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

The Radzivills were intertwined with the ruling families of Europe and were considered to be the leading aristocracy of the Christian world. Janusz Radzivill thought himself the richest and most educated among the Lithuanian leaders in Poland, Lithuania and Zamut. Because of his Calvinism, he also felt he was a free spirit who was more democratic than other rulers.

Having spent his youth in the capitals and royal courts of Europe, he built a castle in his home city of Keidan, the capital of Zamut. The castle was built on the mountain to the right of the road leading to the Januszova villages (which are named for him.) In size and splendor this castle surpassed many of the finest in Europe. It was not fortified, but overlooked the whole city from its castle-road. Two low wings extended from both sides of the main palace, forming a gigantic courtyard, which was encircled by a great iron fence. The entrance was through a large towered gate, emblazoned with the crests of Keidan and of the Radzivill family: the claw of a black-winged eagle on a golden background, holding a horseshoe bedecked with three red crosses. An honor guard of Scottish soldiers was posted in the front of the gate. Janusz was served by Scottish as well as German troops.

On the left side of the road leading to Januszova, across from the castle was the Calvinist court-church, where services were conducted in Lithuanian. Nearby was the church burial ground, where one can still see old stone markers with faded inscriptions going back to the time of the Radzivills.

The city was not fortified, since Radzivill did not fear an attack by any foe; he was the strongest ruler in Poland and Lithuania, with powerful foreign regiments as well as Polish and Lithuanian troops in his service.

Keidan was always swarming with noblemen and diplomats from all over Europe. Very often, official balls took place in the great halls, where ambassadors of royal courts were received. The townspeople would participate on especially festive occasions, such as when Radzivill would return from a victorious military engagement, which happened quite often. At those times, barrels of pitch⁷ were set around the castle and on the main roads leading to it, to be set ablaze at night.

At the beginning of the market place by the Neviasha river were the piers for sailboats, which plied the river between Ponevezsh [Panevezys] and Keidan. There was a stone gate at the entrance to the city on the other side of the river. The streets were called: Long Castle Street, Court Street, Yasven Street, Smilga Street and Jewish Street. The streets, like the market square, were paved and clean, and Keidan was known as one of the most beautiful cities in Zamut. Though Vilna was the capital of Lithuania, Keidan was the heart of Zamut because it was the residence of Janusz Radzivill, who was hetman [commander] of Lithuania, protector of Vilna and a duke of Rome, with hopes of eventually becoming king of Poland.

Keidan was expanded and beautified under Janusz's rule, and became a center of scholarship. The lyceum attracted the best professors and students.

The Calvinist Janusz Radzivill tried hard to unite the Calvinist and Lutheran religions. There were many conferences with that aim, especially after the religious dispute in Thorn in 1645. These sessions brought many scholars⁸ from various parts of Europe to Keidan. Many of them settled there. But Radzivill never did succeed in uniting the two churches.

A book-publishing firm was established in 1650, which printed the first book of psalms in Lithuanian as well as many other religious and scientific books. The largest paper factory, which served a wide region, was built several years earlier. In archives in Kovno and Vilna one can still find old documents bearing the watermark, "Civitas Caiodunsis" [City of Keidan.] There exists a book of police-administration ordinances that was printed on paper from Keidan in 1653.

Calvinists, persecuted in most European cities, found a refuge in Keidan. The same was true for Lutherans; the Lutheran community blossomed in Keidan. The Russians also had their own community. Only Catholics were not tolerated, and Jesuits were not even allowed into the city.

The diverse population lived in a friendly fashion under the aegis of Radzivill's abundant and just regime. Radzivill also displayed much affection for his own people, the Lithuanians, and for their language.

Janusz Radzivill was especially friendly toward the Jews of Keidan, upholding all the rights and privileges that his father had granted them. In 1647 he issued regulations about city elections. The sixth paragraph said that voting for city officials would be open to all citizens, regardless of their religion or nationality.

At that time Jews were the most prominent group in the communal and economic life of the city. They were wine merchants, builders, money lenders, exporters, importers and farmers among other activities. Jewish artisans were organized in guilds, which were similar to the non- Jewish guilds except that Jewish guilds were not obligated to pay Christian-related taxes. Disputes between Jews and Christians were adjudicated by the judge of the castle. To collect debts from Christians, Jews were allowed to sell the Christians' houses if their other assets could not cover the obligations. But such houses could only be sold to other Christians.

