Biography
The Shlanski brothers were among the more than 1,500 Jews from Eisiskes who immigrated to the United States between 1873 and 1940. They were the children of Avraham-Mordekhai Shlanski, a coachman from Vilna, and his wife Zisle. Morris Shlanski was the first to come, arriving in the United States in 1905. He later became a physician. His younger brother Louis joined him shortly before the start of World War I. The Eisiskes émigré community contributed large sums of money to Jewish institutions in their hometown, and Morris and Louis returned briefly to Eisiskes in 1936 to visit their relatives and deliver a large donation to the community. In 1938, Zelig Shlanski followed his brothers to America accompanied by his oldest son Fischl. He was joined two years later by his wife, Rose (Dugaczanski) Shlanski, and their four younger children, Benjamin, Hayya, Sara and Leibl. As the family of an American citizen, they received permission to pass through Nazi Germany while en route to their ship in Italy. One of Zelig's sisters of Zelig and her family also had planned to immigrate but were unable to get out before the Germans occupied Eisiskes in June 1941. Avraham-Mordekhai Shlanski died of natural causes before the war. Benjamin Shlanski enlisted in the American army after immigrating to the United States. He was killed in action on Anzio Beach, Italy on May 29,1944. Most of the extended family who remained in Eisiskes perished in the September 1941 mass killing action.
