The last Jew living in Biržai (Birzh), Lithuania, Shevka (Sheftl) Leiba Melamed died Monday, August 31, 2015. He was 89. His death brings to an end over 400 years of Jewish life in the Biržai region. The community there was annihilated during the Holocaust, but by some miracle Leiba Melamed, then still an adolescent, managed to flee to the Soviet Union with his brother Shalom, conscripted into the army, and survived. A little over a month later his family–his father Peisakh, mother Paye and his little brother Hirsh, just turned 7–had been murdered at Pakamponys forest next to Astravas, part of the city of Biržai on its northern outskirts.

The Melamed brothers were sent deep into Russia. Leiba worked on a collective farm. He later attended a Lithuanian arts and crafts school in Kuybyshev, Russia, and later worked at an airplane factory. In 1945 he returned to Biržai but found neither his home nor his friends. He did meet his brother Shalom in Biržai and they both went to live with his brother’s best friend Leonas Jukonis. Later Leiba moved to Klaipėda where he was employed in rebuilding the city. After some time he returned to Biržai and worked in a bakery. Here he met the love of his life, Genovaitė, started a family and had two daughters, Leta and Nelė. He had four grandchildren: Daina, Asta, Petras, Kristina and Dalia.

Leiba ended his working career at the Regional Construction Organization (Rajono statybinė organizacija, or RSO in Lithuanian). He was active athlete in his youth, a basketball fan and a Lithuanian patriot. He was very enthusiastic about Lithuanian independence. When the Israeli and Lithuanian basketball teams played, he even supported the Lithuanian team. Never having finished any higher education, Leiba said he studied in the university of life. He was always interested in a wide variety of topics and continually read books, newspapers and magazines. He also tried to keep his Yiddish skills up. He did so in memory of his people and his roots, and he collected materials about Jewish life before the war and his family. After Lithuanian independence he met and gave tours to large groups of Jews with roots in Biržai from Israel, South Africa and other countries. The visits and commemorations of the Jews of Biržai dropped off for a while, but a few years ago interest in and celebration of the Jewish history and heritage of Biržai and commemorations of the Jews of Biržai picked up again. The old Jewish cemetery in Biržai was renovated, something which brought great joy to Leiba Melamed. Last year he gave an interview for a book about the history and culture of the Jews of Biržai. The book was published just before his death.

The bright memory of Shevka Sheftl Leiva Melamed, the last Jew of Biržai, will never fade in the memory of his fellow Biržai residents.