Old Jewish cemetery in Leipalingis

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Old Jewish cemetery in Leipalingis

Old Jewish cemetery in Leipalingis

There are records of Jews living in Leipalingis as early as the 17th century, but the community was formed around 1847, when 25 Jewish families, comprising 134 people, were moved from Merkinė. The Tsarist Russian authorities allocated land for farming and for the construction of a synagogue. After the First World War, Jews also joined the ranks of volunteers at the outbreak of the 1918-1920 independence struggle. Barkan Chackel and Shmuila Kokner were granted the status of volunteers for the Lithuanian army. Several Jewish organisations were active in the town, including the Zionist Youth Society “Gordonija”, the Leipalingis branches of the national society “Betar” and “Mizrachi”. In August 1941, 156 Jews from the town were held in the synagogue until they were shot. On 11 September 1941, they were murdered outside the Leipalingis civilian cemetery. The cemetery, 148 m long and 75 m wide, was used for burials from the 19th century until September 1941, and contains 50 stone monuments of various sizes, made of fieldstone or cut granite. Several massive stelae have also been preserved, which have been plastered and polished on all sides. They are thought to mark the graves of the leaders of the Jewish community, while other, more modest gravestones mark the graves of ordinary members of the community.