Alternate names: Svir' [Rus], Świr [Pol], Śvir [Bel], Svir [Yid], Shvir, Svyriai, Russian: Свирь. Belarusian: Сьвір. סוויר - Yiddish. 54°51' N, 26°24' E, in Vitebsk Oblast, 80.6 miles NW of Minsk, 45 miles ENE of Vilnius, 23 miles SSE of Švenčionys (Sventsyany), 21 miles W of Myadzyel. 1900 Jewish population: 1,114.
Also see Svencionys
- ShtetLink.
- Yizkors: Ayaratenu Swir (Tel Aviv, 1959) and Haya hayeta ayarat Swir; ben shtei milhamot ha-olam (Israel, 1975).Our Small Town - Swir.
This enormous Jewish graveyard has been clearly catalogued. Each gravestone has an identification marker on it. An American group may have been responsible for the cataloguing. Source: par9@columbia.edu.
The Svir Cemetery is on Lake Svir, about 65 kilometers ENE of Vilnius. Source: Yosef Sa'ar.
2003 Photos (before restoration).
UPDATE: The lakeside Svir cemetery was restored by East European Jewish Heritage Project, the Restoration of Eastern European Jewish Cemeteries Project, Inc., Binghampton University Hillel, and the citizens of Svir. photos. Franklin J. Swartz. [June 2004]
restoration photos. [December 2010]
JOWBR burial listings [August 2010]