With Laima Ardaviciene
November 2024
Kedainiai Old Town
Keidan Commemoration 28 August 2020
Greetings to all our Keidaner community and friends!
from Aryeh (Leonard) Shcherbakov
secretary of the Association of Keidaners in Israel
For those of you who are not members of the “Roots in Keidan” group on Facebook, and couldn’t attend the commemoration meeting, we send the following note.
As you know, yesterday, Friday, August 28, 2020, we commemorated the 79th anniversary of extermination of our families, who were brutally slaughtered together with all Jewish community of Kėdainiai (Keidan) in one single day – on August 28, 1941.
Two simultaneous commemoration ceremonies were held at 11:00, one – in Israel, by the memorial dedicated to the lost communities of Kėdainiai, Ariogala, Dotnuva, Krakės, and Šėta, at the old cemetery in Holon, another – in Lithuania, by the mass grave in Kėdainiai.
The first one was conducted by a number of descendants of the Keidan Jewish community living in Israel, the second – by our Lithuanian friends in Kėdainiai, who are faithfully devoted to the preservation of memory of our community.
Israel 28 August 2020
Kedainiai, Lithuania 28 August 2020
We thank all those who attended – both in Lithuania and Israel – as well as those who were with us at this sad hour.
Our special thanks to Mrs.Laima Ardavičienė, who prepared a touching presentation commemorating the tragic fate of our community – “Every single man has a name”:
https://view.genial.ly/5f467a84ab36c80d5988f1ef/presentation-every-single-man-has-a-name
With best regards,
Aryeh (Leonard) Shcherbakov
secretary of the Association of Keidaners in Israel
ashcherbakov@hotmail.com
Kedainiai June 2019
Israel Jul 2019
They Are Returning – A Year On!
Atzalynas Gimnazija, Kedainiai Lithuania
Reflecting back to June 2019
Rabbi Dan Fink
Bobbie Lamont
Eli Rabinowitz
13 June 2019
VIDEO OF OUR EVENT IN LITHUANIA
They Are Returning
ââTILTAI-BRIDGES-×ר×ק×â’
For video, click here:
Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZXBEuPfeFc
Photos of our group – descendants of Keidaners
At the school
At the cemetery
At the Holocaust site
Vale Simonas Dovidavicius.
Standing between Laima Ardaviciene and me in Kėdainiai, Lithuania on 15 June this year. Simon passed away last week and was laid to rest on the 18th December 2019.
Holocaust Commemoration in Keidan
Thank you Laima Ardaviciene and your class at Atzalynas High School in Kedainiai, Lithuania.
They Are Returning
Atzalynas Gimnazija, Kedainiai Lithuania
13 June 2019
VIDEO OF OUR EVENT IN LITHUANIA
They Are Returning
ââTILTAI-BRIDGES-×ר×ק×â’
For video, click here:
Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZXBEuPfeFc
Photos of our group – descendants of Keidaners
At the school
At the cemetery
At the Holocaust site
Lita Shtetl Visits – 2018
Siauliai with Sania Kerbilis & Antonina Gainulina
Panevezys with Gennady Kofman
Master Yuter Family Tree
Panevezys Telephone Directory
Visitors Book
With Gennady Kofman & a scout group
Josvainiai with Laima Ardaviciene and Harry Gorfine (Australia)
Ukmerge with Vida Pulkaunkiene & Arturas Taicos
Ukmerge, Lithuania
Shtetl Love Song
Shtetl Love Song
A new book by Grigory Kanovich
Source: www.amazon.com/Shtetl-Love-Song-Grigory-Kanovich/dp/0995560021/ref=sr_1_1?s=books
Grigory Kanovich was born in Jonava, Lithuania
In 2016 I travelled with my friend, Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Kedainiai High School, to Jonava
Quick facts
Jewish buildings, including the former synagogue.
Information posters on the buildings.
