Let’s imagine a walk through the Dusetos shtetl, following the memories preserved in There Was a Shtetl in Lithuania.
The Market Square
We will begin our walk at the former market square, where three main streets, Vilniaus, K. Būgos, and Vytauto, converge. The square was surrounded by the homes of Jewish craftsmen and merchants.
(photo published on the Facebook page Lietuva senose fotografijose)
During the interwar period, Dusetos was home to 32 craftsmen, including five butchers, eight tailors, five shoemakers, four blacksmiths, and two bakers. Several Jews were engaged in agriculture, and the town also had two Jewish-owned mills, a power station, and a candy factory.
The market square came alive on Wednesdays, market day, and on Sundays, when all the local Catholics would gather for mass. On Wednesdays, children would beg their parents to let them skip school to watch the wagons arriving from all directions: peasants from the surrounding countryside bringing eggs, cheeses, butter, chickens, fruits, and vegetables. One street was dedicated to cattle trading.
On market day, you could buy almost anything in town. After selling their goods, the farmers would shop in the Jewish stores, and children excused from school would help their parents serve the customers. How well the trade went determined how the family would live the following week. In the evenings, farmers would often drink, sometimes going, intoxicated, to Jewish homes to ask for bread or herring, and occasionally conflicts would arise. The next morning, everyone cleaned the square, gathered the trash, shoveled manure, and swept around the shops. Maintaining order was obligatory, and litterers had to pay fines.
Beit midrash and religious life
At the far end of the square stood the wooden beit midrash—the Jewish house of study and prayer.
The women’s prayer hall was on the upper floor, the men’s section below. Upon entering, one was greeted by enormous shelves, stacked with books up to the ceiling. The Torah was kept in an ancient cabinet, covered with an embroidered cloth. Young men who came to study the Torah in the shtetl spent many hours in the beit midrash; they lodged in townspeople’s homes and ate daily with different families. The whole town would gather at the beit midrash, where everyone was equal: all listened to the rabbi the same way and prayed together. Weddings were held in the courtyard of the prayer house, attended by guests, with klezmer musicians coming to play.
Behind this beit midrash, there was another house of prayer: it was located in the Blecher family home and used when the main beit midrash was full.
Another prayer house belonged to the Hasidim and was on the opposite side of the square, closer to the lake. The Litvaks were usually Misnagdim, followers of the Vilna Gaon and opponents of the Hasidim. There were not many Hasidim in Dusetos, and their synagogue was usually empty; however, during one holiday, Simchat Torah, its rooms would fill up. The Hasidim became almost wild, lost in ecstasy, constantly emphasizing happiness and joy, while the Misnagdim celebrated modestly and in silence. Young people rarely attended synagogues, though they still observed the Sabbath.
The rabbis of Dusetos included Menachem Mendel from Lublin, and Natan and Bunim Cemach Zilber, father and son, born in Dusetos. The last rabbi of Dusetos was Tuvia Dov Shlezinger; it is believed he perished with his community during the Holocaust. His small home stood a short distance from the beit midrash on what is now Vilnius Street.
Jewish People’s Bank
On the opposite side of the same street was the Jewish People’s Bank, which operated in the town from 1924.
The bank’s directors were David Schwarz and Joseph Poritz. The bank had 152 members: 53 craftsmen, 78 merchants, 4 gardeners, 8 workers, civil servants, and others. It served residents of Dusetos and Antalieptė, helping widows, those in need, and newlyweds if they lacked funds.
Closer to the square stood the Milun house. Milun later sold his home to the family of Hilel Schwarz, the director of the Dusetos Hebrew school. Behind this house lived the melamed (teacher at the cheder, a religious school) Moshe Leiba Berman; his wife baked and sold kichlach, small egg cookies.
Along Būgos street
In the corner house of the square the shoemaker Abraham Itsik Jofe and his wife Sara Riva lived. Abraham’s nickname was “der Zagatovchik”. He made only the upper part of shoes.
Next door, in a two-story wooden building, operated Moshe Leib Ziv’s tavern, known as the traktierius. Ziv had two daughters, Batia and Mina. Mina, the elder, was more conservative, while Batia was beautiful, modern, and romantic, with many admirers.
