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Reminiscences of the Old Home  By Nisn Sacks, Moyshe Sharp-
Saltuper, and Pinye Albert  Translated by Harry Abramowitz
Until the First World War, Novoalexandrovsk was the
administrative town of Rakishok and many other villages and
settlements. When Alexander III traveled with his entourage from
Moscow to Kovno, he renamed the town "Novoalexandrovsk." 1
Since the time of the Lithuanian king Gedimin, the town had been
called Ezros. "Ezros" is a Lithuanian word that signifies
"lakes." Because of the tsarist tendency to Russianize, they
changed the name from Ezros to Novoalexandrovsk. In honor of the
above-mentioned Czar Alexander III, a monument was erected to
stand for generations in memory of his visit. It was a pole of
cast iron – about 50 feet high – and on the top there was the
Russian eagle. After WWI, when the Lithuanians took over
Lithuania (1918), they renamed the town “Ezhereni” (Ezeranai).
Later, in the 1930s, they renamed the town “Zarasai.”