I visited Pakruojis to see the wooden synagogue in the city.
As you can see from the images, it is currently being restored. We previously saw that the wooden synagogue in Ziezmariai is also under restoration.
Other views of the town
My visit to my wife’s family town of Shavlan or Siaulenai was not so successful.
Her maternal grandfather’s family name was Saevitzon, in Israel, Shavei Zion.
I searched for the Jewish cemetery, asked at the Christian cemetery and was told by locals that there was a Jewish cemetery on the other side of town. I couldn’t find it and I ran out of time.
I later emailed Sandra Petrukonyte of Maceva, who kindly replied:
Dear Eli,
It is so pity that you could not find. I tried to search for exact location. The map is attached (for your future journey!).
It is seems that the way to the cemetery is not marked by any sign, the path is not paved and the cemetery itself is in a small distant forest. Not surprising that you got lost.
MACEVA does not have own photos, therefore I am adding links to another websites with general view of the cemetery:
- http://kvr.kpd.lt/#/static-heritage-detail/0fb28967-e816-4101-9930-978e9dc5588a . Photos were taken almost 2 years ago. According to their data, about 40 tombstones remained. Judging from my experiecne, usually amount of tombstones is bigger than Lithuanian Culture Department claims…
- http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Siaulenai/Cemetery%20pictures.html Several pretty old photos. Probably you have seen this.
So, I will a revisit next time.
Here are some images of the town:
I’m still on the long flight home to Perth. Great to have access to the Internet!