Coming Up

 
 
 
Coming Up in the UK, Europe and Israel in June, Europe and the US in July, and Australia in August!
 
I will be participating in:
 
a commemoration in June in Birzai & a shabbat weekend in Kedainiai, Lithuania;
 
an eight day educators’ seminar in June at the International School of Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem; 
 
a 100-strong gathering in Novogrudok, Belarus in July, where a full and interesting program will include learning about the Partisans’ Song, and then singing it in the Naliboki Forest, where the Bielski’s lived and hid from 1942 to 1944; 
 
the IAJGS39 conference in Cleveland in July, where I am giving two presentations, including one as part of the educators program – see below; and
 
WE ARE HERE! An Education Program That Inspires Upstanders in Australia in August.This educational program, which promotes universal human rights and inclusive development, is funded by the US Dept of State, and brings Holocaust educator and specialist Nance Adler of Seattle to Australia.
 
 

 

Busy times ahead!

Chag Pesach Sameach and Happy Easter
 
 
 
Please contact me for further details.
 
Best regards
 
Eli
 
 
———————————
 
Further details:
 
I have been invited to be one of six speakers who will presentat the Educators Program at IAJGS39 (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) in Cleveland OH, USA on 28 July, the opening event at thisconference.
 

My topic is:


Projects That Draw Youth to Ancestral Roots.

The details appear below
 
My second talk is on 30 July on the WE ARE HERE! Project for Upstanders. 
 
 
 
 

A Special Program for Jewish Educators

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is being held in Cleveland for the first time. It features a special day designed specifically for Jewish educators!

Who Should Attend

Educators who:

  • Work in formal and informal settings
  • Work in day or synagogue schools
  • Create and facilitate family and intergenerational programs
  • Teach history
  • Teach writing and research skills

Sunday, July 28th is the date. The program begins with breakfast and a keynote by noted Jewish educator and genealogist Carol Oseran Starin, former Vice-President of the Jewish Federation of Seattle. Participants may select from two workshop time periods, each with a choice from three nationally known presenters, followed by lunch and idea exchanges.

Program Details

Goal

To introduce educators to how Jewish genealogy strengthens students’ Jewish identity through the experience of researching their roots and how their history shaped family and community.

Schedule

8:30–9:00 Registration and light breakfast
9:00–10:00 Keynote speaker: What is Jewish about Jewish Genealogy, Carol Starin
10:15–11:15 Three workshop sessions
  1. Jewish Genealogy for Beginners, Maurice Kices
  2. Designing an “Introduction to Jewish Genealogy” Program: Being Ready for Surprises, Sylvia Abrams
  3. Projects That Draw Youth to Ancestral Roots, Eli Rabinowitz
11:30–12:30 Three workshop sessions
  1. DNA as a Genealogy Tool, Gil Bardige
  2. JewishGen—Everything You Need to Know, Phyllis Kramer
  3. How to Get Kids Involved in Family History, Daniel Horowitz
12:30–1:15 Lunch and “tachlis” how to implement ideas
1:15–2:45 Participation in SHARE Fair and Exhibits
2:45–4:00 Education track participants are invited to the conference keynote address
 
 
Title of the Presentation  Projects That Will Draw Our Youth Back To Their Shtetl 
Short Title  Visit the shtetl: the virtual way forward! 
Type of Session  Presentation 
Topic or Category  Jewish History and Culture 
Methodology and Mechanics 
Telling Your Family Story 
Using Technology for Research 
   
Brief Abstract of Your Presentation  Since 2011, and after nine trips to Poland and Lithuania, as well as travel to Belarus, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Turkey and Israel, I have compiled a sizeable collection of information, stories, photos and contacts. My focus is not only about my own family history, but that of Jewish cultural history, general history, as well as contemporary Jewish life. Working with schools in these countries, I have been able to bring students together online to collaborate and to exchange information about the lands of their heritage.

