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Obj. ID: 45585
Jewish Funerary Art
  Cenotaph of Sonya Madeysker and Yitzhak Wittenberg in the Third (Šeškinė) Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania, 1993

© Vladimir Levin, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 2014

Who is Commemorated?

Sonya Madeysker and Yitzhak Wittenberg, Jewish partisans in the Vilnius ghetto.

Description:

This cenotaph is a round-headed stele of red granite. The Yiddish acronym for the United Partisan Organization in the Vilnius Ghetto (FTO), is located in the upper part of the stele. Beneath it there are two carvings of shaking hands, under which are identical inscriptions in Yiddish and Lithuanian. 

Inscriptions:

In Yiddish:

פ.פּ.אָ.

Translation: FPO (Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsiye, United Partisan Organization)

שיינע מאדייסקער
מיטגליד פון דער פארייניקט-
ער פּ‏ארטיזאנער-אָרגאניזאציע
געקעמפט אין געטאָ און אויסער
דער געטאָ ביים ארעסט געשאָ-
סן אין זיך אין יוני 1944 דערמאָר-
דעט אין ווילנער געסטאפּאָ

יצחק וויטענב‏ערג
קאָמאנדיר פון דער פאריינ-
יקטער פּ‏ארטיזאנער-אָרגאניזא-
ציע וועלכער איז דעם 16-טן יולי
1943 ארויס פון דער ווילנער
געטאָ אויף קידוש-השם דער-
מאָרדערט אין ווילנער געסטאפּאָ

In Lithuanian:

Šeina Madeiskerytė
Jungtinės partizanų orga-
nizacijos narė kovojusi
gete ir už geto ribų
Arešto metu iššovė į save
1944 m birželio mėn. nužudyta
Vilniaus gestape.

Icchokas Vitenbergas
Jungtinės partizanų orga-
nizacijos vadas, kuris iš
Vilniaus geto 1943 m. liepos
16 d. nuėjo kankinio mirties
priimti. Nužudytas Vilniaus
gestape.

Translation:

Sheina Madeysker, a member of the United Partisan Organization. Fought in the ghetto and outside of the ghetto boundaries. Shot herself during the arrest in June 1944. Murdered in Vilnius Gestapo. 

 Yitzhok Wittenberg, the commander of the United Partisan Organization, who was on July 16, 1943, was turned over from the ghetto for martyrdom. Murdered in Vilnius Gestapo.

 

Commissioned by

Former Bund member and FPO fighter Samuil Kaplinsky, and his wife FPO activist Hiena Borovska (Kaplinsky), with help from friends, former FPO members and partisans from Israel, USA, Canada and Australia (Guzenberg 2021, 702).

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

2 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Cenotaph of Sonya Madeysker and Yitzhak Wittenberg in the Third (Šeškinė) Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Date
1993
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Lithuania | Vilnius County | Vilnius
| 28 Sudervės kelias St, Šeškinė
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Textual Content
Languages of inscription
Shape / Form
Material / Technique
Red granite
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
166 cm
Length
Width
107 cm
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
27 cm
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

Sonya (Sheyne) Madeysker was a liaison of the FTO - the United Partisan Organization in the Vilnius Ghetto. After the annihilation of the ghetto, she was caught by the Nazis and murdered by the Gestapo.

Yitzhak (Yitsik) Wittenberg (1906–1943), a member of the underground Communist Party of Lithuania, was the first commander of the FTO. On July 15, 1943, the Nazis demanded that the heads of the ghetto turn him in, and on June 16 he turned himself in to the Nazis, probably committing suicide shortly thereafter. 

This and other cenotaphs in the Šeškinė cemetery were erected on the initiative and through the efforts of former Bund member and FPO fighter Samuil Kaplinsky, and his wife FPO activist Hiena Borovska (Kaplinsky), with help from friends, former FPO members and partisans from Israel, USA, Canada and Australia (Guzenberg 2021, 702).

The Lithuanian Jewish Community annually commemorates the Day of Victory over Nazi Germany by laying wreaths at these monuments (Guzenberg 2021, 702).

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Agranovskii, Genrikh and Irina Guzenberg. Vilnius: Po sledam Litovskogo Ierusalima. Pamiatnye mesta ereiskoi istorii i kul’tury, 2nd ed. (Vilnius: The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, 2016)., p. 686.

Guzenberg, Irina, Vilnius: Traces of the Jewish Jerusalem of Lithuania. Memorable Sites of Jewish History and Culture. A Guidebook (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2021)., 702.

Guzenberg, Irina. Vilnius: Pamiatnye mesta evreiskoi istorii i kul'tury (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2013)., 72-73.
Type
Documenter
Vladimir Levin, Milda Jakulytė | 2022
Author of description
Vladimir Levin | 2023
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
Adam Frisch | 2023
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |