Jews in Jonava

Former Jewish shops on Kauno Street, Jonava Old Town

Synagogue in Jonava

Monument in Girelka

The Jews in Jonava were the largest ethnic group in Jonava , a city in Lithuania , at the beginning of the 20th century .

history

In 1750 the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Frederick August II (1696–1763) granted Marija Kosakovskienė a privilege . In this, among other things, possible future residents are mentioned, whereby one wanted to found a small town Jonava, in this allow the markets and fairs , to accommodate free people of different religions, including Christians , Tatars , Jews .

Bishop Juozapas Kazimieras Kosakovskis (1738–1794) granted various privileges to Jonavas Jews.

There were 40 Jewish families in 1777 and 59 in 1784. In 1893 3069 Jews (92% of the 3350 inhabitants) lived in the city. In 1941 the Jews made up 80% of the population.

In 1932 there were 250 Jewish shops, a Jewish bank , seven synagogues ( Beit Midrash Hagadol Synagogue Jonava and others) and a Jewish school. The Jews lived in today's old town .

In August 1941, 552 Jews (497 men and 55 women) were shot by the German occupiers in the Giraitė forest (Girelka), 1.5 km northeast of the city center . There is now a memorial at the site of the genocide .

There is a Jewish cemetery in the city .

Personalities

• Grigori Kanowitsch (* 1929), writer
• Abraham Myerson (1881–1948), psychiatrist, professor at Harvard University
• David Kahan , painter
• Morris Wintschewski (1856–1932), writer
• Israel Davidson (1870–1939), American writer and publisher
• Jakob Ginsburg (1870-?), Publisher of “Judenwelt” in New York
• Dalija Epšteinaitė (* 1937), Lithuanian translator

Web links

• Jews in Jonava

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jonavos žydų bendruomenės istorija // Jonavos istorija (Asta Višinskaitė, Goda Volbikaitė ir Indrė Viktorija Užukutytė, Jonava.org portalo informacija)
2. ↑ Jonavos krašto muziejaus informacija ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.