My presentation takes you on a tour of how you can use this body of work to further your own knowledge on family research, Jewish cultural heritage and Jewish life. This includes a tour of my 86 JewishGen KehilaLink websites, including 55 in Europe, plus over 600 posts and pages on my Tangential Travel and Jewish Life website and associated social media. 
Presentation is best suited for  All skills 
How will your presentation help your intended audience?  Expand research skills 
Develop interview skills 
Teach best practices 
Expand social media skills 
Teach innovative strategies 
Assist with personal research 
 
 
 
Second Talk – Tuesday 30 July 2019
Title of the Presentation  WE ARE HERE! Project: Becoming An Upstander Rather Than A Bystander 
Short Title  How Jewish Partisans Inspire Our Youth To Stand Up 
Type of Session  Presentation 
Topic or Category  Genealogy and Jewish History Related to WW2 
Jewish History and Culture 
Methodology and Mechanics 
Preserving our Jewish Past 
   
Brief Abstract of Your Presentation  WE ARE HERE! Project
This project seeks to inspire in young people the confidence and ability to stand up in the face of prejudice and oppression.
Encourages and inspires Upstanders through the stories of Jewish Partisans and the learning of Zog Nit Keynmol
Provides role models for standing up for yourself in the face of prejudice, hatred, violence and evil
Shows that an individual can make a difference – regardless of their personal circumstances
Translates the stories of Jewish Partisans and the words of Zog Nit Keynmol into a universal message of hope and inspiration for all who are victims of prejudice and oppression
Empowers young people to create the change they want to see in their communities and the world.
Teaches that while the partisans used weapons – they were fighting the Nazis – you can fight oppression with only your voice and presence 
Presentation is best suited for  All skills 
How will your presentation help your intended audience?  Teach best practices 
Expand social media skills 
Teach innovative strategies 


With Heather Blumenthal and Richard Freedman at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre

http://ctholocaust.co.za
 

#WeRemember

Ponar, Lithuania

27 January 2019

In Australia #WeRemember by singing Zog Nit Keynmol, The Partisans’ Song.

Thanks to Phillip Masel for taking these photos at the ceremony in Mellbourne last night, and sharing them with us

Phillip, 96, was a friend of Hirsh Glik, the poet who wrote the poem in 1943.

 

Please Learn and Teach the Partisans’ Song to your students and children.

You have a choice of 28 languages, or even combinations, and now even in Noongar, Zulu and Xhosa

We can show you an easy and effective way to learn this before Yom Hashoah on 1 / 2 May 2019!

Learn The Partisans’ Song | tangential travel

Learn The Partisans’ Song | tangential travel

 

A Project For Your School Recite or sing the Partisans’ Song in your home tongue, or in a language you have learnt. Make a video, which can be as creative as you wish or just a simple recording. For the poem, each verse is made up of four lines. For the song, the last two lines in each verse are repeated. The Power Of Words The background and context The ‘Partisans’ Song’ – Zog Nit Kein Mol–written by Hirsch Glik, 22, in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943 is one of the most powerful songs of resistance and defiance ever written. While Hitler boasted that his Reich would endure for a thousand years, it is the Jewish people who resisted the forces of hatred and have endured, not the murderous Third Reich, which lasted twelve years. Today, 75 years on, long after the demise of Hitler’s murderous regime, the partisans’ song is now sung worldwide to mark the Jewish spirit of resistance. (Michael Cohen, Melbourne)

Source: elirab.me/znk

Listen to the Noongar, an Australian Aboriginal language, version.

