[Pages 17-18]
Gorzhd
(from “The Jews of Lithuania” Volume 3, page 295)
(Gargzhdai), Kratinga District
Gorzhd is located on the border with Germany, and it is next to Memel (15
kilometers). In the days of czarist rule, whenever there was danger of a
pogrom, the Jews would escape to Germany, crossing the rail station to Vigaln,
and would stay there for a day or two until the danger had passed. There were
among them those who did not return to the town.
It was one of the first of the Lithuanian communities. In its cemetery were
tombstones from 400 years ago and more. In the historical records of the 16th
century, the Jews of Gorzhd are mentioned as those appointed for collecting the
border tax. In 1639 they received a letter of rights from Vladislav IV, King
of Poland, who promised them complete civil rights. In 1742 King August III
approved this letter.
The Jewish population in 1827 numbered 648. By 1897 their number had increased
to 1,455 (about 60% of the total population). During World War I, they left
because of its proximity to the border, and returned with the entrance of the
Germans. The town suffered almost nothing from the war, and in the days of the
German conquest, there was plenty of livelihood to be found. In 1921, 1,148
Jews resided there. During the years before the Holocaust, their number
reached over 1,000.
The livelihood of the Jews of the area was primarily from exporting wood to
Germany. Many worked in ferrying rafts on the Minia River which crossed the
town. Millions of cubic meters of wood were sent every year to Germany. There
was a noticeable number of wealthy people among the Jews (those who stood out:
Ya'akov and Feivel Yapshitz, wood merchants and the owners of a famous bank in
Memel).
In the year 1929, there were 269 members of the Jewish Peoples Bank. The bank
was of great help to the Jewish middle class of the town.
The were a synagogue and a study-house in the town. The charitable
organizations included the societies for providing food for the poor, care for
the sick, staying with invalids and an interest-free loan fund which was
established with the help of emigrants from the town in the United States. The
local youth was educated in a Talmud Torah and in two folk schools (Hebrew and
Yiddish). Likewise, there were two libraries in the town – that of the
Zionists (with many Hebrew books) and of the Yiddishists.
The community life of the town was lively and exciting. The religious youth was
organized in "the Glory of Youth," and the rest in Zionist and sports groups
(Maccabee). All of the Zionist parties were represented there, and likewise
there was in the town a place for the training of pioneers before their
immigration to the Land of Israel.
The youth would frequently organize parties and literary events, which would
bring substance and content in the community life of the town.
Its famous rabbis included : R. Moshe Yofe (who occupied the rabbinical chair
for 45 years, 1840-1885); his son R. Yosef Yofe; R. Yitzhok-Yaakov Rabinowitz
(R. Itzile of Ponevezh); R. Aharon Volkin; R. Yitzhok-Isaac Freedman; R.
Shabse-Aharon son of Moshe Shapiro; and its last rabbi – R. Meir Levin, may the
Lord avenge his blood.
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