IT’S THE LITVAKS KAUNASTIC OF SLOBODKA THE

PEOPLE Danielius Pomerancas

17 ABRAHAM MAPU 21 DANIELEphraim POMERANZ Oshry (1808-1867) (1904–1981) AND MOISHE Abraham Mapu, born in Slobodka, , is HOFMEKLER (1898–1965) considered the first Hebrew novelist. It’s probably true that he wrote his novels about life in ancient The two musicians were the leaders of the hottest Israel in a gazebo on the hill, making the orchestras of the interwar Kaunas. Both of them district a popular yet romantic getaway destina- were imprisoned in Kaunas ghetto, where, together tion for later generations of in Kaunas. The with a few dozen of likeminded artists, they es- books of Mapu library on Ožeškienės g., established tablished an orchestra. The daughter of Pomeranz in 1908, were lost during . The Mapu was saved from the Ghetto by the family of Kip- street in the Old Town received its name in 1919 – it ras Petrauskas, the famous interwar opera singer Medžiai was changed during the Soviet occupation, but the and only reunited with her family decades later. correct version was implemented again in 1989. Both Pomeranz and Hofmekler were transferred to What’s today a youth literature and music library Dachau and both continued their musician careers on A. Mapu g. 18 was built as a Jewish community after the war. Pomeranz finally emigrated to Cana- canteen at the beginning of the 20th century and da, and Hofmekler settled in Munich, Germany. later used as headquarters for theEPHRAIM Jewish Inde- OSHRY pendence Fighters Union and the editorial office of “Apžvalga” newspaper. In the courtyard(1914–2003) of A. Mapu 22 ELCHANAN ELKES g. 20, a statue of the writer designed by Martynas Gaubas was erected in 2018. (1879–1944) Born into a rabbi family in Kalvarija, Elchanan Elkes worked as a personal doctor of the German 18 AVRAHAM TORY ambassador in Kaunas for many years. He also healed people in the Bikur Cholim hospital. In (1909-2002) 1941, he was elected as the Head of the Judenrat Born as Avraham Golubas in Lazdijai, Tory emigrat- in the Kaunas Ghetto and, accepting it with great ed to the US only to come back in 1933 and receive a reluctance, did all he could to save as many lives as law degree in the Kaunas university and later work possible. In 1944, Elkes died in Landsberg, a sub- there. In the Kaunas Ghetto, he, serving as secretary camp of Dachau, after a hunger strike as he refused THE LITVAK of the Jewish Council of Elders, wrote a meticulous to participate in the “selections”. diary detailing three years of Nazi rule. The journal was later used as evidence in war crimes trials “Let the truth be always before you and under your “I am hiding in this crate what I have written, feet. The truth will guide you and show you the LANDSCAPE noted and collected, with thrill and anxiety, so that it path of life”, he wrote in one of his last letters to may serve as material evidence accusing testimony his son Joel and daughter Sarah. His wife Miriam when the Day of Judgment comes”, he wrote in the survived Stutthof and moved to Israel after the war. notebooks before burying them. Tory escaped the His son who had left in 1930 to study in This map is a more detailed part of The Litvak Landscape, a route ghetto with his future wife, Pnina Sheinzon, and London was one of the most important researchers managed to recover the hidden notebooks after the in the field of schizophrenia in the 20th century. war. His book “Surviving the Holocaust: The Kovno covering Kaunas as a whole. The long-running project aims to Ghetto Diary” was first published in Hebrew in 1998. connect pictures and names, buildings and their residents, Litvaks 23 RAV ZALMAN OSOVSKY and Lithuanians, the past and the present – and it’s also inviting to 19 ESTHER LURIE The white-tiled house next to the bus stop on Jurbarko g. is where the Rabbi of Slobodka, Zalman collaborate in the future. It’s a map mixing different chapters and (1913-1998) Osovsky, very popular among the youth, lived. On layers of the history of Kaunas that’s open for improvements and Born in Liepaja, , the artist Esther Lurie emi- the of June 26th, 1941, during the Kaunas grated to Palestine in 1934 but continued to return , a gang led by Jonas Klimaitis came into Vilijampolės žydų kapinės further investigations. to the Baltic States to exhibit her works. The 2nd the house and cut off Osovski’s head. They then put Kalnų g. / Lopšelio g. Slabados Ješiva World War broke out while she was in Lithuania. it into the window for everyone to see. Panerių g. 51 VILIJAMPOLĖS DIDŽIOJI SINAGOGA Demokratų aikštė GETO TARYBOS PASTATASThe (neišlikęs) artist survived the Kaunas Ghetto and Stutthof concentration camp, and so did her works created Neries krantinė, ties „Dailės“ verslo centru Vytenio g. / Demokratų g. Varnių g. 49 during the time in the Ghetto. The drawings were saved by Avraham Tory. One of the many drawings she did was the one of the Kaunas Ghetto Gate. The artist returned to Israel in July 1945.

