Members of the Kovno Altestenrat (Council of the Elders).
Overview
- Caption
- Members of the Kovno Altestenrat (Council of the Elders).
Left to right are Avraham Tory secretary; Leib Garfunkel, deputy chairman; Elkhanan Elkes, chairman; Yakov Goldberg, head of the Labor Office and Zvi Levin, advisor and link with the underground. - Date
-
1941 June 22 - 1943 May 07
- Locale
- Kaunas, Lithuania
- Variant Locale
- Kauen
Kovno
Kowno - Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Yad Vashem Photo and Film Archives
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
Yad Vashem Photo and Film Archives
Copyright: Agency AgreementProvenance: Avraham ToryUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Kedem Auction HouseSource Record ID: Collections: 2011.419.8 - Published Source
- Encyclopedia of the Holocaust - Gutman, Israel (ed.) - MacMillan - p.762
Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Little, Brown and Company - p. 79
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Artifact Photographer
- Edward Owen, USHMM Artifact Photographer
- 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:
- 2020-06-02 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa9834
