The murder of Lithuanian Rabbis By Joseph Zack (Zera Kodesh)

Were the Vilna Gaon (of blessed memory) alive during the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jewry, the Lithuanians would have no doubt tortured and murdered him as they did the rest of the rabbinical community of Lithuania…

Lithuania was renowned for its eminent rabbinical scholars. Their numbers were disproportionately large, compared to those in Lithuania’s larger neighbors, Russia and Poland. Lithuanian rabbis were amongst the most famous of all Jewish scholars, the most notable of whom was Rabbi Eliyahu, the 18th century Gaon of Vilna. He was perceived as an authentic representative of Lithuanian Jewry, encapsulating all the characteristics and qualities commonly associated with Lithuanian Jewry.

This eminent scholar – who lived by the strict guidelines of traditional Jewish law (Halacha) – produced a long dynasty of erudite pupils whose influence continues influence Jewish thinking to this very day. The century following the deaths of the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Chaim of Volozin, saw the establishment in Lithuania of tens of Yeshivot among them the renowned centers for Torah study at Volozin, Mir, Vilna, Radin, Lida, Slabodka, Telz and Panevezys. The thousands of students that attended these institutions went on to promote religious observance and teach Torah at communities across Europe.

The passion for Torah burned within Lithuanian rabbis, who viewed such activity as the cornerstone of Jewish identity. This meant that the increasingly popular Hassidic movement that had spread across neighboring countries could be not reconciled with the typical rationale of Lithuanian Jewry. They considered the Hassidic movement somewhat enigmatic in nature, with some rabbis even expressing strong opposition to the locally based ‘Mussar’ movement of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, which aspired to add a moral dimension to Torah study by studying works that focused on Jewish ethics and philosophy. Scholars such as Rabbi Leib Shapira of Kovna discouraged students from such study, fearing that it would divert their attention from the more important task of studying Torah itself.

Most Lithuanian rabbis balanced religious observance in its most ardent form with a rational approach to key religious issues. Many researchers feel that Lithuanian Jewry was far more prolific than its counterparts in other countries by sheer virtue of the widespread popularity of Torah study. In towns and cities throughout Lithuania, the Torah represented a heritage common to all Jews, irrespective of their individual backgrounds.

Although they viewed Torah study as the primary purpose in life, the Rabbis were not indifferent to the spirit of the times, especially in all matters relating to the revival of, and support for a Jewish presence in Eretz Israel. Disregarding the vocal opposition of a small minority, the overwhelming majority of Lithuanian rabbis played a pivotal role in the founding of the Zionist movement and added moral weight to the legitimacy of the fledgling movement by joining its leadership. Rabbis and yeshiva students had been moving to Eretz Israel ever since the great wave of immigration by disciples of the Vilna Gaon at the close of the 18th century, and played a key role in the spiritual life of the Jewish settlement.

Thanks to the efforts of Lithuanian rabbis and other educational and spiritual leaders, Lithuanian Jewish spiritual life thrived. Their intellectual leadership was a constant source of inspiration to Jewish communities throughout Lithuania and served to preserve the flame of Jewish tradition and religious observance during the era of Soviet occupation. Under the guise of ‘cosmopolitan emancipation’ the communists, aided and abetted by several local Jewish sympathizers, mounted a relentless assault against Jewish heritage, culture, and Zionism. These efforts failed. Only the physical annihilation by Lithuanian pro Nazi militia could deal a mortal blow to this magnificent community and its spiritual leadership.

Among the dozens of rabbinic scholars murdered by the Lithuanians were individuals who were reputedly descendants of the Vilna Gaon. Other rabbis living in Lithuania at that time achieved renown for their extensive Torah knowledge in their own right. It can therefore be safely assumed that the Vilna Gaon himself would have suffered a similar fate had he lived during this dark period.

The Rabbis were usually the first victims of Lithuanian savagery. During the first ten days of the German invasion local Lithuanian groups and individuals murdered tens of thousands of Jews without the assistance of the infamous Einsatzgruppen who had not yet arrived from the West. The first people to be butchered were local Jewish leaders, including rabbis who were singled out for particularly savage abuse by

Lithuanians. It would be difficult to find the appropriate words to describe the extent of the suffering endured by the rabbis before they returned their souls to their almighty. Despite claims made after the war, these crimes were not committed by a select band of thugs but by people from all walks of life and professions who were eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the newly installed Nazi regime. Following are just some of the incidents of torture and abuse inflicted on rabbis by local teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, farmers, soldiers, police and others.

Alytus “Ivaskauskas, a former major at the Lithuanian general staff headquarters, arrived on the scene and decided to take the initiative on his own. He asked that a Jewish rabbi be found so that he could kill him with his own bare hands. The rabbi they found was crippled and could barely walk. After dragging him around and savagely beating him, they threw him face up into a pit so that Ivaskauskas could shoot him. He drew and his pistol and shot him between the eyes three times.”

