Vilnius Jewish Cemetery
The “old” Jewish cemetery (called `Shnipishok,' or Piramont) was north of the Jewish ghetto of Vilna and just north of the Vilia (or Neris) River. Generally thought to have been in use from 1487, it served as the main Jewish cemetery of Vilna until 1830. It had long since run out of burial space, and — as practiced elsewhere in Europe — parts of the cemetery were overlaid with extra layers of earth in order to accommodate the dead.
There are/were two other cemeteries in Vilna: the Zaretcha cemetery which from 1831 until 1943 served as Vilna's main Jewish cemetery. With over 70,000 graves in place, just prior to the Second World War, it too ran out of space.In 1948-1950, during the construction of a stadium and a swimming pool, this cemetery was destroyed.
The Jewish community then acquired a new cemetery, called the "Dembovka," but now known as the Saltonishkiu Cemetery. Inaugurated as a Jewish cemetery in the early 1940s, it is where the remains of the Vilna Gaon rest today.
Over 50 years ago, the Vilna Gaon's remains were moved from their original grave in the Shnipishok Cemetery to the Saltonishkiu Cemetery, when the Soviets built a huge housing project over the Shnipishok Cemetery. A few graves were also relocated along with the Gaon.
Today, the Saltonishkiu Cemetery, located at Suderves Road 28, is the only functioning Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius. The main feature of this cemetery is the remains of the Vilna Gaon and members of his immediate family. A pantheon has been erected on his grave which is now visited by Jews from all around the world. The functioning cemetery has around 80 burial places of people who had been buried before 1936 and moved from the destroyed cemeteries.
In the year 2000, the cemetery was transferred into the custody of the Jewish Community of Lithuania. The inventory and the marking of the burial places have been implemented. Around 120 burial places remain unidentified due to the disappearance of burial plaques and unqualified administering of the archives in 1947-2000. Today, the Jewish Community of Lithuania offers the following services: identification of a burial place using a computerised data-base, photographing the place, repairing the monument and taking care of the burial place. The costs for these services are a matter of negotiations. Contact persons: David Kots and Jevgenij Stukalin, telephone: +370 5 2505468, mobile +370 687 42549, e-mail: dod@mail.tele2.lt
Those wishing to support the maintenance of the cemetery are welcome to send their checks made out to THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA, Pylimo Street 4, 01117 Vilnius, Lithuania, or make a bank transfer to:
Beneficiary: JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA
Bank: AB SEB VILNIAUS BANKAS
Bank address: Gedimino Street 62, Vilnius
IBAN: LT16 7044 0600 0090 7924
SWIFT: CBVILT2X
More information is available at
Telephone: +370 5 2613 003
Fax: +370 5 2127 915
E-mail: jewishcom@post.5ci.lt
Web: www.litjews.org
Dr. Shimon Alperovitch,
Chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania
