Crossing the River

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Crossing the River Crossing the River Shalom Eilati Translated from Hebrew by Vern Lenz The University of Alabama Press • Tuscaloosa Published in cooperation with Yad Vashem, Jerusalem Copyright © 2008 Shalom Eilati All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designer: Michele Quinn Typeface: AGaramond ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Originally published in Hebrew as Lahazot et Hanahar by Carmel/Yad Vashem, 1999. The translation from Hebrew to English was made possible in part by generous donations from Emma Lazaroff-Schaver, Southfield, Michigan; the Aaron Friedman Memorial Fund, Mobile, Alabama; Family Master, Easton, Pennsylvania; Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York, New York; Association “Vehiggadta Lebinkha,” Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Assistance to Lithuanian Jews Inc., New York, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eilati, Shalom, 1933– [La-hatsot et ha-nahar. English] Crossing the river / Shalom Eilati ; translated from Hebrew by Vern Lenz. p. cm. “Published in cooperation with Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.” ISBN 978-0-8173-1631-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8107-3 (electronic) 1. Jews—Lithuania—Kaunas— Biography. 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Lithuania—Kaunas— Personal narratives. 3. Jewish children in the Holocaust—Lithuania— Kaunas—Biography. 4. Kaunas (Lithuania)—Biography. I. Yad va-shem, rashut ha-zikaron la-Sho’ah vela-gevurah II. Title. DS135.L53E3513 2008 940.53′18092—dc22 [B] 2008018605 To the memory of my perished mother Lea Greenstein-Kaplan and my sister Yehudith Kovno, July 1944 I am buried under mounds upon mounds of my life history. There I breathe a measured and pure breath. There I offer gifts to all that come. There I sing in a voice strong and warm. There I am plain as bread. —Meir Wieseltier, The Concise Sixties (1984), translated by Gabriel Levin ...