Rokiskis

The Rokiskis SIG (Special Interest Group), a group of Rokiskis descendants, has joined together to share our common interest in our ancestors' lives, stories, and our collective history. We are pooling our resources in order to collect as many documents and vital records as we can and we now own the 1897 All-Russian Census for Rokiskis, a number of candle tax records and box tax records, the 1891-1915 Postal Bank Records, the wonderful 1908 Family List, as well as an index to vital records (birth, death, and marriage)  from the Kaunas Archives. If you are interested in joining us, please contact the SIG chair, Linda Cantor

A building on the grounds of the Tyzenhaus estate which formerly housed the local museum's administrative offices

(photo courtesy of Philip Shapiro)


 





Street Scene

(photo courtesy of  Yehudi Gaffen)

Sinagogu Gatve (Synagogue Street)

(photo courtesy of Howard Cuckle)



Rokiskis References and Research Sources

Please note: The spelling of names and town names are copied exactly as they appear in each source.
 
  • View location via MapQuest  (Then click your browser's "Back" button to return here.)
  • Links to on-line sites about modern Rokiskis   
  • Lite - Description of Rokiskis from Lite by Dr. Mendel Sudarsky, Uriah Katzenelenbogen, J. Kissin, and Berl Kagan
  •  A Native of Rokiskis - a selection from Road to Victory: Jewish Soldiers in the 16th Lithuanian Division, edited by Dorothy Leivers, published by Avotaynu, 2009   

People of Rokiskis

  • Pandelys in the Holocaust - Read an interesting first-person description of events in Pandelys from In Sacred Memory: Recollections of the Holocaust by Survivors Living in Cape Town, edited by Gwynne Schrire, Cape Town Holocaust Memorial Council, 1995
  • Trip to Ponedel - an account of a trip to Ponedel (and nearby towns including Rokiskis) by Hirsh Laib Sussman in 1935   



"Relatively Rokiskis"   

We would like to know more about life in Rokiskis. Please share your family's stories and anecdotes with us. 
Send them to
Rhonda Grosman.  

          Please click on the links below.

Success Stories   
 




Reuben Ruch, a Rokiskis native, describes the businesses that he remembers along Republic Street:

1st house: Leiba Vinokuras   - Photographer

1st house back side: Z  Klumelis  - Attorney; Haimas Reznikovicius  - Government Insurance Broker
2nd house: Tzadokas Boodnevas  -  Furniture and Leather Trade Store
3th house:  K Frenkelis -  Leather Store
4th house:  Zalman Gafanavicius - Radio, Bicycles, Electrical Supply Shop
5th house:  (white front): - Jewish National Bank
6th house:  Yankel Givovskis  - Iron Items Shop
7th house:  Yankelis Krokas  - Leather Trade Shop
8th house:  Yankel Kur - Taxi  Service, Workshop
9th house:  Yankel Jacobson -  Kosher Meat Shop.
                 second floor  - Jewish Youth Club

(Photo courtesy of Amanda Jermyn)





Samuil Meller remembers family landmarks:

1. # 50 -Abram Meller’s house; 2. #49 - Yossel Meller's  house; 3. Fountain for horses;  4. Vytauto  gatve (Vitauto Street); 5. Nepriklausomybes aikste  (Independence square); 6. Kamaju gatve (Kamayu Street)

Photos of Rokiskis





  Rokiskis Town Square 

     Rokiskis Town Hall, c. 1940





     Typical Rokiskis House, Sodu Street Rokiskis Hotel, pre-World War I

(These photos are courtesy of the Rokiskis Land Museum. They were selected, scanned and sent to us by Chris Cummings, an American Peace Corps volunteer who worked in Rokiskis. Thanks also to Nijole Sniokiene, the director of the museum, for supplying and identifying the photos.)

Links to related genealogical sites

Jewishgen    |    JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF)    |     KehilaLinks page for Kupiskis    |    Kehilalinks page for Uzpaliai

Revised June 20 2023

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