The town of Dowig (Doig, Daugai, Daug) in Lithuania

I have collected here some information on the town of Dowig (also spelled Doig, Dovig, Daugai, Daug, Daugay, Dauge, Daugu, Daugų, Daugi, Doyg and Dawgi) which is currently in Lithuania but has in the past been contained in the Russian Empire, Poland or the Soviet Union. Modern maps seem to prefer the name Daugai. Latitude: 54°22' and Longitude: 24°20'. (link to map1, link to map2) People from Dowig pronounce it as a single syllable: doyg, and call themselves "doigers".

Many Jews from Dowig came to the Boston, Massachusetts, area starting around 1880. They formed a Landsmanshaftn named Anshe Dowig, and many are buried in a cemetery named Anshe Dowig on Center Street in West Roxbury (part of Boston).

To search the JewishGen All Lithuania Database, go to www.jewishgen.org/litvak/searchald.htm, and enter a surname, or enter text "Daugai" and search "by town".

A small town in the district of Alytus, southern Lithuania.

Daugai is situated on a peninsula in a lake of the same name. In the past it had strategic importance. In 1914 there were 110 Jewish families in Daugai (60 of the general population). In 1936 the number had dwindled to about 90. In Daugai there was one prayer house and a Hebrew school of the "Tarbut" network. There was a line of officiating Rabbis; the last one, Rabbi Nahum Sher perished with his community in the Holocaust.

During World War I many Jewish refugees, especially from Vilna arrived in the town. The Jewish community helped them and among other activities opened a soup kitchen for them. When a number of the refugees settled in Daugai and became involved in community life, a library was opened and a German school founded where Hebrew was taught by the poet Israel Ma-Yafit, the son of a Rabbi.

In 1925 half of the small town burnt down and was rebuilt with the help of the Joint (Committee of American Jewry).

The Jews made a living mainly from trade, artisanship, and fishery. There was a weekly market day in Daugai and two sawmills. During the period of Lithuanian independence the Jews were ousted from their businesses and the Jewish shopkeepers had to change their domicile to other towns or emigrate overseas. There was a Jewish bank in Daugai.

In 1941 there were 90 Jewish families living in Daugai, (about 500 people).

The Holocaust Period

After the outbreak of World War II (September 1, 1939) and the conquest of Poland by the Germans, Lithuania came under Soviet rule and at the end of Summer 1940 was annexed by the Soviet Union.

Already on the first day of the German attack on Russia (June 22, 1941) the German army took the town. Immediately Lithuanian gangs began molesting the Jewish population. They looted Jewish houses and killed Jewish families suspected of Soviet sympathies.

After a week armed Lithuanians murdered a group of Jewish men, youths and boys who were ostensibly taken for forced labour. They were murdered close to the town.

At the end of August 1941 the rest of the Jews were taken from their houses and told that they would be transferred to the district town; they were forbidden to take anything with them. On the way to Alytus, in the forest near Vidgiris they were shot to death into pits prepared beforehand. There were some Jews who opposed the Lithuanian murderers and railed against them.

Only a very few of Daugai Jews succeeded in escaping the slaughter. Two women hid and were saved thanks to the help of the Lithuanian teacher Degasis and the farm owner Kumpis.

After the war a memorial was erected on the site of the mass grave and the writing on it tells that thousands of Jews were massacred there.

Source:
Dorot Genealogy Center, Beth Hatefutsoth, P. O. Box 39359, Tel Aviv, 61392, Israel

TRANSLATION

DAUGAI This village is found in the vicinity of Alita, approximately 20 kilometers from it. Until World War II around 90 Jewish families (approximately 500 people) lived in Daugai.

The German army captured this town on the first day of the war with the Soviet Union. Feeling their "freedom", activist gangs began to assault the Jewish population. They robbed property, attacked individuals and drove several "leftist" Jewish families from their homes, shooting members of the families.

Within a week after the entrance of the Germans into the town, thugs under the leadership of Lauvas Baravikas, Dirsa (whom the Jews referred to as Fautzka Krivazhandis), Vadaitzkas and Vladas Taknauskas (who eventually ended up in Majdanek, serving there in the camp police), a number of youths and young men were arrested ostensibly to clean up the market square. Suddenly they were surrounded by a large number of armed Lithuanians, who began to transport them to the city of Alita. A number of mothers hurried home, packed food and clothing and went after the detail to transmit them to their family members. When they reached the Koniyukha bridge they heard the sound of a tractor. It's purpose was to silence the sound of gunfire by which the captives and expelled were being murdered.

At the end of August 1941, they began to expell all the remaining Jews in the town. They were not allowed to take anything with them. In order to prevent panic and resistance, the assassins promised the Jews that no harm would come to them, that they were only transferring them to Alita to live and work there. None the less it is known that Ephraim Gozhansky, a Jew from the town resisted the murderers by force and Yocheved Shekliarsky called out to the thugs, "Understand! Someday our blood will be avenged".

