Alternate names: Upyna [Lith], Upyne [Yid], Upina [Pol], Upyno, Upynas, Upinas. 55°27' N, 22°27' E, 15 miles NNE of Tauragė (Tavrig). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), XII, p. 813: "Upina".
CEMETERY: Upyna, in western Lithuania, is just north of Tavrig (Taurage), just over the East Prussia/Kaliningrad border) in Tavrig District. Town population is 1000-5000 with no current Jewish population. The Jewish cemetery in Upina is not land-marked and has no caretaker. Access is open to all.
The earliest known Jewish community in the town is 18th century but the date the cemetery was established is unknown. On 21 July 1941, some of the community leaders of Shkudvil (Gaon Reb Moshe Baruch Broide, Benyamin Stein, Shmul Eli Brett and Yackov Dorfman) were taken to the cemetery of Upyna and brutally murdered together with Upyner Jews, including their Rabbi Yitzchak Yoffe. The Holocaust Mass Gravesite in Upyna is co-located with the old Jewish Cemetery. This inactive Orthodox-Hassidic cemetery location is rural (agricultural), on a hillside and at the crown of a hill. The isolated cemetery has a Star of David on the fence/door. The cemetery is reached by turning directly off a public road. A continuous fence and a gate that does not lock surround the 4-acre cemetery. All gravestones or markers have been removed. Their location is unknown. Only a memorial stone for the Jewish cemetery and a special monument to Holocaust victims exists. This entire section has another memorial to the Holocaust victims, 100 Jews from Upina and the community leaders of Shkaudvil, a village about 3 miles away. Henry W. Propp, 105 Cedar Lane, Jamesville, NY 13078, (315) 446-5023 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed this survey on 20 July 1997.
MASS GRAVE: Upyna Jewish cemetery; 160; pic. # 266 and Castle-hill of Kalnujai, 2 km from village of Kalnujai; 145; pic. # 224-225 US Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad