Jews of Kaišiadorys District - In Short
Title in Lithuanian: Kaisiadoriu Regiono Zydai
By: Rolandas Gustaitis
Published By: Kaisiadoriu Muziejus, 2006
Editor's Note: Excerpt published as printed in the book, pages 327-332. There is one other short section in English, but the rest of the book is in Lithuanian.

Book deals with the Jews of the Kaisiadorys Region, mostly from the towns of Kaisiadorys, Zasliai, Ziezmariai and Rumsiskes.

Due to geographical position and historical circumstances the territory of Kaišiadorys district became the homeland of many nations. Lithuanian and Polish, Russian and Jewish, Tartar and Karaite communities have been living together in this land for a number of centuries.

Jews settled in Kaišiadorys region quite early. In 1555 twelve Jews of Žasliai complained to the Lithuanian Grand Duke Žygimantas Augustas the voivode of Trakai menacing them. Therefore by means of an official letter issued in Vilnius the Lithuanian Grand Duke ordered to impose on the voevode of Trakai a fine of 300 mites for any injustice caused to Jews. The circumstance states the fact of a whole Jewish community rather than single Jews having lived in Žasliai during that period; this was one of the first communities within the territory of modern Lithuania.

Other townships were settled by Jews later. Jews came to Kruonis and Žiežmariai for permanent residence in the 3rd quarter of the 17th century, to Darsūniškis and Rumšiškės - in the end of the 18th cent., Kaišiadorys, Mūro Strėvininkai and Žasliai Railway Station’s Settlement - in the 2nd half of the 19th cent.

Quite a few Jews lived in the countryside and were engaged in inn keeping business until the end of the 19th cent. Later almost all of them were forced to move to towns and townships due to discriminating policy of the tsarist authority towards Jews. In the interwar period the absolute majority of Jews was concentrated in towns and townships. They were engaged in trade, small-scale industry, crafts and some of them were farmers.

The number of Jews in the region ranged between several dozens and several thousands during their lifetime. The Jewish community was most numerous in the interwar period; they made up almost half of local residents in small rural districts.

The public life of society members was expressed mostly through different kinds of organizations – political, public, charity, cultural, sports etc.  A great part of society members of different age, the absolute majority of whom were male, was involved into their activity. While they were engaged in politics or solving various issues of the society, participated in fire fighting trainings or went in for sports, women generally were involved in taking care of their families, looking after the homes and (if any) shops, inns or hotels.

The most popular among Jews were definitely the organizations formed on national grounds, the majority of which represented the Zionist movement. Zionist ideas reached this region already at beginning of their spread all around the world - in the end of the 19th cent. - and found some ardent followers here.

The Zionist movement itself was quite heterogeneous - their attitudes towards the ways of establishing and forms of governing the Jewish state in Palestine were different. It was even reflected through sports societies. Thus, in the 3rd decade of the 20th century there were three sports society departments ("Makabi", "Hapoel" and "Hakoach") functioning in Žasliai, each one being related to different orientation of Zionist organizations, which reflects the diversity of political views held by the township’s Jewish youth.

Sometimes there arose minor conflicts among Zionist organizations which would grow into dynamic actions. For instance the lecture of the Zionist revisionists on their organization’s attitude towards the Palestine’s issues organized in on May 25, 1933 in Žiežmariai, which gathered about 200 participants, was interrupted by Jewish scouts (of the left political views) of the same township who made noise and expressed their discontent.

Of particular importance in the system of Lithuanian Zionist organizations was the role of funds financing the Zionist movement and preparation of emigrants leaving for Palestine.  The significance of funds was enforced by the fact that their boards comprised representatives of different Zionist organizations.

For example, among other Jews, Berelis Berzakas representing general Zionists and Riva Zagorinaitė representing Zionist socialists were the members of Kaišiadorys Department of the Underlying Palestine Fund "Keren Hajesod". Although they were ideologically far from each other they worked unanimously in the funds. It is obvious, that politics was involved in the activities of the funds.

Jews also participated in the activities of other organizations where the nationality of a member was of no matter at all. The majority of Jews took part in the activities of local voluntary firemen societies and made up the greatest part of their members. They were mostly interested in protecting their property from fire for their own sake.

The Soviet occupation that started in 1940 did not leave Jews aside too.  The new authority that was established without any resistance started the implementation of its own aims. By the end of 1940, most of Lithuanian citizen started realizing what had really happened and felt betrayed. There begun the silent blame game. The cloud of suspicion has settled over Jews as a apart of the Jewish youth was clearly fond of the new authority. For instance, the Komsomol organization of Žasliai that the real local authority belonged to was composed entirely of Jews. Nevertheless the older and more experienced Jews were suspicious towards the new authority as it affected the economic basis of Jewish life - it started nationalization of shops. Mass exile of Lithuanian residents into the depth of Russia before the war (June 14, 1941) worsened relations between Lithuanians and Jews despite the fact that people were being exiled regardless of their nationality. Thus, three Lithuanian and three Jewish families were exiled from Žiežmariai - all of them were taken away in the same truck, - remembers Dora Pilianskienė (Jonesaitė) who is, perhaps, the only in the world Jew of Žiežmariai, who has reached 93 and lives in Vilnius now.

In the end of June 1941, when the German army occupied Lithuania, there was established occupation regime. The Jews were started to get rid of on the racist grounds. The Lithuanian Jewish community was delivered the greatest blow during the first months of war. In the middle of August 1941 Jews of Kaišiadorys region (first of all men, later women and children) were driven to ghettoes and interim isolation sites directly dependent both on the German and the local authorities. The ghettoes and interim isolation sites were usually established in the centers of small rural districts. The imprisoned Jews were guarded there by Lithuanian guard. The arrestees were driven to works. Jews were kept in ghettoes and interim isolation sites for the period from several days to several weeks and all of them were being massacred in the neighborhood woods. Lithuanian self-defense battalion soldiers and the German trooper unit soldiers (under the leadership of SS Obersturmfuehrer Joachim Hamman) who decimated Jews all across Lithuania assistance by the members of local police, holders of "white armbands" and the authorities participated in the slaughter. J. Hamman could have had about 40 Germans at his disposal as well as up to eighty Lithuanians under the leadership of B. Norkus. There had also been a number of volunteers from the local residents.

In August-September 1941 Kaišiadorys district lost more than 3500 people of Jewish nationality. The following four places of mass slaughter of Jews are known in Kaišiadorys district:

1. People from ghetto and interim isolation site of Kaišiadorys (1 911 persons) were shot down in Strošiūnai pinewood on August 26, 1941.

2. Jewish women, children and elderly people from Žasliai and Žiežmariai (784 persons) were shot down in Strošiūnai pinewood, 1.5 km southeasterly of the first place of massacre, near Žiežmariai sand and gravel pit on August 29, 1941.

3. Jewish women, children and elderly people from Darsūniškis, Kruonis and Pakuonis (99 persons) were shot down in the Jewish cemetery of Darsūniškis between August 28 and September 3, 1941.

4. Jewish women and children of Rumšiškės (80 persons) were shot down in Pieveliai village (at present - the territory of the Lithuanian Folk Ethnographic Museum) on August 29, 1941.

Old residents of Kaišiadorys district still remember the Jews who lived there:

"The Jewish nation is very peaceful, calm, friendly, religious, dexterous and particularly energetic" - these words of E. Daugnoravčienė from Žasliai are confirmed by remembrances of many Lithuanians on their former Jewish neighbors.  Materials collected in Kaišiadorys district indicate that Jews who lived there since the old times considered five things - religiosity, education, diligence, thrift and assistance to their family and friends – to be the greatest values.

"It was a very religious nation"- the old residents of Žiežmariai A. and M. Butkevičius said about Jews. In case some Jew gave up his belief (which happened very seldom), his countrymen tried to get him back to their confession. It happened once in Rumšiškės that a baptized Jew was returned back to Judaism by his countrymen. In 1932 this incidence was described in a newspaper making it as an example for catholic people. "This story from the life of Jews of our times shows the way Jews value their religion and preach their religion by protecting the honor of their nation and religion." – was written in the newspaper.

J. Paškauskienė remembered about the Jews of Žasliai: "Jews distinguished themselves by being educated." Their education expressed itself through the inborn gift for foreign languages. Usually Jews who received their education at home or a primary school easily adapted themselves to the environment by quickly learning the languages of local citizens. M. Soloveičikas and V. Fridmanas who lived in Žiežmariai in the interwar period having received only primary education, nevertheless, were able to speak five languages - not only their mother tongue and Lithuanian, but also German, Russian and Polish languages. Some of the adove mentioned people remember that "Jews spoke Jewish at home and they spoke local languages with local residents." (Žasliai); "Jews knew more than one language: if you speak Polish - he speaks Polish, if you speak Russian – he speaks Russian too. They also knew Lithuanian and, naturally, Jewish. They used solely Jewish when speaking to each other." (Žasliai); "Jews spoke Yiddish at home and in public among other people - Polish, Russian and Lithuanian" (Žiežmariai).

Jews were noted themselves for their diligence: thus, Jankelis, the saddler from Žasliai, was occupied all the time - "he got up early and went to bed late". Jews often traded throughout the whole day should there only be purchasers. Just as the residents of Žiežmariai remember until now M. Vitenbergas, the shopkeeper from Žiežmariai, "used to carry on trade very well - one could get goods even at night."  Jews distinguished themselves from residents of other nations by unusual thrift. The Jews of Žasliai used to say the following about themselves: "A poor Jew knows how to live in such a way that the whole family subsists on one herring tail".

Every community used to support and endow its poor members. Valdas Abromavičius who remembers the Jews of Rumšiškės very well says: "A Jew is ready to go to the stake for another Jew. The poorest Jew has the best Christmas Eve. Everyone tries to save up, but he collects the largest amount of money". Assistance was rendered not only during holidays; it was noticeable in the everyday life of Jews.

"The main business of Jews is trade. They were also called "businessmen nation". It is the most specific feature of the Jewish nation." – the latter was written in Žiežmariai.  It was hard for Lithuanians to understand why the Jews were so successful in trade. Once a Jew of Žasliai explained to tailor Vaclovas Barnackas the reason for it: "Your people want to earn to buy bacon, and we – to buy chicken." Today V. Barnackas explains it in the following way: "It means that one should not trade in large amount and try earning much straight away. It is better to earn little by little for a longer period of time and in the end have more".

Publication of this book is not final in providing attention of the Kaišiadorys museum both to Jews and to other national minorities of Kaišiadorys district.

Publishers in advance express their gratitude to all who notice any flaws, inaccuracies or wish to supplement this book by making friendly contribution to this work. [Editor's Note: Address and phone number omitted; Given out upon request.]