View some of our videos of the song:

Videos | tangential travel

Videos | tangential travel

Beis Aharon School, Pinsk, Belarus

Videos of the Partisan Poem and Song Project ORT Compilation videos: Herzl Lyceum ORT, Chisinau, Moldova ORT Tallinn, Estonia Solomo Aleichemo ORT, Vilnius, Lithuania Solomo Aleichemo ORT singing the song during my visit in May 2017 ORT Chernivsti, Ukraine Kiev ORT #141, Ukraine ORT Odessa, Ukraine Moscow 1540 ORT, Russia Kazan ORT, Russia Samara ORT, Russia Mexico CIM ORT Herzlia High School, Cape Town, South Africa King David Victory Park, Johannesburg South Africa Sauleketis School, Vilnius Lithuania Dylan Kotkis of Carmel School, Perth The Poem in English The

Source: elirab.me/videos/

For  information on WE ARE HERE! Foundation Project for Upstanders, visit:

WE ARE HERE! For Upstanders

For Upstanders

Source: wah.foundation

Contact me at eli@elirab.com

Thanks

Eli

 

Leaving Memel – Refugees from the Reich

Leaving Memel – Refugees from the Reich is Fred Finkelstein’s current film on his family, thirty-five years in the making.
 
This is a film based on the life events of Cherie Goren and her family, who were forced to leave their home in Memel, now Klaipeda, Lithuania, when the Nazis took over the country in 1941. Cherie’s story is captured in this remarkable film by producer Fred Finkelstein, Cherie’s nephew. The film has enjoyed worldwide circulation, by describing how this family survived during one of civilization’s most horrible periods. 
 
 
From Fred Finkelstein:
I want people to see the film and foster dialogue around the issues that are front and centre, especially human rights, immigration and the racism that so often accompanies it.
 
Whether you are Jewish or not, the issues brought to light here touch all of us, in ways both subtle and overt.
 
Watch the movie:
 
Leaving Memel

Leaving Memel_2_18_18

Online screener for “Leaving Memel: Refugees from the Reich” Produced & Directed by Fred Finkelstein Edited by Pad McLaughlin ©2018 Fred Finkelstein

Movie Source: vimeo.com/256360106/2c142b998f

Fred Finkelstein:
 
Memel / Klaipeda KehilaLink:
 
 
 
 

SJM Lecture – WE ARE HERE! Project

The Partisan Song Project – WE ARE HERE!
The Sydney Jewish Museum

 10 October 2018

Lunchtime Lecture – The Partisan Song Project: We Are Here

The Partisans’ Song, written by Hirsh Glik, age 22, in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943, is one of the most powerful songs of resistance and defiance ever written.

Source: sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/shop/events/lunchtime-lecture-partisan-song-project/

Zog Nit Keynmol – Bettina and Nogah

DSCN3779

Bettina & Nogah singing Zog Nit Keynmol at the Sydney Jewish Museum 10 October 2018

Source: youtu.be/Prnb7Mc5LDs

Some of my slides

IMG_3460 IMG_3462 IMG_3468 IMG_3471 IMG_3480 IMG_3489 IMG_3491 IMG_3494 IMG_3502 IMG_3506 IMG_3520 IMG_3522 IMG_3528 IMG_3537 IMG_3542 IMG_3548 IMG_3552 IMG_3554 IMG_3559 IMG_3560 IMG_3562 IMG_3564 IMG_3568 IMG_3569 IMG_3572 IMG_3574 IMG_3579
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Photos by Avi Abelsohn

Slideshow:
The Meaning And Significance Of The Partisans’ Song

The Meaning And Significance Of The Partisans’ Song

A Video For Teachers MENU: Introduction – SABC TV Why is singing the song so Important? – Phillip Maisel Defiance Trailer – Bielski Jewish Partisans Soviet N…

Source: youtu.be/NRcGcNGrYWo

Genres:
The Partisans’ Song – Genres

The Partisans’ Song – Genres

A Video For Teachers MENU: The Melody – Pokrass Brothers Original Russian Soundtrack Irish Folk Band – The Rathmines Japanese Version – Isao Oiwa Kugelplex K…

Source: youtu.be/_qeCD6lmMIM

WE ARE HERE! For Upstanders

WE ARE HERE! For Upstanders

Source: wah.foundation

IMG_2203 IMG_2205 IMG_2176
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With Mandy, Les, Avi and Jonathan

Eva Engel OAM

IMG_2185 IMG_2182
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Lunchtime Lecture – The Partisan Song Project: WE ARE HERE!

