CAMERA OBSCURA

THE INVISIBLE MAGICIANS

On the day Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania on June 22, 1941, there were approximately 10 million Lithuanian Jewish photographs in the country, some of them dating back almost a century. How did they get there? Who were the women and men that made them? Where did they work, and what did their everyday lives look like? Currently featuring the collective biographies of more than 700 Lithuanian Jewish photographers, laboratory technicians, artists, business owners and others who were in one way or another involved in the creation of these extraordinary images, The Invisible Magicians is by far the largest and most comprehensive information source of its kind anywhere in the world.

See also The Invisible Girls.

AKMENĖ

Akmian אַקמיאַן

Originally called Dabikinė/Dabiķene after the eponynous river that flows around its southern edge, Akmenė was granted city rights in 1592, well over a century before the first Jewish families are believed to have made the town their home. By 1850, the majority of the population was Jewish, a demographic that fluctuated depending on the politics of the day, and that was reduced to zero in August 1941, when every Jewish man, woman and child who lived and worked there was transported to neighbouring Mažeikiai (↓) and subsequently murdered. Always small and relatively poor, today Akmenė is home to barely 2,000 Lithuanians, and is barely recognisable as the provincial shtetl it used to be. Click here to find out more about the local organisation that’s preserving and protecting the memory of Akmenė’s Jewish past.

Chaim Yisrael Dekes

Deicas, Deich

Born in 1867. Passed away in Tel Aviv on January 18, 1935. Whether Mr. Dekes was active as a photographer before he emigrated is currently unknown. 

ALYTUS

Alite אליטע

Isaakas Abramavičius

Izaak Abramowicz, Icik Abramowicz

Not much is currently known about Mr. Abramavičius, beyond the fact that he was born in Sokolka near Białystok in 1863, that he appears to have passed away during a visit to Palestine in 1934, and that his wife, Mina, owned the business, which archival records indicate also included a glove-making facility. Quite a few of the photographer's simple but often strangely exotic photographic prints survive, many of them held among the collection at the Alytus Regional Museum. A sample of some of Mr. Abramavičius' work can be seen here.

Šimelis Abramavičius

Shimel Abramowicz

⛤

Born on March 10, 1899, Šimelis Abramavičius inherited his late parents' businesses after his father, Isaakas (↑), passed away in 1934. The family photography studio was based at Juozapavičiaus g. 21. 

Zalman Boksickis

Bokshitsky

Born in about 1909. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine just over three weeks after he married 23-year-old Baseva/Bat-Seva Lipavičiūtė from Svėdasai. The newlyweds are recorded as having sailed from Trieste on February 17, 1935, arriving at either Haifa or Jaffa a couple of days later.

Mordkhel Gorbikas

Max Gorbik

Born in 1912. Although it's not entirely clear whether Mr. Gorbikas worked in Alytus and/or Kaunas, it is known that he survived both the Kovno Ghetto and Dachau (where his documents at the Arolsen Archives somewhat confusingly record his name as Mat and his profession as optician). After having been liberated by the US Army on April 29, 1945, Mr. Gorbikas spent time at the Augsburg DP camp, and later emigrated to Palestine. The photographer, whose1940 internal passport can be seen here, passed away on October 10, 1990, and is buried at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.

Khaya Kaplanaitė

Born in 1907. Bentsion Kaplanas' (↓) sister? Known to have been active in 1925. A 1946 list of Holocaust survivors includes a Ch. Kaplanaitė and her unnamed brother, both from Alytus.

Bentsion Kaplanas 

B. Kaplan

Born in about 1904. Khaya Kaplanaitė's (↑) brother? Known to have been operating a photography studio at Pulko g. 1, and possibly another (at a different time) somewhere on Vilniaus g. during the 1930s. Although records indicate that Mr. Kaplanas emigrated to Palestine in 1934, this appears to be very unlikely. Several surviving photographs credited to him appear to have been taken after this date. A small selection of the photographer's work can be seen here.

EMIGRATED TO PALESTINE

For reasons that remain a mystery, ongoing research into some of the photographers recorded on this page who are listed as having emigrated to Palestine on the JewishGen website indicate that they did no such thing. Clearly not the fault of JewishGen, Camera Obscura is currently looking into the issue.

Aron Marocznik

Mr. Marocznik is said to have owned and operated a photography studio in Alytus between about 1894 and 1897. 

Abraham Pitleris

Pitler

Born in about 1906. It's recorded that Mr. Pitleris emigrated to Palestine with his wife, Miriam/Marija née Jurshevich, on December 17, 1934. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

ANYKŠČIAI

Aniksht אניקשט

Šula Chatimlianskienė

Chotimlianskienė 

⛤ 

Born in 1908. Zlata Chatimlianskienė’s sister-in-law (see Plungė ↓). Recorded as still being alive in the 1942 Šiauliai Ghetto census. See also Mordchelis Chotimlianskis in Siauliai (↓).

G. Cirtas

The name G. Cirtas is somehow associated with another currently unknown photographer by the name of Ch. Rebé (↓). A single photograph credited to both photographers, who are understood to have briefly shared a photography studio at an unknown address, can be seen here. Also (incorrectly?) recorded as G. Ciris in some sources. 

Feige Gantverger

⛤

Born in about 1907. When she was a young woman, Feige travelled the region with her sister, Yokha (↓), working as an itinerant photographer. At some point, she gave one of her cameras to Beilė Deliačkaitė in Kavarskas (↓) . Miss Gantverger is believed to have been murdered at the Stutthof concentration camp in 1944.

Liba Kaganienė

Known to have been active in 1932. 

N. Kopans

Active in the 1920s and possibly later, Mr. Kopans' business stamps are written either Kopan or Kopanso. All known surviving examples of his work feature as part of the collection at the A. Baranauskas & A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum.

Icikas Melnikas

Melnik

⛤

Born in 1907 to Gercas and Sara née Frutkė, Icikas Melnikas opened his first photography studio somewhere on, or close to, Anykščiai’s central marketplace in about 1926.. A board member of the Lithuanian Society of Professional Photographers and the owner of most modern and best equipped studio in the region, in 1939, he moved to Kaunas and opened a combined photography studio and shop selling electrical goods. A prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto, on October 26, 1943, Mr. Melnikas was deported to the Klooga concentration camp in Estonia, where he was subsequently murdered on an unknown date. Several copies of his photographs survive among the collections at the Lithuanian Central State Archives, the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History and the National Museum of Lithuania. A collection of portraits of the acclaimed Lithuanian writer Antanas Žukauskas-Vienuolis can also be found among approximately 50 other original prints at Anykščiai’s semi-eponymous A. Baranauskas & A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum.

I. Mulca

Multze

The mysterious Mr. Mulca is believed to have operated one of the first photography studios in town. Active around the turn of the 20th century, the Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial House-Museum in Anykščiai and the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai feature several of his original prints among their collections. 

Ch. Rebé

Ch. Rebe, Ch. Rebė

The name Ch. Rebé is somehow associated with another currently unknown photographer by the name of G. Cirtas (↑). A single photograph credited to both photographers, who are understood to have briefly shared a photography studio at an unknown address, can be seen here.

Yokha Traubienė

Jocha Hinda Gantverger-Traubienė

Born in about 1916. Worked as an itinerant photographer with her elder sister, Feige Gantverger (↑), when she was a young woman. Among the subjects the pair photographed were recently deceased Catholics, lying in their coffins and clutching their favourite saints, a tradition among rural Catholic families in Lithuania until fairly recently. Active in a local Jewish theatre group in Anykščiai, Yokha married someone by the name of Abelis Traubas in Kaunas on February 6, 1938, where she’s listed as living at Jonavos g. 78 on a January 1941 Soviet voting list. Yokha somehow survived the Holocaust, and passed away in Israel in 1999. A handful of photographs from the 1930s featuring Yokha with some of her friends and thespian acquaintances can be seen here. A group portrait featuring Yokha, her photographer sister, Feige, and the photographer, Beilė Deliačkaitė (See Kavarskas ↓), is here.

AUKŠTADVARIS

Visoki-Dvor וויסאָקי-דוואָר

Simas Vaismanas 

Veismanas

⛤

Born in Vilna in 1898. Known to have been active in 1935. Murdered in Trakai. One of Mr. Vaismanas' surviving prints includes a stamp from the Kaunas photography studio and photographic supply shop belonging to Ilja Jasvoin. A small selection of the photographer's work can be seen here.

BABTAI

Bobt באָבט0 

Isai Pilovnik

Pilovnikas, Pilovniko

⛤

Born in Kybartai in 1906. Recorded as having been a photographer when he married Shprintse Reize Tamsh in Kaunas on November 29, 1925. Seven of the photographer's original prints, all taken in Babtai during the 1930s, and each one featuring a group of students of one kind or another, are held among the collection at the Kaunas District Museum in Raudondvaris and can also be seen here. Yad Vashem records the fact that Mr. Pilovnik perished in 1944, suggesting that he was a prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto.

BAISOGALA

Beisegole בייסעגאָלע

The literal and spiritual birthplace of the Jasvoin dynasty of Lithuanian Jewish photographers.

Ilja Jasvoin

Ilija, Iliya, Yasvoyn, Josvain, Yosvain, Jasvoinas

⛤

Born in about 1882. According to legend, Mr. Jasvoin was the official photographer at the local manor house in Baisogala. At some point he moved to Kaunas, almost certainly after the First World War, which he spent living in forced exile in the Russian city of Voronezh with his wife and two young children, and where it's claimed he ran a photography studio. A small selection of surviving photographs that are all credited to Mr. Jasvoin can be seen here. Almost certainly Izrael Yazvoyn's (↓) brother. 

Izrael Yasvoyn

Jasvoin

Born in about 1880. Known to have been active on January 28, 1907. Almost certainly Ilja's (↑) brother.

BALBIERIŠKIS

Balbirishok באלבירישאָק

Masha Izakson

Izaksonaitė, Šapiro, Šapirienė

Recorded in different places as having been born in 1908 and 1912. Married the Kaunas photographer Chaim Šapiro (↓) on September 22, 1932. Survived the Kovno Ghetto. The last known record of her being alive is listed in a document from the Stutthof concentration camp, where she was admitted on July 13, 1944.

BIRŠTONAS

Birshton בירשטאן‎

Josiel Koiranski

See Kaunas (↓).

BIRŽAI 

Birzh בירזש

Aaron Calkovičius

Tsalkovich

Born in 1906. Active in 1921.

Abram Leiba Cygan

Tzigan

See Ana Cygan (↓).

Ana Cygan

Tzigan

Born in about 1872. Along with her husband, Abram Leiba (↑), was known to have been operating a photography studio in Biržai in 1903. The couple moved their business to Žiežmariai the following year.

Etelė

Quoted at an exhibition at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in March 2025 as having been a student of the Lithuanian photographer Jadvyga Vaitaitienė-Markevičiūtė (1903-1994). See also Ber David Magidas (↓).

Getsel

Girshovich

Born in 1900. Active in 1926.

Joselis Goldas 

See Vilnius (↓).

Ber David Magidas

Berel, Magid

Born on either April 11 or June 11, 1913. Active in 1937. Vanishes, then reappears on entering Dachau in July 1944, suggesting that he was a prisoner in a a camp or ghetto (or both) somewhere. Temporarily registered at an address in Munich, Mr. Magidas is recorded as having subsequently departed for the United States on October 4, 1948, whereupon he promptly vanishes again. According to a poster at an exhibition at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in March 2025, a photographer by the name of Magitas is mentioned as having been a student of the Lithuanian photographer Jadvyga Vaitaitienė-Markevičiūtė (1903-1994). These two people are unquestionably the same individual. See also Etelė (↑).

Boruch Michelson

Borucas Michelsonas

An evidently fascinating individual whose life story consists of a few surviving fragments that all need to be taken with a pinch of salt, Boruch Michelson (1886?-1939) began taking photographs in about 1905. A lifelong bachelor who lived with his sister (↓?), his first photography studio operated sometime before 1914 in a rented apartment at Vytauto g. 16. Forced into Russian exile along with thousands of other Lithuanian Jews during the First World War, Mr. Michelson returned to Biržai to discover that a local Lithuanian photographer by the name of Petras Ločeris had taken possession of his studio, a situation that allegedly involved a legal case in which both the plaintiff and the defendant claimed victory. Reluctant to work on Saturdays, Boruch conducted a lot of his business on Sundays from his studio at Ligoninės g. 1, when it was said that substantial queues of customers waiting for a picture would gather in the garden outside. Also a voluntary fireman and a member of Biržai’s Jewish firemen's orchestra, the photographer's archive is said to have been lost during a fire at his house five years after he passed away. Around 200 photographs survive among the collection at the Biržai Regional Museum, including a wonderful print featuring Boruch and his fellow orchestra members dressed in their voluntary firemen's uniforms. A small selection of his work can be seen here.

F. Michelsonaitė

Freida Chana 

Several of the photographer's surviving prints are held in the archives at the Biržai Regional Museum, although it seems that they haven't yet been digitised. Almost certainly the Biržai photographer Boruch Michelson's (↑) sister, Frieda, who was born in about 1887, and who became Frieda Fainienė after she married Abe Chone Fainas in Biržai on September 11, 1925.

Rafael Gershon Rakovscikas

Rakovshchik

Born in 1908. Active in 1934. Leiba Rakovscikas' (↓) son.

Leiba Rakovscikas

Rakovshchik

Born in 1878. Active in 1920. Rafael Gershon Rakovscikas' (↑) father.

Leiba Šadevičius

See Žiežmariai (↓).

Girsh Schneider 

Hirša Šneideris

One of the first photographers known to have been working in Biržai, little information has yet been uncovered about Mr. Schneider. Several of his original photographic prints are kept at the Biržai Regional Museum. His photography studio is known to have been working at Pasvalio g. 5 in 1926.

Eta Služietelytė

Sluzhitel

⛤

Born in 1922. Active in December 1939. Killed in combat, fighting the Germans in Alekseyevka during the Third Battle of Kharkov on March 17, 1943.

C. Šneiderytė

Schneider

Very little is currently known about Miss Šneiderytė's identity or photographic history, although it's understood that she worked at Pasvalio g. 5, meaning that she was almost certainly the sister or daughter of the photographer Girsh Schneider (↑), whose photography studio was at the same address. Several of her surviving photographs are held among the collection at the Biržai Regional Museum, although none of her work appears to be available to see online.

BUTRIMONYS

Butrimantz בוטרימאַנץ

Taube Vinickienė

Teba, Teiba, Vinitsky, Kaplan

⛤

Née Kaplanaitė. Born in about 1896. Murdered along with her husband, Berelis, and 13-year-old daughter, Sulamit, in 1941. Incorrectly recorded in at least one source as having emigrated to Palestine with her family in 1934 (see Emigrated to Palestine ↑), Mrs. Vinickienė also had a son, Shraga, who'd have been about 15 in 1941, and whose fate remains unknown. 

IF I FORGET THEE

Coming soon.

ČEKIŠKĖ

Chaykishok צײַקישאָק

Introduction coming soon. Click here to help pay someone to research and write it.

Leizer Beker

Eliezer Bekeris, Leizeris Bekeris, Becker. L. Bekker

⛤

The town photographer... and maybe also an artist. Born in Jurbarkas in 1910. Murdered together his wife, Šifra née Zalmanovitz (born in 1914), in August/September 1941. See The Box (↓) for more information. See also this map.

THE BOX

Sometime after Leizer Beker (↑) was murdered, a box of photographic prints was 'found' somewhere inside his former house and studio. Read about the search to find the box, and the plan to gift the photographs to Mr. Beker's surviving nephew in Alaska, by clicking here.

DARBĖNAI

Dorbyan

Elijahu Bruckus

Eliahu Brutzkus, Yakov Eliyahu Bruchky, Elijah Bruckus

⛤

Born in about 1902 (other sources write 1907). Learned from his maternal uncle, Abraomas Pekelis (↓), from whom he also inherited all of his photographic equipment after Mr. Pekelis passed away. Also worked in Šventoji. Mr. Bruckus is believed to have been murdered along with his wife, Khava, and the couple's son, Abraham, during the summer of 1941. An undated record of the family's application to emigrate to Palestine suggests that their luck ran out before they could leave. It's been mentioned that the location of Mr. Bruckus' studio remains unknown. Several of the photographer's original prints are held among the collection at the Kretinga Museum, of which a few can be seen here. On the initiative of local school teacher Edita Gliožerienė, a stolperstein was laid in memory of the photographer in Darbėnai's former marketplace at Turgaus a. 13 on September 22, 2020. A second stone, placed nearby at Turgaus a. 9 on the same day, commemorates the short life of the local high school student Estera Kverelytė, who was saved from the initial slaughter of the majority of the town's Jewish inhabitants, only to be raped and murdered in the nearby forest by a Lithuanian policeman by the name of Vladas Jašinskas a short time later.  

Abraomas Pekelis

Abraomas Isakas Pekelis

Elijahu Bruckus’ (↑) maternal uncle. Probably the first photographer in town. Began working in about 1910. Passed away in 1921. 

DIEVENIŠKĖS

Divenishok דיװענישאָק

Tsvi Krizovski

The self-taught Tsvi Krizovski was the town’s unofficial photographer during the interwar period. Many of his photographs feature in the town's yizkor book, in which he also wrote a short account of his survival in Russia. The photographer emigrated to Israel in about 1971. 

DOTNUVA

Dotneve דאַטנעווע

Abram Yasvoin

Abram Ilyich Yasvoin

Born in about 1837. Registered as living in Dotnuva in 1866. An outstanding member of the Baisogala Josvain/Jasvoin dynasty of Lithuanian Jewish photographers. Under circumatances that have yet to be explained, Abram became a court photographer, producing among many other extraordinary portraits this image of Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia, in about 1885.  

DUBINGIAI

Dubinik דוביניק

Judelis Kacenbergas

Yudel Katsenberg

See Jonava (↓).

DŪKŠTAS

Duksht

Mosze Felman

⛤

Born in 1911.

DUSETOS

Dusyat דוסיאַט

Naftali Sarver

Serber

See Rokiškis (↓). 

Micha Slep

Miša-Michelis, M. Slepas, M. Slepo

⛤

Born in Dusetos on December 27, 1912. Studied under Chanan Schneiderman in Rokiškis (↓). Is known to have worked in his home town, as well as in Zarasai and elsewhere in the region. Was active from about 1933 until 1940, when he moved to Vilnius under circumstances that remain unclear, and where he lived in an apartment close to the old town at Šv. Stepono g. 2. Surviving the Vilna Ghetto and several labour camps in Estonia and Poland, the photographer died of exhaustion at the Dautmergen-Schomberg concentration camp in Germany on December 30, 1944. Although hardly any of his photographs are known to have survived in Lithuania, a considerable amount are believed to be held among the photography collection at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Mr. Slep's move to Vilnius in 1940, where it's also recorded that he worked in a department store, may well have had something to do with the nationalisation of his photography studio by the Soviets.

SOVIET NATIONALISATION

Coming soon.

Leiba Vinokur

Vinokuras

See Rokiškis (↓). 

EIŠIŠKĖS

Eyshishok אײשישאָק

The one woman and three men listed below were responsible for taking almost all of the approximately 1,000 photographs that were used for the creation of the permanent Tower of Faces exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. A selection of the photographs can be seen here.

Alte Katz

⛤

See The Invisible Girls.

Yitzhak Katz

Kac, Kats

Born in Dieveniškės in about 1880. Passed away in Eišiškės in 1929. Alte Katz's (↑) husband and business partner.

Rafael Leybovich

Rephael Lejbowicz

Born in 1905. Known to have been operating a photography studio somewhere on ul. Wileńska (today's Vilniaus g.) in 1941. It's believed that Mr. Leybovich worked for Alte and Yitzhak Katz (↑), almost certainly as their student or apprentice before opening his own business in the 1920s. The photographer's name is also mentioned (as Leibovitz) in the partial English translation of the town's Yitzkor book, which is available to read online here.

Ben-Zion Szrejder

Benyamin

Believed to have worked for Alte and Yitzhak Katz (↑) as their assistant.

ENDRIEJAVAS 

Dora Lipšicaitė

Lifshitz, Dina Krengel

⛤

Dora Lipšicaitė was born in Endriejavas on December 27, 1904, and is known to have shown two photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933. She married in 1937, becoming Dora Kringelienė, and was murdered in Rietavas four years later. A single surviving photographic print that's believed to have been taken by Dora in 1933 is held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai.

GARGŽDAI 

Gorzhd גאָרזשד

Zuse Akerman

Ziusl, Zusel

⛤

Born in 1918.

Khana Barkanaitė

Barkan

On June 28, 1934, a 20-year-old photographer from Gargždai by the name of Khana Barkanaitė received permission to emigrate to Palestine. Thirteen days earlier, on June 15, 1934, a 25-year-old photographer from Šilalė with the same name was also granted permission to emigrate to Palestine. Whatever the mystery may be, copies of her/their work form part of the collection the Gargždai Regional Museum. A photograph of Miss Barkanaitė is recorded as being included in each of the Aliyah-related documents at the Lithuanian Central State Archives in Vilnius. 

George Birman

Hiršas Birmanas

Born Hiršas Birmanas into a wealthy Lithuanian Jewish family in Königsberg in 1922, Mr. Birman spent his childhood in Gargždai whilst travelling to school every day in Klaipėda. At the age of 10, he was given a camera as a gift, an event that would result in a large outpouring of creativity that saw him take hundreds of photographs of his friends, family and the world around him. After his mother’s death in 1939, the teenage Hiršas moved to Kaunas to live with his father, Abel, where the pair were among the tiny handful of Jews who managed to survive the Kovno Ghetto. With the help of forged passports obtained under circumstances that are currently unknown, the pair fled to Vienna before emigrating to the United States, where Hiršas changed his name to George Birman and passed away in his 80s in 2009. Quite a few of Mr. Birmanas' prewar Gargždai photographs and others that he took before the war survive, many of them now held among the collection at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

GRINKIŠKIS

Grinkishok גרינקישאָק 

Borukh Kiršteinas

Boruchas, B. T. Kiršteinas, Tevel, Kirshtein, Kirshteyn

⛤

Born in about 1880. Known to have still been working in 1940. Worked in Jonava (↓) before the First World War. Some of his photographs are held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai.

Itzik Kirshtein

⛤

Born in about 1920. Borukh's (↑) son?

Avraham Lipshitz

⛤

It's not entirely clear whether Mr. Lipshitz worked here and/or in Krakės (↓).

GRUZDŽIAI 

Gruzd

Isakas Aronštomas

Isaak Aronshtom

The town’s first photographer is said to have been active in 1903.

S. Levinas

Levin

Born in about 1889. Known to have been working on December 26, 1928.

JONAVA

Yonava יאָנאװא

Yosif Aria Chienas

Khyen

Born in Jonava in 1902. Known to have been working in 1926. 

Epstein

See Fevelis Joffė (↓).

Bentsel Hatskeliovich

Khatskeliovich

Born in about 1850. Active in 1872.

Fevelis Joffė

Joffe, Tevel/Tuvia Yoffe

Born in Jonava on February 28, 1897. Passed away in Irkutsk in 1971. Opened the Union photography studio at Plento g. 68 in about 1918. Is also associated with another photographer by the name of Epstein (↑). Mr. Joffė and most of his immediate family survived the Kovno Ghetto. Persecuted by the Soviets after the war, the photographer was deported to Siberia in 1949.

Judelis Kacenbergas

Yudel Katsenberg

The Dubingiai-born studio photographer and photojournalist Judelis Kacenburgas (c.1915-1978) is believed to have worked as a professional photographer in Jonava, Telšiai and Klaipėda between about 1935 and 1940, after which he briefly worked in a Soviet-run photo laboratory at a currently unknown location. He survived the war by working as a press photographer with the (in)famous 16th Rifle Division. Best remembered for some of the outstanding work he produced in Soviet-occupied Lithuania after 1945.

Borukh Kiršteinas

⛤

See Grinkiškis (↑).

David Krejeras

Kreyer

Born in about 1907. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine in December 1935.

Isak Shlapocnik

Elias Abramas Šlapočnikas, Shliapochnik

Born in about 1904. Not currently clear whether he worked in Jonava or Žasliai. 

Union 

Opened in about 1918 by Fevelis Joffė (↑). Operated out of an address at Ralio g. 17. A small handful of original photographic prints from the studio survive in several Lithuanian museums.

JONIŠKIS 

Yanishok יאַנישאָק

Ilja Fišeris

Fisher

Journalist and photographer. Jokūbas Fišeris' (↓) son. Born in Joniškis on May 13, 1927. Passed away on October 21, 1983. Nothing is currently known about his photography before the war, mostly because he was only 14 when the family escaped to Russia. After returning to Lithuania after the war, Mr. Fišeris worked as a photojournalist for several newspapers and magazines, and was one of the first photographers in the Soviet Union to start using colour photography in his work. Buried with his wife, Vanda, in the Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The whereabouts of his private archive remains a mystery.

Jankelis Fišeris

Jokūbas, Yankel Fischer, J. Fischer

Born in 1886. Ilja Fišeris' (↑) father. Known to have first been active in 1910. Along with thousands of other Lithuanian Jews, the photographer and his family were forced to live in exile in a region of the Russian Empire that wasn't occupied by the Germans during the First World War, from which he returned in 1921, running a photography studio at Šiaulių g. 5 and/or 9, between about 1923 and 1941, when the family escaped the German invasion. The studio was apparently on the top floor of the family home, which also contained the Lira cinema at street level. Several of his surviving photographic prints can be found among the collections at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai, the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius and various other institutions around Lithuania. Mr. Fišeris married Mere Šapočnikaitė on December 12, 1923. Mere appears to have been the sister of the Joniškis photographer Elias Abramas Šapočnikas (↓). 

Yankel Ger

Geras

Born in 1902, or posibly 1908. It's possible that Mr. Ger became a British citizen in about 1935, although it's not clear exactly what this means. 

Abel Gilmanas

Gilman

Born in 1909. Active in 1926.

Chaja Goldmanytė

Khaya Šapočnikienė 

Born in about 1894. Despite the fact that Chaja Goldmanytė is mentioned in more than one source as having worked as a photographer in Joniškis during the early 1920s, no record of either her or her photographs has ever been discovered. This is almost certainly down to the fact that she married the local photographer Elias Abramas Šapočnikas (↓), thus becoming Khaya Šapočnikienė, who, the same as her husband, is recorded as having been 27 on her return from Russian exile on May 29, 1921. 

Shura Milvidskaitė

Milvidsk

Born in about 1904.

Elias Abramas Šapočnikas 

Eliyash, Eliya, Shapochnik

Known to have lived and worked in Joniškis during the early 1920s. Married to Chaja Goldmanytė (↑). Recorded as having been 27 on his return from Russian exile on May 29, 1921. 

JURBARKAS

Yurburg יורבורג

Motelis Abramsonas

Motel Abramson

The photographer Motelis Abramsonas (1914-1992) is known to have been running a photography studio at Klišių g. 3 in 1922. His brother, Dovydas (1915-?), survived the Kovno Ghetto, and was famously photographed by Motelis after the war in the place where he hid during its liquidation in July 1944. 

N. D. Abramson

Abramsona

⛤

A tiny handful of surviving prints featuring a rather threadbare photography studio and several other outdoor locations testify to the fact that Mr. Abramson was probably Motelis' and Dovydas' (↑) father. According to the JewishGen Yizkor Book Necrology Database, the N stood for Natan.

Bentsel Beiman

Bencelis Beimanas

Born in Jurbarkas in about 1894. Married Beilė Pomušaitė from Kaunas on November 10, 1922. The photographer appears to have passed away at an early age. His wife and the couple's daughter, Batia, are believed to have been murdered during the Great Action at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas on October 29, 1941.

Leizer Beker

⛤

See Čekiškė (↑).

Mejer Gordon

Born in a currently unknown location in 1848. Recorded as having been active in Jurbarkas, Vilkaviškis, Trakai and other locations in what's now Belarus between about 1875 and 1890. It’s not entirely clear whether he worked in photography studios in these places, or whether he was simply a wandering photographer. Or perhaps both.

Leib Frakt

⛤

Active in 1926.

Abram Kušner

See Kaunas (↓).

Chanonas Levinas

Chanon Levin, K. Levinas, H. Levinas

Born on March 12, 1914. Owned and operated a photography studio at Vytauto Didžiojo g. 6 in Jurbarkas between 1929 and 1940. Displayed two photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933, and another at an exhibition organised by the Lithuanian Society for Photo Enthusiasts and others in Vilnius in April 1940. Survived the Holocaust, and passed away in Vilnius on July 22, 1992, where he lays at rest in the city's Jewish cemetery. Published two photography books, Mūsų Gyvenimo Dešimtmečiai in 1981, and Gyvenimo Žingsniai in 1983, during the Soviet occupation after the war, and appears to have worked as a photographer with the Red Army as it reoccupied Lithuania during the second half of 1944 and January 1945, which may explain his survival. Several of his pre-Second World War photographic prints survive in a number of different museums in Lithuania. 

Kushel Levin

Jekutiel, Kushelis Levinas

⛤

Born in 1910. Known to have been working as a photographer in 1931, the year he married Frade Velionskaitė in Kaunas. 

Aron Strashuner

Listed as having been a photographer on February 5, 1914. 

JŪŽINTAI 

Yuzhint

Ch. Kuras  

A single copy of one of Mr. Kuras’ photographic prints is known to be held among the collection at the Rokiškis Regional Museum. 

KAIŠIADORYS

Koshedar קאָשעדאַר

Efraim Cheminsky

Čeminskas

Born in Vilna on May 2, 1886. Recorded as being a photographer when he was given permission to stay in Lithuania on December 27, 1937.

Vulf Šimkovičius

Vulfas

⛤

Recorded as having been born in Vilkomir/Ukmergė in both 1880 and 1886, Mr. Šimkovičius appears to have been active in Kaišiadorys in 1937. No evidence of his work has yet been found. A Vulfas Šimkovičius from Kaunas married someone by the name of Rachil/Rozalia Frakeraitė, a milliner from Kaišiadorys who was born on April 24, 1886, which may help clarify the confusion. See also Wulf Shimkovich in Kaunas (↓) and Ukmergė (↓), who was clearly the same person. 

KALVARIJA

Kalvarye קאלװאריע

A formerly important town on the old road between Warsaw and St. Petersburg, in 1856 Kalvarija was home to over 6,500 Jews, or more than 80 percent of the town's total population. 

I. Mirlin

I. Mirlinas, I. Mirlino, Izakas, Ichak

Miscellaneous accounts remember Mr. Mirlinas as having been a kind and popular young man who operated a photography studio at Prekybos g, 13. Many of his original prints survive. Some are held among the collection at the Lithuanian Central State Archives. A surviving record from May 2, 1935 suggests that the photographer emigrated to Palestine.

New Photography

See Zorahk Rozental (↓).

Zorahk Rozental

Z. Rosenthal, Rozentalis

Born in 1893. Operated a photography studio called New Photography (↑) at Prekybos g. 45.

Š. Sideris 

Apparently operated a photography studio during the late 1930s. No further information is currently available.

Abel Silberstein

Zilberšteinas

Widely believed to have owned and operated Kalvarija’s first photography studio, Mr. Silberstein’s oldest known print dates from 1899. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Ralph Salinger, the undisputed champion of Jewish memory in the region where many of his descendants originally came from, it’s known that the photographer’s grave survives in the local Jewish cemetery. According to the reverse side of one of his elaborate studio prints that was produced in 1909, Albel Silberstein also owned a photography studio in Suwałki, 40 kilometres to the south in what's now northeastern Poland.

Manuelis Vigdoravičius 

Manuel Vigdorovič, Manuelis Vigdorovičius, Wigderowicz

⛤

Mr. Vigdoravičius studied painting at the Ivan Trutnev School of Art in Vilna/Vilnius, but abandoned his original calling after discovering that he couldn’t make a living from it. He opened his first photography studio in Kalvarija before the First World War (one account dates the event to 1912), before re-opening for business at Prekybos g. 9 in 1921. Active until the Germans arrived in June 1941, Mr. Vigdoravičius was murdered along with the rest of the Jews of Kalvarija soon after. At least one of his surviving prints is held in the archives at the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius. 

Vishnevsky

No information currently available.

KAUNAS

Kovne קאָװנע

The first photography studio is said to have opened in the city in 1854. The number of photography studios increased from 16 to 28 during the 12-month period between 1922 and 1923. On the day the German army entered Kaunas on June 24, 1941, the were about 50 operating in the city, almost all of them owned and staffed by Lithuanian Jews. Lithuanian Jewish photography studios could be found in the old town, on and around Laisvės al. in the city centre, in the suburbs of Aleksotas, Šančiai and Žaliakalnis, and even in the poverty-ravaged Vilijampolė/Slabodka neighbourhood , which would later become the location of the infamous Kovno Ghetto. 

Naum Abramavičius

Born in 1917. Nothing is currently known about Mr. Abramavičius, other than he served in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army during the Second World War.

Itsyk Amstibovskis

Born in Raguva in 1911. Known to have been working as a photographer in 1927. A copy of Mr. Amstibovskis' 1927 internal passport can be seen here.

Aron Altszuler

Alšuleris, Altshuler

Born in 1873. Known to have been active in 1921, although it's currently not entirely clear whether this was in Vilna/Vilnius or Kovno/Kaunas. Possibly studied in, and/or was originally from, St. Petersburg. Registered as living in Vilijampolė/Slabodka, a small town in its own right until it became part of Kaunas in 1919.

Moisey Aronas

Aron

Born in 1881. Known to have been active in 1921 and 1932. See also Fotolit (↓).  

Leja Aronaitė

Leah

Born in 1912. Listed as working as a photographer in 1929. Recorded as having lived with her photographer mother, Mira Aronienė (↓), at Lukšio g. 5-2 on January 12, 1941. A copy of her internal passport can be seen here. A document kept in the Arolsen Archives provides information about a woman who was admitted to the Stutthof concentration camp on July 13, 1944, who may have been Leja.

Mira Aronienė 

Mera, Mere

⛤

Born Mera Zisesaitė in Vilijampolė in 1879. Known to have owned the Splendid (sometimes mistakenly written as Flendlo) photography studio between 1936 and 1941, although it's not clear if Mira was a photographer herself, or whether she simply owned the business. Mrs. Aronienė is recorded as having lived with her photographer daughter, Leja Aronaitė (↑), at Lukšio g. 5-2 on January 12, 1941. The Splendid photography studio was located at Daukanto g. 8 on the northeastern corner of the Laisvės al./Daukanto g. intersection. Housed inside a building that was demolished to make way for the Merkurijus shopping centre in 1983 (which itself was demolished in 2009), the studio attracted a wide range of clients, from residents of the city who needed a simple likeness for their passport to minor celebrities in search of a formal portrait, such as the engineer Napoleonas Dobkevičius, who among other things was involved in the construction of the iconic Aleksotas funicular railway. Accompanied by an unmistakable company logo that featured an image of an artist’s palette, surviving photographs from the studio can be found in the archives of several museums in Kaunas and Lithuania. A small selection of photographs that have been accredited to the studio can be seen here.

Baero & Šimkovičiaus

A lavish photography studio that's known to have been operating at Laisvės al. 58 in 1921. Were perhaps Mr. Baeras and Shimon Bajer (↓) the same person. Almost certainly. See Wulf Shimkovich (↓).

Israel Bassarabija

Bessarabia, Besarabye

⛤

Born in Panevėžys in about 1902. Believed to have been active in Kaunas soon after the end of the First World War. Is known to have been operating the Progres photography studio (↓) at Laisvės al. 33 in 1931. It's recorded that the photographer, who married Hanna Zucker, the daughter of a baker from Ariogala, on December 26, 1919, was murdered in 1942, presumably while he was a prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto. No surviving examples of his work have yet been discovered.

Shimon Bajer

Shimon, Shiman, Bajeris, Bayer, Šimonas Bajeras

⛤

Coming soon. See also his ORT page here.

Shevach Barschhevsky

Ševachas Barščevskis

Born in Betygala in 1899. Sold photographic accessories in Kaunas in 1939. A copy of Mr. Barschhevsky’s 1930 internal passport is here.

David Bedek

⛤

See Pandėlys (↓).

Z. Belodubrovskis 

Belodubrovsky

Owned the Renaissance photography studio (↓) at Laisvės al. 47 during the interwar period. Two photographs featuring the same unidentified young woman that were made in the studio in 1936 are held among the collection at the Jurbarkas Regional Museum. Belodubrovskis (or Belodubrovsky) is a particularly unusual name, and just exactly who the photographer was is currently a complete mystery. Is/are Z. Belodubrovskis and S. Bielodoubrovsky (↓) the same person?

Aron Berdeckis

Berdetski

Born on December 8, 1910. Registered as working for a Mr. Jasreinas (Jasvoin?) at Laisvės al. 6 in 1939.

Isaak Berenshteinas

Born in Kaunas in 1903. Known to have been working in the city in 1922.

Berel Berk

Born in Vilna/Vilnius in 1910. Known to have been active in 1940. 

Liuba Berkovskienė

Berkovsky, Kravets, Kravacaitė, Liba 

Listed in several different sources as having been born Liuba Kravets in Šilalė in 1900, 1903 and 1904. Married Aizik Berkovsky from Smalyavichy/Smolevichi (in today's Belarus) in 1926. Although no surviving examples of her work have been found so far, a copy of the photographer's 1932 internal passport survives here. 

Germanas Berlis

Owned the Elena photography studio (↓) at Vilniaus g. 29 between 1935 and 1941. 

Sh. Bershtein

Born in Kovno/Kaunas in about 1904. Known to have been active in 1922. Possibly the brother-in-law of Rosa/Roza Bershteinienė, the sister of the Kudirkos Naumiestis photographer, Joseph Kliachko (↓).

S. Bielodoubrovsky

Whoever S. Bielodoubrovsky was, he appears to have specialised in classic studio portraits of single subjects. His studio stamp changed to reflect the time that he was living and working in, the earliest dating from the end of the 19th century (Prospect de Nicolas, Maison Witkind-Rabinowitsch), and the later ones from the 1920s being physically embossed onto the image. Although it's not completely clear at the moment, the photographer's name has been connected with a photography studio at Laisvės al. 82. Some of the photographer's surviving prints are known to be held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. Is/are S. Bielodoubrovsky and Z. Belodubrovskis (↑) the same person?

Efroim Birkganas

Born in Kėdainiai in 1909. Known to have been active in 1926. A copy of Mr. Birkganas' internal passport is here.

Moisey Birkganas

Born in 1901. Known to have been active in 1921.

Shmuel Biskas

Bishk

Born in 1920. Nothing is currently known about Mr. Biskas other than he served in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army. 

Zina Blumentalienė

See The Invisible Girls.

Jokub Borshtein

Borshteinas

Born in 1919. Active in 1936.

Broliai Rubinai

Br. Rubinų

Although several high quality photographs from the interwar period survive with the Br. Rubinų stamp embossed into the actual print, there doesn’t appear to be any information about the company, or at least none has been found so far. Broliai is the Lithuanian word for brothers, suggesting that the may well have been a connection with/between Moiseijus, Chaim and Geshel (↓).

Idel Bruk

Born in 1905. Married 27-year-old Feiga Keizansky from Jonava on January 1, 1934, the same year he was recorded as working as a photographer.

Eduards Brzozovski

See Frères Brzozovski (↓). 

J. Brzozovski

See Frères Brzozovski (↓). 

Frères Brzozovski

Brzozowska

Originally operating as a one-photographer studio, a couple of years after moving from Vilna to Kovno/Kaunas in 1877, the original J. Brzozovski went into partnership with his cousin, Eduards, after which the business became known by its more familiar name, despite the fact that the two weren't brothers. It's recorded that the studio was sold to a non-Jew by the name of Zatorski in 1882.

S. Bucher

Šimelis Bucheris, Vulf Bukher, Semen Volf Bukher, Szymiel Bucher

Believed to have been from Ariogala, and known to have been working as a photographer in Kaunas/Kovno in 1868. Operated his own photography studio somewhere on Nikolaiewski Prospekt (today's Laisvės al.) at around the same time. Mr. Bucher also shared a photography studio with Adolf Kaspari (↓). See here for two wonderful surviving examples of the work that the studio produced.

Abe Šliomas Burštein 

See Radviliškis (↓).

Esther Chalmanovičienė

⛤

See Kybartai (↓).

Shmerl Chalmanovičius

⛤

See Kybartai (↓).

Leyba Leyzer Cipelmanas

Tsipelman

Born in 1878. Active in 1926. 

Sara Cheifecaitė

Kheifets

⛤

Born in Eišiškės on October 31, 1917. Known to have been a student in Kaunas in 1934, and to have been living at Maironio g. 25 in 1941. It's thought that Miss Cheifecaitė was deported from the Kovno Ghetto to the Klooga concentration camp on October 26, 1943, where she was subsequently murdered on an unknown date. A copy of her internal passport is here.

Joselis Chjenas 

Known to have owned the Union photography studio (↓) at Savanorių pr. 138 (also recorded as Ukmergės pl. 50) between 1931 and 1941.

Ona Damskaitė

Damsky

Born in about 1896. A copy of her 1920 internal passport can be seen here.

Juozas Dimenshtein

Born in about 1885. Sold photographic accessories in Kaunas in 1939. Possibly in business with Shevach Barschhevsky (↑).

Itsyk Dukas

Duk

Born in Raseiniai in 1897. Active in 1920.

Abramas-Šimelis Effas

Abram Shimel Eff

Born in Marijampolė in 1893. Active in 1928. A copy of Mr. Effas' internal passport is here.

Elena

See Germanas Berlis (↑).

Foto-Bazar

A photographic supplies and services business at Laisvės al. 18, owned by the photographer Ilja Jasvoin (↓), and known to have been operating in the 1930s. The business also produced and sold photographic paper and negatives under the brand name Jaskaun.

Fotolit

The Fotolit photography studio opened at Vytauto pr. 1 (presumably opposite the train station) in 1937. Owned, operated and managed by Moisėjus Aronas (↑), a former owner of the city’s Modern photography studio (↓), and someone by the name of Icikas Langas. One surviving photograph is known to be held among the collection at the Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum.

Judelis Fridmanas

Yudel Fridman

Born in Vitebsk in 1903. Listed as running miscellaneous photography studios during the interwar period, at Laisvės al. 23, Laisvės al. 25 and Laisvės al. 41. His internal passport, complete with ID photograph (issued on January 24, 1934), survives in the Kaunas Regional State Archives. A digital copy of the document can be viewed here. Several of his photographs survive in Lithuanian institutions, as well as in the ORT archive in London. 

Yudel German

⛤

Born in about 1907. Murdered in 1944. A relative of the contemporary Dutch photographer, Sarah Mei Herman, who’s carried out extensive research into her family history in Lithuania. 

Chaimas Gilucas

Chilučio, Chilučis

Ran the Gilucas photography studio at Laisvės al. 25. Was known to have been working in 1925. Possibly also previously active in Latvia and Russia. According to some sources, Mr. Gilucis and the rest of his family emigrated to Brazil in 1926, after which his photography studio was taken over by Judelis Fridmanas (↑). 

H. Gladšteinas

Hercas, Gercas

The rise in the popularity of portable and affordable cameras for both amateurs and serious enthusiasts during the first decades of the 20th century created a new opportunity for businesses selling photographic equipment and providing processing/printing services, some of them it seems opened by previously prosperous studio photographers who were becoming increasingly aware that more and more of their former clients now owned their own cameras. Not only did the 1934 Lithuania telephone directory feature an advertisement for Agfa film on the cover, a number of the inside pages included ads for specific businesses. Although it's unclear whether he was ever a studio photographer, H. Gladšteinas, who sold photographic equipment and radios on Laisvės al. 47 during this period, was one such individual. It also seems to be the case that Mr. Gladšteinas offered a developing and printing service, a situation that has led some to credit photographs that he never took as being his own work due to his habit of adding his business stamp on the back of every print that he made. Whether he was responsible for taking the photograph that features on his 1924 internal passport remains a mystery however. The last known record of Mr. Gladšteinas, who was born in Kovno/Kaunas in 1895, dates from a January 12, 1941 Soviet document that indicates he lived at the same address as his business.

R. Goldbergas

The forgotten artist who created a large number of the intricate designs on a series of wonderfully detailed multiple portraits for a variety of schools, businesses and other institutions when he was working at the Modern photography studio (↓) during the interwar period. The R undoubtedly stands for Ruvin, a painter about whom records show was born in about 1878. Mr. Goldbergas lived at Ožeškienės g. 19 (today’s Ožeškienės g. 27), a mere two-minute walk from the photograhy studio where the image was created. A small selection of Mr, Goldbergas' amazing work can be seen here. Recent research has also uncovered a multiple portrait from the Zinaida photography studio belonging to Zina Blumentalienė that features the initials R.G. See also the Multiple Portraits box in Panevėžys (↓).

Meyer Gokhovich

Mejeris Gochovičius 

Born in Vilna on October 9, 1909. Already documented as being a photographer in Kaunas when he was 11. Two of the photographer's internal passports survive, which can be seen here and here. Last recorded as being alive in January 12, 1941, when he was listed as living at Maironio g. 23.

Mordkhel Gorbikas

Gorbik

See Alytus (↑).

Chaim Gordon

Gordonas

Born in Vilna/Vilnius in 1914. Active in 1937. Also may have worked in Šiauliai.

Izrael Gordon

Gordonas

Born in Malat/Molėtai in 1903. Active in 1920. A copy of Mr. Gordon's internal passport is here.

