Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg, son of Reb Yosef Rumsisker, was born in 1817 in Cekiske (Chikishok), Kovno district. He married Ester, daughter of Markil Kadishon. They had three sons, born in Kovno: Itzko (Yitzchak)-Leib (b. ca. 1834), Movsha-David (b. ca. 1835) and Yonathan (b. ca. 1847), and two daughters: Rona-Mariya (b. 1833) and Rockhe-Leya (b.1840). After the death of his wife Ester, Rabbi Mordechai remarried to Hadel (Godel); they had a daughter Yocheved-Beila (b.1871 in Bauska, then in Courland Province, now in Latvia). Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg died in 1889 in Bauska.

According to the 1874 Kovno Family list, Itzko-Leib, son of Mordkhel Eliashberg and his wife Tziproa-Feige (b.1849), lived in Lunna, Grodno district. Itzko-Leib was a tavern keeper. They had five sons and one daughter, all were born in Lunna. They were in order of age: Sarah-Frume (b. 1862), Chaim-Arie (b. 1866), Movsha (b. 1869), Yosel (b. 1872), Abraham (b. 1873) and Yehoshua-Ovsey (b.1878). Itzko-Leib died in Lunna sometime before 1910.
 

	Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg, son of Reb Yosef Rumsisker (ca. 1880) From the collection of Yitzchak Eliashberg			Reb Yitzchak, son of Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg (ca. 1900) From the collection of Yitzchak Eliashberg

The children of Itzko-Leib son of Mordechai Eliashberg
1. Sarah-Frume (b. 1862), married Yosef Kutchinski (b. 1860). They had two daughters, born in Lunna: Ester (b. 1884) and Leah (b. 1894). They moved to Izablin, Wolkowysk district. At the beginning of the 20th century they immigrated to the United States and changed their last name to Kuchen. Their families live in the USA.

2. Chaim-Arie Eliashberg (b. 1866) lived in Kovno and later he left for Eretz Israel. He died in Israel.

3. Movsha (Moshe) Eliashberg (b. 1869) married Chana (b. 1866 in Zelwa), daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Shabtai Ha'Cohen Kaplan. They lived in Lunna and had a son named Yitzchak who died in his childhood.. According to Moshe Alperstein (a family relative), Moshe Eliashberg was an enthusiastic supporter of the Russian Revolution against the Tsar in 1905. Several years later he "returned to religion" and was an active member of Vaad Ha'Yeshivot (Council of theYeshivas) located in Vilna. Moshe owned a fabrics shop in Lunna. He died in 1935 and was buried in the cemetery of Lunna. His wife Chana perished in the Holocaust.

4. Yosel Eliashberg (b. 1872) married Yaffa-Sheine; they had three daughters, born in Lunna: Ester (Etel, b. 1905), Leah (b. 1907) and Yehudit (b.1910). Yaffa-Sheine died while she was giving birth to the youngest daughter Yehudit. Yosel remarried to Chaya Zatz. Yosel worked in ironmongery in Lunna. Yosel and Chaya perished in the Holocaust. The three daughters left Lunna for Eretz Israel before the war; their families live in Israel.

5. Abraham Eliashberg (b. 1873) married Fanya Prozhanski (b. 1887). They had a daughter named Rivka. Abraham owned a fabrics shop in Lunna. Abraham died in Lunna before the war. Fanya and her daughter Rivka perished in the Holocaust.

6. Yehoshua-Ovsey Eliashberg (b. 1878) married Batya Kosowski (b. 1882). According to the Vsia Rossiia (All Russia) database, Ovsey son of Itzko-Leib lived in 1899 in Lunna and worked in a dry goods/fancy clothing shop. Later he owned a liquor store and was a partner in the lumber-mill in Lunna. Yehoshua was among the founders of the Hebrew school "Torah Ve'daat" in Lunna. Yehoshua and Batya Eliashberg had five children. They were, in order of age, Malka (b. 1906), Yocheved (b. 1907), Yitzchak (b. 1910), Chaya (b. 1914) and Leah (b. 1917).
Yehoshua died in Lunna in 1934. Yocheved, Yitzchak and Leah left Lunna before WW2 and settled in Eretz Israel. Their families live in Israel. Batya (Kosowski) Eliashberg and her daughter Chaya perished in the Holocaust with all the other Jews of Lunna on December 8, 1942. Malka (Eliashberg) Bialoblocki, her husband - Avigdor and their two children were living in Rozyscie, Poland, before WW2; they all perished in the Holocaust.
For more information about this branch of family, please refer to the Kosowski family at:

Family Albums/Kosowski and also to: http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/Lunna.htm

The four pictures below are from the collection of Itzko-Leib's descendants.
 

