2 Execution site(s)
Zenonas S., born in 1928, & Zuzana S., born in 1933:
"Y.U.: What was the largest community in Stajėtiškis?
Witness1: The entire village was Jewish, except four houses. […]
Witness2: Some Jews cultivated land, others drove carts between villages or ran shops.
Witness1: There used to be a Jewish shop in this house.
Y.U.: What kind of shop was that?
Witness1: Clothing and fabrics were sold here.
Y.U.: Do you remember the name of the owner of this shop?
Both witnesses: Volek.
Witness2: Volek Haizi.
Y.U.: Was there a synagogue?
Witness1: Yes, it was on a hill, near the present monument.
Y.U.: Was there only one synagogue?
Witness1: One, but quite big.
Witness2: It was two-storey wooden building.
Y.U.: How was the rabbi dressed?
Witness2: He was dressed in long black clothes, had a beard and wore hat. He was not very tall.
Y.U.: Were other Jews also dressed like that?
Witness2: No, they looked like ordinary villagers.
Witness1: On Saturdays they had Shabbat, and many Jews, including those form Adutiškis and other villages, used to gather here. It was lovely to watch them walking around the village. They never worked on Saturdays but hired other people to feed their cattle.
Y.U.: Where did the Jews gather on Saturdays: on the street or in a particular building?
Witness2: On the street. There were plenty of them already on Friday evening.
Witness1: They were very elegant. We looked at them through the window and admired them. […] On holidays, such as Easter or Christmas, they used to bake pancakes called Matzah and shared them with us." (Testimony N°YIU68 & 69 LT, interviewed in Stajėtiškis, on April 6, 2014)
Stajėtiškis, a former Jewish shtetl of the Vilnius region, is situated approximately 26 km (16 mi) northeast of Švenčionys, the district center, and about 4 km (2,5 mi) northwest of Adutiškis. According to 1897 census, when Stajėtiškis was part of the Russian Empire, there were 262 Jews recorded as being settled in the village. Local Jews were primarily engaged in commerce and artisanal work, while a number of them worked the land. There was a synagogue and Jews from nearby villages used to gather there to celebrate Jewish religious holidays. A number of the young Jews were engaged in Zionist and Bund movements. In the interwar period of 20th century, Stajėtiškis was part of Poland, before being invaded by the Red Army in September 1939. From that period the economic situation in the village deteriorated as the nationalization of the Jewish stores and enterprises led to a shortage of goods and rising prices. On the eve of the German invasion, there were about 300 Jewish residents living in Stajėtiškis.
Stajėtiškis was occupied by German forces on July 2, 1941. Till the end of September, 1941, local Jews continued to live in their homes, but became increasingly anxious as rumors of the shootings of Jews throughout Lithuania began to spread through the village due to the Jewish refugees. Shortly afterwards, anti-Jewish policies were implemented in Stajėtiškis, mandating local Jews to wear the distinctive Star of David symbols on their clothes. On September 19, Jewish property was registered by Lithuanian policemen arrived from Adutiškis. On September 26, 1941, Jews of Stajėtiškis, about 300 people in all, were rounded up and taken to the Adutiškis ghetto by Lithuanian policemen. Those unable to walk were loaded onto carts and taken there by requisitioned locals. A short time later, most of the Adutiškis ghetto detainees were transferred to barracks in the former Soviet military training camp, known as the Poligon transit camp, located near Švenčionėliai. After several days of detention, the Jews of Stajėtiškis and Adutiškis were executed near Švenčionėliai along with other Jews from the Švenčionys region from October 8 to 10, 1941.
The Jews of Stajėtiškis who managed to hide during the roundup were eventually captured and executed in Stajėtiškis. Yahad managed to locate two graves of the Jewish victims, one containing a body of an old Jewish woman and the second one of a Jewish man.
For more information about the killing of Jews in Švenčionėliai please follow the corresponding profile.
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