Throughout the four years of planning this trip I had little idea of how to pronounce the city where my great grandfather, Samuel (Schmuel) Dembowicz was born. Those of you who know me know that I have no ear for sounds, but Beth helped me break it down: Mari Yam' Pole. No "j" and with the accent on the "yam." Just in case you were wondering.
Monday, June 24th is a national holiday in Lithuania -- St. John's Day, six months before Christmas celebrating the birth of John the Baptist. The holiday coincides with the summer solstice, so celebrations look more like May Day in the U.S. People create garlands from flowers and leaves and gather to dance and sing. Most everything is closed, including the restaurant in our hotel, but we found a coffee shop for lunch and pizza for dinner. This was our first day without a guide, and although we might have gone around in circles, by the end of the day we felt at home in the small town of Marijampole.
In an effort to bring more art, color, and life to the city, Marijampole created its Mural Arts Project. Local and international artists as well as students bring their art to the city in the form of murals on buildings, walls, and other sites. We decided to follow the walking tour map of the murals and catch other sites as we explored the art. These were some highlights, although I don't have detailed information about all of the paintings.
The Pizza Umbrella
Sean Higgens and Nicholas Rezabek, U.S.
The umbrella is made up of the artists' favorite food.
The portal takes them back to their home town of Ohio and "Bessie" who lives in the Ohio River.
Spring
Lou Beach, U.S.
This mural is on the building of the Mecure Marijampole, our hotel.
After designed by the artist, a system was created where the mural was printed by a
robot that transferred the design on to the building.
Warning from the World
Philip Grisewood, U.K.
Covid challenged the world at a time when many crises continue to rage,
including climate change and technology.
Bus Stop, Ray Bartkus, U.S.
The two guys on the bike are Bartkus's assistants
The mural, also by Bartkus, sits on the opposite side of Bus Stop.
That is Leonard Cohen on the right, waiting for the bus to Vilkaviskis.
The alien playing the cello is the same from another Bartkus mural that was destroyed.
Marijampole is known for its cat park, so I can only assume the cat is a homage to its love of cats.
The Donut Snake
Sean Higgens and Nicholas Rezebak, U.S.
This mural was created remotely during the pandemic.
The artists spoke to locals each morning to give them direction in the painting of the mural.
Flock of Doves
Will Teather, U.K.
The artist created a perspective of the doves you could only see if you were in the middle of the flock.
Although genealogy can be horribly boring, I need to give a little background in order to explain our search to connect to our great grandfather's heritage her in Marijampole. At the time that the Dembowicz family lived here Jews made up about half of the population. Now there are none. We attempted to find their address but with no success. So, we explored the city knowing that at some point we were walking in the steps of our ancestors.
Aronas Dembowicz (then Dembovicious) lived here with his wife, Rokha Leah Bergson, and their three children -- Morris (Mosze), Samuel (my great grandfather), and Asne (Ida). In 1890 Rohka gave birth to a boy, Mendel, and died in childbirth. Mendel died about 3 weeks later. With three children (Mosze, 15; Samuel, 11; and Asne, 7) it was imperative that Aronas remarry. His second wife, Gitel Yusafson, and he had three more children -- Abelis (who would emigrate to Argentina), Gutel (died in 1941 of natural causes), and Teube (imprisoned in a Stuthof Concentration camp). The Dembovicious family moved to the larger city of Kaunas where we assume Aronas and Gutel are buried. There is nothing left of the Kaunas Jewish Cemetery. Gitel emigrated and went to live with her son Abelis. The 3 Dembowicz children all immigrated to the United States, first to Brooklyn and then to Rochester, New York. Samuel was a house painter, both in Marijampole and Rochester, so we assume there must have been some houses in the city that he had at one time painted. With this knowledge we toured the city with our final stop at the Old Jewish Cemetery.
These are two buildings that date to the time before the Dembowitz family started to emigrate.
Dates on buildings are a great help!
St. Vincent De Paul Church, 1896
One of the very distinctive contrasts in both Latvia and Lithuania is the Soviet and local architecture.
This picture shows the two side by side. The Soviets used mostly concrete and some brick to
build what most people know consider disagreeable. In addition, the buildings have little
insulation and are now primarily occupied by low income families and some businesses.
We imagined our family in a house like this.
Aronas was a shoemaker, so their family most likely had something much simpler.
Poetry Park is the number one site to visit on a trip to Marijampole. The park opened in 1987 at the confluence of the Jevonis and Sesupe Rivers. It was renovated in 2012. The park has over 100 varieties of trees, numerous water fountains, statues and wall art, and places to play or relax.
Consumerism
Philip Grisewood, U.K. 2015
Part of the Mural Project
City Face Wall
Ieva Olimpija Voroneckyte and Vytenis Jakes, Lithuania, 2016
Another view of City Faces with pink piano
The mural covers a tunnel that goes under a road.
The tradition of locks for love in Poetry Park
Garden river bed
A modern Virgin Mary
Marijampole gets its name from the monastic congregation of Marions,
whose basis of spirituality is the veneration of the Virgin Mary.
One of the many fountains representing the two rivers
The cat eyes mural was painted by local students.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, had always thought that the Nazis had destroyed all of the cemeteries, but it was the Soviets who had no use for Judaism or any other religion. They removed the tombstones to be used for construction. The people, however, still lay here under the green grass and tress. The Old Marijampole Jewish Cemetery has been cleaned up and a memorial was build consisting of 12 complete tombstones that were found as well as two partial stones. They were placed in a circle with a memorial stone in the center. We sat for a while to pay our respects to our 2x great grandmother and her infant, her mother Golda Bergson and father, Itsko Bergson, and any other unknown relatives who lie here. None of the tombstones belong to our family.
Memorial Stone
"The remains of Jewish people are resting in this place."
Marijampole Choral Synagogue
Now, an art gallery
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