1 Sitio(s) de ejecución
Algirdas V., born in 1932:
"Y.U.: What season was it when they were digging the pit?
Witness: It was summer. As they were digging the pit, before the shooting started, our neighbors—Babilius, Dalinevičius, Sinkevičius, and a few others—came to our courtyard. There were eight of them altogether. They lived farther away, but our house was on a hill, so we had a clear view of everything. My father warned the neighbors not to stay out in the open and to hide because the shooters might fire at them. One Jewish man was hiding in our barn, in the hay. He had removed a plank from the wall so he could watch the shooting through the gap. When the execution ended, the Riflemen packed up their machine guns, got into their vehicle, and drove off, singing along the way. The Jewish man hiding in our barn was named Sroliukas. He had created a small hiding spot in the hay. My father had never locked the barn before, but after that, he started doing so to keep others from going inside. Sroliukas removed a plank from the wall on the other side of the barn so he could enter and exit unnoticed. He continued living there under the hay, but after the shooting, he became very anxious.
Y.U.: What happened to him? Did he escape or was he discovered?
Witness: He stayed there and eventually recovered from the shock. He continued hiding the entire time. When the Russians arrived, he came out of hiding and lived with Skirnevičienė.
Y.U.: In Jieznas?
Witness: Yes, in Jieznas. He lived there for five or six years and then passed away." (Testimony N°YIU287LT, interviewed in Jieznas, on October 12, 2016)
Jieznas is located approximately 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Kaunas, near the road connecting Kaunas and Alytus. The first Jewish settlers arrived in the town during the first half of the 19th century, when Jieznas was part of the Russian Empire. According to the 1866 census, 170 Jews lived in the town, making up 31% of the total population. In 1915, during World War I, most of Jieznas' Jewish population was forced into exile in Russia. However, during the interwar period, when Lithuania regained independence, many of these Jewish refugees returned home. By the 1923 census, Jieznas was home to 286 Jewish residents, comprising 29% of the total population.
The Jewish community in Jieznas was primarily involved in commerce, the service sector, and artisanal work, with some also engaged in agriculture. Jews played a key role in the town's economy. During the interwar years, there were 16 Jewish-owned shops, two mills, three pubs, and two state alcohol shops. Jewish artisans offered services as butchers, bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, photographers, and more. Weekly market days and annual fairs were held in the town, which also had a Jewish cemetery, a synagogue (Beit Midrash), a Hebrew language school, a primary school, and a Jewish library with books in both Hebrew and Yiddish. During this period, Jews actively participated in the town’s social and cultural life.
When Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, the economic situation in Jieznas worsened due to the nationalization of Jewish-owned shops and businesses. Community institutions, including Zionist movements and the Hebrew school, were shut down.
On the eve of the German invasion in 1941, there were around 300 Jewish residents living in Jieznas.
Jieznas was occupied by German forces on June 25, 1941. A new local administration was established, including members of the local police and the Riflemen’s Union. The new authorities quickly began persecuting anyone suspected of loyalty to the Soviet regime, with Jews being among the primary targets. The first victims included 12 Jewish men, who were murdered in the nearby Musninkai forest. Others arrested were sent to Alytus prison. On June 30, 1941, five more Jews were executed in the nearby Majauskas forest, named after its owner.
Shortly afterward, anti-Jewish measures were imposed in Jieznas. Jews were forced to wear the Star of David on their clothing and mark their homes with signs in German. Jewish men and women were subjected to forced labor, including street cleaning and road construction. To survive, many Jews traded their valuables, including furniture, for food with local Lithuanians.
Beginning in August 1941, mass arrests of Jews took place in Jieznas. On August 8, 1941, 70 Jews were deported to Alytus, where they were murdered along with other Jewish captives. On August 16, 1941, another group of 89 Jews, including 63 men and 26 women, was taken to Prienai, where they too were executed.
On September 1, 1941, the remaining Jewish men were imprisoned in the cellar of the Jieznas municipal building, while the women and children were confined in the synagogue. On September 2, 1941, the remaining Jews were murdered in an Aktion led by Rollkommando Hamann, with assistance from the Jieznas police and the Riflemen’s Union. The victims were forced to strip to their underwear and were marched to the execution site near the lake, where they were shot by two machine guns positioned at either end of a long pit, which had been dug earlier by requisitioned townspeople. The men were killed first, followed by the women and children. Part of the pit was covered as more victims were brought to the site. The next day, elderly Jews were transported to the same site by cart and executed.
According to the Jäger report, a total of 144 Jews were killed during the Aktion, including 26 men, 72 women, and 46 children. After the massacre, many of the belongings of the murdered Jews were looted by local residents, and some items were sold in the town center.
Only a few Jews from Jieznas survived the war, mainly those who were hidden by local Lithuanians.
For more information about the killing of Jews in Prienai and Alytus, please refer to the corresponding profiles.
¿Tiene información adicional con respecto a un pueblo que le gustaría compartir con Yahad?
Por favor contáctenos a contact@yahadinunum.org
o llamando a Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17