Rav Ephraim Oshry

Rav Ephraim Oshry (1908-2003). Born in Kopishak, Lithuania, he learned in Ponevezh, Talmud Torah Kelm and Slabodka. He was also a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim in Radin. While he was still quite young, he was appointed Rav of the Abba Yechezkel Kloiz in Slabodka. During World War II, he lived in the Kovno ghetto from June, 1941 until August 1, 1944. It was there that he recorded the gripping shaylos he received, publishing them later in five volumes of She'eilos Uteshuvos Mima'amakim. After the liberation, he was the only surviving Rav of Kovno. He worked diligently to restore Yiddishkeit and was especially active in rescuing children left with non-Jews. He then fled to Austria, where he founded a yeshiva in Welsh, a small town near Salzburg. He was then called upon to take over the leadership of the Meor Hagoloh yeshiva in Rome. He later went to America, where he served as Rav of the Beis Hamedrash Hagodol on the Lower East Side of New York City. He published Divrei Ephraim in 1949. He also published chiddushei Torah on many areas, including Imrei Ephraim on Nezikin and other subjects. He also wrote Yahadus Lita which appeared in Yiddish, about his recollections of pre-War Europe.