For 20 years, Eliach, a professor of history and
literature and director of the Center for Holocaust Studies in New York,
toyed with the idea of rebuilding a Lithuanian town of Eishyshok where
she was born. When Yaffa was four years old, all 3,500 Jewish inhabitants
of the city were murdered. She survived only because her mother fell on
top of her after being shot, hiding her. Her father was deported to Siberia,
where he was held for ten years. At the time, Eishyshok was a center of
Zionism open to all branches of Judaism. Jews had lived in this shtetl
(Jewish town) since the 11th century. Yaffa wants to make
those 900 years unforgettable. She has collected thousands of pictures
and documents of her hometown, in order to re-create it. In the United
States, similar projects, known as living museums, already exist, where
the life of a certain period has been restored in such detail that the
visitors feel like they are transported back in time. Williamsburg, Virginia
is one of the more well known restored areas in America. The rebuilding
of the shtetl should be finished
in a year or two, provided that Yaffa can raise $100 million for the project.
The Rishon Le-Zion municipality provided the land, on which the architect
Shmuel Raveh will construct 40 buildings. Each structure will have a special
function, with the castle of the nobleman planned as a museum. Dozens
of artists, all dressed in 19th century costumes, will work
in the shtetl. Visitors will shop in the central
marketplace, and children will be able to play in the authentic kindergarten.
There will be Yiddish theater in one building, and visitors can experience
a traditional East European wedding ceremony in the synagogue. The woods
that surrounded Eishyshok will be re-created, the river will flow again
and people will travel in horse drawn carriages. Yaffa Eliach plans to
give regular lessons to youngsters at the shtetl.
One of these classes will include original hachshara (Zionist orientation)
program that prepared Eishyshok youth for immigration to Israel. Though
we must not forget what happened on Eishyshok during the World War II,
it is possible to show the miracle of Jewish continuity even though that
dark time and to express gratitude for having survived.