The German army occupied Vilkaviškis on June 22, 1941. Many Jewish homes and the synagogue were destroyed by bombing. With the onset of the occupation, Lithuanian nationalists attacked local Jews. A few weeks later the Jews were imprisoned in a ghetto set up in a military barracks outside of town.

The Jewish men of Vilkaviškis were murdered on July 28, 1941 in two pits, prepared in advance. On September 24 the Jewish women and children were shot at the same location. The massacres were carried out by the Einsatzkommando Tilsit, commanded by Hans-Joachim Boehme, aided by Lithuanian nationalists. According to Soviet sources, a total of 3,056 people were murdered at that time.

The Red Army liberated Vilkaviškis in the summer of 1944.

VILKAVISKIS
A small town in Southern Lithuania
Where the Jewish Community is no more

The Holocaust  Introduction

This site was built by Ralph Salinger of Kfar Ruppin, Israel
It is built to the glory of the Jewish Community of Vilkaviskis
You can contact me with any comments at salinger@kfar-ruppin.org,il

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