Lazdey (in Yiddish) is located in the South Western part of Lithuania, at the junction of roads leading to Mariampol (Marijampole) and Alite (Alytus), with several big lakes nearby. Lazdey was established by King Zigmunt II August in 1570, and was granted the Magdeburg Rights in 1579 as well as permission to maintain a weekly market and two yearly fairs.

Until 1795 Lazdey was part of the Polish Lithuanian Kingdom, when the third division of Poland by the three superpowers of those times – Russia, Prussia and Austria – resulted in Lithuania becoming partly Russian and partly Prussian. The part of the state that lay on the left side of the Nieman River (Nemunas), including Lazdey, was handed over to Prussia that ruled there during the years 1795–1807. During these years Lazdey was a county administrative center.

After Napoleon defeated Prussia and according to the Tilzit agreement of July 1807, Polish territories occupied by Prussia were transferred to what became known as the “The Great Dukedom of Warsaw”, which was established at that time. The King of Saxony, Friedrich August, was appointed Duke, and the Napoleonic code now became the constitution of the Dukedom, according to which everybody was equal before the law, except for the Jews who were not granted any civil rights.

During the years 1807–1813, Lazdey belonged to the “Great Dukedom of Warsaw” and was part of the Bialystok district. The Napoleonic code was then introduced in this region, remaining in effect even during the Lithuanian period. In 1827 Lazdey had a population of 1,988 people living in 272 houses.

In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon, all of Lithuania was annexed to Russia, as a result of which Lazdey was included in the Augustowa Province (Gubernia), and in 1866 it became a part of the Suwalk Gubernia as a county administrative center.

During the years of its existence Lazdey suffered from many fires.

In 1915 the German army occupied the town, ruling there till 1918 at which time the independent Lithuanian state was established. In 1919 the Polish army took over in Lazdey, but was expelled after several days. Lazdey remained inside the border of Lithuania, but Sejny, the district administrative center, was included in Poland. The district institutions, which were in what was called the Sejny district, were transferred to Lazdey, but the town remained a county administrative center only for all the years of independent Lithuania (1918–1940). The invasion of the German army in June 1941 caused the demolition of almost all the town.

Jews had already settled in Lazdey by the end of the sixteen's century, but as an organized community they functioned from about 1689 in line with the

[Page 235]

permission granted by King Jan Sobiesky, and by the middle of the nineteen's century they had grown to 60% of the entire population. They built their houses around the market square and made their living from commerce. As a result of frequent fires many Jewish houses burnt down and their owners needed help from nearby Jewish communities and from Lazdey emigrants in America. In the summer of 1879 about 200 houses were ravished by fire and their owners became homeless. An appeal for help published in the Hebrew newspaper “HaMelitz” of St. Petersburg on the 30^th of July of that year brought much help in money and food. It is reported that the Russian district officer obtained a loan of 3,000 Ruble for them, but another version maintains that the Polish squire Mishinsky of the neighboring town Meteliai donated 3,000 Ruble for the Jewish as well as Christian victims of the fire. In 1886 another fire caused the destruction of about 250 Jewish houses as well as the death of an old man and a young woman, after that the authorities prohibited the construction of straw roofs in the center of town. Two years later, in 1888, about 70 houses, which had been left intact during the previous fire, burnt down. In this fire the old synagogue and the “Beth–Midrash” with all its books were destroyed, and a Jewish woman was also a victim. Another large fire occurred in 1910, all these events causing the deterioration of the economic situation of the town's Jews, which in 1887 amounted to about 1,500 souls.

Apart from the usual Jewish occupations, Lazdey was surrounded by Jewish farms and farmers till World War I. Many Jewish families also maintained vegetable gardens behind their houses.

Nevertheless the community in Lazdey was well organized and in 1872, during a great famine in some parts of Lithuania, local Jews donated money for the starving, the collectors being Yehudah Glikman and Meir Simkha Zilberman.

Jewish children studied at “Khadarim” and “Talmud–Torah” and by 1887 there were 14 “Melamdim”, 3 private teachers and 14 Judaica studying societies. Among the welfare societies it is worth mentioning “Lekhem Aniyim” (Bread for the Poor) who distributed money to poor families for a scanty subsistence, a “Khevrah Kadisha” (Burial Society) etc.

