From the Ends of the Earth (The Struggle for Survival of a Jewish Girl from Lithuania on the Banks of the Arctic Ocean)

In the vibrant Jewish world of prewar 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 Kovno, 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 teenage years 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 Bikov-Mis, 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 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 reveals the little-known ordeal 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.