39 SLABODKA 26 YESHIVA VILIJAMPOLĖ Vaisių g. JEWISH ŽALIAKALNIS CEMETERY 29 SYNAGOGUE

PETRAS ŽALIAKALNIS 24 BAUBLYS 40 JEWISH NINTH 43 STOLPERSTEINE CEMETERY

5,6 km 1,5 km Linkuvos g. Linkuvos The Litvak g. Lopšelio 37 FORT 19 1 km Aušros g. Landscape ESTHER K. Petrausko g. Žalioji g. LURIE 1 km 18 Savanorių pr. SEVENTH Raudondvario pl. Panerių g. (1913-1998) 36 FORT (1914–2003) Žemaičių g. EMMANUEL Jurbarko g. 8 LEVINAS (1906-1995) 23 14 ZALMAN V. Putvinskio g. 25 OSOVSKY A. Kriščiukaičio g. A. Mackevičiaus g.

LEON Savanorių pr. 5 BRAMSON SOFIJA (1869-1941) KIPRAS PETRAUSKAS BINKIENĖ Kauko al. and ELENA and KAZYS PETRAUSKIENĖ BINKIS Šv. Gertrūdos g. Benediktinių g. E. Ožeškienės g. 42 YARD GALLERY Maironio g. Radastų g. A. Mackevičiaus g. AVRAHAM A. MARTINAITIS CHORAL TORY 17 A. Jakšto g. 35 27 SYNAGOGUE K. Donelaičio (1909-2002)g. ART SCHOOL HASIDIC 43 STOLPERSTEINE 28 SYNAGOGUE Perkūno al.

BIKUR CHOLIM Gedimono g. 1,2 km 32 JEWISH 6 Papilio g. Jewish CHIUNE EMMA 8 A. Mickevičiaus g. Gymnasium 21 SUGIHARA GOLDMAN The Butchers JEWISH (1900-1986) (1869-1940) Kumelių g. 45 Synagogue 1 30 BANK KAUNAS MOISHE M. Valančiaus g. STATE 44 15 HOFMEKLER ARCHIVE (1898–1965) ANATOLIJUS 22 COUNTY Laisvės al. ROZENBLIUMAS 10 34 COURT JAN Parodos g. (1902-1973) 20 ZWARTENDIJK (1886-1976) Vilniaus g. 16 KAZYS GRINIUS 9 Laisvės al. and KRISTINA J. Gruodžio g. GRINIUVIENĖ A. Mapu g. DANIELIUS 2 DOLSKIS 11 43 STOLPERSTEINE TOWN HALL Nemuno g. (1891–1931) D. Poškos g. DANIEL Rotušės a. POMERANZ (1904–1981) M. Daukšos g. Santakos g. g. Palangos

Birštono g. RABBI YITZCHAK ELCHANAN NURSING Kęstučio g. NEEMIJA SPEKTOR 33 HOUSE ARBITBLATAS/ DR. (1817–1896) CHAIM ARBIT BLATAS 7 ELCHANAN Muitinės g. OZE HEALTH 13 NACHMAN (1908–1999) ELKES ŠAPIRO Kęstučio g. 3 31 HOUSE Maironio g. (1879–1944) (1894–1943)

Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. L. Zamenhofo g. LEAH T. Daugirdo g. Aleksoto g. 12 GOLDBERG LUDWIK LAZARUS (1911-1970) ZAMENHOF Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 8 (1859-1917) Druskininkų g. I. Kanto g.

A. Mickevičiaus g.

S. DaukantoS. g.

Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. Spaustuvininkų g. Miško g. Trakų g.

Vaižganto g. EMMANUEL 43 STOLPERSTEINE LEVINAS (1906-1995)

FROM KOVNO KOVNO Gedimono g.

