Brief Overview

In 1897 there were 779 Jews in Trashkun, 78% of the general population. In the summer of 1915 during World War I (1914-1918), most Jews were exiled into central Russia. Their houses were destroyed and their possessions were looted. After the war most of them returned to Trashkun and rebuilt their houses.

There were two synagogues in Trashkun, one for Misnagdim and one for Hasidim. A special personality was Reb Shneur (or Shneyer) Reznikovitz, born in 1881, a learned and pious man known in the surrounding villages as "the holy one" (hakadosh) and venerated by Jews and Gentiles alike. VIDEO A remembrance of Reb Shneyer [1:32]

During the period of Lithuania's independence (between the two world wars) the community had a school and a library. Most of the young people were in one of the zionist groups Hashomer Hatzair^[NOTE]Hashomer Hatzair (Hebrew for “The Young Guard”) was a socialist zionist youth movement that established kibbutzim and prepared young Jewish people for a new life in Palestine. or Hechalutz.^[NOTE]Hechalutz (Hebrew for “The Pioneer”) was a youth movement that trained young Jewish people for agricultural settlement in Palestine. The Jews of Trashkun made a living in trade, artisanship and gardening. A wine distillery was in Jewish hands. Thursday was the weekly market day. The Jewish bank had 96 members in 1929; its director for many years was Rabbi Moshe Yakov Shmukler. Prior to World War II there were about 120 Jewish families in Trashkun.

— Jewish Communities Database of The Museum of the Jewish People
and Lithuanian Jewish Communities by Nancy and Stuart Schoenburg
(New York & London: Garland, 1991), p. 313.

For a more extensive historical and cultural overview, see "Troškūnai (Trashkun)" from Josef Rosin's book Protecting Our Litvak Heritage. (NOTE: Rosin shows photos of a cemetery and monument that are mistakenly identified as being from Trashkun. See photos of Trashkun's actual Old Jewish Cemetery and monuments to Trashkuner Jews murdered in the summer of 1941.)

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Aliyah and Shoah

Read the stories of four people from Troskunai who escaped and survived the war:
Berl Glezer  •  Zelda Yuzent Kotkis  •  Shmuel Kovnovich  •  Miriam Shumacher Krakinowski

Miscellaneous

• Inventory of Troškūnai Property Owners in 1810
• Telephone Listings for Troškūnai  ☎ :  1925  •  1930  •  1935  •  1938  •  1939  •  1940

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We are grateful to everyone who has sent us information, memoirs, photos, comments and corrections. Special thanks to
Misha Glezer, Jonathan Levine, Sonia Kovnovich Mandel, and the Krakinowski family.  — Sonia & Johanna Kovitz