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

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

Our sincere appreciation to Genia Hollander
for typing up the English text to facilitate its addition to this project.

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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Initial pages
Preface	Yitzhak Alperowitz	H	10
From the Gorzd Townspeople Association	Committee of the Gorzd Townspeople in Israel	H	12

Chapters of the Past

Gorzd - 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 Gorzd Home and Town	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	45
My Shtetl Gorzd	Avraham Orenshteyn	H	68
My Shtetl Gorzd	Avraham Orenshteyn	Y	73
A Bit of History	Slava Aronovits	Y	81
Gorzd	Yitzkhok Gudman	Y	86

Gorzd as She Lives in our Memory

Memories of Gorzd	Yehudis Leshem	Y	91
This is How I Parted From My Home	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	98
The Dream Came True and I Arrived in Israel	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	100
Father and Mother's Home That Once Was	Avraham Orenshteyn	H	101
Gorzd Cultural Institutions	Rashel Oysher	Y	104
How Can I Forget?	Yudika	Y	115
Jewish Social and Religious Life in Gorzd	Arye Frak	Y	117
Memories of My Town Gorzd	Ita Arman (Kamil)	H	128
In Memory of Gorzd	Sheva bas Meyer Aronovits	Y	142
And You Ask	Ella Zilberg	Y	145
Gorzd, My Town	Khayim Man (Florida)	Y	146
I Once Had a Home	Avraham Orenshtayn	Y	148
Gorzd My Town	Chaya Geles	H	153
I Think of You	Yudika	Y	155
Memories	Moshe Drori (Rupel)	H	159
My Town Gorzd	Dobka Duks (Blank), Canada	Y	165
Dreams in Autumn	Yudika	Y	168
Memories of my Home	Aryeh Leib Dikson (Diksas)	Y	173
Experiences	Rashel Oysher	Y	175
On the Threshold of My House	Yudika	Y	177
Gorzd, My Town (in Lithuania)	Ella Zilberg	Y	178

Documents Recount
Documents Recount		Y	181

Rabbis, Authors and Religious Life

The Gorzd Rabbis		Y	191
My Father Rabbi R' Yakov Burshteyn zt”l	Dr. Ben-Zion Zeev Inberi-Burshteyn	H	192
The Yaffe Family	Prof. Yosef Gilis	H	194
R' Moshe Markovitz, the Shoemaker-Bibliographer	Dr. Ben-Zion Inberi-Burshteyn	H	198
Khayim Shoys - Scholar and Teacher	Avrohom Menes	Y	209
The Figure Khayim Shoys	Efrayim Oyerbackh	Y	214
Our Father as We Knew Him	Miriam and Amos Shoys	Y	222
Shoys Leybe (1915-1967)	Shoys Dvoyre	Y	233
Yudika the Poetess	Shoshana Oysher	Y	238
The Synagogue and Beit HaMidrash	Dr. Ben-Zion Inberi-Burshteyn	H	240
“A Terrible Happening During the Prayer Service”	Abba Zussmanovits	H	243
Beit HaMidrash in the Life of the Community	Moshe Katz (Kibbutz Ramat Rachel)	H	244
My Shtetele Gorzd in Everlasting Memory	Yehudis Leshem	Y	249

People and Characters

R. Fayvl Melamed	Yehudis Leshem	Y	255
Gorzd Figures	Dr. Hershl Meyer	Y	259
I Remember You and Mourn You	Moshe Katz (Kibbutz Ramat Rachel)	H	263
Personalities	Dr. Ben-Zion Inberi-Burshteyn	H	269
Itse the Chimney Sweep	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	274
Hoga-Mira's Itse	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	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 Frak	H	282
R. Yitzhak Katzin	Rut Kark (of the Katzin family)	Y	283
The Zilberg Family	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	285
R. Yankl Glik	Yitzhak Glik	Y	286
R. Zusia Zussmanovits	Abba Zussmanovits	Y	288
Grandmother Tsivya Katzin	Shoshana and Dina (of the Magid family)	H	288
Shmuel Yakov and Zise Platus	Chasya Shif-Platus	H	290
Memorial Tablet	Hana Asif-Mendelson / Batya Matalon-Mendelson	H	293
Gorzd in Rhymes	Ben-Tsiyon Gloyn	Y	297
Shlomo Milner	Aryeh Frak	H	299
Nachum Manat	Ida Kamil	H	300
Sarah the Baker	Yudika	Y	302

Holocaust and Destruction

The Song of the Murdered Jewish People	Yitzkhok Katsenelson	Y	309
In Memory of My Town Gorzd which was Destroyed in the Holocaust	Rivka Naveh-Katz	H	313
On the Entry of the Nazis into Gorzd		H	318
Who Erased My Town from the Map		Y	323
The Destruction of Our Town Gorzd	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		Y	347
A Memorial to my Town Gorzd	Yudika	Y	348
I Light the Candles for You	Yudika	Y	349
List of the Residents of Gorzd who were killed in the Kovno Ghetto and in Concentration Camps		H	351
The Gorzd Jewish Youth who Fought in the Lines of the Lithuanian Division		Y	352
A Great Day for the Survivors of Gorzd	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	H	353
Of the Works of the Emigrants of Gorzd in Israel		H	355
A Great Day for the Survivors of Gorzd	Rivka Naveh (Katz)	Y	359
List of Names		Y	413

English Section

Preface	Yitzhak Alperowitz	E	3
From the Gorzd Townspeople Association	Committee of the Gorzd Townspeople in Israel	E	5
Some Reminiscences	Dr. Hershel Meyer	E	9
Lithuanian Jewry and its Extermination	Dr. Hershel Meyer	E	33
Memories of Gorzd	Yehudit Leshem	E	41
Dr. George (Hirsh) Oxman	Yehudit Leshem	E	46
Gorzd	Rivka Naveh	E	47
Personalities	Rivka Naveh	E	49
Once I Had a Home…	Avraham Arenstein	E	54
Gorzd	Ruth Kaplan Smith	E	57
My Shtetl Gorzd	Haim Mann	E	62
Shloshim for Max Sussman	G.M. Cohen	E	64
The Impact of Gorzd	Carmela (Furman) Katz	E	72
On the Invasion of Gorzd and the Massacre of its Jews		E	75

Table of Contents