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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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 parted from my 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
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 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	Y	286
R. Zusia Zussmanovits	Abba Zussmanovits	Y	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

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