Moletai Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
Given the oldest preserved tombstone dates to 1904, it can be inferred the cemetery was already in use by the early 20th century.
Jews began to settle in Molėtai (Pl. Malaty, Yid. מאַליאַט) in the 18th century. In 1765, the town had 170 Jewish taxpayers. By 1847, 1,006 Jews had settled in Molėtai. In the 1880, many of the local Jews emigrated to South Africa. In 1897, the Jewish population of the town was 1,948, or 81% of the total. During WWI, the Jews were expelled from Molėtai by the Russian army, and only two-thirds of them returned after the war. In the interwar period, the Jewish Popular Bank (Folksbank) operated in Molėtai and had a branch in nearby Alunta. There was a large Jewish emigration to the US, Uruguay, South Africa. In 1940, about 350 Jewish families remained in Molėtai. All of the Jews were murdered by the German army and Lithuanian nationalists in 1941.
