| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Adelman, David peretz |
| Title: | David Peretz Adelman Papers |
| Dates: | 1910-1973 |
| Dates: | 1910-1925 |
| Extent: | 0.20 linear feet (1 container) |
| Abstract: | David Peretz Adelman lived in the Jewish community in Gelvan, Lithuania. He and his wife, Feigeh, owned a store until World War I, when their house and store were destroyed. In 1925, Adelman and his second wife were brutally murdered. Adelman wrote to his children in America, and his letters were discovered in 1973 upon the death of his son, Morris Adelman, of Cleveland, Ohio. At that time they were translated into English by Geraldine F. Powers. The collection consists of the original correspondence in Yiddish and Hebrew, a single letter to Morris Adelman from Mayer Shochet describing Adelmlan's death, their English translations, including an account of Jewish life in Lithuania by the translator, and a 1925 newspaper clipping from the Jewish Forward. |
| MS Number | MS 4828 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English, Yiddish and Hebrew |
David Peretz Adelman (1855-1925) lived in Gelvan, Lithuania, a small village fifty-six kilometers northeast of Kulau (Kovno). He and his wife, Feigeh, owned a store and lived comfortably until World War I, when their house and store were destroyed. Since his three children had immigrated to America early in the 1900s, the Jewish community provided him with a job as synagogue sexton. Feigeh died in 1919. In 1925 Adelman and his second wife were brutally murdered. Five non-Jewish men were apprehended, tried and convicted, and three of them were executed. They had committed the crime mistakenly believing that Adelman had a large sum of money following an American nephew's visit.
Adelman wrote to his children in America, but the letters to his relatives were discovered only in 1973 upon the death of his son, Morris Adelman, from Cleveland, Ohio. At that time they were translated from Yiddish and Hebrew to English, and the story of Adelman's death became known to his descendents.
The David Peretz Adelman Papers, 1910-1925 and 1973, consist of the original correspondence in Yiddish and Hebrew, a single letter to Morris Adelman from Mayer Shochet describing Adelman's death, their translations, including an account of Jewish life in Lithuania by the translator, and a 1925 newspaper clipping from the Jewish Forward.
This collection is of value to researchers studying Lithuanian and European Jewish history in general, and specifically, one story of relatives who remained behind during the massive Eastern European Jewish migration to the United States from the 1880s to the 1920s. Social and religious historians will find interest in the description of shtetl (village) life in Lithuania and social and economic conditions in eastern Europe before and following the First World War, conditions that provided motivation for the emigration. The letters express the poignant wishes of a father that his children maintain their faith and commitment to Judaism. The collection is also of interest to researchers investigating the genealogy of the Adelman family.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4828 David Peretz Adelman Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gerry Volper-Powers, 1985
Processed by Jane A. Avner in 2000
David Peretz Adelman Papers 1910-1925 1973 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1-21 | Correspondence 1910-1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Correspondence, translations and background information provided by the translator 1973 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Newspaper clipping 1925 | |||||||||