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Oral history interview with Juozas Veršyla

Oral History

Juozas Veršyla, born in 1934 in Ponary (Paneriai), Lithuania, describes the beginning of the war; the relocation of the Jewish population to the Vilna ghetto; the deportation of Jews to Ponary; witnessing a mass shooting of Jews by men in German uniforms; the death of children who were thrown out of wagons; the escape of some Jews once the shooting started; the placement of barbed wire around the execution site to prevent other victims from fleeing; the closing of his school due to its proximity to the execution site; Jewish resistance; the burning of corpses; his father’s explanation about the events; and the behavior of local townspeople, some of whom attempted to take victims’ clothing from the execution site and were shot by police.

Oral history interview with Georgij Stančonok

Oral History

Georgij Stančonok, born in Lithuania, describes the Jewish family that lived in his village; the Jewish families that lived in nearby Semeliskes, Lithuania; the sight of German soldiers at the beginning of the war; the mass killing of the Jewish population; how his father and other locals were forced to dig mass burial; hiding Jews until his family was denounced to authorities; the lack of knowledge amongst local townspeople that Jews were going to be killed; and the burning of the Jewish home in his village.

Oral history interview with Vera Silkinaitė

Oral History

Vera Silkinaitė, born in 1925 in Lithuania, describes the Jewish population of her hometown before the war; the treatment of Jews at the beginning of the war by German soldiers and Lithuanians; witnessing the beating and torturing of a group of Jews in a cemetery; living in an apartment owned by a Jewish family; neighbors robbing the Jewish owners of the apartment building and attempting to arrest the family; the brutality of younger German soldiers; the destruction of Jewish-owned shops; fear among local townspeople to protest against the treatment of Jews; the escalation of violence against the Jews after 1939; her realization that Jews would be systematically murdered; Jews being subjected to forced labor; German guards beating Lithuanians who attempted to help Jews; the plundering of Jewish-owned apartments by German soldiers and local townspeople; German students beating Polish students; a mass shooting and burial of Jews at the Ninth Fort; and the imprisonment of perpetrators of violence against Jews after the war.

Oral history interview with Genovaitė Jurevičienė

Oral History

Genovaitė Jurevičienė, born in Kedainiai, Lithuania, describes her prewar family life and childhood friendships with Jewish neighbors; the arrival of German forces; the creation of a ghetto in her hometown; bringing food to a Jewish woman; the order from German authorities that Jews must gather all of their valuables; the warning that any local townsperson in possession of Jewish possessions would be shot; disbelief among Jewish townspeople that they would be killed; a mass shooting of Jews, assisted by local policemen and townspeople; policemen taking the clothes of the victims; an incident in which a local policeman, responsible for many of the shootings, slipped and fell into the burial pit, and was then killed by a woman there; visiting the burial pits; the looting of Jewish homes in the ghetto after the shooting; and her life after the war.

Oral history interview with Edvard Jankovskij

Oral History

Edvard Jankovsij, born in 1935 in Ponary (Paneriai), Lithuania, describes the retreat of Soviet forces; the German invasion; the appearance of burial pits in 1940; the transportation of Jews to Ponary; the belief among Jews that they were being sent to labor; the mass shooting of Jews by local policemen and German soldiers; the burning of the corpses in 1943, for which local policemen were the only volunteers for the job; his attempt to give food to Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish civilians; and how some of the burial pits do not have commemoration signs.

Oral history interview with Marija Zacharevič

Oral History

Marija Zacharevič, born in Ponary (Paneriai), Lithuania, describes the poverty of the Jewish population before the war; the relocation of Jews into the Vilna ghetto; her family’s attempt to hide a Jewish man in their home; hearing gunfire from the direction of a mass shootings; the proximity of her village to the burial pits; seeing Jews being taken in the direction of the killing site in Ponary; the burning of the corpses; the reactions of local townspeople to the shootings; and threats from German soldiers to kill anyone who rescued Jews.

Oral history interview with Petronėlė Karasevičienė

Oral History

Petronėlė Karasevičienė, born in Semeliskes, Lithuania, describes the Jewish families of Semeliskes; the mass shooting of the Jewish population; individuals who performed the shooting; the organization of the killings; the mass burial pit; and local townspeople who bought the clothing of the victims.

Oral history interview with Pranas Dulka

Oral History

Pranas Dulka, born in 1908 in Dubrovka, Lithuania, describes his family’s relationship with the Jewish community; the beginning of the war; antisemitic comments made by neighbors; local townspeople who denounced Jews after promising to save them for money; a roundup of Jews; their relocation to Semeliškës; local and non-local policemen who served as guards; local Lithuanians being forced to dig burial pits; policemen inviting local townspeople to shoot Jews; his refusal to participate in the shooting; the participation of policemen in driving Jews to burial pits; details of the mass shooting; hearing the gunfire from the mass shooting; visiting the shooting site; policemen selling the victims’ belongings to some local townspeople; the head policeman’s suicide following the mass killing; and the postwar punishment of some neighbors who participated in the persecution of Jews.

Oral history interview with Stasys Keidunas

Oral History

Stasys Kiedunas, born in 1912 in Merkine, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish population; his relationships with members of the Jewish community; seeing Soviet soldiers install anti-aircraft cannons on the bank of a river at the beginning of the war; local leaders who persecuted the Jewish community; sheltering a Jewish family for a week; the order for Jews and Poles to wear badges; the roundup of Jews, who were then brought to the synagogue; bringing food to the Jewish prisoners; the killing of Jews who were brought to Alytus in 1941; the killing of Jews who were brought from other villages to Merkine; looting of Jewish belongings; local Lithuanians being forced to dig burial pits; details of the procession to the killing site; bandits digging in the mass grave to search for gold; a participant in the mass shooting selling Jewish houses; and the fate of the perpetrators after the war.

Oral history interview with Juozas Aleksynas

Oral History

Juozas Aleksynas, born in 1914 in Makrickai village in Lithuania, describes his service in the Lithuanian Army in 1936 and 1937; his mobilization in 1941 into an auxiliary police unit aiding the German Army; serving as a guard of prisoner of war labor units in Zapyškis, Lithuania; the treatment of Soviet prisoners by German soldiers; the starvation of the Soviet prisoners; being under the command of German soldiers; the transfer of his battalion to Minsk, Belarus; traveling through Belarus with German soldiers to Kletsk, Barysaw (Barysau), and Slutsk; the digging of burial pits; taking Jews to the pits and participating in their execution; his situation that refusing to shoot was not an option; details of the guns and bullets used in the shootings; the behavior of the victims; the sequence of the mass shootings; actions against partisan groups, including the retaliation of German soldiers against villages where attacks occurred; German soldiers filming the killing of Jews; his transfer to guard duties in Gomel (Homel'), Belarus as a result of increased partisan activity; deserting his battalion in 1942; being caught by German police after his desertion; and his subsequent escape from imprisonment.

