performances held by
theater artists who came from abroad, such as Sigmunt Turkov and
Yonas Turkov, who would perform with the assistance of local actors.
The performances took place on the stage of the people's house in
Kovna and also in other towns.
From time to time reading-artists would also come, such as Hertz
Grosbard and Eliahu Goldenberg, who would read literary passages to
the public. The "common people" would fill the hall and be satisfied
with what they heard. It should be remembered that there was a
regular state theater in Lithuania that performed in the Lithuanian
language, attended by quite a few Jews, however, it did not have any
Jewish actors.. . .
A Play with Zalman Lebiush , Chai Saliet (Clara
Petrakansky) and Arie Glazman
Better translation needed - Page 107
The Hebrew Studio. The visits by single actors and theater
groups from Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) (Habima, Ohel)
prompted the Zionist-Hebrew public to set up a Hebrew studio in
Kovna.
Indeed, in 1927 a public committee was set up that founded the
Hebrew drama studio. Members of this committee were Nathan Goren
(Greenblat), Nahum Prachiahu, Dr. Alexander Rosenfeld, Goldfarb, Dr.
Jehoshua Friedman and Nathan Shapira. The "Tarbut" center managed by
Dov Lipetz sponsored and supported the establishment of the studio.
The "studionists" who were accepted to the studio after meticulous
examinations were: Nathan Shapira, Rehavam Mogiliuker, Zalman
Leibush, Haya (Klara) Petrikansky -Glazman, Ari Glazman, Haim
Laikowitz, Hanoch Paz, Baruch Klas, Adina Yudelewitz, Arie Volovitzky
(Ankorion), Zvi Osherowitz, David Milner, Mordehai Gilda, Haviva
Greenstein-Yizraeli, Nehama Meizel, Mrs. Sirkin, N. Gutman, S.Riak
and others. Most of them were students at the Lithuanian university.
The studio's producer was Michael Gur, theater actor in Israel,
who taught drama and acting. Later on Miriam Bernstein-Cohen joined
him as diction teacher.
In 1928 the studio performed the Peretz party with 4
stories: "The Death of the Musician", "Venus and Shulamit," "That's
The Way " and "Moon Stories. " It was a tremendous success. In 1929
the studio performed "Scapin's pranks" by Moliere, a grotesque
play. The public and Jewish press in Lithuania loved the performance.
In 1930 the studio performed "The Tower of Oz" by Ramhal.
Victor Alkaseiwitz Gromov, one of the greatest producers in
Russia, produced the play, which was extremely successful. The next
play was "The Gold Chain" by Peretz produced by Rafael Zvi
from the "Ohel". The public fell in love with the play.
When Rafael Zvi left, some of the actors went to Eretz Yisrael
(the Land of Israel) as well, among them: Zalman Leibush, N.Gutman,
Hanoch Paz, Baruch Klas, Nathan Shapira, Arie Volovitky (Ankorion),
Adina Yudelewitz, Nehama Maizel and Haviva Greenstein-Israeli. In
subsequent years the activities of the studio continued at a slower
pace until the Red Army entered Lithuania which resulted in an
overthrow of the regime. Yiddish was the language used in Hebrew
education in Lithuania and everything connected with it, but this too
was merely a matter of time. In 1941, when the Nazis entered
Lithuania, everything was turned upside down. The studio disappeared,
as did its people, together with all the Jews in Lithuania.
Most of the studio members who had gone to Eretz Yisrael (the Land
of Israel) successfully integrated with the theater groups in Israel,
Zalman Leibush became one of the pillars of the Kameri Theater.
Hanoch Paz and Baruch Klas spearheaded drama culture on the kibbutz
stage. The activities of the studio in Lithuania were not in vain.
The Yoel Engel choir counted 40 singers. Its conductor was
Shaul Blecherowitz. The singer and famous soloist was Yona
Varshavsky. The choir's program included oratorio, cantata and
popular songs in Hebrew and Yiddish. The choir's performances in
Kovna and country towns were an artistic cultural event for the
Jewish population of Lithuania.
