Charlotte Jaffe

Charlotte Jaffe, the oldest child of Marsha and Harry Jaffe, was born in 1928 in Ersvilkas, Lithuania. Her father was a farmer. Charlotte’s family lived in an area which was a center of Jewish life and creativity between the two world wars.

In June 1941, the Germans invaded Lithuania and set into motion a plan to annihilate all the Jews of the country.

They generally had the cooperation of the non-Jewish population as well. In July and August of that year, special mobile German killing squads, called Einsatzgruppen, entered each village and rounded up its Jewish residents.

They were transported to a site outside the village, forced to undress, and machine-gunned while standing in front of large, previously-dug pits. Almost no one survived. By the end of the year, most Jews living in Lithuania were slaughtered.

Non-Jewish residents of Ersvilkas reported that Charlotte and her family, along with the entire Jewish population of the village, were forced into wagons and driven out of town. They were never heard from again.

Charlotte was 13 years old.

Jewish life in Lithuania dates back to the 14th century. Lithuania’s Jews earned their living as shopkeepers, craftsmen, innkeepers and contractors. Jewish life was based on observance of tradition. Lithuania’s rabbinical schools were considered the world’s greatest. Vilna (Vilnius), the country’s capital, was one of the world’s great centers for the printing of Hebrew language books and materials. Other important centers for Jewish culture in the country were Kovno (Kaunas), Panevezys, and Telz (Telsiai). Lithuania also proved to be fertile ground for the growth of Zionism.

When Lithuania became an independent republic after World War I, its Jewish population numbered approximately 150,000.