[Page 320]

I am not a native of Telshe; rather, I was born in Varna [Varniai], which is not far from Telshe.^[2] I never imagined that I would be rescued in Telshe. In the years of my youth I studied at the “Yavne” gymnasium in Telshe. I returned home to my parents and lived there for several uneventful years, until the outbreak of the war. The Lithuanians and the Germans took all the Jews of Varna outside of the town to be killed, and I went with them. The brutal Lithuanian militiamen^[3] killed them all at Viešvėnai.^[4] There, I lost all of those dear to me: My father (may his memory be a blessing), Chaim Meyer Klas, as well as my younger brother Avrame'le. My mother at that time was with Sheina'le Klas-Vishkin in Ponivezh [Panevėžys], and she perished there.

I succeeded in escaping from the [killing] pit and I found shelter with a Lithuanian farmer, not far from Varna. I was together with Leah Shiff and her sister, Raize'le Shochat-Shiff, and her two sons, Chaim and Yehoshua (all of whom are now in Israel). The farmer went to the police in Telshe and told them that there were Jews at his place. The Lithuanian police came and took us to the jail in Telshe. They stripped us naked and held us like that for 10 days, without food and without clothing. In the end they took the women and brought us to the Telshe ghetto. On the way I took advantage of the opportunity to hide under an automobile that I saw parked not far from the place [where we were]. I lay there for half a day, until a Lithuanian caught me and brought me back to the jail. The police officers beat me and molested me until one [of them] entered and had mercy on me. He said: “Enough! She'll be maimed for life.” Then they “had mercy” on me and brought me to the ghetto in Telshe. I was very happy to see that there were still other Jews left in the world. I had innocently believed that they had killed all the Jews in my town. In the ghetto I found a family from my town, the Korklan family, who had been brought there from Varna.

I didn't remain long in the ghetto. When they closed the ghetto in Telshe, I again managed to escape: The first day I exploited the fact that the police officers were drunk and [I] managed to flee. They shot at me and I was hit in the leg in four places. Even though I was wounded in one leg I fled – until I reached the village of Plauskiniai^[5] and found shelter with a good [-hearted] farmer by the name of Shaulys.

He immediately changed me out of the rags that I had on. I bathed, and he gave me his wife's clothes. On the first night he also gave me his bed. Afterward, two more girls came – the Korklan sisters, whom I had found in the Telshe ghetto. The Lithuanian was afraid of hiding three persons in the same place, and, since they had a little money in their possession, they asked him to take them to someplace secure (I myself didn't have any money, and in any case, he let me stay with him). It wasn't many hours later before the farmer returned home alone, beaten and covered with blood. They had been caught on the road by the Shaulists,^[6] who discovered that he was smuggling Jewish women in his wagon. They killed the Korklan sisters and beat him mercilessly for trying to save Jews. He told me that he had pleaded with them excessively that they should let the [sisters] live. “You've killed enough already! Enough! These are the last of them!” … But his pleas were to no effect. Finally, he recounted to me: “You have been more fortunate than your friends. They are no more….”

After the incident with the Shaulists, he was very fearful and no longer allowed me to sleep in the house. My permanent place was the cowshed, together with the swine and the dogs.

My whole time there I worked, until I was finally forced to flee from there, as well.

Over the next several months the forest was my home, until I arrived at the Shavel [Šiauliai] ghetto. I hid in the ghetto until the Russians liberated me.

1. According to the English translation of the Lithuanian archival records, the author, who is referred to as Sore Ester Klaz, the daughter of Khaim Meier Klaz, was born in Varniai on January 1, 1908. return
2. Varniai is about 31 kilometers (19 miles) south-southeast of Telshe. return
3. The author used the Hebrew term kalgasim (קלגסים), which means brutal, thuggish soldiers. return
4. The village of Viešvėnai is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of Varniai. return
5. Plauskiniai is about 29 kilometers (18 miles) south-southwest of Telshe and 23 kilometers (14 miles) west of Varniai. return
6. A Shaulist is a member of Lithuania's paramilitary Šauliai organization. The terms are based upon the Lithuanian word šaulys, which means a “shooter.” The organization is officially known as the Lietuvos šauliu sąjunga (the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union). return

[Pages 354-355]

Was it only a dream I had,[1] where I was saved From the murderers of my people? No! I saw [with my own eyes] how they were torn away from me: my father and my brother. A frightful, bloody war was ignited in the red sky at dawn[2] and the entire Heavenly Host remained silent and mute From above, the sun caressed warmly [and gently] While the enemy's camp struck fiercely at the captives from among the nation the innocents, both great and small Thus, the Jew became the beastly villains' prey; dogs were released upon them by the hundreds And they rent their still-living flesh, Their pure blood being spilled without end. Small children lined up in a row Near the open pits, as if on a performance stage Before the eyes of their mothers they were slaughtered [Their] skulls, one after another, dashed upon the rocks. The mother's heart is torn [her] tears welling within [her] wounded soul For crying openly is forbidden But the tears rise up from within and spill forth To the heart of the Heavens, their color reddening [the Heavens themselves] And the wind carried along the sighs of their hearts, constricted [with anguish] And one question pierces the brain: Why and for what reason our cruel fate? What transgression have the infants committed? Why have the Gates of Mercy closed? Eyes are raised to the Heavens. Somewhere in the Heavenly Heights, Thousands of eyes sought and asked of The King of Kings. And amid this vain seeking bewildered search for answers Hope was lost. And in such a state of distress The mothers were also murdered And there were none to lament their killing

The teeming rabble sprang forth like a beast of the forest Upon those cast off, upon the weak, and upon those heavy-laden with sorrow Before seizing their prey, their fury raging, They growled and roared as they drew their sharp blades. Right and left they struck, without mercy, At the children and infants crying loudly And at the aged, trampled down in the sand, And its anger grew, with no thought of ceasing As if [to say] “Go to hell, you despicable Jew! Sing! Dance the ‘Devil's dance!’[3] Until no trace is left of your nation!” The blood of the martyrs flowed into the depths And the blood of the pure arose from the pits erupting like a spring that has flooded the fields, just as human corpses have filled the forests. The world is filled with the slain of our nation And their blood has fertilized their earth. When shall He avenge His enemies? Lord of the World, Creator of Man? The voice of my brother bursts forth from the blood: When will the butchers of the earth finally be brought to [their] end? The blood demands: Revenge! Revenge!

1. The poem has several allusions to Biblical passages. The Hebrew original begins with the words Chalom cholomti (I dreamt a dream), which are taken from Genesis 37:6, where Joseph tells of a dream that he had had. [Ed.]return
2. This appears to be an allusion to the ancient belief that a “red morn[ing]” portends danger. See, for example, Shakespeare's poem, “Venus and Adonis,” lines 453-456 “(Like a red morn, that ever yet betokened Wrack to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to shepherds, woe to the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdsmen and to herds.”) and Matthew 16:2-3 (‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky.”) [Ed.]return
3. The Lithuanian “Uprising” against the Soviet occupiers of Lithuania was closely coordinated with the Nazi invasion, which began on June 22, 1941. Lithuanian paramilitary forces quickly took control of Telshe. For two weeks, the Lithuanians subjected the Jews to harsh treatment. Then, on July 14, 1941, Lithuanians armed with spiked sticks and whips placed the the Jewish men in a circle and subjected them to what the Lithuanians called a velnių šokys (“ Devil's Dance”). The menwere ordered to run in a circle and every Jew was beaten. This continued for hours, and several elderly Jews fell dead. The beards of rabbis were cut off or torn out. On July 15 and 16, 1941, all of the men of Telshe and from nearby towns and villages were murdered. “The Slaughter of the Jews in the Lithuanian County Seat of Telzh (Telsiai),” The Lithuanian Slaughter of Its Jews: The Testimonies from 121 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in Lithuania, recorded by Leyb Koniuchowsky, in Displaced Persons'Camps (1946-48), English translation by Prof. Dr. Jonathan Boyarin, First Edition 2020, ISBN 9780994619518), pp. 22-26. [Ed.] & [Tr.]return

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