Mother and son Eudenta and Samull Virine from Canada visited the Nalšia Museum in Švenčionys on August 21 where Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro gave them a guided tour including viewing implements and artifacts from Jewish homes, the history of the region and a new exhibit on the fate of the Jews of Švenčionys. Eudenta’s mother was born in Švenčionys.

They sought archival information about the families of Leiba and Abraham Alperovitch and Mengel Bushkanietz with the help of historian and museum specialist Nadežda Spiridonovienė. The museum has very little information regarding these surnames but they are recorded as living in Švenčionys in a Russian Empire census conducted before World War I.

The two visitors also viewed the Menorah statue in the town’s central park. They went on to visit a Jewish mass murder site in nearby Švenčionėliai.