Shtetl of the Week – Litvak Shtetls

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”

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”