The Memorial Book for the
Jewish Community of Yurburg, Lithuania

(Jurbarkas, Lithuania)

55°05' / 22°46'

Translation of Sefer HaZikaron LeKehilath Yurburg-Lita

Edited by Zevulun Poran

Published in Tel Aviv in 1991




Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Joel Alpert

Our sincere appreciation to Shimon Shimonov, Chairman, Head of the Organization of Former Residents of Yurburg,
for his encouragement and kind permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Sefer HaZikaron LeKehilath Yurburg-Lita (Memorial book for the community of Yurburg, Lithuania),
Editor: Zevulun Poran, Jerusalem, Society of Yurburg Emigrants in Israel, 1991 (Hebrew and Yiddish, 524 pages).

Purchase details for a printed copy of this translation can be found at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip/YBIP_Jurbarkas.html


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Contributed by Donald Levinsohn

  Introduction and Forward
 
5Introduction
9The Community of Yurburg Among Lithuanian Jewry – Common and Unique Features - Professor Dov Levin
 
  Chapter 1: The City and the Setting on the Banks of the Neiman River
13My Yurburg – Sol Goldstein
14Yurburg on the Banks of the Neiman River – Y. D. Kamzon
15Jews of Yurburg – Y. D. Kamzon
16On the Riverside – Shimon Shimonov
18A Unique Town – A. Sarid
21Yurburg - My Town of Birth – Dov (Berl) Levinberg
25Memories of the Town of My Birth - Yurburg – Emmanuel Kopelov
33That Was the Yurburg That I Knew – Mordechai Zilber
43Our Yurburg – Bat Sheva Elon (Shtock)
45Yurburg - My Unforgotable Town – Hinda Levenberg (Becker)
52Siaudine (Shaudine) - Yurburg's Neighbor -Meir Leibush (family in El Paso, Texas)
55Yurburg - Regional Trade Center – Hinda Levenberg (Becker)
66Jewish Occupations in Yurburg – A Supplement to the Essay of Hinda Levenberg (Becker)
68I Remember – Zevulun Poran (Yiddish)
71My Shtetl Yurburg – Shimon Shimonov (Yiddish)
74Years Ago There was a Town of Yurburg – Motl (Mordechai) Zilber (Yiddish)
79Beautiful Town of Yurburg – Ben Devorah (Yiddish)
82Yurburg Under Water - Adapted by Paz (Yiddish)
85The Town Jurbarkas – A Yurburger (Yiddish)
88Yurburg Under the Soviet Regime – Translated into Hebrew by Shimon Shimonov
91The Land of My Parents – Zevulun Poran
 
Chapter 2: The Families
117The Story of the Escape and Remnant of My Family – Aliza Leipziger-Porath (Irving Leipziger 's and William Berton's Family)
123Memories of My Parents House – Bluma Heselovitz-Feldman
129Me and My Family in Yurburg - Shoshanah Petrikanski (Poran)-Knishinski
142Yurburg and People of Our Childhood – Hannah (Feinberg) Shraga (Shrage)
149One Family from Many in Yurburg - The Story of The Smolnik Family – Zevulun Poran
160The Most Family Knows a Sad Event in the Family – Yonina Most-Efraimi
163The House of the Frank Family – Sarah Frank-Shapiro
167My Family in the Days of the Fire and the Shoah (Holocaust) – by Rachael Hess (Ess) - Greenstein
171My Parents House – Yafsh Levin Taitz
173Zeev (Velvel) Levin Family – Rachel Levin-Rozenzweig
176Hess Family -Tzvi Nekhemyah Hess
179Petrikansky Family – Zevulun Poran
184 Families In Yurburg (Introduction) – Zevulun Poran
186(Eliezer) Eliashuv Family – Aharon Elyashuv
187(Haim Eliahu) Eliashuv Family – Arieh Elashuv
188Afriaski Family by - Hannah Apriaski-Abel
189Beiman Family – Yakov Beiman
190Barshatnasky Family – Miriam Bershtanski-Verpolis
191Reuven Hess Family -Rachel Hess-Greenstein
193Haslelovitz Family – Yafah Heselkovitz-Lupianski and Bluma Heselkovitz -Feldman
194Weinberg Family – Rivkah Weinberg-Ravitzky
195Chaimovitz Family – Niuiah Chaimovitz-Slovo
196Levenberg Family – Hinda Levinberg-Becker
197Leipziger Family – by Aliza Leipziger-Porath (William Berton's Family )
199Magidovitz Family – Hannah Magidovitz-Goldman
200 Most Family – Leah Most
202Mazor Family – Mina Mazur-Simon
205Naividel Family – by Mordechai (Motl) Naividel
203Melnik Family – Ge'ulah (Grunia) Melnik-Rabinovitz
204Minzer Family – Sheina Mintzer-Polover
206Smolnik Family – Hannah Smolnik-Polen
207Polarvitz Family – Shoshanah Polarvitz
208Feinberg Family – Mina Feinberg
210Frank Family – Sarah Frank-Shapira
211Koplov Family – Emmanuel Kopelov
212Karabelnik Family – Hannah Karabelnik-Trainin
213Rodensky Family – David-Mordechai Rodensky
214Rabinowitz Family – Yakov Rabinowitz
216Rahaza Family – Israel Rahaza
217Raizman Family – Sarah Raizman-Yagolnitzer
219Rikler Family – Aharon Rikler
220Smolovsky Family – Abraham Smolovsky
221 Stern - Fein Family – Erika Katz
 
