Jewish heritage in Lithuania

JEWISH HERITAGE LITHUANIA

This is your getaway to the Jewish Heritage sites in Lithuania. Here you will be able to find thematic routes, places of interest with their uniques stories, and nearby points of interest. We hope that this website and additional content can inspire you to come to Lithuania and visit the places we encourage you to discover.

Jewish Heritage Sites

THEMATIC ROUTES

The Two Capitals

This map will guide you through the Litvak personalities, who created and cherished the two capital cities of Lithuania, Jewish cultural and religious institutions, and heritage sites.

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Famous Litvaks

The artists and scientists mentioned in this map are united by the cultural traditions from which they emerged and by their exceptional talent.

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Shtetls and Their Stories

We invite you to take a walk around the old Litvak towns where Jewish communities lived before the Holocaust.

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Wooden Synagogues

At the moment we can count 16 extant wooden synagogues in the current territory of Lithuania.

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Litvak Industrial Heritage

Get to know the inspiring stories behind 13 Litvak industrial heritage sites.

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jewishheritagelithuania

2022 m. gruodžio 14 d. įvykusiame Žydų kultūr

2022 m. gruodžio 14 d. įvykusiame Žydų kultūros paveldo kelio asociacijos visuotiniame narių susirinkime buvo išrinktas naujas Asociacijos pirmininkas – Daumantas Levas Todesas. Dėkojame Artūrui Taicui už nuoširdų darbą ir atiduotą energiją bei sveikiname naujai išrinktą Žydų kultūros paveldo kelio asociacijos pirmininką!

🔎 🏘 Jews began moving to Joniškis in great

🔎 🏘 Jews began moving to Joniškis in great numbers only in the end of the 18th century, following the lifting of the ban on trading in that city. They settled mainly in the Market Square (now the City Square) and in the surrounding streets. At the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century, Jews were often the first to apply various innovations and start new businesses. During the interwar period, a few Jews in Joniškis even started a completely new business ‒ they began selling petrol in the shops around the market square, primarily for servicing shuttle buses. Two of them had installed modern Shell and Dapolin gasoline stations, which stood in the middle of the current City Square. Jews also often became the first city photographers. In the interwar period, Jakovas Fišeris was a famous photographer in Joniškis, who also set up the first cinema in the city, “Lyra”.
🕍 To this day, a complex of two brick synagogues has survived in Joniškis. The so-called White synagogue was built in 1864-1865. The synagogue, built in the late classicist and romantic styles with a number of the baroque elements, is so pretty that it was called “The Beautiful One” in the 20th century. It operated in the summer season, whereas in winter, the community gathered nearby, in the so-called Red Synagogue. Built after 1911, the building has also survived to this day. Today, these synagogues belong to the Joniškis Regional Museum and are used for public purposes.
Address: Miesto a. 4, Joniškis
📸 Joniškio baltoji sinagoga, fot. Viktoras Kuprevičius, 1932 m. | © Nacionalinis M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejus
🔎Learn more about Jewish heritage sites in Lithuania - https://bit.ly/3mqCTj0
#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #History #Joniškis #Heritage

🏭 During the interwar period, Jews actively dev

🏭 During the interwar period, Jews actively developed business in Rokiškis ‒ the vicinity to Latvia presented an excellent opportunity to develop export and import activities. Jews soon established numerous factories and workshops in this crafts and trade hub: to this day, there is a house on Vytauto str. 37 which until the Second World War belonged to Panemunėlis teacher Katelė, who lived with his family on the first floor, and had given up the ground floor to the Jew named Meler, who owned a candy and cardboard factory. The Meler brothers also owned the “London” hotel and this building has survived to this day (Vytauto str. 5).
🛠 Other business-minded brothers from Rokiškis were I. and Ch. Zametai. In 1928 they established their company “Lietmetalas” in a manor building. The company specialized in the production of agricultural machinery. Thus, the Rokiškis ironware factory “Lietmetalas” and the steam mill are the forerunner of today’s “AB Rokiškio mašinų gamyklos”. It is said that at that time the Zametai brothers were probably the richest people in Rokiškis town, their lavish house stood out in the city and has survived in good condition to this day (Nepriklausomybės sq. 10).
🔷 Vieta: Laisvės g. 19 yra išlikę buvusio Zametų fabriko dirbtuvių pastatai bei dalis gamyklinių pastatų Taikos g. 12 ir 14.
Sužinokite daugiau - https://jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/
#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #History #Rokiškis #Heritage

🎬 Jews were pioneers who introduced new technol

🎬 Jews were pioneers who introduced new technologies to their hometowns. One of many examples - Jacob Fisher, a local photographer who opened the first movie theater in Joniškis, called "Lyra"

🎞 It is possible that a famous British actor Laurence Harvey (1928-1973), who was born in Joniškis, saw his first movie exactly at this movie theater. Harvey's family moved to South Africa in 1934. After the end of WW2, he with his family moved to Great Britain, where he began his acting career. Throughout his career, he starred in many popular movies such as Butterfield 8, Night Watch, The Alamo, and The Manchurian Candidate.
Address: Šiaulių Senoji str. 7, Joniškis

#Jewish #Heritage #Lithuania #Joniškis #LaurenceHarvey

https://www.jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/heritage-map/

👨‍🎨 Arbit Blat (1908-1999) was born and gr

👨‍🎨 Arbit Blat (1908-1999) was born and grew up in Kaunas, where the boy’s creative talent was quickly unfolding. The young boy, who started painting and creating sculptures as a teenager, sought to present them to Kaunas public. Even before leaving for Paris, in 1932-1933, he opened a private art gallery in Kaunas.

