Jonava (יאָנאווא; Polish: Janów; German: Janau) was a Shtetl (Jewish city/village in Eastern and Central Europe), and this is all you can see near Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda streets. It is situated about 30 km north east of Kaunas, in Lithuania. In 1893, 92% of the population here was Jewish. In 1932, there were “250 shops owned by Jewish families, a Jewish bank, 7 synagogues and a Jewish school” (wiki).

Everything here is screaming about this past, but the city is incredibly and weirdly silent and boring today. In the area where many Jewish houses still stand (either abandoned or still in use), many new buildings copy the style of the past. It is surreal.

The yellow building (pics 30-35) is the Beit Medrash Hagadol Synagogue, which became a bakery during the soviet era. The objects you see inside belong to the bakery history. The only sign of the Jewish history is an informational plaque outside.