THE CITY OF KEIDAN: An Historical Memoir by Boruch Chaim (Alter) Cassel

After the downfall of the 1824 Decembrist revolution against Tsar Nicholas I in Russia, the revolutionary movement in Poland and Lithuania grew stronger, until an eruption occurred in 1831.

Keidan was the residence of Count Czapski, who was very active in the Polish revolutionary movement. As a result, large groups of patriotic Polish military confederates were concentrated in the city. The Russian armies which had been sent in to suppress a revolt besieged Keidan from the opposite side of the river, along the road to Kovno. A heavy artillery battle ensued between the retreating Poles and the attacking Russians.

This took place on a summer evening, when the synagogue was filled with people at their prayers. A Russian cannonball penetrated the east wall, through the ceiling right above the Torah ark and, miraculously, passed through open doors into the anteroom and outdoors without injuring anyone. This was seen as a true miracle, and to this day the shell hole in the east wall has remained unpatched to commemorate the event. The cannonball still rests high in a wall in the market place, where it finally came to rest.

When Keidan was captured by the Russians, two frightened Jews hid in an attic. Being anxious to see what was happening, they peeked out of small window and were observed by the Russians, who took them for spies and shot them.

After the revolt was put down, the Russians placed a garrison of soldiers in Keidan. They were quartered in the Catholic church in 1832, which since that time has remained a barracks. The government allowed the wooden chapel to remain as a church.

Even with the growth of the Russian population around Keidan, the German Lutheran community continued to expand. At the same time, Polish-Catholic culture did not diminish. There was a five-class gymnasium, where all subjects were taught in Polish. Highly reputed throughout Lithuania, it had one of the finest libraries, with over 15,000 volumes and an excellent physical plant.

Count Czapski built a splendid castle, a park and bridges over the Datnovke and Smilga rivers.

The Jewish community in Keidan suffered under the tyrannical rule of Nicholas I, as did communities elsewhere. That story begins with the terror, the enforced military conscriptions and the kidnapping of children to fill the military quota which was placed yearly on the Keidan Jewish community. The kahal office near the synagogue overflowed with the tears of unfortunate mothers and disheartened fathers. The community elders were desperate, as in other towns. They hire kidnappers, they bought exemptions for the sons of the rich, and the masses of the poor were offered up for sacrifice like chickens.

The Haskala movement began to penetrate Keidan - this fortress of Torah and piety - and managed to attract some youths, to the great despair of their parents. In 1843 an impoverished cooper named Hirshe Bender, who was also a remarkable optimist and a great scholar, had a son who was named Moshe Leib. The father began tutoring his son at a very early age. Then the boy's grandfather, who was a scholar and very knowledgeable in the bible, took over his education. The boy showed signs of being a genius. His father led a study group in Eliahu Vilner's little synagogue, and young Moshe Leib, while still a child, led a similar group of youngsters.

Moshe Leib Lilienblum, 1843-1910, was an influential writer whose later work encouraged the return to Palestine.

This boy grew up to be the famous maskil [enlightener] and Lover of Zion and was later well known as the Zionist nationalist leader and Hebrew author, Moshe Leib Lilienblum.

In 1846 Pesach Smilg had a son who became an important Jewish scholar, Dr.Yosef Smilg. Thus Keidan made important advances into the expanding Jewish world and the growing Haskala movement, along with the many other communities of Russian Jewry.

After Alexander II was crowned Tsar of Russia in 1856, he abolished the kidnapping of children for military duty. Keidan, with many other Jewish communities, breathed easier.

Count Marian Czapski, a grandson of Francisco-Stanislaw Czapski and Veronica Radzivill, a lord chamberlain of the royal court and provincial marshal, was the most educated member of the Czapski family. He graduated from the faculty of science and philosophy of the University of Berlin. Being very wealthy, and having studied painting and carving as a young man, he assembled a large gallery of paintings, a fine numismatic collection and an important library. He decorated his castle in Keidan very artistically and beautified the surrounding park. In 1852 he became the curator of the Keidan gymnasium, and under his supervision the school became one of the best in Lithuania.

After his marriage he received a dowry of a large estate in Miropol, in the province of Volin, where he spent some of his time. His friendly attitude toward the Jewish community in Keidan was demonstrated when he donated the bricks for a wall built around a newbes midresh [religious study house].