The choir was founded by the "Tarbuth" center and supported by the
Kovna municipality and national educational department. The Jewish
public as well as the non-Jews loved the choir.
HEBREW EDUCATION IN LITHUANIA
After World War I the Jews returned from exile in Russia and
established new communities in independent Lithuania. In 1919
minority rights were recognized in Lithuania and the Jews gained
national autonomy. A Ministry of Jewish Affairs was set up, headed by
Dr. Menahem Solovetzik (Solieli) and Shimshon Rozenbaum.
In those days of glory a broad chain of schools was established
for Jewish children. About 60-70% of the schools belonged to the
"Tarbuth" trend, i.e. they were national-Zionist secular schools in
the Hebrew language. More than 30-40% of the schools belonged to two
other trends. One of them - Agudath Israel - "Yavne", where studies
were conducted in Hebrew.
Nearly 15-20% of the schools belonged to the "Kultur-Liga" trend
where all studies were conducted in Yiddish. These schools were
supported by the anti-Zionist "Folks-Partei" (the Folksists) and the
"Liebhober fun Wissen" company.
The fact that at over 80% of the schools studies were conducted in
Hebrew was quite wonderful, for this was neither the mother tongue
nor the language spoken in the area. Nevertheless, the experience was
successful in spite of all the problems. The Hebrew school thrived on
ground imbibed with the spiritual tradition of Torah and Haskalah.
The Jewish kindergartens were private institutions and were
not supported by the government.
The primary schools -first 4 years and then 6 years of
study - were governmental. The government subsidized wages to the
teachers, and local authorities, municipalities etc., subsidized
maintenance expenses for the schools (buildings, janitors etc.).
The pro-gymnasia (5th and 6th grade) were private. The
parent committees were in charge of their maintenance.
The gymnasia (14 years of study including kindergarten)
were the backbone of Hebrew education in Lithuania. At 9 points of
settlement there were 11 gymnasia, as follows: Kovna (5), Shavl,
Ponivezh, Mariampol, Virbaln, Vilkovishk, Vilkomir, Rasein and
Yurburg. These were private institutions at the expense of the
parents committees. Diplomas were signed by representatives of the
government education department.
The Yiddish trend had 2 gymnasia - one in Kovna (Kommertz) and the
other in Vilkomir.
"Yavne" had 4 gymnasia. They too were private institutions, as the
others. The "heders" were dismantled by virtue of the compulsory
education law. The "yeshivas" were private and existed in Slabodka (2
large yeshivas and smaller ones in Telzh and Ponivezh). In addition
to these schools there was a professional school in Kovna, "ORT",
which was of a high level.
Teachers colleges. From 1921 the "Tarbuth" center conducted
two-year teachers colleges. At first the teachers were "yeshiva"
graduates and from 1927 high-school graduates.
A Hebrew college for kindergarten teachers was held in Riga
(Latvia) and belonged jointly to the three Baltic countries. The
"Yavne" trend had a teachers and kindergarten teachers college in
Telzh, and the Yiddish trend had an annual kindergarten teachers
college in Kovna. The parents carried the heavy burden of the
educational enterprise, but the Jews of Lithuania managed very well,
and they deserve all the credit for this.
Public library. There was hardly a Jewish settlement in
Lithuania without a public library or two libraries in Hebrew and
Yiddish. There were over 110 libraries in Kovna and country towns and
about 120 libraries next to the schools. The Hebrew readers were
mainly youngsters, students of the Hebrew schools. There were quite a
few readers among the older generation as well.
The residents of Kovna were proud of a large Hebrew library called
"Avraham Mapu" with a spacious reading room next to it, where those
who were interested could peruse a Hebrew book or read Hebrew
newspapers.
There was also a Yiddish library in Kovna of the "Liebhober fun
Wissen" company. Most Hebrew books printed in Lithuania were study
books and but a few were poetry books or novels. The "Tarbuth" center
founded the "Ezra" cooperative which sold books at reduced prices.
