Day Six: From Vilnius to Trakai to Kaunas to Marijampol

Our driver, Kestas Lukoskinas, who drove us to Riga to Daugavpils on Friday also picked us up in Vilnius to take us to Marijampole with stops in Trakei and Kaunas. Kestas, who works as an independent contractor for JayWay, also has his own Destination Management Company (DMC) called Private Baltic, and he goes beyond all expectations to meet our needs. I failed to take a photo of him, but I grabbed one from the internet. If you ever go to the Baltics, I highly recommend him!

Kestas Lukoskinas

Wreath in anticipation of the Summer Solstice on Monday, St. John's Day

Kestas picked us up at the Homelike Hotel in Daugavpils, about a three-hour ride to the resort town of Trakai, home Lake Galve, old wooden houses that sell for over a million dollars, and Trakai Island Castle. The castle was built in the 14th century and was the center of Lithuania power. However, after Vilnius grew in size and power it was left to ruin and destroyed by the Cossacks in the 1655 Russian invasion. Russia has a horrible habit of invading Lithuania! It wasn't rebuilt until 1957 and completed in 1987. It is currently undergoing additional renovation, making climbing steps and moving around quite a challenge. Kestas parked his car in town where we had a lovely walk admiring the wooden houses, shops, and lakefront.

House in Trakai

We walked over two bridges to the castle entrance where we paid for an audio tour for our mobile phones while Kestas went to make some phone calls for us. It was difficult to find where to start once we were in the large courtyard, but after some exploring I finally found the Great Hall. 

A view of Trakai Castle from town

Lithuanian State Flag flying over the tower

The Lithuanian National Flag has three stripes -- yellow, green, and red

A reimagining of the thrones in the Great Hall

Stained-glass windows were based on fragments found here.

The Great Hall serves as a space for cultural and historic events.

Official contracts are signed her and most official delegations visit.

The piano is used for concerts and ceremonies.

Castle Door

The Menorah in the Duchess' Chamber

The presence of Jews in Lithuania dates back to at least the 14th century.

On our way back to the car we passed this kenessa, or temple in the Karaites language. The faith of the Karaites is based on the Old Testament with Islamic elements. The arrived in Lithuania around 1397-98. This kenessa was built in 1903-04 and now serves as a museum. 

Kenessa of the Karaites

My great grandmother, Rochka Leia Bergson Dembovicz died in childbirth at age 40, leaving behind 3 children -- Morris, age 15; my great grandfather, Samuel, age 11; and his sister, Asne (Ida), age 7. The fourth child, to whom my 2x great grandmother had just given birth, Mendel, died 3 weeks later. Aronas (Aaron) soon married Gittel Yusafson and had three more children -- Abelis, Gutel, and Teube -- and they moved to Kaunas. Abelis would immigrate to Argentina. Gutel died at age 40 of natural causes, and Teube was imprisoned in Stuthof Concentration Camp. We assume Aronas and Gutel are buried in Kaunas, where the Jewish cemetery was destroyed, like most of the others, by the Soviets. After his death Gittel emigrated to Argentina to be with her son's family. We visited the Kaunas Synagogue. 

Kestas had called the gabbi (lay rabbi) and leader of the Kaunas Jewish Community and asked him to meet us there to open it and show us around. Although the bimah was a remarkable work of art, the rest of the synagogue was in great disrepair and undergoing renovation. Unfortunately, the synagogue is low on funding with no backers like the Daugavpils Synagogue that was saved by the Rothko family. They depend on donations like visitors like us. The Kaunas Ohel Jakov Choral Synagogue is one of only two synagogues that still serve the Jewish community with services, the other being the one in Vilnius. It is neo-Baroque with preserved traditional ornate decoration of the bimah.

The Neo-Baroque exterior of the Kaunas Synagogue

Original wooden entrance door

The bimah

A view from the upstairs women's section

The gabbi

A memorial to the children of Kaunas murdered in the Holocaust

After our visit to the synagogue, we weren't hungry yet, so we returned to the car to make our way to Kaunas. We made a stop along the way at a ubiquitous fast-food restaurant, Hesburger. I justified the stop with the fact that it was a local chain and not McDonald's or Burger King. By now I was so hungry that I devoured the very McDonalds-like hamburger and French fries.