The Lost Shtetl Museum, also known as à  eduva Jewish Museum "The Lost Shtetl" is a privately owned NGO museum of Jewish history. The museum tells about the Jewish community that lived in à  eduva, Lithuania, through the stories of their daily life, social and religious practices, commercial and cultural ties, as well as the tragic destruction of this and other Jewish communities during the Holocaust.
"Shtetl" is a Yiddish word meaning a "town" with a large Jewish community. There were several thousand shtetls in the territory of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaâÂÂwhere Jewish communities lived alongside neighbours such as Lithuanians, Latvians, Poles, Belarusians, and Ukrainians for centuries. In independent Lithuania during the interwar period (1918âÂÂ1940), about 200 small towns could be referred to as shtetls: Jonava, Radvilià ¡kis, à  venÃÂionys, Erà ¾vilkas, Rozalimas, à ½asliai, à ½ieà ¾mariai, à  eduva, Telà ¡iai and dozens of others, where Jews made up 20-70% of the population. During the Holocaust the majority of jewish population in Lithuania perrished. Their unique way of life in shtetls was also lost.
The building of "The Lost Shtetl" museum is like a small shtetl, consisting of separate houses with architectural forms characteristic of Jewish architecture, with a building that resembles a synagogue architecture dominating the space (architect Rainer Mahlamäki and Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects). The museum area includes the museum building (exhibition and visitor center), as well as a park established next to the museum and the nearby old à  eduva Jewish cemetery.
The museum's collection consists of historical material gathered from archives, libraries, and museums in Lithuania and abroad. A significant portion of the museum's collections includes historical photographs received from the descendants of à  eduva Jewish community living in Lithuania and abroad, along with other items they have donated and stories they have told. The museum's archives also store filmed interview material from the museum curators' expeditions to Israel and South Africa â countries where part of the à  eduva Jewish community emigrated to after surviving the Holocaust. "The Lost Shtetl" collects exhibits not only from à  eduva but also from other Lithuanian shtetls â the museum displays artifacts from the Ashmena, , and Valkininkai synagogues.
The building of "The Lost Shtetl" museum covers an area of more than 3,400 square meters. The exhibition interior is being designed by the U.S. design firm "Ralph Appelbaum Associates", and the building was designed by the Finnish company "Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects". The project is led by architect Rainer Mahlamäki, who previously designed the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The architectural partner in Lithuania is "Studija 2A".
The museum buildings form part of an overall memorial complex, which includes the restored old Jewish cemetery in à  eduva, three memorial monuments near the sites of Jewish executions (, , PakutÃÂnai forest), and a sculpture "The Girl" erected in the centre of à  eduva to commemorate the Jewish community. All of these monuments were designed by Lithuanian sculptor . A monument has also been erected in the current town square to honour the synagogues that once stood there, created by sculptor Marijonas à  lektaviÃÂius.
The three memorial monuments mark the sites in the PakutÃÂnai and Liaudià ¡kÃÂs forests, where à  eduva Jews were killed on August 25âÂÂ26, 1941. In the Liaudià ¡kÃÂs forest, 664 à  eduva residents were murderedâÂÂ230 men, 275 women, and 159 childrenâÂÂtheir remains rest in two graves. Near the village of PakutÃÂnai, slightly earlier than in Liaudià ¡kÃÂs, about 20 Jews were killed, including the last rabbi of à  eduva, Mordechai Henkin. The area around these mass execution sites has been organized, with road signs installed, so it is not difficult to locate and approach these sites at any time of year.
The à  eduva Jewish Museum "The Lost Shtetl", a public institution, has been carrying out the construction of a modern museum complex in à  eduva since 2015, coordinating the creation and installation of exhibitions, as well as scientific research. The cornerstone of the museum complex in à  eduva was laid in the spring of 2018, and the museum opening is planned for August 2025.
In 2017, the sponsor of organization purchased the shareholder rights from Sergejus KanoviÃÂius,(Sergey Kanovich) the founder of the non-profit "Ã Â eduva Jewish Memorial Fund". In 2022, to better reflect the ongoing activities and the institution's mission, the organization's name was changed to "The Lost Shtetl Museum".
Since 2014, the museum (until 2022, the "Ã Â eduva Jewish Memorial Fund") has been led by director Jonas Heraklis Dovydaitis. From 2012 to 2014, the "Ã Â eduva Jewish Memorial Fund" was led by Juozas Bulota.
The à  eduva Jewish Museum "The Lost Shtetl" has assembled a team of curators and educators. The exhibition has been developed with consultations from Lithuanian and international experts. The exhibition concept was created and implemented by "The Lost Shtetl" team led by Sergejus KanoviÃÂius and former chief curator of the exhibition Milda JakulytÃÂ-Vasil, along with freelance consultants from the USA, Israel, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania.