 His first cycle of prints (1937–1940) was entitled "Kasrilevka", (the name of the village invented by Sholem Aleichem).During the war Kaplan was at first evacuated to the Urals, but returned to Leningrad in 1944.His lithograph cycle of "Landscapes of Leningrad during the Days of the Blockade" (1948) was widely acclaimed in Russia and was purchased by eighteen State galleries.