Jewish Rasein   

An extract from the book Amol in Rassein (Once Upon a Time in Rassein) 

(C) 1976 - George M. D. Wolfe. Reproduced here with permission 

"Rassein (Lithuanian name Raseinai) is one of the oldest Lithuanian towns, with a recorded history going back to the 13th century. Located in the western part of the country, the town served as the seat of the regional court and the meeting place for the area's nobility until Lithuania's last partition in 1795. Early in its history the Dominicans and Carmelites built notable churches and monasteries in the town. The Dominican Baroque church and monastery, built in the middle of the 17th century, are being preserved to this day as architectural monuments. The town's total population (of whom a large proportion were Jews) numbered 8,516 in 1857, but declined in subsequent years, numbering somewhat over 5,000 after World War I. From its beginning Rassein was an important agricultural trade center and during the period of Lithuanian independence (1918-1940) served as the county seat.

Jews first appeared in Lithuania in 1321, as the center of Jewish existence in the Diaspora shifted, first from their ancient centers in the Near East and North Africa to western Europe, and later to Central Europe - particularly Germany, Bohemia, Hungary and Austria - and finally to Eastern Europe - Poland, the Baltic provinces, Russia and the Balkans. Known as Ashkenazim (Ashkenaz is the Hebrew name for Germany), and speaking Yiddish, based on the German of the Middle Ages, the Jews moving into Eastern Europe were in flight from Western Europe, and particularly Germany, during the periods of religious and political tensions symbolized by the Crusades. Conditions for their settlement in the East seemed to be particularly favorable in Lithuania where Jews were granted "charters of privilege" as early as 1388, whereby they were able to live as "freemen" with rights differing only slightly from those enjoyed by the gentry. The Jewish population grew to 3000,000 by 1897, and constituted about 10 percent of the population. For several centuries before Lithuania achieved its independence the Jewish community, although small in number in comparison with Polish and Russian Jewry, it made notable contributions to the cultural and religious life of its people. Lithuania had a number of distinguished yeshivot (rabbinical colleges or seminaries), learned rabbis and was a center of

Haskalah (enlightenment-- a movement promoting the secularization of Jewish life). Vilna (or Vilnius), the country's ancient capital, was referred to as "the Jerusalem of Lithuania". Lithuania was one of the few East European lands in which Hassidism (the folk religious movement opposed to the rabbinical emphasis I on formal learning) never took hold. It is interesting that one of the meanings applied to Litvak, the appellation for a Lithuanian Jew, is that of a learned but skeptical person. Other nuances of the name are less complimentary, such as a shrewd, clever fellow and sharp trader.

Jewish life under the young republic developed rapidly as a result of the favorable political and legal conditions prevailing in the country. Nevertheless, the Jewish population declined as a result of emigration and numbered only about 175,000 at the outbreak of World War II. The Soviet occupation of Lithuania on the eve of World War II and the subsequent invasion of the country by the Nazi armies had a disastrous effect on the Lithuanian Jewish Community. A small number of Jews left the country in the wake of the Russian retreat in 1941, and when the Germans occupied Lithuania they massacred the remaining Jews. In 1970 the Jewish population of the Lithuanian S.S.R. was reported to be 23,600 or less than one percent of the total population of 3,128,200.

We do not know when Jews first settled in Rassein, but as one of Lithuania's oldest and best known towns, we may presume that Jews appeared there early in its history. It is noteworthy that the authoritative Jewish Encyclopedia (New York and London, 1912) has an article on Rassein, one of the few Lithuanian Jewish communities described. As early as 1775 the town had a rabbi prominent enough to be mentioned in this important work. Referring to it as a "district city in the government of Kovno, Russia", the Encyclopedia tells us that Rassein "had a prosperous Jewish community in the first half of the nineteenth century, and was a center of Haskalah, or progressive ideas, when Abraham Mapu lived there (1837-44)". Mapu (1805-67) wrote the first original Hebrew novel, Ahavat Zion (Love of Zion). The Encyclopedia goes on to say that "most of the men who were animated by progressive ideas left Rossien for more promising fields of activity in larger cities, and a fire which almost totally destroyed the city in 1865, and the hard times which followed the brief period of revival in the first part of the reign of Alexander II, contributed to the city's decline. In 1866 Rossiena possessed 10,579 inhabitants of whom 8,290 were Jews... By 1897 the entire population had dwindled to 7,455, mostly Jews. The chief articles of commerce are wood and grain for export..." By 1923 the town's population numbered 5,270, of whom about 4,000 were Jews. The dwindling Jewish community suffered the fate of most Jews in Lithuania when the Nazis overran the country during 1941. The few Jews who survived the holocaust have left a grim account of the systematic rounding up and extermination of the Jewish population by the Germans, aided by the native fascists."

Navigation between the chapters:-  Use the side bar, or the links below

Cover     :     Early Memories of Rassein     :     Jewish Rassein      

Schooling    :    Making Matzoh    :   Whats in a name        

Household Chores    :    The Sabbath, Holidays and Holy Days  

Amusemenyt and Diversions   :   Trade and Commerce   :     Clothing