The tavern sold spirits, lots of them. Alcohol sales were strictly regulated, so the Ziv family often hid liquor with neighbors. It often happened that drunken guests confused the tavern door with a neighbor’s house. Neighbors sometimes found visitors passed out, sleeping under their doors or even inside their rooms.
K. Būgos Street was formerly called Unter dem Brik (Bridge Street), leading to the Šventoji River. Most houses were wooden, with occasional brick buildings. Lithuanian gardens were often more ornate, inspiring Jewish neighbors to add flowers to their yards.
On one of the houses you can see a subtle enamel detail. It evokes Jewish traditions: the artwork shows a woman from Dusetos blessing the Shabbat candles.
A few hundred meters ahead, you will see the red-brick Church of the Holy Trinity in Dusetos, built at the end of the 19th century. The church’s towers were visible from afar. All the local Lithuanians attended this church and regarded it as their spiritual center.
When someone passed away, the Catholics would place the deceased in a decorated carriage and accompany it in a long procession to the cemetery at the opposite end of the town. The priest and specially dressed children led the procession, while Jewish children would watch from a distance, afraid to come closer. Such large Catholic gatherings frightened them.
On the opposite side several former Jewish homes have been preserved. Rochel and Berl Levit, Jakov and Rochel Poritz; the pharmacist Chaim Aron Shein with his wife Sore Nechama, the daughter of Rabbi Bunim Zemach lived here. Farther from the street stood the house of Emanuel and Chaya Tsipe Slep. Their son Micha had a photo studio there.
The Poritz family lived in a house that also housed Tilindis’s tailor shop. The Poritzs were well known in the town: Rochel Leah was a strong woman who made all decisions herself. Thanks to her, the Dusetos priest stopped a pogrom in the town in 1905.
In Dusetos, people rarely called for a doctor — the pharmacists usually knew enough to prescribe medicine themselves. One of them was a Lithuanian pharmacist whose daughters refused to greet their Jewish neighbors. When they met Jews on the street, they would turn away, pretending not to see them. Locals began using the phrase “dem Apoteiker’s Techter” (the pharmacist’s daughters) to describe people who acted in this unfriendly way.
Farther down the same street the houses of Getzel Binder and Chaya Hene Levit stood.
Milner Gas – “Mill Street” in Yiddish
Continuing along Vytauto Street, where it replaces Būgos Street, you will see the building that now houses the Sartai Regional Park Visitor Center.
Formerly, a mill stood on this site.The grain mill and nearby sawmill belonged to a Jew named Gershke. The diesel engine that powered the mill also produced electricity, which in the evenings was supplied to the town’s residents.
The main Dusetos mill once stood at the end of the same street. Because of it, the street was called Milner Gas (Mill Street) and the miller’s family, the Joffes, were known simply as “Der Milner” (the Miller). The miller was a respected man in the town, a Hasid, and during services his seat in the synagogue was beside the rabbi.
For many years, it was the only mill in Dusetos. Even after a competitor opened and offered cheaper services, both Jews and Lithuanians continued to bring their grain to this miller out of loyalty and trust. Sadly, one night lightning struck one of the mill’s wings, and it burned down. Around 1937, the miller’s grandson, a skilled craftsman nicknamed Lolka, built a new mill on the lakeshore. That building still stands today.
Life along Milner (Vytauto) Street
The Milner street was home to both Jews and Lithuanians. The town doctor lived here, as well as a Lithuanian pharmacist; there were also the police and fire stations, an inn, and the Dairy Center.
Take a moment to look around at the colorful wooden houses — many of them have survived since the interwar years.
As former Jewish residents recalled, almost every house had a cellar. Parents would climb down with jars of homemade vareniye (jam). They cooked the jam themselves from local berries and sealed it in glass jars.
Each home had a large, solid brick oven. On cold winter evenings, children would climb onto it, and it was hard to get them down. The warmth made everyone so drowsy that they would often fall asleep right there. The oven was where homework was done and where the family slept. Bread, challah, and matzah were baked in it, and it even had a small stove built in for cooking.
A bit further the building that once housed the Jewish elementary school stands. It belonged to the Tarbut network, and classes were conducted in Hebrew. Although the Jews of Dusetos spoke Yiddish in daily life, many already knew Hebrew from their parents, since it was the language used to study the Torah.
The rise of the Zionist movement brought a growing enthusiasm for reviving Hebrew. It was intended to be the national language of a future Jewish state. As a result, the people of Dusetos became even more determined to learn it. Everyone who lived here during the interwar years remembered Hilel Schvartz, the school’s director.