There were youngsters longing for knowledge and the “Society for distributing knowledge among the Jews” of St. Petersburg sent them books in Russian and Hebrew. The “Khibath Zion” movement had many admirers in town. In 1881 Jews from Lazdey joined the “Yesud HaMa'alah” society, established in Suwalk by Eliezer Mordehai Altshuler with the aim of settling in Eretz Yisrael. One of the members of the second delegation who went to Eretz Yisrael in order to buy land for the society was Mendel Burak from Lazdey, but for various reasons this idea was not carried out. In 1901, for example, there was intense Zionist activity in town, with people buying “Shekalim”, a sort of membership card of the Zionist Organization, and donating money for the settlement of Eretz Yisrael

Individual Lazdey Jews left for Eretz Yisrael sometime before the emergence of the “Khibath Zion” movement. In the old cemetery of Jerusalem there are

[Page 236]

three tombstones of Lazdey Jews: Gershon son of Moshe, died 1910; Reuven son of Yehudah Frid, died 1895; Hayah daughter of Rabbi Yudl Rosh HaGalil, died 1897.

Among the rabbis who served in Lazdey were: Avraham Tsevi ben Meir; Avraham ben Yekhezkel (––?––– 1798), father in law of Yehudah–Leib, son of the “Gaon” from Vilna; Hayim–Yehoshua HaCohen Blumental from 1853 for several years; Yosef–Mosheh Aranzon (1805–1875), died in Chicago; Tsevi–Hirsh Kahana; Yehudah–Leib Ginsburg; Avraham–Eiver Yaffe (1823–1908), in Lazdey 1873–74; his son Yehudah–Leib (1842––––?) from 1908 in Lazdey.

On the first of April 1915 Lazdey Jews were exiled into Russia by order of the retreating Russian army. After the war most of them returned home and found that their property had being stolen.

Lazdey covered with snow

After the war the returning Lazdey Jews, who found their property stolen and most of the houses ruined, started to rebuild their lives anew. The conflict between Poland and the new Lithuanian state concerning the sovereignty of Lazdey caused riots against the Jews in town.

According to the autonomy law for minorities, issued by the new Lithuanian government, the minister for Jewish affairs Dr. Max Soloveitshik ordered elections to be held in the summer of 1919 for community committees in all towns of the state. In Lazdey a committee of nine members was elected: eight non–political and one from the Tseirei Zion party. The committee, active till the end of 1925 when the autonomy was annulled, collected taxes as required by law and was in charge of all aspects of community life.

[Page 237]

The market square 1937–38

Details according to the type of business are given in the table below:

[Page 238]

In 1937 there were 56 Jewish artisans in Lazdey: 9 tailors, 7 shoemakers, 8 butchers, 6 bakers, 6 blacksmiths, 4 barbers, 3 oven builders, 3 carpenters, 2 painters, 2 watchmakers, 1 tinsmith, 1 wool knitter, 1 saddler, 1 stitcher, 1 wood carver, 1 photographer. There were also several porters and carters in town, and about 20 families engaged in agriculture.

During these years the economic situation of Lazdey Jews began to deteriorate because of propaganda by the Lithuanian Merchants Association “Verslas” against buying in Jewish shops and the Lithuanians established cooperatives in order to compete with the Jewish shops. The severance of Lazdey from its natural hinterland after the Polish occupation of the Seiny region, the murder during a robbery of several Jewish farmers who lived in isolated farms in its surroundings, and the transfer in 1935 of the market around which the Jewish shops were located to another place in order ‘to improve the look of the town', affected the economic situation of Lazdey's Jews. Most of Jewish youth who could not see their future there, left during these years and moved to Kovno or emigrated abroad.

The Jewish “Folksbank” played an important role in Lazdey's economic life. In 1927 it had 233 members, by 1929 – 262 and in 1933 – 250 members. There was also a branch of “The United Company for Credit to Jewish Agrarians”.

In 1922 a large fire caused damage to many Jewish houses in Lazdey. The representative of the “Joint” Association visited Lazdey and approved a loan of half a million Mark, the currency then still valid, for the victims of the fire which was to be divided up by the “Folksbank”.

Jewish children received their elementary education in the Hebrew religious “Yavneh” school, with about 200 pupils and 5 teachers. It also ran a library for children. In addition there was also a “Yeshivah” for scores of boys.

Parents who had the financial capacity sent their children to the Hebrew high school in Mariampol, but most of the Jewish youth studied in the local Lithuanian high–school “Ziburys” (Torch), where tuition was minimal. In 1935, for example, 80 Jewish pupils studied in this school.

Among the Zionist Youth Organizations “HaShomer HaTsair” and “Betar” were active, and for some time there were also two “Kibbutsei Hakhsharah” (Training Kibbutzim), one of “HeKhalutz” and the other of the General Zionists.

