Rav Dovid Rapaport (1890-1941). Born in Minsk, his mother was a descendant of the Gaon of Vilna while his father, Rav Akiva, was the grandson of Rav Akiva Eiger. When he was still a young man, he enrolled in Ponovezh, having already written his sefer, Tzemach Dovid, on the chiddushim and halachic responsa of his grandfather. From Ponovezh, Rav Dovid went on to study in Kollel Beis Yisrael of Slabodka. After his marriage, he and his wife were supported by his father-in-law, during which period Rav Dovid was able to compile his second major work, Mikdash Dovid, which focuses on the tractates of Kodshim, Taharos, Bechoros and Sanhedrin. Then, during World War One, Rav Dovid had to flee and found refuge in Vilna. Later on, Rav Elchanan Wasserman invited Rav Dovid to deliver shiurim in Yeshivas Ohel Torah in Baranovich.This yeshivah was founded in 1907 at the initiative of Rav Yosef Yozel Horowitz, the Alter of Novhardok. During the outbreak of World War Two, Rav Dovid remained in Ohel Torah, joining the yeshivah on its treks to Vilna and, from there, to Turkey and Smilishuk. On the 19th of Sivan, 1941, an NKVD agent burst into the yeshivah and arrested him. After his trial, Rav Dovid was sent to a forced labor camp in a distant village, near Finland.