Vytauto pr. Vytauto H. ir O. Minskovskių g. CHIUNE 21 SUGIHARA TO KAUNAS (1900-1986) 4 (1864-1909) AND OSKAR KAUNAS MINKOWSKI (1858-1931) Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. Vytauto pr. Welcome to Kaunas, or Kovno, as this might be the name you are more used to hear. Kovno was very different 80 or 90 years ago from what THE FUTURE ALEKSOTAS 38 JEWISH CEMETERY Kaunas is today. Back then, it was the provisional capital of , Karo Ligoninės g. Girstupio g. a new country on the map that had declared its independence in 1918. Correct things take time to The economics was growing and many other factors were actually happen and the time has already INTERNATIONAL CENTRE Kaunakiemio g. the same as they are in 2017. The streets were the same as today, a come. With this map, we are lot of the houses were the same, it was lively and full of people. But FOR LITVAK PHOTOGRAPHY litvakphoto.org it was a different city. The landscape was different. The ambience inviting you to visit Kaunas. Come here, touch the history, meet the facebook.com/litvakphoto was different. Music, theatre, cafes, private businesses and factories, CHIUNE The International Centre for Litvak Photography is a H. ir O. Minskovskių g. 21 SUGIHARA schools and universities. Still here today but different. residents of today, shake hands, politically and religiously independent organisation that (1900-1986) share ideas, point out what else uses photography as a way of remembering and preserving Due to various circumstances, both local and global, it’s only now that the immense diversity of Litvak history and culture. Run by can be done, and think about someone who’s neither Jewish nor Lithuanian, its portfolio we are starting to finally assemble the puzzle that was left after the possible means to continue what of original projects includes everything from commissioning Second World War and and then frozen by the Soviet a 75-year-long piece of music commemorating the 75th was brutally destroyed more than anniversary of the establishment of the Kaunas Ghetto to Occupation of the country. It took a couple of decades following the PANEMUNĖ 5 km organising unusual photography walks to a long-term plan M.K. Čiurlionio g. 41 JEWISH restoration of our independence to accept the history and to once 75 years ago. That would be very CEMETERY to buy an abandoned synagogue and return it to the city as again remind ourselves it cannot be repeated. kaunastic of you. a world-class centre of memory, culture and education.

BEFORE THE HOLOCAUST THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA MACEVA / THE IT’S KAUNASTIC www.lzb.lt facebook.com/kaunastic Approximately 33 thousand lived in Kaunas in 1933 – that’s about 25% of the LITVAK CEMETERY population. In the interwar period, there were about 40 synagogues and prayer houses, A Jewish national rebirth in Lithuania coincided with the Lithuanian struggle for lib- CATALOGUE The Litvak Landscape is part of as well as a great number schools, in the city. The community was deeply involved eration from Soviet occupation. On August 25, 1988 it was officially decided to create a litvak-cemetery.info the It’s Kaunastic project started in the cultural, political and social life of Kaunas. Jewish people were merchants, real Lithuanian Jewish Cultural Society; the founding meeting took place on March 5, 1989. in 2015. The idea sprung off a estate contractors, doctors, engineers, factory owners, craftsmen, shoemakers, tailors, The mission of the Community is to unite the Litvaks around the world, to celebrate A small group of dedicated individuals involved word play turning “fantastic” into in maintaining and documenting, through musicians, painters… Anything you can name, really. A huge number of buildings Jewishness and to preserve the Litvak culture. The Chairwoman of The Jewish Commu- “kaunastic”. The project, consisting The Litvak Landscape is, to start with, a map included in today’s list of cultural heritage were either designed, constructed, contracted, nity of Lithuania is Faina Kukliansky. photographs, the last remaining Jewish of printed maps offering different owned, or lived by the members of the community. The first private art gallery, the cemeteries in Lithuania, established a non- routes (the Sugihara route, Baltic mixing different chapters and layers of the his- first recordings of Lithuanian music, the first Olympian of Lithuania or the best sports governmental, non-profit organization called history, gastronomic guide and the tory of Kaunas. It connects people and their arena in Europe and many other achievements – none of this would have been possible THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF KAUNAS “Maceva” in 2011. The Litvak cemetery catalogue likes), a blog and its social media ideas, buildings and their residents, Litvaks and without the people we have included in the Litvak Landscape. is available online for those looking for profiles, reflects the vivid history Lithuanians, the past and the present – and it’s Led by Gercas Žakas, the local Jewish communty preserves the Litvak culture and information