Sport activities were performed at “Maccabi” (58 members) with its strong football team, “HaPo'el” and for some time also “HaKoakh” who had a string instrument band.

The Jewish volunteer fire brigade which possessed modern firefighting equipment according to the concepts of those days, had its own building with a hall for shows and also maintained a wind instrument orchestra. The nationalist Lithuanian “Sauliai” society established its own fire brigade and orchestra, threatening to confiscate the Jewish equipment.

[Page 239]

The Lithuanian “Ziburys” High School (Picture taken by Ruth ben David (from the Pilitovsky family) 1994)

Jewish girls pupils of the “Ziburys” high school 1933 From left: Frida (Shulamith) Pilitovsky, Sarah (Sonia) Dushnitsky, –––––––––––, Olga Gurvitz (Picture supplied by Ruth ben David – from the Pilitovsky family)

[Page 240]

Jewish girls pupils of the “Ziburys” high school 1930 Standing from left: Rukhamah Idovitz, Frida Pilitovsky Sitting from left: Henia Mikhnovsky, Miriam Gail (Picture supplied by Ruth ben David – from the Pilitovsky family)

[Page 241]

The string orchestra of “HaKoakh” 1930 First line standing from right: Rukhamah Idovitz, Shelomoh Idovitz, Sonia (Sarah) Dushnitsky, Shulamith Pilitovsky Second line sitting from right: Asher Borovsky, Batiah Prusak, Zerakh Idovitz, Olga Gurvitz, Khayah Hofman, Avraham Garden Third line sitting from right: Yitshak Opnitsky, Binjamin Starnapolsky (Picture supplied by Ruth ben David – from the Pilitovsky family)

The welfare institutions included “Lekhem Aniyim” (Bread for the Poor), “Ezrath Kholim” (Help for the Ill), “Gemiluth Khessed” (Loans without Interest) which was affiliated to the “Folksbank”, and “Maoth Khitim” (Help for the Needy for Pesakh).

In 1939 there were 123 phone owners in Lazdey, of which 58 were Jews.

[Page 242]

The Synagogue and the Yeshivah rebuilt as a youth club 1994 (Picture taken by Ruth ben David – from the Pilitovsky family)

The Bath House 1994 (Picture taken by Ruth ben David – from the Pilitovsky family)

[Page 243]

During World War II and Afterwards

World War II started with the German invasion of Poland on the first of September 1939, and its consequences for Lithuanian Jews in general and Lazdey Jews in particular were felt several months later.

In agreement with the Ribbentrop–Molotov treaty on the division of occupied Poland, the Russians occupied the Suvalk region, but after delineation of exact borders between Russia and Germany the Suvalk region fell into German hands. The retreating Russians allowed anyone who wanted to join them to move into their occupied territory, and indeed many young people left the area together with the Russians. The Germans drove the remaining Jews out of their homes in Suvalk and its vicinity, robbed them of their possessions, then directed them to the Lithuanian border, where they were left in dire poverty. The Lithuanians did not allow them to enter Lithuania and the Germans did not allow them to return. Thus they stayed in this swampy area in cold and rain for several weeks, until Jewish youths from the border villages smuggled them into Lithuania by various routes, with much risk to themselves. Altogether about 2,400 refugees passed through the border or infiltrated on their own, and were then dispersed in the “Suvalkija” region including Lazdey where 150 of them were accommodated.

In June 1940 Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union and became a Soviet Republic. Following new rules, the majority of the shops belonging to the Jews of Lazdey were nationalized and commissars were appointed to manage them. Also several Jewish houses whose area was more than 220 meters (about 2000 sq. ft) were nationalized and their owners were forced to leave them. All the Zionist parties and youth organizations were disbanded, several of the activists were detained (the local Betar commander Dzivak and Adv. Bergson) and Hebrew educational institutions were closed. A part of the Jews started to intertwine into the new rule institutions. At the October celebrations in 1940 an amateur troupe (“Artistic Brigade”) from Vishey performed in Lazdey the play “Bar Kokhva” of Goldfaden with the accompaniment of a local Jazz band.

The supply of goods decreased and, as a result, prices soared. The middle class, mostly Jewish, bore most of the brunt, and the standard of living dropped gradually. At the beginning of June 5^th Jewish families whose enterprises were nationalized were exiled deep into Russia (among them Prusak, Titevsky, Gurvitz).

