First page of the ethical will of Elkhanan Elkes, the chairman of the Kovno ghetto Jewish Council. Elkes wrote the letter between October 19 and November 11, 1943, and had it smuggled out of the ghetto to his two grown children, who were living in England at the time.
Overview
- Caption
- First page of the ethical will of Elkhanan Elkes, the chairman of the Kovno ghetto Jewish Council. Elkes wrote the letter between October 19 and November 11, 1943, and had it smuggled out of the ghetto to his two grown children, who were living in England at the time.
Elkes writes: "I am writing to you my beloved children...in the Valley of Tears, the Kovno Viljampole Ghetto...I am writing this in an hour when many shattered souls, widows, and orphans, threadbare and hungry, are camping on our doorstep imploring us for help. My strength is ebbing. There is a desert inside me. My soul is scorched. I am naked and empty, and there are no words in my mouth...The Germans killed, slaughtered, and murdered us in complete equanimity. I saw them; I was standing in their presence as they were sending many thousands of men and women and children and infants to be butchered...I embrace and kiss you and say to you that I am your loving father to my very last breath. Elkhanan." - Date
-
1943 October 19 - 1943 November 11
- Locale
- Kaunas, Lithuania
- Variant Locale
- Kauen
Kovno
Kowno - Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Joel Elkes
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Joel ElkesSource Record ID: Collections: 1999.86.1a
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Dr. Elkhanan Elkes (1879-1944) was a Jewish physician who, during the German occupation of Lithuania, assumed the leadership of the Jewish community in the Kovno ghetto. Born in Kalvarija, Lithuania, Elkes received his medical degree in 1903 in neurology and internal medicine. In 1912 he married Miriam Malbin. They had two children: Joel and Sarah. After serving as a physician in the Russian army, he opened a private practice and eventually became one of Kovno's leading physicians. In 1923 he was apppointed head of the department of internal medicine at the Bikur Holim hospital in Kovno. His numerous private patients included the Lithuanian prime minister, the German ambassador, and other members of the diplomatic community. In August 1941 the SS ordered Kovno's leading Jewish citizens to select a leader to head the new Jewish Council. No one wanted to assume this role. Finally the community prevailed upon Elkes, citing his connections and moral integrity. He remained in this position for all three years of the ghetto's existence. Despite his own failing health, he provided moral leadership, helped the ghetto's medical community, and provided tacit support to the underground. Much of the day to day running of the ghetto was entrusted to his deputy, Leib Garfunkel, an attorney and former Jewish delegate to the Lithuanian parliament. Elkes acted principally as an intercessor with the German authorities to ameliorate the severity of their orders. In one famous anecdote, shortly before the ghetto's liquidation, Elkes made a personal appeal to SS Captain Wilhelm Goecke. Elkes promised to write Goecke a personal testimonial if he spared the ghetto; Goecke refused. Elkes was deported to Dachau in July 1944. There, he continued to offer medical care to fellow Jews until he succumbed to starvation brought on by a hunger strike. He died on October 17, 1944 at the age of 65. Due to his stature, he was allowed a public burial in a marked grave. Elkes was survived by his wife Miriam, who had been deported to Stutthof, and his two children Sarah and Joel, who were studying in England during the war.
- Record last modified:
- 2020-07-06 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1121264
