In Dvinsk I was a member of Hashomer Hatzair and dreamed of making aliya to Eretz Yisrael. I remained a Zionist and even a “Prisoner of Zion”. When my petition to make aliya was granted, I went to Dusiat at the request of my relative Miryam Slep.

I reached Dusiat on an express bus, on the Vilna-Dvinsk-Memel line, which passed through the small towns of Lithuania. I hoped that perhaps a miracle had occurred and my cousin – the son of Chava (Adelman) and Shimon Pores – whom I remembered as a blond, blue-eyed baby, had survived thanks to this, and perhaps also thanks to the good relations my grandmother had had with the Gentiles. But I didn't find a single Jew.

I found a pretty, clean town, with the houses whitewashed white. I approached the mayor, not a local Lithuanian, and asked him to direct me to a family that could tell me about what had happened to my family. There was a young woman who worked in the pharmacy there, and she took me to her mother-in-law, an old woman of about eighty, who spoke Lithuanian. The young woman, who knew Russian, served as the translator. I told her who my relatives were, and that I wanted to know if any of them had remained alive. I was unable to learn anything from her, but I remember that she mentioned the teacher Yudel Slep: “What a fellow! How wonderful he was!” From there I was directed to another family, a woman who worked in the bakery that stood beside the Sleps' house. She also told me that no one had survived. My grandmother's house was destroyed. Only the ruined porches remained. I learned that other houses were repaired and reoccupied, and that is how I found the house of uncle Emanuel Slep, which was now renovated and very lovely. I entered and introduced myself as a member of the family that had lived in the house. I left the town that same day.

The inside of Adelman's house Dusiat 1994		The original house of the Slep family on Bugos G-ve 17, Dusiat 1992
(Courtesy Sara-Weiss Slep)

Lillian Adelman: It seems to me that this is the original kitchen of my Papa's home.

My dream came true on July 21, 1972, and my daughter Tamara and I made aliya to Israel. My two grandchildren, Yaacov and Zeev-Yosef, the sons of Tamara and Leon, were born here. I knew Hebrew from home, and knowledge of the language helped me find a job right away.

Moshe Adelman with his wife Chava-Reizel (nee Levitt) Chava-Reizel was the sister of Reb Moshe Levitt. (Courtesy Cecil Krom)

Sara Weiss (Slep): My aunt Miryam Slep told me once, that the two brothers - Chaim-Leib and Moshe – looked like twins.

When Chaim-Leib died, Moshe his brother came to Dusiat. It was on a Saturday night, it was very dark in the room, and they all were shocked! They thought the dead rose out of his grave…

Chaim Krom and Feigale, daughter of Moshe and Chava-Reizel Adelman		Feigale with her daughter Simcha
(Courtesy Cecil Krom)

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