Anyksciai “The rest of the participants amused themselves (prior to the murders) by subjecting prisoners to grueling exercise regimes and then beating them savagely. One of those subjected to this was the local rabbi Kalman Kadishevitz, also known as the ‘righteous man of Lotova.’ Wrapped in his prayer shawl (Talit) and phylacteries (Tefilin), he was taken with the first group for execution at dawn and conducted himself with purity and piety right until his final moments.”

Birzai “The abuse of the Jews began on the very first day. The local rabbi, Yehudah Lev Bornstein was murdered for ‘daring’ to approach the authorities on behalf of the community. A young man, Mottel Bader, who tried to defend the rabbi was also shot. The local ritual slaughterer (shochet), was singled out for a particularly cruel death. The Lithuanians tied his beard to the tail of a galloping horse. The animal dragged the man through the streets until he finally died.”

Butrimonys “They assembled all the Jews in the study center (Beit Midrash) and ordered them to tear up all the Torah scrolls and religious books and burn them in the furnace at the local blacksmith’s workshop. Rabbi Avraham Moseh Vitkind, an ardent Zionist and eminent scholar, was forced to smash the windows of the synagogue. On the night of August 21, local Lithuanians arrested 100 men and 15 women, including the local rabbi. They stripped him of his clothes, tore out his beard and placed a hat on his head back to front. All the prisoners were tied up in pairs with steel wire and marched to Alytus where they were murdered.”

Girkalnis “The Lithuanian thugs started off with the synagogue. They removed the Torah scrolls unfurled them through the streets of the town and then danced and trampled on them. They dragged the town Rabbi, Leb Chaim Itzhak Ossovksy into the street and wrenched out his beard together with the skin on his face. When they finally got bored, they left him bloody and beaten on the sidewalk. Rabbi Ossovsky was finally murdered a week later together with the rest of the Jewish community after being held in captivity without food or water.”

Josvainiai “The rampage by local Lithuanians started prior to the arrival of German troops. Once the Germans entered the town, attacks by Lithuanians became increased in frequency and savagery. They were continually devising new ways to abuse the Jews. One day, the grabbed the local shochet and his wife and led them into a room full of people. They then cut off his beard and sideburns and forced him to strip down to his underwear. They made him dance the ‘Kazachok’ while all the audience applauded, and kicked and beat him. His wife, in an act of desperation, fell fists flailing on the murderers and few minutes later several gunshots ended the lives of these two poor creatures. The murderers wanted yet more entertainment and turned next on the local rabbi Avraham Dov Tarna. He too was dragged into the same room, stripped and then beaten mercilessly. They did not murder Rabbi Tarna that day but instead waited a month and then killed him together with the rest of the community in August.”

Kaisiadorys “The Lithuanians invented all sorts of games and shows to amuse themselves. One day, they dragged the local rabbi David Aaron Yafe through the streets of the town until he finally died. Local Lithuanians looked on with glee.”

Kelm “On July 29, the Lithuanians gathered all the Jews and marched them to the Grosbask estate where they were murdered and buried in pits. Some people were thrown alive into the pits under the pretext that a bullet was too precious to be wasted on a Jew. The last group to be murdered included principals and students from nearby yeshivas, among them Rabbis Daniel Movshovitz, Gershon Maydanik, Shlomo Pianko and Kalman Benishevitz. Rabbi Benishevitz was the last person to be shot and prior to this he was forced to kneel at the edge of the pit and watch his entire community being wiped out.”

Lazdijai “One day, they dragged the town rabbi, Yaakov Aryeh Hacohen Gerstein out of his home and began beating him with a horsewhip in the street. His family were also beaten as a punishment for watching what was happening to their father. Afterwards the rabbi was placed on a truck and driven away. Fearful for their rabbi’s safety, representatives from the Jewish community contacted the local priest for help but he merely prevaricated. It later transpired that they had taken the rabbi outside town and made him carry sacks of cement all day long. In the evening, they made him return home on foot. On November 3, 1941, Rabbi Gerstein was taken together with his family and the rest of the community to a site outside town and there, naked as the day they were born, they were savagely murdered.”

Luoke “The rabbi of the town, Shlomo Efraim Kravitzki was taken to the forest where the Lithuanians savagely tortured him, cut off half his beard and made him endlessly carry water pitchers back and forth. After a few days, the Lithuanians locked him in a barn without food or water. Several days later, after being repeatedly tortured and subjected to various ‘exercises’ by his captors, he was led to a pit and shot together with the rest of his community. Some people were buried alive.”

