Famous Neighbors

Superman's Roots

In 1937, the Bordonai family set off on the greatest journey of their lives. Pharmacist Goda, her husband, daughter, and sixteen-year-old niece Hinda left Šeduva and emigrated to the United States. They settled in Glenville, a Jewish neighborhood in Cleveland, which Hinda soon came to think of as a little Lithuania across the Atlantic. "There was a birch tree by the house, and the grass around it grew thick. The street was beautiful—it reminded me of a shtetl," she wrote in her diary.

What Hinda didn't know was that another family from Lithuania lived just a few streets away. The Siegel family, originally from Kaunas, had arrived in the U.S. in 1900 to escape the rising tide of anti-Semitism.

Jerry Siegel, the Siegel family's son, spent his free time creating fantastical stories with his best friend, Joe Shuster, also the child of Jewish immigrants. In 1938, this inventive duo introduced the world to its first superhero—Superman. Representing justice, resilience, and the hope for a better future, Superman quickly became a global icon, capturing the hearts of millions.