The tragic fate of the Jewish community of Lazdey during the Nazi rule is further told by Rivkah Gershtein Mikhnovsky and her husband Ze'ev Mikhnovsky and by Gedalyah Cohen. Their story was translated into English by Benjamin Ronn.

“The night before the war between Germany and Russia commenced, the inhabitants of Lazdey were occupied in digging defense trenches. At approximately 3:00 a.m. on June 21^st, 1941, they noticed red flares that were sent from across the border. Immediately thereafter, a heavy bombardment into Soviet Russian territory (Lithuania) began. German bombs also fell in the center

[Page 244]

of Lazdey and the houses caught on fire, which spread and consumed most of the Jewish homes.

The German army entered Lazdey on Sunday, June 22^nd at 10:00 a.m. Terror spread throughout the residents. Thousands fled. Only about forty Jews managed to escape with the Soviets by jumping onto their trucks. The rest escaped to the nearby villages where they hoped to find shelter with the farmers. Most of the farmers did not provide shelter for the Jews, did not allow them into their homes, and even denied them a drink of water. The Jews were often received with shouts of “Go back to Stalin, your father!”

During their escape, bomb fragments injured several of the Jews and some were killed.

On Monday morning, the entire surrounding area calmed down. The German Army had moved forward and the city no longer was on the front. Many of the Jews returned to Lazdey only to be attacked by the local Lithuanians. Noakh Kadushin, a leather worker, was badly beaten, and two Jews were forced to dig a grave for him and to bury him alive.

On the same day that the Jews fled Lazdey, they were joined by other Jews who were still roaming around the countryside, and they all moved toward Serey, which was approximately 5 kilometers away. Serey, however, was also burned to the ground, and there was no room for the wanderers. The Jews of Lazdey continued to roam in the fields near Lazdey until Shabbat, when the Nazis gave an order that all the Jews of Lazdey should return to Lazdey.

On Monday, June 23^rd, 1941, a meeting of 30 members of the Lithuanian intelligentsia took place in Lazdey. They elected a committee that would manage the affairs of the region. They also declared their thanks and appreciation to the German army and Adolf Hitler. On Wednesday, June 25th, the committee decided to place the Jews in two wooden shacks. The shacks were originally erected by the Russians. In effect, the Jews only had one and a half shacks because the wives and children of Russian officers occupied half of one of them.

Many of the Jews were arrested by the Lithuanians and accused of being of Communists. They arrested young men, almost children, claiming that they were members of the “Comsomol” (Young Communist League). Many were arrested without being accused of anything. If a Lithuanian had any grievances or against any of the Jews, he now obtained his revenge. Many of the people who were arrested were Zionist Revisionists and old people as well. All the people who were arrested were moved to Mariampol and were murdered there.

The remaining Jews were condemned to hard labor. They were given the task of clearing up the ruins of the bombed–out houses and many other jobs that would shame them. Those who had land were given permission to live in their own barns and work in their own fields.

One day a German and a fellow named Zarembo, who was from Lazdey but originally of Polish origin, came to the shacks and took out the Rabbi of Lazdey, Rabbi Ya'akov Aryeh HaCohen Gershtein, and started beating him with riding whips. When the members of his family came out to see what was happening to

[Page 245]

their father, they were also beaten. The Rabbi was later put on a truck and driven away.

The Jews went to the local priest to ask for his help because Rabbi Gershtein served as the local Rabbi for over twenty years and had an excellent reputation among Jews and non–Jews alike. The priest excused himself by saying that he was not able to help the Rabbi at all. The chief of police was also not willing to help. Later in the day, those who were returning from one of the work gangs related that they saw the Rabbi being brought to where they were working. He was forced to carry heavy sacks of cement. While everyone else was allowed to return as usual on the wagons, the Germans mocked him and said, “Let him walk”. Shortly thereafter, the Rabbi returned to the shacks.

The Jews were only allowed to walk in the gutters and were not allowed to step or walk on the sidewalks. Upon seeing a German soldier, a Jew was compelled to remove his hat and bow his head with his face facing the soldier. Only when the German left was he allowed to return his hat and straighten up.

Almost from the first day of the Nazi occupation the Jewish residents were the focus of torture and robbery. Both the Germans and the Lithuanians demanded watches, jewelry, silver, gold, and other valuables under threats of bodily harm. Policemen and Lithuanian thugs would often beat people mercilessly. Every Sunday after the Lithuanians left their church, they would take the Jewish males from the shacks, bring them to the marker square, and would torture them with so called “physical exercise.” They would force them to roll in the dirt, hit each other, and perform other stunts to the amusement and pleasure of the spectators. Thugs would attack the Jews and hit them mercilessly. The Lithuanian guards would demand from the Jews that they turn over their money, gold, and valuables to them. They would force them to strip and would search their clothes. A significant amount of property was stolen from the Jews in those days.

Rumors about murder and extermination of the Jews in the surrounding areas were reaching Lazdey. In mid–September, the rumor was heard that the Jews of nearby Leipun were murdered. On September 15^th, the Jews of so Lazdey were ordered to move to the army barracks in the estate of Katkishok (Katkiske) about a kilometer and a half away. They were promised that a ghetto would be set up for them where they would spend the duration of the war. The Jews of Lazdey already knew that the Jews in other cities of Lithuania were almost totally eliminated; therefore, they treated this proposed move with great of suspicion. Some of them went out to explore Katkishok and to find out if there were any pits dug for a mass burial site. The lack of pits eased their concern only a slightly.

A few hours later, Jews from the nearby communities of Vishey, Kopcheve and Rudamin as well as Jews from the nearby villages were brought to Lazdey. All of them were destined for Katkishok. This fact calmed the Jews somewhat. They thought that the Germans were serious in creating a ghetto. That very same day, all the Jews were moved to Katkishok. They were placed in the army barracks and quartered by family, and the entire area was surrounded by barbed wire and

[Page 246]

armed Lithuanian guards. Daily work groups were used for work outside the compound.

Initially, they gave each person 200 grams of unsalted bread and 300 grams of potatoes. Gradually the rations were cut down, and an epidemic of dysentery broke out. People suffered and starved. Some snuck out and ran to nearby villages where they exchanged personal belonging for food or begged for food. A certain relief occurred when some of the local farmers were allowed to engage Jews as workers on their farms, provided that they would return them to the ghetto at night. Those who ate at the farms would give up their share of the food in the ghetto so that others could benefit from it.

The internal arrangements of the work schedule were managed by the Jewish Arbeits Amt (Work Office). A special committee to manage all the affairs of the ghetto was created from representatives from all of the communities. The pharmacist Astromsky from Kopcheve was their leader. He did not do a thing without consulting with Rabbi Gershtein of Lazdey. A Jewish police force was organized in the ghetto but had very little authority.

Every gentile was able to do whatever he pleased. Hardly a day passed without some torture or criminal act. For example, a Lithuanian policeman once took a liking to the boots of Yehoshua Vilensky from Rudamin. He called him over, shot him dead, and took his boots.

One day the ghetto was shocked by the secret news Sheina Idovitz and Golda Katorovsky related upon their return from work on Monday, October 27^th. Every day they were taken to the town to work for the German commander. That day, they heard a conversation between the commandant of Mariampol who screamed at the commandant of Lazdey what a terrible shame it was that his Jews were still alive. The commandant from Lazdey apologized and explained that he needed the Jews who were doing necessary work and many of the essential crafts. The commandant from Mariampol screamed again, “You have to fulfill your task or otherwise you will be sent to the front” whereby the commandant of Lazdey replied, “I am a soldier and a man of war, and you won't scare me with this kind of a threat.”

The mood in the ghetto was electrified instantaneously. The mention of the words of death shook the people and scared them in anticipation of the following day. That night some people escaped from the ghetto and went looking for a hideout with the farmers or in the fields. A few days later, however, when no special events had occurred, everything returned to normal. They expected that the commandant would continue to protect the Jews under his control. By the end of October, most of the Jews throughout Lithuania were already murdered, while those of Lazdey were among some of the very few left alive.

On Thursday, October 30^th, 1941, the ghetto was sealed and nobody was taken out to work. They were able to see that the murderous Lithuanians were walking in the distance with spades in their hands. Upon asking the chief of the police as to the meaning of this scene, he responded nonchalantly, “They are going to dig pits for you. This will take a few days and that is exactly the length of time left

[Page 247]

for you to be alive.” After that explanation, many attempted to run away even though the place was well guarded by armed guards. The following morning, escapees were returned to the camp, some were wounded and some had been murdered, and the chief of police came to calm the Jews. He told them that running away does not make sense since everywhere the German foot is placed the Jew gets wiped off the face of the earth. He went on to say that a Jew can never find a hiding place from the bullet that is marked for him, and that very soon the end will come for all the Jews wherever they might be.

The Lithuanians sealed all windows and doors to the barracks with planks and metal bars. The Jews were locked up without water or food. Despite all their efforts, 180 people managed to escape from the barracks in the first two nights.

