Kalman Farber — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

The book "Olkieniki Radin Vilna" was written by the late Rabbi Kalman Farber, but was edited and published only after his death by his sons, Chaniel and Shaul Farber.

Rabbi Farber kept his diary while in the Vilna Ghetto. When he was rescued from that inferno and went to Israel, he attached to his memoirs chapters from his childhood town of Olkieniki with Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski at the Ramailes Yeshiva, as well as memories from the Radin Yeshiva where he studied with the Chafetz Chaim and Rabbi Naftali Trop.

He describes the establishment of the Judenrat in Vilna, life in the ghetto, and his experiences in the labor camps where he was imprisoned. He tells of observance of mitzvot while risking his life, celebrating the holidays in the camp, and avoiding as much as possible doing ‘d’Orayta' work (work biblically forbidden by the Torah) while doing forced labor on Shabbat.

Farber argues with the common saying that Holocaust martyrs went like sheep to the slaughter, writing: "The German murderers share the victims' spoils with their Lithuanian murderous brothers; they share the Jewish property taken from those killed in Ponar. This was not enough for them - they abused and humiliated their victims. In Ponar itself, the Lithuanians deceived the victims out of greed for money and did not keep their promises. Of course, this provoked the Jews to seek revenge in the last moment of their lives. Many Lithuanians and Germans were killed, injured and wounded by Jewish youth, fighting for their lives ... Who spread the immense lie that the children of Israel in the ghettos went like sheep to the slaughter? No and no! Heads held high, with pride and dignity, rabbis went to their grave singing "When Israel went out of Egypt" and reciting "Hear O Israel," leaving behind the world of lies." (p. 289).

Farber here distinguishes between the physical heroism of young people who fought back the Nazis when on the verge of being executed, and the spiritual heroism of rabbis who sang and sanctified God while dying. The book describes an unknown heroic event. When Jews were led to Nemenčinė, they saw by the side of the road how the gentiles of the area were digging pits for them. The convoy of Jews, led by Germans with rifles with bayonets, signaled to each other that the time had come to act:

"They knew that someone had to start shouting and in the commotion that would ensue, we would flee into the forest. We decided that we would not go like sheep to the slaughter of our own free will. I felt my hourglass running out and said to myself, 'If not now, when.' Amid the shouts and commotion the circle broke open. Young people, both organized and disorganized, began to shout and run into the forest. Whoever encountered a Lithuanian policeman or an SS did not flee but stabbed him with a knife, or beat him with an iron rod he had prepared, or sticks he picked up from the ground. Minutes passed until the police and the SS recovered and caught on to what was happening, and in the meantime the fugitives escaped into the forest as far as possible. The murderers started shooting at us randomly, but we kept running until we felt we were out of danger. In all, about 200 people survived." (pp. 334-335).

The above-mentioned author, may his memory be blessed, worked all his life to spread the memory of the Holocaust and its lessons. This book, published only after his death, is testimony to his life's work and in memory of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust.