Yizkor

KAPCIAMIESTIS, Lithuania
Kopcheve (Yiddish) Kopciowo (Polish)

The Jewish Cemetery

In the late 1990s, a family friend travelled to Lithuania to visit his nephew who was working with the Peace Corps near Kaunas and made a point of going to Kapciamiestis so that he could describe the town to my father, whose parents had been born there, and send him photographs. The photographs we received included several of the Jewish cemetery and a note saying “The cemetery site is very tranquil, facing a lovely body of water.”

Until we received these photographs, I hadn’t considered the possibility that our ancestors’ burial site might have survived the destruction of the Holocaust. I became somewhat obsessed with the idea that I needed to take responsibility for preserving this cemetery. I’d very recently begun to do genealogical research and knew nothing about how to get started with such a project. I consulted Joyce Field of JewishGen who referred me to Regina Kopilevich, a young woman experienced at documenting Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania. The chart that follows is the result of Regina’s work and represents the first step toward preserving the cemetery.

There are no Jews in Kopcheve today. All that remains of this community dating back to the 18th century are the 70 tombstones in the cemetery.

The cemetery probably dates back to the start of the 19th century but the oldest surviving tombstone, which is only partially legible, dates from 1843. Given the size of the community that once lived there, the remaining stones probably represent less than 1% of the number you would expect to find. Although many stones are broken and illegible and some were stolen, the cemetery is relatively well preserved. Townspeople look after the cemetery and, some time ago, had built a wooden fence to provide some protection. That fence has since rotted.

Because so few stones contain surnames, most of the Kopcheve Cemetery records cannot be searched using JOWBR. However, worthwhile research can be done using the information that has survived. Below is a list of the 70 graves found and links to photographs of the headstones. Please note that information in red is conjectural. It does not appear on the stones and has been identified from other records. If you are able to provide further information about any of the entries, please send them to: mail@Kapciamiestis.org

Connie Buchanan

	Surname	Given Name(s)	Date	Date(Heb)	Age	Father	Comments/Notes
A01	MICHALISHOK	Haya Devora				Betzalel	Maiden
A02		Rivka	20- Feb-1872	11-Adar-5632	50	Benyamin
A03		Shmuel	5-Oct-1855	23-Tishri-5616		Benyamin	Father
A04		Sheina		3-Tevet-1853		Eliezer
A04			20- Apr-1853	12-Nisan-5613			Hacohen
A05		Elka	01- Feb -1851	5611		Shraga	First Shabbot Adar 1851
A05		Shraga	6 -Sep-1853	3-Elul-5613		Nisan	Man
A06		Leah	1849	5609		Yaakov	Woman,Nisan-1849
A07			3-Dec1843	10-Kislev-5604		Mordechai	Broken
A08			1846	5606			Broken
A09		Hillel Nisan	11-Dec-1844	1-Tevet-5605		Meir	Man
B01	LANTZMAN	Haim Yitzhok	1940	5700		Moshe	Father 4-Sukkot-1940
B12		Fruma Gitel		6-Tevet-1894		Tanhum	Woman
C11		Arieh	11 Dec 1889	18 Kislev 5650		Yaakov	Father
C14	[VODNITSKY]	Haya Sheina	14 Jun 1885	1-Tammuz-5645		Haim	Girl
C15		Arieh Leib	07-Mar-1874	18-Adar-5634		Duber (Dov-Ber)
C16		Aharon	30-Dec-1870	6-Tevet-5631		Reuven	Man
C17		Zev	25-Oct-1853	23-Tishri-5614		Osher	Man
C18	GARBARSKY	Shlomo Zalman	13-Mar-1930	13-Adar-5690		Moshe Aharon	Father
C19	BONOWITZ	Moshe		27-Tammuz ?		Yitzhak Isaac	Father
D09		Nehama	20-Aug-1890	4-Elul-5650		David	Mother, Halevy
D15		Henka	05-Jan-1855	15-Tevet-5615		Arieh Leib	Woman
D16		Devora	16-Dec-1862	5-Tevet-5613		Yosef	Woman - Stone lying down
D17		Pesha	05-Sep-1852	21-Elul-5612		Mordechai	Woman
D18		Rahel	01-Oct-1851	5-Tishri-5612		Yaacov	Wife
D19							Stone Broken-Woman
D20	VODNITZKY	Meir Dov	after 1893		48	Nison	Father;century portion (18) of date; spouse, Rochla
D21	RABINOVITZ	Liba Feiga		11-Tevet-1921		Abraham Auzer [MILLER]	Mother ; spouse-Schlomo
E08		Esther	4-Jan-1873	5-Tevet-5633		Yehezkiel	Woman
E09		Tzvi Hirsh	18-Dec-1880	16-Tevet-5641		Arieh	Young Son
E10		Rahel	01-Dec-1872	1-Kislev-5633			Mother - had two daughters
E11		Shahna Faivish	1872	5633		Shlomo	Father
E12		Toiba	13-Jan-1886	7-Shvat-5646		Aharon	Mother
E13		Esther	10-Dec-1868	26-Kislev- 5629		Mordechai
E14		Haya	27-Oct-1882	14-Cheshvan-5643		Pinhas	Old Woman
E15		Perl	16-Mar-1849	22-Adar-5609		Dov	Woman
E16		Rahel	12-Apr-1848	9-Nisan-5608		Yehezkiel	Maiden
E17		Esther Feiga	1848	5608		Hanoch	2 (month missing) 1848
E18		Tzvi				Arieh Leib	Man
E19		Yaacov	1847	5607		Rueven	Died Adar 1847
E26	STOLOVSKY	Nehama	27-Aug-1914	5-Elul-5674	90	Shmuel
E27	VODNITZKY	Rahel	05-Jul-1934	22-Tammuz-5694		Arieh	Woman broken stone. Spouse: Meir Dov
E28		Yenta	02-Oct-1914	12-Tishri-5675		Yosef	Mother
E29	FLEISHER	Abraham	12-Apr-1915	28-Nisan-5675		Yedidya