About the town of Kaisiadorys

Kaisiadorys (Koshedar)

Written by Yosef Rosin

English edited by Sarah and Mordechai Kopfstein

Koshedar (in Yiddish), 24 km south-east of Kovno, developed in the second half of the 19th century when the Kovno-Vilna railway line was constructed and a station was built there. Later, when the Koshedar- Siauliai railway line was built, the town became an important and busy railway junction.

Until 1795 Koshedar was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom, when the third division of Poland by the three superpowers of those times - Russia, Prussia and Austria - caused Lithuania to become partly Russian or Prussian. The part of Lithuania which included Koshedar fell under the rule of Czarist Russia. From 1802 it was part of the Vilna province (Gubernia) as a county center.

During independent Lithuania (1918-1940) Koshedar continued to be a county center, and as a result of Poland’s occupation of Vilna and its region, which included the town Trok (Trakai), Koshedar also served as the center of the Trakai district. During this period the importance of Koshedar decreased because, according to the new border with Poland, the railway connection to Poland and Russia ceased to exist.

Jewish Settlement till World War II

Jews settled in Koshedar while the railway station was being built. The first Jewish families - David Tekatch, Shemuel Morgenshtern, Khayim Strashun and Yakov Khayuth (Khayes) - settled near the station and made their living in timber, while their wives kept hotels, restaurants and bars. Jews who arrived later built their houses in the town itself, some 2 km from the station.

By 1897 there were 833 residents in Koshedar, of them 317 Jews (38%).

About 60 Jewish families, whose economic situation was solid, lived in Koshedar before WW1. They had a Beth-Midrash and employed a Rabbi, a Shokhet and a Mohel. The children studied in a "Kheder Metukan" (Improved Kheder). There was also a library.

Zionism gained support in Koshedar, and at the regional conference of the "Zionist Associations" of the Kovno and Vilna Gubernias, which took place in Vilna in 1898 with the participation of 71 delegates from 51 cities and towns, the delegate from Koshedar was the local Rabbi Tsevi Hurvitz. The list of donors for the settlement of Eretz-Yisrael, published in the Hebrew newspaper "HaMeilitz" in the years 1893-1899, contains 74 names of Koshedar Jews. The fund raisers were Rabbi Tsevi Hurvitz, Mosheh Gelvan and Shelomoh Tekatch. The correspondents for "HaMeilitz" were Yosef Fraker and D.Zak.

After the establishment of independent Lithuania in 1918, and following the autonomy law for minorities issued by the new Lithuanian government, the Minister for Jewish Affairs, Dr. Menachem (Max) Soloveitshik, ordered elections to be held for community committees (Va'ad Kehilah) in the summer of 1919. In Koshedar the elections took place in autumn 1919 and a committee of 9 members was elected: 2 General Zionists, 3 from the artisans, 4 undefined. This committee was active in almost all fields of Jewish life until the end of 1925, after which the autonomy was annulled.

At the elections for the first Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) in October 1922, the Zionist list in Koshedar received 139 votes, the Democrats-23 and "Akhduth"-16.

According to the first census performed by the government in 1923, Koshedar had 1929 residents, of them 596 Jews (31%).

During this period the local Jews made their living from commerce, crafts and light industry. According to the government survey of 1931 there were 20 businesses, including 15 owned by Jews (75%).

Details according to the type of business are given in the table below:


Type of the business
Total
Owned by Jews

Groceries
1
1

Butcher's shops and Cattle Trade
4
1

Restaurants and Taverns
7
6

Beverages
1
1

Textile Products and Furs
2
2

Medicine and Cosmetics
1
1

Radio, Sewing Machines and Electric Equipment
1
1

Timber and Heating Material
1
1


Machines and Transportation 1
0

Miscellaneous
1
1



According to the same survey, Koshedar had 11 light industry factories, 9 of them owned by Jews (82%), as can be seen in the following table:



Type of the Factory Total
Jewish owned

Metal Workshops, Power Plants
1
0

Chemical Industry: Lubrication Ointment
1
1

Textile: Wool, Flax, Knitting
1
1

Food: Flour Mills, Bakeries
3
3

Sawmills, Furniture
1
1

Furs, Hats
4
3

By 1937 there were 27 Jewish artisans: 6 tailors, 5 butchers, 3 bakers,

3 barbers, 2 shoemakers, 2 stitchers, 1 glazier, 1 book binder, 1 blacksmith, 1 tinsmith, 1 painter, 1 saddler.

The Jewish Folksbank played an important role in the economic life of Koshedar’s Jews. In 1927 it had 170 members, but in the thirties the number of its members decreased to 110. In 1939 there were 64 phones in town, 7 of them belonging to Jews.

The deterioration of Koshedar as a railway junction to Vilna and eastwards and the economic crisis in Lithuania caused many Koshedar Jews to immigrate to America, South Africa and Uruguay. Some immigrated to Eretz-Yisrael. At the end of the thirties only about 60 Jewish families were left in Koshedar, who subsisted mainly from the two weekly market days.

Koshedar Hebrew Elementary School 1936

Jewish children, numbering a yearly average of about 40 pupils, studied in the Hebrew school of the "Tarbuth" chain. Several graduates of this school continued their studies in the Hebrew High Schools in Kovno. There was a "Kheder" with 15 boys, and also a Yiddish library of the "Libhober fun Vissen" (Seekers of Knowledge) association.

Many belonged to the Zionist movement, and all Zionist parties had representatives in town.

Zionist youth organizations in Koshedar included "HaShomer HaTsair", "Beitar" etc. Sports activities took place in the "Maccabi" branch with about 40 members, while there was also the "Tifereth-Bakhurim" organization for religious boys.

Religious life in Koshedar concentrated around the Beth-Midrash where lessons were given by the Tehilim society, the Mishnah society and the Shas (Talmud) society.

Among the Rabbis who served in Koshedar were:

Binyamin Meizel (from 1881)

Tsevi-Hirsh Hurvitz (in Koshedar 1890-1902)

Yisrael-Aba Kriger (from 1903)

Shalom-Yitskhak Shtchupak, (served 1922-1929)

Aharon-David Yafe, its last Rabbi (served 1934-1941), was murdered in 1941.

Among the personalities born in Koshedar were: Moris Gest (Gershonovitz 1881-1942), who immigrated to America at the age of 12. He was an impresario who brought famous artists from Europe to America and cooperated with Reinhardt in the direction of the play "The Miracle"; Rabbi Yosef Kanovitz (1878-?), who served in several towns in Lithuania, and lived in America from 1915, where he served as Rabbi in several cities in N.J. and N.Y. states.