Marijampole “After many days of abuse which included the local rabbi Avraham Zeev Heller being forced to clean city streets, the Lithuanians rounded up all the Jews in the Hella market square. They took Rabbi Heller, cantor Lanski and other distinguished communal figures and tethered them to horses which dragged them through the street until they were streaming with blood. Many Jews, on seeing this, realized the end was near and accepted their fate with calm and dignity. The local shochet, Chayim Velvel Connoyser led the assembled crowd in prayers for divine mercy and another communal leader Rabbi Hiller ended the proceedings by reciting the verse: “hear oh Israel, the lord is our God, the lord is one.

“The march to the pits began the next morning. After having been continuously tortured, the Jews had no resistance left and were no longer aware of what was happening to them. Many people were not shot and instead were simply buried alive. Children had their heads shattered with clubs and shovels. Many local students and gymnasia pupils volunteered eagerly to take part in the savagery.”

Papile “On the very first day of occupation, the Lithuanians rounded up all the Jews in the market square and robbed them of all their money and valuables. A favorite Lithuanian pastime was tearing the hair out of old people’s beards. The local rabbi, Avraham Hacohen Levine was singled out for particularly barbaric torture. The Lithuanians cut off his beard and forced the rest of the community to dance around him in a circle while he was being abused. Rabbi Levine bored his suffering with dignity, uttering silent prayers all the while. The Jews were then transferred to a camp near the town hall. The camp commandant ordered a local farmer to provide a pig and then had it killed and cooked. He ordered Rabbi Levine and other Jewish leaders to join him for dinner one evening and when they refused he had them thrown into a damp cellar and forced them to eat bowls of pork soup. After several days of torture, in which large numbers of Jews died, those who were still alive were taken to pits in the fields outside town and shot.”

Pumpenai “Several days after the start of the German invasion, the Lithuanians got together and began deporting local Jews to forced labor camps. They continually abused them , robbing them of anything they could lay their hands on. The Jews were imprisoned in several homes, one of which was that of the local rabbi, Meir Itzhak Chayat. They were held without food and in conditions of squalor and were subjected to continual abuse by Lithuanians. Eventually Rabbi Chayat was tortured to death in his own home. Accusing him of swallowing gold coins, a band of thugs threw him on the floor and beat and kicked him until his entrails burst. His wife, Gittel, the daughter of Rabbi Chayim Halevy Katz and her three children were forced to stand and watch. Afterwards, the entire Jewish community was marched to the Pajost forest where they were savagely murdered.”

Radviliskis “Local Lithuanians began abusing the Jews as soon as the Germans entered the town. One of their favorite pastimes was grabbing orthodox Jews off the streets and forcing them to gather excrement from the streets with their skullcaps which they then had to wear on their heads. Aside from the usual abuse, the Lithuanians also arranged ‘public exhibitions.’ One day, they led a large group of Jews to “Liberty Avenue” and began training the group to perform various exercises. These satanic practices would often include forcing the group to pour buckets of water over one another, riding one another and other forms of hideous amusement. They took the local rabbi, Itzhak Begun and cut off his beard and placed it in his front coat pocket as a decorative handkerchief while a crowd of Lithuanians stood around enjoying the spectacle. A week later Rabbi Begun was murdered together with the first 300 victims from the community.”

Ramygala “The Lithuanians singled out the local rabbi, Zissel Steinfeld for special attention. They tied him to a wagon and then dragged him through the cobblestone streets until he finally died.”

Rietavas “The Jews were not left alone for a single moment. One blow of a whistle would have them all on their feet on the double. The murderers singled out the local rabbi, Shmuel Ponidler, for special treatment. They cut off part of his beard, marched him to the back yard of the building and there they forced him to burn his prayer shawl, phylacteries and the book he had been studying. They then tethered him to a garbage wagon and forced him to drag it through the streets of town. When his strength finally failed him, he was murdered on the spot. Later, the local shochet, Abba Rabinovitch was also murdered.”

Seduva “The carnage continued and the number of casualties kept on rising. One day they grabbed the local rabbi, Mordechai Rabinovitch and took him to the local Jewish cemetery. The criminal selected for the task shot Rabbi Rabinovitch but deliberately avoided killing him, leaving him to writhe in agony throughout the night. The murderer finally returned the following morning and shot him dead.”

Sirvintos “As soon as the Germans entered the town, the Lithuanians went on the rampage and began abusing the Jews. First they took all the Torah scrolls out of the synagogue and study hall and unfurled them in the streets for all passers by to trample on at leisure. Then they locked the local Rabbi, Avraham Leib Grossbard and his son, Zundel Krook inside the study center and set it ablaze. Both father and son were burned to death.”