On the way to Alita in the forest near Vidgirit, the expelled were forced to remove their clothing down to their underwear, to enter large excavations that were prepared ahead of time and were shot and killed. At the same location, many thousands of Jews from the surrounding area met their deaths. On the mass grave stands a monument with an inscription written in Lithuanian: "Passersby, stop and consider! Here rests 60,000 men, women and children, innocent people, who were shot by the Fascists".

Only a few individuals from among the Jews of Daugai succeeded in escaping the grip of death. Two women, Miriam Halperin-Bautner and Dinah Levinson, hid in the vicinity of Daugai with the help of the Lithuanian teacher Dagsis and the owner of the Kompis estate Later, Dinah Levinson joined a partisan group. Chaya Kaplan-Mirvis hid on the Pamousa estate and remained alive.

Source:
Testimony by: Feyga Shakliarsky-Blecher, Haifa, Israel.

DAUG (DAUGAI) - Alyta District

Daug is near Alyta (13 miles), Oran (13), Butrimantz (12), Meretsh (18), Anishuk (18). It is situated on a peninsula of Lake Daug. The nearest train station was in Alyta (13). Before World War I, there were Jews living in the nearby villages of Nadzing (7) and in Aulava (7).

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Teutonic Knights passed through the town on their way to Vilna. During World War I it was also considered a strategic location.

In 1914 the town had 110 Jewish families, 60% of the general population, and in 1936 it had 90 families or about 500 individuals, 30% of the general population.

During World War I, many refugees, especially from Vilna, found refuge in the town. They were well received not only by the local Jews, but also by the Christians. The refugees who settled in Daug contributed to the public life of the town. A library was opened, a soup kitchen was set up and a German school was established, where Hebrew was taught by the poet Yisrael Me’Yafit. the son of the local rabbi.

In 1925, almost half of the town burned down. With the help of the Joint (JDC), the Jewish settlement was rebuilt.

The Jews were engaged primarily in trade, crafts and fishing. Two flour mills were in the town. Market day was on Wednesday. They took their products and fish to Vilna to sell

During Independent Lithuania, the Lithuanians began to push out the Jews who had small shops or were engaged in trade. The Jews were then forced to resettle in other cities or to emigrate.

There was one beit midrash in the town, a Tarbut School with 75 pupils and a Jewish Peoples Bank.

From the rabbinate: R. Avraham-Zvi Katz [served there as rabbi for 40 years]; R. Ephraim-Nissan Me'Yafit and R. Nahum Sher.

Natives: Benzion Katz [1875-1958; writer; son of R. Avraham-Zvi Katz] and the members of the Ilgovsky Family.

Additional reference:
Book by Benzion Katz, "Al Itonim V'Anashim," (Hebrew).
He discusses his place of birth, the town of Daug. He says there were altogether 2 streets where 120 Jewish families lived. One road was the Street of the Cows where the rich people, i.e. those who owned cows lived, and the other was the Street of the Goats where the poor people, who only had goats, lived. Many Jews of the town were fishermen. They would begin work at night and their monthly wages were 1 1/2 rubles. As more and more began to emigrate, many Jews of the town began to receive money from their relatives in America and live on a better standard.

Source:
Lithuanian Jewish Communities, Schoenberg, Nancy. NY, Garland. p. 88-89.

This is a description of the town of DAUGAI

DAUGAI, town in southern Lithuania, situated on the peninsula in lake Daugai, 18 km east of Alytus. The population in 1959 was 1,287 (1,153 in 1953; about 1,250 in 1940). Before World War II it was the township seat, with local administration offices, several stores and small industrial works. In 1950 the Soviet occupation authorities made it the center of the district, taking in twenty-one collective farms. When the districts were being reduced in size, Daugai was made the center of a rural community and assigned to the Alytus district. An agricultural technical school was transferred here from Alytus in 1961.

Daugai is mentioned for the first time in the 14th century as an estate. Vytautas the Great (1392-1430) liked to come here often and hunt; many of his documents were issued at Daugai. In 1393 he built the first wooden Catholic church named after the Virgin Mary. In the 16th century the town was made the center of an extensive eldership (seniūnija); it paid the same taxes as Alytus, Ašmena, and Raseiniai. In the 17th and 18th centuries the town suffered heavily from the Russian and Swedish invasions. In the period 1708-10 the starvation and plague that came in the wake of these invasions wiped out almost all the inhabitants of the town. Although the town recovered later on and was granted the Magdeburg Law (1792), it did not grow any larger because of the proximity of Alytus. In 1880 the town registered 833 inhabitants. The new brick church of the Providence of God was built in 1862. A. B.

Source:
Museum of Lithuanian Culture 6500 South Pulaski Road Chicago, Illinois 60629 312-582-6500 Genealogy Department

Thanks to Arthur Golnick for providing this material.

Latest revision: March 1, 2008. The master copy of this document resides at http://www.markdionne.com/dowig.html. Revisions may have been made since this copy was taken. Please refer there for the latest revision.

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