till 1919 part of East Prussia (Ostpreussen, Germany)
1920-1923 under Council of Anmassadors, French troops
1923-1939 Republic of Lithuania
1939-1945 under German Rule
1945-1990 Part of Sowjet Union
since 1990 Republic of Lithuania
The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor has announced an opening reception for the exhibition LEON on September 4 2026 in Klaipeda
We want to recreate a mural of Ms. Ella Puhn at the exact spot in the Old Town of Klaipeda.
The Klaipėda Jewish community invited to the event during which the names of the 1,225 people, buried in the cemetery, were presented. Opening of a publick exhibition.
In 1954, a radio jamming station was erected on the cemetery grounds. Most of the matzevot (tombstones) were destroyed during the installation of the antennas.
Video 20 min about how the life of Jewish businesspeople and entrepreneurs in Memel after World War I, A lecture by Ruth Leiserowitz in 2023 at the History Institute of Klaipeda University.
Jewish families who had come from Memel and fled to Kaunas were also deported.
The last rabbi of Memel / Klaipeda before the war was Dr Simon Schlesinger (1893–1959), He arrived in the town from Cologne in 1932.
What happened to the Jews in Memel, and what were the consequences for the city following the annexation in 1939?
60% of the population in the neighbouring town of Klaipeda/Memel was Jewish. Together with the Regional Museum of Gargzdai/Gorzd, we want to research and present this interesting history of the historic border town in Lithuania.