	Abraham, son of Itzko-Leib Eliashberg (ca. 1905)			Moshe, son of Itzko-Leib Eliashberg (ca. 1910)

	Yosel, son of Itzko-Leib Eliashberg (ca. 1910)			Yehoshua-Ovsey, son of Itzko-Leib Eliashberg (ca. 1932)

From the collection of Yocheved (Eliashberg) Rutenberg
Pictures submitted by Shuka (Yehoshua) Rutenberg (Yocheved's son)

Yocheved ("Yochke") was born in Lunna in 1907 to Yehoshua and Bayta (Kosowski) Eliashberg. She had three sisters: Malka (b. 1906), Chaya (b. 1914) and Leah (b. 1916) and a brother - Yitzchak (b. 1910). In Lunna, Yochke was a member of The "Zlota Szostka" ("Golden Sextet"), a company of six young women, performed in town and in the neighboring area. Their performances included singing, dancing, and acting. Yocheved left Lunna for Eretz Israel in 1932 and married Moshe Rutenbeg; their family lives in Israel.

 

	Students and teachers of school in Lunna (ca. 1917 to 1920)			Jewish children at Zaleski Forest (Lag Ba'Omer, ca. 1919 to 1921)

The two pictures above were also received from the collection of Fruma (Friedman) Weinberg who was a friend of Yocheved (Eliashberg). Therefore, it is most likely that Fruma (Friedman) is also in these two pictures, but she was not identified. Unfortunately the years in which those two pictures were taken are not indicated. It is most likely that the picture in the left was taken before the Jewish schools were established in Lunna. Therefore, it could be that the students attended a Russian or German school.
The picture in the right was taken in Lag Ba'Omer holiday between 1919 and 1921. Liza (Welbel) Shwetz, a former Lunna resident, who identified several students in the pictures, recalls:
In Lag Ba'Omer the Jewish children used to collect contributions for the Jewish National Fund and for that they gave small flags which they held inside a hard-paper bag. The girls sitting in the middle of the front row hold such a hard-paper bag with a symbol of Star of David. The children in the picture were born between 1907 and 1915.
 

	The "Golden Sextet" (1924)			Five girl-friends in front of a house in Lunna (1924)			In front of the house in Lunna (1924)

 

	By the entrance of Mordechai Kosowski's residence (ca. 1926)			By the entrance of Mordechai Kosowski's residence (ca. 1926)

	The Bridge over the Niemen River (1927)

	Five friends in front of a house in Lunna (1927)			Reverse side of the picture of the five friends (1927) Yochkele, Remember the supper at my home on Saturday. Signed: Yaakov?

	The steps leading to the bridge over the Niemen River (1928)

Below are two pictures of the small bridge over the brook located near the flour mill of the Lunna estate; the Niemen River flows behind the trees.
 

	The small bridge over the brook (1928)			The small bridge over the brook (1928)

	Friends in front of the guesthouse in Lunna (1928)

	Yocheved (Eliashberg) Rutenberg (right) and Zisel (Zlotoyabko) Sfard (left) (1928)			Zisel (Zlotoyabko) Sfard (1930)

	Fruma (Zalutzki) Geizler at Zaleski Forest (1930)			Reverse side of the picture of Fruma (Zalutzki) Geizler Yochkele: It is better in the summer. What will come next? Long and dark nights; It is hard to be alone. [Signed]: Fruma

From the collection of Yitzchak Eliashberg
Pictures submitted by Ruth Marcus (Yitzchak's daughter)

Yitzchak ("Itzel") Eliashberg was born on October 14, 1910 in Lunna to Batya (Kosowski) and Yehoshua Eliashberg. He had four sisters, born in Lunna including Malka, Yocheved, Chaya and Leah. He graduated the "Torah Ve'daat" Hebrew elementary school in Lunna. Between 1926 and 1930 he studied at "Tarbut" Gymnasia in Grodno where he graduated in 1930. He was active in the "Ha'Shomer Ha'tzair" youth movement in Grodno and was one of its leaders. In 1929 he visited at the General National Exhibition (Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa, PWK) organized in Poznań (picture below). The PWK was an overview of economic and cultural achievements of Poland, prepared on a grand scale and visited by 4.5 million of people. At the end of 1932 he left Poland for Eretz Israel. At the end of the summer in 1937 he traveled to visit his family who had remained in Lunna. His father had died by 1937 but his mother Batya, his two younger sisters Chaya and Leah and other Eliashberg and Kosowski relatives remained in Lunna. In 1938 Yitzchak married Ahuva Wigisser (b. 1912 in Jerusalem). They have family in Israel.
For more information, please refer to:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/Lunna.htm

