Jašiūnai | Vilnius

During the 19th century, the famous poets, Adam Mickiewicz and Tomasz Zan, used to visit Jašiūnai manor, which was the residence of Vilnius University rector Jan Śniadecki. ©jasiunudvaras.wordpress.com / Looted by the Red Army in 1939, the manor became a prison for the Jews of Jašiūnai before their mass execution in September 1941. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Local residents could see the columns of Jews walking from the manor to the execution place, which was located 2 km away. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum According to Iosif A., born in 1929, Jews had been digging the pit themselves for more than a week before the execution. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Iosif A. and most of the residents of Gojus, adjacent to the town of Jašiūnai, were Old Believers, and the crosses they wore saved them from persecution by Germans who were fiercely searching for communists. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Iosif A. leads the Yahad team to the execution site in the forest. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum When the shooting started, Lukeria F. (born in 1931) was digging potatoes and was chased away by the shooters. She heard the first shots and the victims’ screams. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team identifies the place where the Jašiūnai synagogue once stood. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews of Jašiūnai and its surrounding area

1 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944

Witness interview

Iosif A., born in 1929: "Y.U.: Were the Jews led to the executions place on foot or in vehicles?
Witness: They were taken there on foot. The column had rows of four people and was escorted by guards with dogs.
Y.U.: Were there only men in the column or women and children as well?
Witness: Men, women, children - all of them. They were carrying babies in their arms.
Y.U.: Were they also carrying their belongings?
Witness: No, they’d left their belongings in that building.
Y.U.: How long was the column?
Witness: There were 4 people per row and 40 people in the whole column. That means it could have been about 20 meters long.
Y.U.: But you said 600 Jews were killed…
Witness: They brought them to be executed in groups of 40 people."(Witness N°53, interviewed in Gojus, on April 2, 2014)

Soviet archives

"Under the German administration in Lithuania, during the first days after the arrival of the German army, my brother Rubin Kushel, Asher Pruskin and Asher Levin were arrested in the Laibiškės settlement and shot in the village of Tabariškės, near the barn on the property. Later, Jewish families were arrested and shot at Jašiūnai station. Among the victims there were: 1. Kossia Glaikh; 2. Noah Glaikh; 3. Liba Glaikh; […] 100. Dvora Burvin; 101. Simyon Burvin; 102. (illegible name) Burvin." [Deposition of Khaim K., Jewish farmer from Laibiškės, born in 1922, taken on April 11, 1945]

Historical note

In the first half of the 19th century, Jašiūnai manor became a cultural center frequently visited by scholars and writers. A small industry, partly owned by Jews, started developing in the town at the same time: brass works, sawmill, smithy, resin and turpentine factories, and others. There was a synagogue in Jašiūnai containing 800 books in the Jewish language. 612 people lived in Jašiūnai in 1929. According to the witnesses interviewed by Yahad, before WWII, the majority of the population of the town was Jewish.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Witnesses testified to Yahad that communists became the first target of German invaders, but the persecution of Jews started shortly thereafter. They were assembled in a building in the Jašiūnai manor and locked in there. Later on, the Jews of Jašiūnai were shot, together with those from other villages, on September 25, 1941 by the Vilnius Special Squad. According to the Jäger Report, 575 Jews were murdered that day: 215 men, 229 women and 131 children. Witnesses added that three Roma people were shot and buried together with the Jews.

Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania

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