1 Killing site(s)
Bronė R., born in 1926: "One summer’s day, shortly after the German invasion, my mother and I went to a Jewish shop in Betygala. There, a young Jewish woman asked my mother to take care of and raise her baby. By that time, the Jews of Betygala already knew that they would be killed soon. My mother had to refuse because it was too dangerous, and everyone knew that we did not have any small children in our family." (Testimony N°YIU134LT, interviewed in Ariogala, on March 19, 2015)
"By the order of German authorities, Lithuanian police launched raids against Jews and red partisans; on the occasions when they caught someone, they would gather the people and shoot the captives. […] In August of 1941 they also shot 10 Jewish families from Betygala and their houses were looted. In total, 45 Jews were shot in Betygala volost." [Deposition of witness Mila Sh., born in 1896, resident of Betygala, taken on the 27th of March, 1945; Extraordinary State Commission to investigate German-Fascist Crimes Committed on Soviet Territory Reel#19 Part 5, p.46]
Betygala, a town in central Lithuania, is located approximately 12 km (7.4 mi) east of Raseiniai, the district center, and 65 km (40.3 mi) northwest of Kaunas, the regional center. Betygala was first mentioned in written sources in the 13th century. Between 1795 and 1915, it was under Russian Imperial rule before becoming part of independent Lithuania during the interwar period.
According to the 1923 census, the town had 85 Jewish residents, comprising 25% of the total population. During this period, the Jewish community of Betygala was primarily involved in commerce and artisanal work, operating several shops, a sawmill, and a flour mill. Some Jewish families were also engaged in agriculture and owned estates near the town. By 1937, a Jewish knitter was also working in Betygala.
In 1940, the Soviet annexation of Lithuania marked a turning point for the Jews of Betygala, as their businesses and shops were nationalized, and political and cultural life was profoundly altered. On the eve of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, only 11 Jewish families remained in the town.
Betygala, along with the surrounding area, was occupied by German troops on June 23, 1941, shortly after the launch of Operation Barbarossa. As there was no permanent German presence in Betygala, a new administration was established by Lithuanian activists known as White Armbanders. From the start of the war, these new authorities began implementing anti-Jewish measures. While Jewish shops remained open for a short time, Jewish property was looted, and Jews were subjected to various forms of forced labor.
According to some sources, in mid-July 1941, all Jewish families were relocated to estates around Betygala, where small ghettos were set up. From there, on August 28, 1941, they were taken to killing sites and murdered by Lithuanian auxiliary policemen. However, according to a local witness interviewed by Yahad, a group of Jews was escorted directly from Betygala to a killing site outside the town, where they were executed.
According to the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, there are three main killing sites associated with the Jews of Betygala. The first is located near the village of Pilkalnis, where several Jews, including Rabbi Jarovskis and his brother, as well as the chemist Kogan and his wife, were murdered in July 1941. The second site is near the Upytė River, where Jews who came out of hiding and gathered in the church in Betygala, hoping to be baptized and escape persecution, were executed. The third site is in the village of Antupiščiai. After being confined for several days in a ghetto established on the property of the Jewish Smolensky family, a group of Betygala Jews was taken to fields on the outskirts of Antupiščiai and murdered. A monument erected at the site commemorates the victims, marking August 15, 1941, as the date of the shooting.
A Yahad team was able to locate two killing sites and one burial site (mass grave) of Betygala’s Jewish victims. However, sources indicate that during the postwar period, the victims’ remains were transferred to a mass grave in the nearby town of Ariogala, where a monument commemorating 500 Jewish victims stands today.
Additionally, according to some sources, a number of Betygala Jews were murdered on August 23, 1941, in the Kurpiškė field near Girkalnis.
For more information about the killing of Betygala Jews in Kurpiškė, please refer to the corresponding profile (Girkalnis).
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