 

	Students and teachers; sixth grade at Torah Ve'daat School (1922)			"Tarbut" Gymnasia in Grodno (1930)

	Ha'Shomer Ha'tzair youth movement, group Ha'Emek (ca. 1929)			Ha'Shomer Ha'tzair youth movement, group "Laor" (Ostrika, 1932)

	Ha'Shomer Ha'tzair youth movement, group "Bnei Yaar" (Vishneva, 1932)

	Three fiends at Zaleski Forest (1929)			Yitzchak Eliashberg and a friend at the General National Exhibition, PWK, Poznań, 1929

	Basha (Batya) Eliashberg (in the center), her son Yitzchak and her daughter Yocheved (ca. 1930)			Reverse side of the photo of Basha, Yitzchak and Yocheved Eliashberg

	Eliashberg and Alperstein Families at Alperstein's residence (Grodno, 1932)

Below are five pictures taken by Yitzchak Eliashberg using his simple box camera, in 1937 during his visit in Lunna
 

	Avigdor Bialoblocki and his son Shmuel-Arie (Lunna, 1937)			Yitzchak Eliashberg, his mother Batya (Kosowski) Eliashberg (right) and his aunt Chaya (Kosowski) Alperstein (left) (Lunna, 1937)

	Yitzchak Eliashberg with his family (Lunna, 1937)			Yitzchak Eliashberg (left) and his brother-in-law Avigdor Bialoblocki (Lunna, 1937)

	Eliashberg and Kosowski family relatives (Grodno, 1937)

	Family relatives (Lunna, 1937)			Eliashberg and Kosowski family relatives (Lunna, 1937)

	Bialoblocki family (1938) Malka (Eliashberg) and Avigdor Bialoblocki; their daughter Aviva and son Shmuel-Arie			Bialoblocki family near the Neimen (Zaleski, 1938)

From the collection of Leah (Eliashberg) Yanovsky
Pictures submitted by Erela Aloni (Leah's daughter)

Leah was born in 1917 in Lunna; she is the youngest daughter of Batya and Yehoshua Eliashberg. In 1939 before the outbreak of WW2 Leah and her sister Chaya were living in Lunna with their mother Batya. Their older brother, Yitzchak, was already living in Eretz Israel. It turned out that Yitzchak had the possibility to bring to Eretz Israel only one of his two younger sisters, so he decided to get his youngest sister Leah out from Poland. To do so he paid for the travel expenses of one of his acquaintances in Eretz Israel who traveled to Lunna, married his sister and brought her with him to Eretz Israel on an official certificate at the "last moment" on April 5, 1940 and then divorced her (i.e. "fictitious marriage"). Leah's other sister - Chaya and her mother Batya remained in Lunna and perished in the Holocaust with all the other Jews of Lunna on December 8, 1942, the fifth day of Chanukah. Leah married Avraham Yanovsky who came to Eretz Israel from Ross (located close to Lunna). They have family in Israel.
 

	Leah (Eliashberg) Yanovsky (Wola, ca. 1934)			Leah (left) and her sister Chaya Eliashberg in front of their house in Lunna (1934)

	Leah (stands, second from right) and her friends on the way to Eretz Israel (Pireus, April 5, 1940)			The signatures of Leah's friends on the back of the photo (Pireus, April 5, 1940)

From the collection of Etel (Eliashberg) Prener
Pictures submitted by Amnon Prener (Etel's son)

Ester ("Etel") was born in Lunna in 1905 to Yosel and Yaffa-Sheine Eliashberg (Yosel is Yehoshua's brother.) Etel's sisters were Leah ("Leika", b. 1907) and Yehudit (b.1910). Their mother died during the birth of the youngest daughter Yehudit. Yosel Eliashberg remarried to Chaya Zatz who raised his three daughters as a mother. The three sisters Etel, Leah and Yehudit came to Eretz Israel before WW2. Etel married Nachman Prener, Leah married Tzvi Finkelstein and Yehudit married Abrahami. Yosel Eliashberg and Chaya (Zatz) perished in the Holocaust. Family of Etel and Leah live in Israel.
 

	In Zaleski Forest (ca. 1925)			By the guesthouse at Zaleski (ca. 1925)

	Etel (back row, second from right) and her friends in front of the residence of Yosel Eliashberg (Etel's father) (ca. 1925)

	The three sisters, daughters of Yosel Eliashberg (1929)			Reverse side of the photo of the three Yosel Eliashberg's daughters The photo was dedicated to Yochke "from the nice uncle and three monkeys"