I am a native of Kybartai (Lithuania). I was born on January 24, 1922 to Haya (nee Leibowitz) from Mariampole and Yehuda Leib Rosin from Sudargas (Lithuania). They were the owners of a paper and stationary shop in Kibart (name of the town in Yiddish).

I received my elementary and high school education in Kibart, Virbalis and Mariampole. During the years 1939 to 1941 I was a student at the Civil Engineering Faculty of the Kovno (Kaunas) University.

I left my home for the last time on Friday, June 20, 1941, just two days before the German invasion into the USSR began. My parents and my sister stayed in Kibart and were murdered together with all the Jews of the town in July the same year. I was in the Kovno Ghetto for more than two and a half years until the beginning of February 1944 when I escaped into the woods. I remained there until the liberation by the Red Army. In August 1944 I returned to Kovno. At the end of March 1945, I joined a group of young Lithuanian Jews who determined that we should leave Europe and make our way to Eretz Yisrael; we became part of the movement that became known as the "Bricha" (Flight) movement. I left Lithuania and after the tribulations of the illegal travel through Poland, Slovakia, Rumania, Hungary, Austria and Italy I arrived in Eretz Israel on the October 24, 1945 on a ship of "Ma'apilim" (Illegal Immigrants). During the stay in Rumania I married Penina (nee Cypkewitz) from Wloclawek, who had made a similar troublesome journey from Poland.

For nine months we lived in Kibbutz Beth-Zera in the Jordan Valley. There, on May 11, 1946 our son Amikam was born. In the autumn of that year we left the Kibbutz and moved to Haifa, with the aim of continuing my studies at the Civil Engineering Faculty of the Technion. I was accepted in the second course (as a second year student) and after a further year delay because of the War of Independence, I completed my studies in 1950 with the degree of Engineer. In 1958 I received my M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from the Technion.

During the War of Independence I served in the Air Force in the Aerial Photography Unit and was discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant. I served in the Army Reserves until the age of 54.

During the years 1950-1952 I worked at the Water Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and with the establishment of "Water Planning for Israel" (Tahal), I joined this firm, where I worked until my retirement on the first of April 1987. For more than twenty years I held the position of Head of the Drainage and Development Department of that firm.

Amikam (Ami in short) finished his studies at the Technion with a M.Sc. degree in Electronic Engineering. He served in the Army in the Engineering Combat Unit and took part in the Six Day War. He married Irit (nee Oher), also a graduate of the Technion with a B.Sc. degree in Biochemistry. Later she received her M.Sc. degree at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg (S.A.). They have a daughter Sharon (born September 8, 1972) and a son Gil (born April 14, 1975). Sharon graduated Accounting at the UCLA and Gil graduated Computer Sciences at the California State University Fullerton.

Our daughter Eliya was born on July 24, 1959 in Haifa. She is an educational psychologist with an M.A. degree from Haifa University. She is married to Dr. Zvi Toren, a clinical psychologist, and has two daughters, Inbar (born February 6, 1988), from her previous marriage and Lior (born June 19, 1995).

Even before my retirement, the idea of commemorating in writing the Jewish Community of my hometown Kibart crystallized in my mind. With the encouragement and help of my long-time friend Dr. (now Prof.) Dov Levin from the History Faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem this idea was realized; for this I thank him profoundly.

I would also like to thank my childhood friends, Peretz Kliatchko and David Shadchanowitz, who contributed a part of this book and also helped to refresh my memory on different items of life in Kibart.

I also thank the former Kibart natives with whom I have spoken about our common past and those who gave me the photos for this book.

Finally, I would like to thank the members of the executive of the former Kybart natives, David Shadchanowitz and Zisl Kovensky, who published this book in Hebrew in 1988.

I thank also my friends Sarah and Mordechai Kopfstein for their help in translating this book into English.

J.R.

 

Also Written by the author:

"Memoirs" in Hebrew 1989 and 1994 in English.

Many entries for the book Encyclopedia of the Jewish Communities in Lithuania (Pinkas Hakehilot. Lita) (1987-1994) and participated in publishing this book as the Assistant Editor. This book was published by Yad Vashem in 1996.

From the Kovno Ghetto to the Woods. Mishmar, (Hebrew) Tel Aviv, November 15, 1946

Sudarg (Sudargas) - for the KehilaLinks Project of the Jewishgen Organization, 1998

Neishtot-Tavrig (Zemaiciu Naumiestis) - article for the KehilaLinks Project of the Jewishgen Organization, 1998

Kibart (Kybartai) - for the KehilaLinks Project of the Jewishgen Organization, 1998

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