It is believed that Jews, who infrequently appeared in Vilnius and had no permanent residence permit, already had a small cemetery here at the end of the 15th c. and beginning of the 16th c. Written records documenting the first Jewish cemetery in Vilnius can be found in the 1633 privilege granted by Władysław IV Waza (1595-1648). This privilege reasserted Zygmunt III Waza’s (1566-1632) privilege which granted Jews the right to settle in the city and to establish their own cemetery. Although the name and the location of the cemetery is not mentioned in the privilege, it is beyond doubt that it was the cemetery located at Šnipiškės. It is likely that the plots designated for the Jewish cemetery were under the Castle jurisdiction, therefore Jews maintained the right to the burial sites even after their eviction from the GDL in 1495, and the prohibition for Jews to reside in Vilnius in 1527, following their permanent settlement in the city during earlier years. Consequently, for more than 100 years sparse numbers of Jews residing in Vilnius could have been buried in those plots, and obviously any Jews who had resided permanently there since 1593.