1 Killing site(s)
Janina Š., born in 1930:
Y.U.: What happened to the Jews [of Raseiniai] when the Germans arrived?
Witness: At first, nothing happened, but later they were gathered into a ghetto. They were told they would be taken to work; nobody told them the truth. The Jews were very gloomy and sensed that something terrible was about to happen. The uncertainty was frightening.
One day, my mother returned from town and said, "You know, children, the Jews will be shot today." The distance between the town and our village was about 10 km, so it took her several hours to walk back. As she began telling us the news, we heard gunshots. The shooting took place in Kalnujai, 6 km from Raseiniai. Young people rushed to see what was happening—nobody could believe it was real. My brother also ran there with his friends to witness the shooting. People closer to the pit were forced to fill it in.
When my brother came back, he was so terrified that he nearly went insane. He didn’t speak, eat, or drink for the entire day—he just lay in bed with his head covered by a pillow.
Y.U.: Our colleague told us your family sheltered Jews. Could you tell us more about it?
Witness: The first winter after the shooting was very cold. One night, a frozen Jewish man came to our house; my mother knew him well. His hands and feet were frostbitten. He didn’t knock on the window but simply pressed his hands against it. It was a small, single window.
We were lucky that our house had survived because many homes around us had burned down. I woke up and started shaking my mother awake. She got up, asked who it was, and let him in. The man was nearly frozen, so he climbed onto the oven to warm up. My mother rubbed his frostbitten hands and feet with spirits or vodka. He was the first one.
Y.U.: Do you remember his name?
Witness: Miuleris Šmerkis.
Y.U.: Was he about the same age as your mother?
Witness: Yes, quite similar. He spent the winter with us. He would leave for several days at a time, and we never asked where he went. But one day, he returned and asked my mother if she could shelter his brother and his children.
His brother had been hiding near Raseiniai, about 3 kilometers from town, but neighbors began spreading rumors that someone was sheltering him. They grew afraid that the Germans would come, so my mother agreed to take in his brother and his children.
Y.U.: How many Jews did your mother save?
Witness: Eight people in total: a family of five, Zulimas, and two other Jews my mother brought from Kaunas.
(Testimony N°YIU122LT, interviewed in Raseiniai, on March 14, 2015)
"On July 29, 1941, 257 people of Rasainiai [today Raseiniai], including 254 Jews and 3 Lithuanian Communists were liquidated. […]
On August 5, 1941, 279 Jews of Rasainiai, including 213 Jewish men and 66 Jewish women, were liquidated. […]
Between August 9 and August 16, 1941, 298 Jews of Rasainiai, including 294 Jewish women and 4 Jewish children, were liquidated. […]
Between August 18 and August 22, 1941, 1,926 Jews of Rasainiai district, including 466 Jewish men, 440 Jewish women and 1,020 Jewish children, were liquidated. […]
Between August 25 and September 6, 1941, 843 Jews of Rasainiai, including 16 Jewish men, 412 Jewish women and 415 Jewish children, were liquidated. […]" [Report of Karl Jäger, commander of Einsatzkommando 3a, made in Kauen [today Kaunas], on December 1, 1941; Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0716-0005-004]
The Lithuanian town of Raseiniai, one of the centers of the Jewish Enlightenment movement (Haskalah), is located approximately 73 km (45.3 mi) northwest of Kaunas. Its Jewish community, among the earliest to settle in Lithuania and known as the Jerusalem of Samogitia, dates back to the 17th century. By 1662, there were 111 Jews in the town, excluding children. Over the following centuries, the Jewish population continued to grow, reaching 8,481 in 1876—comprising 78% of the total population.
However, Raseiniai faced significant hardships in 1865 and 1883 when devastating fires destroyed many Jewish homes. Additionally, restrictions imposed on Jewish traders and craftsmen by the Russian Empire led many Jewish residents to emigrate abroad, particularly to South Africa. As a result, the 1897 census recorded a decline in the Jewish population to 3,484, or 47% of the total population.
During the interwar period, when Raseiniai became part of independent Lithuania, its Jewish population continued to decrease. By 1923, only 2,035 Jews remained, making up 39% of the total population. The Jewish community, which included merchants, artisans, and professionals such as doctors and dentists, as well as a small number involved in agriculture, played a central role in the town’s economy—operating 78% of the stores and 67% of industrial businesses.
