A footpath takes you deeper inside the woods to
where the old Jewish cemetery lies. A large rock with a memorial plaque (picture
above) lies in front of two grassy areas, surrounded by low iron fences.
Considering the size of the grassy areas, the remains of certainly hundreds of
Mazheik residents lie here. But almost all of the head-stones have been
destroyed. Perhaps we never will know just how old this cemetery actually is …
some centuries? In August 2000 one of the webmasters of this site went on a
roots trip to Mazheik. At that time there were
three head-stones upon which the names
were legible. All the rest had been destroyed. Subsequently one of the other
webmasters went on a roots trip and reported having found no legible head-stones
at all. It is possible that these last three remaining stones have been
destroyed too.
Next to the old Jewish burial ground, narrow pillars of black granite (see above) have been erected, a few feet apart ... with a third one lying across, on top of them... Inscribed on that cross-piece are words in Yiddish commemorating the slaughter and mass burial at that place of 4000 Jewish men, women and children (see Ra'hmel ~Rachmel) ... together with the Jews of Mazeikiai perished at this spot the Jews of Sede (Siad in Yiddish), Viekshniai (Veckshna in Yiddish), Tirksliai (Tirkshla in Yiddish), Zidikai (Shidik in Yiddish), Pikeliai (Pikeln in Yiddish), Klykoliai (Klilul in Yiddish) and other towns (see The Holocaust ) ~ a little further away lie several graves of non-Jews ~ we would like to believe that here lie the remains of the righteous, those who did not side with the depraved and were therefore made victims to the bloody terror. However, co-webmaster Benzi Kahana reports "these are the graves of [communist] party functionaries" (see his Report, June 20-21, 2003).
A couple of feet behind these granite columns
there is another pair, lower in height, with an inscription in Lithuanian on the
top cross-column ....
This website is dedicated to presenting to the
world all that we have come to know about Jewish Life in Mazheik before it was
utterly destroyed, and also the destruction itself. It is dedicated to revealing
the whole truth of the murderous happenings of that war-time era. It is
dedicated to finding out more, by exploring hidden and forgotten records, and by
encouraging people with links to Old Mazheik to come forward.
We invite all those who have information or
comments relating to this website and/or to Možek to get in touch with us. Be it
in the form of a picture which relates to Mazheik, or an anecdote ... please
write to us. We would be honoured to upload your information and/or pictures
onto this site.
Though not a
primary goal, this website also provides information about non-Jewish Mazeikiai,
past and present. In what environment did the Shtetl find itself? What were
relations between the Shtetl and the non-Jewish town like? We would also like to
acknowledge any Righteous Souls for their human kindness - we know that
throughout the Holocaust and throughout history, the Fair and the Sane and the
Wise have numbered among us, too, though scantly. This is in honour of them,
too.
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