This time, I was deeply moved by Rosemary. She is a descendant of Joffe Marks, a Litvak from Plungė. He built a remarkable life in South Africa. Rosemary traveled to Lithuania in October 2024 with something truly special in her suitcase. The book was about her family’s journey: their life in Lithuania, emigration, and the creation of a new future in a distant and unknown land.
Joffe Marks became a successful entrepreneur in South Africa, founding a company that still exists today (albeit much changed), and is still connected to his family.
You can read more about Joffe Marks here.
Some relatives from Plungė emigrated to join him before the Holocaust; others perished during the war. A branch of the family that had disappeared into Russia reemerged, unexpectedly, sometime during the Soviet period.
The book was compiled by Georgina, Joffe Marks’ great-grandniece (if I got the relationship right), who had once visited Lithuania over 20 years ago. This time, she remained glued to her phone, eagerly awaiting updates from Rosemary during her trip here.
As we traveled to and from Plungė, I kept reading the book — turning pages along the way. Some of the places described we visited exactly as written; some stops were unexpected; some locations mentioned in the book weren’t marked at all, but now they will be.
Although Rosemary took the original book back home with her, a copy is expected to return soon. She has promised to send it as a gift to the Jewish library so that others can learn about this extraordinary Litvak family.
Special thanks to everyone who recommended Litvak Shtetls to Rosemary, and to her, most of all, for trusting me with this very meaningful journey into her family’s past.
Here you can see main highlights of our trip.
- Kaunas IX Fort
- Oginsky Palace in Plungė
- a walk following Jewish traces in Plungė
- quick lunch in Fortuna cafe
- Kausenai Mass murder site
- a visit at Eugenijus Bunka house in Plateliai
- Litvak Memorial garden near Plateliai
- Alsėdžiai
- Telšiai
- Lost Shtetl site
We met at 8:30 a.m. at the hotel in Vilnius and came back at 9.30 p.m. It was tiring, but very meaningful.
The 9th Fort in Kaunas, a place where about 50.000 people including some of Rosemary’s family members were brutally killed, was mentioned in the book. We stopped on the way.
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