Jewish people settled in Molėtai in the first half of the 18th century. This is confirmed by the permit signed by the Bishop of Vilnius letting them build a synagogue. Until the Second World War, Jewish people remained the dominant group of the town's population.
For Jewish people, the establishment of a cemetery was one of the most important conditions for settling in the town. It had to be located outside the town, about 25 meters from the nearest residential house.
The old Jewish cemetery is preserved in front of Molėtai Stadium, on Kreivoji Street. The old cemetery is surrounded by a metal fence. Only in the central part of the hill are fourteen surviving monuments standing in rows. Tombstones, like graves, are oriented in the direction of Jerusalem. The monument erected on the grave – “maceiva” - is usually in the form of an arch, on the top of which two Hebrew letters (P and N) are carved - an abbreviation of "po nikbar" (Hebrew - "buried here").
There used to be a building used for Jewish rites next to the cemetery gates. There was the mourning of the deceased, the saying of the last words about them and the reading of passages from the Holy Scriptures.