Lunchtime Lecture: The Partisan Song Project – WE ARE HERE!
The Sydney Jewish Museum

Wednesday, 10 October 2018 – 1:15pm

Lunchtime Lecture – The Partisan Song Project: We Are Here

The Partisans’ Song, written by Hirsh Glik, age 22, in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943, is one of the most powerful songs of resistance and defiance ever written.

Source: sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/shop/events/lunchtime-lecture-partisan-song-project/

75th Anniversary of the Liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto

Day of Victims of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews in PonarY

23 September 2018 

Israel Ambassador – Amir Maimon        Photo credit: Ana Maizel

Lietuvos žydų genocido aukų dienos minėjimas Paneriuose – Vilniaus “Saulėtekio” vidurinė mokykla

Zog Nit Keynmol – WE ARE HERE!

Zog Ni Keynmol Ponar

Video by Carol Hoffman

Source: youtu.be/J4qGGMTOoxA

Vilnius “Saulėtekis” School Youth Choir and 3rd grade pupils participated.

Source: www.sauletekio.lt/naujienos/lietuvos-zydu-genocido-auku-dienos-minejimas-paneriuose/

Pope honours victims of Holocaust, Soviet terror in Lithuania

Pope honours victims of Holocaust, Soviet terror in Lithuania

Pope Francis on Sunday paid homage to Holocaust victims who perished in the Vilnius ghetto, 75 years to the day after the Nazis liquidated it, and remembered those who risked and lost their lives to challenge the Soviet regime in Lithuania.

Source: au.news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-honours-holocaust-victims-lithuania-115758110–spt.html

Who Are Lithuania’s Heroes Today? Å kirpa, Noreika or the Righteous Gentiles?

Who Are Lithuania’s Heroes Today? Å kirpa, Noreika or the Righteous Gentiles?

Former ghetto prisoners, members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, members of international Jewish organizations, ambassadors from Israel and other countries

Source: www.lzb.lt/en/2018/09/24/who-are-lithuanias-heroes-today-skirpa-noreika-or-the-righteous-gentiles/

WE ARE HERE! For Upstanders Project

WE ARE HERE! For Upstanders

Source: wah.foundation

Vilna Ghetto

Vilna Ghetto – Wikipedia

The Vilna Ghetto[a] was a World War II Jewish ghetto established and operated by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the territory of Nazi-administered Reichskommissariat Ostland.[1] During the some two years of its existence, starvation, disease, street executions, maltreatment, and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps reduced the Ghetto’s population from an estimated 40,000 to zero. Only several hundred people managed to survive, mostly by hiding in the forests surrounding the city, joining Soviet partisans,[2][3] or sheltering with sympathetic locals.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilna_Ghetto

REMEMBERING THE DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH KEIDAN

In August of this year, an article appeared on the website of the Lithuanian municipality of Kėdainiai, under the headline: “With a minute of silence, Kėdainiai met Tel Aviv.” The text described an annual event, begun only a few years ago, commemorating the extermination of Kedainiai’s Jewish community on August 28, 1941, during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania.

At precisely 18:30, local leaders and others observed a minute of silence – while at that same moment, in Israel, descendants of that vanished Jewish community, who called their home Keidan, were doing the same thing.

Two simultaneous ceremonies – one at the hall of the association of the Vilna Jews in Tel Aviv, the other by the mass grave where more than 2,000 Keidan Jews were murdered 77 years earlier.

Such commemorations are a longstanding tradition in Israel, home to thousands of Jews who trace their families to Lithuania. But in Lithuania itself this is relatively new, and still uncommon, tradition. Kėdainiai’s annual observance began several years ago, and has grown each year. This year it was led by Saulius Grinkevičius, mayor of the municipality, and Rimantas Žirgulis, director of the regional museum. The participants included two mayor’s deputies, the heads of local cultural and educational institutions, members of the administration and museum workers, school teachers and other Kėdainiai citizens. A local television station broadcast the ceremony.

