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The Jews of Panevėžys have been known since the 17th century. Here they began to emerge from the territories of Ukraine, Western Europe.
“As in other Eastern European countries, the Jews of the Panevėžys region lived mainly in the city. In the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, a large part of the community was concentrated in one of the central squares, which today has not survived. Once upon a time there were synagogues and other buildings belonging to Jews; now we wouldn’t find any of them.
During World War II, Panevėžys was overthrown, but the Soviet years brought greater losses.
During World War II, Panevėžys was overthrown, but the Soviet years brought greater losses. Then a conscious effort was made to change the architectural face of the city; a large part of the heritage has been destroyed.
I can say that we don’t have so many Jewish-related exhibits in the museum either (there are some ceremonial items or others, a lot of photos), but there are dozens, not hundreds of pieces, ”says Arūnas Astramskas, director of the city’s local history museum , on the Jewish side of Panevėžys.
Photo by Karolina Savickytė / Director of the Panevėžys Museum of Local Traditions Arūnas Astramskas
Manifestations of multinationality
The historian stated that he was once interested in the change in the ethnic composition of the Panevėžys population. However, according to him, the censuses carried out at that time could not always be considered completely accurate: many people had a dual identity, for example, they considered themselves both Lithuanian and Polish at the same time.
Let’s say that in the mid-19th century, Jews made up 53 percent of the population. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, that number fell by three percentage points. Already in the interwar period 33 percent of the Jews lived.
All Lithuanian cities were multinational and multicultural. Lithuanians themselves began to move to cities more quickly until the early 20th century.
All Lithuanian cities were multinational and multicultural. Lithuanians themselves began to move to cities more quickly in the early 20th century. Until then, they did not occupy a dominant position. I once tried to count public figures in Panevėžys. I established the criteria: I included in my list those who had delegated and elected positions, from the vice president of the society to the leader of the choir.
Guess how many people I counted? More than 300. Lithuanians, Poles and Jews are roughly the same. However, the Jews stood out more among the townspeople. There were relatively more organizations in the interwar period and they functioned more actively than today, ”says the interlocutor.
Photo by Karolina Savickytė / Exhibition of the Museum of Local Customs of Panevėžys; In Panevėžys around 1920. Hanging trilingual tables.
The national diversity of the city is also evident in the material collected for the exposition of the museologists.
“In Panevėžys, not only bilingual, but also trilingual (Lithuanian, Polish, Yiddish) the street names were posted. Have you seen things like that elsewhere? We have a photo of somewhere in the years 1919-1920 where it is clearly seen. At the same time, however, ethnic groups emerged that spoke out fiercely against these names.
In Panevėžys there were not only bilingual street names, but also trilingual ones (Lithuanian, Polish, Yiddish).
We know that students from Panevėžys organized an action, during which they stole and hid the signs with the names of the streets. On the other hand, the government soon passed a law that legalizes only Lithuanian street signs. So trilingual tables have been around for quite some time. “
“The stones do not have a passport”
Together with A. Astramskas we took a walk through the streets of Panevėžys. We stopped at Sietynas (now Memory) Square. In this place from 1872 to 1940. the old Jewish cemetery worked, but was liquidated during the Soviet era.
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