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Signature of Eliyahu Simha Etkind
Dublin Core
Title
Signature of Eliyahu Simha Etkind
Subject
Etkind, Eliyahu Simha, 1890-1942
Description
This is the signature of Eliyahu Simha (also Symcha Elia) Etkind (1890-194[2]), a Russian accountant.
He was born in Mogilev, Russia in 1890. In WWI he served in the Russian Tsar’s army and was captured by the Germans. He was in German captivity for two years until his release during the Russian Revolution. After he was released he stopped in Lodz, Poland where he met and married his wife Rozalia Luba Rudnianska, a Polish teacher. They remained in Lodz and had four children.
Etkind reluctantly stopped eating meat at his wife Luba’s request since her father was a staunch vegetarian after befriending animal advocate Leo Tolstoy. Etkind was not a very religious man. He worked on Saturdays and attended synagogue approximately 1-2 times a year with his sons.
He spoke Russian and Yiddish and learned German during his captivity. He was primarily self-educated and was a very successful accountant. He worked as the chief accountant for several Jewish textile firms in Lodz, a city known for its textile industry at the time. He also owned stocks in these companies.
Etkind and his family were persecuted by the Nazis shortly after they invaded Poland in 1939. In February 1940 Etkind fled Lodz with his eldest son for Warsaw to find alternate accommodations for the family. Together with 11 other men, Etkind bribed a German officer to take them to Warsaw in a van since Jews were forbidden to use public transportation at this time. The soldier took Etkind, his son and the other men several miles south of Warsaw to Kielce instead, where they were forced into the Kielce ghetto.
The family was never reunited and Etkind sent postcards back to his wife and other children until 1941. Two years later, his second son Michael found out that the ghetto had been liquidated and that Etkind and his older brother were killed by the Nazis around 1942.
Michael Etkind survived the Holocaust and recorded his testimony and documented his memoirs. All biographical information about Eliyahu Simha Etkind is from Michael’s survivor testimony recorded in 1987 by the Imperial War Museum.
Eliyahu Simha Etkind’s signature appears in Hebrew. The inscription reads as follows: This book belongs to the groom (or son-in-law) Eliyahu Simha Etkind. Perhaps the book was a wedding present or a gift from his father-in-law.
He was born in Mogilev, Russia in 1890. In WWI he served in the Russian Tsar’s army and was captured by the Germans. He was in German captivity for two years until his release during the Russian Revolution. After he was released he stopped in Lodz, Poland where he met and married his wife Rozalia Luba Rudnianska, a Polish teacher. They remained in Lodz and had four children.
Etkind reluctantly stopped eating meat at his wife Luba’s request since her father was a staunch vegetarian after befriending animal advocate Leo Tolstoy. Etkind was not a very religious man. He worked on Saturdays and attended synagogue approximately 1-2 times a year with his sons.
He spoke Russian and Yiddish and learned German during his captivity. He was primarily self-educated and was a very successful accountant. He worked as the chief accountant for several Jewish textile firms in Lodz, a city known for its textile industry at the time. He also owned stocks in these companies.
Etkind and his family were persecuted by the Nazis shortly after they invaded Poland in 1939. In February 1940 Etkind fled Lodz with his eldest son for Warsaw to find alternate accommodations for the family. Together with 11 other men, Etkind bribed a German officer to take them to Warsaw in a van since Jews were forbidden to use public transportation at this time. The soldier took Etkind, his son and the other men several miles south of Warsaw to Kielce instead, where they were forced into the Kielce ghetto.
The family was never reunited and Etkind sent postcards back to his wife and other children until 1941. Two years later, his second son Michael found out that the ghetto had been liquidated and that Etkind and his older brother were killed by the Nazis around 1942.
Michael Etkind survived the Holocaust and recorded his testimony and documented his memoirs. All biographical information about Eliyahu Simha Etkind is from Michael’s survivor testimony recorded in 1987 by the Imperial War Museum.
Eliyahu Simha Etkind’s signature appears in Hebrew. The inscription reads as follows: This book belongs to the groom (or son-in-law) Eliyahu Simha Etkind. Perhaps the book was a wedding present or a gift from his father-in-law.
Creator
Etkind, Eliyahu Simha, 1890-1942
Source
Date
c. 1917-1942
Rights
Digital Image: Washington University in Saint Louis
Format
Ink
Language
Hebrew
Type
Signature
Identifier
bri_ins_pariz_etkind_1018.jpg
bri_ins_pariz_etkind_1018.jpg
bri_ins_pariz_etkind_1018.jpg
cat:Brisman-2014-09-04T10_48_17
Citation
Etkind, Eliyahu Simha, 1890-1942, “Signature of Eliyahu Simha Etkind,” WUSTL Digital Gateway Image Collections & Exhibitions, accessed April 30, 2024, http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/items/show/8383.
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