They also remembered Yehuda Slep, a teacher who inspired their students to love the language. He inspired them to love the Promised Land.
Read more about Yehuda Slep story → Zionism in Dusetos: the story of Hebrew teacher Yehuda Slep
The Krut Brothers and Their Bus
Three brothers, Baruch, Bentske, and Ansel Krut, once bought a bus.
When the car first appeared in the streets of the shtetl, it seemed as if God Himself had descended from heaven.
The bus left Dusetos for Kaunas each morning, spent the night there, and returned the next day. The trip cost 18 litas, so most people only traveled before holidays. Regular passengers were those who worked outside the shtetl.
On Shabbat, when the Krut brothers wanted to rest, they would sometimes choose one of the local boys to act as conductor. It was an adventure to travel through the shtetls — all the way to Kovno!
The Bathhouse and Mikveh
The bathhouse once stood by the lakeshore and served as a kind of community center for the Jews of Dusetos.
(photo from the book There Was a Shtetl in Lithuania)
Bathing there was not only about cleanliness, it was also considered healing for the whole body. Next to the public bathhouse, there was also a Jewish ritual bath, a mikveh.
Read more about the bathhouse →The Jewish Bathhouse of Dusetos
Walking along the lakeshore, we will come to the new mill. It was built by the miller’s grandson in honor of his grandfather, after the old one had burned down.
Jewish Cemetery
Our next stop will be at the cemetery of Dusetos.
It is located on the road to Obeliai. At the first turn you will see a large fenced area covered with pine trees. Several hundred tombstones remain, and in the center of the cemetery, on a small rise, stands an oak memorial marker.
When someone died at home, the body was laid on the floor, candles were lit at the head, and prayers were recited until the funeral. The entire town would accompany the deceased to the cemetery — some praying or chanting during the procession, others collecting donations. “Charity saves from death,” they would say. Children, however, were afraid of the cemetery; rumors spread that the dead rose at night and wandered among the trees.
Yitzchak became tragically known after he was killed during the pogrom that took place in 1905. On the second day of Easter, anti-Jewish riots broke out. Warnings had circulated before the holiday, but the police were powerless to stop them. Nearly all the houses of the already impoverished Jews were burned or destroyed, goods were looted or ruined, and those who tried to defend themselves were beaten, some even killed. Yitzchak attempted to protect his property but was brutally attacked and hacked to death with axes. His story is recorded on this gravestone.
Read another story → Dusetos Jewish cemetery: stories of Isroel and Elchanan Glukh
Krakynė Forest Memorial
After visiting the cemetery, it is meaningful to continue to one more site.
About 12 kilometers outside Dusetos, a memorial stands to commemorate the tragic fate of the Jews from Dusetos and the surrounding region.
On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded Lithuania, at that time occupied by the Soviet Union. Some Jews from Dusetos tried to escape by following the retreating Red Army eastward. However, most were forced to return and were concentrated in a makeshift ghetto behind the bridge. On August 26, 1941, all Jews remaining in Dusetos (men, women, and children) were marched to the Krakynė forest and murdered, together with Jews from Zarasai. Among the victims was Rabbi Tuvia-Dov Schlezinger, the last rabbi of Dusetos.
Today, the memorial in the forest marks the site of this massacre, including the trenches where victims from Dusetos and the surrounding region were buried. Visiting this site is a vital part of remembering the Jewish heritage of Dusetos and honoring the lives lost during the Holocaust.
Thus, the shtetl that had existed for a couple of centuries now lives on only in the photo albums, letters, and memories of those from Dusetos who managed to emigrate before the war.
Fragments of this Jewish life can still come alive today for those walking these streets and connecting with memories from their ancestors.
If you have stories or recollections to share, please write them to info@litvakshtetls.com
Stories adapted from the book There Was a Shtetl in Lithuania: Dusiat Reflected in Reminiscences, edited and compiled by Sara Weiss-Slep Israel (1989, English edition), and my own 2020 article in Lithuanian Dusetų žydai: maža bendruomenė, turėjusi didelių svajonių”.
For a more detailed guide, a downloadable guide-map will soon be available for purchase to help visitors explore the shtetl independently. If you are interested please submit the form:
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