Shlioma Yosel Gurvich

Gurvičius

Believed to have been born in Zarasai in about 1906, Mr. Gurvich is briefly mentioned in a handful of documents dating from the 1930s. Registered in Vilijampolė, the site of the Kovno Ghetto. As yet, not a single one of his photographs has been discovered. 

Hirša Gurvičius

⛤

See Mažeikiai (↓).

Ideal

See Boruchas Mirbachas (↓).

Itsik Izrailiovich

See Varniai (↓).

Jacoby

See Ona Pinkertienė-Šneiderienė (↓).

Ilja Jasvoin

Ilija, Iliya, Yasvoyn, Josvain, Yosvain, Jasvoinas

⛤

Born in about 1882. Murdered in 1941. Several glass plate negatives that were exposed by Mr. Jasvoin are held among the collection at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art for reasons that no one can explain. Last recorded as being alive in a January 12, 1941 document, in which he's listed as having been living with his son, Lazar (1912-1941), at Gedimino g. 32. Also possibly associated with a shop that was located at Ukmergės pl. 29 in 1922. See also Baisogala (↑) and Foto-Bazar (↑).

Javorski

See P. Piotrowicz (↓).

Javorski & Piotrovitch

Responsible for a single known photograph, dated 1878, that's held among the collection at the Rokiškis Regional Museum. 

George Kadish

Girsh, Zvi Kadushin

Born Zvi/Girsh Kadushin in Raseiniai/Rossieny on August 25, 1910. Passed away in Hollywood (Florida) on September 2, 1997. Changed his name to George Kadish after the war. Worked as a science teacher at a Jewish school in Kaunas in the 1930s, probably until 1940. Registered as living at Prieplaukos kr. 15 (today’s Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 17) on January 12, 1941. Venerated for the undeniably extraordinary photographs he claimed to have taken while he was a prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto. Seldom challenged on the authenticity of some of them, and on a few technical details about his story in general. Although Mr. Kadish almost certainly took the majority of the photographs, including the ones that are known to have been recreated after the event, several may have been taken by the Marijampolė photographer Chaim David Ratner (↓), who was killed fighting as a Jewish partisan in July 1944. A more detailed insight into the controversy can be found in a recommended article by the Lithuanian historian Šarūnė Sederevičiūtė here.

Chaim Kalikovich

Kalikovičius

Born in about 1913. Active in 1935. 

Jozep Benjaminas Kaplanas

Yozep Benyamin Kaplan

Born 1896. Active in 1924.

Ida Kaplanienė

Listed as owning a photography studio at Laisvės al. 38 in 1931.

Adolf Kaspari

Listed as working as a photographer in 1867. Ran a studio with S. Bucher(↑) for a while.

Icyk Kliwański

Klawiński

Active from before 1863 until about 1865. Generally believed to have been the second photographer working in the city.

Meyer Kloiner

Born in about 1914. Lived in the Kaunas suburb of Šančiai. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine in 1934. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Josiel Koiranski

Jochiel, Josif, Józef, Koirański

Active from about August 1896. Worked for the summer season in Birštonas in 1902. Almost certainly the same photographer who produced photographic prints bearing the name Brzozowska and Koirański in about 1914. See Frères Brzozovski (↑).

S. Kotonas

Judging by the sheer diversity of photographs that survive with an S. Kotonas stamp on the reverse side, it seems unlikely that Mr. Kotonas was a studio photographer as some sources claim, but instead ran a processing and printing service for camera owners. 

Woolf Kresovsky

Born in Kovno/Kaunas in 1857, Mr. Kresovsky operated a photography studio with his son, Benjamin, at 87 Leman Street in Whitechapel in the East End of London at the beginning of the 20th century. Although it’s not known whether he was already a photographer before he emigrated, the 1901 United Kingdom census records the illuminating fact that he briefly shared the same address with the enigmatic and eccentric Lithuanian Jewish photographer, Leon Balk (see Klaipėda ↓). A popular name in many written accounts of historical London photographers, Woolf Kresovsky passed away in Stepney in 1930.

Abram Kušner

Abramas Kušneris

⛤

Born in Jurbarkas in 1890 (also written 1896 in some sources). Known to have been active in about 1920. A document held at the Arolsen Archives records the fact that Mr. Kušner entered Dachau on July 15, 1944, and that his wife, Ita née Wolk, was being held prisoner at the Stutthof concentration camp at the same time, meaning the couple survived the Kovno Ghetto. Another document attached to the photographer's file includes the word Auschwitz, and the date October 8, 1944. The fate of Ita remains unknown. A copy of Mr. Kušner's internal passport is here.

Josef Lancevickis

Josifas 

⛤

Born in Vilna in about 1910. Married 23-year-old Chana Berzakaitė from Musninkai on June 15, 1939. Definitely worked in Kaunas, and may have also been active in his wife’s hometown, where the couple are known to have been murdered in 1941. 

Latorski

No information currently available.

Lawdansky & Co

See E. Lawdański (↓).

E. Lawdański

Eugeniusz Laudan, E. Laudański

Eugenijus Lawdański is understood to have operated a photography studio in Kovno/Kaunas at around the turn of the 20th century. Not much is currently known on the subject, although it’s possible that the studio was part of a larger studio photography empire based in Warsaw. The business was almost certainly connected with the Lawdansky & Co photography studio (↑), which is known to have been operating in 1892. At least one surviving photograph from the latter includes the words 'Photo Crayon' next to the studio name, indicating that the staff were capable of producing so-called crayon portraits, or crayon enlargements/pastel portraits, a popular style of photography at the time in which small and inferior quality negatives could be improved by being retouched using various pencils, charcoal, pastels and crayons after they'd been enlarged onto photographic paper. Somehow also connected with a photography studio by the name of Centralny. 

Š. LEVINAS

On January 19, 1940, 23-year-old Chana Melamedaitė and her 20-year-old brother, Isakas, set sail for New York on the S. S. Drottningholm from Gothenburg in Sweden, taking 49 cherished photographs of their friends and family with them, of which several included Mr. Levinas’ studio mark on the reverse side. Beyond these few fragments of surviving historical information, not a single shred of evidence has been found to suggest that Mr. Levinas, whose business was located just across the road from Chana and Isakas' family home in the Kaunas suburb of Aleksotas, ever existed at all. 

David Lipšicas

Born in Kharkiv on February 1, 1913. Recorded as having been a 'semi-literate photographer' in 1934. 

Esther Lurie

Ester Lurje

Best remembered as one of the Jewish artists who chronicled life in the Kovno Ghetto between 1941 and 1944, Esther Lurie attended classes at the Kaunas Art School during the late 1930s, where she’s known to have dabbled in photography. Thirteen of her surviving negatives from the period are held without any information concerning their provenance among the multiple collections at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas. 

Avraam Magilevich

Believed to have been working as far back as 1869.

Nosin Medansky

Medanskis

Born in 1913. Active in 1935.

Icikas Melnikas

⛤

See Anykščiai (↑).

Boruchas Mirbachas 

Borukh, Mirbukh, Mirbakh

Born in Pilviškiai in 1893, Mr. Mirbachas is known to have owned the Ideal photography studio, which was located at different times at Laisvės al. 35, Laisvės al. 41 and Prezidento g. 15 during the interwar period. Records show that the photographer was the son of Mina Mirbachienė (see Virbalis and elsewhere) and several other photographers from Kaunas. One surviving stamp from the photography studio at Laisvės al. 35 also suggests that he worked (or at least liked to advertise himself) as a photojournalist, an almost non-existent profession in Lithuania at the time. 

Modern

A large and popular photography studio at Laisvės al. 80, located inside a no longer standing building that also housed the ORT workshop for ladies' tailoring trade school during the 1920s and 1930s. The studio was originally at another address, and was owned by several different individuals over the years. 

THE KASSELS

The Modern photography studio (↑) was one of the best in Kaunas. Among its many clients during the interwar period were the Kassels, a Lithuanian Jewish family who vanished without trace in the Kovno Ghetto in 1941, and whose small collection of family photographs were discovered hidden away in the attic of their former home in the Kaunas suburb of Žaliakalnis in 2016. The Camera Obscura project is currently trying to find surviving relatives in order to gift them the pictures. Click here for more information about the family, the photographs and the project in general.

Wulf Murnik

Recorded as running a photography studio in his apartment at Jonavos g. 15-1 in 1922.

Girša Neachovičius

Nauchavičius

Known to have been active between at least 1922 and 1941, Mr. Neachovičius, who was born in Kovno/Kaunas in 1901, is recorded as having worked as one of the city's so-called ‘fast’ or ‘five-minute’ photographers, who ploughed their trade outdoors using early Polaroid cameras, making a living by charming passing strangers into having their picture taken for a small fee. Associated with the centrally located Miesto Sodas, or City Garden, acopy of the photographer’s 1926 internal passport (here).

Hirsh Panaris

Giršas, Panar

⛤

Born in 1905. Active in 1926. According to his younger brother's testimony at Yad Vashem, Mr. Panaris was murdered in France in 1942. A copy of the photographer's internal passport can be seen here. 

Ona Pinkertienė-Šneiderienė 

Šneider, Šneideraitė 

Born in Žasliai on September 11, 1899. Records show that the young Ona spent the First World War living in involuntary exile in either the city or gubernia of Minsk, where she married a man by the name of Leiba Pinker in 1920, the same year she’s believed to have moved to Kaunas. Understood to have owned the Rafael photography studio (↓) at Laisvės al. 17 between 1930 and about 1937, further records show that by 1938 at the very latest, Ona had either changed the name of the business to Jacoby (↑) and moved to new premises at Laisvės al. 34, or they were two different business of which she owned both. The Jacoby photography studio was responsible for producing this wonderful portrait of the Pinsk-born actress Malvina Rappel (1904?-1987) that was made during her stay in Kaunas in January 1938. Although it’s not entirely clear whether Mrs. Pinkertienė-Šneiderienė was a photographer or a business owner, it is known for a fact that she was the sister of the Kaunas photographer Giršas Šneideris (↓), not his wife, as most historians seem to believe.

P. Piotrowicz

One photograph known to exist at present. Almost certainly one half of the Kovno/Kaunas studio photographers, Javorski & Piotrovitcz (↑).

Yankel Podkovetski

Yankel Podkovetski was born in Kalvarija in 1912, and is believed to have been active in Kaunas in about 1940.

Polyfoto

See Sulamita Rabinavičienė (↓). 

Arkadijus Presas

Ariel Presas, Pres, Arcady Press

Artist and photographer. Born in 1912. Last heard of in 1941, when he was listed as a Soviet evacuee during the German invasion. Also listed as having been a photographer for the NKVD, and for serving in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army. For reasons that remain something of a mystery, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas hold several of Mr. Presas' paintings and photographs featuring miscellaneous buildings around Kaunas' old town.

Progres

See Israel Bassarabija (↑).

Aron Pulerewicz

See Gitla Pulerewicz (↓).

Gitla Pulerewicz

Pulerewicz, A. Pulerewitsch

With what appear to be photographic origins in Jurbarkas, Gitla Pulerewicz (born in about 1859) and her husband, Aron (born in about 1841 ↑), are recorded as having subsequently operated a photography studio in the centre of Kovno/Kaunas that specialised in the production of tintypes/ferrotypes during the last two decades of the 19th century. 

Yankel Mortkhel Putrishanski

Born in Marijampolė in 1909. Active in 1940.

Geshel Rabin

Geshelis, Geshel, Rabinas

Born in 1906. Active in 1926.

Sulamita Rabinavičienė 

Shulamit, Rozenbliumaitė

Born Shulamit Rozenblium in Minsk on May 15 (some records state May 28), 1901, Mrs. Rabinavičienė is listed in numerous places as having been the owner of the Polyfoto photography studio (↑) at Laisvės al. 76 between about 1935 and 1940. Although there’s no reason to doubt this, it doesn’t seem to be the case that she was in any way involved in the creative side of the business, having clearly worked somewhere else as a teacher. Registered as living at Gardino g. 65 (today's Muitinės g. 4) in January 1941, Sulamita entered the Kovno Ghetto seven months later, and doesn’t appear again until she’s registered at the Stutthof concentration camp on July 13, 1944. A record from the Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery in Tel Aviv records the fact that not only did she survive the Holocaust, she went on to live a long life until she finally passed away on February 1, 1996. The fate of her husband, Isak/Isaak, who appears to have been a chemist, and the couple’s three sons, Amos, Benjamin and Shmuel, remains a mystery.

Rafael

See Ona Pinkertienė-Šneiderienė (↑) and Giršas Šneideris (↓). A small selection of photographs from the photography studio can be seen here.

Chaim David Ratner

⛤

See Marijampolė (↓).

Gershon Rebe

Geršonas

⛤

Born in Friedrichstadt in Germany on April 13, 1903. Recorded as having been active as a photographer in 1923. Also recorded as having worked as a painter and decorator in 1931. It's also thought that he may have worked as a photographer in Panevėžys at some time. Documents held at the Arolsen Archives record the fact the Mr. Rebe was murdered at Dachau on November 6, 1944.

Moisey Ricas

Rits

Born in Dvinsk/Daugavpils in today's southeastern Latvia, on April 29, 1912.

Chaim Rubin

Active before 1914. See also Broliai Rubinai (↑).

Elia Rubinas

Rubin

Born in 1914. Active in 1939. Somehow associated with Ilja Jasvoin (↑) and Polyfoto (↑).

Geshel Rubin

Heshel, Rubinas

Born on January 19, 1906. Active in 1925. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine in 1925. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information. See also Broliai Rubinai (↑).

Moiseijus Rubinas

Moisey Rubin

Born in 1873. See also Broliai Rubinai (↑).

Nautanas Rubinskas

Nautan Rubinsky

Born in 1901. Active in 1924.

Leib Itsik Sanderis

⛤

Born in Raseiniai in 1913. Married Taube Rochama Karlikaitė (born in Pilviškiai in 1914) in Kaunas on August 26, 1939. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine in 1940, which doesn't actually seem to be the case. Not only does Mr. Sanderis appear to have been registered as living at Vilniaus g. 29 (today's Vilniaus g. 26) on January 12, 1941, Yad Vashem records that he was murdered at the Ninth Fort on an unknown date. 

Sara Sandler

Ida Sora, Sandleraitė, Gelmanienė

⛤

Born in about 1907. Active in 1932. Records suggest that Sara survived the Kovno Ghetto, and was subsequently murdered at the Stutthof concentration camp.

Chaim Šapiro 

Chaimas Šapiras. Chaim Shapiro, Chaim Girsh Shapiro

Recorded as having been born in Kovno/Kaunas and Raseinai in 1905. Two photographs from the photographer's studio (dated 1940 and 1941) are currently known to survive. The studio address was located somewhere on Stalino pr. (today's Laisvės al.). Mr. Šapiro married the Balbieriškis photographer Masha Izakson (↑) in 1932. 

Pinkhus Šer

Born in 1893. Recorded as having been a photographer in 1925, and residing/working at Juozapavičiaus pr. 62. A connection between Mr. Šer and Pinchusas Šeras in Siauliai (↑) is suspected. Almost certainly the father of Estera Šeraitė (↓).

Estera Šeraitė

Is known to have been working in a photography studio at Juozapavičiaus pr. 62 in 1931. Almost certainly the daughter of Pinkhus Šer (↑).

Meyer Shapiras

Shapir

Born in 1910. Believed to have survived the Holocaust after he escaped to Russia in June 1941. 

Jakubas Shura

Yakub Shur, Yakub, Šuras, Jakob 

Born in 1904 in Kuršėnai. Registered as working as a photographer in the Kaunas suburb of Šančiai on March 21, 1929. Obviously very closely related to Maksas Šuras (↓). Son? See also Mendel Šuras in Kuršėnai (↓).

Maksas Šuras 

Born in Kuršėnai in about 1872. Known to have been active in Kaunas in 1922 and 1940. Obviously very closely related to Jakubas Shura (↑). Father? See also Mendel Šuras in Kuršėnai (↓).

Wulf Shimkovich

Šimkovičius

⛤

Born in Vilkomir/Ukmergė in 1890 (other accounts write 1880), strongly suggesting that the photographer is/was the same Shimkovich/Šimkovičius who worked at Baero & Šimkovičiaus (↑). According to the testimony of a relative that's kept at Yad Vashem, Mr. Shimkovich was murdered in 1942 when he was a prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto.

Alter Shuster

See Sholom Meyer Shuster (↓).

Iude Shuster

See Sholom Meyer Shuster (↓).

Malkiel Shuster

See Sholom Meyer Shuster (↓).

Sholom Meyer Shuster

Šusteris, Šusterio

Born on December 5, 1905, Sholom Meyer Shuster appears to have been the leading figure among a large family of self-taught photographers that also included Alter, Iude (born 1918) and Malkiel (born about 1891), of whom records suggest all shared the same photography studio that was located across the street from the (still standing) 1930s fire station on the eastern edge of Kaunas’ interwar red light district at Nemuno g. 1. Only a handful of the family’s photographs are known to survive in various museums in Kaunas, at least one of which is believed to have been found at the Ninth Fort mass murder site. Sholom also ran another photography studio at a considerably more salubrious address at Laisvės al. 59. 

Mejeris Smečechauskas

Meyer Smecechauskas, Meyer Smechekhovsky, Meer Smechekhausky

⛤

Studio photographer and photojournalist for Lietuvos Aidas. Known to have been working in 1939. Born in Suwałki (unclear whether the city or the gubernia) in about 1897. Also listed elsewhere as born in the same place on May 11, 1890. Issued an internal passport on March 18, 1930, when he stated that his profession was a photographer. Father’s name, Chaim Berk. Married Dveyra Mirbukh from Virbalis on April 24, 1925. Dveyra, who was born in about 1905, was almost certainly the daughter of the photographer Mina Mirbachienė (see Virbalis ↓), and the sister of the photographer and business owner Chiene Vinokurienė (↓). There are also some currently unclear connections between Mr. Smečechauskas and Eliash Yasvoin, the father of the Dotnuva photographer, Abram Yasvoin, a member of the large Yasvoin/Josvain family of Lithuanian Jewish photographers. The photographer is also known to have produced at least one series of photographs for OZE, a Jewish organisation dedicated to health, hygiene and childcare that still exists. One series, taken at an OZE children’s camp in Karmėlava near Kaunas in July 1938, survives among the as yet unexplored 'Lithuanian Jewish Communities' collection of photographs that are held at YIVO in New York. Despite the fact that he appears to have survived almost three years living in the Kovno Ghetto, documents held at the Arolsen Archives record the fact that Mr. Smečechauskas entered Dachau on July 15, 1944, and that he was murdered there on February 8, 1945. 

Giršas Šneideris

Hirsh Shneyder

Born in Žasliai in 1903 (some records state 1899). Ona Pinkertienė-Šneiderienė’s (↑) brother. Is known to have owned and operated the Rafael photography studio (↑) at Laisvės al. 17 in 1931. 

Dovyd Leib Sokhet

Born in Marijampolė in 1901. Known to have been active in 1925, when he married 23-year-old Golde Dvorech on June 21. 

Splendid

Written in several sources as having operated between 1936 and 1941, the Splendid photography studio was located on the northeastern corner of the Laisvės al./Daukanto g. intersection at what was Daukanto g. 8. Housed inside a building that was demolished to make way for the Merkurijus shopping centre in 1983 (which itself was demolished in 2009), the studio was owned by Mira Aronienė (↑), whose daughter, Leja Aronaitė (↑), appears to have been the studio's photographer. Splendid attracted a wide range of clients, from residents of the city who needed a simple likeness for their passport to minor celebrities in search of a formal portrait, such as the engineer Napoleonas Dobkevičius, who was involved in the construction of the Aleksotas funicular. Accompanied by an unmistakable company logo that featured an image of an artist’s palette, surviving photographs can be found among the collections of several museums in Kaunas. 

Strauss

See Aleksander Strauss (↓).

A. Strauss et Brzozovski

Run by Aleksander Strauss (↓) and one of the two members of the Brzozovska/Brzozovski family (↑), sometime during the 1870s and/or 1780s. Note the typically French affectation of the period in the title.

Aleksander Strauss

Born in Vilna in about 1834. Passed away in Kovno/Kaunas in about 1896. The original founder of the Strauss photography studio (↑) in about 1868. See also Vilnius (↓).

Bencel Szer

Bencel-Jankiel

See Bencel & Samuel Szer (↓).

Bencel & Samuel Szer

As photographers in their own right, the two Szer brothers, Bencel and Samuel, appear to have been quite active in various regions from about 1890 onwards. It’s also recorded that they ran their own company together in Kaunas during the interwar period.

Samuel Szer

See Bencel & Samuel Szer (↑).

Meyer Hirsh Teperis

Teper

Born in Jonava in 1918. Known to have been working in 1938.

Union

See Joselis Chjenas (↑). 

Leizer Videtsky

Videckis

Born in Vilkomir/Ukmergė in 1903. Active in 1934. Married to the photographer Mera Riva Videckienė (↓).

Mera Riva Videckienė

Mere, Rive, Videtsky

Née Shalminaitė. Born in Kretinga (or possibly Palanga) in 1910. Married to the photographer Leizer Videtsky (↑).

Rafael Vineras

Viner

⛤

Born in 1898. Active in March 1924. Married 25-year-old Leja Stargert from Pilviškiai on August 25, 1925. Rafael and Leja were murdered in Pilviškiai in 1941. No information concerning Mr. Vineras' photographic activity has yet been discovered.

Chiene Vinokurienė

Khiena, Chiena

The photographer and business owner Chiene Vinokurienė was born Chiene Mirbakh/Mirbach in Pilviškiai in about 1890. Known to have been running a photography studio in Kaunas at Laisvės al. 40 (also mentioned as Laisvės al. 17) during the 1930s, a tiny handful of original prints from her studio survive in a variety of museums around Lithuania. Mrs. Vinokurienė was married to the photographer Siras Vinokur (↓), and was the daughter of the photographer Mina Mirbachienė (see Virbalis ↓). 

Giršas Vinokuras

Hirsh Vinokur, Vinikuras

Born in 1886. Active from at least 1910 until 1939 or even later, when he was known to have been operating a photography studio at Juozapavičaus g. 58. For reasons that currently remain unclear, a large number of Mr. Vinokuas' surviving photographic prints feature portraits of Lithuanian military pilots, including several that were taken in Rokiškis, suggesting that he was related to the Rokiškis photographer, Leiba Vinokuras.

Siras Vinokur

Sir

Possibly born in Vindau/Ventspils in 1889. A surviving print in the possession of the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai shows that Mr. Vinokur was running a photography studio at Laisvės al. 50 in 1922. Married the photographer and business owner Chiene Vinokurienė (↑) in Pilviškiai on a currently unknown date. Evidence suggests that he passed away at an early age in 1930.

Sholom Vinokur

Born on November 25, 1914. Siras Vinokur's (↑) and Chiene Vinokurienė's (↑) son?

Vinokuras

Active at Daukšos g. 29 in 1931.

Mejeris Danielis Vinokuras

Meer Daniel Vinokur

Born 1894. Believed to have been working in the city in 1924. What seems to be the same person is listed as a prisoner at Dachau in August 1944.

Sora Vizgirdiskaitė

Vizgirdishky

Born in 1914 in the suburb of Šančiai. Active in 1931.

Szmuel Winokur

Vinokur

⛤

Arrived in Kaunas from Latvia in 1893, where he owned and operated a photography studio in the city centre. Sold the business and moved to Rokiškis (↓) in about in 1898.

Zinaida

Opened for business on November 1, 1931. See Zina Blumentalienė (↑). 

Khaim Zeltser

Movsha

Born in about 1860. Drafted into the Russian army at the age of 16.

Shlioma Zundelis

Salomon Zundel

Born in about 1906. Recorded as having been working as a photographer in 1921. 

KAVARSKAS

Kovarsk

Beilė Deliačkaitė

Beile Delechky, Betty Del

Born in about 1914, Miss Deliačkaitė acquired her first camera from Yokha Traubienė's sister, Feige (see Anykščiai ↑). Along with her younger brother, Moise (↓), she subsequently spent the next few years working as the unofficial photographer in the region, photographing everyday life and creating her own outdoor studios by hanging temporary backdrops on the sides of buildings. Surviving the Holocaust after emigrating to the United States in November 1938, Beilė, who was also a poet and keen amateur violinist, kept over 250 of her prints, of which several have been included in the highly recommended book, The Last Bright Days, which was produced by her son-in-law, Frank Buonagurio, in 2012. Beilė's entire surviving archive can be seen online here.

Moise Deliačkas

See Beilė Deliačkaitė (↑).

KĖDAINIAI 

Keydan קײדאן  

Morduch Dancig

Born in 1853. Studied photography in St. Petersburg, and is believed to have also been a student at a yeshiva in Vilna. Opened a photography studio in Kėdainiai in 1889, which doesn’t appear to have been operating for very long.

Yosel Gofman

Born in about 1824. Active in 1870.

Š. Heimanas 

Ran a photography studio at Gedimino g. 44. Possibly Šliomas, born in Kvėdarna in 1914. 

Mejeris Joffė

M. Joffė

Ran a studio at Josvainių g. 2 around the time of the First World War. See also Panemunis (↓).

Movsha Levin

Born in about 1823. Active in 1867.

Shlioma Likhtental

Born in about 1835. Active in 1869.

Modern

See J. Romaškevičius (↓).

J. Romaškevičius

Known to have been running a so-called electric studio, Modern (↑), at Gedimino g. 26 during the 1930s. Some of his prints are held at the Kėdainiai Regional Museum and the Panevėžys Regional Museum.

Gerts Solevey

Born in about 1840. Active in 1873.

Yehuda Šolomovičius

Sholomovich

⛤

Born in 1905. Murdered in 1941.

KELMĖ

Kelm קעלם

A. Daninienė

See Lazaris Daninas (↓).

Lazaris Daninas 

Eleazer Danin

⛤

Owned and operated the Progres [sic] photography studio (↓) at Tauragės g. 31. Believed to have been active between about 1922 and 1941. Several surviving examples of his work are held among the collection at the Kelmė Regional Museum. It's also recorded that Mr. Daninas was the head of the town's voluntary firemen. According to one source, the photographer worked together with a woman by the name of A. Daninienė, whose identity and fate remain unknown, but who was almost certainly his wife. 

Motel Furmansky

Born in 1911. Appears on a list stating he was arrested (by whom is unclear) on June 28, 1941.

V. Giršovičius

First known to have been active before the First World War, Mr. Giršovičius is also recorded as having worked at a photography studio at Tauragės g. 41 in 1940. 

Avram Kačerginskas

Kaczerginski

Born in 1904, Mr. Kačerginskas is known to have operated a photography studio at Skalos g. 23 during the interwar period. Along with his wife, Beila (born 1905), and the couple's two young daughters, Rokha (born 1934) and Basia (born 1936), Avram managed to escape to Russia after Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania in June 1941. Related to Shmerke Kaczerginski. 

Progres

See Lazaris Daninas (↑).

KLAIPĖDA 

Meml מעמל

Leon Balk

L. Balk

See The Life & Times of Leon Balk.  

THREE GLASGOW PHOTOGRAPHERS

The three photographers below are all believed to have met in what was still Memel at the time. Not much is currently known about their early lives. Scroll down and read more about what they all did when they arrived in Scotland here.

Maurice Pearlmann

Moritz

Married to Benjamin Wohlgemuth’s (↓) niece. Emigrated to Glasgow on an unknown date, where he passed away in 1911. 

Jechiel Sternstein

Born in Virbalis on January 3, 1849. Believed to have been active in Memel/Klaipėda in about 1878, the same year he married a local girl by the name of Sarah/Sara Wohlgemuth, whose brother was the photographer Benjamin Wohlgemuth (↓), and whose father, Rabbi Scheu Abraham Wohlgemuth, conducted the proceedings. Lived at Neue Straße 5 (today's Turgaus a.). Emigrated to Glasgow on a currently unknown date, where it's understood a son, Sigmund, was born in about 1895 to Jechiel's second wife, Helene née Brzoza, Sarah having passed away childless at a young age. It seems that Mr. Sterstein continued to work as a photographer under the name Herr J. Sternstein, working out of a studio at 434 St. George’s Road, and specialising in group portraits of school children. The photographer passed away in March 1928, and is buried in the Hebrew section at the complex of multi-faith cemeteries on Glasgow's Tresta Road. Some of his original photographic prints are held among the collection at the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre.

Benjamin Wohlgemuth

Born in about 1850. The son of a rabbi. Jechiel Moses Sternstein's (↑) brother-in-law. Known to have been working in Glasgow in 1879.

Dorothy Bohm

Born Dorothea Israelit into a wealthy and cultured Lithuanian Jewish family in Königsberg in 1924, after moving with her parents to Klaipėda in about 1932 and then to Šiauliai seven years later, the teenage Dorothea was eventually sent to the safety of the UK a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War. After studying photography in wartime Manchester and marrying a fellow Jewish refugee from Łódź in 1945, Dorothy Bohm as she was now known went on to become not only an established photographer in her own right, but also a leading figure in British photography in general. Not quite making it to a hundred, Dorothy insisted on sticking around to see the birth of her grandchildren before finally passing away in 2023. Gone but by no means forgotten, her work continues to tour galleries at home and abroad. To find out more, Dorothy's official website is here. 

M. Cohn

An advertisement in a copy of the Memeler Wochenblat records Mr. Cohn as having been running a photography studio producing daguerreotypes on Rossgartenstrasse (today’s Vytauto g.) in 1852.

M. Garfein

Responsible for a small number of surviving studio portraits from around the turn of the 20th century that are now held among the collections at several museums in Lithuania. As well as operating a photography studio at Libauer Strasse 20 (today's Manto g.), Mr. Garfein also maintained a photography business at Steindamm 154 in Königsberg. The name behind the M remains unknown. A small selection of the photographer's surviving studio portraits can be seen here.

Nadia Kaplan

Coming soon.

Nathan Šapselbonas

Shapselbon, Shabselbon

Born in Telšiai in 1903, where he's recorded as having been working as a photographer in 1920, Mr. Šapselbonas operated a photography studio in Klaipėda/Memel at Junkerstr/Junkerių g. 4/5 soon after, which was subsequently taken over by Leon Balk (↑) after he returned from England.

Paul Venikas

⛤

Born on April 27, 1921. Deported from the Mechelen transit camp in Belgium in 1942. Murdered at Auschwitz.

KRAKĖS 

Krok קראָק

Simkha Leyba Golochevsky

Active in 1909. Possibly the father of the Panevėžys photographer, Menakhem Glocevskis (↓).

Avraham Lipshitz

⛤

It's not entirely clear whether Mr. Lipshitz worked here and/or in Grinkiškis (↑).

KRAŽIAI 

Krozh קראָזש

Henach Jovel

Jovelis

⛤

Born in 1913, Henach Jovel is known to have operated a photography studio at Valančiaus g. 15 during the interwar period, and to have married Tema Golda Avner (born 1908) in Kražiai on March 5, 1937. A single surviving photograph can be found among the collection at the Kelmė Regional Museum.

KREKENAVA

Krakinove קראַקינאָווע

Abraham Yankel Ševelis

Shevel

Born in 1905. Active in 1922.

Jankelis Trakmanas

See Panevėžys (↓).

KRETINGA

Kretinge קרעטינגע

David Kolombusas

Kolombus

Born in about 1909. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine with his wife, Sore Reize, in 1934. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Faitel Markus

Born in 1919. Appears to have emigrated to Palestine in 1936 or 1937. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Survillo

On June 11, 1912, 18-year-old Elena Survillo identified herself in her postal savings account book as having been married to an otherwise anonymous photographer.

Motla Zinger

Born in 1915. Almost certainly the Motelis Zingeris who married Seine/Sheine Kopelytė from Vabalninkas (born in 1914) in Palanga on December 3, 1939. Escaped to Russia ahead of the German invasion in June 1941. 

KUDIRKOS NAUMIESTIS 

Nayshtot-Shaki נײַשטאָט־שירווינט 

Nayshtot-Shirvint נײַשטאָט־שאַקי

Along with the town of Žemaičių Naumiestis in western Lithuania, Kudirkos Naumiestis was somewhat confusingly known as Naumiestis (New Town) during the early part of the 20th century.

Šmerelis Chlaukavičius 

Believed to have operated a photography studio during the early 1920s at Prekyvietė 26.

Joseph Kliachko

Josifas Kliačkas

A soldier in the Russian army during the First World War, Mr. Kliachko, who was born in Panevėžys in about 1892, was awarded a loan by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in 1923 that enabled him to renovate his photography studio in what was still known at the time as Naumiestis. Two surviving photographs taken by Joseph can be found here. A small image of his photography studio can be found here. 

Abelis Smolenskis

Aba Smolensky

⛤

Born in 1908. Active during the 1920s and 1930s. Although it's recorded that Mr. Smolenskis received permission to emigrate to Palestine on December 31, 1934, other records clearly show that he married 32-year-old Cile Ribovskaitė from Vilkaviškis on May 19, 1938, and that he was murdered on September 16, 1941. A few of the photographer's prints are known to survive in a number of different museums in Lithuania.

KULAUTUVA

Kalatove

Although there appear to be no known records of a permanent photography studio in Kulautuva, its reputation as a popular resort during the interwar period made it an attractive option for urban photographers looking to make a little extra money during the short summer season.

Ilja Jasvoinas 

⛤

The photographer Ilja Jasvoinas (see Kaunas ↑) is known to have taken several informal portraits of visitors to Kulautuva during the 1930s.

FOUND AMONG THE RUINS

Coming soon.

KUPIŠKIS 

Kupishok

H. Kėrbėlis

Operated the Menas photography studio (↓) at Vytauto Didžiojo g. 21. Is known to have been active in 1935.

Menas

See H. Kėrbėlis (↑).

Joselis Šapiro

Josel Shapir

Born in 1905. Operated a photography studio during the interwar period, almost certainly at Gedimino g. 20. Also associated with Vytauto g. 5, which may have been the photographer's home address. Believed to have left Kupiškis and/or closed his business shortly before the war. Married Seina Feiga Levinaitė on September 17, 1935. Two photographs held in the Kupiškis Ethnographic Museum dating from what appear to be not long after the war, one taken in the small village of Graužikai and the other in Panevėžys, are credited to the photographer, suggesting Mr. Šapiro survived the Holocaust.

David Tseplovich

Is known to have been operating a photography studio at Gedimino g. 6 in 1935.

KURŠĖNAI

Kurshon קורשאַן

Mendel Shur

Mendel Šuras, Shur

Active on July 31, 1929. See also Jakubas Shura and Maksas Šuras in Kaunas (↑)

KVĖDARNA

Khvidan כװידאן

Israel Fishel

Born in about 1907. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine on May 18, 1933. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

KYBARTAI

Kibart קיבאַרט

Esther Chalmanovičienė

Khlamnovitz

⛤

Born in about 1897. Married to Shmerl Chalmanovičius (↓). Believed to have been murdered in Kaunas.

Shmerl Chalmanovičius

⛤

Born in about 1890. Married to Esther Chalmanovičienė (↑). Known to have been active in 1925. A portrait of the author Juozapas Albinas Herbačiauskas bearing the stamp of Mr. Chlamnavičius’s photography business at Senapielis g. 83 survives in the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature in Kaunas, the city in which the photographer is believed to have been murdered.

Mikhel Josvain

Yosvain, Yasvoin

Born in about 1843. Active before the First World War, and probably after he returned from forced exile in Voronezh in June 1921. Mr. Josvain was from a large family of Jewish photographers, including one illustrious member who worked for the Russian court, and whose photographs are preserved at the Royal Windsor Collection. Many of Mikhel's early studio prints survive in numerous museums around Lithuania. 

Isai Pilovnik

⛤

See Babtai (↑).

LAUKUVA

Loikeve לויקעווע

Zvi Tabačnikas

Tabacznik

⛤

Born in 1899.

LAZDIJAI

Ladzey לאַזדײ

Zalmanas Tezba

See Marijampolė (↓).

Shlioma Idovičius 

Born in 1911.

Chaim Markas

Chaimas, Khaim

⛤

Born in Telšiai in about 1898. Active during the late 1920s and early 1930s at least. Several of his photographs are marked on the reverse side with the stamp, 'Ch. Marko, Fotograija, Lazdijai'. Appears to have operated a makeshift/portable studio. Married Taube Kovalsky (born in 1903) on December 15, 1926. Murdered in 1941. 

Isak Vilenskis

⛤

Appears to have been born in Simnas (↑) in about 1906. Known to have been active in 1931.

LINKUVA

Linkeve לינקעװע

Leja Milchaitė

Chaitienė

Born in 1907. Married Leizeris Chaitas, the brother of the photographers Icik Chaitas (see Pasvalys ↓) and Dora Chaitaitė (see Saločiai ↓), on March 4, 1933. Active from about 1930. Several surviving examples of Miss Milchaitė's original prints are held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai.

LUKŠIAI 

Lukshy

H. Ehrenberg

Photo enthusiast. Displayed nine photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933.

E. Menbergas

Photo enthusiast. Displayed five photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933.

LUOKĖ

Luknik לוקניק

Slomo Glikman

⛤

See Telšiai (↓).

LYGUMAI

Ligem ליגעם  

Isaac Abramsonas

Abramson

Born in 1905. Active in 1921.

MARIJAMPOLĖ

Mariampol מריאמפול

During a six-hour period on Monday September 1, 1941, more than 5,000 Jewish men, women and children from Marijampolė and the surrounding area were shot by a group of German soldiers and Lithuanian policemen at the city's military base. Among them were Movšė Buchalteris (↓), Judelis Fridbergas (↓), Abramas Pimšteinas (↓), Zalmanas Tezba (↓) and Jakobas Vindsbergis (↓), five of the city's most celebrated studio photographers. 

Leon Anscher

Leonas Anšeras

Early studio photographer. Known to have been working in the city in 1873. A single surviving print by Mr. Anscher, taken in the same year and believed to be the earliest photograph taken in the city,  is held among the collection at the Institute of Lithuanian Literature & Folklore in Vilnius.

O. Berenstein

Berenšteinas

Ran a photography studio in the city before 1914. A single portrait is currently known to survive.

Izis Bidermanas

Israëlis Bidermanas, Israel Biderman

Before he moved to Paris in 1930 and became famous, Izis Bidermanas (1911-1980) was a young photographer with no money in 1920s Marijampolė who’d studied under the tutelage of the city’s most respected interwar photographer, Movšė Buchalteris (↓). None of his early Lithuanian photographs are known to have survived. 

Movšė Buchalteris

Moisiejus Buchalteris, Mowsza Buhalter

⛤

Born into a large dynasty of Jewish booksellers in 1868, Movšė Buchalteris was by far the most important photographer to have ever lived and worked in Marijampolė. Having abandoned his studies at the illustrious Ivan Trutnev School of Art in Vilna/Vilnius, the young Buchalteris turned his attention to photography, and was probably already working professionally when he came back to live in Marijampolė and opened his first studio in the city in about 1891. Widely respected as an outstanding studio portrait photographer, Mr. Buchalteris also known to have dabbled in early street photography, taking one of his presumably much smaller cameras out into the streets to record the good, the bad and the ugly things that he serendipitously discovered as he walked around the city. Alleged to have won a gold medal at an exhibition in Milan in 1909 (note that it was more likely to have been in 1906), Movšė Buchalteris was also a respected teacher (see Izis Bidermanas (↑), Abramas Pimšteinas (↓) and Jakobas Vindsbergis ↓). Many of the photographer's surviving prints can be found among the collections of museums and other cultural institutions throughout Lithuania and abroad. By sheer luck, a photograph of Mr. Buchalteris' somewhat rickety wooden studio survives in the Marijampolė Regional Museum. Known to have been located in the city centre, where everything was destroyed by the Luftwaffe and/or local looters on June 22, 1941, it's not hard to understand why so few original negatives by any pre-Second World War Lithuanian Jewish photographs survived.  

BUCHALTERIS & VINDSBERGIS

The Marijampolė photographers Movšė Buchalteris (↑) and Jakobas Vindsbergis (↓) appear to have run a photography studio together for a while during the early 1920s. More information to follow.

Elektro Photo-Ateljė Modern

Modern

See Abramas Pimšteinas (↓).

Foto Studio

See Jakobas Vindsbergis (↓).

Judelis Fridbergas 

Jakov, Jakovas, Fridberg, Friedberg

⛤

Born in the tiny village of Pinigėliai near Panevėžys in about 1890, and allegedly settling in Marijampolė four decades later, nothing much is known about Judelis Fridbergas' life at all. Becoming a photographer in about 1924, and marrying (for the second time) a wealthy and much younger woman by the name of Berta Kaminarskaitė on August 28, 1934, it's written in some sources that his photography studio at Laisvės g. 3 was destroyed by the Luftwaffe during first few day of the war. Conversely, it's also been noted by the Lithuanian photographer and photo historian Stanislovas Žvirgždas that it was the only photography studio in Marijampolė to survive the German invasion, and that the local municipality subsequently 'offered' it to the city's non-Jewish photographers after Mr. Fridbergas was murdered. A selection of photographs representing Mr. Fridbergas' diverse range of work can be seen here.

M. Frizinskis

⛤

A student of Abramas Pimšteinas (↓), the photographer M. Frizinskis operated the Rojal photography studio (↓) at Vytauto g. 17. A single surviving example of his work, dated April 8, 1941, can be seen here.

V. Homan

Possibly the same person as the Riga photographer V. Homann, who was active at around the turn of the 20th century.

Moshe Iakobson

⛤

Born in about 1914.

Leiba Lepoladskis

Recorded as having owned and operated a photography studio at Vilkaviškio g. 4 in 1922.

Shepsel Nalickis

Shabtai‑Hirsh Nalizki 

⛤

Born in Suwałki in about 1916. An active Zionist within the Brit Kanaim organisation, although Mr. Nalickis is recorded as having emigrated to Palestine on March 20, 1935, it seems that his visit to the Holy Land was a brief one, and that he met the same fate as several other photographers in the city. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Nauja Fotografija

See Jakobas Vindsbergis (↓).

Abramas Pimšteinas

Abram/Abrom Pimstein, Fimshtein

⛤ 

The son of a Jewish baker from Kalvarija, Abramas Pimšteinas was born in about 1910. Learning his craft at an unknown location in Kaunas as well as under the supervision of the legendary Movšė Buchalteris (↑), Mr. Pimšteinas, who married a young woman by the name of Sara Dobsanskytė on March 8, 1936, is believed to have operated photography studios at Bažnyčios g. 1 and Vytauto g. 28, of which one or both was known by the flamboyant name of Elektro Photo-Ateljė Modern (↑), and that was famed throughout the region for possessing the finest German-produced equipment. It's also been noted that Mr. Pimšteinas became a teacher himself, and that learning to become a photographer under his tutelage took three years to complete, and cost 500 Lithuanian litas. A photograph of Abramas standing outside one of his photography studios in the company of his then student, Chaim David Ratner (↓), can be seen here.

Chaim David Ratner

Ratneris

⛤ 

Born in 1914 and a former student of Abramas Pimšteinas (↑), Chaim David Ratner is believed to have operated a small photography studio at Kęstučio g. 17. A prisoner in the Kovno Ghetto, Mr. Ratner’s experiences in the Lithuanian army during the mid-1930s led to him join the ghetto’s Jewish underground resistance organisation as a military instructor, a decision that would ultimately lead to his death in combat in July 1944. A few of his surviving photographs from Marijampolė are held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. Some of his Kovno Ghetto photographs, of which some may have been mistakenly attributed to George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin (see Kaunas ↑), can be found online. A photograph of a young Chaim sitting with his then tutor, Abramas Pimšteinas (↑), can be seen here.

Rojal

As in Royal. See M. Frizinskis (↑).

Zalmanas Tezba 

Salman Tiazba

⛤

Information about the life and photographic activities of Zalmanas Tezba, who's listed in some places as having run a photography studio at Bažnyčios g. 1, and in others at Bažnyčios g. 3, is contradictory and practically non-existent. Suffering from increasingly bad eyesight, Mr. Tezba, who was murdered in 1941, apparently retired from photography in the late 1930s and moved into the fruit business. Possibly the photographer of the same name from Lazdijai (↑). 

Jakobas Vindsbergis 

⛤

Born in Vilkaviškis in 1890. Another former student of Movšė Buchalteris (↑). Opened his first known photography studio, Nauja Fotografija (↑), at Vytauto g. 21 in about 1926. About 12 years later, he opened the Foto Studio photography studio (↑), which, being supplied with electricity, enabled him to produce much better quality negatives. Examples of Mr. Vindsbergis’ original photographic prints are known to survive among the collections at the Panevėžys Regional Museum and the Ukmergė Regional Museum.

MAŽEIKIAI

Mazheik מאַזשײק

See also Fruma Gurvičienė in The Invisible Girls.

Hirša Gurvičius

Girsh, Girshas

⛤

Born in Telšiai in about 1888 (some sources state 1891). After studying photography while living in forced exile in Saratov during the First World War, Mr. Gurvičius established his first photography studio in his father’s house at Laisvės g. 8 in Mažeikiai in about 1920. Married Fruma née Braudaitė, a paediatrician from Kaunas, in about 1925. Not particularly religious, it’s said that the photographer did at least attend synagogue every Friday, when his assistant, Kostas Bužokas, would accompany him to the door, carrying his copy of the Talmud for him so as to not break Shabbat law. One of the most respected and well-known figures in Mažeikiai during the interwar period, Hirša Gurvičius’ business was nationalised by the Soviets, forcing him to move to Kaunas in 1940 or 1941. Along with Fruma and the couple’s two young daughters, Bela and Eta, Mr. Gurvičius was imprisoned in the Kovno Ghetto. All three women are known to have survived the experience, thanks in part to several Lithuanians who helped hide the girls. Fruma Gurvičienė later wrote about the family’s survival in a 1967 article when she was already living in Israel, in which she mentioned that the photographer’s glass plate negatives were stolen and wiped clean with vinegar by a local family, who used them to build cloches for their vegetable garden. It's also mentioned in one source that the Lithuanian photographer Pranas Vaišnoras 'moved into' Mr. Gurvičius' Mažeikiai photography studio during the war. A single document held in the Arolsen Archives notes that the photographer entered Dachau on July 15, 1944, and that he was murdered there a few months later on November 10. See also this map.

