aA
Some fifty people gathered in the forest at midday on Sunday at the mass grave at Poligón, outside Švenčioneliai (Yiddish: Svintsyánke), in northeastern Lithuania, where around 8,000 Jews were murdered on 7 and 8 October 1941 after more than a week of barbaric incarceration and humiliation.
Misha (Meyshke) Shapiro (at left), head of a region’s tiny remnant Jewish community, chairs the annual commemoration in the forest at a mass grave where 8,000 Jews were killed in two days in October of 1941. Photo defendinghistory.com
Misha (Meyshke) Shapiro (at left), head of a region’s tiny remnant Jewish community, chairs the annual commemoration in the forest at a mass grave where 8,000 Jews were killed in two days in October of 1941. Photo defendinghistory.com

The number includes nearly all the Jews of the county-seat town Švenčionys (Svintsyán) as well as the Jewish citizens of a number of towns and villages in the region, including (Yiddish names first in the following list, followed by current Lithuanian or Belarusian names): Dugelíshik (Naujasis Daugėliškis), Duksht (Dūkštas), Haydútsetsh

Related articles

80 Lithuanians who saved Jews during WWII granted status of freedom fighters

Rescuers of Jews were awarded with certificates testifying their legal status as participants of...

Jewish remains found at Kaunas Fort to be reburied this month

The Jewish remains found at the VII Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city, will be...

Christine Neijstrom | The Lithuania Tribune

“He was like a captain of a ship,” Kaunas ghetto resistance leader commemorated at Holocaust Exhibit

The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum Holocaust Exhibit, housed in a traditional wooden green house...

Kaunas Ghetto survivor shares memories as Lithuania marks Holocaust day

As the Seimas of Lithuania on Tuesday held a commemorative sitting to mark the 70th anniversary of...

Golden Cross of the Stage awards presented to theatre artists

On Sunday, the Golden Cross of the Stage awards were presented to theatre artists at the Lithuanian...

PM meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, visiting Lithuania for the first time

On 21 March, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of...

Education ministry to offer grants to future French and German teachers

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport announced on Friday it would allocate additional support...

Pushkin Museum in Vilnius renamed as Markučiai Manor Museum

The Vilnius City Council has renamed the Literary Museum of Alexander Pushkin opened in the 1950s to...

Government’s Culture and Arts Prize awarded to 12 artists

At a solemn ceremony on 9 March, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė awarded twelve artists with the...

Top news

Ministry: Belarus’ NPP poses a nuclear threat to the whole region

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania reports it has sent a note of protest to the Foreign...

Armed Forces’ commander: Finland’s NATO membership is highly significant for collective defence

Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys says Finland joining NATO will...

Minister: there will be no illegal migration route through Lithuania

Minister of the Interior of Lithuania Agnė Bilotaitė says the migrant crisis deliberately caused by...

Seimas tightens penalties for sanction breaches to individuals and businesses

On Thursday, the Seimas adopted amendments to the Law on International Sanctions and part of...

Hot tests in Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant have started

On Wednesday, systems at the Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant (Vilnius CHP) started the...