Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and mass graves in Lithuania : a report on a survey for the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

2015·8.4 MB·English

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BM 653
' . J52
2015
Copy 1
JEWISH CEMETERIES,
SYNAGOGUES, AND MASS
GRAVES IN LITHUANIA
United States Commission for
the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
2015
UNITED STATES COMMISSION
FOR THE PRESERVATION OF AMERICA’S HERITAGE ABROAD
Lesley Weiss, Chair
Washington, DC
Members:
Harley Lippman
Ned W. Handler
New York, NY
Bridgewater, CT
Warren L. Miller
Herbert Block
McLean, VA
White Plains, NY
Jonathan J. Rikoon
Tyrone C. Fahner
Far Rockaway, NY
Evanston, IL
Harriet Rotter
Emil A. Fish
Bingham Farms, MI
Pasadena, CA
Eric D. Schwerin
Jules Fleischer
Washington, DC
Brooklyn, NY
Lee R. Seeman
Martin B. Gold
Great Neck, NY
Washington, DC
Joan E. Silber
Brian Greenspun
St. Louis, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Richard H. Weisberg
Michael B. Levy
New York, NY
Washington, DC
Gary P. Zola
Rachmiel Liberman
Cincinnati, OH
Brookline, MA
25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW - Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001
Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone]
uscommi ssion@heritageabroad .gov
wvAv.heritageabroad.gov
Table of Contents
IftAfJSFEg.
I. Origin, Mission, and Development of the Survey.1
II. A Brief History of Jewish Settlement in Lithuania.1
1. Jewish Life and Jewish Cultural Sites in Lithuania Today.2
2. Jewish Tourism in Lithuania.3
3. Jew ish Museums.3
4. Other Jew ish Institutions.5
III. Overview: Jewish Monuments in Lithuania.5
1. Synagogues.7
Table I: Select Surviving Synagogues and Former Synagogue Buildings.10
2. Jew ish Cemeteries.17
a. Cemeteries in Vilnius and Kaunas.17
b. Cemeteries Elsewhere in Lithuania.19
c. General Site Descriptions.20
d. Appearance and Condition.20
e. Gravestones and Memorial Markers.21
f. Structures.22
g. Current Use.22
h. Cemetery Care and Restoration.23
i. Additional Information.23
3. Holocaust Sites in Lithuania.24
a. Paneriai.24
b. Ninth Fort.24
c. Other Holocaust Sites.25
Table II: Jew ish Cemeteries by District and Local Population.31
Table III: Signage, Walls, and Gates at Cemeteries.37
Table IV: Area of Lithuanian Jewish Cemetery Sites and Condition of Stones
by Municipality.48
Table V: Ow nership and Use of Structures w ithin Lithuanian Jew ish Cemetery
Sites by Municipality.54
List of Holocaust Mass Grave Sites in Lithuania.61
APPENDIX I: CONTACT ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS.67
APPENDIX II: SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY.70
Acknowledgements
This report is based on data gathered during a survey conducted in 2001 through 2003 but
adds subsequent information as well. Yaacov Gurin directed the survey with the
participation of Larisa Dubianskaja, Viktorija Jagniatinskaja, Aleksandras Kaganovicius,
Davidas Kocas, Helidor Sienkievic, and Aleksandr Skulov. Samuel D. Gruber drafted
this report, which was finalized by Jeffrey L. Farrow, Katrina A. Krzysztofiak, and Sarah
Roosa.
The Commission gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the late Dr. Simonas
Alperavicius, then Chair of the Jewish Communities of Lithuania, and Yosif Levinson,
then Vice-Chair and the head of the Commission for Maintenance of Jewish Cemeteries
and Sites of Massacre. Thanks are also expressed to Ruth Ellen Gruber for providing
updates and photographs, and to Michael Ellis, Vanessa Flyer, Saul Issroff, Bruce Kahn,
and Rachel Kostanian.
We mourn the death of Dr. Alperavicius in March 2014.
Front cover picture: Kalvarija Beit Midrash
Library of Congress
201 5 370315
April 23, 2015
Message from the Chair
One of the principal missions that United States law assigns the Commission for the
Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad is to identify and report on cemeteries,
monuments, and historic buildings in Central and Eastern Europe associated with the
cultural heritage of U.S. citizens, especially endangered sites.
The Congress and the President were prompted to establish the Commission because of
the special problem faced by Jewish sites in the region. The populations that had once
cared for the properties were annihilated during the Holocaust. The atheistic Communist
Party dictatorships that succeeded the Nazis throughout most of the region were
insensitive to American Jewish concerns about preservation of the sites. Properties were
converted to other uses or encroached upon by development. Natural deterioration was
not counteracted. Vandalism often went unchecked.
This report identifies and discusses Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and mass gravesites
in the Republic of Lithuania. I hope that the report will encourage preservation efforts
and assist American Jews of Lithuanian descent to connect with the last remnants of their
heritage in Lithuania.
The Commission is also required by U.S. law to seek assurances from the governments of
the region regarding the protection and preservation of these cultural heritage properties.
I am pleased to note that the governments of the United States and Lithuania entered into
a Commission-negotiated agreement regarding the protection and preservation of certain
cultural properties in 2002. The agreement covers the sites identified in this report.
Lesley Weiss
Chair