MERKINĖ

Meretsh מערעטש

Khana Funk

Chana, Hanka, Kabacznik, Fink

⛤

Born Khana Kabacznik in 1895. Known affectionately as Hanka. Not entirely clear for how long she lived and worked in Merkinė. What's known for sure is that at some time after the First World War she moved to the Polish city of Lublin and married the photographer Eljasz (sometimes Elijah, or just Eli) Funk, who was born on October 18, 1886, and who operated the Bernardi photography studio at ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 60. Along with their son, Tzemakh, Khana and Eljasz were murdered on an unknown date at Majdanek in 1941 or 1942. An amazing collection of surviving photographs featuring all three members of the Funk family can be seen by clicking on the relevant names/links on this page on the Yad Vashem website. 

Judelis Mileras 

Yehuda, Judelio Milero

⛤

Born in Skidzyelʹ/Skidel in today's western Belarus in 1880. Simselis Mileris' (↓) father. There remains much confusion concerning the two photographers to the point that the surviving examples of their work is rather muddled up. One or both of them are believed to have operated a photography studio somewhere on the central marketplace.

Simselis Mileris

Mileras

⛤

Born in 1907. Judelis Mileras' (↑) son. 

MOLĖTAI

Malat מאַליאַט

Judel Ibedas

See Širvintos (↓).

MOSĖDIS

Maishad מײַסיאַד

Helena Gitkindaitė-Zoran

⛤

Born Helena Gitkindaitė in about 1910. Married Faivel Zoran, a miller from Kantaučiai, on February 7, 1938. Believed to have operated a photography studio somewhere on Bažnyčios g. during the 1930s. Murdered in the Jewish cemetery in Kretinga in July 1941.

Malka Sekolektoraitė 

Sekolektor

⛤

Born in 1906. Nothing is currently known about the activities of the photographer Malka Sekolektoraitė, although it’s recorded that she operated a small photography studio on Kęstučio g. and that she was murdered in the Jewish cemetery in Kretinga in July 1941. Several of Malka's surviving photographic prints are held among the collection at the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius. See the Mosėdis Shtetl Project website for more information, including the only known surviving photograph of Malka Sekolektoraitė herself. 

MUSNINKAI

Musnik

Josef Lancevickis

⛤

See Kaunas (↑).

NEMAKŠČIAI

Nemoksht נעמאָקשט

Berta Katsnelenbogen

Pumpiansky

Born in Vilna in 1859. Listed as having been working in Nemakščiai in 1894.

NEMENČINĖ

Nementchin נעמענטשין

Kalman Apatow

Apat

Born on April 5, 1907. Recorded as having been a photographer on May 29, 1922.

PABRADĖ

Podbrodz פּאָדבראָדז

Mozes Fejgenberg

May have worked here before moving to Wilno in the early 1920s. See also Vilnius (↓).

Abraham Zajdenberg

Zaidenberg

Born on September 24, 1889. Active in 1922.

PAKRUOJIS

Pokroy

A. Skoka

A single known studio photograph from 1913 survives among the collection at the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature in Kaunas.

Rachel Eljason

Rakhel Eljasonaitė

⛤

Born in 1910 (also recorded as 1915). It's not entirely clear whether Rachel was a photographer and/or if she owned a shop that sold photographic supplies. Mounting evidence suggests that she was both.

PALANGA

Polangen פּאַלאָנגע

J. Blok

Bloch

One of the photographer's prints from 1932 is held among the collection at the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius.

Henia Davidovitz

⛤

Murdered in 1941.

Wulf Heiman

Heyman

Born in Palanga on June 18, 1870. Active in Riga in about 1919. Whether Mr. Helman ever worked in Palanga remains unknown.

PANDĖLYS 

Ponedel פּאָנעדעל

David Bedek

⛤

Born in 1915. May have also worked in Kaunas.

O. Čadovičius 

Active in the 1930s. The O possibly stands for Orcikas. A small number of the photographer's original prints are held among the collections of several museums in Lithuania. Most photographs appear to have been taken in a very rudimentary/makeshift photography studio.

Haim Giluc

Chaim Giluts

Recorded as being a photographer on returning with his family from enforced exile in Voronezh in 1921. 

PANEMUNIS

Ponim

Mejeris Joffė

Three original prints by the photographer are held among the collection at the Rokiškis Regional Museum. See also Kėdainiai (↑).

PANEVĖŽYS

Ponevezh פּאָנעװעזש

Rocha Zelda Beniaminavich

Rokha, Benjaminavičiūtė

Born in 1915. Registered at Tilto g. 6 in 1933.

Movsha‑Mordchel Berkovich

Born on March 27, 1914. Registered at Respublikos g. 49 in 1931.

Berel Girsh Binger

Born in Raguva in 1915. Known to have been working as a photographer in 1939. The location of his business however remains a mystery.

Meier Birman

Born in about 1892.

Shulamit Fridaitė 

Fried

⛤

Recorded as having been born in Krekenava on December 20, 1913 (or possibly 1916). Icikas Fridas' (↓) and Chana Fridienė's (↓) daughter.

Icikas Fridas 

Icik, Itsyk, Berel, Fried, Friedas

⛤

Born in about 1883. Chana Fridienė's (↓) husband and Shulamit Fridaitė' (↑) father. Operated a photography studio at Bataliono g. 2 in 1925. A number of his original prints survive among the collection at the Panevėžys Regional Museum. Known to have worked with an artist by the name of M. Gendelis (↓). The same person as Itsik Berel Frid in Pasvalys (↓)?

Chana Fridienė 

⛤

Born Chana Jofe in Joniškėlis in about 1889. Icikas Fridas' (↑) wife and Shulamit Fridaitė's (↑) mother.

M. Gendelis

Artist connected with the work of the Panevėžys photographers Icikas Fridas (↑) and Aron Gutner (↓). An example of his extraordinarily detailed work, in this case on an image from the photography studio of the latter, can be seen here.

MULTIPLE PORTRAITS

Coming soon.

Motel Ger

Born in about 1890. Active in about 1910.

Bencion Glazery

Gencel

Opened a photography studio at a currently unknown address in about 1875. Reported to have emigrated to the United States after the building in which it was located burned down.

Menakhem Gločevskis

Golotchevski

Born in 1905. Applied for an internal passport on December 9, 1925. Almost certainly the son of the Krakės photographer, Simkha Leyba Golochevsky (↑).

Yankel Gor

Born in Seredžius on July 15, 1881, Mr. Gor is recorded as having been working as a photographer in April 1900. See also Jacob Gor in Ukmergė (↓).

Leiba Greiseris

Leibas

⛤

Leiba Greiseris is understood to have emigrated to South Africa in 1905, where he earned enough money in order to return to Panevėžys and open a photography studio at Respublikos g. 12 in about 1921. Despite acquiring British citizenship during his 16-year absence from Lithuania, it seems that he decided to stay in Lithuania as the Second World War moved increasingly closer to the Baltic states, a decision that cost him his life during the summer of 1941. Several of Mr. Greiseris’ original prints can be found among the collection at the Panevėžys Regional Museum. 

Aron Gutner

A. Gutneras, Aronas Gutneris

Born in 1889 in Žasliai. Well known for his formal studio portraits, and believed to have been working since at least 1925. Many of Mr. Gutner’s photographs are held among the collection at the Panevėžys Regional Museum. 

Herman Jakolevas 

Yakolev

Born in Salamiestis in 1905. Active in 1920. Pinkhus' brother (↓).

Pinkhus Jakolevas 

Yakolev

Born in Salamiestis in about 1893. Active in 1920. Herman's brother (↑).

Barney Joffe

Born in Panevėžys in 1889. Emigrated to South Africa in about 1906. Obviously not born Barney. It's also unlikely that Mr. Joffe was already working as a photographer when he left Lithuania, unless perhaps he was related to Israel Jofė (↓).

Israel Jofė

Yoffe, Jofas

Born in April 1902. Active in 1921. Became a British citizen in 1932. Almost certainly the Israel Joffe who passed away on October 18, 1993, and who lies at rest in the Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Vaughan, Ontario.

A. Kerbelis

Ran a studio at Vasario 16-osios g. 7. Known to have been working in 1940. Some of his original prints can be found among the collection at the Panevėžys Regional Museum.

Joseph Kliachko

See Kudirkos Naumiestis (↑).

Vulf Krigeras

Krieger

Born in 1908. Known to have been working in 1925. 

Zalman Leibman

Libman

⛤

Born in 1918.

Leib Leizerovitch

Born in about 1904. Registered at Siauroji g. 5 in 1920.

Mausha Liubičas

Lubich

⛤

Probably born in Grodno in about 1885.

Iakov Mariampolski

Born in Panevėžys on November 17, 1926, Mr. Mariampolski is recorded as having been working as a photographer in 1940. Other sources note that he was in prison, and that he was deported to Siberia, presumably on or around June 14, 1941 It’s also noted that he passed away in Panevėžys on July 25, 1996.

Marsas

See H. Spingis (↓).

Matyr

No first name. At some point between 1911 and 1914, 29-year-old Khana Matyr identified herself as being married to a photographer.

Zelman Matys

Possibly the mysterious photographer Matyr (↑). See also Pasvalys (↓).

Mendel Mejerowicz

Under circumstances that remain unclear to say the least, Mendel Mejerowicz worked for a while during the 1890s using a licence/permit that he stole from his former teacher, a Mr. Szleifer from Panevėžys.

Shaya Leiba Pageras

Pager

Born in 1901. Listed as being a photographer in 1921. 

David Ricas

Ritz

Born on July 8, 1901.

Shevel Rivkindas

Rivkind

Born in Šimoniai in about 1905. 

Isaak Sinaysky

Born in Vilna in about 1878.

Leiba Slonimskis

Leiba Slonimsky

Originally a draughtsman, Leiba Slonimskis is known to have applied for a permit/licence to become a professional photographer in 1903. An active and conscientious member of the local Jewish community, his name appears in relation to all sorts of activities, and it’s recorded that among other things he was involved in a Jewish aid society for the poor, and that he was on the board of the local volunteer firemen’s society. Surviving examples of his original photographs are held among various collections at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai and elsewhere. Mr. Slonimskis is also known to have operated a photography studio in partnership with someone by the name of M. Pugačevskis/Pugachevsky early in his career. A single surviving photograph from the duo can be seen here.

Benyamin Hirsh Smolnikas

Smolnick

Born in Kupiškis on June 17, 1907. Registered as working as a photographer in Panevėžys on January 9, 1926.

H. Spingis

Ran the Marsas photography studio (↑) at Plukių g. 1. 

Zelda Teper

⛤

Born Zelda Fridberg in Panevėžys in about 1894, Mrs. Teper is known to have been active in 1936. 

Jankelis Trakmanas

Yankel Trakman

Born in Krekenava in about 1874. First recorded as operating a photography studio somewhere on today's Šeduvos g. in 1905. Is known to have still been working as a professional photographer in 1924. Other photography studio addresses include(d) Laisvės a. 34 and Respublikos g. 44. 

Sara Traub

Traubė

⛤

Born in 1878. The daughter of a wealthy merchant, Sara Traub was issued with a photography permit/license from the Russian authorities on January 21, 1900. Her photography studio was located at a currently unknown location on Marijos g. (today's Smetonos g.). A couple of Sara's original studio portraits are held among the collection at the Panevėžys Regional Museum. Although she appears to have been known as Traub, her married name was Bliumenshtrausch.

Itsyk Tsynober

Born in about 1891.

Yovne Yankelevich

Jankelevičius

Born in 1914. Active in 1932. 

PAPILĖ

Popelyan פּאָפּעליאַן

Chackel Lemchen

Chackelis Lemchenas

Renowned lexicographer, linguist, ethnographer, photo enthusiast, former student of Jonas Jablonskis and survivor of the Kovno Ghetto, 1904-2001. A photograph of Mr. Lemchen with his twin lens reflex camera inside the Summer Synagogue in Pakruojis in 1938 is here. 

PASVALYS

Posvol פּאָסװאָל

Icik Chaitas 

Icikas

⛤

Born in Saločiai in 1904, Icik Chaitas apparently started taking photographs during the late 1920s. The brother of the photographer, Dora Chaitaitė (see Saločiai ↓), it's known he was living and working at Biržų g. 10 in Pasvalys in 1937, four years after moving to the town in about 1934. One of Mr. Chaitas' surviving photographic prints is known to be held among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. A listing in the 1937 Lithuanian telephone directory mentions that as well as being a photographer, Icik also ran a small shop that sold radios and electrical equipment, a popular way of bringing in some extra money in the Lithuanian provinces during the interwar period, where professional photographers weren't as busy as their counterparts working in the country's towns and cities.

Itsik Berel Frid

Born in about 1885. The same person as Icikas Fridas in Panevėžys (↑)?

H. Kerbal

Operated a photography studio at Vytauto a. 17. Surviving copies of his photographs are held among the collections at the Panevėžys Regional Museum and the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai.

Zelman Matys

Photo enthusiast. Born in about 1888. Possibly a resident of Panevėžys.

PIKELIAI

Pikeln פּיקעלן

Itsyk Nakhman

Recorded as working as a photographer in 1892. Described as well-to-do.

PILVIŠKIAI

Pilvishok פּילווישאָק

Rafael Vineras

Viner

⛤

See Kaunas (↑).

PLUNGĖ

Plungyan פלונגיאן

Mendelis Movša Berkovičius

Michaelis

⛤

Born in Ludza in what’s now the eastern part of Latvia in 1881, nothing is known about the first few years of Mendelis Berkovičius’ life and photographic training, except that on October 21, 1903, he was issued with a photography license/permit that enabled him to open a photography studio inside a small wooden house that apparently still stands in Plungė at today’s Vytauto g. 6a. Locally renowned for photographing everyone from members of Plungė’s interwar Jewish community to Catholic priests to the local Jewish football team, on July 15, 1941, Mr. Berkovičius, who was married with two children, is believed to have been locked inside a synagogue along with many other of the town’s Jews, after which there are several conflicting versions of how and when he was murdered. A selection of Mendelis' surviving photographs can be seen here. 

Zlata Chatimlianskienė

Chotimlianskienė 

⛤

Born in 1912. Šula Chatimlianskienė’s sister-in-law (see Anykščiai). Recorded as still being alive in the 1942 Šiauliai Ghetto census. Murdered at an unknown location on an unknown date. See also Mordchelis Chotimlianskis in Siauliai.

B. Glikmanas

A single photograph from 1938 featuring Plungė's Hapoel (Worker) football team that's kept among the collection at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius is recorded as having been taken by B. Glikmanas.

PUŠALOTAS

Pushelat

J. Fergizas

Photographer, carpenter and repairer of radios and bicycles.

RADVILIŠKIS

Radvilishok ראַדווילישאָק

A. Š. Buršteinas 

Burštein

Ran or possibly just owned the Modern photography studio (↓) on unknown dates at Šeduvos g. 3 and Dariaus ir Girėno g. 4. At least one of his photographic prints (from the latter studio) survives among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. Further research strongly suggests that the person in question was Abe Šliomas Burštein, who was born in Kovno/Kaunas in 1901, and whose name crops up in various places in connection with photography in interwar Lithuania. His 1922 internal passport (here) states that he was a trader. 

Yudel Liberman

Judelis Joselis Libermanas

Born in about 1879. Operated a photography studio at Šeduvos g. 16. Known to have been active in 1930 and 1931. Mr. Liberman passed away on February 6, 1938. A single surviving example of his work appears to be kept among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai.

Gutmanas Libermanas

Gutman Lieberman

Recorded as having owned a photography studio at an unknown date at Maironio g. 20. 

Modern

See A. Š. Buršteinas (↑).

RAGUVA

Rogeve ראָגעווע

I. Grosas

J. Grosas, Gross, Grosso

One of the many pre-Second World War Lithuanian Jewish photographers whose memory survives almost exclusively in the photographs they produced, examples of Mr. Grosas’ work, including the only known image of the former wooden synagogue in Raguva, are held among the collections at the Panevėžys Regional Museum and the Ukmergė Regional Museum. 

Henokh Steinas

Shtein

Active in 1926, when he was recorded as being 16 years old.

RASEINIAI 

Raseyn ראַסיין

Iser Bank

See Šiauliai (↓). 

Arye Davidavich

Born in 1912. Nothing is currently known about Mr. Davidavich, other than he was imprisoned by the NKVD, and that he served in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army.

Gilel Eruzalim

Born in 1889. Recorded as having been a photographer in 1903.

Hirša Grinbergas 

⛤

See Tauragė (↓).

J. Kacevas

Kacew

⛤

Born in about 1910. Several photographs bearing the stamp 'J. Kacevo, Raseiniai, Maironio g.' survive in a number of different places, although little else is known about the photographer. The address shows that Mr. Kacevas was active during the interwar period. The photographer was murdered along with his wife, Breina, and the couple's three-year-old son, Zelig, in 1941.

Mordukh Kaplanas

Born in about 1905. Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine with his fiancée, Mina, in December 1934. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Tsemakh Kaplan

Born in 1886 or 1887. Known to have been active between at least 1903 and 1910. A surviving example of his studio mark notes the address as ul. Senat (today's Vytauto Didžiojo g.).

Mejer Kopel Kuszeluk

Opened a photography studio at a currently unknown location in 1868.

Leiba Meier Lebensztejn

Gernerally believed to have been the first photographer in Raseiniai, where he worked between 1866 and 1868. See Telšiai (↓) for more information.

Ilia Yakov Levin

Born in about 1895. Active in 1915, the year he appears to have been drafted into the Russian army.

M. Liudginas 

Mauša Liudginas' photography studio was located at Maironio g. 6, and is known to have been operating in 1936.

Faiwusz Lunc

See Šiauliai (↓).

Josef Mel

⛤

Born in 1914. Somehow related to Sonia Tellem (↓).

Modern

See Chaim Tellem (↓).

Mauša Rubinšteinas

Morris Rubinstein

⛤

Born in about 1890. Known to have been working in 1927 and 1932.

Chaim Tellem

Khaim Nosel, Tilin, Tilim, Tellen, Telem

Born in 1884. His studio mark from before the First World War refers to him as Ch. O. Tellem (the O is apparently for Ovsey). Known to have operated the Modern photography studio on Senatorių g. (today's Vytauto Didžiojo g.) in about 1916. Chaim's wife, Sonia née Mel (↓), was born in about 1889, and is sometimes also listed in historical records as having been a photographer. Several surviving prints from the Modern photography studio can be found among the collection at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. Considerably more interesting perhaps is that not only does a photograph of the photographer survive, the image in question is from a collection of photographs that were taken by the German-born artist Jacob Steinhardt, who appears to have been stationed in Raseiniai/Rossieny during the First World War. Even better news can be found in an archive document that records the fact that Mr. Tellem's parents, Gabriel and Elisheva, both of them 76 years old, made Aliyah on June 18, 1929, sailing on the Italian passenger ship Carnaro. The document also notes that Gabriela and Elisheva were on their way to join Chaim and Sonia, who along with their children were already living in Palestine.

Sonia Tellem

See Chaim Tellem (↑).

Yuval Weiss

⛤

Born in 1915. Murdered in 1941.

Chaim Zaks

See Šiauliai (↓).

Dovydas Zolinas

Dovyd Zolin

⛤

Born in about 1880. Nachumas Zolinas' (↓) father. Remembered as being one of the interwar period’s more interesting and creative Lithuanian Jewish photographers, Dovydas Zolinas originally operated a traditional photographic studio with a glazed roof and no artificial lighting, and also photographed everyday life in the streets in and around Raseiniai until at least 1937. Along with the other Jewish residents of the town, Mr. Žolinas was murdered during the summer of 1941. A few of his surviving photographic prints are held in several institutions in Lithuania, including the Panevėžys Regional Museum and the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. A small selection can be seen here.

Nachumas Zolinas

Born in 1920. Dovydas Zolinas’ (↑) son. Although it’s a known fact that Mr. Zolinas survived the Holocaust, the story of how he survived, and what he did after the war, are conflicting and contradictory to say the least. What seems to be undisputable is that he was saved by at least three Lithuanians, and that at some point he left the country. It’s believed that he also worked as a press photographer. 

RIETAVAS

Riteve ריטעווע

Gita Epel

Volfovitz 

⛤

Married to Aaronas Epelis (↓). Believed to have been murdered in Telšiai.

Aaronas Epelis

Aaron Epel

⛤

As well as being a professional photographer in his own right, Aaronas Epelis also taught photography to young students who wanted to enter the profession. Known to have been active in 1933. Several of Mr. Epelis' original prints survive among the collection at the Alka Museum of Samogitian History in Telšiai, the town in which it's believed the photographer was murdered. A small selection of photographs from his studio can be seen here. Possibly related to Volfas Ipelis (↓). Married to Gita Epel (↑).

Moses Goldbergas

Mausha, Moische, Alte, Goldberg

⛤

Born in about 1908. Registered as being a photographer on February 28, 1935. Murdered in Telšiai.

Volfas Ipelis

Possibly active in 1932, otherwise no information is currently available. Ipelis and Epelis (↑) are almost certainly different transcriptions of the same family name. Possibly related to Aaronas Epelis (↑).

Dora Lipšicaitė

Dina Krengel

⛤

See Endriejavas (↑).

J. Ržešanskis 

Rzešauskis

Displayed 23 photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933.

ROKIŠKIS

Rakishok ראַקישאָק

Chaim Finkel

Finkelis

Two of the photographer’s original (and very different) prints are known to survive in Lithuanian institutions. The first is a wonderfully moody 1936 portrait of an unknown young woman that's held among the collection at the Rokiškis Regional Museum. The second features a collection of 41 corroded metal items that were dug up during an archaeological expedition to a former village by the name of Černiai, 50 kilometres south of Rokiškis. Dated July 11, 1928, it would be fascinating to find out how Mr. Finkel, whose life and work remain a total mystery, ended up getting involved in the project. The latter photograph is held among the collection at the Utena Regional Museum. 

Sarah Finkel

⛤

Born in 1906. Moved to Utena on a currently unknown date.

Mordechai German

Born in 1901. Operated one of the most popular photography studios in the city. Emigrated to South Africa in about 1935. A small selection of his surviving photographs can be seen here.

Reiza Germanienė

Raisa

⛤

Although Mrs.  Germanienė is recorded as having been running a photography studio at Kamajų g. 3. in 1932, it's not entirely clear whether she was working there as a photographer or if she just owned the business. 