🎨 There he exhibited not only his own art, but also the works of other Kaunas artists. After traveling to Paris for creative inspiration, Arbit Blat became part of Picasso and Braque’s creative circle and eventually got famous for his own artistic genius around the world.

Address: Nepriklausomybės square 3, 54.897678,23.920953

https://www.jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/two-capitals/

#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #ArbitBlat #Gallery #Kaunas

🏘 Jewish history in Lazdijai began at the end o

🏘 Jewish history in Lazdijai began at the end of the 16th century, but Lazdijai as a shtetl with full infrastructure for the Jewish way life was formed only in the middle of the 19th century. At that time they constituted around 60 percent of the local population. The historical Jewish quarter was around the market square, local Jews lived and engaged in trade and crafts in the same houses. At the beginning of the 20th-century Jewish activities in Lazdijai were not limited to trade and crafts, they owned 16 out of 17 local factories, there were many Jewish families who got into farming as well.
📚 During the interwar period, a distinguishable highlight of Jewish cultural life in Lazdijai was the local Jewish library, which had a great collection of publications both in Hebrew and Yiddish. Another joy of Lazdijai shtetl cultural life was the string orchestra „HaKoakh“ – a part of every festivity in town. Although there was no separate Jewish theatre in town, there was a massive interest in the theatre when the Yiddish theatre troupe from Kaunas visited Lazdijai in the 1920s-1930s.

✡ Today both buildings of the mural synagogue and beit midrash are merged to one on Vilnius street no. 6. Both buildings have been harshly damaged during the bombing of the town in 1944. However, in the plan of Lazdijai of 1946, both buildings were still included. The remnants of these buildings were fully reconstructed in the 1950s and that is when they were merged together. During the Soviet period, the town`s cultural house and library operated in this place.

#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #Lazdijai #Synagogue #JewishHeritage #History

✡ This Jewish cemetery was established in 1759 a

✡ This Jewish cemetery was established in 1759 and could be called the oldest Jewish-owned property in Klaipėda. During the Soviet occupation, the whole territory of the old cemetery was wiped off the ground and in its place, the radio station was built. The remaining macevas were used as a construction material while constructing the concrete base of the radio tower. Once Lithuania regained its independence, the radio station was closed and its building was given to the Klaipėda Jewish community. Today this building serves as a synagogue and a community center.

🕯 After Lithuania regained its independence, the remaining macevas were incorporated into the memorial wall, which also serves as a lapidarium. Near the old Jewish cemetery, the building of the former Jewish hospital survived to our days, and to this day it maintained its primary function as now it houses a polyclinic.

Address 👉 Žiedų skg. 3, Klaipėda

#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #Heritage #Klaipėda #cemetery

🕯 In 1829, the second Jewish cemetery in Vilniu

🕯 In 1829, the second Jewish cemetery in Vilnius was established in Užupis territory called Popówka. The burials in this cemetery began in 1831, the territory was expanded several times due to the growing burials. At the beginning of the 20th century, family chapels, obelisks, and monuments became popular in this cemetery.

✡ In 1959, Soviet authorities in Lithuania decided to close this cemetery and in 1965 it was totally demolished. At the moment there is a memorial for the former Jewish ce#metery. Part of the entrance gate of the old cemetery was also restored.

Address: Olandų str. 22, 54.688062,25.307545

Learn more 👉 https://www.jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/two-capitals/

#Discover #Jewish #Lithuania #Užupis #Jewish #Cemetery

🏘 In the 19th century, the active Jewish commun

🏘 In the 19th century, the active Jewish community of Salantai had a Synagogue complex near the center of the town. The synagogue complex stood in the current day Sinagogos street, consisting of the brick Synagogue, Beth midrash, and two kloyzes. In 1926 a ravaging fire destroyed the town, as well as Syn🌉 This bridge is the only bridge in the world dedicated to Joseph Brodsky – a worldwide known poet, essayist, and Nobel Prize winner. We could say that this bridge symbolically connects the poet with his beloved town – Palanga.

✒️ Joseph Brodsky visited Palanga two times: the first time in 1966, the second time in 1968. In 1967 Brodsky wrote a poem named – “Cognac in a Decanter – the Colours of Amber”, in which he describes his admiration of this resort, and in the latter cycle of poems named -“Lithuanian Divertissement” (1971), the sixth poem is named after and dedicated to this resort town near the Baltic Sea.

https://www.jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/heritage-map/

#jewish #discover #heritage #lithuania #visiting #travelling #Palanga #bridge #memorial #jewishhistory #remembrance #JosephBrodsky

⏳ The first records about the cemetery in Naujoj

⏳ The first records about the cemetery in Naujoji Žagarė come from 1748. The cemetery was used until WW2. and about 500 tombstones survived to our days.

✡ About 500 tombstones survived to our days. After the war, most of them were moved from their original place and put in lines, making it impossible to track the original place of the tombstones.

#jewish #discover #heritage #visiting #travelling #jewishhistory #remembrance #Lithuania #Žagarė

Coordinates: 56.353717, 23.232400
Find More 👉 https://www.jewish-heritage-lithuania.org/heritage-mapmap
📸© Kultūros paveldo departamentas

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