Lithuania: The Pakruojis Jewish Cemetery as an Example Where Historic Boundaries Have been Diminished

Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015. 

Lithuania: The Pakruojis Jewish Cemetery as an Example Where Historic Boundaries Have been Diminished
by Samuel D. Gruber

 In addition to the many several Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania that I recently visited where there has been clear progress with boundary recognition, fencing, and site restoration, there are many cemeteries in the country (possibly most) where encroachment over the past seventy years has greatly reduced the recognized size of the full cemetery.  Some of this can be seen at Radviliskis, about which I have already written.   

Often making this matter worse - despite probable good intentions - is the fact that many of these places have fenced and protected areas which give the appearance that the cemeteries are safe and at least nominally protected and maintained. It is hard to date these fences. Some are seem to have been erected during the period of Communist rule and many may have been installed following Lithuanian independence in 1990, when a concerted effort was made to better mark mass graves and other Holocaust-related sites (see Yosf Levinson, The Book of Sorrow (Vilnius, 1997).

 Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015

One example of this problem which is probably typical is the "new" cemetery at Pakruojis, in Central Lithuania (I'll soon write about another, at Kalvaria in the southwest). The town was once a place with a substantial Jewish population, some glimmer of which one can still discerned in the existence of one of its synagogues, which will soon be restored.  The community was a old one, and before World War I about 1400 Jews lived here - though there was massive emigration overseas in the interwar years (see Schoenburg, Lithuanian Jewish Communities (New York, 1991), p. 221-222.  For a  virtual tour of Jewish Pakruokis click here.

An earlier cemetery was located on the town-side bank of the Kruoja River, but this was totally destroyed by the Germans. The present-day cemetery, about a 1 1/12 kms northwest of town, was probably founded in the mid to late 19th century. The cemetery includes a simple wooden fence that encompasses only part of the plot which has bee estimated to be about 100 x 40 meters in size.

 Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015.

In many such places, the present visible and fenced remains of their Jewish cemeteries can only be very limited approximations of the cemeteries' former extent. When the fences at Pakruojis and elsewhere were erected around existing visible gravestones, these fences then denied recognition as protected sacred ground or for cultural heritage designation to all the area with graves but no visible stones.  This practice, which is widely followed in many countries, arises from the mistaken belief that the value of a Jewish cemetery is in its gravestones, not in the dead bu tried underground.  Respect and appreciation of the gravestones is an important recognition of the historical and artistic value of Jewish material culture, but recognition of the sacred character of Jewish burials is a recognition of a fundamental Jewish religious belief. 

There is also a killing site and mass grave outside Pakruojis in the Morkakalmis Forest where approximately 400 Jews were murdered by Germans and Lithuania accomplices in July 1941. 

Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. A tree has grown around the gravestone. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015.

  Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. This memorial to stone to the murdered Jews of Pakruojis was erected and unveiled in 1994.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015.

At Pakruojis, the cemetery on first glance might be declared in good condition, and this raises concerns about the criteria used in a recent survey to determine the condition of Jewish cemeteries throughout the country by the Ministry of Culture. On closer examination, the Pakruojis cemetery is a clear example of how earlier fencing excluded much cemetery land and many burials from even the most rudimentary protection. Stepping over the low wooden fence we walked in the woods on two sides and quickly found evidence of gravestones. A careful examination of the area, perhaps in coordination with map studies and even aerial photography or a geophysical survey, might better determine the original extent of the cemetery.

  Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015.

 

Pakruojis, Lithuania. Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber Oct 2015.

A new fence will soon be needed in any case, and this could be the opportunity to correct this historic error.  Presently,  there is no signage or historical information on the site telling the history of the cemetery or the community and its fate.  It is timely, too, since work is to begin soon on the restoration of the former wooden synagogue. When this is complete (it will serve as a children's library) more visitors will come to Pakruojis, and the cemetery would be well  and accurately protected, and presented. One does not have to invest the resources as at Seduva, but the destroyed Jewish community of Pakruojis and its murdered members deserve something better. In the case of Pakruojis, the reduced boundaries of the cemetery can be easily remedied, since the land around the cemetery has not been developed. I am confident this will be done - though local officials may need encouragement and advice along the way.

At Kalvaria and elsewhere, this will be more difficult, and recovery of the original cemetery grounds could be a locally contentious issue. As I will discuss in future posts, the situation is more difficult when more substantial development and destruction has taken place on cemetery ground. Such is the well documented case at two historic cemeteries in Vilnius, but can almost certainly be found elsewhere through Lithuania, as it can in most other former Communist countries, and some western counties, too.