about the resting places of their and today of Kaunas and is aimed celebrates the most important Jewish days. Members of the community organize and loved ones. “Maceva” is actively involved in the at the international audience. also inviting to collaborate in the future. THE KAUNAS GHETTO attend various cultural events as well as initiate the remembrance of events and people restoration of the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery. important in the history of the Jewish community in Kaunas and Lithuania. An incredible amount of information, names, As it was mentioned before, around 37 thousand Jews lived in Kaunas before the second professions, deeds, dates and events, scattered world war. Only around 3000 of them survived. The Kaunas Ghetto in the Slabodka district, a neighbourhood inhabited by Jews for around in books, archives, newspapers and many centuries, was officially established on August 15th, 1941, a couple of months after TOURISM INFORMATION webpages, were discovered when compiling the the Kaunas during which more than 3000 people were killed. 10 thousand people THE SUGIHARA HOUSE “KAUNAS IN” list of the stops in the route – and the process from the ghetto were murdered in the on October 29th of the same year. The www.sugiharahouse.com was heart-breaking, to say the least, at times. ghetto was turned into a concentration camp in Autumn 1943. It was burned in July 1944. Laisvės al. 36, Kaunas KAUNAS It wasn’t possible to include everything that is Around 5000 people were transferred to concentration camps and only a few hundred One of the stops in the map is The Sugihara House-Museum at the former Japanese +370 37 323 436 out there, but the preparation definitely laid managed to escape. Consulate in the Žaliakalnis district. It’s a definitely a very good place to start if it’s [email protected] It was one of the longest-running ghettoes in Lithuania. It was also the most photographed your first attempt to clean some dust off history books or your first visit toKaunas. ground for a bigger project sometime in the visit.kaunas.lt one in Europe. The director of the museum, Simonas Dovidavičius, contributed greatly to the Litvak future. The archives of the Kaunas ghetto Jewish police are kept in the Central State Archive of Landscape project as if it was his own and we can’t be thankful enough for everything #kaunastic Lithuania. he gave, showed and told us. #visitkaunas 12 LEAH GOLDBERG 19 EPHRAIM OSHRY 37 NINTH FORT 43 STOLPERSTEINE Žemaičių pl. 73 Laisvės al. 3, Miško g. 1, Darbininkų g. 15, (1911-1970) (1914–2003) Vydūno al. 67 Schwabe Hebrew Gymnasium The Memorial of the Kaunas Ghetto Gate, In 1882, the started to build a first- (now Vocational training centre), Linkuvos g. / A. Kriščiukaičio g. class fortress complex in Kaunas. The Ninth fort was The art project of the world’s largest decentralized Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 11 finished in 1913. It was practically undamaged during memorial was initiated by the German artist Gunter Oshry was one of the few European to sur- Demnig in 1992 and is still ongoing. It commemorates “My homeland – land of beauty and poverty. / The vive the Holocaust. During his time in the Kaunas the WWI. From 1924 on, the Ninth Fort was used as queen has no home, the king has no crown. / There the Kaunas City prison. During the Soviet occupation individual persons at their last places of residency Ghetto and concentration camp, he wrote a response or work before they perished during the Holocaust. are seven spring days in the year / And cold and rain regarding the Holocaust which he buried and later of 1940-1941, it was used to house political prisoners all the rest”, says the first verse of a poem “From the before they were transferred to forced labour camps. In summer of 2016, the first stolpersteine, literally retrieved. His book, “The Annihilation of Lithuanian “stumbling stones” were installed in Lithuania. You songs of my beloved land” by Leah Goldberg, or Lėja Jewry”, relates in detail how the Jews were murdered During the Nazi occupation, the area near the fort Goldbergaitė, as the memorial plaque on the former was a place of mass murder. At least 50 thousand peo- are invited to find the stones in the place of the cy- by Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators and also cling track where Isakas Anolikas, the first Lithuanian Schwabe Hebrew Gymnasium states. reflects the spiritual life in the ghetto. After the war, ple, mostly Jews taken from the Kaunas Ghetto, were killed here by Nazis and local collaborators. A museum Olympian, trained; in front of an art studio where he opened a Yeshiva for orphans in and two Ye- Černė Percikovičiūtė learned to paint; in front of the Born in 1911 to a Jewish family from Kaunas, she shivas in New York. was established here in 1958. A 32 m high memorial to learned Hebrew at a young age and began keeping a the victims of , designed by Alfonsas Vincentas house of Dr. Vladimiras Lazersonas and his wife Regi- diary when she was 10, in which she once stated being THE Ambraziūnas, Gediminas Baravykas and