Jewish residents were actively engaged in the town’s social and cultural life, particularly in Zionist movements. The town was home to several prayer houses, including the Great Synagogue and the Beth Midrash, as well as Hebrew and Yiddish libraries. It also had multiple educational institutions, including the Yavneh primary school, a Hebrew secondary school, and a yeshivah, along with a Jewish Popular Bank (Folksbank).
Despite this vibrant community life, economic challenges arose due to competition with Lithuanian traders and craftsmen, as well as the effects of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. These difficulties led to further emigration, particularly to America, South Africa, Mexico, and Israel. By 1939, the Jewish population of Raseiniai had dwindled to approximately 2,000.
A turning point came in 1940 with the Soviet annexation of Lithuania. Factories and shops were nationalized, and Jewish community institutions were disbanded, marking the beginning of a new and difficult chapter for the Jews of Raseiniai.
Following the launch of Operation Barbarossa, some Jews from Raseiniai managed to flee eastward, but most remained in town when German troops occupied it on June 23, 1941. Lithuanian activists known as "White Armbanders" immediately established a new administration and a local police unit in Raseiniai. These new authorities began persecuting and murdering individuals suspected of Soviet sympathies and implementing anti-Jewish policies. Jews were required to wear yellow Stars of David, were prohibited from using sidewalks, and were subjected to forced labor, including cleaning the town’s streets and burying dead Soviet soldiers.
Within the first 8–10 days of the occupation, up to 150 Jews were arrested. The remaining Jewish residents were confined to a ghetto, which was established in mid-July 1941 in the warehouses of the Priest’s Manor, located 1 km from the town. The ghetto was enclosed by barbed wire and guarded by White Armbanders and local policemen, who abused and raped Jewish women. As soon as the Jews were relocated to the ghetto, part of their belongings were looted, while the rest, including clothing and books, were burned. Jewish homes were redistributed among local Lithuanians who had lost their houses during the bombings at the start of the war.
The Jewish population of Raseiniai was destroyed in a series of major Aktionen. The first Aktion was carried out on July 29, 1941, by German Gestapo officers, Raseiniai White Armbanders, and local policemen. On that day, 254 Jewish men and three Lithuanian communists were taken on foot—under the pretext of being sent for forced labor—to the Žieveliškė farm, about 5 km southwest of Raseiniai, near the village of Kalnujai, where they were murdered. Anyone too weak to keep up with the column was shot along the road, and their bodies were carried by other Jews.
Once at the killing site, the victims were lined up by the roadside. Then, in groups of approximately 20, they were led to a pit that had been pre-dug in a gravel quarry by requisitioned Lithuanian peasants. There, they were ordered to lie down and were shot fully dressed by Lithuanian executioners. People who were wounded but still alive were finished off directly in the pit by the same Lithuanians and German supervisors, who also took photographs of the killings. Each layer of bodies was lightly covered with soil by the nearby diggers. After the Aktion, some of the victims’ clothing was taken by the Lithuanian perpetrators.
Further executions took place at Žieveliškė farm:
Before being shot, women and children were forced to undress, making it easier for the perpetrators to loot their clothing and valuables. According to archival sources, Jews from surrounding localities, including Tytuvėnai, Nemakščiai, and Šiluva, were also murdered at this site. A monument now stands at the killing site, commemorating the 1,677 Jews murdered between July and September 1941.
On August 24, 1941, the remaining inmates of the Raseiniai ghetto were transferred to a second ghetto set up in Biliūnai Manor, located 5 km from the town. This ghetto was liquidated between August 29 and September 6, 1941, when its 843 inmates were shot near Kurpiškė village.
After the destruction of the Jewish community of Raseiniai, the victims’ possessions were divided among the perpetrators and redistributed to local inhabitants. However, some Jews survived the war thanks to the bravery of local Lithuanians, such as Anelė, a woman who hid eight Jews in her home. She was later recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
For more information about the killing of Raseinia Jews in Kurpiškė, please refer to the corresponding profile (Girkalnis).
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