Butrimonys Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Lithuania
Region
Alytus County
District
Alytus
Settlement
Butrimonys
Site address
The cemetery is located to the southwest of Road 4706, opposite the Christian cemetery.
GPS coordinates
54.50188, 24.24327
Perimeter length
480 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is surrounded by a 0.8 metre tall metal fence.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
There is some seasonal vegetation and tree growth on the cemetery site.
Number of existing gravestones
120
Date of oldest tombstone
1887
Date of newest tombstone
1915
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Given the oldest preserved tombstone dates to 1887, it can be inferred the cemetery was founded no later than the late 19th century.

Butrimonys (Pl. Butrymańce, Yid. בוטרימאַנץ) had a Jewish population of 282 as early as 1760. The Haskalah spread in the 1880s. The town had a yeshiva and a private Russian-language Jewish school. There were two beit-midrash. Zionism was strong even in the Hovevei Zion era. The Jewish population reached its peak at 1,919, or 80% of the total, in 1897. According to the first census of independent Lithuania, there were 943 Jews, or 58% of the total population, in Butrimonys in 1923. A Hebrew school was opened in 1920 and was open until the Soviet occupation in 1940. At the time of the German invasion in 1941, there were 750 Jews in Butrimonys. The Jews were beaten, raped, robbed and seized for forced labour. A ghetto was created on August 29. On September 9, all of the Jews of Butrimonys as well as Jews from Stakliškės and Birštonas were shot and buried in two pits. 1,400 people were killed in a matter of a few hours.

3D model