Our visits in Vistytis during the summer 2000 and 2003

My grandfather, Elias Seidowsky left Vistytis at the beginning of the century, he was a brusher and emigrated to Leipzig in Germany, that was at this time a great center for brushes. The brushers didn't really make the brushes but washed the pigs hair. There very bad working conditions are described in the book of nokhem Buchbinder about brushers and tanners professional unions, (Geneva 1900 in yiddish). My family was connected with the names Direktor or Drekter, h(g)urashof and Povistaisky: the last name comes from the neighbouring hamlet called Povistytis (under Vistytis). Some of them emigrated to the USA and England. Since I had still family in the area in 1940, Albert Seidowsky, one of my uncles, running away from nazi Germany, joined this place, where there were still, apparently, personal connections. I was especially interested in the history of the first half part of the 20th century. I'm german, french and yiddish language teacher and know some hebrew, russian and polish, I studied in France , England, Germany and Austria history of east-european culture and judaism. I apologize for

the poor quality of my english, and for the late transcription of the notes I took with my companion. 2000: we had the luck to meet with family Zimmermanas; Mariette and Leonas. They speak polish and their daughter Reda is a german teacher so we could understand us quite good , we could stay by them at home before we found two alternative solutions: in the hotel in Pavistytis (the young manager speak english) and at the camping place Victoria were we could rent a little wooden house (the elderly manager speak only russian) don't forget to book, especially for the weekend. So could be organized a Vistytis-gathering of all the interested friends of our yahoo-group!! Leonas was 11 in the year 1941 and lived in Vistytis; he lives just in front of the pharmacy, on Taikos Gatve, the main street running down from the main place called Vytauto parallel to the lake. He is retired but still working as a gardener with his wife. 2003 we could meet with Inga from the regional office for tourism in Vistytis , who speaks german; she introduced us to different people: Birute Mardosaite; an history teacher in the high school, that she let us visit. We visited the new regional tourism office, the public library, catholic and protestant churches and cemeteries, we could buy in the old soviet shops and even eat at a little "hidden" restaurant, swim every day in the nice lake and walk in the forest, but couldn't meet with the new major, Mr Bronius Polita. We could discover all these possibilities by staying at three different times and several days. The summer time is very nice. Here are the informations we could collect principally about the last years of the jewish life before the destruction; We don't give any guarantee for the exactitude of the elements but would be happy to get confirmations or corrections of the facts. The second main source was Mr Vitalius Gaidys, who is a sport teacher: (Vistytis 4285, Juzapaviciaus 20, Vilkaviskyo r., Lietuva). He's ready to help us more but needs some financial support since his researches are connected with a lot of expenses and in a still very critical economical situation. He made a lot of researches and lead a school project organized in all the land during the last years called "our jewish neighbors" his group won the second price of the contest. They wrote a very interesting booklet about the jews. He apparently wanted to sell it He said us he had a lot more informations. The jewish community exists since the 14th century; during the history there were at least 5 communities in the village: russian; polish; german; lithuanian and jewish and even 2 Karaite families living outside of the shtetl. ( members of a jewish fondamentalist sect ). 1897 there were 2463 persons 800 jews between them immigration around the beginning of the century brush and leather workers 1912-13 60 children attended the jewish primary school 1923 1295 people lived in Vistytis between them 200 jewish between 15 and 20% there were 177 houses ; 40 of them were jewish ( these figures are quite the same as quoted in berl cohens "yidishe shtetlekh". There were 4 religious houses: one of them was jewish; another source signalized the existence of 2 synagogues: the old and the new one. They became at soviet time storage places for the cereals of the sovkhoz.The catholic church is still standing near the main place and the temple on their right side at the entrance of the village on the he road from Kalvaria. Beside catholics the lutherians came between 1820 and 1844 as german colonists; a lot of them lived in the surrounding hamlets. 1842 the protestant priest of Vistytis H. Wernicke wrote a book "es führt mich zum frischen Wasser"; (it leads me to fresh water) Between the two wars: some informations about the economical structure of the jewish population at this time. The brush factories seemed to have disappeared since the workers emigrated massively to west Europe and America at the beginning of the century. Some jews were still working as tanners with skins from different animals like rabbits, cattle and pigs! they had commercial contacts with the next place called Wijanny in Poland. There were around 40 shops in town; 3/4 of them owned by jews. Some jews were employed as workers in the by a lithuanian "boss" Mr Manipulis some worked in the textile factory owned by mr Cornelis and exported their production. A jew owned the chemist's and other Jews worked as bakers. Some were tailors; one of them, mr Lachmann was living as a glazier. Some other Jew earned his living by working as a wellmaker. There were 4 Jewish peasants and 2 Karaite families living in a place called Lukiai. The rabbi lived with his wife and two daughters (one of them called Esther) on Taikos Street, next to the house of the present pub, miss Salenson sold "bread for everybody and matses for free " and lived in a brick house on Taikos Street too like the two sisters Reich-Rudelitis selling sweets and ice on plates (they hide themselves in a barrack to escape their murderers but were denounced and killed) such as Mr Abolowitch (Abolovicius) in a wooden house, he had a factory for textile. Andriewski was working as a hairdresser. Mr Markaus worked in Vilnius as a lawyer, he emigrated to Israėl and and came back on a visit to Vistytis after he emigrated. Mr Zimmermann was a carpenter. The family Budwetskes with daughter Esther sold vessel and ... their brother sold stationary. In the school were two classes for lithuanian and Germans; the jewish children attended the german classes. A family Rosenberg owned the blue house on the main place. (we knew the Name Rosental; so could it be a mistake) In the high school were two classes: for lithuanian and Germans ; the jewish children attended the german classes.There are two jewish cemeteries, the new and the old one, the old one is on the border and even on Russian territory. One copper monument has been stolen. A lot of graves were opened and robbed in the 60ies such as in the German cemetery. The robbers were looking for gold and jewelery.