VISITS BY WRITERS, ARTISTS AND ZIONIST
LEADERS
The visit of a writer, artist or Zionist leader was a festive
occasion in Kovna and the country towns. The halls were hardly large
enough to hold the numbers of interested people.
Among the stage artists we shall mention the visits by "Habima",
"Ohel" and actors who came separately, such as Refael Klatzkin, David
Vardi and Hava Yoelit, Michael Gur, Miriam Bernstein Cohen, Amitai
and others.
The national poet Haim Nahman Bialik visited Lithuania twice and
admired the Hebrew schools and their pupils who spoke Hebrew just as
well as native Israelis. The writers Shaul Chernihovsky, Zalman
Shneur, Eliezer Steinman and Yitzhak Lamdan, whose cultural origins
were to be found in Lithuania, were most impressed by the Lithuanian
Jews and their Hebrew-cultural level.
Among the Zionist leaders who visited Lithuania we shall mention
M.M. Usishkin,
David Ben Gurion, Zeev Jabotinsky, Nahum Sokolov, Berl
Katzenelson, Nathan Bistritzky, Leib Yaffe, Yehiel Halperin,
Alexander Goldschmidt and Zvi Zohar.
Furthermore, there were emissaries who came to train the members
of the youth movements and for fundraising for the building of Eretz
Yisrael (the Land of Israel).
THE YOUTH MOVEMENTS
The Hebrew schools scored tremendous achievements in the field of
education. However, these impressive achievements of the schools had
a junior partner - the youth movement. The blessed activities of the
youth movements, in nationalist-Zionist education, complemented the
ideological-educational activity of the schools. Study hours at the
schools were limited and it was impossible to find time to install
nationalist-Zionist values. This is where the youth movement stepped
in and taught their members lofty ideals. The movement's activities
took place in an educational environment - the club. At the youth
clubs the vision of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) was created
and its establishment as a fatherland for the people. The aim obliged
the members to toil each day for its realization. That accounted for
the activity on behalf of the Jewish National Fund, fundraising for
the purchase of land to make the desert bloom.
That is why there was a blue box at home and that is why funds
were raised for the realization of the Zionist dream.
An atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) was created at
the youth clubs, the members spoke Hebrew and prepared themselves for
training and going on alyiah to the pioneer village, the kibbutz. The
story of the youth movement is a wonderful story, full of the
majestic splendor of the boys and girls whose lives, regretfully,
were lost too soon, following the tragic events of the Holocaust.
The following are the youth movements that were active in
independent Lithuania between the two World Wars: Hashomer Hatzair
(59 branches - 3200 members); Hashomer Hatzair Hatzofi Halutzi
(34 branches, 1350 members); Hehalutz Hatzair (15 branches
- 1000 members); Beitar (38 branches - 1500 members);
Gordonia (32 branches - 700 members); Hanoar Hatzioni
(4 branches - 155 members); Noar Halutzey Hamishmar (129
members), Noar Z.S. (Eretz Yisrael Haovedet) - details are
missing.
Sports organizations: "Maccabi"; "Hapoel" and "Hakoah";
I.A.K.-Yiddisher Atletik Club.
Students organizations: Beitaria (90); Herzliya
(38); Yardenia (80); Al Hamishmar (129 members);
Noar Z.S. (Eretz Yisrael Haovedet) - details are missing.
(The above data are derived from "The Book of
Lithuanian Jewry" - according to registration from 1931).
LITHUANIAN JEWS' CONTRIBUTION TO ERETZ
YISRAEL (THE LAND OF ISRAEL)
The Lithuanian Jews' love of Eretz Yisrael was deeply rooted and
was reflected in study of the Torah, prayers and yearning for
redemption. From the alyiah of the "Gara" students -the
Mithnagdim-Prushim in the 18th century, the Lithuanian Jews'
spiritual ties with Eretz Yisrael grew. Among the "Gera" students
were people of mind and matter, such as the Rivlin and Salomon
families, who set up new neighborhoods around the old city of
Jerusalem and agricultural settlements all over the country.
When many new immigrants had problems they set up a financial
enterprise - the Rabbi Meir Ba'al Hanes fund - in support of the Jews
in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel).
Following the alyiah of the Gera students, other immigrants
started to come, initially very slowly, who decided to expand
settlement of the country. These were the of the well-known Kalisher
Rabbis, Alkalai and Shmuel Mohliver, from Lithuania, after whom
kibbutz "Gan Shmuel" is named.
Before the Shivat Zion movement was formed, Eliezer Ben Yehuda
(Perlman) came from Lithuania and he enthusiastically spread the
Hebrew word. Young people, mostly students in Russia, founded Bilu -
Beth Yacov Lehu veNelha (Isiah II: 5), and they went to Eretz Yisrael
(the Land of Israel) in order to make the desert bloom; among these
olim were Biluim from Kretingen in Lithuania, Horabin, among the
founders of Gedera and its head.
Other Biluists spread out all over the country and devoted their
efforts to settlement.
That is how the first alyiah started. About 10-15 agricultural
settlements were established, many of them by Lithuanian immigrants
assisted by Baron Edmond Rothschild.
When the Zionist Federation was founded by Dr. Benjamin Zeev
Herzl at the first Zionist Congress in Basel (1897) influential
representatives from Lithuania took part, and one of them - a Jew
from Erzhvilki near Yurburg - Prof. Zvi Shapira made a practical
proposal at the Congress to establish the "Jewish National Fund" for
redemption of land and settlement. Herzl's faithful assistant, David
Wolfson, is the man Herzl describes in his book "Altneuland" as its
central character - the "man from Litvak".
After Herzl's death (1904) the"man from Litvak", David Wolfson,
was elected second President of the World Zionist Federation
(kibbutz "Nir David" is named after him).
Many youngsters from Lithuania took part in the second alyiah
(1904-1914) - the workers' alyiah - they were Hebrew workers and laid
the foundations of a new way of life - the kibbutz - "Degania" (M.
Busel). They also founded the Hashomer organization (Israel Shochat,
Alexander Zeid and others).
Later on, in the third alyiah (1918-1924), of the pioneers, the
pioneers from Lithuania were among the founders of the "Gdud
Ha'avoda", drained the swamps, paved the roads and settled in the
Jizrael valley.
In the fourth alyiah (1924-1929) the Jews from Lithuania
contributed towards the building of Tel Aviv and industrial
development; By the way, the founder of Tel Aviv and its living
spirit was Akiva-Arie Weiss, from Lithuania. Then there was Avraham
Krinitzi, among the founders of Ramat Gan, and its mayor for many
years. And Zerach Brandt as well, who was among the founders of
Petach Tikva.
In the fifth alyiah (1929), the last before World War II, many
wanted to go on alyiah from Lithuania, old and young, but the hostile
mandate authorities prevented them from doing so. The few who came on
alyiah were members of the pioneer youth movements, who went to till
the land; they set up tens of "Homah uMigdal" ("Tower and Stockade")
settlements and guarded and protected in the days of the bloody
clashes and in the World War against the Nazi enemy.
The Jews of Lithuania contributed and left their mark on all
spheres of life and creation in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel);
on each clod of land that was redeemed, on each stone that was
upturned, and each settlement that was erected.
When the State of Israel was born, only a small part of the Jews
of Lithuania were fortunate enough to fulfill their dream. Those who
came from Lithuania and settled in Israel, took place in the building
and establishment of the State - its institutions, government,
science, defense, law, economy, culture and education.
It is a great pity and to be regretted that many people from
Lithuania who yearned to witness the creation of the State of Israel
and to live there - did not have the good fortune to do so. May their
memory live on forever in the work and creation of the Lithuanian
Jews in Israel.
Zevulun Poran
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