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Former synagogue Former synagogue
The Jewish Cemetery
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The amphitheatre and holiday entertainment
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More about Grigory Kanovich’s book – Shtetl Love Song
From Amazon:
Winner the Liudo Dovydeno Prize awarded by the Lithuanian Writers’ Union In Shtetl Love Song Grigory Kanovich writes about his mother and in doing so peels back the surface of the rich community that lived in pre-war Lithuania. It is a requiem for the pre-war Jewish shtetl, for a people and a way of life that was destroyed. Shtetl Love Song won the Liudas Dovydenas Prize awarded by the Lithuanian Writers’ Union. About the author Grigory Kanovich is one of the most prominent Lithuanian writers and winner of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts for 2014. Kanovich was born into a traditional Jewish family in the Lithuanian town of Jonava in 1929. Since 1993 the writer has lived in Israel. He is a member of the PEN club in both Israel and Russia. He is also a renowned playwright. About the translator Yisrael Elliot Cohen, B.A. Harvard College, Ph.D. Yale University, taught Russian literature and humanities at the University of Illinois. He settled in Israel in 1979, working as a professional translator from Russian into English and as an English-language editor. At Hebrew University he was co-editor of Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe' and worked on a bibliography project for the Centre for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Currently at Yad Vashem, he is working onTh e Untold Stories: Holocaust Murder Sites in the Soviet Union’. Dr. Cohen has translated several books. His non-academic interests are his grandchildren and attempting to apply the teachings of the Biblical prophets to the contemporary social and political situation. Praise for the novel Set in the rural Lithuanian landscape on the eve of World War II,Shtetl Love Song’ is full of tender affection, soft irony, and sharp observations. Guided by the memory of his beloved mother, the masterful narrator takes us into the very midst of his enchanted family world, recreating the past that is irrevocably destroyed and yet fully alive in his memory. Kanovich, himself a child of a Lithuanian shtetl who survived the Holocaust almost by a miracle, made it his mission to serve, against all odds, as a custodian of the collective memory of generations of Litvaks, Lithuanian Jews.’ – Mikhail Krutikov, Professor of Slavic and Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Pakruojis 17
The restored synagogue at Pakruojis
I visited this time last year when it was under construction
June 2016
Pakruojis & Siaulenai
I visited Pakruojis to see the wooden synagogue in the city. As you can see from the images, it is currently being restored. We previously saw that the wooden synagogue in Ziezmariai is also under …
Source: elirab.me/pakruojis-siaulenai/
June 2017
On the road to Pakruojis
Outside
With Laima
Inside
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Some of the information panels
Oldest surviving synagogue in Lithuania
Rav Kook in nearby Zeimelis
Surrounding buildings
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Pakruojis – Wikipedia
Pakruojis ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in Lithuania. It is situated on the Kruoja River, which has a dam above the city. Forty three buildings of the manor, mentioned in 1531 still survive.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakruojis
Atzalynas Gimnazija Kedainiai Visit 2017
The Keidaner Family tree on Laima’s classroom wall – an unique work of art!
The complex of two synagogues and the tree featuring the names of Keidaners, including my 3rd great grandfather Zalman Tzoref in the centre.
created by student Karolina Silvestraviciute
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Keidaner Family Tree
Activities at the school including my presentation, a visit to the science lab and participation in classroom activities.
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English teacher Laima Ardaviciene inspires us all, seen here talking to a journalist
Another amazing contribution by Laima and her students for the TEC – Tolerance Education Centre program.
See link below
2016-2017
Kėdainių Atžalyno gimnazija – Tolerancijos ugdymo centras
Kedainiai Atzalynas Gymnasium – Tolerance Educational Center
Source: tolerance2016.weebly.com/2016-2017.html
Our tour of the local regional museum.
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Images from the Jewish cemetery
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Maoz Tzur Sung in Perth Heard in Keidan
Just think of this – when was the last time Maoz Tzur was heard in Keidan, Lithuania, sung by a Jewish kid? Maybe 75 years ago!
When Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Atzalyno Gymnazija in Kedainiai Lithunia, asked whether I could give a talk on Chanukah via Skype to her students, I would normally have sourced one of the many brilliant articles by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and shared this with them, speaking from my home.
As I only live a minute’s drive from our CHABAD Shul in Noranda, I came up with the idea of enlisting the assistance of Rabbi Shalom White and doing it at the Shul. I also asked a young and talented friend, Dylan Kotkis, to join us. Dylan has a friendly and outgoing personality together with a beautiful singing voice. He is a 15 year old student at Carmel School, Perth’s Jewish Day School.
Due to the 7 hour time difference between Perth and Kedainiai, 1pm (7pm here) was the best time for Laima and her students, so we held the meeting in the Shul’s library. A minyan was taking place in the sanctuary at the same time.
Here are some photos and video clips taken both from the Kedainiai and from the Perth ends. I synchronised and edited the videos and combined the footage taken by Laima and myself.
Rabbi White, Dylan and I spoke about the festival and Dylan took the Lithuanian students on a tour of the shul. Dylan sang Maoz Tzur for them.
Photos taken at Atzalyno Gimnazija
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Photos taken on the Perth side
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Screenshots and photos of the signs the Lithuanian students presented.
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