What is Commemorated?
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius, destroyed in 1950.
Description:
The monument is situated at the site of the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vilnius, which was demolished between 1948 and 1955. It is located near Olimpiečių Street, which is an embankment of the Neris River.
The monument takes the form of a red granite block with an almost square footprint mounted on a base of four gray granite steps. It is topped by a wider red granite capstone with an arched central section, which evokes the arched form of the Vilna Gaon’s ohel as seen in photographs taken in the 1930s.
The main inscription, in Yiddish and Lithuanian, is located on the western side of the monument, while an additional inscription in Yiddish appears on its southern side and an almost identical one in Lithuanian is on the northern side.
Inscription:
On the western facade, in Yiddish:
צום אנדענק פון אלטן
שניפישקער בית עולם
די ערשטע קברים אין יאר 1487
פארניכטעט דורך די סאוועטן אין 1950
On the western facade, in Lithuanian:
Senosioms Šnipiškių žydų kapinėms
atminti
pradėta laidoti 1487 m
Sovietų sunaikintos 1950 m
Translation: In memory of the old Šnipiškis Jewish cemetery. Burials began in 1487. Destroyed by the Soviets in 1950.
On the northern side, in Lithuanian:
Čia buvo palaidoti
žymūs žydų veikėjai
tarp jų:
Vilniaus Gaonas -
Elijahu Kremeris
Ger-Cedekas -
grafas Valentinas Potockis
Translation: Here were buried / prominent Jewish figures, / among them: / The Vilna Gaon – Eliyahu Kremer / Ger Tzedek – Count Valentin Potocki
On the southern side, in Yiddish:
דא זיינען געווען באערדיקט
גדולי ישראל
צווישן זיי:
דער ווילנער גאון -
אליהו בר שלמה קרעמער
דער גר צדק -
גראף וואלענטין פאָטאָצקי
Translation: Here were buried / Greats of Israel / among them: / The Vilna Gaon – Eliyahu son of r. Shlomo Kremer / Ger Tzedek – Count Valentin Potocki
Commissioned by
Funded by the Vilnius municipality (Guzenberg 2021, 683).