Rabbi Avraham Dovber Shapira, son of Zalman Sender Kahana Shapira was
born in
Kobrin in 1871 and was both the grandson and the great-grandson of the
rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. He studied in the Volozhin Yeshiva and in
1913 he became the head rabbi of Kovno.
He died in 1943 in the Kovno ghetto. His father;Rav Zalman Sender
Kahana-Shapira, born in Nisowiz, in the Minsk region, to Rav
Moshe Shapira Kamenetzky, av beis din of Lida and son-in-law of Rav
Chaim of
Volozhin. Rav Zalman sender learned under the Beis HaLevi and his son,
Rav Chaim Brisker, in Volozhin. He married and lived in Kobrin, where
he raised 5 children (4 boys and a girl). When his wife tragically
passed away, he married the widow of Rav Binyamin Wolf Hayahalomstein,
Rav of Maltsch, and moved to that city. He eventually became Rav of
Maltsch and started a yeshiva there, Anaf Eitz Chaim, modeling it
after Eitz Chaim of Volozhin. In 1902, he moved the yeshiva to Kriniki
where he became Rav. Among his students there were Rav Yaakov
Kamenetzky and Rav Aharon Kotler. In 1921 he moved to the Shaarei
Chesed section of Yerushalayaim. (1851-1923) in the Yeshiva of the
city of Krynki that was under the direction and supervision of the
Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Sender Kahana Shapira of holy blessed memory,
who served as the rabbi of Krynki for many years.
Rabbi Zalmen Sender Kahane Shapiro and his yeshiva

