aerialphotographofkillingsite

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Gargzdai (Gorzd), Lithuania

Aerial Photograph of Men's Killing Site

The Jewish men of Gargzdai were shot by the Nazis on June 24, 1941, two days after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The shooting and mass burial occurred in a trench only a few yards off the main street, at the western entrance to the town.

The killing site is a mound running in a North-South direction, and is marked by a Memorial, shown here photographed from the west.

See photo of Original Memorial

Because of changes in the area after the war, identification of the site on the 1945 aerial photograph offers additional insight into the location where the killings occurred.

File No. GX2192, Exp. SD157, U.S. National Archives at College Park. (German Reconnaissance Photo, 1/16/45) Green box shows area enlarged below

Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1921
Red box shows approximate area of photograph at left.
Orange line shows later road to Memel (Klaipeda) as shown in aerial photo, bypassing older dogleg to border and train station. X's show border between Germany and Russia, both before WWI and at the time of the 1941 invasion.

Enlargement of above photo, showing intersection of three major roads: Clockwise from west are the new road to Memel (Klaipeda), the old road to the border, and the road to Kretinga.
New road to Memel (Klaipeda) appeared on a Lithuanian map in 1938.

Comparison with the current aerial photograph at Wikimapia appears to place the Killing Site at the green line in the 1945 photograph. Southeast corner of mound is visible extending into the road.

Aerial photo modified with "unsharp mask" function
of freeware graphics program

For additional current photos of Memorial, click here.

For current aerial photograph of this site on Wikimapia, click here.
At Wikimapia site, you can drag photo with mouse to view other areas, or change magnification with sliding scale at left.

Gargzdai main page

Identification of Features on Aerial Photo | Aerial Photo of Gargzdai | Holocaust