Izaokas Klingmanas

⛤

See Naujiena (↓).

Naujiena

The Naujiena photography studio and photographic supplies shop on the ground floor of the Hotel Europe at Nepriklausomybės a. 18/5 was owned and operated by Izaokas Klingmanas (↑), who was also available for basic photography lessons. 

Renesans

See Jerachmiel Ruch (↓).

Jerachmiel Ruch

Rakhmiel, Rukh

⛤

According to some sources, Mr. Ruch, who was born in about 1892 and owned the town's Renesans (as in Renaissance) photography studio (↑). Whether he was actually a photographer or not remains a mystery.

Samuel Sadur

Born in about 1902. Listed as having been a photographer on returning from exile in Samara on April 7, 1921. 

Naftali Sarver

Serber

Interwar photographer. Also known as Toli. Known to have made some extremely rare colour photographs during the 1930s. A former student of Chanan Schneiderman (↓). It's not entirely clear whether Mr. Sarver was from Rokiškis or Dusetos, although it is known that he surived the war, and passed away in Tel Aviv on April 27, 1980.

Chanan Schneiderman

Mr. Schneiderman is believed to have a operated a photography studio in town during the interwar period, where he also taught students, including the Dusetos photographer Micha Slep (↑). Displayed one photograph at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933, possibly married to Reizel Šneidermanienė (↑), and known to have survived the war under circumstances that remain anything but clear. The photographer continued to work as a photographer, operating a studio in Hadera.

Roza Shulman

Born in Aknīste in Latvia in about 1892. Recorded as having been active in 1912.

Reizel Šneidermanienė

Rosa, Liba

⛤

Born in 1906? Possibly married to Chanan Schneiderman (↓).

Elkanah Šneidermanas

Recorded as having emigrated to Palestine with his wife, Aviva, on August 5, 1935. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

Leiba Vinokuras

⛤

Almost certainly the same Leiba Vinokur/Vinokuras who appears in some records as having been born in about 1888, and who's believed to have also worked as a photographer in Dusetos. Several of the photographer's original photographs survive in the Rokiškis Regional Museum and other institutions in Lithuania. Mr. Vinokuras' photography studio is listed in an interwar telephone directory as having operated at Kamajų g. 3. Another record places the buisness at Respublikos g. 5. 

Szmuel Winokur

⛤

See Kaunas (↑).

RUMŠIŠKĖS

Rumshishok רומשישאָק

Mendelis Codikovas

Tsodikov

Born in about 1905. Active in 1938. 

ŠAKIAI 

Shaki שאַקי

Shlomo Fruman

Froman

⛤

Born in 1916. Murdered at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas.

Solomonas Goldinas 

Known to have been active in 1932. 

SALAKAS 

Salok סאַלאָק

Motka Grubin

Motel

Born in Salakas in 1882. Known to have been active as a photographer in 1914. At some point, Mr. Grubin moved to Vilna/Wilno/Vilnius, where as well as marrying 22-year-old Khaia Sora Langfain on May 30 1907, he's also recorded in 1923 as having been a 'printer' living in the suburb of Zwierzyniec (today's Žvėrynas) at ul. Mickiewicza 46-24 (today's Mickevičiaus g.).

SALANTAI

Salant סאַלאַנט 

Israel Isser Olstein

Elizur

Born in Salantai in 1880. Made Aliyah in 1926. Passed away in 1978. A keen amateur photographer, Mr. Olstein spent some time travelling around Palestine with his camera before abandoning his hobby and becoming a farmer. His relatively small archive of about 300 photographic prints was later discovered by an old friend, and they've since become the focus of some attention. More information can be found here. 

SALOČIAI

Salat סאַלאַט

Established on a secondary trade route that once linked Pasvalys with Bauska, and cut in half by the north-south running Mūša river that relied on a ferry to transport everything across it until the first bridge was constructed in 1930, Saločiai’s Jewish population began establishing itself at the beginning of the 19th century, 300 years or after the town was first mentioned in written records in 1514. Barely a kilometre south of today’s Latvian border, and closer to Riga than Vilnius or Kaunas, with few exceptions most of the town’s Jews subsisted on a combination of agricultural work and various crafts whilst maintaining their faith inside a long-destroyed wooden synagogue and mikvah that sat close to the aforementioned river. Although accounts of the annihilation of the town’s Jewish community vary, the infamous Jäger Report records that on August 26, 1941, 1,358 Jewish men, women and children from a variety of local towns and villages, including Saločiai, were assembled together in Pasvalys, from where they were led on foot to a nearby forest and slaughtered.

Dora Chaitaitė

⛤

See The Invisible Girls.

Icik Chaitas

⛤

See Pasvalys (↑). 

CHAIT

Chait (also sometimes Khait when transcribed from Yiddish) is Hebrew for tailor, and was a popular family name before the Second World War. In Lithuanian usage, the word becomes Chaitaitė for Miss Tailor, Chaitas for Mr. Tailor and Chaitienė for Mrs. Tailor. Thus, Dora Chaitaitė (↑) is literally Miss Dora Chait, or even Miss Dora Tailor.

ŠEDUVA

Shadeve שאַדעווע

Leiba Cyganas

Ran a photography studio during the early part of the 20th century. Possibly the same person as the Biržai photographer Abram Leiba Cygan (↑).

Ch. Fridas

Nothing is currently known about Mr. Fridas, whose stamp appears on the reverse side of a single known photograph. The spelling of Fridas strongly suggests that the photographer was active during the interwar period. 

J. Geršein

Nothing is currently known about Mr. Geršein, other than the fact that the photographer's stamp was written in Yiddish. Possibly the same person as the Utena photographer Isaak Goršeinas (↓).

Rembrandt

See A. Treskunov (↓).

A. Treskunov

Appears to have operated the Rembrandt photography studio (↑) at the turn of the 20th century. The single known photograph that's credited to him can be seen here. 

SEIRIJAI

Serey סערײ        

A. Fridmanas

The mysterious Mr. Fridmanas is responsible for two known outdoor portraits dating from what appear to have been the 1930s, of which one is kept among the collection at the Lazdijai Regional Museum, and the other at the Kretinga Museum.

Rakhel Kaganiūtė

Rochel Lea Kagan

⛤

Born in about 1912.

SEMELIŠKĖS

Semilishok סעמילישאָק

Basė Levinienė

Bashe, Batia, Lancmanaitė, Lantsman, Lantzman

⛤

Born in 1909, or possibly 1915. Married Shmuel Levinas, a hairdresser, in Kaunas on November 21, 1939. Unlike his wife, Mr. Levinas is recorded as having survived the Holocaust, albeit under circumstances that remain unclear. 

SEREDŽIUS

Srednik סרעדניק

David Garbaravičius

Garbaravich, Gerberovich

⛤

Born in Marijampolė between about 1912 and 1915. Active in 1934. Murdered in Kaunas. 

Isaac Garbaravičius

Itzhak, Garbaravich, Gerberovich

Born in Marijampolė in about 1910. Received permission to move to Palestine with his wife, Basia, in 1937.

Chana Rochel Seresienė

Seres

⛤

Born Chana Milnerytė in 1914. Married Zorachas Icikas Seresas on January 16, 1937. Murdered in 1941.

ŠIAULIAI

Shavl שאָװל

According to the amateur historian Jonas Nekrašius, the first photographers and photography studios in Šiauliai appeared in about 1863.

Berelis Abramavičius

Berel Abramowicz, Ber

⛤

Born in Kėdainiai in 1892 (also recorded as Baisogala in 1890... and 1882), Berelis Abramavičius is known to have run a photography studio at Tilžės g. 30 between 1911 and 1914, and again between 1918 and 1931. One of a tiny handful of Lithuanian Jewish photographers who are known to have worked as photojournalists before the Second World War (in his case for the local Mūsų Momentas newspaper), and also somehow connected with a photography studio at Vilniaus g. 213, along with his wife, Roza/Rosa (born 1888), and their son, David (born in about 1912), Mr. Abramavičius was issued an international passport on December 28, 1928, although it's clear that the family never used them to emigrate. Although both the photographer and his son survived the Šiauliai Ghetto, where records suggest Berelis worked in a clerical position for the Judenrat, both perished at Dachau. The fate of Roza/Rosa remains unknown.

Jankelis Girša Arnsonas

Iakov Arnson, Jankiel Aronson, Arnson, Arenson, Arenzon

Born at a currently unknown location in about 1851, Mr. Arsonas is recorded as having studied photography in Königsberg before briefly working as a photographer in Jurbarkas and Tauragė sometime around 1880. On October 24, 1884, he was issued with a license/permit (8996) to open the fabulously named Berlin Photographic Workshop (see also Szloma Perelman in Vilnius) in Šiauliai, probably taking over the one that was previously owned by Hirsch Chab (↓) on the corner of today’s Vilniaus g. and Tilžės g. One of the city’s most celebrated studio photographers, he appears to have stopped operating his business in about 1914, i.e. around the time of the beginning of the First World War. It also seems more than likely that Jankelis was the son of Chaim Aronson (see Telšiai). 

M. Bakas

Recorded as having owned and operated a photography studio at Vilniaus g. 217 between 1933 and 1940. A surviving photograph with a Bakas/Bako stamp also features a Pašto g. address, which may date from an earlier period soon after the end of the First World War when it's believed Mr. Bakas ran a photography studio in partnership with Mordchelis Chotimlianskis (↓).

Iser Beines Bank

Born in about 1892. See also Raseiniai.

Berlin Photographic Workshop

See Jankelis Girša Arnsonas (↑) and Szloma Perelman in Vilnius (↓). No further information is currently available. 

Nokhum Bermant

Active in 1911. 

A. Blecher

Operated a photography studio at Vilniaus g. 4.

Shimen Leyba Boer

Born in about 1893.

Dorothy Bohm

See Klaipėda (↑).

Buduar

See Giršas Rivkindas (↓).

Hirsch Chab

Giršas Chabasas, Girlicz Chabas

An early pioneer, Hirsch Chab is known to have run a photography studio between 1874 and 1884. It’s thought that his studio was taken over by Jankelis Girša Arnsonas (↑).

Riva Chaitaitė

⛤

According to the May 27, 1942 list of prisoners in the Šiauliai Ghetto, Riva Chaitaitė was born in Russian exile in Samara on October 18, 1918. 

Mordchelis Chotimlianskis

Chatimlianskis

⛤

Born in Talachyn/Tolochin in what's now Belarus in about 1915. Ran a photography studio at Vilniaus g. 166 from 1933 until the German invasion. Also worked with M. Bakas (↑) for some time. Closely related to Šula Chatimlianskienė (see Anykščiai) and Zlata Chatimlianskienė (see Plungė), although the exact connections between them remain unclear.

Abel Girša Chackel Eidelstein

Abel Girsza Eidelsztein

Owned and operated one of the first photography studios in the city, which was in business for a brief period between about 1863, the year the czarist authorities gave him an official licence/permit (number 843), and 1865. Mr. Eidelstein subsequently opened a photography studio in Panevėžys for an even shorter period in about 1866.

Leizer Elijosius

Eliyosh

Born in 1904. Active in 1921. May have emigrated to South Africa.

Benjamin Feldmanas

See Girša Beras Feldmanas (↓).

Girša Beras Feldmanas

Hirsch Ber Feldman, Hersz Ber, Berel Girsza

Girša Beras Feldmanas owned a photography studio between 1893 and 1898. Although almost nothing is known about the photographer and his business, it’s recorded that he was issued with an official licence/permit (number 843) on July 20, 1893, which allowed him to photograph in the city and elsewhere. Also known to have taken photographs in Pasvalys and Varėna. Possibly the son or brother of Benjamin/Beniamin (↑), who also appears to have been a photographer.

B. Faivušas

Almost nothing is currently known, beyond the fact that Mr. Faivušas operated the Progres [sic] photography studio together with Mauša Fligelis (↓) just before the war. Much more interesting is the fact that the Progres photography studio's address was Vilniaus g. 154, the same address as is written on this photograph dated May 30, 1944 from the photography studio of an obscure Lithuanian photographer named P. Čepulis.   

Mauša Fligelis

Although many of Mauša Fligelis’ (1910-2007?) original photographs survive to this day, most details about his life and work seem to have completely vanished from history. Known to have collaborated with B. Faivušas (↑) and Geršonas Zilbermanas (↓), a 1930 document in Yiddish also associates him with a photography studio called Menas (on Vilniaus g.). The few people who've written about the photographer all suggest that he was born in Šiauliai, despite the fact that there's no evidence whatsoever to support it. In fact, Mr. Fligelis was born in Zarasai. Much more information coming soon. See also this map.

Yankel Gelis

Yeckel, Gel

Born In 1911. Active in 1930. See also Žeimelis (↓).

David Geruber

Born in about 1890. Active in 1910.

Govša Glezer

Gowsiej, Owsiej, Gowsza

Operated a photography studio between 1865 and 1867, and again between 1872 and 1873. Fined by the Russian authorities for working without a license/permit during his second period of activity in the city. Also associated with another photography studio in Raseiniai.

Mausha Gutmanas

Yankel

Born in 1902. Owned a photography studio at Tilžės g. 135 between 1931 and 1940.

Izrail Iosset

Born in about 1879.

Masha Judelvičienė

Yudelvich

Born in about 1911. Active in 1935.

Josel Kagan

Joselis Kaganas 

Owned a photography studio between 1897 and 1898.

Mortchel Karpes

Karpis

Probably the second person to open a photography studio in the city, Mr. Karpesas was issued a permit to work as a professional photographer from the Russian authorities in 1864. His studio is believed to have operated for 10 years, and was taken over by Hirsch Chab in 1874.

Mejer Kanas

Konas, Kon

Born in Berlin on January 13, 1893. Owned a photography studio at Lauko g. 26 during the interwar period. Worked as a photography technician in the Šiauliai Ghetto hospital. Last known to be alive along with his wife, Helena, and their son, Hans, on May 27, 1942.

Icik Kesler

Icyk

Recorded as having owned a photography studio between 1870 and 1877. Some sources claim that he worked for only a few months, although others record him as still being actve in 1886.

Tzvi Kravelisas

Kravel

Born in about 1910. Active in 1933, the same year he was recorded as having emigrated to Palestine 

Uria Kriger

Born in about 1887.

Bertha Libinienė

Bertha, Libin

⛤

Born Berta Novickaitė in Tauragė in about 1897. Married Nochimas Libinas on September 10, 1928. Active in 1929. Murdered at the Stutthof concentration camp in 1944.

Elijas Lipšicas 

Elijošius 

⛤

Born in Šiauliai in 1888, Elijas Lipšicas is known to have operated a business at Tilžės g. 151 during the 1930s that at one time combined a photography studio, a photographic supplies shop and a processing and printing service in one. If records are to be believed, he also sold wine. Not only does the building in which the business was located still stand at the same address on the northwest corner of the junction with Vilniaus g., there are at least two surviving photographs of it, thanks to a couple of original Mauša Fligelis (↑) glass plate negatives that are held in the archives at the Šiauliai Photography Museum, which is located inside a building directly opposite.

Faiwusz Lunc

Faivuš Moisiejas Luncs

Is believed to have owned and operated three different photography studios in quick succession in Šiauliai, Telšiai and Raseiniai during the 1860s.

Mauša Ordmanas

⛤

Not a photographer as such, in about 1930 the local bookshop owner Mauša Ordmanas and his currently anonymous son printed and sold a series of beautiful black and white photographic postcards featuring various street scenes and buildings in Šiauliai. The identity of the original author of the photographs remains a mystery. A surviving Mauša Fligelis (↑) glass plate negative shows a Šiauliai street scene from the 1930s. Painted on the side of one of the buildings is a large sign advertising Mr. Ordmanas' business in Lithuanian and Yiddish. Mr. Ordmanas and his family were murdered in the Šiauliai Ghetto in 1942. 

Hinda Leya Plotelaitė

Plotel, Ginda

Born on September 14, 1910. Issued a visa to visit Palestine in 1932. Records indicate that she married Zisel/Ziselis Zmudski from Merkinė on January 4, 1933.

Progres

See B. Faivušas (↑) and Mauša Fligelis (↑).

Giršas Rivkindas

Hirsch Rivkind, Harry Rivkind

Born in Šiauliai in 1909. Along with his wife, Liuba Rivkindienė, Mr. Rivkindas appears to have been professionally active between about 1925 and 1941, and is believed to have operated the Buduar photography studio at Vilniaus g. 205, as well as another at Dariaus ir Girėno g. 48, where he was definitely working in 1936. According to one reliable source, the Germans allowed him to keep working in his studio while he was a prisoner in the Šiauliai Ghetto, a (relatively) privileged situation that undoubtedly helped him survive. Recorded as arriving at Dachau on August 18, 1944, Giršas emigrated to Baltimore, where he features (as Harry Rivkind) in the 1950 United States census as living with Leo Kahn, almost certainly Leiba Kan, Liuba Rivkindienė’s younger brother. No other members of the family are believed to have survived. A small selection of photographs from Giršas and Liuba's photography studio can be seen here. It's also very interesting to note that Mr. Rivkindas' studio was taken over after the war by the Lithuanian photographer Aleksas Brunas.

Liuba Rivkindienė

⛤

See The Invisible Girls.

Eta Rubinšteinaitė

⛤

Born in Vilna/Vilnius in 1908. Worked with her father, Max Rubinšteinas (↓).

Max Rubinšteinas

Morduchas Jokūbas Rubinšteinas, Maks, Maksas, Max

⛤

Born on February 17, 1883. Assisted by his daughter, Eta Rubinšteinaitė (↑). Ran a studio at Rinkos g. 1. Known to have been active between about 1912 and 1941, with a break during the First World War. A sample of some of Mr.Rubinšteinas' work can be seen here.

Abram Rusonik

Recorded as having been working in the city in 1909.

Pinchusas Šeras 

Known to have owned or worked at a photography studio at Vilniaus g. 176 in 1932. A connection between Mr. Šeras and Pinkhus Šer in Kaunas (↑) is suspected.

Š. Šmuilovas

Operated a photography studio somewhere on what's now Vilniaus g. between 1890 and 1914. Allegedly won gold and silver medals for his work at exhibitions in Moscow and Rostov. Also owned the Fantazija cinema.

R. Šreiberis

Known to have owned or worked at a photography studio at Tilžės g. 119 in 1932.

Augustas Spengleris

Believed to have been involved in a photography studio at Kauno g. 47.

Mendel Volpe

Born in 1878. Active in 1895.

Rachela Wol

Rochle 

⛤

Born in Siauliai in 1888. Active in Riga in 1922, where she was murdered in 1941.

Borukh Zaks

Registered for business tax in 1913, Mr. Zaks appears to have sold photographic accessories. 

Chaim Zaks 

Chaim Israel Zaks, Chaimas Zaksas, Khaim Izrail Zaks, Kaim Sroel Zaks

The miniscule paper trial left by the studio photographer Chaim Zaks, whose early life and career coincided with the slow collapse of the Russian Empire, is confusing and contradictory to say the least. Almost certainly born in Joniškis in about 1869, where records suggest he worked as a photographer or photographer’s assistant/apprentice, Mr. Zaks moved south to Šiauliai on an unknown date via a period running his first known photography studio in Raseiniai. Setting up business in the house that he lived in at Pašto g. 7 in about 1901, the photographer is also associated with a photography studio at Turgavietė 7, and of having worked with Berelis Abramavičius (↑). A Zionism of some evident conviction, Chaim Zaks moved to Palestine in 1932 at around the same time as his daughter, Šošana (↓), where he passed away three years later. 

Šošana Zaksaitė

Feiga Susana Zaks

Born in Raseiniai in 1906. Almost certainly the city's first professional female photographer. The daughter of Chaim Zaks (↑). After graduating from a local Jewish high school, Šošana, whose relationship with her father meant that she was already familiar with photography from an early age, studied photography in Riga before setting up her own photography studio in Šiauliai at Vilniaus g. 166 in about 1930. A year later, she married a man by the name of Abrahams Rabinovičius (born 1903), and the couple emigrated to Palestine soon after, where she later opened a photography studio n Tel Aviv. The Aušros Museum in Šiauliai holds a few of her photographs in their archives, and the Šiauliai Jewish Community has a large collection of digital copies of the photographs that she took in both countries she worked in. Not much else is currently known about her, other than her mother's name was Zisle née Kotler, and that she passed away at a relatively early age in 1959. 

Geršonas Zilbermanas

Gershon Zilberman

⛤

Born in Kelmė in about 1891. The owner of a combined photography business and opticians at Vilniaus g. 152. The Šiauliai photographer Mauša Fligelis (↑) is known to have worked for him for a while, and was also the person who recorded Mr. Zilbermanas' murder (in 1941) at Yad Vashem. Married Frida née Grinbergytė from (and in) Vilkaviškis on February 3, 1926, who was murdered at the Stutthof concentration camp on an unknown date. The couple had two children, Basia, also known as Pnina Pepa, born in 1929, and Daniel, born in 1932. Both were murdered at Auschwitz. The exact circumstances behind the murder of Mr. Zilbermanas himself remain unknown.

ŠILALĖ

Shilel שילעל

Khana Barkanaitė

See Gargždai (↑).

SIMNAS

Simne סימנע

Rokha Enelavaitė

Ennelev

Born in 1912. Known to have been active in 1932.

Ch. Vilenskienė 

Chaja

Almost certainly born Chaja Enelavaitė/Jenilovaitė in 1905, the elusive Mrs. Vilenskienė is believed to have operated a photography studio at Vytauto Didžiojo g. 18 during the 1930s. There are strong indications that Mrs. Vilenskienė was married to the Lazdijai photographer, Isak Vilenskis (↑), who appears to have been born in Simnas.

ŠIRVINTOS

Shirvint שירווינט

Shimon Gordon

⛤

Born in 1915.

Judel Ibedas

Born in 1913. May have been one of two photographer brothers. Several photographs with this name survive, although it's impossible to work out exactly what belongs to whom, and whether there really were two photographers in the first place. Active during the 1930s at least. Also somehow associated with Molėtai (↑).

M. Reizenmanas

Movsha

Mr. Reizenmanas is known to have taken one of the only known photographs of the Jewish heroine of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence and Holocaust victim, Liba Mednikienė. (1880-1941), who was awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis in 1928. It also appears that in 1937 he was selling decorated canvas for use as photography studio backgrounds.

Israel Smulowicz

⛤

Born in 1926. 

SKAPIŠKIS

Skopishok סקאָפּישאָק

Zundelis Skaistis

Zundel Briss

⛤

See Skuodas (↓).

SKUODAS

Shkod שקוד 

Sheine Pralgover

⛤

Born in 1917.

Zundelis Skaistis

Zundel Briss

⛤

Born in Skapiškis (some sources state Vilkomir/Ukmergė) in 1891. Operated a photography studio in Skuodas at Gedimino g. 2. Known to have been active during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Took some photographs for ORT during the 1920s. Among what appears to have been several other interesting assignments, Mr. Skaistis photographed the Torah ark inside an unknown synagogue in Skuodas in 1922 for what appears to have been an ethnographic project of the kind that was extremely popular in Lithuania after the First World War. Several of his original prints are known to be held among the collections at the Kretinga Regional Museum and other institutions around Lithuania. Mr. Skaistis was murdered along with his wife and three children in 1941. 

