On October 20 (or 21), 1941 the Germans forced the workers of the local kolkhoz, as well as Soviet prisoners of war (about 80-120 people), to dig a pit. The pit – 25 meters long, three meters wide, and three meters deep – was on Pervomayskaya Street, opposite the Protestant Church near the former Polish school. The Germans surrounded the whole area. When the preparations were complete, the Jews were taken to the pit in groups of 15-20 on the pretext that they were being relocated. The Jews were forced to lie down in the pit and were then shot to death by Lithuanians. The killing lasted until evening. According to different sources, the number of victims was between 1,920 and 2,500 (according to one source, in the course of a single day 1,000 Jews and local Communists were shot). Along with the Lithuanians, local policemen participated in the murder. After the shooting, the men who had dug the pit covered it with earth.

More information: Yad Vashem

According to different sources, in the early July 1941 a murder operation against the local Jewish male population was carried out. The Germans gathered the men on the pretext of sending them to work. Instead, they were taken to the birch grove in the vicinity of Klypovshchina village located 4 kilometers way from the town. There they were sho to death. After the operation the Judenrat was ordered to collect gold and cash from the Jewish families in order to release the Jewish men, who they believed were being kept hostage by the Germans. In fact, they had already been shot in the forest near the town. Some sources say, the vicitms numbered 16 but probably they were more.

More information: Yad Vashem