Kaisiadorys Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Lithuania
Region
Kaunas County
District
Kaisiadorys
Settlement
Kaisiadorys
Site address
The cemetery is located opposite the municipal cemetery on Sakos g. Street.
GPS coordinates
54.85661, 24.4889
Perimeter length
175 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
Type of the fence
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is well-maintained. It is situated on a slope.
Number of existing gravestones
around 15.
Date of oldest tombstone
1925 (the only readable).
Date of newest tombstone
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

Given the oldest preserved tombstone dates to 1925, it can be inferred the cemetery was already in use by the first half of the 20th century.

Kaišiadorys (Pl. Koszedary, Yid. קאָשעדאַר) developed into a town when a railway station was built there in the late 19th century. Jews were among the earliest settlers. In 1897, the town had a Jewish population of 317, or 38% of the total. Before WWI, the community had its own rabbi, a beit-midrash, a modern cheder, a library. Zionists became active in the 1890s. According to the first census of the Independent Lithuanian state, there were 596 Jews in Kaišiadorys in 1923. The railway station lost its importance when the new borders were drawn, and the economic situation worsened. This caused a Jewish emigration to the US, South Africa and Uruguay. The community had a Hebrew school, which belonged to the Tarbut network. The Jewish People’s Bank (Folksbank) operated in Kaišiadorys. At the time of the Soviet occupation in 1940, about 60 Jewish families remained in the town. After the German invasion in 1941, all of the Jews of Kaišiadorys were murdered.

3D model