Vie- na Lazersonienė; in front of a house where the painter a writer was her only objective. After graduating from lius, was erected here in 1984. Today, The Ninth Fort Jakovas Lipšicas lived before he was moved to Kaunas THE 20 museum contains collections of historical artefacts Ghetto where he drew together with Esther Lurie. the Schwabe Hebrew Gymnasium in 1928, she entered the Lithuanian University and then continued her (1886-1976) related both to Soviet atrocities and the Nazi genocide, as well as materials related to the earlier history of studies in Germany. In 1935, Goldberg and her mother Consulate of the Netherlands, Laisvės al. 42 settled in where she became one of the most Kaunas and Ninth Fort. Please note that the museum prominent people in cultural circles and, by translat- A memorial plaque installed on the facade of the is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. building states the Consulate of The Netherlands 44 KAUNAS STATE ARCHIVE ing many classicals works into Hebrew, became an Maironio g. 28B unofficial ambassador of the European culture. was operating here until 1928. The interesting fact is that in 1940, when a Dutch Jan Zwanterdijk became PLACES The modern building stands on the basement of a for- The Schwabe Hebrew Gymnasium was established in the consul it operated in the office of PHILIPS com- mer synagogue that was closed during the occupation PEOPLE 1927 by a prominent educator Moshe Schwabe. Among pany in Laisvės al. 29. In the three weeks of summer ALEKSOTAS JEWISH after it was decided everyone should use the Choral 38 its students was the Holocaust historian Dov Levin of 1940, Zwanterdijk wrote up over 2400 de facto vi- Synagogue. Head here to research the documents of (1925-2016). sas to Curaçao and therefore saved thousands of Jews CEMETERY the property of Kaunas residents nationalised by the by helping them escape the country. Many whom he H. ir O. Minkovskių g. Soviet occupants. helped only knew him as “Mr Philips Radio” or “Angel 1 ABRAHAM MAPU 7 DR. ELCHANAN ELKES of Curaçao”. His story is closely tied to the one of Chi- 26 SLABODKA YESHIVA 32 BIKUR CHOLIM Squeezed between the Aleksotas slope and “Kauno Panerių g. 51 grūdai” factory, this is the only active Jewish cemetery (1808-1867) (1879–1944) CHAIM NACHMAN ŠAPIRO une Sugihara but the two most probably never even JEWISH HOSPITAL 13 met. Zwanterdijk returned to the Netherlands and in Kaunas today. Remains were transferred here from A. Mapu g. Kęstučio g. 8 As Kaunas became the centre of enter of Jewish cul- A. Jakšto g. 5 45 The Butchers (1894–1943) lived in Eindhoven until his death in 1976. The Right- the Ghetto cemetery in Vilijampolė in 1978. tural activity in Lithuania, The Slabodka Yeshiva was Synagogue Abraham Mapu, born in Slabodka, Kaunas, is con- Born into a rabbi family in Kalvarija, Elchanan Elkes Kaunas Jewish Realgymnasium, Kęstučio g. 85 eous Among the Nations was bestowed on him in 1997. opened in 1849 by Yusrael Salanter after he moved Built in mid-19th century, the hospital was financed M. Daukšos g. 27 sidered the first Hebrew novelist. It’s probably true worked as a personal doctor of the German ambas- by the local Jewish community and the city munici- The son of Chief Rabbi of Lithuania Avraham Dubar here from Wilna to spread the ideas of Musar. In he wrote his novels about life in ancient Israel in a sador in Kaunas for many years. He also healed people pality and was later expanded a few times. It received Šapiro (1870–1943), became the head of the Semitology 1897, the Yeshiva was divided into two. he followers of Built in the 19th century and nationalised during the pergola on the Aleksotas hill, making the district a in the Bikur Holim hospital. In 1941, he was elected as the name of Bikur cholim in the interwar period and department of the Kaunas university in 1926. He was Musar established the Knesses Yisrael Yeshiva, named Soviet occupation, the building is now the ceramics popular yet romantic getaway destination for later the Head of the Judenrat in the Kaunas Ghetto and, was famous for its talented specialists far beyond the also the teacher in the Jewish Realgymnasium, estab- 21 after Rabbi, while its opponents founded the Knes- VILIJAMPOLĖ JEWISH and textile workshop of Art Academy Kaunas generations of Litvaks in Kaunas. The Mapu library on accepting it with great reluctance, did all he could Jewish community. The building, once a centre for 39 lished in 1915. A new building of the school, one of the set Beit Yitzchak Yeshiva, named after Rabbi Spek- Art Faculty. Ožeškienės g., established in 1908, was destroyed dur- to save as many lives as possible. In 1944, Elkes died (1900-1986) modern medicine, has been standing empty and ne- CEMETERY most modern in Lithuania at the time, financed by The Sugihara House, Vaižganto g. 30 tor. A 1924 edict requiring enlistment in the military ing the Holocaust. The Mapu street in the Old Town in Landsberg, a sub-camp of Dachau, after a hunger glected for many years, waiting for a mutual decision Kalnų g. the state and private philanthropist, designed by Ba- Metropolis Hotel, S. Daukanto g. or supplementary secular studies in the Yeshiva led received its name in 1919 – it was changed during the strike as he refused to participate in the “selections”. on what can be done with it. Kaunas Railway Station, M. K. Čiurlionio g. a large number of students in the Slabodka Yeshiva Soviet occupation but the correct version was imple- ruch Kling, was opened in 1931. The painter Arbit Bla- The oldest cemetery in Kaunas dates back to 17th to relocate to Palestine. The Slabodka Yeshiva ceased mented again in 1989. What’s today a youth literature “Let truth be always before you and under your feet. tas and writer Jelin Chaim were among its students. century. It was eradicated during the Soviet occupa- The Japanese Consul-General Chiune Sugihara signed operation during the first Soviet occupation. Its new and music library on A. Mapu g. 18 was built as a Jew- Truth will guide you and show you the path of life”, tion and some of the remains were transferred to the a few thousands life visas and therefore saved numer- building had been just finished but was never used for ish community canteen at the beginning of the 20th he wrote in one of his last letters to his son Joel and Aleksotas cemetery but there are still some grave- ous lives of Jewish people in the wake of the Second the original reason. Instead, Soviets opened a factory century and later used as headquarters for the Jewish daughter Sarah. His wife Miriam survived Stutthof stones out there, surrounded by trees on the hill in World War. The consulate building is now a small (ex- there after the war. Independence Fighters Union and editorial office of and moved to Israel after the war. His son who had 14 RABBI ZALMAN OSOVSKY NURSING HOUSE the northern part of what used to be the cemetery. Jurbarko g. tension planned in near future) yet extremely popu- 33 “Apžvalga” newspaper. left Lithuania in 1930 to study in London was one of lar museum that was opened in 2000. As the Japanese D. Poškos g. 21 / Smalininkų g. 16 the most important researchers in the field of schizo- Consulate was closed due to the first Soviet occupa- The white-tiled house next to the bus stop on Jur- The centre was financed by the local Jewish commu- phrenia of the 20th century. tion, Sugihara moved to the Metropolis Hotel and barko g. is where the Rabbi of Slobodka, Rav Zalman nity. After purchasing a lot, it was started to be built in continued to sign life visas there. He managed to sign Osovsky, very popular among the youth, lived. On the 27 CHORAL SYNAGOGUE 1882 but it took a while to finish it. One of the reasons 40 ŽALIAKALNIS JEWISH 2 RABBI YITZCHAK the last few dozens of life visas and save lives of those of June 26th, 1941, during the , a E. Ožeškienės g. 13 the building is an important architectural monument running from Holocaust while physically boarding the CEMETERY ELCHANAN SPEKTOR EMMANUEL LEVINAS gang led by Jonas Klimaitis came into the house and is its back façade reminding one of a prayer house. 8 train in the Kaunas railway station. Before the Holocaust, there were more than 35 Jew- Radvilėnų pl. (1817–1896) cut off Osovski’s head. They then put it into the win- The building was nationalized by Soviet occupants in (1906-1995) dow for everyone to see. ish houses of prayer in Kaunas; the first known was Former Jewish Orphanage, J. Gruodžio g. 25 Spaustuvininkų g. 1 1952. Situated near the Ąžuolynas park, this is the largest demolished in 1716 but soon rebuilt. The Choral Syna- and most important Jewish cemetery in Kaunas, es- Square near Žaliakalnis funicular, gogue is right now the only functioning in Kaunas and Rabbi Spektor, a great authority among the Jews of V. Putvinskio g. tablished in 1861 and closed in 1952. Singer Danielius Russian empire, was appointed the Chief Rabbi of Kau- KAZYS GRINIUS one of the two in Lithuania. The construction of the Dolskis, painter Yakov Mesenblum, Jewish independ- Kaunas Jewish Gymnasium, Maironio g. 30 22 synagogue was funded by a local first-guild merchant nas in 1864 after serving in other cities of the empire. 15 MOISHE HOFMEKLER 34 COUNTY COURT ence fighters and a lot of other memorable people He is considered to be one of the most famous Rab- “Society is the miracle of moving out of oneself” is a and KRISTINA GRINIUVIENĖ Lewin Boruch Minkowski. The building of Baroque Laisvės al. 103 were buried there After many years of neglecting the (1898–1965) Historical Presidential Palace, Vilniaus g. 33 Revival style was completed in 1872. A memorial to bis and Talmudic sages of the 19th century. He corre- well-fitting quote by Emmanuel Levinas, a Kaunas- Former “Metropolis” restaurant, cemetery and letting it reach a terrible state, actual sponded with Chief Rabbis around Europe and was in born philosopher who spent most of his adult life in the estimated 50,000 Jewish children killed during the In 1883, the construction of a three-storey building now “Charlie Pizza”, Laisvės al. 68 Kazys Grinius was the third and the last democrati- revival works on the site started in 2015. In 2016, the touch with all developments of the Holy Land and the