Panemune Locations

In Lithuania , today, there are at 7 locations which bear the name Panemune, 6 locations which bear the name Panemunes, and 8 locations which have “Panemun” as their root.[2] Given that “Panemun” means “On the Niemon (river)”, it should not be surprising that this is and was a common town name.

At the end of the 19th Century, there were eleven locations in what is now Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, which bore the name of Poniemon/Panemune and an additional four locations with “Panemun” as their “root”:

1. Poniemon/Panemune/Frentzil Panemune/Panemune Frentzela/ Aukstoji Panemune: Upper Panemune

It is located on the left bank of the Niemon River, opposite Kaunas. It had a Jewish community going back to at least 1784.

It is located on the left (west) bank of the Nieman, 8 km. from Vilkijos (Vilkija), county of Paezereliu, Sakius region. (If it is also identified with Ponemon Fergissa, Jewish inhabitants are found there in 1818).

An estate near the town of Birzai in the District of Panevezys. It had a small Jewish population.

6 miles East of Kovno. Jewish inhabitants were found there in the early 19th Century.

It is located on the right (east) bank of the Niemen River near Tilsit, in the Pagegiu Region.

A large farmstead in the Wierczeliski district, owned by the Niemcewicz and Sarosiek families.

A farm and manor in the Kowien county, district of Eleonorow, partly owned by the Jasinski family.

A village in Nowo Aleksandrow county, district of Czados, five miles from Czados.

A large estate four miles from the district town of Podbirze, which was owned by the Siesicki family.

It, too, was four miles from the district town of Podbirze. It was the property of Baron Korfow.

It was in the district of Podbirze, two miles from Podbirze. It was owned by the Szymming family.

A small village with a train station, next to the Niemen River, 13 km. S.W. of Rokiskis, in Northeastern Lithuania, district of Nowo Aleksandrowski.

A village and estate in Nowo Aleksandrowski county, district of Poniemuniek, 35 miles from Nowo Aleksandrowski.

A small village with a train station, which is on the Nemunelis River, 34 km. N.W. of Rokiskis, 6 km from Pandelys, 15 km. from Kvetku, 12 km south of the Latvian border, district of Nowo Aleksandrwoski. It had a Jewish population. (Members of the Ponman, Poneman, Pennman, Panama, Poniemon, and Poneimunski families probably come from this town.)

It was located on the West Bank of the Niemon, 3/4 mile to the East of Zemoji Panemune (see above).

[1] (Encyclopedia Lituanica, Vol. IV, "Panemunelis", "Panemunis", "Panemune"; Lietuviu Enciklopedija, "Aukstoji Panemune", "Panemune", "Panemunelis","Panemunes Valscius", "Panemunis", "Zemoji Panemune"; Lietuviskoji Enciklopedija, "Aukstoji Panemune"; Cohen, Chester G., Shtetl Finder Gazetteer, Periday Co., Los Angeles, 1980, "Poneman", "Ponemunek", p. 75; Blackbook of Localities, p. 422; Kagan, Berl, Yidishe Shtet, Shtetlech un Dorfishe Yishuvim in Lite, Simcha Graphic Associates, NY, 1991, "Panemunelis", p. 383, and "Panemune", pp. 382, 682; James Jaffe unpublished ms. of 1988 trip to Pandelys; Slownik GeograficzNY Krolestwa Polskiego i Innych Krajow Slowianskich, (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries), Sulimierski, Filip, ed., Vol. VIII, Warsaw, 1887, "Poniemun", "Poniemuniek"; Levin, Dov, Pinkas HaKehillot: Lita, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, 1996; Ponemon Fergissa Birth Records 1818-1825 (LVIA 1236/1/9,13,21,22,26); Ponymon-Pozhaists (Panemune Pazaislis) in 1882-1890 Kaunas Marriage Records (LVIA 1226/1/1866,1869,1888; Murovano Ponemun listings in Kaunas Birth Records; Galina Baranova, Chief Archivist at the Vilnius Historical Archive, letter to Howard Margol, 1999, concerning “Ponemon”, “Panemunelis”, “Panemunis”.

[2] Specifically: Panemunelio, Panemunelis, Panemuniku, Panemuninkai, Panemuninkiu, Panemunio, Panemunis and Panemuniskiai. (See Fallingrain.com/world (1996-2004, Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.).

[3] 1818-1825 Ponemon Fergissa Birth Records (LVIA 1236/1/9,13,21,22,26) identify Jewish families from small villages that were 1-3 miles from current day, Zemoji Panemune. However, the identification of Ponemon Fergissa with today’s Zemoji Panemune is not 100% certain, given the existence, 3/4 mile to the East of Zemoji Panemune, of the village of Panemuniskiai (see below). There is a small chance that it was this village that was originally called, Ponemon Fergissa. Ponemon Fergissa is, in all likelihood, to be identified with the Ponemon listed in the 1764 list of Jewish Tavern Owners in Vilkija Kahal (LVIA, pg. 56).