Page 17 - Zydai Siauliu kraste EN

PAKRUOJIS DISTRICT PAKRUOJIS DISTRICT 17

17. The shtetl in Pakruojis

The Jewish part of the town of Pakruojis (shtetl) was divided into the residential quarters of the
poor and the rich. Poor Jews who were engaged in a wide range of activities related to trade and
crafts lived in Dariaus ir Girėno street, along the entire bank of the river. Today, the street is unique

for its surviving Jewish heritage: it is narrow and Burmonienė, a vodka monopoly, a mikvah (a rit-
most houses have little changed. The residential ual pool), a Jewish kosher butcher’s shop, and a
quarter of poor Jews ends at the former shtetl school also operated on the street.
hospital and the first cemetery (the burial site The current Vytauto Didžiojo street is a space
of Jews until 1800). The second Jewish cemetery of the shtetl where markets took place, expen-
is located in Linksmučiai, a couple of kilometers sive shops were located, and rich Jews lived. The
from Pakruojis town. The famous physician Mark street used to be very noisy. The shtetl continued
Shreiber, who was killed together with his family all the way to the Catholic Church. There were
during the Holocaust, the founder of the Jewish many specialized shops selling iron, clothing, and
Peoples Bank Rabbi Icak-Cvi Cheshnowski (Osh- footwear. Both locally produced and imported
er Chekovsky), and the auxiliary animal slaugh- goods could be purchased.
terer Feivel Kremer lived on the street of poor Kranto St., Dariaus ir Girėno St.,
residents of the shtetl. The pharmacy of Liekė Vytauto St., Pakruojis
„

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

In 1921, the inhabitants of the town of Žeimelis voted to which state they should belong: to Li-
thuania or Latvia, and the decision that the town must belong to Lithuania was determined by
the votes of Jews of Žeimelis town. Abraham Kook who worked as a Rabbi in the town of Žeimelis
later became the Chief Rabbi of all Jerusalem. Abraham Kook’s first wife is buried in the Jewish
cemetery of Žeimelis town, where her tombstone has survived.