Oral history interview with Juozas Savickas

Oral History

Juozas Savickas, born September 18, 1931 in Zyniu, Vilkaviskio apskritis, Lithuania (note that Vilkaviskio apskritis was no longer an apskritis after 1950), describes his prewar acquaintances with Jews; learning that Jews were killed in nearby towns; hearing gunfire from mass shootings in his village in 1941; rumors that non-Jewish Lithuanians would be killed after the Jews; a mass shooting performed in the middle of the village to frighten the local population; witnessing a shooting of Jews by German soldiers in a ravine; a filming of the shooting; the burial of the victims after the shooting; and how a school and dance hall were later built on the site of the shooting.

Oral history interview with Elena Bendoraitienė

Oral History

Elena Bendoraitienė, born in Lithuania, describes her family’s contacts within the Jewish community; a survivor of the Ninth Fort massacre; mass killings of Jews and Communists in the stadium of Vilkaviskis in 1941; details of the mass shooting, in which victims had to dig their own graves; the selling of the victims’ clothing by the perpetrators, which included Lithuanian volunteers and German soldiers; local townspeople buying the victims’ clothing; the escape of a Jewish girl from a burial pit; a priest who rescued the girl; seeing a girl shot in a field as she attempted to escape from German forces in Zynai; hearing the gunfire from the mass shooting in Zynai; postwar legal trials of perpetrators; and her role in organizing the construction of a monument for the victims of the mass shooting.

Oral history interview with Albinas Pakalka

Oral History

Albinas Pakalka, born in Lithuania, describes his family life and acquaintances with the Jews before the war; his father’s attempt to persuade German guards to release Jews; the killing of Soviet prisoners of war by German SS forces; the killing the Jewish population from the town of Naumiestis; finding small personal items near the burial pit; the use of exploding bullets by soldiers; the participation of local townspeople in covering the mass graves; and the interaction of soldiers with local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Ona Bečelienė

Oral History

Ona Bečelienė, born in 1924 in Paražniai, Lithuania, describes her family; the Jewish population of Kudirkos Naumiestis; the beginning of the war; German soldiers expropriating shops from both Jews and Lithuanians; Jewish men being taken away and being killed in Zyniai; hearing screaming and gunfire from a mass shooting of Jewish women and children near Kudirkos Naumiestis; visiting the mass murder site; townspeople from Naumiestis who searched the mass murder site for gold; the survival of a Jewish woman who had converted to Catholicism; the perpetrators; the looting and selling of Jewish belongings; her parents’ refusal to buy goods taken from victims; local priests condemning the mass murders and the purchasing of stolen property; a petition signed by local townspeople attempting to save the life of an elderly Jewish doctor; a group of young Communist Lithuanians killed by German soldiers; her decision to marry young so she would not be deported; local townspeople living in the homes of murdered Jews; German soldiers telling local townspeople they were going to be deported to Siberia; mourning the death of the Jewish community; and how some of the perpetrators now live in the United States.

Oral history interview with Irena Charževskienė

Oral History

Irena Charževskienė, born March 17, 1928 in Kaunas, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in her town; the establishment of a ghetto near her house in 1941 for Jewish men and Soviet prisoners of war, guarded by Wehrmacht soldiers; the sight of prisoners in cattle wagons on a railway bridge asking for water; her family saving a Soviet soldier; witnessing a mass murder of Jews in 1942 or 1943; the sight of Jewish and Soviet prisoners of war being taken to work, including throwing food to them as they passed; and the different rules of giving food to prisoners depending on the type of guards.

Oral history interview with Bronius Eliošaitis

Oral History

Bronius Eliošaitis, born in Lithuania, describes his family and education in Kaunas; his contacts with the Jewish community; the beginning of the war; German civil workers bringing food to Jewish prisoners; living in a house owned by Jews and having Jewish neighbors; the Lithuanian uprising against the Soviet Union; partisans searching the apartments and beating members of the Jewish community; his mother openly protesting the treatment of Jews, resulting in partisans terrorizing his family; the deportation of his male Jewish neighbors by partisans; elderly Jews remaining in their apartments until the creation of the ghetto; the occupation of Jewish apartments by local townspeople; the deportation of the Jewish community to the ghetto; partisans robbing Jewish apartments; the explosion of the Slabodka ghetto; a neighbor who participated in mass shootings; the organization of armed Lithuanian units serving under German commanders in 1943; and a partisan who became an informer for the KGB.

Oral history interview with Jasiūnas Rimgaudas

Oral History

Jasiūnas Rimgaudas, born January 30, 1931 in Kaunas, Lithuania, describes his family; the beginning of the war; the looting of Jewish-owned shops by local townspeople; the torture and murder of a group of Jews at the Lietukis garage during the Kaunas pogrom; the driving of a group of Jews to the Ninth Fort; a Jewish woman sending her daughter to stay at his house while she worked; and his feelings about Jews in light of the arrest of his father by a Jewish man in 1945.

Oral history interview with Kęstutis Paulavičius

Oral History

Kęstutis Paulavičius, born in 1927 in Kaunas, Lithuania, describes his family, Jewish friends, and the Jewish community of Panemunė before the war; the beginning of the war, during which his father was imprisoned; partisans shooting retreating Soviet soldiers and Jews; antisemitic songs; mass shootings which occurred in the Fourth fort; German soldiers filming the mass shootings; partisans selling the clothing of Jewish victims; his role in hiding Jews who escaped from the Vilijampolė ghetto; the rescuing of a Jewish child who was baptized by a priest of the Carmelite church; a hiding place created by his father in order to hide Jews; the different people hidden by his family, including Jews and a Soviet soldier; and German soldiers searching his house in pursuit of hidden people.

Oral history interview with Stasys Velicka

Oral History

Stasys Velicka, born in 1917 in Kvesai, Lithuania, describes his family and his service in the Lithuanian Army before the war; the beginning of the war, including the bombardments of the towns around his village; joining the Lithuanian Security Battalion in 1941 in Kaunas, Lithuania; trading positions with another battalion member so that he could work in the kitchen; his transfer to Minsk, Belarus; giving food to a Jew from the Minsk ghetto who came to the barracks to fix the furnaces; volunteers performing mass shootings and returning to Minsk with their pockets full of money; mass shootings which occurred in Sluck, Klock, and Baranovichi; the battalion persecuting Soviet partisans; the arrival of Jews from Western Europe in Minsk; the theft of their belongings by the men in the battalions; deserting his battalion in 1942; hiding from German soldiers; being caught by German soldiers, but escaping; and his arrest in 1947 by the KGB, and his release as a result of a note written by the Jewish man he helped in Minsk.

Oral history interview with Antanas Kmieliauska

Oral History

Antanas Kmieliauska, born in 1932 in Olendernė, Lithuania, describes his family and prewar contacts with the Jewish community of Butrimonys; the arrival of German forces; the shooting of two German soldiers; the execution of 200 villagers in retaliation; the relocation of young Jewish men to Alytus, where they were shot; the mass shooting of the Jewish community; false accusations against the Jewish community; the looting of Jewish belongings by local townspeople; the horror felt by local townspeople in response to the shootings; his parents’ refusal to take part in the actions against the Jewish community or take their property; the starvation of the Soviet prisoners of war; and the jailing a collaborator after the war.