The event reflects an important recent change in public consciousness and attitude. To a significant degree, Lithuanians are confronting their country’s painful past. This is reflected in the  media, in increased research into local Jewish history and culture, and in the restoration of sites related to Lithuania’s former Jewish communities. In Kėdainiai, the regional museum and its director have played an important role, as have teachers such as Laima Ardavičieneof the Kėdainiai Atžalynas gymnasium, or secondary school. As it was often in the past, Kėdainiai is providing leadership and serving as a role model for other communities in Lithuania.

Supporting those efforts going forward is a recently published English translation of the Keidan yizkor book – a volume of memoirs, historical accounts and other material gathered from survivors and descendants of the Jewish community after World War II. Originally published mostly in Hebrew and Yiddish in 1977, the book offers a multi-faceted view of Jewish life in Keidan – its history, its religious, educational, social and cultural institutions, youth organizations, portraits of its prominent people, recollections of witnesses and survivors before, during and after the Holocaust.

Cover of the Keidan Memorial (Yizkor) Book, recently translated into English. Edited by Aryeh Leonard Shcherbakov aryeh.shcherbakov@gmail.comand Andrew Cassel awcassel@gmail.com of the Keidan Associations of Israel and the U.S.; published by David Solly Sandler sedsand@iinet.net.auin Perth, Australia.  The book is obtainable from any of the three above mentioned

Photos of Commemoration in Kedainiai – 28 August 2018

A section of the memorial erected in 2011 at the site of the Jews’ massacre near Kedainiai. Names of the victims were recorded as cutouts in the metal sheet.

At the site of the 28 August 1941 massacre of Kedainiai’s Jews. Mayor Saulius Grinkevičius lays flowers, while Rimantas Žirgulis (in white shirt) observes.

Local students and media participated in the commemoration.

Laima Ardavičiene, a teacher at the Kėdainiai Atžalynas gymnasium, records the event.

Article and photos by :Aryeh Leonard Shcherbakov aryeh.shcherbakov@gmail.com and Andrew Cassel awcassel@gmail.com of the Keidan Associations of Israel and the U.S and David Solly Sandler sedsand@iinet.net.au of Perth, Australia.

Other Compilations of David Solly Sandler 

Solly

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Johannesburg/Solly.html

Kedainiai Kehilalink

Kedainiai, Lithuania

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kedainiai/

Wilanow

flying from Vilnius to Warsaw

With some fun lovlng Aussies and one Emirates hostess on her way to work!

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Wilanow

Just outside Warsaw – with my hosts, Michael Ruth Leiserowitz, and their other house guest – Ralph Salinger from Israel.

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Wilanow Palace

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Wilanów Palace – Wikipedia

Wilanów Palace – Wikipedia

Wilanów Palace or Wilanowski Palace (Polish: pałac w Wilanowie, Polish pronunciation: [ˈpawat͡s vvilaˈnɔvjɛ]) is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived Poland’s partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish state as it was before the misfortunes of the 18th century.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilanow_Palace

The Love Bridge

 

Heart(s) of Warsaw

Heart(s) of Warsaw

So you think you know Warsaw off-by-heart? Then impress that special someone with a romantic safari around the heart(s) of the city… Mostek Zakochanych ul. Przyczółkowa 394 Unveiled in 2012, this dinky 12-meter bridge is best enjoyed at night when fully illuminated. Having snapped your own love lock to the…

Source: www.warsawinsider.pl/the-hearts-of-warsaw/

Pet Care

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Butchers

Butchers

Source: www.butcherspetcare.com

Vilnius 18

Google Escort into Vilnius!