20 TOURISM INFORMATION (1914–2003) “KAUNAS IN“ Oshry was one of the few European rabbis to survive the Holocaust. During his time in the Kaunas Ghetto and concentration camp, he wrote a response Rotušės a. 15, Kaunas regarding the Holocaust which he buried and later +370 616 50991 retrieved. His book, “The Annihilation of Lithu- anian Jewry”, relates in detail how the Jews were [email protected] murdered by Nazis and their Lithuanian collabora- visit.kaunas.lt tors and also reflects the spiritual life in the ghetto. After the war, he opened a yeshiva for orphans in #kaunastic #visitkaunas #kaunas2022 Rome and two yeshivas in New York.

GETO TILTAS (neišlikęs) Sąjungos aikštė SLABADOS JEŠIVOS KANCELIARIJA Radvilų dvaro g. (per Panerių gatvę) GETO VARTAI VAIKŲ NAMAI Kernavės g. / Panerių g. Linkuvos g. / A. Kriščiukaičio g. GETO KAPINĖS (dabar vaikų reabilitacijos ligoninė „Lopšelis“) Neries krantinė/Varnių g. THE KAUNASLopšelio g. 10 GHETTO FROM SLOBODKA

Around 37 thousand Jews lived in Kaunas before the second world TO VILIJAMPOLĖ war. Only about 3000 of them survived. The Kaunas Ghetto was officially established on August 15th, WELCOME TO VILIJAMPOLĖ, A HISTORICAL 1941, a couple of months after the during which DISTRICT IN KAUNAS. IT OFFICIALLY BECAME PART approximately 800 people were killed. 10 thousand people from OF THE CITY IN 1919. FOR MANY YEARS, IT WAS the ghetto were murdered in the on October 29th of CALLEDMAŽOJO “SLOBODKA”. GETO PIRMOJI ŽYDŲ THIS NAME DERIVES FROM TALMUD TORA APŽVALGOS AIKŠTELĖthe same year. The ghetto was turned intoIX aFORTAS concentration camp Neries krantinė, už tilto Žemaičių pl. 73 INFEKCINĖ LIGONINĖ Tvėrių g. 23 A. Krikščiukaičio g. 12 B. VOLFO ALAUS BRAVORAS in Autumn 1943. It was burned in July 1944. Around 5000 people A SLAVIC A.WORD Goštauto g. 36 “SLABADA” WHICH MEANT A Radvilėnų dv. 2A Pastatytas XIX a. pab. – XX a. pradžioje. were transferred to concentration camps, and only a few hundred VILLAGE FREE FROM SERFDOM. THE FIRST OFFICIAL managed to escape. MENTIONING OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WAS FOUND IN DOCUMENTS DATING 1663 – “SLOBODA It was one of the longest-running ghettos in Lithuania. It was WILIAMPOLSKA”. THIS IS AROUND THE SAME TIME probably one of the most photographed one in Europe. The archives of the Kaunas ghetto Jewish police are kept in the Central State WHEN THE FIRST JEWS MOVED HERE, AS IT WAS Archive of Lithuania. FORBIDDEN FOR THEM TO SETTLE IN THE CITY. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD EXPERIENCED FAST GROWTH IN THE 19TH CENTURY.

PUBLISHED: 2018

Esther Lurie Emma Goldman Ephraim Oshry Avraham Tory Abraomas Mapu Rabinas Zalmanas Osovskis Elchanas Elkesas Danielius Pomerancas

Moišė Hofmekleris . Josvainių g . Varnių g Tytuvėnų g . 55 54 15 46 21 8 9 11 Varnių g 7 . 16 6 . 12 5 13 22 6 Bartuvos g Jonavos g.