On Monday, November 3^rd, 1941 (the 13^th of Mar–Heshvan, 5702), the Jews were taken naked from the barracks to the dug out pits about 300 meters away from the barracks and about 300 meters west of the forest. About 1600 souls were shot to death there. Not one person managed to escape. Although the Germans gave the orders for the ‘operation,’ they participated only as the observers at the scene of the crime. The actual executioners were Lithuanians. A gang of apparently experienced murderers from Mariampol also participated in the executions. This gang seemed experienced because of their actions and later, that they refused the Germans' offer to photograph them in order to “memorialize” their actions. Only in December of 1941 did the first signs of the German's retreat and defeat appear when the Germans were forced back into winter defensive positions. As mentioned earlier, many escaped before the slaughter. Some were badly wounded, caught, and brought back to the ghetto. On the day of the slaughter, they were dragged with the other sick and helpless to the pits. Many of the escapees were killed by the farmers. After a while, the Lithuanians stopped murdering the caught escapees and incarcerated them instead. When the number of the caught escapees reached 35, they took them to the mass graves and murdered them there.

From the entire 180 who escaped, only 6 survived the war: Rivkah (Gershtein) Mikhnovsky and her husband Ze'ev Mikhnovsky, Dov Zef, Miriam Kuleisky and her sisters Gita and Bath–Sheva Koifman–all from Lazdey; Khmilavsky from Vishey; Gedalyah Cohen from Rudamin.

In 1944 and 1945, the Soviets recaptured Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and they were again made Soviet republics. Seven kilometers from the Polish border, Lazdey was made a Soviet administrative district center in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Suvalk remained in the Bialystok province of Poland.

After the war, Rivkah and her husband Ze'ev Mikhnovsky returned to their native town of Lazdey. There they had a child there, the last known Jew to be born in Lazdey. Shortly afterwards they moved to Eretz–Yisrael and no Jews are known to have lived in Lazdey since. Lazdey's population in 1959 was 3109.

During the war, the tombstones in Lazdey's Jewish cemetery were overturned. Apparently, it was not demolished and built over as the Soviets did to numerous other Jewish cemeteries.

[Page 248]

The entrance gate of the Jewish cemetery, the only scraps (Picture taken by Ruth ben David 1994 – from the Pilitovsky family)

The names of the Lithuanians who sheltered them are saved at the archives of Yad–Vashem.

After the war the survivors of the above mentioned towns erected a monument on the mass graves at Katkiske. In 1991 a new monument was erected with the inscription in Lithuanian and Yiddish: At this place the Hitlerist murderers with their local helpers murdered on the November 3^rd, 1941 1,535 Jews from the Lazdey district, men, women and children.

According to the survey of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania performed in 1990, a Jewish cemetery was found at the Lazdey district in the village Bukta.

[Page 249]

Sign on the road: The place of the mass murder of the Jews in 1941 at Katkiske (Picture taken by Ruth ben David 1994 – from the Pilitovsky family)

Entrance gate to the mass graves and the monument (Picture taken by Ruth ben David 1994 – from the Pilitovsky family)

[Page 250]

The Monument (Picture taken by Ruth be David 1994 – from the Pilitovsky family)

The tablet on the Monument

[Page 251]

Bibliography:

Yad–Vashem Archives, Koniukhovsky Collection 0–71, Files 131,132
Central Zionist Archives: 55/1788; 55/1701; 13/15/131; Z–4/2548.
JIVO, NY, Collection of the Jewish Communities in Lithuania, Files 517–540, pages 22596–23618
HaMeilitz (St. Petersburg) (Hebrew): 30.7.1879, 16.11.1879, 29.3.1881, 14.7.1884, 9.7.1886, 2.7.1888, 11.12.1893.
Folksblat, Kovno (Yiddish): 23.6.1935, 24.6.1935, 25.7.1939, 17.11.1940.
Di Yiddishe Shtime (The Yiddish Voice) Kovno (Yiddish): 28.12.1920, 22.8.1922, 12.2.1928, 9.8.1932, 22.5.1935.
Der Yiddisher Kooperator –Kovno (Yiddish): Nr.2–3, 1922
Dzuku Zinios (Lithuanian) Nr.55, 22.7.1992

In “HaMeilitz”: Shmeriah Gisovsky, Tsevi–Aryeh Ginzburg, Avraham–Yitshak Hurvitz, Yosef Meirberger, Shemuel Burak, Zalman–Mordehai Bernshtein.
In “HaTsefirah”: Elyakum Levinzon, Yehudah Akhron.

