Cart is empty
27 May 2025
At the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, there is a mass grave that tells a remarkable story of heroism — the story of the fighters of the 16th Division. Approximately 15,000 soldiers served in the Lithuanian Division of the Red Army, more than 9,000 of them Jewish.
The fighters spoke Yiddish, sang songs from Zionist youth movements, and cried out “Shema Yisrael” as they charged into battle.
In 1941, during the fierce battles between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the 16th Lithuanian Division was formed — a Red Army unit consisting mostly of Lithuanian Jews who had fled east to Russia after the Nazi invasion of Lithuania. This made the division a unique entity — a semi-Jewish unit in the Soviet military.
This division was not only military in nature — it was deeply Jewish in spirit. The language most commonly spoken in their day-to-day was Yiddish, their camaraderie songs were Zionist youth movement songs, and from time to time, battle cries included “Far undzere tates un mames!” (“For our fathers and mothers!”) and “Shema Yisrael!”
The soldiers, some whom had been part of Zionist youth movements, brought Hebrew into the unit’s culture. They enriched their environment with Hebrew songs such as Bialik’s “On a Summer’s Day, a Day of Heat” and Tchernichovsky’s “Laugh, Laugh at All My Dreams.”
The relationship between the soldiers and their Jewish commanders were friendly. Often, commanders and soldiers came from the same town or village, had studied in the same schools, or belonged to the same youth movements.
These elements shaped the unique spirit of the division, a Jewish atmosphere where commands were often given in Yiddish, and a deep sense of camaraderie that united the fighters. They weren’t just fighting for the Red Army, they were fighting for their families and brothers who perished, for their people, and for their Jewish identity.
Soviet commanders struggled to comprehend their fierce spirit. One of them remarked:
“During training, I couldn’t get the Jews to stand up.
But in battle, I couldn’t get them to lie down.”
The division fought in battles across Belarus, Russia, and Lithuania. In total, about 15,000 soldiers served in it, including Lithuanians, Russians, and Ukrainians, but the Jewish core was the most prominent and significant.
The cost of the battles was heavy, with many fighters killed and buried across Russia — especially in Alexeyevka, where one of the toughest battles fought by the 16th Division took place.
“When I arrived at Alexeyevka, the officer standing by the monument told me, ‘Do you see? These graves are Jewish — all of them are Jewish. A whole division of Jews.’”
As one of the division’s fighters aptly expressed: “It was indeed a Red Army division, but its core was blue and white.”
Many of the fighters immigrated to Israel after the war, received medals for their bravery, and started families here.
On Wednesday, 13th of Elul, 5739 (September 5, 1979), a memorial ceremony was held to bury the ashes of the fallen soldiers of the Lithuanian 16th Division. The ashes were interred in the section for fallen Israeli soldiers on the Mount of Olives.
The soldiers who fought the Nazis with Zion on their lips, were granted at least in their death to be laid to rest in her soil.
Is anyone here?
Since no action was taken for a while, an automatic logout will occur in 03:00 minutes.