Taurage “During the first days of the invasion, armed Lithuanians set upon the local rabbi, Levy Shpitz and demanded he hand over the list of Jewish communists that were hiding in the town. When Rabbi Shpitz insisted he knew nothing about any Jewish communists, they ordered him to start running and then shot him in the back. Fatally wounded, he staggered home but the Lithuanians followed him and dragging him back out into the street, they cut off his beard and tortured him to death.”

Telsiai “Bloody Friday, as it became known, took place five days after the start of the German invasion. The Jews of the town were ordered to assemble in the city square.

They were arranged in rows of five and then ordered to march to the lake outside town with the local rabbi, Avraham Itzhak Bloch, senior teachers at the local yeshiva and other dignitaries leading the way. The rest of the community followed, some reciting psalms while others wept bitterly. Lithuanian guards accompanied them, keeping the lines in formation and pushing the disabled and frail forward with blows from cattle prods and rifle butts. They were led down to the lake and locked in huts where under appalling conditions, they were subjected to continuous torture and abuse.

“Finally on the morning of July 15, 1941, Lithuanian guards burst into the cabin in which Rabbi Bloch and other leaders were being held, shouting “all you rabbis and Jew parasites outside on the double.” The prisoners knew what lay in store for them but death was a welcome panacea from the torture and torment of the last few days. They all came out in orderly formation and were led two by two to nearby pits. They were ordered to strip and stand on planks that had been laid across each of the pits. Lithuanian guards then shot them dead. Rabbi Bloch was subjected to several hours more torture before he was finally murdered.”

Tytuvenai “Local Lithuanian groups sprung into action as soon as the German invasion began. They seized every book they could find, including the entire library of the local rabbi, Avraham Ezriel Medlin, and burned them. Rabbi Medlin himself, was tortured to death but witnesses relate that before he died he cursed his killers and said that God

would avenge the blood of the Jews. He promised them that they would never succeed in annihilating the entire Jewish community and those who survived would find a way to avenge those who died.

“The rabbi’s wife managed to escape together with her three children to the ghetto at Shavli. The children surprised local residents with their talents. Her eldest son, aged eight, already knew most of the Talmud and could also solve complex mathematical problems. But they were eventually caught by a local death squad and murdered in the ‘children’s action,’ later that year.”

Ukmerge “As soon as the Germans arrived, local Lithuanians arrested Rabbi Zusmanovitch and after savagely torturing him, they took him and other diginitaries to a suburb called Pivonia where they all locked in a brick oven and burned alive.”

Utena “The abuse of the Jews reached its peak on the third day of the German invasion. As evening fell, the Lithuanians went on the rampage in the local synagogue and threw all the Torah scrolls and religious books out into the street. The rabbi of the town, Zvi Yaakov Bleinman was marched into the city square and forced to dance and sing while holding a Torah scroll. Afterwards they set fire to all the books and as the flames were burning, they cut off Rabbi Bleinman’s beard and shot and severely wounded him. He was murdered shortly after together with the rest of the Jewish community of Utena.”

Uzpaliai “The death of the young rabbi, Leib Kameraz, son of the elderly rabbi, Aharon Naftali Kameraz, was particularly horrifying. The murderer Caponis raped his daughter in front of him and then threw Rabbi Kameraz in jail where he was held without food or water for several days. Caponis and his thugs then took him into the nearby forest and ordered him to dig his own grave. Rabbi Kameraz leapt on Caponis and tried to strangle him but was shot from behind by one of the others. Caponis was critically ill in hospital for several days afterwards. Rabbi Kameraz’s father, Rabbi Aharon Naftali, who was completely paralyzed, was thrown on to the back of a wagon and then murdered together with the rest of the community.”

Zagare “The morning after the Germans entered town, local Lithuanians ordered the communal rabbi, Israel Reif and several other Jews to march to the market square in the town center. There, under guard by armed Lithuanians, they were given tools and marched to the Graf Grishkin estate where they were put to work cleaning out cowsheds and stables. As evening fell, the group were ordered to return to the town square where a ‘show’ was organized for the enthusiastic audience that had gathered. Each Jewish man was forced to place his tools on the ground and then kneel down in front of them. The Lithuanian guards then walked up and down the rows of prostrate Jews and anyone whose tools were not placed in a straight line was given a severe beating. Afterwards, they took Rabbi Reif who was tall and paired him with someone who was short. They tethered the two men to a wagon and made them drag it around the town center to the cheers and applause of Lithuanian bystanders.

“The murderers had a particularly sadistic custom which they practiced each morning. Each group of Jews selected for forced labor was required to pass in front of Rabbi Reif and spit in his face before going out to work. Many Jews could not bring themselves to degrade the rabbi in such a manner and paid for their bravery with their lives. So Rabbi Reif commanded his community to spit in his face if ordered to do so, before being sent to work.”