Yisrael Prais (1869–1942), reporter and writer, from 1890 in USA, pioneer of spreading the “Khibath Zion” ideology among religious Jewish circles in America, published articles in the Hebrew periodicals “HaMeilitz”, “HaMagid” and “HaTsefirah” and later in the Yiddish press in America. Published many books on Jewish historical themes.
Yosef Akhron (1886– 1943) composer, violinist and teacher. Among his compositions: “Hebrew Tune”, 3 concerts for violin, concert for piano and many more.
Shemuel Bortn Sekler (1897–??), immigrated to USA, researcher and inventor.
David Cohen (1901–murdered in 1941), painter.
Yakov fon Idelson, in 1843 Russia's consul in Koenigsberg, despite being an apostate, helped Jews in trouble.
Sarah Dushnitsky–Nishmith–Shner, born in Sejny in 1913, but lived from the age of twelve in Lazdey where she graduated in the Lithuanian high–school. M.A. in Educational Psychology from Vilna University and M.A. in Classic Linguistics from Kovno University. In 1940 headmistress of the Teachers Seminar “Tarbuth” in Vilna. 1942–1944 with the partisans in the Belarus woods, from 1948 in Kibbutz Lokhamei HaGetaoth, writer and researcher of the Holocaust in the “Ghetto Fighters House”. Published 2 books for children, many books and stories and many articles mostly on research of the Holocaust.

[Pages 252-256]

Starishok Street (beginning from the bridge)

1. Ozhekhov Yitskhak
2. Paulan Binyamin
3. Paulan Efraim
4. Paulan Yosl and Payeh
5. Falkovitz Ber–Leib
6. Falkovitz Avraham
7. Grudzin Bertshik
8. Dumbelsky
9. Ribak
10. Sider Yekhezkel
11. Mariampolsky Getsel
12. Matskibutsky Mordehai
13. Punsky
14. Dimant Barukh–Shelomoh
15. Bas Yosef–Heshl
16. Epshtein Mosheh–David
17. Punsky Shemuel
18. –––?––– Tsadok+Pantofel (daughter and husband)
19. Pintshikhovsky (blacksmith)
20. Bergzon Dobrusha and sons
21. Zilonsky Zalman
22. Mariampolsky Barukh
23. Zubritsky
24. Shilingovsky Reuven
25. Prusak Avraham
26. Khoronzitsky
27. Matskibutsky Yerakhmiel
28. Bas Hayim
29. Rabbi Gershtein Ya'akov–Aryeh
30. Man Hayim–Yenkl
31. Goldman Alter
32. Gibralter Shimshon
33. Ribak Yosl–Henakh
34. Einbinder Alter
35. Frank Khloine
36. The sisters Sarah and Heshka (seamstress)
37. Leidman Mosheh
38. Leidman Hayim
39. Bernshtein Alter
40. Man Yitskhak and brother
41. Smolan and wife Feige
42. Gisovsky Leib
43. Subartevitsky Hayim
44. Shats Karpel

The Alley between the Prusak and Khoronzitsky families

45. Shimantshik Elyakum
46. Sveisky Reuven
47. Luksniansky Yeshayahu
48. Katkishky Avraham nad wife Zlate (seamstress)
49. Zef Aba (mortician)
50. Zusman Mendel
51. Lefkutz
52. Kovalsky Yisrael
53. Polazdeisky
54. Yakir (mortician)
55. Yablon
56. Paulan Hayim Itsel
57. Lefkutz
58. Lefkutz Zisel

Starishok Street (continuation from the other side of the bridge)

59. Rindzunsky
60. ––––––––––––– (the shoemaker from Suvalk)
61. Milikovsky (teacher)
62. Shchupatsky Avraham
63. Vafner Eli (Scriptures copier)
64. Prager Yisrael
65. Prusak Ya'akov
66. Prusak Shalom
67. –––––––– Meir (tailor)
68. Borovsky
69. Ozhekhov Yisrael
70. Levin Matityahu
71. Groznik Shemuel
72. Gurvitz Tsevi
73. Prusak Shemuel
74. Paulan Hayim Yitskhak
75. Mariampolsky Avraham
76. KantarovskyYa'akov
77. Gorfinkelv
78. Kshevitsky–Luksiansky
79. Zeligson
80. Grudzin Reuven
81. Grudzin Gershon
82. Kufran Malka and Kazys (survived thanks to her Lithuanian husband)
83. Grudzin Sarah
84. Prusak Eliyahu
85. Prusak Nekhama
86. Kulitsky Shemuel
87. Levinzon Note
88. Reikher David

