Palanga – a city (since 1253) in Klaipėda County, Republic of Lithuania. Known since the 12th century. From the 16th to 18th centuries, it was part of the Duchy of Samogitia within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1795, under the Russian Empire. In the 19th – early 20th century, it was the town of Polangen in Grobin County, Courland Governorate.
Between 1918 and 1921, it belonged to the Republic of Latvia; from 1921 to 1940 to the Republic of Lithuania; and from 1940 to 1991, to the Lithuanian SSR.
Jewish Population in Palanga:
1765 – 398 Jews
1850 – 729
1863 – 870
1887 – 1,100
1897 – 925 (43%)
1918 – 950 (40%)
1923 – 455 (22%)
1939 – ~70 Jewish families
1959 – 8 Jews (0.14%)
1970 – 31
1979 – 12
1989 – 26
Jews settled in Palanga in the mid-15th century. A chevra kadisha was active by 1487, a synagogue was built in 1540, and a Jewish cemetery was founded that same year. In 1639, Jews were granted the right to practise crafts and purchase agricultural land. From 1719, the rabbi was Rabbi Yaakov. Their rights were reaffirmed in 1742 by Polish King August III. At that time, there were 3 Jewish merchants and 87 townspeople.
Under Russian Rule:
After annexation to the Courland Governorate in the early 1820s, Jews were forbidden to operate taverns. The Jewish community submitted their historical privileges from 1639 and 1742, and as an exception, were allowed to keep their taverns for another 10 years.
In 1863, a special merchant guild for Jews was established in Palanga. The wooden synagogue still stood, and in 1880, a Great Synagogue was constructed. A Talmud Torah school also existed.
In the 1880s, Zionist “Hovevei Zion” circles emerged, uniting dozens of local Jews. A significant portion of the Jewish population was employed in the amber processing industry — nearly all the factory workers were Jews.
Rabbis of Palanga (selected):
Rabbi Yechezkel-Faivl (1755–1833, Vilna)
Rabbi Yehoshua Geller
Rabbi Nokhum-Mikhl Kogan
Yosef-Gilel Berman (1888–1898)
Tzodik Gurvich (from 1898)
H.-I. Bloch (1895–1899), founder of a yeshiva in Palanga
Chaim-Yitzchok Korb
By 1900, two more synagogues had been built.
After WWI, amber trade and production suffered due to shrinking export markets, leading to a decline in the Jewish population. Many Jews left Palanga.
During the 1920s–30s, a branch of the Jewish People's Bank opened, as did various Jewish political and cultural organisations. Many Jews found work serving tourists in this seaside resort. Most amber workshops were Jewish-owned. Palanga also had two cheders and a Yavne network school with ~100 students.
In 1938, a fire destroyed most Jewish homes. Thanks to the efforts of Rabbi Shmuel-Menachem Katz, funds were secured for their restoration.
In 1940–41 rabbi was Aharon-Yitzchak Katz (d. 1941). On 22 June 1941 German Wehrmacht occupied Palanga. Within days, Jews were rounded up in the synagogue by Lithuanian police and on 30 June 1941 – 111 Jews were executed.
~200 Jews were murdered in early September 1941, about 4 km from Palanga.
In 1991, memorials were erected at the execution site and at the old Jewish cemetery.
Notable Jews from Palanga:
H.-I. Bloch
B.D. Brutskus
Y.D. Brutskus
Y. Mark
Yaakov-Isaac Mark
Avraham Bloch (b. 1908) – American rabbi, public figure, Ph.D., author of several books on Jewish tradition.
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