Lost Shtetl Museum

The Šeduva Jewish Museum "The Lost Shtetl" tells the story of the Jewish community that lived in Šeduva, their daily life, social and religious life, 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 Lithuania—where Jewish communities lived alongside neighbours such as Lithuanians, Latvians, Poles, Belarusians, and Ukrainians for centuries. In independent Lithuania during the interwar period (1918-1940), about 200 small towns could be referred to as shtetls: Jonava, Radviliškis, Švenčionys, Eržvilkas, Rozalimas, Žąsliai, Žiežmariai, Šeduva, and dozens of others, where Jews made up 20-70% of the population. 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 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 Šeduva Jewish cemetery.