Russian Rule 1815 - 1914
Growing Up in Vilkaviskis
This material has been collected from personal memories and archival materials.
This material has been collected from personel memories and archival materials.
"Out of My Past"
A tale of a vanished world Jewish life in Vilkaviskis before the First World War
By Harold Freed. Harold Freed was born in Vilkaviskis on the 28th December 1890
By kind permission of David Perl [his grandson]
Out of My Past: A Memoir of Old Vilkaviskis
Part 1: Population & Local Commerce
The total population of my hometown, Vilkaviskis, was roughly 8,000, with Jewish residents making up approximately 70% of the community. The remaining population consisted of Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, and a small number of Germans.
The town’s primary industry centered on hog bristle processing factories. Raw bristles were imported from Russia, thoroughly cleansed, sorted, packed, and subsequently shipped to Germany, France, and England for brush manufacturing. The factory workforce was exclusively Jewish.
Other prominent occupations included commerce and agriculture:
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Agriculture & Produce: A number of Jewish families cultivated the land (typically with outside assistance), while others derived their livelihood from raising fruit and produce.
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Export Trade: Many residents engaged in export operations to Germany. Business peaked each autumn when massive flocks of geese—numbering in the thousands—were driven on foot to the border, loaded onto railway cars, and transported throughout Germany.
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Goods Exported: Large quantities of grain, flax, and cherries were also exported across the border. The cherries were primarily used to produce Kirschenshnapps, a popular German beverage.
Local trade was almost entirely managed by Jewish merchants, some of whom traveled through the surrounding countryside purchasing produce directly from local peasants for urban resale.
Part 2: Family Enterprises & Military Life
While my grandfather managed his own land holdings, my father owned a tobacco factory in partnership with my uncle. The factory’s principal product was a coarse leaf tobacco sold in bundled clusters resembling whisk brooms, which local peasants smoked in long porcelain pipes.
Relations between Jewish residents and their Lithuanian neighbors were generally harmonious. Throughout my early youth, I have no recollection of public disturbances, fights, or anti-Jewish pogroms.
Because of our proximity to the border, the town hosted a permanent military garrison—a regiment of dragoons stationed in handsome brick barracks on the outskirts of town. They wore distinctive uniforms featuring bright blue trousers.
The Red and Blue Trousers
In the neighboring town of Marijampolė, a regiment of hussars was stationed wearing red trousers. When the Russian authorities decided to swap the two garrisons—moving the dragoons to Marijampolė and the hussars to Vilkaviskis—local residents were thoroughly amused. Since both units were cavalry and looked virtually identical to civilians, locals joked that the government could have saved vast transit expenses simply by shipping the red trousers to Vilkaviskis and the blue ones to Marijampolė!
Part 3: Town Architecture & Sacred Spaces
Vilkaviskis was not an aesthetically picturesque town; it lacked lawns and flower gardens, and the houses were plain, built directly against the sidewalk edge. Absorbed in the daily struggle to earn a living, residents had little leisure time for property beautification. Weekends were reserved exclusively for rest and religious observance at the synagogue. The only expansive, well-kept gardens belonged to the Catholic clergy, situated near the cathedral in the center of town.
Despite its plain appearance, Vilkaviskis possessed a rich heritage spanning centuries and housed about half a dozen synagogues:
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The central Great Synagogue was an ancient wooden architectural masterpiece nearly three hundred years old, built in a traditional Polish-Lithuanian style with structural elements suitable for defensive assembly if needed. It was reserved strictly for prayer rather than daily study.
During Simchat Torah, the congregation gathered in the front plaza to perform religious dances with sacred Torah scrolls carried by community elders. Surrounding this square were several study houses (klauses), a hekdash (a shelter for the indigent and infirm), and a community ritual bathhouse (mikveh). Since home plumbing was nonexistent, regular visits to the bathhouse—where men steamed themselves and used birch branches—maintained high standards of personal hygiene and religious ritual purity.
Part 4: Historical Legacy & Daily Infrastructure
Our town holds a place in Napoleonic history as the final Russian stop through which Emperor Napoleon passed during his retreat into Germany following the campaign of 1812. My great-grandmother, who lived to be 100 years old, recalled seeing Napoleon and his general staff passing through town. In commemoration, one local street on the retreat route was named "French Street," and a small synagogue located there was known as the "French Synagogue."
Part 5: Public Health, Climate & Domestic Life
Public medical infrastructure in our town of 8,000 was extremely minimal, consisting of just two physicians and one practical midwife (a dentist arrived only years later). Surgical interventions for acute emergencies like appendicitis were unavailable, leaving patients to either recover naturally or succumb to the illness. Because open wells were frequently situated near outdoor privies, water contamination was common, making typhoid fever a widespread threat. Despite these hardships, a surprisingly large number of residents lived to an advanced age.
The region experienced a harsh, cold climate, with warm weather lasting only three months. Snow typically fell in October and remained on the ground until April.
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The Fire Pot (Kagol): To combat severe indoor winter temperatures, women utilized a portable earthen pot filled with glowing live coals. Positioned beneath their floor-length skirts while sewing or doing housework, the pot provided essential warmth—though voluminous underskirts occasionally caught fire by accident.
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Daily Meals & Hospitality:
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Morning Routine: Upon waking, residents drank hot tea while holding a lump of sugar between their teeth. A formal breakfast of coffee, bread, butter, cheese, and eggs followed around 10:00 AM.
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Main Afternoon Meal: Served around 3:00 PM, the primary meal typically consisted of raw herring, soup, and boiled meat.
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Sabbath & Evening Fare: Dinners featured tea, bread with preserves, or bread spread with rich goose fat during winter months.
