The Mikveh Speaks: A New Audio Guide to Šeduva’s Ritual Bath

Visitors to Šeduva are invited to experience a unique project – those interested in Jewish cultural heritage can listen to audio stories that bring to life the experiences of Jews who once lived, traded, dreamed, and loved in Šeduva. Each story is marked by a blue plaque with a QR code, which visitors can scan on their phones to hear the story in either Lithuanian or English.

These blue plaques are placed throughout Šeduva on buildings and sites that are historically or symbolically connected to the individuals featured in the stories – homes where they lived or places they often visited.

 “The Audio Stories Project began in 2021 at the initiative of the Lost Shtetl Museum,” says museum curator Živilė Tamulionytė. “At that time, the museum was still under construction, but we wanted residents and visitors alike to get acquainted with the Jewish community that once lived here, and with the fates of specific individuals. The stories focus on Jewish merchants, craftsmen, dreamers seeking happiness abroad, and even romantic lovers whose tale, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, ends happily this time.”

In 2021, fifteen plaques were installed in central Šeduva. In August 2025, the collection will expand with a new story about the Šeduva mikveh (Jewish ritual bath).

Tamulionytė explains the discovery behind the new plaque: “Local resident Saulius Kemežys told museum staff that while renovating his building – once a Soviet-era bathhouse – he found remains of an older pool beneath the floor. Could this have been a mikveh? After researching the sources, the hypothesis was confirmed: a new women’s mikveh was indeed built there around 1940. The location perfectly matched Jewish requirements – it was close to the synagogue, and a stream flowed nearby, which is essential for constructing a mikveh.”

At the museum’s initiative, the building that housed the mikveh before the Holocaust will be marked with a blue plaque. Scanning the QR code will reveal the story of Sara Henkin, the daughter of the last Rabbi of Šeduva, who may have visited the mikveh before her wedding.

Map of the Blue plaques