3-day excursion on Jewish history in East Prussia’s border regions with Lithuania. Part 3
Part 3 July 30, 2025 Shtetl on the border and former German Jewish Kehila – the Silute County (includes the former Heydekrug area) – Jewish Sveksna – Zemaiciu Naumiestis – Memel Delta Rusne – Silute/Heydekrug
Historically, the southern part of the Klaipėda region was part of two different countries until 1920. As a result, the district of Silute currently has very different tasks in terms of monument preservation, and the historical museum has branches in several locations. Architectural monuments from the German period characterize Heydekrug (Silute) – not far away, on what was then the Lithuanian side, were the shtetls with large Jewish communities and their synagogues, which must now be preserved. In the East Prussian Memel Delta, with the town of Russ (Rusne), there were many encounters with Jewish traders passing through due to the importance of the waterway for the timber trade. Heydekrug (now Silute) also had a Jewish community within East Prussia. On this tour, we met Monika Zasytiene, who has been very involved in initiating various remembrance projects in Sveksna and introduced us to them. More about the individual stops can be found in the text below the photos.
Sveksna (6 km from the former border with East Prussia, Germany)
Monika Zasytiene greets us in front of the synagogue in Sveksna. She has been involved in the synagogue renovation project for many years.
Since 2023, there has been an impressive 3D reconstruction of the interior. The interior work is not yet complete, but since 2015, efforts have been made to bring the religion and culture of Judaism closer to the population through a wide variety of interesting activities, so that it can be felt as part of the city’s own history.
The city center has been protected since 1969, so the overall impression of a shtetl has been preserved until today.
In 2019, six stumbling stones were laid in front of the house on the market square for Naftal Ziv’s family, the surviver lives today in Australia.
Since 2022, Sarah can be found on her house on the market square. This is an offshoot of the well-known art project #sienosprisimena #wallsthatremember in Vilnius. All of these projects interact with the synagogue on the market square, raising awareness and making it part of its own history.
Zemaiciu Naumiestis – very close to the former border and to the town of Heydekrug (now Silute)
The stone synagogue was listed as a historic monument and saved from decay. Alongside the Catholic and Protestant churches, it is one of three impressive places of worship for the people who lived here together (Jews, Lithuanians and Germans).
At the beginning of the market square stands the monument to Lithuanian soldiers who fell in 1919–1922. Out of respect for Jewish soldiers, the local artist placed a Lithuanian symbol (rather than a religious one) on top. This Monument was hidden during the Soviet era.
Rusne / Ruß – former German town with some Jewish stories
Next to the site of the synagogue on the riverbank, a monument was erected to Mahatma Gandhi and his companion from South Africa, Hermann Kallenbach.
Hermann Kallenbach was born in Žemaičių Naumiestis, but his father moved with his family to East Prussia. Hermann spent his childhood in Russ, later attended high school in Tilsit, and went on to study architecture in Strelitz, Stuttgart, and Munich. In 1896, he emigrated to South Africa, where he was in close contact with the later famous leader of the Indian independence movement.
Heydekrug / Silute
This place still breathes its German past through its buildings. When this city became Lithuanian in 1923, many Jews had to decide whether to stay here or move to Germany because they felt German through and through.
We visited the marked site of the Jewish cemetery, not far from the train station. At the former location of the synagogue, we saw no signs or traces of the former building.
Further reading: See article of Monika Zasytiene: “The Imbalance between ‘our’ and ‘other’ Heritage, The Inclusion of Jewish Heritage in Local Identity, The Case of Sveksna” in the book “Jewish or Common Heritage? Appropriation of Synagogues in East-Central Europe since 1945”, DHI Warsaw 2024, chapter from p. 295
Travelers: Ralph Salinger, from Israel, runs the Jewish Vilkaviskis portal and has been coordinating the commemoration of the large Jewish community for decades. The town of Vilkaviskis is located in the middle of the Suduva region, between the border with Poland and the Memel River, on the road leading to nearby East Prussia (today the smallest Russian Federation, Kaliningrad Oblast). Irma Mauriene, from Vilkaviskis, is a cultural activist and specialist in the history of the local Jewish community. Michael Leiserowitz, who lives in Berlin, Warsaw, and Klaipeda, is involved in the association “Jews in East Prussia” to preserve the memory of their history. His father Hans Georg was born in Heydekrug 1914.
There are three border regions in Lithuania to East Prussia
1) The area that begins just before the border with Poland and extends to the Memel River – known as Suduva or Suvalkija
2) The former border region that extends from the Memel River to almost Latvia – the western part of the Zemaitija or Samogitia region.
Regions 1) and 2) had towns with a very large Jewish population close to the border with East Prussia (Schtetl).
3) The Memel region or Little Lithuania – the part of East Prussia north of the Memel River, which came under Lithuanian administration after World War I and had bilingual status until 1938. The center is the port city of Klaipeda (in German: Memel), which had a diverse Jewish community. As everywhere in East Prussia, individual Jewish shops and inns were scattered throughout the villages.