 |
|
Lakes of Simnas |
When we first reached the outskirts of the town of Simnas, our guide stopped an elderly woman walking down the main road. In Lithuanian she asked some questions and with this, the woman, donned in a babushka, walked about a half a block to her house, and then joined us in the van. She was missing most of her teeth. We embarked on what was to be one of many highlights on this journey, the memorial built to commemorate the Jews of Simnas, who were like so many others, corraled from their homes and brought to a location outside of the town and gunned down. Located what seemed to be several miles outside of the town proper, we turned off the main road, under a narrow brick bridge where stood several feet of water, bumped down a narrow dirt road for what seemed like 15-20 minutes. We passed through several miles of forest before reaching a clearing. There in our wonderment stood what has to be one of the most beautiful and stunning memorials in all of Lithuania. One has to wonder, based on its location outside of the city, if any other visitor has ever seen it.
 |
|
Memorial to the Jews murdered in the
forest outside of Simna |
 |
|
Memorial to the Jews murdered in the
forest outside of Simnas |
After spending a great deal of time at the memorial, we came out of the forest the same way we went in, (and to my amazement, didn't appear to be near as long as it was coming in) and headed into town on the same road where we had originally found our "babushka" guide. After dropping her off at the exact location we picked her up, we said goodbye and thanked her for what was to be the highlight of our trip. We then headed to what was the center of town. We stopped at a large multi-color brick building, which was once the synagogue in Simnas. Today, the building is used as a gymnasium for the younger children and unfortunately was closed.
 |
|
Synagogue in Simnas |
|
|
|
Synagogue in Simnas |
It was during our walk outside of this building when we were approached by a frantic old man, who was running towards us. Needless to say, I was a bit frightened! As he flailed his arms in the air, he began speaking with our guide and asked if we were Jewish. He began to tell us his father had worked at the synagogue up to the time the Jews were marched into the woods and murdered. He had something from the synagogue he had been holding, waiting for someone to visit. Tears were streaming down his eyes as he told us of the day the Jews were lead out of the town and into the woods and murderd one by one. He took us to his house, gave us a tour, showed us a chair from the synagogue, and came down from the loft with an old gramaphone and the 78 records which were used during services.
|
|
|
Outside of the home of the man
mentioned above |
As we began to get into our van, many locals began to congregate around us. We ended up spending nearly an hour in discussion of life in Simnas today and yesterday.
|
|
|
Our meeting with the locals of
Simnas |
From the synagogue, we drove to the area where the Jewish cemetery had been. There are no remnants or any tombstones . It like most of the area was lush in greenery. (ADD video clips of the cemetery location)
 |
 |
|
Location of the Jewish cemetery |
Location of the Jewish cemetery |
|
|
|
Farmland on the outskirts of Simnas |
Click the button to show all entries for Simnas in the JewishGen Lithuania Database.
Eastern European FAQ - Helpful hints for researching in Eastern Europe
Compiled by Susan
E. King
Copyright © 2009
Updated Jan 2020 BAE
This page is hosted at no cost to
the public by JewishGen, Inc., a non-profit corporation.
If it has been useful to you, or if you are moved by the
effort to
preserve the memory of our lost communities, your JewishGen-erosity
would be deeply appreciated.
