Page 134 - issue
P. 134
in America. What this meant was that the lin outweighs murdering Jews, so such an accent,” they say to me.
Achdus policy became the only possible persona may not be criticized. I believe “So do you.” I reply.
policy: lobbying quietly and persistently a number of very old Jews and truthful “Follow me,” says the tour guide,
on behalf of chinuch, shechita, Shabbos, Lithuanian gentiles have been indicted
etc. and arrested over this in recent years. It’s “and you’ll hear a story.”
a long story. We follow her through the area, which
uuu
For the moment, let me just tell you used to be the ghetto during the short
One could write a lot about this lob- a tale. After rushing through Kovno time the Jews were there under the Ger-
bying (at which the Ponovezher Rov was too quickly, our little group heads to mans, in 1941. We pass Joint Street,
fairly effective), but what’s the point? Panevezys, or Ponovezh. It is a brilliantly named by the Jews in the 1920s for the
Within a few years everyone was slaugh- sunny day and the weather is perfect, 65 American Joint Distribution Commit-
tered, right? Divided while alive, Lithua- degrees, the roads excellent and the city tee. As elsewhere, the Joint ran daily
nia’s Jews were united in death, in the clean. But where are the Jews? Where are soup kitchens (seven days a week) in
numerous mass graves that dot the re- the traces of the Jews of Ponovezh? We the 1920s and 1930s in Panevezys. Such
public. drive by a small brick shack, with a small soup kitchens kept many poor Jews from
sign in Yiddish “Do iz amol geven a Yid- starvation in those years. There is a lit-
One enters a shul in Kovno or Vilna dishe beis medrash (this place was once tle sign (always small signs) designating
and sees big Yiddish memorials on the a Jewish beis medrash).” A small one. where the ghetto stood in the summer
wall recording the various “actions” (ak- of 1941. The glorious weather and the
tzionen) that took place 1941 to 1944 in The famous Yeshiva building? We find happy passersby, drivers and pedestrians,
various communities. In these “actions,” it. Nice building, large, in what is now belie the tragedy of the spot.
the Jews were rounded up, taken out- a business area with strip malls and so
side of town, and shot, plain and simple. forth. The building itself has a brass Yid- As I indicated above, there were no
There were no extermination camps and dish sign denoting its former identity, gas chambers. Instead, the locals and
gas chambers in Lithuania and Belarus. but it is some kind of big restaurant, like the Germans shot about a million-and-
They just shot them in mass graves. I a Tex-Mex place, with garish signs adver- a-half Jews between late June of 1941,
read the signs which commemorate die tising the food. Sigh… when Hitler invaded the USSR (which
Yidden wos zeinen geharget gevoren fun by then included Lithuania, Latvia, Es-
die faschisten, the Jews who were killed We spot a big tourist bus. Tourists to tonia, and Ukraine), and the end of the
by the fascists. Why the fascists? Just call Panevezys? They don’t look Jewish. Are year. A million-and-a-half Jews in six
a spade a spade and say it was by the Ger- they Polacks or Germans revisiting where months! After the original spontaneous
mans! their parents shot the Jews? It’s Eastern orgy of violence on the part of the Lith-
Europe, and such things are quite possi- uanians, the Germans organized things
The sad answer is that the Jews were ble. Ugh. systematically. In about three places,16
for the most part not killed by the Ger- I think, there were actual ghettoes de-
mans. The Jews were killed by the Lithu- They get out and follow a female tour signed as labor centers, where the Jews
anians, by their neighbors. Same thing in guide into a very lovely small park full of worked as slave laborers for longer peri-
Belarus, Ukraine, and Hungary. The local trees in the middle of town. The weather ods of time, subject to death and shoot-
populations did the actual beating and is beyond perfect. My group stops nearby ings of specific groups by the execu-
shooting, then quarreled with the Ger- and watches from afar as she says some- tioners. In other words, in these three
mans for their share of the spoils. When thing standing in front of a marble slab of places, some survived. Everywhere else,
the Germans took over the country in some kind. Then they walk out, and we everybody was summarily shot in mass
the summer of 1941, the Lithuanians approach them. They are Jews! Secular graves at the beginning of the war on
went on an orgy of violence, setting Jews Israeli senior citizens; the guide is speak- the Eastern Front.
on fire with gasoline, splitting open the ing Ivrit. Well well.
heads of rabbis with axes, tearing babies “Follow me,” the guide had said in
in half, and worse. All the Germans had to What is in the park? What are they do- Ivrit, “and you’ll hear a story.” She was
do was stand by and watch. The record of ing here? right. She tells of Ponovezh, where all
what actually happened is so horrific that the Jews – between 6,000 and 8,000
Lithuania recently passed a law making The guide tells us. Turns out the mar- souls – were shot in a few rounds, the
it a crime to say the Lithuanians partic- ble slab says, basically, “They shot all the last in September 1941. That was it: no
ipated in the Holocaust. More precisely, Jews here and planted a park over the survivors.
it is a crime to criticize national heroes, mass grave.” Lovely!
and the list of national heroes includes Well, not exactly.
many who murdered Jews (but who also Well, I can’t go in; I am a kohen. The After the third and final round, the ex-
resisted Stalin after 1945). Resisting Sta- others go in as Shmuli and I wait outside. ecutioners did not even bother to cover
I talk to the Israelis, who are as surprised the mass grave. After they departed to
as we are to find Jews here. Who comes
to Panevezys? “You speak Hebrew with
16 The three places were Kovno, Vilna, and Shavel. Though most died over 1941 to 44, some labored until then and survived. That is how my father, who lived in
Shavel and was physically very strong, survived.
126 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
Achdus policy became the only possible persona may not be criticized. I believe “So do you.” I reply.
policy: lobbying quietly and persistently a number of very old Jews and truthful “Follow me,” says the tour guide,
on behalf of chinuch, shechita, Shabbos, Lithuanian gentiles have been indicted
etc. and arrested over this in recent years. It’s “and you’ll hear a story.”
a long story. We follow her through the area, which
uuu
For the moment, let me just tell you used to be the ghetto during the short
One could write a lot about this lob- a tale. After rushing through Kovno time the Jews were there under the Ger-
bying (at which the Ponovezher Rov was too quickly, our little group heads to mans, in 1941. We pass Joint Street,
fairly effective), but what’s the point? Panevezys, or Ponovezh. It is a brilliantly named by the Jews in the 1920s for the
Within a few years everyone was slaugh- sunny day and the weather is perfect, 65 American Joint Distribution Commit-
tered, right? Divided while alive, Lithua- degrees, the roads excellent and the city tee. As elsewhere, the Joint ran daily
nia’s Jews were united in death, in the clean. But where are the Jews? Where are soup kitchens (seven days a week) in
numerous mass graves that dot the re- the traces of the Jews of Ponovezh? We the 1920s and 1930s in Panevezys. Such
public. drive by a small brick shack, with a small soup kitchens kept many poor Jews from
sign in Yiddish “Do iz amol geven a Yid- starvation in those years. There is a lit-
One enters a shul in Kovno or Vilna dishe beis medrash (this place was once tle sign (always small signs) designating
and sees big Yiddish memorials on the a Jewish beis medrash).” A small one. where the ghetto stood in the summer
wall recording the various “actions” (ak- of 1941. The glorious weather and the
tzionen) that took place 1941 to 1944 in The famous Yeshiva building? We find happy passersby, drivers and pedestrians,
various communities. In these “actions,” it. Nice building, large, in what is now belie the tragedy of the spot.
the Jews were rounded up, taken out- a business area with strip malls and so
side of town, and shot, plain and simple. forth. The building itself has a brass Yid- As I indicated above, there were no
There were no extermination camps and dish sign denoting its former identity, gas chambers. Instead, the locals and
gas chambers in Lithuania and Belarus. but it is some kind of big restaurant, like the Germans shot about a million-and-
They just shot them in mass graves. I a Tex-Mex place, with garish signs adver- a-half Jews between late June of 1941,
read the signs which commemorate die tising the food. Sigh… when Hitler invaded the USSR (which
Yidden wos zeinen geharget gevoren fun by then included Lithuania, Latvia, Es-
die faschisten, the Jews who were killed We spot a big tourist bus. Tourists to tonia, and Ukraine), and the end of the
by the fascists. Why the fascists? Just call Panevezys? They don’t look Jewish. Are year. A million-and-a-half Jews in six
a spade a spade and say it was by the Ger- they Polacks or Germans revisiting where months! After the original spontaneous
mans! their parents shot the Jews? It’s Eastern orgy of violence on the part of the Lith-
Europe, and such things are quite possi- uanians, the Germans organized things
The sad answer is that the Jews were ble. Ugh. systematically. In about three places,16
for the most part not killed by the Ger- I think, there were actual ghettoes de-
mans. The Jews were killed by the Lithu- They get out and follow a female tour signed as labor centers, where the Jews
anians, by their neighbors. Same thing in guide into a very lovely small park full of worked as slave laborers for longer peri-
Belarus, Ukraine, and Hungary. The local trees in the middle of town. The weather ods of time, subject to death and shoot-
populations did the actual beating and is beyond perfect. My group stops nearby ings of specific groups by the execu-
shooting, then quarreled with the Ger- and watches from afar as she says some- tioners. In other words, in these three
mans for their share of the spoils. When thing standing in front of a marble slab of places, some survived. Everywhere else,
the Germans took over the country in some kind. Then they walk out, and we everybody was summarily shot in mass
the summer of 1941, the Lithuanians approach them. They are Jews! Secular graves at the beginning of the war on
went on an orgy of violence, setting Jews Israeli senior citizens; the guide is speak- the Eastern Front.
on fire with gasoline, splitting open the ing Ivrit. Well well.
heads of rabbis with axes, tearing babies “Follow me,” the guide had said in
in half, and worse. All the Germans had to What is in the park? What are they do- Ivrit, “and you’ll hear a story.” She was
do was stand by and watch. The record of ing here? right. She tells of Ponovezh, where all
what actually happened is so horrific that the Jews – between 6,000 and 8,000
Lithuania recently passed a law making The guide tells us. Turns out the mar- souls – were shot in a few rounds, the
it a crime to say the Lithuanians partic- ble slab says, basically, “They shot all the last in September 1941. That was it: no
ipated in the Holocaust. More precisely, Jews here and planted a park over the survivors.
it is a crime to criticize national heroes, mass grave.” Lovely!
and the list of national heroes includes Well, not exactly.
many who murdered Jews (but who also Well, I can’t go in; I am a kohen. The After the third and final round, the ex-
resisted Stalin after 1945). Resisting Sta- others go in as Shmuli and I wait outside. ecutioners did not even bother to cover
I talk to the Israelis, who are as surprised the mass grave. After they departed to
as we are to find Jews here. Who comes
to Panevezys? “You speak Hebrew with
16 The three places were Kovno, Vilna, and Shavel. Though most died over 1941 to 44, some labored until then and survived. That is how my father, who lived in
Shavel and was physically very strong, survived.
126 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