. 8 . 20 THE Bijūnų g K. Griniaus g 18 GETO KAPINĖS Šilalės g Neries krantinė/Varnių g. Žalioji g. Šilalės g . A. Stulginskio g Aušros g.

. Panerių g. .

Naujakurių g 12 g Linkuvos Linkuvos Žemaičių g. NERIS A. Stulginskio Goštautųg g . 2 PLACES . 42 40 Jonavos g. Savanorių pr. Sąjungos a. . V. Putvinskio g. Radvilų Dvaro 35 A. Mackevičiaus g. 10 1 THE GHETTO GATE . . Linkuvos g. / A. Kriščiukaičio g. . Kelmės g . Kalnų g 1 rantinės g 37 Neries k Radastų g. On 15 August 1941 the 2 sq. km territory of Kaunas . Benediktinių g. E. Ožeškienės g. Kauko al. . ghetto was fenced with barbed wire and isolated. . Šv. Gertrūdos g. 3 Dangės g 15 g 13 The most important department of the ghetto, the 41 A. Jakšto g. os g . K. Donelaičio g. v

Labour Department, was established at the gate. 45 26 A. Mickevičiaus g. Tilžės g Kalnų g. 16 A. Mackevičiaus g. 4 Its employees received orders from the Nazi powers 52 Vilijampolės žydų kapinės Erdvilo g. Jona . Kalnų g. / Lopšelio g. . Sąjungos a. K. Donelaičio g. Kėdainių g Lampėdžių g. M. Mažvydo and divided the tasks between the prisoners of the Gedimino g. Papilio g. Radvilų Dvaro Panerių g. 48 ghetto. Šv. Gertrūdos g. Kumelių g. 36 g 50 In 2018, Vytenis Jakas, a Kaunas-based artist and Tilžės g 38 56 . 57 . Maironio g. 32 Lopšelio g 22 M. Valančiaus g. Erdvilo g. founder of the celebrated Backyard Gallery, present- Parodos g. Lampėdžių g. g Laisvės al. ed an idea for the run-down building that once was . . 59 Tilžės g . the Labour Department. With an artistic interven- A. Mapu g. . 14 Laisvės al. 4 tion called “Burning Stones”, Jakas aims to enhance 58 33 30 . Radvilų Dvaro 24 Raudondvario pl. Jūros g GETO TILTAS (neišlikęs) the ghetto gate memorial and to add some positive 60 J. Gruodžio g. Radvilų dvaro g. (per Panerių gatvę) 28 Kėdainių g 23

emotional connotations, as well as emphasise the Vilniaus g. g Nemuno g. Linkuvos meaning of the Lithuanian point of view to the im- Vilniaus g. Tilžės g 44 Rotušės a. 25 g . J. Naujalio g. 27. portance of Jewish cultural and historical legacy. 53 . Degtukų g Raudondvario pl. D. Poškos g. Ariogalos . . Kęstučio g. tinės g

Birštono g. an

29 Maironio g. Aleksoto g. Muitinės g. r Kęstučio g. 2 TALMUD TORAH 49 g T. Daugirdo g. M. Daukšos g. Kurpių g. . The red brick building, Neries kr. Panerių g. ies k

Smalininkų g. Kernavės L. Zamenhofo g. 1 Education has always been crucial in Jewish com- Nemuno g. Ner Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. Raudondvario pl. munities – in fact, it was a common concern. I. Kanto g. g Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. A. Kriščiukaičio g . GETO VARTAI 20 . Druskininkų g. Vežėjų g. Linkuvos g. /19 A. Kriščiukaičio g. Boys as young as 3 or 4 would be sent to private . 18 os g

A. Mickevičiaus g. religious schools called cheders. The Slobodka 5 DaukantoS. g. v os g Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. Miško g. V Gedimino g. cheder – Talmud Torah – was financed by the eliuonos g . Vidurinė g. Jona ast community so that kids from poor families could Mokyklos g. NEMUNAS Br NEMUNAS Vytauto pr. inės g also receive an education. After graduating from . 2 k P. K 23 er alpoko g Talmud Torah, one would either learn a craft or M . . continue religious studies in a Beth Midrash and Jur 7 2 bar . g. Trakų later yeshiva. ko g džių g vos g . 3 ia Lišk Gruz

3 GREAT SYNAGOGUE OF 39 Rabinas Zalmanas Osovskis K upišk T 31 14 . elšių g VILIJAMPOLĖ (demolished) Brastos g 47 . . inės g io g Neris riverside (near “Dailė“ business P. V k Jurbarko g. er V ileišio tiltas 22 . . centre) Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. M ar Brast 51 ėnos g . Mosheand Avraham Soloveichik, sons of Rabbi os g. . 17 Vytauto pr. Bažnyčios g. astos g . . Isaac, built a synagogue – most probably designed Br . Žalioji g ackevičiaus g šnių g . by an Italian architect – on the right bank of Vy A. M NEMUNAS os g 11 v Raseinių g Neris river in the second half of 18th century. It’s 17 1Karo Ligoninės g. 10 thought that the tsar government wouldn’t allow 21 Jona to rebuilt the synagogue when it was destroyed by Danielius Pomerancas Abraomas Mapu 1 fire at the end of the 19th century. Even though Šiaulių g. Kaunakiemio g. there were no restrictions for building synagogues . . in the interwar period, and historians teamed up 34 14iaušiųGHETTO g BRIDGE (demolished with architects on offering to restore this one, it . Kr Radvilųackevičiaus dvaro g. g (across Panerių street) vos g 22 1 . was utterly demolished after 1930. A. M V Jona ių pr . Putvinskio g. Moišė Hofmekleris Elchanas Elkesas More than 30 000 people were imprisoned in the .

anor g 14 av . 2 sq. km. sized ghetto. It wasS separated to the o . . i 4 SĄJUNGOS SQUARE lų g main19 ghetto and the small ghetto (liquidated in n o

. ienės g r 11 OBSERVATIONBenediktinių DECK g amink 43 i P October 1941) – the two were connected by a bridge a At the end of the 19th century, a Catholic ceme- vos g 11 žešk Tvėrių g. 23 over Panerių 9street. . O M tery was established in what today is Sąjungos Jona 30 . E square. In 1929, when Vilijampolė was already part 14 16 Stop at the historic Žemaičiai road on your way . . Šv g K. D . G ackevičiaus g onelaičio g of Kaunas, a renowned architect Edmundas Fry- g er . trūdosto the g Ninth Fort. There’s an observationA.M deck on 15 s . ORPHANAGE .

. o

g . i kas prepared its development plan. Three hous- 6 s the Milikoniai hill that offers a comprehensive (Currently Children Rehabilitation . GHETTO CEMETERY s

ienės g o g ių pr o ing blocks were proposed in the territory of the r - Neris riverside / Varnių g. g view of the city of Kaunas, including the former 6 Hospital) ešk o i

ž e . . ano 1 P umelių i apilio g v O n square, but later it was decided to grow a park. All g g territory of Kaunas Ghetto. Can you point the 15a . p . o Lopšelio g. 10 o K S E i

a r . A cemetery was a necessity inside the Kaunas r i .

S of the ideas were cancelled due to WW2. On Sep- io a ghetto gate or the DemokrataiŠ square? a ghetto because a lot of people died from 9 v. Gertrūdos g tember 17, 1941, the prisoners of the Kaunas ghetto 9 EIGHTH FORT . In the 1940s, Petras Baublys served as the general M were called to the square. Their fates were not de- diseases or famine; fires were a common fatali- manager of an orphanage, located in the same part Pryšmančių g. apu g cided on that particular day, but on September ty. The ghetto cemetery was established in 1941. 12 B. VOLFAS BREWERY of Kaunas as the ghetto. Between 1942 and 1944, the

8 M.Daukšos Radvilų dvaro g. 2A The final chapter of their history was written in .Jablonsk 26 the people again were forced into the square. 8 NINTH FORT One more stop before the Ninth Fort would A.M orphanage was used as a temporary place of ref-