SMILGIAI

Smilg

Shmuel Faugel

Born in Smilgiai in 1906, and believed to have been working as a photographer during at least the mid-1930s, Shmuel Faugel married 19-year-old Frida Berk from Troškūnai (but born in Vilnius) on March 23, 1934. The couple's son, Nakhmon, was born on June 12, 1935, and was circumcised five days later. Nothing has been discovered in connection with Mr. Faugel's photography and/or photographic practice.

STAKLIŠKĖS

Stoklishok

Chaimas Goldbergas 

Chaim Goldberg

⛤

Born in about 1911. Photo enthusiast and seemingly also the town's unofficial photographer. Displayed three photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933. One of Mr. Goldbergas' photographs somehow survived by making its way into the archives at the Lithuanian Education History Museum in Kaunas. 

ŠVENČIONYS

Sventzion סווענציאן

Mejer Brumberg

Born in 1877. Studied photography at an unknown location in Vilna/Vilnius between 1896 and 1899. Returned after completing his studies on August 24, 1899, and worked for an unknown period of time thereafter, although it's also recorded elsewhere that he may have been working until 1941. 

Kalman Frukt

Active in 1909.

Isaak Goršeinas

⛤

See Utena (↓).

Chaim Koliš

See Vilnius (↓).

Kremer

First name currently unknown. Opened a short-lived photography studio in the town in 1875. Closed by 1878.

R. Leibov

Known to have been active in the town between at least 1910 and 1914. Operated the Rafael photography studio (↓).

Yankel Levin

Yankl, Yaakov

Mentioned as the 'local photographer' responsible for creating an informal group portrait at a children's birthday party at the Skirsky family home in March 1937. 

Icik Mulca

Recorded as having applied for a license/permit to work in the town on May 19, 1895. Known to have been active in 1902. Possibly the photographer of the same name who worked in Anykščiai (↑).

Vulf Ovchinsky

Granted a license/permit on June 8, 1968. Appears to have only worked for a couple of years. A relative of the ‘French’ author Romain Gary, whose mother, Mina Owczyńska , was born in the town in 1879. 

Morduch Papirn

From Pinsk. Worked for just six months during 1887. Associated with photography studios in Grodno and elsewhere.

Rafael

See R. Leibov (↑).

B. Rozental

Almost nothing known. Two photographic prints survive, one in the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius, and the other in the Lithuanian Education History Museum in Kaunas.

Vulf Sheftel

See Vilnius (↓).

Zalman Skut

Szkut

It’s not entirely clear whether Mr. Skut was the photographer or the person who owned the building in which the photography studio was situated. What is known is that it was situated somewhere on today’s Vidžių g., and that it was operating during the First World War.

TAURAGĖ

Tovrig טאַווריק 

The birthplace of the fascinating photographer Leon Balk (see Klaipėda ↑), Tauragė managed to produce a surprisingly large amount of Jewish photographers for such a small town. 

Jankelis Girša Arnsonas

See Šiauliai (↑).

Leon Balk

L. Balk

See Klaipėda (↑). 

Mejer Berenshtein

⛤

Born in 1910. Associated with an address at Turgaus g. 1. Active in about 1933. Recorded in a document at the Arolsen Archives as having been held prisoner at Dachau on July 25, 1944, where it appears he was murdered on August 14 of the same year. The document also mentions that Mr. Berenshtein (written Berenstein) was married to Beile née Nadel/Nodel (born in 1906), and that the couple had two children, who are recorded in another document as being Motl (born in 1933) and Yakov (born in 1937). Mrs. Berenshtein and her two sons were all murdered at the Stutthof concentration camp sometime in 1944. For reasons that remain unclear, it seems that the whole family were prisoners in the Kovno Ghetto.

Maurice Blumenthal

Born in about 1887. Known to have been operating a photography studio in Tauragė in 1912. Emigrating to the United States before the First World War with his wife, Rosa, Mr. Blumenthal is recorded as having been working in a dime store in Winston-Salem in the 1940 US census. A couple of the photographer's original prints are held among the collection at the Tauragė Regional Museum. Maurice Blumenthal's sister, Mina or Minnie, was married to the fascinating Tauragė-born photographer, Leon Balk (see Klaipėda ↑).

Hirša Grinbergas 

Hiršas, Hirshel, Grinburgo

⛤

Born in Raseiniai in about 1890, where he may have also worked at some time. Among the photographer's surviving images is a street scene taken from the tower of Tauragė's Holy Trinity Church that was clearly part of a series of postcards aimed at visitors and tourists to the town. Mr. Grinbergas married 29-year-old Alte Stenaitė in Siauliai on September 20, 1929.

A. Katzef

Katsev, Orel Bencel Kacevas

Born in about 1881. Active at around the turn of the 20th century. Also somehow associated Raseiniai and Varniai. 

Mark Konas

Kohn

See Khava Konienė (↓).

E. Konienė

Several photographs with the stamp E. Konienė on the reverse side survive in museums around Lithuania, some of them indicating that her photography studio was located at Dariaus ir Girėno g. 37. The identity of Mrs. Konienė, who appears to not be Khava Konienė (↓), remains a mystery. A solid portrait photographer who appears to have been especially popular with the local soldiers based in the town during the interwar period, several of Mrs. Konienė's surviving photographs can be seen here.

Khava Konienė

Chawa Kaniene, Šereševskaitė

⛤

Born in Tauragė on February 4, 1903 (also written as 1905). Married to the photographer Mark Konas (↑), who's recorded as having been born in Austria in 1893. Currently a bit of a mystery, Khava is recorded (as Chava) as having been imprisoned with her husband (confusingly recorded as having been born in Tauragė) and the couple’s daughter, Riva, born in Tauragė on February 20, 1931, in the Šiauliai Ghetto on May 27, 1942. It’s also recorded on the Yad Vashem website that Khava perished at the Stutthof concentration camp. No record concerning the fate of the rest of her family has yet been discovered.

Tema Kopelaitė

Kopel, Epšteinienė

Born in a small village near Alytus in 1906. Married Chaim Epštein/Chaimas Epšteinas from Kelmė on March 6, 1934. Probably working in Tauragė at around the same time. 

Leonid Levenberg

Born on September 1, 1871. Active in 1897.

Khaim Mejerovich

Chaimas Mejerovičius

Born in Tytuvėnai in about 1893. Recorded as having been active in 1931.

Abraham Reif

Reich, Raif

Active between 1877 and 1890.

E. Šereševskaitė

Either this was Eugenija Šereševskaitė, Khava Konienė's younger sister (↑), who was born on May 30, 1908, or it was Khava Konienė herself. Whoever it was, the photographer was responsible for making these two studio images.  

Movsha Sofer

Born in about 1866. Active in 1913. A small selection of his surviving studio prints can be seen here.

Sore Soloveychik

Born Sore Ziv on June 22, 1862. Known to have been active in 1899.

Abram Tsemakh Volf

Abraham Cemach Wolf

Born in Eržvilkas on July 16, 1855 (also listed in one source as 1864), Mr. Volf is recorded as having been working as a photographer in Tauragė in 1891. His name is also somehow connected with the Jewish community in Kelmė, as well as with photographs that were taken in Raseiniai, Šiauliai, Tauragė and Žemaičių Naumiestis. 

H. Vymeris

Amateur photographer. Displayed seven photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933.

S. Zolinas 

Known to have been active at Dariaus ir Girėno al. 36 in 1938, despite the fact that his photography studio was reported in the local press as having gone up in flames the previous year, a conflagration that's said to have taken no less than 28 firefighters over two hours to extinguish. A small selection of Mr. Zolinas' surviving prints, including a couple of multiple portraits he produced in collaboration with the the Lithuanian artist Vytautas Varanka (1904-1990), can be seen here.

TELŠIAI

Telzh טעלז

Chaim Aronson

Arenson

Although widely celebrated and remembered as having opened the first photography studio on ul. Plungyanskaya (today's Plungės g.) in 1860, some basic research strongly suggests that Mr. Aronson was considerably more than just a studio photographer.

Fišelis Boruchovičius

Fishel

⛤

Fišelis Boruchovičius was somehow connected with an unspecified photography studio at Didžioji g. 36 in 1931. He also worked with another photographer, S. Braudaitė (↓), at a studio by the name of Menas (↓) that's believed to have been operating at Turgaus g. 26 in 1938. Mr. Boruchovičius is also known to have shown two photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933, and was somehow connected with the small town of Varniai, 30 kilometres away to the south. Several photographs bearing the Menas studio stamp survive among the collection at the Alka Museum of Samogitian History in Telšiai.

Bertha Braudaitė

Born on December 20, 1897. Recorded in a document dated July 14, 1920 as being a photographer. Could S. Braudaitė (↑↓) just be a simple typo? Was Fišelis Boruchovičius' associate really Bertha?  

S. Braudaitė

See Fišelis Boruchovičius (↑).

Dailė

See Hirša Leibovičius (↓).

Foto-Elektro-Salonas  

See Volfas Šabselbanas (↓).

Slomo Glikman

Haim Shloime Glikmanas

⛤

Born in Luokė in 1913. Active in 1929. Murdered in 1941.

Hirsz Kac

Katz

Originally from somewhere in East Prussia, Mr. Kac is recorded as having worked for Chaim Kaplansky (↓) in 1896.  

Feitska Kaplanskaitė-Taicienė 

⛤

See The Invisible Girls.

THE KAPLANSKY NEGATIVES

Coming soon.

Chaim Kaplansky 

Chaimas Kaplanskis

Arguably the most famous of the thousands of mostly forgotten Jewish photographers who lived and worked in Lithuania before the Second World War, Chaim Kaplansky's (c.1860-1935) celebrity status lies in the fact that, thanks to the efforts of the Lithuanian poet and cultural figure Pranas Genys, more than 400 of his studio's photographic glass plate negatives survive to this day. Mr. Kaplanskis' oldest surviving photograph is dated 1878. Known to have been operating out of a studio at Didžioji g. 13 in 1931. 

Faivel Kaplansky

Faivush

Born on January 3, 1892. Son of Chaim Kaplansky (↑). Brother of Feitska Kaplanskaitė-Taicienė (↑). Emigrated to Palestine, where he continued to work as a photographer. 

Moshe Kaplansky

Mošė

The eldest son of Chaim Kaplansky (↑). Brother of Feitska Kaplanskaitė-Taicienė (↑) Date of birth unknown. It's understood that he studied photography in Berlin, and, like his brother Faivel (↑), emigrated to Palestine and worked as a photographer.

Menakhem Manes Katz

⛤

Born in 1917.

M. K. Kušeliukas

Active for a brief period of time during the late 1860s. 

Leiba Meier Lebensztejn

Leiba Meier, Lobensztejn, Lowenstein, Leiba Mejeris Lebenšteinas

Active in 1865. It's said that he moved to Raseiniai (↑) the following year, and that he had a few 'issues' with his license/permit. Another report notes that he was also briefly active in Kaišiadorys and Radviliškis. 

Hirša Leibovičius 

Herškė 

Although more than one source states that Mr. Leibovičius owned and operated the Dailė photography studio at Didžioji g. 73 between about 1925 and 1941, a surviving print shows that in about 1938 he was running a photography studio at Smetonos g. 78 (today's Respublikos g.).

Khana Libovitz 

Leibovičiūtė

Born in about 1910. Possibly related to Hirša Leibovičius (↑).

Klara Lichaitė

Likht

Born in Varniai in 1900. Active in 1920.

Faiwusz Lunc

See Šiauliai (↑).

Menas

See Fišelis Boruchovičius (↑).

F. Milevičius

Amateur photographer. Displayed four photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933. Records strongly suggest that Mr. Milevičius owned a bookshop on Smetonos g. in 1939.

Nathan Šapselbonas

See Klaipėda (↑). 

Volfas Šabselbanas

Šapzelbonas, Sabselbanas, Sabselban, Vulfas

Born in 1896 and originally from Žagarė (↓), Volfas Šabselbanas moved to Telšiai sometime after 1920, where he’s known to have owned and worked in the Foto-Elektro-Salonas photography studio (↑) at Kęstučio g. 32 in 1931. A document dated November 28, 1939 records a man from Telšiai with this name being granted permission to emigrate to Palestine, which may explain why none of Mr. Šabselbanas' surviving prints are dated any later than that year. His work is known to survive in the archives at the Alka Museum of Samogitian History in Telšiai and the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius. Almost certainly related to Nathan Šapselbonas in Klaipėda (↑). 

Motel Šer

Born in 1906. Active on March 5, 1924.

Itsik Taicas

⛤

Born in Lygumai in about 1894. Married to Feitska Kaplanskaitė-Taicienė (↑). It's recorded in several sources that Itsik was extremely religious, and consequently had little time for the photography business he was supposed to be running in partnership with his wife after the death of his father-in-law. His 1926 internal passport lists his profession as 'proficient in Talmud'.

Mošė Terešiškinas 

Tereshishkin

Born in 1916. Active in 1934.

E. Treimanas

Amateur photographer. Exhibited five photographs at an exhibition organised by the so-called Putpelės Draugija in Šiauliai in 1933.

Khaya Zlotkinaitė

Zlotkin

Born in about 1912. Active in 1929.

TRAKAI

Trok טראָק

Symon Kobecki

Kubiecki

Born in about 1881. Active on December 19, 1921. Possibly Karaim/Karaite.

TROŠKŪNAI

Trashkon טראַשקון

Abram Novozenets

Born in 1896, and believed to have been working as a photographer in 1926. It’s currently unclear whether Mr. Novozenets was active in Troškūnai or Panevėžys.

Mikhel Rutenbergas

Rutenberg

Born in 1903. Active in 1921.

TRYŠKIAI 

Trishik טרישיק

K. Almanas

Possibly the same K. Almanas who worked in neighbouring Viekšniai (↓).

UKMERGĖ

Vilkomir װילקאָמיר

Shimel Epsteinas

Epshtein

Born in 1912. 

M. Fraidmanas

The name M. Fraidmanas is listed in a number of different places in connection with the Rekord photography studio (↓) at Ukmergės pl. 54. 

Yosel Glaz

Joselis Glazas

⛤

Born in Inkūnai in 1906 (some records state 1902). Murdered in August 1941.

Joselis Goldas

See Vilnius (↓).

Jacob Gor

Jokūbas Goras

Several prints from the photographer's studio are held in the archives at the Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas for no reason that’s immediately apparent. It’s possible that Mr. Gor was the same person as Yankel Gor who worked in Panevėžys.

Morduchas Khazanas 

Mordukh Khazan

Recorded as having been a photographer at the tender age of 17 in 1922. 

Mauša Levi

Mauša Levis, Moišė Levinas, Moishe Levin, Moses Levi

⛤

Coming soon.

Hirsh Morduchovičius

Yekhel Hirsh Mordukhovich

Born in 1914, and apparently working as a professional photographer in 1933 . Nothing else is currently known about Mr. Morduchovičius, other than he was imprisoned by the NKVD, and that he served in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army. 

Rokha Moruchesaitė

Morukh

Born in 1913. Active in 1930.

Afroim Gerts Pazol

Efroim Herc Pasol

Born in Želva on November 20, 1873, Mr. Pazol married Ester née Kruskal from Tartu in Estonia on a currently unknown date. The couple are known to have had at least two children, before emigrating to Brazil in about 1933, where the photographer passed away in São Paulo on December 22, 1950. Several of Mr. Pazol's surviving photographs can be seen here.

Perecas Perkas

Born in about 1868. Operated a photography studio at Vytauto g. 30 in 1931.

Rekord

See M. Fraidmanas (↑).

Mikhail Romanovsky

Michailas Romanauskas

Mr. Romanovsky opened his photography studio in 1895. The few known surviving examples of his studio portraits and street scenes are both fascinating and exquisite. A small selection of them can be seen here.

Abraham Šimkovičius

Born in 1905. Active in 1922. Despite being 15 years younger, Abraham was almost certainly the brother of the photographer Vulf Šimkovičius (see Kaišiadorys ↑). 

Wulf Shimkovich

⛤

See Kaunas (↑).

Szmuit Michel Tarapanij

Born in 1839. Brother of a rabbi. Owned and operated a photography studio from 1877 until 1885 at the latest.

Henokh Vaineras

Vainer

Born in 1913. Active in 1931.

Zelman Vapnikas

Zalman Wapnik

⛤

Born in 1912. 

Eliyash Volkas

Volk

Born on April 23, 1899. Applied for an internal passport on May 10, 1920.

UTENA

Utiyan אוטיאַן

S. Choras

Š. Chor

Operated a photography studio at some point during the interwar period at Kauno g. 33. First name may have been Simenas/Šimenas. Possibly born in Taujėnai in 1906. Some of his studio stamps are marked Š. Chor. The few surviving prints that he made can be found in the archives at the Utena Regional Museum and one or two other institutions in Lithuania.

L. Dembas

Known to have been active in 1939.

Isaak Goršeinas

Isak, Gorshein, Gorsheinas, Gorchein

⛤

Born in Švenčionys on March 16, 1896. Lived in Utena between 1918 and 1924 before moving to Kaunas at some point during the same year. A surviving photograph from Utena includes a studio mark on the back, which indicates that it was probably taken between about 1918 and 1924. A second surviving photograph, dated June 21, 1923,  can be seen here. At some point in his life, the photographer moved to Paris, where he was imprisoned at the infamous Drancy internment camp on August 20, 1941. Transported to Auschwitz on March 27, 1942 , he was subsequently murdered a few weeks later on May 9, 1942. Research strongly suggests that Mr. Goršeinas was the brother of the Švenčionys-born artist Sarah Gorchein. 

Fevelis Milas

Tevelis Milis

Recorded as having owned a photography studio at Kauno g. 40 in 1931. 

Motel Sharfshtein

Born in 1908. Active in 1936.

Š. Sreberka

Shneyer Sreberk. Shneyer Naftel Sreberko

Active in 1908 (when he was recorded as being 26 years old) and 1912. Worked in Utena, Tauragnai and other locations in the area.

UŽPALIAI

Ushpol אוושפּאָל 

Ch. Halberštatas

Golberstatas

Known to have been active as a studio photographer in 1937. First name possibly Chatskel/Khatskel.

Ch. Kuras

Working in the mid-1920s. One very damaged print is known to survive among the collection at the Rokiškis Regional Museum.

VANDŽIOGALA

Vendzigole ווענדזיגאָלע

Mortkhel Kadyson

Born in about 1854. Issued a passport on October 20, 1875. Described as being 157 cm tall, with brown eyes and fair hair.

Iosif Lapin

Osip

Born in about 1841. Active between at least 1871 and 1873.

Gdalie Getsel Volpert

Gdal

Born in about 1846. Active between at least 1871 and 1873.

VARĖNA

Aran אַראַן

Bentsel Chatzkelevitz

Boris, Borys

Born in about 1850. Operated a studio at an unknown location in Varėna for a very short period in 1886 (license/permit number 2935). From an obviously colourful and enterprising family of photographers. See the Joseph Chatzkelevitz entry in Vilnius for infomation about his brother.

Davidas Gordonas

David Gordon

As well as producing a series of exquisitely detailed composite postcards for tourists and local businesses, Mr. Gordonas also made several formal and informal portraits outdoors that have somehow managed to survive for almost a century, many of them now held among the collection at the Trakai History Museum. Along with his wife, Ida, and their two children, Hinda Leya and Hana Dvora, the photographer is recorded as having emigrated to Palestine in 1934. Several of his surviving pictures can be seen here.

VARNIAI

Vorne וואָרנע

Evgeny Auza

Although Evgeny Auza is recorded as having been a photographer in Varniai on February 1, 1899, it's unclear whether his business was based here, or 30 kilometres away to the north in Telšiai. 

Itsik Izrailiovich

I. Izrailevičius

Recorded as being a photographer in Varniai on March 11, 1903. It’s not clear exactly where and when he was actually working. Other possible locations include Skuodas and Tauragė. A surviving studio print that's held in the archives at the Aušros museum in Šiauliai and that dates from the last decade of the 19th century bears a studio mark on the reverse side that suggests Mr. Izrailiovich may have also had a studio in Kaunas/Kovno at some time. 

A. Katzef

See Tauragė (↑).

Klara Lichtaitė

See Telšiai (↑).

VEGERIAI 

Veger וועגער

F. Giršaitė

Possibly the same F. Giršaitė who was recorded as working in Viekšniai (↓).  

VIEKŠNIAI 

Vekshne

K. Almanas

Some of the photographer’s surviving prints are reportedly held in the archives at the Mažeikiai Museum. Possibly the same K. Almanas who worked in neighbouring Tryškiai (↑).

F. Giršaitė

Possibly the same F. Giršaitė who was recorded as working in Vegeriai (↑). Some of the photographer’s surviving prints are reportedly held among the collection at the Mažeikiai Museum. 

VIEŠINTOS 

Vishinte ווישינטע

Faivel Chaitas

S. Chaitas, S. Chaito

Born in 1913. Ran a studio called Progres [sic] somewhere on Vilniaus g. Was active during the mid-1930s. Along with his mother, Tauba Chaitienė (born in 1881), the photographer managed to escape to Russia after Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania in June 1941. The Aušros Museum in Šiauliai has some of his original photographic prints among its collection. 

Progres

See Faivel Chaitas (↑).

VIEVIS

Vevie וועוויע

Liuba Berkovskienė

Mrs. Berkovskienė was registered here for a short while in around 1930. See the photographer's Kaunas entry (↑) for more information.

Kushel Tainavich

K. Tainavičius, Kušelis Fainavičius

Born in Semeliškės in about 1903, Kushel Tainavich is believed to have been working in Vievis between at least 1932 and 1940. 

VILKAVIŠKIS

Vilkovishk װילקאָװישק

Dailė

See Chaimas Nicevičius (↓).

Benjaminas Freiman

Born in 1894, Benjaminas Freiman and his wife, Tauba (↓), are recorded as having run a photography studio together at Aukštoji g. 10 in 1922. On an unknown date during the Second World War, Benjaminas filled in a registration card for Jewish refugees in Tashkent. Tauba appears to not have been with him. 

Tauba Freiman

See Benjaminas Freiman (↑).

Chaim Guterman

Chaimas Gutermanas

⛤

Born in Kalvarija in about 1893. Recorded as having operated a photography studio at Kęstučio g. 21 in Vilkaviškis in 1931. The last known record of Mr. Guterman dates from an August 29, 1941 Lithuanian police report, in which he was listed as living at Vilkaujos g. 3. 

Itsik Lang

Langas

Born in 1911. Active in 1938. May have also worked in Kaunas.

Chaimas Nicevičius

Nicevič

⛤

Recorded as having been operating the Dailė photography studio (↑) at Kudirkos g. 1 in 1931. Several of Mr. Nicevičius' photographs are held in the archives at the Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas. Exactly how they got there remains a mystery. 