The destruction: In the next days after the attack of hitler-germany on the soviet-union as a border place Vistytis was occupied. The lithuanian soviet authorities disappeared running away toward east.

The nazis separated the men from women and children; the men were kept all together apart in a barrack or cellars in the main place and had to work ; this place was called "the little ghetto". On the 14th of July 1941 at 9h30 they were brought through the main street (today Taikos street) to the mill at the entrance of the village. The Rabbi has been killed at 10h on the way, the inhabitants had to shut their windows and curtains, then all men were killed and buried down the hill hundred meters away, together with the political soviet commissioners (representatives) and the komsomols (communist young men). On the 7th of September 1941 women and children were brought to the same place and had the same fate, the wife of the rabbi was too weak to walk and had to be carried. A young lithuanian boy hidden in the mill could follow the scene and describe how the people had to undress before they were killed and thrown in mass graves. Afterwards, the bodies were removed to their present place beside the mill ; among them lies the rests of the father of an important soviet fonctionar, called Dzerzinskis. Around 40 families disappeared (200-210 people): between 70-75 men, between 130-147 women and children, some lithuanian people who wore white stripes on their arms were involved in the murders with the Germans, but didn't come from the area. 2 young girls could escape and were kept by the family Ciuprinskai. These tragical reports fit with the description of the other mass-murders in East-Europe and particularly in the Baltic areas. The houses of the jews were attributed from the local authorities to new people. Here is the epitaph on the monument erected in 1964 near the mill from yiddish: " At this place are lying the bones of the Vistytiter Jews, children, women, men, which the nazis murderers with their local assistants have cruelly murdered, the 7th of September 1941", The remains of children and women were buried there separately in coffins in 1955. Mr Gaidys told us that a women owns a list of the murdered people, and would possibly "sell" it, such as his the booklet he wrote with his pupils. As a bitter irony of history; the only one jew that survived and came back after the war was Abolovicius (Abolovitch) he should have been quite wealthy because he was as such deported in Siberia during the one year soviet-republic 1940 -1941 together with the lithuanian "intellectuals". (After Poland had been divided and occupied by the Germans and the soviets. the 3 baltic republics became soviet-republics) . After the war Abolovicius emigrated to the USA. He owned some houses and let one to miss mardosaite ; one of the

teachers we met.