In appreciation of his generosity the community inscribed his name on astone plaque in the building. In September, 1857, when the bes midresh was dedicated, a silver chalice was presented to Czapski with a message of thanks inscribed in Hebrew, German and French. The Hebrew version was arranged in an acrostic, spelling out the name M.A.R.I.A.N Czapski.

The government continued its policy of Russification in Lithuania, and in 1859 the order came down that all classes in the gymnasium were to be taught in Russian. The majority of the students were patriotic Poles, who were unwilling to study in a school where the first language was not Polish, and in a short time the number of students fell from 500 to 141.

In 1863 the second Polish revolt broke out. Almost all the former students of the gymnasium took part. The Jews of Keidan, like most Lithuanian Jews, avoided taking part in this revolt, much more so than in the first. As a result, they were spared the bloody counter-measures that Muravyov, the governor-general of Vilna, was applying throughout Lithuania. In 1864 the Keidan gymnasium was shut down completely and the building was converted to a barracks to house the local military garrison. The large library was apportioned between the city library of Vilna and the gymnasium in Kovno. The ornate furnishings were given to the Reale-shul in Vilna.

To replace the large Polish gymnasium, the government opened a Russian elementary school which never grew beyond its initial three classes. Thus, Polish language and culture, which had dominated Keidan for more than two hundred years, finally came to an end there. Count Marian Czapski, who was heavily involved in the revolt, was exiled to Siberia, and his castle was confiscated by the Russians in 1866. The rich library, which included many French, Latin and Polish books, was shipped off to the peoples' library in St. Petersburg. The surviving families of the Czapskis and Radzivills were robbed of an inheritance accumulated over 250 years.

The Mirapol estate of Czapski's wife was not confiscated, however. And after several years, Czapski was allowed to return from exile. He settled with his daughter in Posen where he spent his remaining years engaged in literary activities. He died in 1875.

Keidan was freed of Polish control, under which one could be dragged off to the lord's manor and whipped for the slightest infractions or at the whim of the lord. Eventually, the castle was bought from the government by Count Totleben.

In the autumn of 1868, two horse-artillery batteries, the fifth and sixth, were quartered in Keidan. This provided a welcome source of income for the local merchants and artisans. Soon after, the Libau-Romne train line came into existence. Because of Count Totleben's influence, the train station for Keidan was built across from the castle courtyard. The train connected Keidan with the inner regions of Russia and increased trade. It also provided employment for many contractors, artisans and merchants.

The economic conditions of Jews in Keidan improved. Children of richer families began to be educated under the influence of the Haskala. An interesting folksong was popular in the 1860's about the new ladies' fashion of wearing crinolines:

It used to be that when you'd enter a well-to-do household,
it would be as dark and slippery as in a deep hole;
and on the shelf would be displayed copper and tin.
But now you only see the crinoline.

In 1874 a new system of universal military conscription was started, which removed the obligation of the Jewish community to provide a fixed quota of conscripts. In the same year Kovno was made the capital city of the province, and the jurisdiction of Keidan moved from the province of Vilna to that of Kovno. At the end of the 1870's the chief rabbi of Keidan, Avrohom Shimon Troyb, died. He was the last of a series of giant figures of his generation.

Count Totleben distinguished himself as a young engineering- officer In the battle of Sebastopol in the Crimean war in 1854. Years later, in the Turkish war of 1877, he achieved the highest distinction. On returning victorious from the wars, he decided to beautify and expand his castle in Keidan. He erected a Turkish mosque with a minaret. The walls of the mosque were inscribed with quotations from the Koran. A whole Bulgarian village was created. The park was adorned with beautiful tree-lined streets, marble statues of mythological figures, bowers and summer houses with fountains. The park became one of the most beautiful in Lithuania. He also built water mills, which were leased to Jews.

The court became Totleben's summer residence. Around that time he was appointed as governor-general of the Vilna district. The Totleben family was very friendly to the Jews of Keidan. At times, several merchants and artisans would be invited to the court. In the summertime, high officials from St. Petersburg would visit the court, which contributed to the income of Keidan. Every fall, after the final gathering of the harvest, Keidan was enlivened with a grand folk celebration in the park, with illuminations, fireworks, music and dancing, and gifts for the workers.

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