Category Archives: Yizkor Book

Recalling those who survived the Keidan massacre

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Andrew

By Aryeh Leonard Shcherbakov Preface When talking of the Jews of Keidan, the first who naturally come to mind are those who were murdered: our grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins lying in the mass grave on the outskirts of town. … Continue reading →

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Memories of My Teachers

Posted on May 26, 2020 by ACassel

By Meyer Yitzhak Edelman Originally published by the Keidaner Assn of New York, 1930.  1. My first rebbe was Noach Reubens, who taught the youngest children. He lived on the northwest corner of the marketplace by German Street. The cheder … Continue reading →

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Hirshel Bloshtein, Yiddish Poet

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Andrew

By Monty Starr (Birmingham, UK) Hirshel Bloshtein 1895-1978 My mother’s uncle was the well-published Yiddish author Hirshel Bloshtein. Hirshel lived in Czernowitz from 1932 until his death in 1978. Hirshel was born in Kėdainiai, Lithuania to Dovid Bloshtein, a poor … Continue reading →

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My Brother

Posted on March 11, 2020 by ACassel

By Hirsh Bloshtein First published in the anthology “Horizons” in Moscow in 1965. (“Composed after the author’s visit to the mass grave in Keidan.”) Reprinted in the 1977 Keidan Yizkor Book.  “In memory of my brother, Mane-Yosl, the wonderful storyteller.“  … Continue reading →

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Mama

Posted on March 11, 2020 by ACassel

By David Wolpe From the 1977 Keidan Yizkor Book.  Nineteen forty-one. May In Lithuania the sun is molten with red lead   Father says, with sadness in his face, that Mother, unfortunately, is lying in hospital   I waited not … Continue reading →

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Keidan, My Town

Posted on March 11, 2020 by ACassel

By Nathan Berger (Meyer Yanusevers) Originally published (in Yiddish) in the 1950 anniversary booklet of the Keidaner Society of Johannesburg. Reprinted in the 1977 Keidan Yizkor Book.  With simple words, in a few score lines I will set down, to … Continue reading →

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A Flag Comes Home After 16 Years

Posted on March 8, 2020 by ACassel

Originally published in “Israel Horizons” magazine, Dec. 1956. Miracles can happen even to a flag. Recently, the flag of Gdud Maapilim, of Ken Keidani of Hashomer Hatzair, was brought to Israel, the only flag of the Lithuanian youth movement to … Continue reading →

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In Pursuit of the Murderers

Posted on March 2, 2020 by ACassel

Excerpts of letters from Yehuda Ronder, Kaunas After surviving the war as a soldier in the Red Army’s 16th Lithuanian Division, Yudel Ronder returned home to Lithuania and spent the rest of his life there. Throughout the post-war years and … Continue reading →

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A Lament for Keidan

Posted on March 2, 2020 by ACassel

By Rabbi Y. M. Fishleder  (Mexico) “How deserted lies the city…” (Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1) How did it happen that my city of birth, Keidan, was left lonely and abandoned, without its holy community? No one is left there to … Continue reading →

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Among the Ruins

Posted on March 2, 2020 by ACassel

By Chaim Ronder The text of a letter sent to the Keidaner Society of Johannesburg by Chaim Ronder, a partisan during the German occupation. POGEGEN (Pagėgiai, Lithuania) 7 November, 1946 Warm brotherly greetings to you, Jews of Johannesburg – born … Continue reading →

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