Clay in My Boots: A Romp Through My Genealogical Past

Varnai has a different culture and language from Lithuania they are culturally Samogitian people. It’s a beautiful well cared for town. They are proud of their heritage and have a clean town and beautiful wooden church. Unfortunately, the synagogue is gone. The Nazis took a local church and turned it into concentration / labor camp. It is all so bewildering. Telshai was were all the local Jews were taken for slaughter. The Jewish cemetery is very well taken care of by the town. It’s one of the best we have seen. Maybe I’ll be able to identify some Kats ancestors. Celia Shenker’s maternal grandparents are from Varnia. It’s about 200 km from Linkova. It looks like some relatives moved back to Varnia after Linkova burned in 1902.

Stopped for some treats and took a short stroll around one of the best kept Jewish heritage towns in Lithuania.  Unfortunately we stopped at the cemetery first     But I can’t get an iced coffee if I begged. They keep making me frappes!!  With a side of gingerbread mushrooms. 

Seduva is believed by the Lithuanians to be an important Shtetl, so they are investing significantly in the restoration of the cemetery, memorials, and they are building the “Lost Shtetl Museum”, due to open in 2020. There is a very tasteful memorial in the center of town, next to a former synagogue. Most of the buildings in town prior to the Soviet era. Outside of town was the most well kept cemetery we’ve seen thus far. As part of the Lost Shtetl project they documented and reset all the headstones and markers, put down sod, and restored the cemetery walls.  In the far end is a Jewish Star repository for all the broken and damaged stones collected from the town and elsewhere that could not be properly placed. (I’m not sure that a pristine cemetery accurately represents our heritage as it is maintained without a Jew in sight. Compared to the other overgrown and tangled it comes across as sanitized.) We visited the smaller of 2 murder sites back in the woods. This site was u...

Pasvatinys, the town where our grandfather lived before emigrating tells us nothing of his life. We found a Jewish house, a mill and the cemetery.  It appears as if the farmer of the property surrounding has adopted the cemetery and cleans it up periodically. But it’s so odd that all the headstones are falling in the same direction, like a windstorm swept through. 

The only wooden synagogue restored to its original beauty.  Both outside and in.  https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/pakruojis/index.htm

On the way to Pasvalys and Linkuva we stopped at an observation tower! I heard Michael from the top say that he wouldn’t get near the edge. You’ll notice he’s holding on for dear life.  Acrophobia?? Linkuva was more interesting as far as buildings. The Great Synagogue that once looked like this is now used for storage. You can it was built in  5650, or 1890.  A local woman asked our guide if we were Jewish. She knew we were not local. She said it was a shame for the town that there were no Jews to take care of the synagogue, as it was once a beautiful building going to ruin. That about sums it up for me!!!  I’ll discuss in my final thoughts about this venture.  I did love that there was actually a group of Jewish homes along a street. I finally got a sense of place and the beauty of our architecture.  And in search of the cemetery. This was a challenge. We had to drive in a few circles and through a small