![The Big Beth-Midrash of Biržai [House of learning]. ©Photo archive, taken from jewishgen.org](/thumb/cache/2239f26349aef4310e9588c95da54fc9/138308/media_fichier_Image1.jpg)
1 Killing site(s)
Paulė D., born in 1924:
"Witness: The rabbi was shot in the Jewish cemetery [of Biržai]. I heard people saying that he was humiliated by having his beard cut in the shape of a cross.
Y.U.: Was only the rabbi killed in the Jewish cemetery, or were others killed there as well?
Witness: Several Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery, but I don’t know the exact number. [...]
Y.U.: Did you see the shooting in the Jewish cemetery?
Witness: No, I didn’t go to watch it. The Jews were brought there by trucks, and I heard the shots coming from the cemetery since our garden was nearby. People said that many Jews were shot there.
Y.U.: Did you see the trucks bringing Jews to the cemetery?
Witness: Yes, I saw them while I was weeding the garden, but at the time, I didn’t understand where they were going. Only later did I hear the shots.
Y.U.: Did you see only one truck or more?
Witness: I saw them several times on different days. I didn’t ask who was being transported or where, but I heard people talking about various Jewish individuals being shot.(Testimony N°YIU198LT, interviewed in Astravas, on July 11, 2015)
"During the entire period of the German fascist occupation of the Lithuanian SSR, from 1941 to 1944, I was living in the town of Biržai, formerly part of Biržai Uyezd [district]. From the beginning of the occupation, I was a member of the Lithuanian nationalist squad in Biržai and later worked as a seller in a bookstall until the summer of 1944. As a local resident, I know that in the summer of 1941, many civilians, especially those of Jewish nationality, were exterminated in Biržai Uyezd under the command of German Nazi officers. I am aware of the atrocities committed by the German Nazis because I was deceitfully involved in the punishment squad in Biržai and assisted the Germans in shootings on two occasions. I was convicted for that crime and served my sentence. I can recount the following atrocities committed by the German Nazis in the former Biržai Uyezd.
In July 1941—I don’t remember the exact date, but it was at night—I, along with other punishers and Germans from the Biržai police station, escorted 10-12 detainees to the shooting site. We took them to the Jewish cemetery in Biržai, where they were shot by German soldiers who were stationed in Biržai at the time."[Deposition of Jokūbas B., born in 1905, a Lithuanian sentenced for participation in shootings, taken on July 31, 1968; Lithuanian Special Archives, KGB criminal files; Fund K–1, Inventory No. 46, File No. 1268, p. 15-17]
Biržai, a district capital and one of the oldest towns in Lithuania, is situated approximately 70 km (43 mi) northeast of Panevėžys, near the Latvian border. The first Jews, primarily Karaites, began to settle there in the early 17th century, followed by an influx of Rabbinic Jews. Biržai developed rapidly due to its strategic geographical location on one of the main roads linking Vilnius and Riga. Despite local religious conflicts, including pogroms in 1656 and heavy taxes imposed on the Jewish community, the number of Jewish residents continued to grow. By 1766, the town was home to 1,040 Jews, and by 1847, when Biržai was part of the Russian Empire, there were 1,685 Jews living in the town. The local Jewish community was primarily engaged in commerce, including the trade of flax and timber, as well as the service sector and artisanal work, with some also working the land. Biržai had numerous Jewish stores and factories. According to the 1897 census, there were 2,510 Jews in Biržai, making up 57% of the total population.
In 1915, nearly all local Jews were forced into exile in Russia, as Biržai was located in the warfront zone. During the interwar period, when Biržai became part of an independent Lithuania, some of these Jewish refugees were able to return home. By 1934, the town had approximately 3,000 Jewish residents, comprising 36% of the total population. Biržai hosted two synagogues, a Jewish cemetery, and various Jewish educational institutions, including a Jewish kindergarten, Hebrew and Yiddish schools, and religious schools such as "Yavneh," "Khadarim," and "Yeshivah." Despite this, many Jews faced economic difficulties during this period due to the nationalization of trade and competition from Lithuanian cooperatives, leading some to leave the town.
When Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, the economic situation worsened as the nationalization of Jewish shops and enterprises led to a shortage of goods and rising prices. Hebrew and Zionist organizations were disbanded. When Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania on June 22, 1941, many Jews attempted to evacuate to the interior of the Soviet Union, but most were forced to return to Biržai.
Biržai was occupied by German troops on June 26, 1941. Shortly afterward, Lithuanian activists, known as ’White Armbanders,’ established a new administration and police force. Anti-Jewish policies were quickly implemented, forbidding Jews from using sidewalks and performing professional activities. Instead, they were subjected to forced labor under the supervision of Lithuanian guards. The new authorities began persecuting and executing anyone considered loyal to the Soviet regime, including 15 Jewish men. These victims were locked up in the local prison before being progressively transported to the Jewish cemetery of Biržai, where they were shot by the Germans. In total, 30 people of Jewish and Lithuanian origin, including the Biržai rabbi, were executed over the course of July 1941.
On July 26, 1941, all local Jews were ordered to move within several days to a ghetto set up on the streets neighboring the synagogue, which was by then surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. Lithuanians who lived in the designated area were required to leave, exchanging their houses with those of the Jews who were forced to move into the ghetto. Jewish detainees were forced to wear distinctive symbols bearing the Star of David and to mark their homes with the letter ’J’. They were not allowed to leave the ghetto and relied on locals for sustenance, which was brought to the ghetto despite the presence of armed guards who patrolled the area around the clock. According to an account from a local witness interviewed by Yahad, the family of Doctor Levinas (Levin) was executed in the courtyard of their house for organizing an escape attempt from the ghetto.
The Biržai ghetto was liquidated on August 8, 1941, when 2,400 Jews, and later, 90 Lithuanians, were murdered in the Pakamponys forest near Astravas. The Aktion was carried out by a detachment of Einsatzkommando 3, assisted by Lithuanian auxiliaries. After the execution, some Jewish property was looted by the ’White Armbanders,’ with the best items handed over to the Germans. The remaining belongings were stored in the Aušros secondary school and sold to local inhabitants, both at the school and on the hill near Biržai Castle.
For more information about the killing of Jews from Biržai in the Pakamponys forest, please follow the corresponding profile.
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