Oral history interview with Norbertas Jokubauskas

Oral History

Norbertas Jokubauskas, born in 1916 in Skuodas, Lithuania, describes his family and education; his army service before the war; leading an armed unit in the uprising in 1940; the arrival of the German forces; guarding the Kovno ghetto; trying to save a young Jewish woman and her mother who decided to stay in the ghetto; transporting Jews to the Ninth Fort; guarding the clothing of the victims to prevent theft; the brutality of German soldiers; his refusal to participate in the mass shootings; his horror at the mass shootings; the hanging of NKVD men; some soldiers who attempted to avoid participating in the mass executions; the sexual assault of Jewish women; fighting on the Eastern Front, including different imprisonments and releases; the treatment of Soviet prisoners; and his attempt to obtain official papers in Soviet Lithuania in 1945.

Oral history interview with Ona Balaišienė

Oral History

Ona Balaišienė, born in 1911 in Andrioniškis, Lithuania, describes her family; her interactions with the prewar Jewish community of her town; living in Anykščiai, Lithuania and working in Debeikiai, Lithuania during the war; giving food to Jews in the ghetto of Anykščiai; a partisan guard who tried to have her and her husband executed; a German language teacher who convinced the German soldiers to release her and her husband; her encounters with residents of the ghetto; the structure of mass killings; her fear for her children; Jewish community members and Soviet employees fleeing east; the shooting of captured Jews; mass deportations of Lithuanians; her emotional breakdown after the first mass execution of Jews; hiding from partisans if they approached her house; the cruelty of the German soldiers; interactions between partisans and Jews; the looting of the Jewish ghetto by local townspeople; her husband refusing to purchase stolen property; partisans living in Jewish-owned houses; and the prosecution of the superintendent of the ghetto for collaborating with the Germans.

Oral history interview with Leonas Stonkus

Oral History

Leonas Stonkus, born in 1921 in Darbėnai, Lithuania, describes his family; the arrival of the Soviet Army in Darbėnai, including how soldiers robbed civilians; his imprisonment in Kaunas, Lithuania; the head of the Komsomol unit in Darbėnai; being interrogated by Soviet authorities; the prewar Jewish community of his town; joining the Lithuanian Army; his transfer to Minsk, Belarus; standing guard during mass shootings of Jews in Minsk in 1942 and in Kopel; his participation in a mass shooting in Rudensk (Rudzyensk), Belarus in 1943; details of the mass shooting; being jailed and interrogated for his poor performance during the mass killing; the cruelty of the German soldiers; his confession to a priest; deserting the battalion; and Belarusian actions against Jews.

Oral history interview with Josef Januszewicz

Oral History

Josef Januszewicz, born in 1922 in Svencionys, Lithuania, describes his family and relationships with the prewar Jewish community; German soldiers relocating the Jewish community to the ghetto; the poor conditions of the ghetto; beatings by German and Lithuanian secret police; hearing screams from a mass shooting; murders of Jews by German soldiers before the mass shooting; an auction of stolen Jewish property; a party held by the killing squad after the mass execution of the Jewish population; a collaborator inviting local men to join in the killing of Jews in exchange for vodka; quarreling with the head of the perpetrators, resulting in his arrest and interrogation; German soldiers taking photographs of mass shootings; German soldiers taking the gold of the victims; collaborators committing murder in small towns; local townspeople living in Jewish-owned homes; and former policemen who were jailed after the war.

Oral history interview with Norbertas Uziala

Oral History

Norbertas Uziala, born in Svencioneliai, Lithuania, describes his work at the railway; the arrival of German forces; digging mass burial pits; seeing a column of people being taken toward the pits; a Lithuanian man bringing a Jewish woman and her child to the mass murder site; hearing gunfire from the mass execution; covering the burial pits; seeing piles of clothing and a carriage full of chemicals next to the burial pit; his knowledge that the perpetrators were Lithuanians; one perpetrator walking around the burial pit shooting any victim who was still alive; the presence of a photographer at the burial pit; fleeing the burial pit as he was chased by a policeman who attempted to shoot him; the drunkenness of the perpetrators; the perpetrators exchanging gold for alcohol; and the auction of the victims' clothing.

Oral history interview with Zenonas Tumalovičius

Oral History

Zenonas Tumalovičius, born in 1923 in Svencioneliai, Lithuania, describes his childhood and work; his interactions with his prewar Jewish neighbors; the appropriation of Jewish-owned buildings by the Lithuanian military during the war; the mass shooting of Jews in 1941, including details of the execution; seeing the auction of victims' clothing; and local townspeople collaborating with German forces.

Oral history interview with Kazimieras Kraujelis

Oral History

Kazimieras Kraujelis, born in Lithuania, describes digging mass burial pits; a mass shooting of the Jewish community, including details of the execution; hearing a perpetrator describe details about the mass murder, including how he allowed one wounded victim to escape; the perpetrators, including their status as local townspeople or policemen and their enjoyment of killing; helping one of his Jewish neighbors survive the war; the shooting of political prisoners and Jews in Saldutiskis, Lithuania; the looting of Jewish property by local townspeople; the fates of the perpetrators after the war.

Oral history interview with Antanas Galuydis

Oral History

Antanas Galuydis, born in 1911 in Svedasai, Lithuania, describes his childhood and family; his imprisonment in Zarasai, Lithuania by Soviet forces; escaping from jail; attempting to help the daughter of a Jewish doctor; the conditions of the ghetto; being denounced by his neighbors for sheltering a Jewish girl with whom he began a romantic relationship; his and his girlfriend's arrest by German soldiers; being brought with Jews to a killing site; his brother securing his release from partisans; searching for the clothing of his Jewish girlfriend; the reaction of Jewish prisoners once they realized they were going to be shot; the mass shooting by German soldiers, including details of the execution; his refusal to obey the order of his brother to kill his Jewish girlfriend; local townspeople watching the shootings; returning home; the sight of a German soldier beating those who cleaned the street; and a Jewish man who escaped and formed an underground detachment in the forest.

Oral history interview with Jonas Baura

Oral History

Jonas Baura, born in Lithuania, describes his life and childhood; the prewar Jewish community in his village; witnessing a group of Jews driven through the town of Dusetos, Lithuania by German and Lithuanian soldiers; joining the procession and being mixed in the column, and then not being permitted to leave to go toward his village by a German soldier; being recognized by a guard and being permitted to leave; hearing about the mass execution of the Jewish community, including details of the shooting; Lithuanian guards discussing the atrocities they committed; collaborators receiving gold; and Soviet partisans seeking one of the perpetrators.

Oral history interview with Zofija Sinkevičienė

Oral History

Zofija Sinkevičienė, born in Lithuania, describes the treatment of Jewish prisoners as they were taken to a mass murder site; the looting of Jewish-owned homes by local townspeople; a roundup by German and Lithuanian soldiers in Panevezys, Lithuania in 1943; her relocation to Pravieniskes concentration camp; escaping to Panevezys; her capture by a policeman and return to Pravieniskes; the living conditions in Pravieniskes; her rescue by her former neighbor from an attempted sexual assault; receiving a warning about an upcoming mass shooting, resulting in her being able to save herself, her brothers, and several others; her relocation to France; retaliation against a German soldier who punished her for assisting another laborer; the shooting of her brother; receiving an injection in her back; her transfer between different camps in Germany; her relocation to Buchenwald; living conditions in Buchenwald; forced labor in different camps; her treatment by different gurards; liberation by the American forces; American soldiers attempting to convince them not to return to the Soviet zone; denouncing the head of the camp to the American forces; her anger at discovering that German prisoners were treated well; returning to Pravieniskes in 1945; and organizing a meeting of survivors of the camps.

