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Soon, after the beginning of the occupation by the Germans of Lithuania in June
1941,several German officers and about 50-60 soldiers arrived in Pakruojis. (
Some sources indicate, it was on the 13th of July 1941.).
The Jews then had to wear
yellow stars. They were watched and guarded by the so called white arm banders,
all men belonging to the squad of
Petras
Pozela, formerly a lawyer. Members of his group were:
Gigevičius,
Simkevičius,
Zinkevičius,
Lipskis and Dojokas.
Some
days after the arrival of the Germans, the Jewish men were forced to leave the
ghetto, to stay for one night in a courtyard, at the Dariaus ir Gireno gatve,
where the storage was to be found from Woulk and other tradesmen, all Jewish.
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courtyard |
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It was still July. The next morning the Jewish men were taken to
Morkakalnis, about
2 km. from the centre of Pakruojis. They
had to dig a long and big hole. Then they were shot by the Germans and their
collaborators. Some of the local
white arm banders watched the area. All
the Jewish men, accompanied by their rabbi were murdered, a total of
more than 100 people.
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grave of the
Jewish men
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Some of the Jewish men were shot across the new Jewish cemetery, on the
bank of the river Kruoja, at the road leading to the
village
of
Linksmuciai
. This all took place before the massacre at Morkakalnis of the other Jewish
men. Amongst the men shot on the bank of the river Kruoja were
Velve Rubinstein and
Israel Epstein. |
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the bank
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memorial stone on the bank of the river Kruoja (with family
Rubenstein on the picture)
paid by Rivka Shapiro-Igdal
and Israel Igdalski,
Chana Shapiro-Burk, Rachel Sherman
and William Sands.
Rachmiel Rubenstein was responsible for
the design and the erection of the memorial stone. |
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Because of the damming up of the river the Kruoja, the memorial stone had to be
removed to Morkakalnis (as was originally intended by the families), together with the remains of the Jewish men who were
shot at that same spot.
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the
reburial spot
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Early August, the Jewish women, children
and elderly people were forced to leave their houses and to settle in the
surroundings near the Kruoja. During the day they had to stay outside and during
the night they were locked in into the synagogue.
The photos below indicate where the women, children and elderly were kept
imprisoned.
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part of the
former prison
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part of the former prison |
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part of the former prison; the original cobble stone path is still
there
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during the nights they were to stay in the synagogue
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to part 2 |