France where he moved to in 1924. In order to record Holocaust can be found in the courtyard. There’s a designated for the district court was financed by Ilja students of Vytautas Magnus University have docu- cally elected President of the first Republic of Lithu- permanent exposition of Rabbi portraits on the sec- Frumkin, merchant of the first guild and son of a Jewish communities living there. Various institutions his legacy and roots in a more proper way than it has The family of musicians moved to Kaunas from occu- ania. He left office after a coup d’état by Antanas Sme- mented almost 6 thousand graves in the cemetery – were named to commemorate the memory of Rabbi been done so far (there’s a memorial plaque on his pied Vilnius in early 1920s. One of the brothers, Moishe, ond floor of the synagogue. prominent resident of Kaunas, Jakov Frumkin. The the digital project will be available online in the near tona and subsequently removed himself from public building is one of the many examples of Jews’ con- Spektor around the world after his death, the one in family house on Spaustuvininkų g.) a group of en- became the leader of the “Metropolis” restaurant or- life. Grinius refused to collaborate with the Nazis. His future. Kaunas being the Jewish Orphanage in J. Gruodžio g. thusiasts pitched for a Levinas memorial square in chestra. Danielius Dolskis and many other famous tribution to the city’s face. it was bought by the state family helped Dmitri Gelpern, the deputy chairman of in 1930 and has been used as a courthouse ever since. Kaunas and a space for that was designated near the singers performed with the “Metropolis” orchestra; the the Kaunas ghetto partisan organization, hide in their Žaliakalnis funicular. It’s hoped the actual creative concerts were broadcast live on the radio (launched in home before they escaped to the West when the So- PANEMUNĖ JEWISH work for the memorial will start in 2017. The Jewish Kaunas in 1926) on weekend nights. viet army reoccupied Lithuania in 1944. 28 HASIDIC SYNAGOGUE 41 3 LUDWIK LAZARUS Gymnasium was located on the other side of the street Gimnazijos g. 6 CEMETERY from Bank of Lithuania. Emmanuel Levinas graduat- ZAMENHOF More about Grinius and the First Republic of Lithu- 35 A. MARTINAITIS Vaidoto g. ed from the school when it was still taught in Russian. ania can be learned in the museum of the Histori- The synagogue was built around 1880. In the past dec- ART SCHOOL Located on the left bank of the Nemunas River in (1859-1917) cal Presidential Palace. The palace itself was built in ades, it was used as sculpture workshops of the Vilnius Šv. Gertrūdos g. 33 Former synagogue, now Institute of Family 16 DANIEL POMERANZ mid-19th century and later rented out to the Kaunas Academy of Arts Faculty of Kaunas but is now aban- the resort-like Panemunė neighbourhood, this is the Relations, L. Zamenhofo g. 9 9 DANIELIUS DOLSKIS (1904–1981) Governorate by a local merchant Solomon Feinberg. doned and its condition gets worse with every winter. The history of the multipurpose building, now an art smallest out of the four Jewish cemeteries in Kaunas, Former “Konradas” café, After declaring the Independence, the first President established in 1710. Only three gravestones are visible The creator of Esperanto language lived and worked school, that changed its owners numerous times dates (1891–1931) now “Vero Café”, Laisvės al. 51 of Lithuania was elected in Kaunas in 1919 as the capi- as all of the others are buried deep in the ground. in different places of the Russian Empire, but Kaunas back to the 18th century. On March 12-13th, 1927, the Statue, Laisvės al. tal was moved here from occupied Vilnius. is where he met his wife Klara Zilbernik – her father Maccabi sports club (itself established in 1920) organ- The jazz ensemble led by the violinist Daniel Pomer- ized the first Lithuanian table tennis championship actually sponsored the publishing of the first Esperan- Danielius Dolskis, a Vilnius-born singer, only spent a anz, a student of the Berlin Conservatoire, was the to book. The street where the Zilbernik family lived couple of years in Kaunas before his premature death inside this very building, making it the birthplace of most popular swing orchestra in what was called the 29 ŽALIAKALNIS SYNAGOGUE Lithuanian ping-pong. A memorial plaque to com- was given the name of L. Zamenhofo before WW2. It’s from pneumonia but he’s one of the most important “little stage” of interwar Kaunas. The band usually per- Vaisių g. 30 42 YARD GALLERY memorate the event is installed on the façade. E. Ožeškienės g. 21 believed Zamenhof married Zilbernik in a synagogue persons in Lithuanian music. The world-travelling formed at the “Konradas” café (named by its owners, 23 KIPRAS PETRAUSKAS on the very same street; the synagogue has been re- musician was actually the first to start singing in The Žaliakalnis Synagogue, established in 1858 and Leonidas and Maksas Konradas), the hottest bohemi- and ELENA PETRAUSKIENĖ After moving into a house on E. Ožeškienės street, a cently renovated and is used as a psychology institute. Lithuanian