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The Choral Synagogue

With the cantor  – Shmuel

Choral Synagogue, Vilnius – Wikipedia

Choral Synagogue, Vilnius – Wikipedia

The Choral Synagogue of Vilnius (Lithuanian: Vilniaus choralinė sinagoga) is the only synagogue in Vilnius that is still in use. The other synagogues were destroyed partly during World War II, when Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany, and partly by the Soviet authorities after the war.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choral_Synagogue,_Vilnius

Žilvinas Beliauskas

Member Spotlight with Žilvinas Beliauskas

Source: jewishlibraries.org/blog/id/391

Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka

Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka

Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka – vienintelė Žydų kultūros sklaidoje besispecializuojanti biblioteka visoje Lietuvoje.Our library is the only one in Lithuania which specifies in spreading Jewish culture in various forms

Source: vilnius-jewish-public-library.com/en/

With Carol Hoffman & Sandra Petrukonyte 

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Homepage – The Lost Shtetl

Homepage – The Lost Shtetl

Dingęs štetlas | The Lost shtetl    

Source: lostshtetl.com

Milda Jakulyte & Sandra Petrukonyte 

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The Great Synagogue & Shulhof excavations

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Vilnius Yiddish Institute – The first Yiddish center of higher learning to be established in post-Holocaust Eastern Europe.

Vilnius Yiddish Institute – The first Yiddish center of higher learning to be established in post-Holocaust Eastern Europe.

APPLICATION FOR YIDDISH SUMMER PROGRAM

Source: judaicvilnius.com

Vilnius University

Leyzer Ran’s book – Jerusalem of Lithuania 

The Jerusalem of Lithuania: The Story of the Jewish Community of Vilna

The Jerusalem of Lithuania: The Story of the Jewish Community of Vilna

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On the eve of the Shoah the Jewish community of Vilna was the spiritual centre of Eastern European Jewry, the centre of enlightenment and Jewish political life, of Jewish creativity and the experience of daily Jewish life, a community bursting with cultural and religious life, movements and parties, educational institutions, libraries and theatres; a community of rabbis and gifted Talmudic scholars, intellectuals, poets, authors, artists, craftspeople and educators. In the Jewish world it was known as “The Jerusalem of Lithuania” – a spiritual centre of the first order.

Source: www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/vilna/overview.asp

With Ruta Puisyte

Video

Stolpersteine in Vilnius

The National Library & Lara Lempert

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Focus on Judaic Documentary Heritage at the National Library on the Last Day of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Visit to Lithuania – Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Focus on Judaic Documentary Heritage at the National Library on the Last Day of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Visit to Lithuania – Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Nacionalinė kultūros įstaiga, kaupianti, organizuojanti ir sauganti rašytinį Lietuvos kultūros paveldą, formuojanti Lietuvos mokslui, švietimui, kultūrai ir ūkiui aktualių Lietuvos ir užsienio dokumentų fondą bei teikianti bibliotekinio informacinio aprūpinimo paslaugas visuomenei.

Source: www.lnb.lt/en/news/3400-focus-on-judaic-documentary-heritage-at-the-national-library-on-the-last-day-of-the-israeli-prime-minister-s-visit-to-lithuania

Lukiškės_Square

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukiškės_Square

With Bella Swartzberg, Marlene & Robbie Baskin at the Artagonist Hotel

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With teacher, Simonas Jurktaitis 

Friday 3 August 18

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Trakai

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At the Choral Synagogue before the service

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Outside the Conti Hotel, Vilnius

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Zasliai 18

Žasliai

The Old Cemetery

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The Town

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The Train Station

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Žasliai – Wikipedia

Žasliai – Wikipedia

Žasliai (Yiddish: זאָסלע‎ Zosle) is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. In 2011 it had a population of 644.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zasliai

Pinkas Hakehillot Lita: Zasliai

Pinkas Hakehillot Lita: Zasliai

54° 52′ / 24° 36′ Translation of the “Zasliai” chapter from  Pinkas Hakehillot Lita

Source: www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_lita/lit_00283.html

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