Oral history interview with Stasė Rutkauskienė

Oral History

Stasė Rutkauskienė (née Mastauskaite), born April 4, 1921 in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in her town; the sight of a column of Jews guarded by German soldiers; and hearing stories from collaborators who assisted in mass shootings.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Račickas

Oral History

Vytautas Račickas, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in his town; the nationalization of Jewish shops in 1940; the arrival of German forces; restrictions on Jews; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto; local townspeople bringing food to Jews in the ghetto; the order prohibiting local townspeople from assisting Jews, under the threat that they would be treated as if they were Jewish; local townspeople being forced to dig pits; witnessing a mass shooting of Jews, including details of the execution; a guard beating spectators of the mass shooting; the looting of Jewish homes; and the punishment of some of the participants in the mass shooting.

Oral history interview with Genė Racickienė

Oral History

Genė Racickienė, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in her hometown and her relationships with them; the fence surrounding the Jewish ghetto and the Lithuanian guards; local women throwing food into the ghetto; hearing the mass shooting and being told about it by her parents; and her mother witnessing two Jewish women lifting their children in front of the church begging for them to be saved.

Oral history interview with Valerija Kriliene

Oral History

Valerija Kriliene, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in her hometown; the arrest of her uncle during the war; the looting of Jewish homes after the Jewish population's relocation to the ghetto; local townspeople using forced Jewish labor; her cousin bringing food to the ghetto; the mass shooting of the Jewish community, including details of the executions and the participation by local townspeople; antisemitic remarks by her school teacher; neighbors who denounced a hidden Jewish woman; the survival of a Jewish girl who escaped from the mass shooting; the beating of two Jewish men by partisans; the deportation of one of the collaborators, who later returned very wealthy; and the excavation of the burial pits after the war.

Oral history interview with Antanas Petrauskas

Oral History

Antanas Petrauskas, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in his hometown; the arrival of German forces; the relocation of Jews to the ghetto, guarded by Lithuanian guards; the robbing and killing of three Jews; local townspeople digging burial pits; the mass shooting of the Jewish community, including details of the execution; seeing a pile of the victims' clothing; local townspeople burying the victims; the looting of Jewish property by guardsmen; the perpetrators going to church after the mass murder; and the local priest taking the best Jewish furniture for himself.

Oral history interview with Janina Kaupienė

Oral History

Janina Kaupienė, born in Lithuania, describes the Jewish community in her hometown; the brutalization and murder of her Jewish friend; her father's refusal to transport Jews to the mass murder site; sheltering a Jewish man for three days; how children were not shot, but thrown into the burial pit and buried alive; the looting of Jewish property by collaborators; the lack of action by the local priest against the collaborators; how the collaborators later served in the Soviet secret police and beat her family; and the deportation of her family after the war.

Oral history interview with Jonas Merfeldas

Oral History

Jonas Merfeldas, born in 1914 in Dovydiškiai, Lithuania, describes the beginning of the war; actions of the Lithuanian partisans and members of the Šauliai; his duties as a guard in the Jewish ghetto; witnessing the march of the Jewish community to the mass shooting site; and the looting and sale of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Feliksas Bilevičius

Oral History

Feliksas Bilevičius, born in Lithuania, describes his family; his work for Jewish employers; his family's sadness following the killing of the Jewish population; torture by German soldiers; an incident in which Jewish girl in hiding was denounced and killed; bringing food to Jews living in the ghetto; punishments for those caught assisting Jews; the burning of books from the synagogue; the Jewish community in the ghetto believing that they were going to America; the mass shooting of the Jewish population; the looting of Jewish belongings by local townspeople and the guards of the ghetto; his interrogation by the KGB for theft; and local townspeople searching the mass burial site for gold after the war.

Oral history interview with Vladas Arlauskas

Oral History

Vladas Arlauskas, born in 1933 in Tytuvėnai, Lithuania, describes the life of his family; living in the forest at the beginning of the war, until he and his parents were caught by German policemen; his imprisonment in a jail in Kaunas, Lithuania, including separation from his father; conditions of the prison; relocation to a holding camp for children where he was separated from his mother; the poor conditions of the holding camp, including the lack of food and frequent beatings; being shaved upon arriving at the camp; and the deaths of many of the children in the camp.

Oral history interview with Antanas Spulginas

Oral History

Antanas Spulginas, born in Lithuania, describes working for a Jewish man before the war; the relocation of the Jewish population to the ghetto; locals who collaborated with the Germans; digging a mass burial pit; being locked in a house during the mass shooting of the Jewish community; details of the mass shooting; German soldiers photographing the burial pit; and the looting of Jewish belongings by Lithuanian guards.

Oral history interview with Mečislovas Tamošaitis

Oral History

Mečislovas Tamošaitis, born in Lithuania, describes his family and his relationships with the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; digging the burial pits; hearing antisemitic remarks from a guard; the mass shooting of the Jewish population, including details of the execution; burying the bodies in a mass grave; local townspeople looting items from the dead; and local collaborators who benefitted from the mass murder.

Oral history interview with Jadvyga Kuodienė

Oral History

Jadvyga Kuodienė, born in Kursenai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; the beginning of the war, including the looting of stores; the Jewish ghetto; collaborators and participants in the mass shooting of Jews; the sight of the truck which transported prisoners to the murder site; the deportation of Jewish women to Žagarė, Lithuania; beatings by guards; the looting of Jewish homes by collaborators; and the honoring of some collaborators as a result of their fighting against Soviet forces after the war.

Oral history interview with Juozas Abramavičius

Oral History

Juozas Abramavičius, born in Kursenai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; pogroms which occurred in his hometown before the war; local townspeople celebrating Soviet forces passing through the town; some Jewish families who escaped to the Soviet Union at the beginning of the war; the arrival of the German forces; restrictions placed on the Jews; the establishment of the Jewish ghetto; and the mass murder of Jewish men in the woods.

Oral history interview with Jonas Užpelkis

Oral History

Jonas Užpelkis, born in Lithuania, describes the site of his family home; local townspeople digging burial pits; the sight of the Jews being taken to a mass killing site; German soldiers preventing him from leaving his home during the mass shooting; mass shootings of Jews and Communists, including details of the executions; the sight of the burial pit; the participants in the mass shooting washing their hands at the well of his family after the shootings; and the use of chemicals on the burial pits several years after the mass murder because of the strong smell.

Oral history interview with Povilas Cibauskas

Oral History

Povilas Cibauskas, born in Lithuania, describes local townspeople digging burial pits; the separation of Jewish men and women into different ghettos; the mass shootings of communists and Jews, including details of the executions; local townspeople watching the mass shootings; guards dispersing the spectators of the mass shootings; German soldiers taking photographs of the burial pits; and participants in the mass shooting taking the clothing of the victims.

