Residents who moved to Klaip\u0117da in the postwar years or were born there still remember the forest of antennas that once stood in the city center. This was a secret radio jamming station that operated during the Soviet era, designed to block radio broadcasts from Western countries. The Soviet authorities sought to limit residents\u2019 ability to listen to programs from the \u201cVoice of America,\u201d the BBC, \u201cRadio Free Europe,\u201d \u201cRadio Liberty,\u201d and Vatican Radio. The facility remained in operation until the end of 1988, when the jamming of foreign radio broadcasts was finally discontinued by order of the Minister of Communications of the Lithuanian SSR. <\/p>\n
However, this area has a much longer and more complex history. Until World War II, it was home to the cemetery and ritual services center of the Klaip\u0117da Jewish community. During the Nazi occupation, the Klaip\u0117da Jewish community was destroyed, and its heritage suffered immense losses. After the war, the Soviet authorities established a secret radio jamming station, \u201cObject No. 61,\u201d on the site of the former cemetery. During the construction of this facility\u2019s infrastructure, tombstones from the dismantled Jewish cemeteries were used as building materials, including for the foundations of the antennas. The history of this area has become a telling testament to the legacy of two totalitarian regimes\u2014the Nazi and the Soviet: one destroyed the city\u2019s Jewish community, while the other erased its memory and consigned its past to oblivion for a long time.<\/p>\n
On July 30 at 4:00 p.m., the Klaip\u0117da Jewish Community invites you to the event \u201cVoices of the Departed,\u201d during which the names of the 1,225 people buried in this cemetery will be read aloud. The event will also feature the unveiling of symbolic matzevot\u2014Jewish tombstones\u2014to commemorate the destroyed cemeteries. <\/p>\n
Prof. Dr. Ruth Leiserowitz will discuss the history of the Jewish cemeteries in Klaip\u0117da. Actors from the Klaip\u0117da Jewish Community\u2019s \u201c\u0160atil\u201d Theater will participate in the event. <\/p>\n
The past lives on as long as we remember it. The future begins when we build it together. <\/strong><\/p>\n The project<\/strong> is organized<\/strong> by the Klaip\u0117da Jewish Community.<\/p>\n The project is funded<\/strong> by the Klaip\u0117da City Municipality.<\/p>\n The project partners<\/strong> are the \u201cJews in East Prussia\u201d Historical and Cultural Society, the Museum of Lithuania Minor, the Klaip\u0117da Center for Ethnic Cultures, and the \u201cGood Will Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Residents who moved to Klaip\u0117da in the postwar years or were born there still remember the forest of antennas that once stood in the city center. This was a secret radio jamming station that operated during the Soviet era, designed to block radio broadcasts from Western countries. The Soviet authorities sought to limit residents\u2019 ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":50132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"mec_category":[513],"mec_locations":[1035],"class_list":["post-50135","mec-events","type-mec-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mec_category-commemoration"],"acf":[],"mec_location":[{"id":1035,"name":"The Old Jewish Cemetery in Klaip\u0117da","slug":"the-old-jewish-cemetery-in-klaipeda"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mec-events\/50135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mec-events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/mec-events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50135"},{"taxonomy":"mec_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mec_category?post=50135"},{"taxonomy":"mec_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaipedatravel.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mec_locations?post=50135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}