Chapter 3: Personages and Public Figures
225 The Author Avraham Mapu – by Zevulun Poran
231 Zelig Shakhnovitz - Author and Intellectual – by Pinkhas Volman
235 Shlomo (Saul) Goldstein – by Zevulun Poran
248 Boris Bernstein - The Man, His Vision and his Works – Zevulun Poran
253 Pinchas Shakhnovitz - Zionist and Man of the Book – Zevulun Poran
256 Eliezer Liepziger -Teacher, Educator and Principal – Emmanuel Kopelov
258 Eliezer Liepziger - Friend and Soul-mate Dr. Shlomo Kodesh
262 Alter-Mordechai Shimonov - Shimon Shimonov
265 Mordechai Zilber - The Man and His Pen Sarah Alkoni and Zevulun Poran
268 Clara Bernstein-Dushnitzki – Zevulun Poran
270 Zalman Laibosh – Actor and Director - Zevulun Poran
273 The Artist William Zerach – Paz
274 Avraham Kasif - Educator and Man of Learning – Zevulun Poran
275 Chaim Seiger – Teacher and Educator – Zevulun Poran
277 The Author and Educator Yisrael Dimantman – Paz
278 Berl Levinberg – The Man and Public Figure – Zevulun Poran
281 Hinda Levinberg-Becker and Her Diary – Zevulun Poran
284 Rachel Niv - From Yurburg to a Beit-Zera – Yakov Niv
288 Meir Laibosh – The Man and Friend – Zevulun Poran
289 Shimon Feinberg - Pioneer and Public Personality – Zevulun Poran
 
Chapter 4: Religion, Culture and Community Life
293 Yurburg - A Jewish Community Distinguished by its Intellectual Life by M. Simon Tilsit - translated by Josef Valk, son of Matityahu Valk, a native of Yurburg
294 Yurburg in Questions and Answers of the Rabbinical Literature – Edited by Paz
295 The Old Synagogue Tells Its Story – Pinchas Shakhnovitz
297 The Synagogue and the Communitys Religious Life – Zevulun Poran
305 History of the Jewish Community in Yurburg – translated and rewritten in Hebrew by Z. Poran
309 The Yurburger Community – A Tax Payer
311 The Talmud-Torah (Religious School) in Yurburg (from "Hamelitz") - N A.D.
312 The Elementary School in Yurburg – Paz
313 The Hebrew Gymnasium in Yurburg – Givat Brenner and Rivka Weinberg Ravitzky
318 Student ID Card of a (High School) Gymnasia Student - Tovah Most
319 Zionism and the Zionist Activity in Yurburg – Zevulun Poran
328 Yiddishism and Folkism in Yurburg – Zevulun Poran
332 Yurburg - A Song to the Tune of a Lithuanian Folk Song – Emanuel Kopelov
334 Yurberik Liked the Theater – Motl (Mordekhai) Zilber - Motl (Mordekhai) Zilber - (Yiddish)
337 Memories of People and Events – Avraham Shmulovsky
342 The Rabbis of Yurburg During the Last Generation
342 Rabbi Moshe son of Rabbi Shmuel Levinson – by Nakhum-Eliezer Dushkes
343 The Rabbi Yacov-Yosef Kharif
343 Rav Yekhezkel bar Hillel Arie Lifshitz
344 Rabbi Avraham Diamant, Yurburg's Last Rabbi – Z. Poran
346 Rav Chaim-Reuven Rubinstein - The Rabbi in the Days of the Shoah – Paz
347 Religious Scholars Whose Names are Linked to Yurburg
347 Rabbi Shlomo Son of Arie-Lieb
347 Rabbi Yitzhak-Eliahu Son of Shemuel Landa
348 Shlomo Levy Ben Israel Feinberg – Philanthropist - Paz
 
