Žasliai is one of the oldest Jewish towns in Lithuania. After three wooden synagogues burned down in a fire in 1905, a fire station and two brick Orthodox and Hasidic synagogues were built at the expense of American Jews. The Orthodox synagogue was converted into a cultural centre. Wooden synagogues are very rare in Europe, and in Lithuania, most of them have been lost. The wooden synagogue in Žiežmariai was built in the 18th or mid-19th century. After the war, the synagogue was used as a warehouse and would have been completely abandoned had it not been for the locals who saved it. Žiežmariai was famous for its sewing factory, run by Dora Piliansky. When the war broke out, Dora escaped, then returned and settled in Kaunas. Dora Piliansky made her last dress at the age of 90. After she stopped sewing, she started to paint her memories of her youth in Žiežmariai. Cecilija Kurliandchik, Dora Piliansky’s niece, visits the synagogue.