Around the Market Square

89. Sider Avraham
90. Shmulkovsky Yosl
91. Finkelshtein Barukh
92. Gilary Eliezer
93. Rozenblum
94. Golub Zerakh
95. Beker Betsalel
96. Smolsky
97. Pilitovsky
98. Kantorovsky–Mikhnovsky
99. Meretsky Asne
100. Lishkov Mordehai
101. Volovitsky Velvl
102. Volovitsky Yosl
103. Kantarovsky Aba
104. Shilibolsky Kune
105. Finkelshtein Shepsl
106. Shilingovsky Shalom
107. Kahanovitz
108. Kalvarisky Yisrael
109. Shishlov Mordehai
110. Aks Yeshayahu
111. Prusak Leibush
112. Khalote Ya'akov
113. Kubelsky (lawyer)
114. Tsimerman
115. Kreingel
116. Kohen Alter
117. Levin
118. Kulesky Bath–Sheva
119. Broide Pesakh
120. Bergson
121. As (barber)
122. Idovitz
123. Milman (teacher)
124. Mirkes

Kovna Street

125. Markus Sime
126. Lipsky
127. Kalir Menakhem (cantor) immigrated to Eretz Yisrael before the war
128. Pilitovsky Yakirv
129. Krasnopolsky
130. Baranovsky Hayim–Shimon
131. Krikshtansky brothers
132. Abramovitz Ane
133. Kaufman Shelomoh
134. Soloveitshik
135. Oftshinsky Yosl
136. Prusak Eliyahu
137. Klibansky+Liberman Naftali
138. Hakhnokhi
139. Lefkutz
140. Katsenelenboigen
141. Shapira
142. Voltshansky
143. Khoronzitsky
144. Dzivak Kalman
145. Kohen Ya'akov–Yosl
146. –––––––– Eli (poultry merchant)
147. Pintshikhovsky David
148. Rabinovitz Mordehai–Velvl
149. Doberman David
150. Zavatsky Avraham
151. Zavatsky Yitskhak
152. Sokol
153. Sider Leib (oven builder)
154. Gerdasky Shmerl
155. Getker
156. Levin (hatter)
157. Levin Velvl
158. Zinger (tailor)
159. Liubovitz Peshe
160. Prusak Hayim–Yosl
161. Okunevitz Hayim–Mendl
162. Berkman
163. Breitbord
164. Tenenboim Hayim

Seiny Street

165. Titevsky Yeshayahu
166. Kopilovsky David
167. Okunevitz Moshehe
168. Paulan and sons Iser, Aba, Shelomoh, Nakhum and married sister Khayah
169. Lipshtein
170. Paulan Asne
171. Dunsky Avraham (baker)
172. Dunsky (bank clerk)
173. Paulan Berl–Zelig
174. Norkin
175. Dushnitsky
176. Lisovsky
177. Paulan Meir
178. Rubinshtein Motl
179. Paulan Mosheh–Mikhel
180. Shilingovsky
181. Yurzditsin Yisrael
182. Brozovsky Shepsl
183. Polazdeisky
184. Sheiman
185. Navisky Iser
186. Paulan David
187. Tsevikler Sarah–Ita
188. Dvorsky Reuven
189. Shtabinsky
190. Mark Hayim
191. Gibralter Barukh
192. Ginzburg (doctor)
193. Paulan
194. –––––––– Yosl and family (son in law of Moshehe David Epshtein)
195. Shtabinsky (rope maker)
196. Prusak Yosef
197. Burak Meir
198. Burak Iser
199. Kovensky Rukhamah
200. Levin–Kovensky

Dumbli Street

201. Rabbi Domovitz
202. Ratshkovsky Iser
203. Katkishky Leib–Iser
204. Rindzhunsky Kopl
205. Shimantshik Binyamin
206. A family of 4 persons, sister of Ane Abramovitz

The estates in the vicinity of Lazdey

207. Roslender (Sventezeris)
208. Kalvareisky Yosl (Barova)
209. Kalvareisky Alter (Barova)
210. Pagirsky (Barova)
211. Ziman (Barova)
212. Gishtrovsky Zerakh (Rali)
213. Gurvitz (Katkishok)
214. Leben (Nirovtse)
215. Shapira Mosheh (Milotshisky)
216. Zef Mosheh (Bukta)

  Preserving Our Litvak Heritage     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 08 Dec 2018 by JH