and encouraging new songs! You can pay later rebuilt, was converted into a loft-style photogra- an spot in town. They recorded 11 shellac plates for the M. and K. Petrauskas Museum of Lithuanian Lithuanian artist Vytenis Jakas discovered numerous Guided tours are, however, not available. a visit to his statue in Laisvės alėja (fresh flowers are British label “Columbia”. Music, K. Petrausko g. 31 phy studio and events space a few years ago. It can be encouraged to be put in statue’s hands) and his grave visited or rented out for a private event upon request. stories of its previous residents, Litvaks that lived here SEVENTH FORT before the Holocaust. The stories became the basis for in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Žaliakalnis. The tenor opera singer was a massively – a street was 36 During the Nazi occupation Pomeranz was imprisoned Archyvo g. 6 a street art gallery – the pictures of former residents given his name while he was still living on it – popu- 4 HERMANN MINKOWSKI in Kaunas Ghetto where he formed the orchestra to- were transferred on the facades of the houses – and gether with Moishe Hofmekler. The violinist was later lar person of the provisional capital. In the spring of In 1882, the Russian Empire started to build a first- helped form a new ever-growing community of those (1864-1909) AND OSKAR 10 ANATOLIJUS transferred to Dachau and came back to Kaunas after 1942, he and his wife Elena Petrauskienė were asked to class fortress complex in Kaunas. The Seventh fort was living here today. the war, to perform again in the same Konradas café, provide shelter for a six-month old daughter of Daniel 30 JEWISH BANK finished in 1890. During the WW2, the Fort became a MINKOWSKI (1858-1931) ROZENBLIUMAS Pomeranz, a famous violin player and orchestra con- Now Lithuanian Zoological Museum, concentration camp, the first on the Nazi-occupied H. ir O. Minskovskių g. renamed to Tulpė, before he immigrated to . (1902-1973) His daughter, Dana Pomerancaitė, was saved from the ductor. The baby was smuggled from the Ghetto and Laisvės al. 106 / Ožeškienės g. territory. Up to 5,000 victims were killed in the territo- There’s a street in Kaunas that can bring you rela- Kaunas Sports Hall, Perkūno al. 5 Ghetto by the family of Kipras Petrauskas (read the the Petrauskas family soon left the country for safety ry from June 30th, 1941 until the camp’s closure on Au- story below). reasons. Dana Pomeranz met her parents again when What was once one of the most beautiful buildings on gust 10th, 1941. Most of them were Jewish residents of tively close to Albert Einstein. His teacher Hermann the Laisvės alėja, with a charming passage in front, is Minkowski, born in Aleksotas, Kaunas, showed in 1907 The Bialystok-born engineer Anatolijus Rozenbliumas the Petrauskas family got back to Lithuania in 1947. Kaunas. During the Soviet occupation, to commemo- was responsible for construction of numerous impor- Like her father, she became a violinist. On August 2, now – almost – gone. As the facade of the bank was rate the victims, a small monument behind the fence that the special theory of relativity could be under- demolished during the Soviet occupation in order to stood geometrically as a theory of four-dimensional tant buildings erected in interwar Kaunas, such as the 1999, recognized Kipras Petrauskas and of the fort was erected but the mass killing and burial Central Post Office and the Officers’ Club. In 1938,it his wife as Righteous Among the Nations. build a new museum there, the back wall of it still site was left abandoned. In 2009, the Fort was privat- space–time. Hermann’s brother Oskar was a medical exists – you are able to easily note the year of the con- researcher – even today, the Minkowski prize is award- was announced Kaunas will be hosting the European 17 AVRAHAM TORY ized and by a non-profit organization of war history basketball championship – but a new hall had to be struction, 1924, on top of a white wall on Ožeškienės enthusiasts who established a museum and opened its ed annually outstanding original work of a younger (1909-2002) street. investigator in diabetes research. It’s also important to built for that. Not a single architect agreed to work Former Kaunas University, now Kaunas doors to visitors in 2011. In 2016, a new memorial for with such a tight deadline (6 months) but Rozenbliu- was erected here. add that the brothers’ father Lewin Boruch Minkowski University of Technology, A. Mickevičiaus g. 39 (1825–1884), a first-guild merchant, subsidized the con- mas bravely stepped in and designed a hall that was 24 PETRAS BAUBLYS immediately recognized as a masterpiece. Still is! You Born as Avraham Golubas in Lazdijai, Tory emigrated Children Hospital of Kaunas , struction of The Choral synagogue in Kaunas. Lopšelio g. 10 can visit an occasional game or a concert there or to the US only to come back in 1933 and receive a law simply stop by on your way to the Sugihara House. OZE HEALTH HOUSE degree in the Kaunas university and later work there. In the 1940s, Petras Baublys served as the general 31 Now Kaunas Sports Medicine