Valkininkų žydų kapinės - Valkininkai Jewish Cemetery

Get Full Access
Alytus District, Varėna County
People from various towns and rural places such as Valkininkai, Degsnė, and Čižiūnai were buried in this cemetery. The cemetery covers approximately 1.4 hectares of land and has over 1000 graves. Today the cemetery is surrounded by a wooden fence with horizontal cartels; some parts of the fence need repair. There are no road signs indicating directions to the cemetery, which is especially difficult given that it is in the middle of the woods.
 
Cemetery cleaning, and documentation of graves were initiated by the Valkininkai group (Olkieniki group) that was established in 2000. Their donation allowed us to start an intensive work in the cemetery in 2015  with a big group of international volunteers. Many thanks to the Chief moderator of the group Mr Ernest Fine for his correspondence and support.
 
Volunteers from Germany, France, and Bulgaria assisted in the documentation process. Many thanks to Marlen Torheiden, Zdravko Zahariev, Sonya Sievers, Salya Fohr, Kevin GirmmeiB, Simon Prud’homme, Fabiola Benninger, Thekla Thiele, and Frieda Wolf who spent two weeks working hardly in Valkininkai. 
 
The inscriptions were transcribed and translated by dr. Lara Lempert.
NGO Good Will Foundation provided financial support for translation. Many thanks to them.
_________________________________________________

The first two old photographs bellow belong to Mr. Jacob Isaacson and his family, which used to live in Valkininkai (Olkeniki) till the Shoah.
The woman in the picture - Sora, and all her family were killed by Nazis and their local helpers during the Holocaust and are burried in a mass grave outside their hometown...

The 1st photograph is a gravestone of Yosef ben Moshe Prenski, next to it stands his grand-daughters - Rochel Leah and Sora.

The 2nd photograph is a grevostone of Yaakov Ziskind Kot, next to it stand his daughters - Rochel Leah and Sora.

Thanks to Mr. Jacob Isaacson for sending and giving the permission to use these family photographs on this website.

LT
Kapinės išliko, nors po Holokausto buvo apleistos, dalis kapinių nukentėjo sovietmečiu. Kapinės apsuptos spygliuočių miškelio, netoli miestelio mokyklos. Išlikę virš 1000 antkapinių paminklų.

Epitafijas transkribavo ir išvertė dr. Lara Lempertienė. Vertimo darbus finansavo VšĮ "Geros valios fondas". Esame jiems labai dėkingi.

________________

Pirmosios senosios kapinių nuotraukos priklauso Jacob Isaacson’ui ir jo šeimai, kuri iki pat Holokausto gyveno Valkininkuose.
Pirmojoje nuotraukoje prie savo senelio kapo Valkininkų kapinėse stovi Rachelė Lėja ir Sara. Sara ir visa jos šeima buvo nužudyta nacių ir jų vietinių talkininkų, palaidota masinėje kapavietėje netoli jos gimtųjų Valkininkų.
Antroje nuotraukoje Rachelė Lėja ir Sara nufotografuotos prie savo tėvo - Jakovo Ziskind Kot kapo.

Labai dėkojame Jacob Isaacson, jog suteikė galimybę paviešinti šias savo šeimos nuotraukas.

Useful Links
International Jewish Cemetery Project The National Register of Cultural Heritage
Mentioned in the list of LJC
Accurate location
Digitized
If you would like to browse digitized gravestones and other information, you can purchase access to this data below:
Get Access