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Entertaining Guests: Without refrigeration, serving meat to an unexpected guest required catching a chicken in the yard, locating the town's ritual slaughterer (shochet), and undergoing a multi-hour preparation process of plucking, soaking, and salting to comply with dietary laws (Kashrut).
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Part 6: Dietary Laws, Culinary Traditions & Health
Traditional Jewish cuisine relied heavily on chicken fat, creating rich, flavorful dishes. Delicacies were often celebrated as having a true "Jewish taste":
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Traditional Dishes: Signature items included Gefilte Fish (spiced ground fish balls), Tzimmes, Kugel, and Cholent.
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Vegetable Preserves: In the absence of tropical fruits, housewives crafted preserves out of thinly sliced beets, radishes, or turnips cooked in thick spiced syrup. These sweet treats served as home remedies and were offered to honored guests.
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Observance of Kashrut: Kitchens maintained separate sets of dishes and utensils for dairy and meat products, along with two additional sets reserved exclusively for Passover week. A mandatory six-hour waiting period was observed after eating meat before consuming dairy.
While dietary laws and simple food maintained a sturdy adult population, infant mortality remained high. Specialized surgical treatment was largely non-existent; residents with superficial tumors or chronic conditions simply carried them throughout life, with only extreme cases traveling to Königsberg (the nearest major German medical center) for treatment.
Part 7: Religious Autonomy, Education & Community Life
Under the Russian Empire, Jewish life was subject to strict legal restrictions. However, the community maintained full autonomy over its internal religious, educational, and cultural affairs.
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Universal Literacy: While illiteracy was common among non-Jewish neighbors, literacy among Jewish males was virtually universal. Parents prioritized sending their sons to Cheder (religious elementary school) at age four to study Hebrew and the Old Testament.
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Adult Education: Higher study continued in local prayer houses (klauses). Groups such as the Tailors' or Carpenters' synagogues met on evenings and Sabbaths to discuss Talmudic passages led by learned peers.
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Family Structure: Households operated on a traditional patriarchal structure. The husband was catered to as the formal head of the family, often devoting his time to thrice-daily prayers and civic governance, while his wife managed retail shops and domestic affairs as a respected partner.
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Part 8: Passing & Pastoral Traditions
Donating Days to the Sick
When a respected scholar or pious resident fell critically ill, the synagogue beadle collected "donated days" from neighbors who offered days, weeks, or months of their own lives toward the patient's spiritual account. Conversely, when a young person became ill, their name was symbolically changed (often to Alter, meaning "the old one") to confuse the Angel of Death.
The Peaceful Passing of Grandfather Rausuk
A vivid memory from my childhood illustrates the community's serene relationship with death:
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The Announcement: After returning from morning prayers, an elderly neighbor announced calmly to his family that his time had come.
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The Final Blessing: He retired to bed, gathered his grandchildren, laid his hands upon their heads, and recited traditional blessings.
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Neighborhood Visits: For several days, local children visited his bedside. He offered each child a blessing and a piece of hard candy kept in a paper bag.
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Peaceful Departure: A ten-man prayer quorum (Minyan) conducted daily services at his bedside until he passed away peacefully at the end of the week.
Funerals were kept simple to honor the principle that all people are equal in death. Bodies were interred within 24 hours in plain wooden coffins. Volunteers from the Burial Society (Chevrah Kadisha) organized proceedings on foot, soliciting charitable alms with traditional chants.
Part 9: The Sanctity of the Sabbath
The weekly arrival of the Sabbath (Shabbat) was the crowning jewel of Jewish life:
During major international events—such as the Dreyfus Affair or the Spanish-American War—synagogue gatherings doubled as discussion clubs. Local Jews were passionately pro-American during the 1898 war, harboring an ancient historic grievance against Spain due to the 1492 expulsion of Jews.
Part 10: Holidays, Traditions & Early Childhood Memories
Annual celebrations provided joy throughout the year:
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Passover (Pesach): Homes were scrubbed a month in advance, special holiday dishes were unboxed, and sweet mead was brewed from hops. Families fattened poultry in special barn coops, while children played traditional floor games using walnuts and metal balls.
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Purim: Marked by three-cornered poppyseed pastries (Hamantaschen), theatrical plays depicting the Book of Esther, gift exchanges, and rare instances of adult drunkenness during carnival festivities.
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Shavuot (Pentecost): Celebrated with dairy delicacies, particularly sweet stuffed pancakes (Blintzes).
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Rosh Hashanah: A time for new clothing and blessings over seasonal fruits.
The First Taste of a Banana
On one memorable Rosh Hashanah morning, my grandfather mysteriously stepped into an adjoining room and returned holding a single banana wrapped in a napkin. Carefully peeling and slicing it with a pocket knife, he distributed tiny morsels so each family member could recite a blessing over a fruit they had never seen before. Years later, as a student arriving at the Berlin train station, I spotted a fruit stand full of bananas and immediately ate seven or eight at once—resulting in severe stomach cramps that ruined my visit!
Part 11: Rural Life, Matchmaking & Military Draft Evasion
Conscription into the Tsarist Army meant four wasted years of harsh treatment, non-kosher food, and zero opportunities for Jewish advancement. To avoid the draft:
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Families paid hefty 500-ruble fines if a son emigrated before reporting.
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Young men attempted extreme weight loss, sleep deprivation, or self-inflicted injuries.
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Parents intentionally manipulated birth registration dates (Metrikes) to present 18-year-olds as 21-year-olds who failed physical size standards.
Despite the hardships, rigid laws, and primitive conditions of the era, community bonds remained strong. The devotion of families, the rich rhythm of the Sabbath, and a collective commitment to education preserved the spirit of old Vilkaviskis across generations.
Below you will see the aspects of Jewish life in Vilkaviskis during the Russian period