Chasa Rubinsteinienė

⛤

Born in the small Polish town of Wiżajny in about 1913. Murdered in September 1941. The last known record of Mrs. Rubinsteinienė dates from an August 29, 1941 Lithuanian police report, in which she was listed as living at Vilkaujos g. 6. 

Berel Samuol

Samuolis

Born in 1906. Listed his occupation as photographer when he married Liuba Shilman from Panemunė in 1935.

VILKIAUTINIS

Leizer Kaplanas

Kaplan

Registered as having been a photographer in a document dated May 20, 1935 in connection with his presumed emigration to Palestine. See the Emigrated to Palestine box (↑) for more information.

VILKIJA

Vilki ווילקי 

J. Katavušnikas

Joselis, Katavushnik, Katovushnik

Credited with a single photograph that was taken sometime during the 1920s or 1930s. The image, featuring a Mr. Avižienis (the Vilkija chief of police) and what are assumed to be members of his family, looks very much like a classic studio portrait. On closer inspection however, the photographer appears to have taken the picture outside. The solitary print is held among the archives at the Kaunas District Museum in Raudondvaris. 

Volf Vinnisky

Born in Sejny in about 1870, Mr. Vinnisky appears to have been working in about 1907. 

VILNIUS

Vilne ווילנע

Historically the world’s first centre of traditional Talmudic study, Vilnius/Vilna/Vilne/Wilno was also home to an increasingly large and diverse secular community before the Germans occupied the city during the last week of June 1941. Helped along by the arrival of the Haskalah a few years earlier, a tiny handful of recently enlightened Jewish men from the city were among the first individuals in the Russian Empire to recognise photography’s propensity for producing beautiful images and large amounts of money. Although some sources claim the first photography studio began producing daguerreotypes for wealthy patrons in the city in 1843, the first reliable documents place the place first studio as opening some two decades later. 

David Aliber

Born in St. Petersburg in 1898. Known to have been working in Wilno/Vilnius in 1931, were he was registered as living at ul. Kijowska 18 (today's Kauno g.). There's some evidence to suggest that, along with his wife, Sara, and their three children, Isaac, Leya and Rebecca, the photographer emigrated to Paraguay in about 1934.

Jacob Ajzensztat

Aizenshtat

Born in 1909. Active in 1928.

Aron Altszuler

Altsuleris

See Kaunas (↑).

Hersz Antowil

Opened a photography studio in 1899 that was still operating in 1903. Learned photography in Borisov/Barysaw.

Hirsz Aronowsky

Born on April 15, 1905. Recorded as being a photographer in March 1928.

Basia Aronsztam

See Michel Aronsztam (↓). 

Michel Aronsztam

Originally from Gazenpot/Aizpute in what’s now the southwestern part of Latvia, Michel Aronsztam operated two studios at different times at ul. Wielka (today’s Didžioji g.) and ul. Świętojańska (today’s Šv. Jono g.), where he produced a wide range of photographic prints using a number of different techniques, including ambrotypes/collodion positive and tintype/ferrotype. The business was taken over by his wife, Basia (↑), after Mr. Aronsztam passed away on January 25, 1889.

Efraim Bak

Operated a photography studio on ul. Stefańska between about 1899 and 1903.

Faiwusz Mejer Basin

Was somehow involved in the attempted production of ferrotypes/tintypes in about 1898. 

Berlin Photographic Workshop

See Szloma Perelman (↓), and Jankelis Girša Arnsonas in Siauliai (↑). 

E. Binkovich

Eliasz, Elias

Born in 1852, and originally operating a photography studio in Grodno, Mr. Binkovich moved to Vilna and ran an upmarket photography studio at ul. Vilenskaya 32 (today’s Vilniaus g.) between about 1902 and 1914. 

Chaimas Blumentalis

Chaim Blumental

Born on July 4, 1907. Known to have been active on August 14, 1940, the day he married Sone Sandleraitė, a 26-year-old owner of a beauty parlour from Radviliškis.

Izrael Blumowicz

Appears to have tried and failed to open a photography studio on ul. Wielka (today’s Didžioji g.) in about 1871.

Israel Bodin

Born on May 7, 1902. Travelled to South Africa in 1927 or 1928.

H. Bolber

Hirsz, Bulber

Born in 1886. Appears to have operated out of an address at ul. Zawalna 24-17 (today’s Pylimo g.). Believed to have been active between at least 1921 and 1940. Several of Mr. Bolber’s original prints are held in the archives at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius.

Frères Boutkovsky 

Fragments of archival material on the subject of the brothers Leon and Miron Boutovsky/Butkoovsky suggest that they were already working in the photography business before they came together and opened their famous studio on ul. Konna (today's Bazilijonų g.), which they referred to as ‘Rue Konnaja’ , in about 1896. The French affectation (France being where photography was invented in 1839) was a popular ruse in the world of studio photography at the time, and, in the case of the Frères Boutkovsky, extended to their unsubstantiated claim that the pair were the official court photographers to the Shah of Persia.

Peter Braunstein

Born in Königsberg in 1911. Parents born in Lithuania. Recorded as having been a photographer in Berlin in 1930. Unclear exactly where he worked. 

Samuel Broches

Born in about 1878. Lived and possibly worked in the city for a brief period between 1919 and 1921.

Boruch Brudner

Barakh

⛤

Born in about 1892, it's understood that Boruch Brudner operated a photography studio at ul. Wielka Pohulanka 6-21 (today's Basanavičiaus g.). Deported from the Vilna Ghetto to a concentration camp in Estonia on an unknown date in 1943, the photographer is believed to have perished soon after. An unspecified reference to Mr. Brudner is allegedly included in a book (title currently unknown) by the Yiddish poet and writer (and Vilna Ghetto survivor), Shmerke Kaczerginski. Several of his studio portraits can be found in various Lithuanian museums. Mr. Brudner's work was at times outstanding, such as this wonderful portrait of Olynka Mirski.

Mordukh Brudner

Known to have been working in 1924.

N. Brudno

A single print featuring four male members of staff at an unknown shoemakers that bears the stamp 'Fotograf, N. Brudo, Wilno' was discovered among the ruins of the Vilna or Kovno ghetto after they were liquidised in 1943 and 1944. The image is one of more than 200 that were found under similar circumstances that are now held in the archives at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius.

Rubinas Bunimovičius

Ruvin Bunimovicz

Born in 1909. Active in 1927. 

Hirsh Burakiszki

Born in Baranavichy in what's now Belarus in 1909. Had plans in the late 1920s to emigrate to Argentina or the United States.

Cejtlin

E. Cejtlin

A water-damaged photographic print featuring a smiling woman in a fur coat with the embossed words 'Fot., Cejtlin, Wilno' underneath is held in the archives at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius. The image was found among the ruins and remains of the either the Vilna or the Kovno ghetto in about 1944. Possibly E. Cejtin, a photographer and artist whose sole surviving photograph was also found among the same ruins. 

Joseph Chatzkelevitz

Josil, Josek, Josif, Joselis Chackelevičius

Originally arriving from St. Petersburg in 1879, along with what appears to have been his equally unorthodox brother, Bentsel (see Varėna ↓), Joseph Chatzkelevitz’s professional life often seemed to be in conflict with the Russian authorities. His short-lived studio in Vilna/Vilnius (where he seems to have made some wonderful portraits) operated for a brief period until his death in 1899, after which it was taken over by his widow, Rebeka (born in 1870), and none other than the aforementioned Bentsel, who also appears to have been briefly entangled in possibly scandalous episodes in Birštonas, Kaunas and Švenčionys.

Itzik Chonovitz

Isaac Chonowicz/Khonovich, Icik Chonovič

Born in 1842. Learnt his trade in the photography studio of Szachno Priwalski (↓). Operated several photography studios in the city, the first opening in about 1871. Known to have been active in 1924. Also known to have been awarded gold medals at exhibitions in Antwerp in 1905 and 1906. One source also refers to Mr. Chonovitz's (unnamed) son, who is believed to have worked in the family business. 

Aizik Cinowiec

A. Cynowiec, Cinovec

Born in Pinsk in about 1869, Mr. Cinowiec's first photography studio was established in 1896, and was one of the most popular and expensive in the city. Records show that his business operated until 1940, the same year that he married his second wife, Sonia, who at 38 was almost half his age. Also mentioned as being a musician in a military band.

Perec Cunzer

Peretz Tzunzer

⛤

Born on December 29, 1900 (or possibly 1896). Listed as having been a photographer in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942. Worked for Fraje Shriftn and Vilner Tog. Murdered in Estonia in 1944.

Chajm Dolginower

Born in 1895. Probably in Ashmyany/Oshmyany. Passed through the city with his wife, Leja, in about 1930.

Zelman Dworecki

Born in 1901. Probably in Yekaterinoslav/Dnipro. Known to have been living (and possibly working) in the city in the mid-1920s.

Aizik Elchones

Isaac Elchones

Born in an unspecified location in about 1970. Moved from St. Petersburg (where he probably studied photography) in 1897, the same year that he opened his first photography studio in Vilna. It’s recorded that he operated photography studios somewhere on ul. Wielka (today’s Didžioji g.), at Świętojańska 17 (today’s Šv. Jono g.) and at ul. Kalwaryjska 60 (today’s Kalvarijų g.). Planned to move to Palestine with his wife, Rokha, and daughter, Sara, in 1925.

Dovyd Engelštern

Engelsztern

Briefly mentioned as having been active in 1905 and 1908.

Rachil Epsztejn

Born in about 1893. Possibly in Dzisna. Briefly in the city in about 1924.

Szmul Morduch Epsztein

Active between about 1868 and 1873.

Yosel Etingof

Josel, Josef Etingow

Born in Orsha in today's Belarus in 1880 or 1884. Active at ul. Wileńska 25 (today’s Vilniaus g.) in 1929.

Ruvin Fajnberg

Ruwein Feinberg

⛤

Born in 1908. Known to have been working as a photographer in 1924. Deported from the Vilna Ghetto in 1943. Murdered at the Ereda work camp in northern Estonia on an unknown date.

Lejba Fajnsztejn

Born in an unknown location near Grodno in 1887. Appears to have possibly been actively working as a photographer in Wilno/Vilnius between 1919 and 1927.

Mozes Fejgenberg

Born in 1894. Recorded as living at Szopena 4-5 (today's Šopeno g.) between June 1919 and October 1922. It's interesting to note that the photographer Chana Kac (↓) appears to have been living in the apartment next door during the same period.

Teibel Feigin

Taibl

⛤

Born in 1915. Murdered at Ponar/Paneriai in about 1942. No information about her life or work so far discovered.

Ber Fijalkow

Fiyalk

Born in 1903. Active in 1928.

Lion Frumin

Leiba, Leon

Studied photography in Vilna between 1899 and 1902. 

Mikhel Gerb

Born in 1898. Active in 1924.

Leon Ginzburg

Wandering photographer who worked with daguerreotypes, and who arrived from Berlin in about 1843. Associated with another photographer from Berlin called Ziegler, who may also have been Jewish.

Joselis Goldas 

Josel Gold

Possibly associated with a photography studio in Biržai at some point, and recorded as having opened his first photography business in Vilkomir/Ukmergė in 1873, Mr. Goldas seems to have spent another part of his professional career working in Vilna/Vilnius/Wilno.

J. Gołub

Known to have been active at ul. Niemiecka 19-17 (today's Vokiečių g.) during the interwar period.

Rakhmiel Gordon

Born in 1911. Listed as being both a photographer and a farmer in 1930. Travelled to Brazil at around the same time.

Aaron Goldszmidt

Goldszmidt

⛤

Born in Telšiai in about 1891. Active in 1924.

Moritz Grossman 

Moryc, Maryc, Morisas Grosmanas

⛤

Believed to have been born in Vilna in about 1885, Moritz Grossman is recorded as having owned and operated a photography studio at ul. Bolshaya 73 (today’s Didžioji g.) in about 1910. Surviving photographs include a slightly puzzling image of Lithuanian national hero Jonas Basanavičius' empty office, and a series of pictures that were taken inside the ORT Technicum building in Wilno/Vilna/Vilnius during the 1930s. Mr. Grossman was murdered along with his wife and two sons at Ponar, almost certainly in 1941.

Gita Grynsztejn

Grinshtein, Gilda Miller

Born in Vilna in 1894. Registered as living at ul. Zawalna 55-17 (today's Pylimo g.) on September 14, 1925. Emigrated to the United States from Antwerp on the SS Belgenland a few weeks later. Married Abraham Miller in Los Angeles on June 7, 1933. Gave birth to Herman Harry Miller on October 18, 1934. Passed away on June 2, 1954. Resting alongside her husband in the Beit Kvarot Beit Shalom Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1956, Gita's only child, Herman, married 20-year-old Marianne Lange, a refugee from Nazi Germany. The couple divorced without having any children. No surviving photographs have yet been found. It's believed that Gita might have been related to the photographer Gdala Lewin. A photograph of Gita herself is known to be kept at the Lithuanian Central State Archives in Vilnius.

Henokh Gurwicz

Born in 1905. Active in 1931. Appears to have travelled/emigrated to New Zealand, possibly in 1932.

Izrael Helda

Born in 1884 in Drohobych/Drohobycz in today's western Ukraine.

Pesia Icchokin

Pesza, Jechokin

⛤

Pesia and Shymon (↓) Icchokin are listed as having been photographers in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942. A Wilno/Vilnius house register dated September 15, 1932 lists the couple as living at ul. Zawalna 15-2 (today's Pylimo g.). Mrs. Icchokin's maiden name was Rakowicki. Three surviving photographs by S. G. Icchokin (presumably Shymon), two of them portraits of the same German soldier and one a group portrait of German soldiers, all taken during the First World War, are held in the archives at the Aušros Museum in Šiauliai. The studio stamp is marked with the addresses Kalwaria str. 8 (today's Kalvarijų g.) and Antokol str. 70 (today's Antakalnio g.). As if the information isn't fragmented enough, Pesia is recorded in different sources as having been born in 1879 and 1887.

Shymon Icchokin

Jechokin

⛤

Born in 1885 or 1878. See Pesia Icchokin (↑).

Etel Janow

Ethel Janov, Ettel, Janoff, Yanoff, Yan, Janowa

⛤

Born Etel Gruszman in Akkerman, the old Ottoman Turkish name for today's Ukrainian city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, on January 1, 1884. In June 1922, Etel was recorded as living at ul. Teatralna 5-5 (today's Teatro g.), along with her second husband, Joseph Janoff, who she married in Munich on May 19, 1908. In a 1924 document, her profession is listed as having been a dyer, a word that's associated with other photographers from the period. She also appears in other records as an actress. Her final appearance is when she's recorded as having been a photographer in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942. Etel and Joseph had a son, Moisey, who was born in February 1912. This may be the same person who rests here in the Jewish cemetery in Vilnius.

Meilakh Jarcho

Born in Slutsk in what's now Belarus on July 25, 1908, Mr. Jarcho is known to have been working as a photographer in 1927. A record in the Lithuanian Central State Archives indicates that he may have emigrated to Buenos Aires at around the same time.  

Chana Kac

Born in 1897 in Minsk (unclear whether the city or the gubernia). Registered as living at ul. Szopena 4-6 (today's Šopeno g.) in 1921, the same year that she appears to have moved to Warsaw.

Jakub Kac

Born on July 3, 1912. Not very clear at all, but appears to have been living and working in the city throughout the 1930s. Possibly from Vitebsk.

Berl Kacherginsky

Beras Kačerginskis

⛤

Born in about 1905. A member of the Vilna Ghetto police. Murdered in Königsberg on January 27, 1945. Some sources state that he was a photographer before the war, and that he may have also been the person responsible for producing the small handful of photographs that are known to have been taken in the ghetto. 

Alter Kacyzne 

⛤

The writer, poet and photographer Alter Kacyzne was one of the most important Jewish cultural figures in interwar Poland. Born into a working-class family in Vilna/Vilnius/Wilno in 1885, Mr. Kacyzne was beaten to death by Ukrainian nationalists on July 7, 1941. Most of his work was destroyed during the war. Almost everything that survives, including a few hundred photographs, is stored in the archives at YIVO in New York. His short but fascinating biography on the online version of the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe is here. 

J. Kaczyński 

Is known to have been working out of ul. Ostrobramska 10 (today's Aušros Vartų g) during the interwar period, at least between 1934 and 1937. 

Isaac Kagan

Born on March 15, 1900. Known to have been active in 1924.

Josef Kamuszer

Born in 1901. Registered as living at ul. Węglowa 14-7 (today's Šaltinių g.) in 1919. It's also recorded that Mr. Kamuszer departed for 'the countryside' on September 24 of the same year.

Gershon Kasriels

Kasrels

Born in 1862. Active in 1927.

Awrum Klurfajn

Born on September 14, 1915. Thought to have been working in the city during the 1930s.

Chaim Koliš

Haim, Kolish, Kołysz

Born in 1871. Originally from Švenčionys. Active before 1914. Hinda’s (↓) husband. Solomea’s (↓) father. In 1928, the Koliš family was registered as living at ul. Garbarska 1-28 (today's Odminių g.).

Hinda Koliš

Ginda, Kolish, Kołysz

Born in 1896. Listed as having been a photography technician in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942. Chaim’s (↑) wife. Salomea’s (↓) mother.

Salomea Koliš

Kolish, Kołysz

Born on August 20, 1920. Listed as having been a photography technician in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942. Chaim (↓) and Hinda’s (↑) daughter. 

Chaim Konik

See Josil Konik (↓).

Josil Konik

Josiel

Born on March 8, 1877. Registered at ul. Nikodema 2-7 (today's Lapų g.) in 1919. In about 1902, Mr. Konik worked with his brother, Chaim (born in 1875 ↑).

Simon Koperis

Simon Koperis, a worker at the Giesler labour camp in Pabradė who was born in Brest-Litovsk on April 12, 1906, is listed as having been a photographer in the Vilna Ghetto census, dated May 27, 1942.

Nochim Kowarski

Naum

Active during a currently unknown period before emigrating to the United States, where he opened a photography studio in New York in about 1903.

Fayvl Krasnyj

Fayvel

⛤

A photographer who was also the manager at the Meficei Haskala Jewish public library at Strašūno g. 6 (today’s Žemaitijos g. 4), Mr. Krasnyj was murdered at Ponar in 1941.

Josef Krojnowicz

Born in about 1906.

Rubin Lejbinsztern

Born in 1914. Recorded as having been a photographer in July 1939.

Hertz Levin

Active in 1925, when the records suggest he was barely 15. Almost certainly Mausha's (↓) younger brother.

Chanonas Levinas

See Jurbarkas (↑).

Gdala Lewin

Born in 1909. Operated a studio somewhere on ul. Wilenska (today's Vilniaus g.) during the 1930s. It's believed that Gdala was somehow related to the photographer Gita Grynsztejn (↑).

Zelik Lewin

⛤

Born in 1918.

Mausha Lewin

Levin

Active in 1927. Almost certainly Hertz's (↑) older brother.

M. Litwak

M. Litwak took a photograph of a huge group of students and teachers at the Vilna Jewish Real Gymnasium on September 23, 1938. The original print is in the archives at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius. Nothing else is currently known.

Aleksander Machnowiecki-Gorensztejn

Born in 1908. Possibly in Białystok. Known to have been living in Vilna/Wilno for six months in 1936.

Mendel Maskin

Born in Moscow in 1886. Several of Mr. Maskin's photographs survive, including this 1930 studio portrait of a young Chaim Shapiro (1925-1943) that's held among the collection at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in the United States.

Grisha Matz

Hirsch Matz, Hirsch Mac

⛤

Born in Vilna in about 1899, Grisha Matz was a publisher, travel writer, active member of the city’s Yiddish theatre community, a founding member of the Vilna/Wilno branch of TOZ, of which he became director in 1935, and a keen amateur photographer. An acquaintance of Marc Chagall, and never seen in public without his trademark bow tie, Grisha Matz was very much attached to his beloved Leica camera. Murdered during the first few days of the German occupation, neither his photographic equipment nor any of his photographs appear to have survived. Mr. Matz was married to Nadia née Vinisky, a member of the paper brigade, who was probably murdered in Majdanek soon after the Vilna Ghetto was liquidated in September 1943. Mr. Matz was also the brother of the Lithuanian Jewish musician and childcare worker Annushka Varšavskienė.

Josel Szmuel Melcer

Born in about 1898 in what's today the Belarusian town of Novogrudok, Mr. Melcer is known to have been active during the late 1920s.

Mausha Mindlin

Born in 1901. Active in 1928.

Miriam

See Miriam Rapoport (↓).

Notel Mirski

Born in 1904 in Pabradė/Podbrodz (↑). Mentioned briefly in documents dating from 1921.

Leizer Mizerec

Mizeretz

Born in 1891. Active in 1926.

Shimel Mizerec

Mizerets

Born in 1888. Possibly travelled to South Africa in about 1929.

Aaron Oguz

Born in 1877. Active in 1927. Address recorded as ul. Jagiellonska (today's Jogailos g.). Married (on March 31, 1907) to Khaya (↓). 

Khaya Oguz

Khaya Perla Oguz née Bienkowicz/Benkovich was born in Grodno in 1883. Active in 1927. Address recorded as ul. Jagiellonska (today's Jogailos g.). Married (on March 31, 1907) to Aaron (↑). 

Albert Ozinskas

Ozinsky

Born in 1908. Nothing is currently known about Mr. Ozinskas other than he's believed to have worked as a photographer for the NKVD, and that he served in the (in)famous 16th Division of the Red Army.

Arnold S. Perelmann

Ran an upmarket photography studio in Vilna around the turn of the 20th century.

Szloma Perelman

Shliom Perelman

Studied photography in Berlin. Owned the Berlin Photographic Workshop (see also Jankelis Girša Arnsonas in Šiauliai ↑) on ul. Niemiecka (today’s Vokiečių g.) between 1882 and 1887.

N. Pinskis

Neakh Pinsky, Pinski, Pinskis, Pinsko, Pinskoj

Born in Dvinsk/Daugavpils in 1887, and known to have operated a photography studio in Vilna/Wilno/Vilnius somewhere on today's Didžioji g. between at least 1924 and 1939, Mr. Pinskis' entire professional working career seems to be represented by just two surviving photographic prints, one held in the archives at the Rokiškis Regional Museum, and the other in the collection at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius.

Abramas Plaskovas

Was running a studio at Didžioji g. 52 in March 1940. A single print is known to survive in the archives at the Vilna Gaon State Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius.

Eliyash Plaskow

Plasky

Born in 1882. Active in 1927.

Pinhas Plis

Pinchas Falis

⛤

Confusingly recorded as having been born in both 1907 and 1920. 

Rachel Pliskin

Born in 1917. Student photographer visiting from Glubokoye (today's Hlybokaye in Belarus) between about June 1935 and March 1936. 

Izaak Podoroski