Many visitors who come to Lithuania to explore their Jewish roots ask to see the towns where their families once lived. These journeys often lead to small former shtetls that today seem quiet, but once had active Jewish communities. Last week I received a request to guide visitors to Pumpėnai and Krekenava, two towns inContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Pumpėnai”
Category Archives: English
Shtetl of the Week: Kuršėnai
This week’s shtetl is Kuršėnai, Kurshan in Yiddish. I first visited Kuršėnai in October 2025. I wanted to “greet” the memorial stele marking the former synagogue, erected by the Jakovas Bunka Foundation, and to take a closer look at this small town that I so often pass through, but rarely stop in. The view ofContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Kuršėnai”
Shtetl of the Week: Daugai
This week’s Shtetl of the Week is Daugai (Doig). It is a small town in southern Lithuania on a peninsula in Lake Daugai. Welcome to Daugai Jews settled here from the late 16th century. By the 18th century a community had formed. Jews here ran shops, workshops, flourmills and farms. They had a synagogue (orContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Daugai”
Shtetl of the Week: Anykščiai
This week we turn our attention to Anykščiai, a small town in northeastern Lithuania where traces of Jewish life can be felt at every step. Known in Yiddish as Aniksht, it was a place where the Jewish community played an essential part in local trade, crafts, and everyday life for a few centuries. Jews settledContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Anykščiai”
ANYKŠČIAI || ANIKSHT
Jews in Anykščiai surprised locals with the town’s first gas station and its only bus Anyone who has visited Anykščiai can easily list at least five, or even all ten, of its most popular sights. The town truly offers plenty to do: culture, entertainment, nature, and wellness services, all supported by an infrastructure comparable toContinueContinue reading “ANYKŠČIAI || ANIKSHT”
Arbit Blatas: the Litvak eye behind Montparnasse
Arbit Blatas, a Lithuanian-born Litvak artist, became one of the most vivid visual chroniclers of Paris. Living among the greats of the École de Paris, he sketched studios, cafés, and street life with immediacy and insight. His works preserve the atmosphere of a creative era that has since vanished.
Shtetl of the Week: Seda
This week we travel to Seda, a small Žemaitija town. Seda’s synagogue (credit: Yad Vashem, photo from FB page Lietuva senose fotografijose) Its’ history reaches back to the early 1500s, and perhaps even earlier. Once an important border trade center with Livonia, it grew around a manor, a parish founded in 1508, and a busyContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Seda”
Shtetl of the Week: Marijampolė
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 in early 1900s Marijampolė was first mentioned in 1667 and now is home to 36,076ContinueContinue reading “Shtetl of the Week: Marijampolė”
Shtetl of the week: starting a new series with Dusetos
In the “Shtetl of the Week” series, I explore and share traces of Jewish heritage in former Lithuanian shtetls. Each week focuses on one town, highlighting surviving sites, personal stories, notable Litvaks, artistic contributions, cemeteries, and Holocaust memorials, offering a glimpse into the life, memory, and legacy of these communities.
How to plan a Jewish Heritage or Family roots trip to Lithuania
For more than ten years, I am helping visitors from all over the world discover and reconnect with Lithuania’s Jewish past. In this conversation, she shares how to plan a Jewish heritage or family roots trip to Lithuania, what a typical three-day journey looks like, and how even independent travellers often find deeper meaning through her personalized itineraries.
Litvak Shtetls 