From the Ends of the Earth: Survival of a Jewish girl from Lithuania on the Shores of the Arctic Ocean

The vessel was slowly nearing the Northern Arctic Ocean. Every now and then, hope crept into our private thoughts that maybe, just maybe, the optimistic rumors were true, and we really were on our way to freedom. Reality hit, however, when we felt the bow turn toward the dry, barren land ahead.

In the vibrant Jewish world of prewar Kaunas (Kovno), Gitta Langleben-Klibansky grew up in a close-knit Orthodox family. That world shattered with the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and her family’s deportation to Siberia in June 1941. This occurred mere days before the German invasion of Kaunas, a twist of fate that, in retrospect, saved them from Nazi annihilation. Yet their new surroundings brought great suffering and constant danger, and Gitta’s youth abruptly gave way to exile in a land of brutal cold and forced labor.

Following a harrowing journey across Siberia, they finally arrived at the remote Arctic peninsula of Bykov Mys, where Gitta struggled to sustain her family amid hunger, exhaustion, an unforgiving climate, and the constant threat of death. Despite these harsh conditions, it was there that she met her future husband, Mendel, and in 1946 they married, determined to build a life together. After years of hardship, they were finally permitted to return to Lithuania in 1956, where they rebuilt their lives in Vilnius (Vilna), navigated the suffocating constraints of Soviet rule, and waged a determined struggle to immigrate to Israel, a goal they achieved in 1969.

A testament to resilience, faith, and hope, From the Ends of the Earth chronicles the little-known story of Jews exiled to Siberia and stands as a powerful reminder of the human capacity to endure and rebuild—an unforgettable journey from exile to homecoming.