Chapter 5: Youth and Their Activities in Yurburg
351 The Maccabi Sports Organization in Yurburg – Z. Poran
358 The Jewish Scouting Movement - "Shomar Hatsa'ir" (The Young Watchmen) - Z. Poran
359 The Hostel and the Educational Activity - Z. Poran
368 There was the Betar Movement in Yurburg – Zahavah Pulerevitz - Ben Yehudah
369 The "Hechalutz" (Poineer) as the Head of the Camp - Z. Poran
370 J. A. C. - The Jewish Athletic Club – Z. Poran
 
Chapter 6: the Destruction of Jewish Yurburg
373 The Book of Tears - Z. Poran – (Hebrew image of the Poem)
374 The Shoah (Holocaust) in the Second World War – Z. Poran
377 Yurburg Destroyed (The Story of Hannah Magidovitz) – as recorded by Zevulun Poran
388 Additional details on the Annihilation of the Jews of Yurburg – The Testimony of Hannah Magidovitz - Translated from Yiddish by Paz
395 Family in Dire Straits – Belah Bernstein - Mering's Testamony
398 Yurburg in the First Days of the Shoah – (from the book "Lita")
404 The Destruction of Yurburg - Tzvi Levit – Yiddish - same as above article
408 Yurburg in the Days of Its Destruction – Rabbi Ephraim Ashri - Yiddish
411 Cases of the Killing of Women and Children by Shooting – The Ulms Trial, Tilsit - Yosef son of Matityahu Valk of blessed memory
415 The Oppressors - Lewitzkas and Kaminskas – Shimon Shimonov
416 The People From Shaodina Were the First to be Executed – Avraham Levyush
419 The Last Days in Yurburg and the Surrounding Area – Aba Val's story - recorded by Paz
429 A Group of "Yurburgers" in the Forest from Words of the Partisian Yehudah Tarshish – rewritten by Z. Poran
438 The Daring Escape to the Partisians in the Forest – Mordechai Berkover
451 A Letter from the Jail in Yurburg – Mika Liubin -
454 At the 7 km Marker from Yurburg to Smaleninken – Leib (Arieh) Elyashev - Yiddish
457 I Dreamt a Dream (song) – Y. Katznelson
458 Flowers of the Fatherland Grow on the Mass Grave in the Foreign Country – Zahavah (Zlata) Pulerevitz-Ben Yehudah
459 The Bitter End of the Community of Yurburg – Paz
 
Chapter 7: Survivors of Yurburg Perpetuate the Memory of their Community
463 The Organization of Yurburg Emigrants and Its Activites to Save the Memory of the Community – Shimon Shimonov
466 Meeting of Emigrants from Yurburg in Jerusalem – Frieda Shakhnovitz-Zevuloni
468 What Does the Mean to Yurburg Tell Us? – Zevulun Poran
470 Yurburgers Help other Yurburgers – Mordechai Zilber
472 We Shall Remember - The Scroll of Planting the Yurburg Grove
473 Address on the Planting of the Yurburg Grove - Aliza Leipziger-Porath- (Irving Leipziger's Family and William Berton's Family)
475 A Memory for Our Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren – Zevulun Poran
476 The Valley of Destroyed Communities - Yad Veshem - Memorial Site
477 TheYurburg House in Jerusalem
483 Yurburger Plant a Grove in Memory of their Loved Ones - A list – Shimon Shiminov
492 I Shall Always Remember Them – Hannah Feinberg-Shraga
493 A Memorial Candle for My Family – Diana Tobin (Berzener)
494 In Eternal Memory – Shulamith Miller (Feldman)
494 In Memory – Frida Epstein-Pukhert
495 Eternal Memory – Roza-Shoshanah Birger-Tarshish
496 In Eternal Memory – Dorothy Chosid-Bodnoff
497 Jewish Residents of Yurburg - List by Street – Mordechai Berkover
503 Members of The Organization of Former Citizens of Yurburg and the Vicinity in Israel – Shimon Shimonov
508 People of Yurburg Abroad – List of Sons and Daughters of Yurburg Living Outside Israel - Shimon Shiminov - originally in English {Additions by Joel Alpert - not in the original book}
509

Greetings from Former Residents Yurburg in Lithuania – Shimon Shiminov - originally in English

510 Survivors of Yurburg, Shoah Survivors (Holocaust Refugees) in Lithuania
511 Epilogue: Address on the Occasion of the Internment of Ashes of Lithuanian Martyrs at Yad VeShem – Zevulun Poran - Shimon Shiminov - originally in English
512 The Only Tombstone (Exerpt from Ben-Gurion's Address) - Shimon Shiminov - originally in English
513 We Shall Remember – Zevulun Poran
515 The Introduction to the Book of Remembrance and Summary of the Chapters
520 Contents of the Yurburg Yizkor Book (herein translated into English)
   
Special Illustrative Supplement - 16 pages , 32 photos on the subject of Yurburg
Additional Materials Collected and Added After the Publication of the Original Hebrew Book


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