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1978 when a bridge over the Neris river was built. Žemaičių pl. 73 Gimnazijos g 1000 of them were taken to the 9th fort and killed be the Eight Fort. As the name suggests, it’s In 1953, a local merchant Rafail Volf became a pi- uge for Jewish children before they were moved to by shooting. 888 single graves were discovered at that time, also part of the that was de- safer locations. Tens of babies were admitted into as well as a mass grave. Some of the graves were In 1882, the started to build a first- oneering brewer in the West of Russian Empire, as class fortress complex in Kaunas. The Ninth Fort was signed in the 19th century, when Kaunas was he opened a brewery that ran on a steam engine. the orphanage while only a few trusted members transferred to the Aleksotas Jewish cemetery. part of Russian Empire (more on it below). of the staff were aware of the activities. Baublys, 5 A memorial stone marking the place of the ghetto finished in 1913. It was practically undamaged during His son Iser Ber Volf took over the business, and DEMOKRATŲ SQUARE After decades of neglecting, the fort is finally his name became the brewery name. Together a gifted and very popular pediatrician, tragically Vytenio g. / Demokratų g. cemetery was opened on July 15th, 1994. the WWI. From 1924 on, the Ninth Fort was used as the Kaunas City prison. During the Soviet occupa- receiving attention from the local community and with Engelman, the legacy of Volf remains vital in died in a plane crash in 1973 and was posthumously On October 28th, 1941, on the site where a grocery tion of 1940-1941, it was used to house political pris- the Kaunas team of Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union. contemporary Kaunas and is visible in the name recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1977. store stands today, a mass selection took place. It oners before they were transferred to forced labour of one of the largest breweries in the country A memorial plaque was installed on the hospital 7 GHETTO building on Lopšelio g. where the orphanage once later became known as “The Big Action”. Each and camps. During the Nazi occupation, the area near 10 THE FIRST JEWISH every prisoner of the Kaunas ghetto was ordered ADMINISTRATION the fort was a place of mass murder. At least 50 thou- was. HOSPITAL OF THE SMALL 13 SLOBODKA YESHIVA to stand in the square early in the morning. The (demolished) sand people, mostly Jews taken from the Kaunas Panerių g. 51 selection divided the people either to the left or BUILDING Ghetto, were killed here by Nazis and local collabo- 16 Currently Varnių g. 38 GHETTO (demolished) HISTORIC JEWISH to the right. Those on the right went home in the rators. A museum was established here in 1958. A 32 Currently Goštautų g. 4 The Slobodka Yeshiva was opened in 1882 by Rabbi evening. Those on the left – around 9200 men, m high memorial to the victims of Nazism, designed Nosson Tzvi Finkel. Around 300 students studied CEMETERY The Ghetto administration (Judenrat) was re- Kalnų g. / Lopšelio g. women and children – were moved to the 9th fort sponsible for the errands of the ghetto, such as by Alfonsas Vincentas Ambraziūnas, The prisoners of Kaunas ghetto believed in here in the turn of the centuries. A 1924 proclama- the next morning and killed by shooting. relocating, catering, healthcare, education, em- Baravykas and Vielius, was erected here in the power of spiritual resistance. Schools and tion requiring enlistment in the military or ad- The oldest cemetery in Kaunas dates back to the ployment etc. The administrators paid a lot of 1984. Today, The Ninth Fort museum contains col- workshops operated, as well as a local orchestra. ditional secular studies in the Yeshiva led a large 18th century. In the 19th century, some of the There is no memorial plaque in this place. In 2017, attention to the productivity of prisoners, as they lections of historical artefacts related both to Soviet Of course, a hospital, too – in a wooden two-storey number of students in the Slobodka Yeshiva to gravestones were used for building the Kaunas Jenny Kagan, a British artist, presented her way of believed the ghetto wouldn’t be liquidated as long atrocities and the Nazi genocide, as well as materials building. The Nazi soldiers executed all of the relocate to Palestine. The Slobodka Yeshiva ceased fortress. The graveyard was eradicated in 1952, commemorating the Big Action as part of the Kau- as it would be beneficial to the Nazis. Elchanan related to the earlier history of Kaunas and Ninth patients and personnel by arson – the doors of the operation during the first Soviet occupation. Its during the Soviet occupation. Some of the graves nas Biennial. She provided the shop with plastic Elkes was elected as Head of the Judenrat; Avra- Fort. In 2003, a copy of a bas-relief in Venice ghetto hospital were kept locked. Head of the hospital new building had been just finished but was never were moved to Aleksotas Jewish cemetery, and the bags – some of them had the word “left” written ham Tory was the secretary. You can find both of by Arbit Blatas was donated to the museum by the Dr Moses Brauns remained alive by some miracle. used for the original reason. Instead, the Soviets remaining gravestones were destroyed. Two mon- on them, some had “right”. their stories below. Kaunas-born artist’s widow. A memorial stone was placed here in 1994. opened a sewing factory there after the war. uments mark the place of the former cemetery.