CEMETERY FOCUS: Kretinga Jewish Cemetery, Klapeda County, Lithuania

Alternative/Former City Names: Krottingen/Crottingen/Krettingen (German), Kretynga (Polish), Кретинга/Kretinga (Russian) 

First Jewish Settlement:  Early 17th century

Jewish Community Established: Mid 18th century

Present Usage of Cemetery: Unprotected Jewish cemetery

Location & Demarcation: There is no sign identifying the Jewish cemetery, which is open at all times. The cemetery area is partially demarcated by a stone wall. There is a large iron gate featuring a Star of David and set in two heavy concrete posts marking the entrance to the cemetery. However, this stands alone and is not joined to the cemetery wall. The cemetery site is somewhat overgrown by long grass.

Gravestones, Memorial Markers & Structures: Over 100 gravestones remain at the site, a percentage of which are still standing. There is also a memorial marking a Holocaust-era mass grave in which 356 people are buried.

History of the Jewish Community: It is thought that Jewish traders operated in Kretinga as early as the 14th century, but it was not until the beginning of the 17th century that Jews began to settle in the town. According to the census of 1662, two Jewish men and one Jewish woman lived in Kretinga. Only after receiving special privileges from the Kings of Poland in the middle of the 18th century was a Jewish community established. The Jewish population of Kretinga reached its peak in 1847, with 1,738 people out of a population of around 3,000. In the 1870s-80s, large-scale emigration began from Kretinga and the Memel area; many settled in the British city of Sunderland. By the eve of WWII, the town’s Jewish population had shrunk to around 700. A number of mass executions took place in Kretinga during WWII, in which hundreds of Jews were killed. After the war two Jewish mass graves were found: one in the Kretinga Jewish cemetery with 356 bodies and another in the Kveciai forest in which 700 people are buried. After the war the number of Jews in Kretinga was small. In 1970 there were 7 Jews, in 1979, 5 and in 1989 there were 3. The current Jewish population of the town is not known.

Source: Cemetery survey carried out by Mr Shaul Yannai. Historical information courtesy of http://www.seligman.org.il/kretinga_history.html. Images © Shaul Yannai.