Uzpaliai, Lithuania

Uzpaliai, known to our ancestors as Ushpol, is a small village in the northeastern corner of modern-day Lithuania. Its one of those towns that you would barely notice as you passed through. But it was once home to several hundred Jewish people, my family among them. I hope to provide some information about Ushpol, so that the Ushpol that once was, might exist again, at least in our memories.

If you have any comments or materials to share, please contact me.

	(photograph courtesy of Linda Cantor)
(photograph courtesy of Ruth Stern)

References and Research

Please note: The spelling of names and town names are copied exactly as they appear in each source

Archival Records - Click here to see samples of the archival records that are available for

HSL - Hebrew Subscription Lists by Berl Kagan, New York: Ktav Publishing, 1975

JGFF - JewishGen Family Finder

Memoirs of Yakov Kopelansky - Memoirs of Yakov Kopelansky - Read Yakov's fascinating description of life in Uzpaliai

1930 Lithuanian Telephone Book

Ushpoler Benevolent Association of New York including burials at Baron Hirsch Cemetery, Staten Island, NY and Incorporation Papers

Uzpaliai website (in Lithuanian)

Where Once We Walked by Gary Mokotoff and Sallyann Amdur Sack. Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu, Inc., 1991.
Uzpaliai, Lith. (Oshpol, Uschpol, Uzpalis); pop. 551; 114 km. N of Vilnius; 55° 39' /25° 35'

YIVO - D

YL - Yahudit Lita by R. Hasman, D.Lipec, et al. Tel Aviv: 1967

Uzpaliai in History

Uzpaliai in the Holocaust

	Holocaust Victims Names of almost 300 victims of the Holocaust in Uzpaliai
	*The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust,* t, Editor in Chief Shmuel Spector, Consulting Editor Geoffrey Wigoder, New York University Press, New York, 2001.

Lithuanian Jewish Communities by Nancy Schaumburg and Stuart Schoenburg. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991

Utena Encyclopedia

Uzpaliai in Photographs

to see wonderful photographs of Uzpaliai, current as well as old (including family photos and cemetery information)

Family Albums

Cemetery Photos

This statue is in the middle of town, with the church on one side and the town hall on the other. The statue is dedicated to a Lithuanian hero.

When the Russians captured Lithuania they destroyed and removed anything related to Lithuanian nationalism. In an attempt to save the statue the townsfolk asked Meir Yitzchak Shapiro, a great uncle of Arky Berkal, if he would store the statue in his store. He did and eventually the statue was restored to its place of honor.

(Photo courtesy of Arky Berkal)

Maps of Uzpaliai

Map Quest - View location via MapQuest

Maps.lt - Digital Map of Uzpaliai, showing all the streets and building locations of modern Uzpaliai. Select "cities and villages," then type in Uzpaliai and, finally, select 'map' for a street map or 'ortophoto' for a satellite view.

Click here to see some of those views.

Links to related genealogical sites

ShtetLinks page for Kupiskis ShtetLinks page for Rokiskis, Lithuania JewishGen

Yizkor Book for Dusetos (with some interesting photos of Uzpaliai)

JewishGen ShtetLinks Page LitvagSig Home page JewishGen Lithuania Database

Last revised: November 19, 2009

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