This week, I invite to explore the Jewish history and street art of Marijampolė in the photo gallery and to meet Israëlis ‘Izis’ Bidermanas – the famous Paris photographer who grew up in this southern Lithuanian shtetl.
About Marijampolė
Marijampolė was first mentioned in 1667 and now is home to 36,076 people. Jewis arrived in the town in the early 18th century and were active in trade, crafts, education, and cultural life.
A few Litvaks from Marijampolė are well known internationally, among them writer Devorah Baron and photographer Israëlis “Izis” Bidermanas are.
However, most of the community was murdered in 1941. Today, Jewish heritage survives not only in the synagogue, but also in the town’s street art scene.
About Israelis Izis Bidermanas
Israelis Bidermanas was born on January 17, 1911, into a poor shopkeeper’s family in Marijampolė. The family was so impoverished that they couldn’t pay the rent and were evicted from their home.
The Bidermanas family dreamed of one day moving to Israel, and since, according to rumors, craftsmen would be in short supply there, they planned for their son to become a carpenter.
But Izis was not interested in carpentry or any other trade — he wanted to be a photographer. After studying in the studio of the well-known Marijampolė photographer M. Buchalter, the nineteen-year-old left his provincial and impoverished hometown in 1930.
You can find an interactive route on Jewish heritage in Marijampolė (in Lithuanian) here: Marijampoliečių žydų miesto kūrėjų palikimas
You can read about Jewish photographers in Marijampolė and in other places (in English) here: The Invisible Magicians
Litvak Shtetls 