Oral history interview with Aleksas Aleksandravičius

Oral History

Aleksas Aleksandravičius, born in 1919 in Šiluva, Lithuania, describes his family; German soldiers taking the horses and carriages of his family in 1941; German soldiers sending Lithuanians and Romani people to the Ninth Fort in retaliation for killing a German soldier; hiding in the forest in 1942 and 1943; receiving assistance from Lithuanians; being caught in 1943 by German soldiers, and being taken on foot to Pravieniskes concentration camp; his work carrying trees from the forest to the camp; the Ukrainian guards of the camp; the mass murder of the children of the camp, including his child and several relatives; his transfer to Boulogne, France; requests from German guards for Romani prisoners to sing; his work digging pits in a field; beatings received by guards; liberation by the American forces; his return to Lithuania; fighting between American and Soviet soldiers; and his deportation to Siberia after the war.

Oral history interview with Ona Arlauskiene

Oral History

Ona Arlauskiene, born in 1926 in Simnas, Lithuania, describes her life before the war; not being allowed to collect bread in Alytus, Lithuania in 1941 because of being Romani; the mass murder of Jews in Vilkija, Lithuania, including details of the execution; sleeping outside of the Romani camp because of her fear of arrest; her father giving food to Jews in the ghetto and being punished by German soldiers; German forces stealing their horses; German soldiers taking her and her family to the Ninth Fort; the death of her son at the hands of German soldiers; conditions in the Ninth Fort; separation from other Romani people; her transfer to the concentration camp Pravieniškės; conditions in Pravieniškės; mass shootings of Romani; her forced labor; escaping from Pravieniškės; working in Kaunas; and her postwar discovery that everyone in her family had perished.

Oral history interview with Antanas Milukas

Oral History

Antanas Milukas, born in 1921 in Šeštokai, Lithuania, describes his work at the beginning of the war; the burning of the local hospital; accusations that he was a communist; the sale of stolen Jewish belongings; the purchasing of stolen Jewish belongings by local townspeople; and visiting a friend in Ignalina, Lithuania.

Oral history interview with Marcelijus Martinaitis

Oral History

Marcelijus Martinaitis, born in Lithuania, describes seeing a column of Jews marching in 1941; mass shootings of Jews; some Jews who were able to escape the mass grave; local collaborators who assisted in the murder of Jews; and mass shootings of Soviet prisoners.

Oral history interview with Januitienė Liubomira

Oral History

Januitienė Liubomira, born in Lithuania, describes warning her Jewish friends to flee to the Soviet border at the beginning of the war; antisemitic actions by a classmate; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community of her hometown during occupation; bringing food to her Jewish friend; the Jewish ghetto; and the deportation and mass shooting of the Jews of her hometown in 1941 by Lithuanian soldiers.

Oral history interview with Piotr Sawlewicz

Oral History

Piotr Sawlewicz, born in 1909 in Krzyzaki (Krzyżakach), Lithuania, describes his family; the Jewish community of the Jerozolimka village; Lithuanian collaborators who assisted in the mass murder of Jews; the mass shootings of local and non-local Jews in 1941, including details of the executions; transporting stolen clothing from the mass shooting site; the selling of the victims' clothing; the refusal of his family to purchase any of the victims' clothes; and other towns where mass killings of Jews occurred.

Oral history interview with Vladas Daujotas

Oral History

Vladas Daujotas, born in 1921 in Seda, Lithuania, describes his family and life in the towns Darbėnai, Lithuania and Kretinga, Lithuania before the war; conditions under Soviet occupation, including the mass deportations of Lithuanians; conditions under German occupation, including restrictions placed on the Jewish community; witnessing the pogrom in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1941, including the torture of Jews at the Lietukis garage; German soldiers photographing the torture; his mother asking partisans to not harm their Jewish friends, after which she was threatened with punishment; and the sight of local townspeople giving food to Jews.

Oral history interview with Viktoras Vareikis

Oral History

Viktoras Vareikis, born in 1927 in Dunkstyna (Dukstyna), Lithuania, describes life during Soviet occupation; life during the German occupation; Jewish families escaping to small towns at the beginning of the war; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto; the torture of wealthy Jews in the jail of Antakalnis, Lithuania by local townspeople; a shooting of four Jewish citizens by partisans in the forest; bringing water to one of the victims who survived the shooting; digging graves to bury the victims; collaborators who assisted in the murder of Jews; the looting and sale of Jewish belongings; and the escape of perpetrators to United States, England, and Australia after the war.

Oral history interview with Elena Seibokienė

Oral History

Elena Seibokienė, born in 1925 in Lithuania, describes her family and life before the war; the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; her uncle's role in assisting with the mass murder of the Jews of Žasliai, Lithuania; a rumor about a local townsperson taking gold teeth from Jewish victims; and the escape of her uncle to Australia after the war.

Oral history interview with Jonas Uzdonas

Oral History

Jonas Uzdonas, born in 1925 in Lithuania, describes his family and his work for a Jewish baker; the relationship between his family and local prewar Jewish community; the arrival of German forces and Lithuanian collaborators; the defacement of Jewish property; the roundup of the Jewish community; local townspeople participating in the murder of the Jewish community; Jews being held in the forest; the relocation of wealthier Jews to Utena; seeing a column of Jews being driven to the killing site; hearing the screams of the victims; the deportation of his father to Germany; local collaborators who participated in the mass murder of the Jewish community; collaborators looting the clothing and property of the victims; a local priest who blessed the collaborators; and local townspeople inhabiting Jewish houses.

Oral history interview with Juozas Dagys

Oral History

Juozas Dagys, born in Lithuania, describes the life of his family in Debeikiai before the war; his relationships with the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; the announcement that Lithuania was a free country; local townspeople rounding up the Jewish population and locking them in the courtyard of the jail; Soviet policemen arriving and freeing the prisoners; local townspeople attempting to kill a group of Jews, succeeding in injuring some; the arrest of the perpetrators by German soldiers because of the use of grenades during the attack; the forced labor of the Jewish community; the imprisonment of the Jewish population by German forces; the deportation of the Jewish community to Utena, Lithuania; a pogrom organized by German soldiers, including the looting of Jewish homes and burning of Jewish books; playing in empty Jewish-owned houses; and a local priest who defended the Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Ona Eigelienė

Oral History

Ona Eigelienė, born in 1919 in Debeikiai, Lithuania, describes her family and the prewar Jewish community of Debeikiai; the persecution of the Jewish population upon the arrival of German forces; the forced labor of local Jews at the manor in which she and her family worked, including how poorly they were fed and how she attempted to help them; the torture of young Jewish girls by partisans at the manor; the mass murder of Jews by Nazi collaborators; an attempt by partisans to kill a group of Jews with grenades; bringing food to the Jews wounded in the explosion; the local rabbi asking her mother to take his religious items and give them to the future rabbi of the town; witnessing the selling of stolen Jewish goods in Vyžuonos, Lithuania by partisans; and German soldiers bringing local Jews to Utena, Lithuania for execution.

Oral history interview with Vaclovas Ūselis

Oral History

Vaclovas Ūselis, born in 1930 in Levainiai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Vidiškiai; local Nazi collaborators and their actions against the Jewish community; the deportation of his brother to Germany; local collaborators describing taking gold teeth from their victims; the role of his uncle as a collaborator; his father breaking off relations with the uncle upon making this discovery; and his uncle's escape to Australia after the war.

Oral history interview with Stanislava Ikvildienė

Oral History

Stanislava Ikvildienė, born in 1922 in Lithuania, describes working for a Jewish employer before the war; the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; the arrival of German forces; the relocation of the Jewish community to the ghetto, guarded by local collaborators; bringing food to into the ghetto; local townspeople digging burial pits; a mass shooting of Jews in the town square by German soldiers and local collaborators; the torture of wealthy Jews; attempting to save a Jewish girl, who was later killed; the looting and sale of Jewish belongings; Polish Jews offering money to those who would lead them to Latvia; and the punishment of Nazi collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Jadvyga Petrylienė

Oral History

Jadvyga Petrylienė, born in Lithuania, describes working for a Jewish family, providing childcare before the war; restrictions placed on the Jewish community after the arrival of German forces; local Nazi collaborators; the murder of her employer by Lithuanian soldiers; the relocation of the Jewish community to the ghetto; the arrival of Jews from other towns; a mass shooting of Jews, including details of the execution; local townspeople visiting the mass burial site; an incident in which the child of her former employer sought help from her, but she refused; and an incident in which a local citizen denounced Jewish children in hiding.

Oral history interview with Augutė Mituzienė

Oral History

Augutė Mituzienė, born in Lithuania, describes a Jewish woman offering clothing to her mother; guards having a party the night before the mass murder of the Jewish community; details of the mass shooting; and the looting of Jewish property after the executions.

Oral history interview with Monika Vozbutiene

Oral History

Monika Vozbutiene, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Žagarė, including the Jewish friends of her mother; hearing a German soldier telling Jews that they would be given good jobs; witnessing the mass shooting of the Jews of Žagarė; details of the mass shooting; and seeing piles of corpses in Žagarė.

Oral history interview with Ona Macienė

Oral History

Ona Macienė, born in Lithuania, describes her family and the Jewish community of Darbėnai; her employment in the house of the local rabbi; assisting Jewish refugees from Klaipėda, Lithuania; local townspeople bringing food to the Jewish community members; actions of local Nazi collaborators; encouraging Jewish women to try to escape; a local woman who helped Jews escape; helping Jewish women escape into the forest; the mass shootings of local Jews and Soviet soldiers by German and Lithuanian soldiers; details of the mass shootings; the death of her brother; and the local priest who denounced the murder of Jews.

Oral history interview with Jovita Benetienė

Oral History

Jovita Benetienė, born in Lithuania, describes the Jewish doctor who resided with her family before the war; the bombing of her hometown; hiding in the fields and forests with the residents of her hometown; the arrival of German forces; the beginning of the persecution of the Jews; the torture and humiliation of local Jewish community members; bringing food to the local synagogue for the Jewish community; and details of mass shootings of Jews and local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Konstancija Benetienė

Oral History

Konstancija Benetienė, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; her sister bringing food Jews who had been rounded up and imprisoned; witnessing the local Jewish community being taken to a mass shooting site; details of the mass shooting; an incident in which a Jewish girl tried to purchase her freedom; local Nazi collaborators who assisted in the mass executions; the looting of Jewish belongings by local collaborators; and living in a Jewish home after the burning of her house.

Oral history interview with Algirdas Kecorius

Oral History

Algirdas Kecorius, born in 1931 in Kretinga, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in Kretinga; the arrival of German forces and their organization of a concentration camp; restrictions placed on the Jewish community; witnessing the torture of Jews by German soldiers; the mass shootings of Jews; visiting the burial pits after the shooting; German soldiers setting fire to the local synagogue to kill Jews hiding within; the fire which destroyed half the town and was blamed on the Jewish community; an exhibition of anti-Jewish propaganda; and the treatment of Soviet prisoners of war.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Jakumas

Oral History

Vytautas Jakumas, born in Lithuania, describes the torture of the local Jewish community by local Nazi collaborators and German soldiers; the looting of Jewish belongings by German soldiers; and the fire at the synagogue set by local collaborators.

Oral history interview with Konstancija Bidvienė

Oral History

Konstancija Bidvienė, born on February 13, 1912 in Šaltiniai, Lithuania, describes her family's move to Kaušėnai, Lithuania; anti-Jewish stories told by local townspeople; the mass shooting of local Jews; an incident in which several Jewish women were baptized and then murdered; the participation of her brother in the mass murder of the Jewish community; other local collaborators who participated in the mass murder of the Jewish community; and the execution of her brother by Soviet soldiers after the war for his participation in the murder of the Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Emilija Jakniūnienė

Oral History

Emilija Jakniūnienė, born in 1923 in New York in the United States, describes moving to Ylakaičių, Lithuania in 1933; the prewar Jewish community of Ylakiai, Lithuania; the arrival of German forces in 1941; restrictions placed on the Jewish community of her hometown at the beginning of the war; a round up of Jewish men who were locked in the synagogue by local townspeople; an announcement that whomever assisted the Jewish community would be punished; local townspeople bringing food to Jewish families; partisans ruling the town until the arrival of the German forces; the humiliation of local Jews, including filming by German soldiers; details of the mass shooting; seeing citizens wearing clothing that had belonged to Jewish victims; the looting of Jewish belongings and homes; and assisting a Jewish girl who had fled the Kaunas ghetto.

Oral history interview with Vladas Kersnauskas

Oral History

Vladas Kersnauskas, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; anti-Jewish rumors; the harsh treatment of Jewish women by partisans; his mother utilizing the forced labor of Jewish women; local Nazi collaborators who participated in the mass shootings of Jews; details of the executions; visiting the mass grave after the shooting; the looting of Jewish property; and the opening of the mass graves after the war.

Oral history interview with Zofija Drukteinienė

Oral History

Zofija Drukteinienė, born in 1918 in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; Jewish refugees fleeing toward the Soviet Union; restrictions placed on the Jewish community under German occupation; the burning of her home; details of the mass shootings of the Jewish population; local townspeople watching the mass shooting; assisting two Jewish children who had escaped a mass shooting at Kražiai, Lithuania; the arrest of her husband for rescuing a Jewish child; securing the release of her husband; the death of the Jewish child she tried to save; a local priest who spoke against the mass shootings; members of the Jewish community leaving their belongings to their non-Jewish neighbors; the looting and sale of Jewish belongings; receiving a carriage that had been owned by a Jewish businessman; children digging in the mass grave after the war to search for gold teeth; and a Nazi collaborator who was caught and deported after the war.

Oral history interview with Bronius Mongirdas

Oral History

Bronius Mongirdas, born in 1919 in Lithuania, describes restrictions placed on the Jewish community at the beginning of the war; digging burial pits; the mass shooting of the Jewish population; details of the executions; burying the corpses; and a visit from a partisan after the war.

