Old Lithuania
In the late nineteenth century, Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire, and most Lithuanian Jews lived within the Pale of Settlement, the legally designated western region where Jews were permitted permanent residence.
Jews faced restrictions on residence, occupations, education, and movement. Many lived in towns and shtetls, earning a living through petty trade, crafts, commerce, innkeeping, and the leasing of mills or other rural enterprises. At the same time, Lithuania was a major center of Jewish religious scholarship,
Lithuania today- on the border of Russia and Europe
The Pale of Settlement - a region of the western Russian Empire, established in 1791 under Catherine II and lasting until 1917, where Jews were permitted permanent residence — and largely barred from living outside it. At its height held roughly five million Jews, the largest Jewish population in the world at that time.
Model of the Wolpa synagogue - Wolpa, Belarus, 19th Century
Unknown Burshtein (Bernstein) family, Lithuania
Street scene - Kovno (Kaunas) 19th Century
Market - Keidan - 19th Century
View of Keidan - 19th Century
Synagogue. Keidan - 19th Century
Jewish cemetry - Keidan
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