Gargzdai, Lithuania

Gorzd book;
A memorial to the Jewish community of Gorzd
(Gargždai, Lithuania)
55°43' / 21°24'

Translation of
Sefer Gorzd; ayara be-hayeha u-be-hilyona

Edited by Yitzhak Alperovitz

Published in Tel Aviv, 1980

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Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Dr. Carol Lieberman

Our sincere appreciation to Yitzhak Alperovitz, of the Gargzdai Landsmanschaft,
for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Sefer Gorzd; ayara be-hayeha u-be-hilyona (Gorzd book; a memorial to Jewish community of Gorzd),
ed. Yitzhak Alperovitz, Tel Aviv, the Gorzd Society, 1980 (H, Y, E; 419 pages)

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Gargzdai

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Frontispiece	Y. Alperovits	H	10
From the Organization		H	12

Chapters of the Past

Gordz - from “The Jews of Lithuania”		H	17
Gorzd – A Shtetl in Lithuania	Chaim Shoys	Y	19
On the History of Jews in Lithuania	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	34
Some Characteristics of Lithuanian Jewry	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	41
Some Memories of our Gordz Home and Town	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	45
My Town Gordz	Avraham Orenshteyn	H	68
My Shtetl Gordz	Avraham Orenshteyn	Y	73
A Bit of History	Slava Aronovits	Y	81
Gordz	Yitzkhok Gudman	Y	86

Gordz as She Lives in our Memory

Memories of Gordz	Yehudis Leshem	Y	91
This is How I Left Home	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	98
The Dream Came True and I Arrived in the Land of Israel	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	100
Father and Mother's Home That Once Was	Avraham Orenshteyn	H	101
Gordz Cultural Institutions	Rashel Oysher	Y	104
How Can I Forget	Yudika	Y	115
Jewish Social and Religious Life in Gordz	Arye Frak	Y	117
Memories of My Town Gordz	Ita Arman-Kamil	H	128
In Memory of Gordz	Sheva bas Meyer Aronovits	Y	142
And You Ask	Ela Zilberg	Y	145
Gordz My Town	Khayim Man (Florida)	Y	146
I Once Had a Home	Orenshteyn Avrohom	Y	148
Gordz My Town	Haya Geles	H	153
I Think of You	Yudika	Y	157
Memories	Moshe Drori-Rupel		159
My Town Gordz	Dobke Duks Blank (Canada)	Y	165
Dreams in Autumn	Yudika	Y	168
Memories of My Home	Arye Leyb Dikson (Duksas)	Y	173
Experiences	Rashel Oysher	Y	175
On the Threshhold of My House	Yudika	Y	177
Gordz My Town in Lithuania	Ela Zilberg	Y	178
Documents Recount		Y	179

Rabbis, Authors and Religious Life

The Gordz Rabbis		Y	191
My Father Rabbi Ya'akov Burshteyn of Blessed Memory	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn	H	192
The Yofe Family	Prof. Yosef Gilis	H	194
R. Moshe Markovitz, the Shoemaker-Bibliographer	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn	H	198
Khayim Shoys - Scholar and Teacher	Avrohom Menes	Y	209
The Figure Khayim Shoys	Efrayim Oyerbakh	Y	214
Father as We Remembered Him	Miriam and Amos Shoys	Y	222
Shoys Leybe	Shoys Dvoyre		233
Yudika the Poetess	Shoshana Oysher	Y	238
The Synagogue and the Study House	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn	H	240
“A Terrible Happening During the Prayer Service”	Abba Zussmanovits	H	243
The Study House in the Life of the Community	Moshe Katz (Kibbutz Ramat Rahel)	H	244
My Shtetele Gordz in Everlasting Memory	Yehudis Leshem	Y	249

People and Characters

R. Fayvl Melamed	Yehudis Leshem		255
Gordz Figures	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	259
Yahmaya Memorial	Moshe Katz (Kibbutz Ramat Rahel)		263
Dr. Leyzer Iglshteyn	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn		269
R. Hirshe Aharon Hertses	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn		269
R. Aharon Hertz	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn		271
R. Moshe Korbman	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn		271
R. Mordechai (Max) Zusman	Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Inberi-Burshteyn		273
Itse the Chimney Sweep	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	274
Itsele Hoge-Mire's	Rivka Naveh (Katz)		275
The Shoys Family	Dvoyre Shoys	Y	276
In Memory of My Dear Ones	Khane Asif-Mendelson / Basya Matalon-Mendelson	Y	279
Berl Akerman	Aryeh Frok		282
R. Yitzhak Katzin	Rut Kark (of the Katzin family)		283
The Zilberg Family	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	285
R. Yankl Glik	Yitzhak Glik		286
R. Zusia Zussmanovits	Abba Zussmanovits		288
Grandmother Tsivya Katzin	Shoshana and Dina (from the Maggid Family)	H	288
Shmuel Ya'akov and Zise Platus	Chasya Shif-Platus	H	291
Memorial Tablet	Hana Asif-Mendelson / Batya Matalon-Mendelson	H	293
Gordz in Rhymes	Ben-Tsiyon Gloyn	Y	297
Shlomo Milner	Aryeh Frok		299
Nachum Manat	Ida Kamil		300
Sarah the Baker	Yudika	Y	302
The Song of the Murdered Jewish People	Yitzkhok Katsenelson	Y	309
In Memory of My Town Gordz which was Destroyed in the Holocaust	Rivka Naveh-Katz	H	313
On the Entry of the Nazis into Gordz		H	318
Who Erased My Town from the Map		Y	323
The Destruction of Our Town Gordz	Rashel Oysher	Y	325
Softly, Softly Lets be Silent	Sh. Katsherginsky	Y	332
The Bloody Roads	Eliyohu Akerman	Y	334
Our Town is Burning	Mordekhai Gebirtig	H	339
Our Town is Burning	Mordkhe Gebirtig	Y	340
A Letter from Leyb Shoys	Yeshayahu Zandberg	Y	342
Remember			347
A Memorial to my Town Gordz	Yudika	Y	348
I Light the Candles for You	Yudika	Y	349
List of the Residents of Gordz who were killed in the Kovno Ghetto and in Concentration Camps		H	351
The Gordz Jewish Youth who Fought in the Lines of the Lithuanian Division		Y	352
A Great Day for the Survivors of Gordz	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	353
Of the Works of the Emigrants of Gordz in Israel		H	355
A Great Day for the Survivors of Gordz	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	359
List of Names		Y	413

Table of Contents