Oral history interview with Viktoras Mongirdas

Oral History

Viktoras Mongirdas, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of his hometown, including their friendly relations with his family; antisemitic remarks made by local townspeople; the Jewish community welcoming Soviet soldiers; Jewish refugees from Germany; the initial welcome of German forces; restrictions placed upon the Jewish and Polish population; the relocation of the Jewish community to the ghetto; digging burial pits; details of the mass shooting of the Jewish population; the looting of Jewish belongings by partisans; the celebration held by partisans after the mass shooting; German soldiers preventing partisans from escaping Soviet soldiers; and the excavation of the mass grave after the war.

Oral history interview with Justina Kirvelaitytė

Oral History

Justina Kirvelaitytė, born in 1931 in Pilviškiai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; anti-Jewish rumors told by local townspeople; German restrictions on the Jewish community; local townspeople bringing food to Jewish families; the order by German authorities that citizens were prohibited from helping Jews; a local townswoman who refused to shelter her Jewish employer; a local townsperson who rescued Jews; mass shootings of Jews in 1941; details of the executions; local townspeople watching the mass shootings; Nazi collaborators who participated in the mass shootings; the looting of Jewish property by collaborators; German citizens moving to Pilviškiai and living in empty Jewish homes; a local priest speaking against the mass murders; German forces bombing the town during their retreat; and her work organizing protests against the glorification of Nazi collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Regina Prudnikova

Oral History

Regina Prudnikova, born in 1925 in Pilviškiai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; antisemitic rumors spread by local townspeople; the nationalization of shops by the Soviet Union; the deportation of four Jewish families by Soviet forces; participating in the looting of Jewish shops with the arrival of German forces; German soldiers shooting local Jewish citizens; restrictions placed on the Jewish community during the German occupation; the shooting of Jewish and Lithuanian communists; local townspeople bringing food to Jewish prisoners; the brutal treatment of the Jewish community by local policemen and German soldiers, which included torture and sexual assault; the mass shooting of Jews; Nazi collaborators taking Jewish homes; her brother standing guard during the mass shooting to ensure that no Jews were able to escape; a celebration by collaborators after the mass murder; the auction of stolen Jewish property; the sight of trains with Bulgarian Jews passing through her town; collaborators who assisted in atrocities against the Jewish community; the lack of response from the local priest regarding the mass murders; being denounced after the war; and the deportation of collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Emilija Juškevicienė

Oral History

Emilija Juškevicienė, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; the work of her father for a Jewish employer; restrictions placed on the Jewish community following the arrival of German forces; the mass shootings of local Jews; details of the mass shooting; her brother guarding a bridge to ensure that no Jews escaped the mass shooting; visiting the mass grave; her father fleeing as a result of threats he received for being a leftist; the looting of Jewish belongings by German soldiers; and the sale of Jewish belongings by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Alfonsas Navašinskas

Oral History

Alfonsas Navašinskas, born in Lithuania, describes his parents' wartime contacts with his relatives in the United States and with the local Jewish community; the support of local Jews for the Soviet regime; hiding a Jewish man, who was denounced and relocated to Alytus, Lithuania; bringing Jews to Alytus; local Nazi collaborators guarding the Jewish ghetto; the mass shooting of local Jews; details of the mass shooting; German soldiers torturing prisoners of war; local townspeople organizing the auction of Jewish property; the deportation of collaborators; collaborators fleeing to the United States; and the construction of a monument for murdered Jews.

Oral history interview with Janina Butkowa

Oral History

Janina Butkowa, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community in her hometown; watching a procession of local Jews being taken to a mass murder site; hearing stories of the mass shooting; and her neighbors' rescue of a Jewish girl.

Oral history interview with Viktorija Paukštienė

Oral History

Viktorija Paukštienė, born in 1931 in Lithuania, describes her family and their farm; sheltering a group of Jews in their bath house; the denouncement of her family by an uncle and the arrest of the Jews in 1943, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between policemen and the Jews; her attempt to save a Jewish child; the arrest of her father and uncles for sheltering Jews; her family's arrest and transfer to Alytus, Lithuania; their deportation to a concentration camp in Radvilishkis (Radviliškis), Ukraine from which they were eventually released; her sister returning to the home of her family to find it occupied; local Nazi collaborators who assisted in the persecution of Jews; and her mother's defense of her father after the war.

Oral history interview with Julius Šmulkštys

Oral History

Julius Šmulkštys, born in Lithuania, describes his family; details of the mass shooting of Jews of Zapyshkis (Zapyškis), Lithuania in 1941; a local woman who expressed her disagreement with the mass shootings; and visiting the mass grave.

Oral history interview with Antoni Witold Rakowski

Oral History

Antoni Witold Rakowski, born in Lithuania, describes his family and the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; antisemitic actions of local children; his experiences after his imprisonment in a Soviet jail; the arrival of German forces and changes in local government; the creation of the Jewish ghetto; restrictions placed on the Jewish community; details of the mass shooting of the Jewish population; witnessing non-local Jews being brought to the ghetto after the murder of the local Jewish community; local townspeople rescuing Jews; local townspeople mourning the killings; visiting the mass burial site; the sale of Jewish homes by German and Lithuanian soldiers; and his role as an anti-Soviet partisan after the war.

Oral history interview with Jokūbas Sirutis

Oral History

Jokūbas Sirutis, born in Ariogala, Lithuania, describes his family and their prewar work for Jewish employers; the creation of a Jewish ghetto following the arrival of German forces; local townspeople bringing food to the Jews in the ghetto; restrictions placed on the Jewish community; the forced labor of the Jewish community; refusing to help dig burial pits; details of the mass shooting of the Jewish community; the local priest denouncing communists, who were then killed; the looting of Jewish belongings by partisans and the local priest; the sale of Jewish belongings to local townspeople; and the uncovering of mass graves after the war.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Rimgaila

Oral History

Vytautas Rimgaila, born in Jokubavas, Lithuania, describes his family; the death of his father in 1941; the Jewish community of Jokubavas; the flight of the Jewish families of Jokubavas at the beginning of the war; German forces entering his village; the imprisonment of an elderly Jewish couple, despite the efforts of local townspeople to prevent their deportation to Kretinga, Lithuania; the fire in Kretinga which spread to the town after the burning of the synagogue; and details of the mass shooting of the Jewish population.

Oral history interview with Genovaitė Laurinaitienė

Oral History

Genovaitė Laurinaitienė, born in 1926 in Veiviržėnai, Lithuania, describes her family; the prewar Jewish community of her hometown and her relationships with them; the arrival of German forces; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community; the roundup of the Jews of Veiviržėnai; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto in the village of Trepkalnis, Lithuania; accompanying her mother to bring food to the ghetto; the forced labor of Jewish men in Šilutė, Lithuania; helping a friend visit his Jewish girlfriend in the ghetto; the mass shooting of the Jewish community; visiting the mass burial site; local townspeople gathering clothing which had been left on the ground at the mass burial site; the names and fates of Nazi collaborators; working in Varniai, Lithuania for a photographer who hid Jews and aided in their escape with the help of the local priest; assisting in the rescue of a Jewish girl whom she hid from 1942 to 1944; her arrest under the accusation of being a communist; and her recognition as one of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Oral history interview with Stanislovas Šalkauskis