Rabbi Zalmen Sender, son of Rabbi Yakov Kahane Shapiro, rabbi of
Krinki between 1903-and 1915, was the great grandson of Rabbi Chaim
Volozhiner and came from Niesvizh. He was a child prodigy and later
acquired the reputation of a prominent man, a sagacious scholar well
versed in the Talmud. In 1885 he was appointed rabbi of Maltsh and he
founded and was head of a yeshiva there, which became one of the best
and most respected yeshivas in Lithuania. His educational method was
based on inspiring the students to grasp each Talmudic topic according
to its content and root. Among the rabbis who studied in the yeshiva
of Maltsh, Rabbi Yisroel Iser Unterman, chief rabbi of Palestine, must
be remembered.
After the death of Rabbi Baruch Lavski, the Jewish community of Krinki
offered the rabbinical chair to Rabbi Zalmen Sender and he accepted
the office on condition that he could continue to devote himself to
his yeshiva, a part of which was to come over to Krinki. Established
in Krinki, the yeshiva, called 'Anaf Etz ha-Chaim', with Rabbi Zalmen
Sender as its head, kept its reputation as one of the most outstanding
yeshivas and it attracted as many as 80 students from near and far.As the rabbi of the town Rabbi Zalmen Sender was widely accepted,
respected and liked by the Krinki public. However, "he did not find
favor in the eyes of the Krinki manufacturers because he associated
too closely with the workers", tells us A. B. Miller. Once his
attention was called to this and he was asked: "Is it not written:
Rabbi, honor the rich?" Rabbi Zalmen Sender answered at once, "The
rabbi knew who was rich but I don't know…". Rabbi Zalmen Sender, as
Yosl Kohn and B.Patchebutzki tell us, would often stand up for the
craftsmen and reprimand the manufacturers. He even refused to pray in
the bes-medresh of the wealthy and preferred to pray in the
'Caucasian' prayer house together with the common people and the
toilers.As an accepted authority, Rabbi Zalmen Sender used to influence the
sick and the weak and even order them to eat on Yom Kippur. He would
even send a doctor to examine the sick and if it turned out that a
person would not be able to survive a fast day, Rabbi Zalmen Sender
would go himself to him and force him to eat, even before his very
eyes. In 1915 when the front was approaching Krinki Rabbi Zalmen
Sender moved to Tule (Central Russia) with a group of his students and
after the war he made aliya and settled in Jerusalem where he spent
his last years and died in 1923.
His son, Rabbi Avrom Dober Kahane Shapiro, was the last chief rabbi of
Lithuania and rabbi of Kovno and he is the author of the well-known
classic book entitled Shaale u-Tshuve Devar Abraham [Devar Abraham
(Rabbinical Responsa)]. He died in the Kovno ghetto in 5703 (1943).
Rabbi Zalmen Sender's second son, Rabbi Chaim, was at first rabbi in
Koznitze and later in Slobodke, a suburb of Grodno.
One of Rabbi Zalmen Sender's grandsons – Rabbi Avrom Dober's sons who
were raised in Krinki – Chaim Nachum Shapiro was professor of Hebrew
and oriental languages at the University of Kovno. He was a prominent
scholar of new Hebrew literature and author of two books, among others
– one on new Hebrew literature and the other on Haskalah literature in
Central Russia – which were published in Palestine. He perished with
the entire Kovno Jewish community. Rabbi Zalmen Sender's other
grandson, Dr Noach Shapiro, was associate professor of chemistry at
the University of Kovno and he made aliya in 1935 and became professor
of chemistry at the Bar-Ilan University. He died in 1964. Father of
Emmanuel Shapira M.D and Ph.D. Genetics (born in Kovno in 1933- died
in New Orleans in 1998) ? Performances were given in the ghetto's
Police House, the former building of the Slobodka Yeshiva. They were
coordinated by the ghetto's director of education and culture, the
noted linguist Chaim Nachman Shapiro (who was also the son of Kovno's
chief rabbi)The Department of Semithology at the University of Kaunas
(since 1930 Vytautas the Great University began its work at the
beginning of 1926 when its Head became Dr. Nachman Shapira, a son of
A. D. K. Shapira, the Chief rabbi of Kaunas and Lithuania. The
Department trained teachers for Jewish schools. In 1932 the decree of
the President of Lithuania conferred to Dr. N. Shapira a degree of the
Associate professor. N. Shapira was a prominent scholar. He wrote a
lot of scientific articles, several monographs. His "Modern Hebrew
Literature" (I part) was simultaneously published in Kaunas and Tel
Aviv (in 1940). The second edition was published in already
independent Israel in 1967. November 25
The Education Office is established under direction of cultural leader
Chaim Nachman Shapiro. Shapiro also launches a secret archival project
and encourages artists and writers to begin documentary efforts.
linguist Chaim Nachman Shapiro and his family weree killed at Fort IX
after being led to believe they were to have safe passage to
Switzerland. 1943 December 2
Due to the death of the author in Kaunas ghetto in 1943 the book
remained unfinished.

Shapiro Khaim Nachman
Khaim Nachman Shapiro was born in Russia in 1900 to Avraham Dov and
Rakhel. He was a university professor and married and had a child
Itamar. Prior to WWII he lived in Kowno, Lithuania. Khaim perished in
1942 in Kowno. This information is based on a Page of Testimony
Shapiro Rakhel
Rakhel Shapiro nee Perlman was born in Russia. She was a rabbi's wife
and married. Prior to WWII she lived in Kowno, Lithuania. During the
war was in Kowno, Lithuania. Rakhel perished in 1942 in Kowno. This
information is based on a Page of Testimony (displayed on left)
submitted on 19/04/1955 by her daughter-in-law; Mina Shapira of Tel
Aviv

 

Mirla Bornstein
Mirla Bornstein nee Kahana Shapira was born in Miechow, Poland in 1885
to Av beit din, Rav Moshe Natan Kahana Shapira and Golda. She was a
rabbi's wife and a widow of Rabbi Szmuel. Prior to WWII she lived in
Zgierz, Poland. During the war was in Warszawa, Poland. she perished
in 1943 in Treblinka at the age of 58. This information is based on a
Page of Testimony (displayed on left) submitted on 18/04/1999 by her
son Aron Israel, a Shoah survivor who lives in Natania