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Elida, The Forbidden Ghetto Girl: The story of a daughter with three fathers and four mothers
The unforgettable story of a forbidden girl born in Kovno Ghetto, despite the Nazi prohibition on Jewish women giving birth, and the risk of death her parents faced by defying the law.
1943, Kovno Ghetto: despite fear of the threatening death sentence decreed by the Nazi’s, Dr. Jonah Friedman, and his wife Tzila, decide to bring a daughter into the world, their firstborn, whom they name Elida, which in Hebrew means non-birth.
To ensure their child’s chance of survival, when Elida was only three months old, her parents smuggled her out of the ghetto into the arms of a Lithuanian family who lived on a farm.
When the Nazis eradicated the entire Kovno Ghetto, Jonah and Tzila are among those killed. Their only daughter was left orphaned and alone, dependent on the kindness of strangers.
The story of the forbidden girl’s life is gripping and hard to believe. She changes families, countries, and continents, and even her name, more than once. In her never-ending pursuit of love, Elida attempts to rebuild her identity and relinquish her miserable fate.
This is the moving story of Elida, the Forbidden Ghetto Girl, and her many vicissitudes of fate.
1943, Kovno Ghetto: despite fear of the threatening death sentence decreed by the Nazi’s, Dr. Jonah Friedman, and his wife Tzila, decide to bring a daughter into the world, their firstborn, whom they name Elida, which in Hebrew means non-birth.
To ensure their child’s chance of survival, when Elida was only three months old, her parents smuggled her out of the ghetto into the arms of a Lithuanian family who lived on a farm.
When the Nazis eradicated the entire Kovno Ghetto, Jonah and Tzila are among those killed. Their only daughter was left orphaned and alone, dependent on the kindness of strangers.
The story of the forbidden girl’s life is gripping and hard to believe. She changes families, countries, and continents, and even her name, more than once. In her never-ending pursuit of love, Elida attempts to rebuild her identity and relinquish her miserable fate.
This is the moving story of Elida, the Forbidden Ghetto Girl, and her many vicissitudes of fate.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
327 pages, Paperback
Published August 5, 2021
62 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2021
This would have been an easier read if Elida wasn't so self-centered. I understand she lived through the Holocaust, losing both parents just after her birth. But I think of all the people killed or suffering horribly in concentration camps, compared to families who took her in and raised her, and the family of her father who provided her with everything she could want-an excellent education, all of the material things she could want, etc. Yet she returned their love and kindness with nothing but scorn and threats to leave Judaism. I kept asking myself why anyone would want to commemorate her relatively short life when there were so very many people who suffered as badly or much worse and left positive achievements, memories and families as their legacies. Those are the real heroes and Elida was, in my opinion, certainly not one of them.
January 3, 2022
I usually don’t read this type of book but I was interested when I read the title and decided to read it. It was a hard read for me. It hurt my heart from the very beginning and to the very end. I’ve heard about the Holocaust my whole life, but this story brought many of the horrors to life. I’m glad I read this book, as sad as it was.
August 6, 2025
A great book!
August 10, 2021
Following one child’s history as a means to understanding the impact of the Holocaust
Israeli author Zipora Klein Jakob earned degrees in Literature and History, has served as a high school history teacher, and now coaches and edits memoir writers as well as being a manager of the Educator’s Promotion Division at the Open University of Israel.
The author’s historian approach to her novel is graced by her tone to the theme in the Prologue: ‘How does fate beguile a baby born tin the Kovno (Kaunas) Ghetto during that horrible war, a baby whose parents decided to call her Elida (I-Leda which in Hebrew means non-birth)? Her parents, Dr. Jonah and Tzila Friedman, graduates of the Hebrew Gymnasium in Kaunas (Kovno), chose this name in defiance against the Nazi imposed order banning childbirth for Jews in Lithuanian Ghettos. I was twelve when I met Elida. She came to our family in Haifa from Vilna in the late 1950s…’ Further explaining the story form a child’s view, Zipora remembers the adult gossip about the Holocaust and secrets about Elida. Her uncle Lazar comes to Israel with his wife and takes Elida back to America. A newspaper article reveals, ‘’The story of a strange alliance between two Jews in the Kovno Ghetto:” ‘’The article dealt with my family members and the unfolding alliance between my uncle Lazar Goldberg and his cousin Dr Jonah Friedman, who swore to each other that whoever survived the war, would take care of the other’s boy or girl and would adopt them….In this book, I will tell the story of Elida, my cousin’, as I have experienced and internalized it over the years.’ Thus she presents a biographical novel 1943 – 1974. ‘In adulthood, my relationship with Elida became strong and loving. When she visited Israel we connected, and in June 1973 she came here as an immigrant. a married woman and mother of three children. And just when it seemed that she had realized her destiny, fate struck.’
With that profoundly moving introduction, Zipora share the results of her research into the history of Elida’s life by traveling and studying documents, certificate, court record, drawing and letters form Kaunas, Vilnius to the United States. The result – one of the most interesting books about the effects of the Holocaust on survivors on the shelves today! She weaves her well-researched facts into a novel format, allowing the story room to breathe and truly affect us. The touch with reality is added by the inclusion of copious photographs that give faces to the characters of the story and remind us the story is a biography. This book is not only a very successful novel, but it also offers significant insights into the impact of the Holocaust on survivors.
Israeli author Zipora Klein Jakob earned degrees in Literature and History, has served as a high school history teacher, and now coaches and edits memoir writers as well as being a manager of the Educator’s Promotion Division at the Open University of Israel.
The author’s historian approach to her novel is graced by her tone to the theme in the Prologue: ‘How does fate beguile a baby born tin the Kovno (Kaunas) Ghetto during that horrible war, a baby whose parents decided to call her Elida (I-Leda which in Hebrew means non-birth)? Her parents, Dr. Jonah and Tzila Friedman, graduates of the Hebrew Gymnasium in Kaunas (Kovno), chose this name in defiance against the Nazi imposed order banning childbirth for Jews in Lithuanian Ghettos. I was twelve when I met Elida. She came to our family in Haifa from Vilna in the late 1950s…’ Further explaining the story form a child’s view, Zipora remembers the adult gossip about the Holocaust and secrets about Elida. Her uncle Lazar comes to Israel with his wife and takes Elida back to America. A newspaper article reveals, ‘’The story of a strange alliance between two Jews in the Kovno Ghetto:” ‘’The article dealt with my family members and the unfolding alliance between my uncle Lazar Goldberg and his cousin Dr Jonah Friedman, who swore to each other that whoever survived the war, would take care of the other’s boy or girl and would adopt them….In this book, I will tell the story of Elida, my cousin’, as I have experienced and internalized it over the years.’ Thus she presents a biographical novel 1943 – 1974. ‘In adulthood, my relationship with Elida became strong and loving. When she visited Israel we connected, and in June 1973 she came here as an immigrant. a married woman and mother of three children. And just when it seemed that she had realized her destiny, fate struck.’
With that profoundly moving introduction, Zipora share the results of her research into the history of Elida’s life by traveling and studying documents, certificate, court record, drawing and letters form Kaunas, Vilnius to the United States. The result – one of the most interesting books about the effects of the Holocaust on survivors on the shelves today! She weaves her well-researched facts into a novel format, allowing the story room to breathe and truly affect us. The touch with reality is added by the inclusion of copious photographs that give faces to the characters of the story and remind us the story is a biography. This book is not only a very successful novel, but it also offers significant insights into the impact of the Holocaust on survivors.
November 25, 2021
opens to experiences I could not imagine
What a life, being given away at birth hoping for life, constantly moved around through many countries trying to find your place, and where you fit, it was a moving story.
What a life, being given away at birth hoping for life, constantly moved around through many countries trying to find your place, and where you fit, it was a moving story.
April 6, 2022
Excellent story retelling history filled with hope
Excellent story filled with so many sufferings and the conquering Spirit of Joy amidst the sorrows. Excellent research; reader felt as part of the story.
Excellent story filled with so many sufferings and the conquering Spirit of Joy amidst the sorrows. Excellent research; reader felt as part of the story.
November 29, 2021
A great read.
I'm glad I didn't have to life through those years, a world in which race and religion are such high hurdles that have to be cleared.
I'm glad I didn't have to life through those years, a world in which race and religion are such high hurdles that have to be cleared.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews