ONISKIS (ANUSHISOK)
The small town [shtetl] Anushishok, or, as it is also called, Onuskis, is located close to the border of Courland. [In 1918 Courland was incorporated into Latvia] In the vicinity is the little town of Akniste, and Rakishok [Rokiskis] is 21 kilometers away. In actual fact there were in Lithuania two small towns with the very same name. One was on the Lithuanian-Polish border, and the other on the Lithuanian-Latvian border.
Before the First World War, when no border existed between Lithuania and Courland, one would pass by Anushishok when traveling from Rakishok to Jakobstadt [Jekobpils in Latvia]. The shtetl Anushishok, on the Lithuanian-Latvian border, is surrounded by large, dense forests; and 2 versts [equal to approximately .66 of a mile] from Anushishok there is a beautiful lake. Before the First World War there were 60 or 70 Jewish families in Anushishok. As the shtetl was near the border of Courland, the Jewish inhabitants made a living by trading with the Latvians, and the Jewish artisans supplied the wares ordered by them. In general, the Jews made their living from shopkeeping, but there were also various artisans, butchers, peddlers, gardeners, and horse traders. The picture after the war is very different. Many families did not return from Russia after the expulsion, and those who did come back were quickly disappointed by their old, abandoned homes. The partition of Lithuania from Latvia was fatal to the rebuilding of the town. The domestic farmers have no one to bring their produce to here, since they cannot go to the nearby regional capital to buy and sell the way they did before the partition. Young people coming back after the war from the front and military service look around in despair. There were no prospects there and nowhere else to go. Only one small door is open: South Africa. Some tried to stick it out here and gave it their best effort, but then departed. In South Africa there are about 25 families of Anushishok origin. Amongst them the families Katz ,who have a clothing factory; Penn, Kruz; Shulman; Glass, Miller; and Tzupeikin. In Anushishok there is an old tombstone on which is inscribed that it was erected over 150 years ago. This proves that the Jewish settlement in the shtetl was not new. And now, nothing is left of the Jewish presence, as though it had never existed.
