Jewish Rozalimas - Vu
zol ikh geyn? |
Jewish families often asked themselves this question, especially in times
of disaster. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 AD
by the Romans, the Jews travelled all over the world to find a new home
(Diaspora). Some of them settled in This was also the case for the Jews of Rozalimas. We are in the year
1905. Ten years later (in 1915) the Russians regarded the Lithuanian Jews as a
threat to the safety of their czardom, because many Jews spoke German, they
traded with |
This is the reason why the Russians forced them to leave their houses and
to move to an area far away from the German border. This measure caused a lot of
problems and misery for the Lithuanian Jews and in this way also for the Jews of
Rozalimas. The latter had to leave Rozalimas and to settle somewhere else.
Unfortunately I'm not familiar with their names and I don't know if they ever
returned to Rozalimas after World War I. In the years around 1930 the situation for the Lithuanian Jews had grown
even worse. |
Kudirka was the writer of the Lithuanian anthem. His influence was widely
spread all over the country. He wrote a book on his theories,called: Rastai (
Writings ). Thus a small village like Rozalimas must have heard of him, of his
theories and his influence. Around 1930, as I understood, some Jewish families of Rozalimas emigrated to South-Africa. Who they were, I don't know. The influence of the Lithuanian National Movement could have been one of the reasons why these families emigrated, perhaps another reason was the big fire which raged in Rozalimas on 12-6-1930. The fire was announced by the sounds of a big bell in the middle of the square, opposite the church. The fire destroyed a lot of the wooden houses, situated in the centre of Rozalimas. Almost all of them belonged to Jewish families. Those afflicted Jewish families, who didn't have a shelter anymore, left Rozalimas. Unfortunately, I don't know their names. |
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Vu zol ikh geyn? |
Copyright
© 2005 Dora Boom |
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