Center, Rozenbliumas managed to escape from the Kaunas In the Kaunas Ghetto, he, serving as secretary of the manager of an orphanage, located in the same part D. Poškos g. 1 5 LEON BRAMSON ghetto, was saved by local people and later taught in Jewish Council of Elders, wrote a meticulous diary of Kaunas as the ghetto. Between 1942 and 1944, the universities. His son is an architect in Tel Aviv. detailing three years of Nazi rule. The diary was later orphanage was used as a temporary place of refuge The building was erected in 1926 for the needs of OZE, (1869-1941) used as evidence in war crimes trials “I am hiding in ORT Jewish Technical Institute (now Vytautas for Jewish children before they were moved to safer the Society for the Protection of the Health of the this crate what I have written, noted and collected, Jewish Population, and is one of the great examples Magnus University), Jonavos g. 40 locations. Tens of babies were admitted into the or- NEEMIJA ARBITBLATAS/ with thrill and anxiety, so that it may serve as ma- phanage while only a few trusted members of the staff of how the members of Jewish community took care The Kaunas-born Jewish activist and the member 11 terial evidence accusing testimony when the Day of were aware of the activities. Baublys, a gifted and very of those in need. The design of the building compiles of the first elected Russian Parliament in 1906-1907, ARBIT BLATAS Judgment comes”, he wrote in the notebooks before popular paediatrician, tragically died in a plane crash the characters of modernism and art deco and is quite later became the leader and organizer of the World (1908–1999) burying them. Tory escaped the ghetto with his future in 1973 and was posthumously recognized as Righteous unique in the architectural landscape of Kaunas, add- ORT, or the Jewish Association for the Promotion of wife, Pnina Sheinzon, and managed to recover the Among the Nations in 1977. A memorial plaque is in- ing value to it. Nepriklausomybės a. 3 / Gedimino g. 36 hidden notebooks after the war. His book “Surviving Skilled Trades, founded in 1880. In 1922, he co-founded Dailės gimnazija / Pelėdos stalled on the hospital building on Lopšelio g. where the American ORT federation. More than 1000 skilled the Holocaust: The Diary” was first pub- the orphanage once was. workers, both men and women, graduated from the Arbit Blatas opened the first private art gallery in the lished in Hebrew in 1998. institute in Kaunas from 1921 till the Second World Baltics (Nepriklausomybės a. 3) at an impressively War. young age of 24. The financial side of the project didn’t turn out very well and the artist soon left to Paris. Lat- 25 SOFIJA BINKIENĖ er, the artist and sculptor kept coming back to Kaunas 18 ESTHER LURIE EMMA GOLDMAN to visit his parents and frequented the famous bohe- and 6 mian Konrado café where he painted many portraits (1913-1998) Vydūno al. 45 (1869-1940) of its guests. The Memorial of the Kaunas Ghetto Gate, Linkuvos g. / A. Kriščiukaičio g. Sofija Binkienė (1902-1984) was a translator and a jour- “Emma” social centre, A. Mickevičiaus g. 37 Neemija escaped the war by moving to the States and nalist, she also assisted her husband, a famous Lithu- The political activist, anarchist and writer emigrated Born in Liepaja, Latvia, the ertist Esther Lurie emi- anian writer Kazys Binkis. During the WW2, their flat subsequently receiving the US citizenship. His mother grated to Palestine in 1934 but continued to return to to the United States when she was 16. This means not died in Stutthof concentration camp. His father sur- on Vydūno g. 45 was unofficially called “The Jewish much can be traced about the rebel woman’s life in the to exhibit her works. The 2nd World Hotel” as she helped many people to hide there and vived Dachau and later contacted his son with the War broke out while she was in Lithuania. The artist Slabodka, a suburb of Kaunas at that time, where she help of Pablo Picasso. In 1980 a composition of seven actively searched for other safe places. Binkienė en- was born. In the very end of 2016, the “Emma” social survived the Kaunas Ghetto and Stutthof concentra- couraged the cultural elite of Kaunas to do the same. bronze bas-reliefs by Arbit Blatas was installed in the tion camp, and so did her works created during the centre offering a range of resources for groups and Venice Ghetto as a memorial to the victims of Holo- In 1967, Binkienė was one of the first Lithuanians to individuals wishing to organize in the spirit of co- time in the Ghetto. One of the many drawings she did be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. In the caust. The fourth edition of the series was donated by was the one of the Kaunas Ghetto Gate. A memorial operation, solidarity and mutual aid was opened on A. his widow as part of the consecration of the memorial same year, she published a collection of memoirs of Mickevičiaus street. It is actually the first-ever tribute was erected there after the war. The artist returned to the called “Unarmed Fighters”. at the Ninth Fort in 2003. Israel in July 1945. to Goldman in Lithuania.