Jews and Christians alike obtained rights of residence only after a year and six weeks past their induction as citizens. Jews were represented in the city government, which assured that fees and taxes were applied equitably to Jews and Christians. Jews participated in annual military exercises under the guidance of military instructors and a magisterial official. This provided the city government with an estimate of the number of Jews who could bear arms if the city needed to be defended against an enemy.

It was not possible for Jews to buy their way out of the annual military exercises. However, for the obligation of serving on the night watch, which fell on all citizens, a Jew was allowed to hire a Christian replacement.

The names of the streets where Jews lived were: Old Market Street, Smilga Street, Jewish Street and Crooked Alley.

In 1648 the king of Poland, Wladislaw IV, decreed that the Magdeburg Law applied to Keidan.

The Magdeburg Law was actually a collection of laws developed in 13th century Saxony, under which municipalities could administer their own affairs, including the courts.

In the same year Radzivill permitted the first windmill to be built on the Isle of Abalum and leasehold privileges for the mill were granted to Jews. Later, after the death of Janusz's wife, he was married for a second time in 1648 to the Russian princess Maria Mogilianka. He had a wooden Russian Orthodox church built in her honor on the fair site near Skongale. This building still exists.

In 1652 a large, two-storied, wall-enclosed town hall was completed on the market square. This building was one of the most beautiful in Zamut. The splendid town clock on the tower was unequalled in Danzig or anywhere in Lithuania.

Radzivill levied a tariff on whisky and mead⁹ equally on Jews and non-Jews, to last for three years, in order to cover the cost of building the town hall. A special official was appointed to collect the levy. In April, 1652 Radzivill ordered that all Jewish butchers, slaughterers and food-cattle dealers were to unite themselves into a guild.

Keidan was not affected by the hellish flame of Bogdan Khmelnitski's revolt,

Bogdan Khmelnitski was a Ukrainian Cossack leader whose revolt against the Polish overlords in 1648 soon turned into a vast pogrom, which claimed as many as 100,000 Jewish lives throughout the Polish-Lithuanian empire.

which over the years 1648 and 1649 consumed so many Jewish lives in Ukraine and Poland, except that the Jewish community together with others in Lithuania sent assistance to the suffering survivors.

In general, Jews in Keidan lived better than Jews in other Lithuanian cities, even when the great Russian-Polish war under Tsar Alexei Michaelovitch erupted in 1654. Until 1655, when Vilna was destroyed by the Russians and hundreds of Jewish communities were completely wiped out, Keidan, the heart of Zamut, did not share in the suffering of the Jewish communities throughout Ukraine and most of Lithuania.

But finally destiny caught up with Keidan when the war with Sweden broke out in 1655. Karl Gustav of Sweden was successful against Poland early in the war, even obtaining assistance from Janusz Radzivill. The Calvinists in Lithuania looked on the Swedish king as a Calvinist, and hence as a friend and savior. Keidan became a military center for Sweden, under the leadership of Karl Gustav's brother-in-law, Magnus de la Gardia. Janusz Radzivill personally commanded a large army of Lithuanian, Polish, Scottish and German soldiers against Jan Casimir, and was eventually surrounded in the fortification of Tikotzin, where he died of a heart attack in 1656.

Meanwhile, the seemingly vanquished Poland awakened as from a deep sleep, gathered its forces and called back her king, Jan Casimir, who had escaped from the Swedes into Silesia. With unified and reinvigorated armies, the Poles drove back Karl Gustav and his Swedish forces.

Now things went badly for the Jews of Lithuania, Zamut and all of Poland. The Jews of Keidan suffered especially because the Poles considered them traitors along with the Calvinist Radzivills. Many Jews escaped to Koenigsburg, which was ruled by Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Prussia and Brandenburg, who was Boguslav Radzivill's uncle and Janusz's cousin. The bubonic plague broke out in Keidan and wiped out many Jews in 1657.

9. The mead brewed in Keidan by Jews was highly reputed throughout Lithuania and Poland. >

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