Klaipėdos universitetas

The article presents research materials collected by means of surveys of the old Lietuvininkai (residents of Prussian Lithuania) and settlers of the post-war period who lived in the vicinity of the old Lutheran cemeteries; that affected the character of their lifestyle, traditional moral attitudes, and economic activity in one or another way. The major part of the information was collected during summer expeditions to the villages of Saugai rural administrative unit, Šilutė district, in the summer of 2012. Authentic stories and memories of the origin and development of specific cemeteries, burial customs and habits, and the issues of cemetery care or neglecting are published and discussed. The summaries provide the views of the surveyed respondents of the immediate and further prospects of the survival of the said cemeteries.