Stajėtiškis (Stajetiškė, Stojaciszki, Shatayatsishok) | Vilnius

Zuzana S., born in 1933, showing the photographs of Stajėtiškis. Personal archive. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The former mill of Stajėtiškis. The mill owner lived in the house nearby, where he run his shop. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The mill was bombed by the Germans while they were retreating. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Stajėtiškis before the war. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum / Zenonas S., born in 1928, showing to the Yahad team the list of the Stajėtiškis residents before the war. Most of them were Jewish. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum List of Stajėtiškis residents, most of whom were Jewish. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The former location of the synagogue in Stajėtiškis. It was a wooden two-storey building, situated near the river. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The shooting and burial site N°1 of an old Jewish women, murdered the day after the Jews of Stajėtiškis were rounded up and taken to Adutiškis. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The former Jewish house of Volek Haizi. A part of the house was used as a shop of clothing and fabrics. Today, it is a house of local residents, Zenonas S. and Zuzana S. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Volek Haizi was hiding in the cave of his house when Jews of Stajėtiškis were rounded up and taken to Adutiškis. The next day he was found and executed not far from the house. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum The shooting and burial site N°2 of Volek Haizi who was hiding in the cave of his house during the roundup of the Jews of Stajėtiškis. The next day, he was captured, taken not far from his house and shot. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Zenonas S., born in 1928: “My farther brought some food to Volek Haizi when he was hiding in the cave. He left the food near the small window outside the cave.” ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum Zuzana S., born in 1933: “After the execution of Volek Haizi, I saw his grave covered with fresh soil. I often passed by this place while going to the hill to milk the cattle.” ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Stajėtiškis

2 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Vacant lot the road (1); Meadow near the road (2)
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
2

Witness interview

Zenonas S., born in 1928, & Zuzana S., born in 1933:
"Y.U.: What was the largest community in Stajėtiškis?
Witness1: The entire village was Jewish, except four houses. […]
Witness2: Some Jews cultivated land, others drove carts between villages or ran shops.
Witness1: There used to be a Jewish shop in this house.
Y.U.: What kind of shop was that?
Witness1: Clothing and fabrics were sold here.
Y.U.: Do you remember the name of the owner of this shop?
Both witnesses: Volek.
Witness2: Volek Haizi.
Y.U.: Was there a synagogue?
Witness1: Yes, it was on a hill, near the present monument.
Y.U.: Was there only one synagogue?
Witness1: One, but quite big.
Witness2: It was two-storey wooden building.
Y.U.: How was the rabbi dressed?
Witness2: He was dressed in long black clothes, had a beard and wore hat. He was not very tall.
Y.U.: Were other Jews also dressed like that?
Witness2: No, they looked like ordinary villagers.
Witness1: On Saturdays they had Shabbat, and many Jews, including those form Adutiškis and other villages, used to gather here. It was lovely to watch them walking around the village. They never worked on Saturdays but hired other people to feed their cattle.
Y.U.: Where did the Jews gather on Saturdays: on the street or in a particular building?
Witness2: On the street. There were plenty of them already on Friday evening.
Witness1: They were very elegant. We looked at them through the window and admired them. […] On holidays, such as Easter or Christmas, they used to bake pancakes called Matzah and shared them with us." (Testimony N°YIU68 & 69 LT, interviewed in Stajėtiškis, on April 6, 2014)

Historical note

Stajėtiškis, a former Jewish shtetl of the Vilnius region, is situated approximately 26 km (16 mi) northeast of Švenčionys, the district center, and about 4 km (2,5 mi) northwest of Adutiškis. According to 1897 census, when Stajėtiškis was part of the Russian Empire, there were 262 Jews recorded as being settled in the village. Local Jews were primarily engaged in commerce and artisanal work, while a number of them worked the land. There was a synagogue and Jews from nearby villages used to gather there to celebrate Jewish religious holidays. A number of the young Jews were engaged in Zionist and Bund movements. In the interwar period of 20th century, Stajėtiškis was part of Poland, before being invaded by the Red Army in September 1939. From that period the economic situation in the village deteriorated as the nationalization of the Jewish stores and enterprises led to a shortage of goods and rising prices. On the eve of the German invasion, there were about 300 Jewish residents living in Stajėtiškis.   

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Stajėtiškis was occupied by German forces on July 2, 1941. Till the end of September, 1941, local Jews continued to live in their homes, but became increasingly anxious as rumors of the shootings of Jews throughout Lithuania began to spread through the village due to the Jewish refugees. Shortly afterwards, anti-Jewish policies were implemented in Stajėtiškis, mandating local Jews to wear the distinctive Star of David symbols on their clothes. On September 19, Jewish property was registered by Lithuanian policemen arrived from Adutiškis. On September 26, 1941, Jews of Stajėtiškis, about 300 people in all, were rounded up and taken to the Adutiškis ghetto by Lithuanian policemen. Those unable to walk were loaded onto carts and taken there by requisitioned locals. A short time later, most of the Adutiškis ghetto detainees were transferred to barracks in the former Soviet military training camp, known as the Poligon transit camp, located near Švenčionėliai. After several days of detention, the Jews of Stajėtiškis and Adutiškis were executed near Švenčionėliai along with other Jews from the Švenčionys region from October 8 to 10, 1941.

The Jews of Stajėtiškis who managed to hide during the roundup were eventually captured and executed in Stajėtiškis. Yahad managed to locate two graves of the Jewish victims, one containing a body of an old Jewish woman and the second one of a Jewish man.    

For more information about the killing of Jews in Švenčionėliai please follow the corresponding profile.

Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania

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