2 Execution site(s)
Algirdas R., born in 1931:
"Y.U.: Did the victims have to stand at the edge of the pit?
Witness: Yes, they were lined up at the edge. Jewish women held their children, whom they threw into the pit, hoping they might survive. They couldn’t jump in themselves, as they would have been shot immediately, so they just threw their children in. I remember the pit moving after the shooting very clearly. That means some of them were buried alive. [...]
Y.U.: Did you see how they covered the pit after the shooting?
Witness: I wouldn’t call it "covering." They only put a thin layer of soil on top. Over time, the pit sank as the bodies decomposed. I know the pit was eventually leveled, but I can’t remember who did it. They were trying to hide any trace of the pit. [...]
Y.U.: Did you see any blood or wild animals around the pit?
Witness: I saw a lot of blood. The whole place was red. Blood was everywhere, and the soil was dark, soaked with it."
(Testimony N°YIU150LT, interviewed in Kėdainiai, on March 25, 2015)
"Kėdainiai city. The following people were shot:
1. Members of All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Komsomol – 100 people;
2. Jewish population – 2500 people;
3. POWs and other Soviet citizens – 79 people."
[Report on shootings of Soviet citizens performed by German fascist invaders in Kėdainiai district during temporary occupation; Extraordinary State Commission to investigate German-Fascist Crimes Committed on Soviet Territory, Reel#19 Part 3, p.328]
"On August 28, 1941, 2,076 Jews were liquidated in Kėdainiai, 710 Jewish men, 767 Jewish women and 599 Jewish children." [Report of Karl Jaeger, commander of Einsatzkommando 3a, made in Kauen [today Kaunas], on December 1, 1941; Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0716-0005-004]
Kėdainiai is located approximately 51 km (31.7 mi) north of Kaunas. The first Jewish settlers arrived at the end of the 15th century. During the reign of the Radziwiłł family, beginning in the 17th century, Jews played a significant role in the town’s rapid development, particularly in its economic and cultural spheres. Local Jews were involved in commerce—importing and exporting goods—as well as agriculture, cultivating fruits, vegetables, and beetroot. They also worked in the service sector and as artisans. A synagogue and Bet Midrash were established in 1784.
In 1795, when Kėdainiai was annexed by the Russian Empire, the privileges granted to the Jews by the Radziwiłł family were revoked. By 1847, the town had 2,987 Jewish residents. In the second half of the 19th century, the town’s economy grew, thanks to the construction of a railway line connecting Latvia and Ukraine. During this time, Jews operated four flour mills in the area. By 1898, Kėdainiai had seven Jewish prayer houses. However, a series of large fires in 1887, 1888, and 1900 destroyed many Jewish properties. Toward the end of the 19th century, economic hardship and rising anti-Semitism led many local Jews to emigrate. The 1897 census recorded 3,733 Jews in Kėdainiai, making up 61% of the total population.
This number declined during World War I, when some local Jews were forced into exile in Russia. During the interwar period, when Kėdainiai became part of independent Lithuania, about two-thirds of these Jewish refugees were able to return. According to the 1923 census, 2,499 Jews lived in the town, comprising 34% of the population. During this time, Jews became more active in Kėdainiai’s social and cultural life, including Zionist movements. The town was home to the Hebrew Elementary School, the Yiddisher School, a Heder, and the agricultural-technical school located in Totleben’s manor.
When Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, the economic situation in Kėdainiai worsened. The nationalization of Jewish-owned shops, factories, and businesses led to shortages of goods and rising prices. Community institutions, including Zionist movements, youth groups, and Hebrew educational institutions, were disbanded.
On the eve of the German invasion on June 22, 1941, about 2,500 Jews lived in Kėdainiai. Some attempted to evacuate to the east, but most were either forced to return to the town or were killed on the roads.
Kėdainiai was occupied by German troops on June 24, 1941. Lithuanian activists, known as the "White Armbanders," quickly established a new administration and police force. Shortly afterward, the new authorities began persecuting anyone suspected of loyalty to the Soviet regime, including many Jews. The first victims were a group of about 100 Jews, killed by Lithuanian activists in late June to early July 1941, in a forest near Kėdainiai. Another group of 125 victims, including 95 Jews and 30 Russian and Lithuanian Communists, were executed by Einsatzkommando 3, with assistance from Lithuanian policemen, on July 23, 1941, in the Babėniai forest.
From the early days of the occupation, anti-Jewish policies were enforced in the town. Jews were forced to wear Stars of David, forbidden from using sidewalks, and prohibited from interacting with non-Jewish residents. Jewish property was plundered, and the Jewish population was subjected to forced labor, including the dangerous task of sorting bombs left by the Soviets, resulting in the deaths of around ten Jewish workers.
In early August 1941, the remaining Jews of Kėdainiai were forced to relocate to a designated area near the synagogue on Smilga Street, where a ghetto was established. It was surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by local police. By mid-August, the ghetto expanded to include Jews from nearby localities such as Žeimiai, Šėta, and Josvainiai. The overcrowded conditions in the ghetto were particularly harsh, with widespread hunger, an outbreak of typhus, and financial "contributions" imposed on the detainees.
On August 16, 1941, 730 men over the age of 15, along with 183 women, were transferred from the ghetto to the stables of the former Count Totleben manor. They were confined there for 13 days with almost no provisions, under the supervision of Lithuanian guards. During this time, they were also forced to work at the Kėdainiai aerodrome. On August 26, the remaining ghetto inhabitants were also transferred to the same stables. Two days later, on August 28, 1941, the Jewish community in and around Kėdainiai was annihilated in an Aktion carried out by Einsatzkommando 3 and local Lithuanians.
The victims, in groups of 100 to 150, were taken to the banks of the Smilga River, near the aerodrome, where they were shot while stripped naked at the edge of a long pit dug by Soviet POWs. The elderly and weak were taken by truck to the execution site, followed by men, then women and children, who were driven there on foot. In a desperate attempt to save their children, some Jewish women threw them alive into the pit before being shot themselves. As each group was executed, the bodies were lightly covered with earth by local Lithuanians. To mask the sound of the shooting, tractor engines were kept running during the executions. Despite individual acts of resistance, a total of 2,076 Jews—including 710 men, 767 women, and 599 children—were killed that day.
After the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans and members of the police seized the more valuable Jewish belongings, while other items were sold to local Lithuanians.
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