Oral History

Stanislovas Šalkauskis, born in Lithuania, describes his attempt to avoid joining the Soviet military by fleeing to Germany, resulting in his capture and imprisonment in Plungė, Lithuania and then Kretinga, Lithuania; his liberation at the beginning of the war by German soldiers; returning to his village near Telshiai (Telšiai), Lithuania; volunteering for the Lithuanian military; his duties in the military, including guarding a Jewish ghetto; the activities of local Nazi collaborators which included murdering innocent civilians; deserting his battalion when German forces decided to send it to Belarus; the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; restrictions placed upon Jews during the German occupation; hearing about mass murders of Jews; witnessing the treatment of Jews by partisans, including forced labor and beatings; conditions in the Jewish ghetto; a neighbor who helped to save several Jewish girls; his experiences in the Soviet Army; and the fates of some Nazi collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Bronislovas Mikuta

Oral History

Bronislovas Mikuta, born in Lithuania, describes his childhood and employment; the murder of Soviet political prisoners in 1941; buying food and cigarettes for the inmates of the Jewish ghetto; the local guards of the ghetto; the treatment of the Jewish community by the guards; the mass shooting of the Jewish community; one group of Jews who fought against German soldiers; the looting of Jewish belongings; a Ukrainian battalion searching the houses of farmers for hidden Jews; and local townspeople denouncing one another.

Oral history interview with Marijona Tiesniesienė

Oral History

Marijona Tiesniesienė, born in 1924 in Pašvitiniai (Pašvitinys), Lithuania, describes her family and the prewar Jewish community of Pašvitiniai; the treatment of the Jewish community by partisans, which included forced labor; her imprisonment by Germans soldiers; local townspeople bringing food to her family; her transfer to the Zhagare ghetto (Žagarė, Lithuania); the conditions in the Zhagare ghetto; the attempt of a local townsman to rescue her; the mass shooting of the Jews of the Zhagare ghetto; her rescue by a local collaborator from the mass shooting site; her stay with a local family, including the steps they took to protect her; the fates of her family members during and after the war; the arrest of the collaborator who rescued her after the war; and her postwar relationship with the family who protected her.

Oral history interview with Adolfina Gylienė

Oral History

Adolfina Gylienė (née Stankaitytė), born July 11, 1931 in Žagarė, Lithuania, describes her family and the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; bringing food to imprisoned Jewish men; a roundup of Jewish women and their relocation to the ghetto; the mass shootings of the Jewish community; visiting the mass burial site; local Nazi collaborators who participated in the shootings; the looting of Jewish property by local collaborators; and local townspeople living in Jewish homes.

Oral history interview with Veronika Satkevičienė

Oral History

Veronika Satkevičienė, born in Lithuania, describes her family and marriage in 1939; the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; the mass shootings of the Jewish population by local collaborators; the looting and sale of Jewish property by local authorities; the local collaborators who participated in the shootings; and the death of her brother.

Oral history interview with Eduardas Juozapas Guoga

Oral History

Eduardas Juozapas Guoga, born on November 7, 1913 in Brooklyn, NY, discusses his experiences in Lithuania during WWII.

Oral history interview with Juzė Antanaitienė

Oral History

Juzė Antanaitienė, born in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Kaunas; restrictions on the Jewish community after the arrival of German forces; a roundup of Jews by local collaborators; giving food to Jews in the ghetto; the mass shooting of Jews at the Ninth Fort; local townspeople watching the mass shootings; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; living in a formerly Jewish owned apartment; and the fates of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Vincas Sanda

Oral History

Vincas Sanda, born in Lithuania, describes his family and the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; the mass shootings of Jews and Communists by German soldiers and collaborators; details of the executions; covering a mass grave; and his punishment after the war by Soviet forces for being a bystander at the mass shootings.

Oral history interview with Juozas Mozūraitis

Oral History

Juozas Mozūraitis, born in Lithuania, describes his life before the war; his life under the Soviet occupation; renting an apartment to a Jewish family; participating in the revolt of 1941; encountering German forces; an incident in which he refused to assist in the mass shooting of a group of Jews and communists; and his membership with the partisans during the war.

Oral history interview with Aleksandras Bendinskas

Oral History

Aleksandras Bendinskas, born 1920 in Šilavas, Lithuania, describes his family, childhood, and attempt to study in Germany; his work in Kaunas, Lithuania at the beginning of the war; his role in the Lithuanian resistance to the Soviet Union in 1941; the Lithuanian Activist Front (Lietuvių Aktyvistų Frontas), including his membership, their goals, and the structure of the organization; antisemitism in Lithuania before the war; the relationship between Lithuanian partisans and German soldiers; preparing white arm bands to be worn by collaborators; his understanding of the events at the Lietūkis garage; the establishment of the Kaunas ghetto and the mass murder of the Jews; assisting in the escape of a few Jews; the demise of the Lithuanian Activist Front; and the fates of certain collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Laimonas Noreika

Oral History

Laimonas Noreika, born in 1926 in Joniškis, Lithuania, describes his family and their move to Kaunas, Lithuania; the invasion of German forces; the deportation of his Jewish employer; the sight of the ruins of Aleksotas Bridge covered with Soviet corpses; witnessing the beatings and torture of prisoners at the Lietukis Garage; brutality against local Jews, including roundups and forced labor; working for a Jewish employer; the transport of Jews to the Vilijampolė ghetto; refusing to take clothing looted from victims at the Ninth Fort; and his relationships with the Jewish community of Kaunas.

Oral history interview with Stanislava Spiridonova

Oral History

Stanislava Spiridonova, born in 1917 in Plungė, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Plungė; working for a Jewish employers; the round up of local Jews into the synagogue by local collaborators; bringing food to the imprisoned Jews; the backgrounds of local collaborators; the transportation of the Jews to the mass shooting site; details of the mass shooting; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; local collaborators moving into Jewish owned homes; the fates of the Jews who fled to the Soviet Union during the war and then returned to Lithuania; the fates of some local collaborators, including how they escaped to the United States; and the memorial at the mass grave in Kaušėnai, Lithuania.

Oral history interview with Antanas Zabitis

Oral History

Antanas Zabitis, born in 1919 in Videikiu, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Plungė, Lithuania; the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940; the beginning of the war, including the German invasion in 1941; the roundup of the Jewish community and their imprisonment in the synagogue; the mass shooting of the Jewish community; his forced labor burying the dead in the mass burial site in Kaušėnai, Lithuania; restrictions placed on local townspeople; and his emotional reaction to the mass murder of the Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Regina Drevinskienė

Oral History

Regina Drevinskienė, born in 1927 in Braškių, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Biržai, Lithuania, including their relationships with her family; prewar antisemitic acts by local townspeople; Jewish families fleeing to the Soviet Union in 1941; restrictions placed on the Jewish community during the German occupation; the relocation of her family after the establishment of the ghetto; local collaborators who assisted in the persecution of Jews; the living conditions in the ghetto; witnessing a roundup of Jews into the synagogue; details of the mass shooting of Jews; the looting of Jewish owned homes and belongings; local townspeople living in Jewish owned homes; and Jewish child who survived the Holocaust in hiding.

Oral history interview with Elena Zalogaitė

Oral History

Elena Zalogaitė, born in 1928 in Obeliai, Lithuania, describes her family and background; the prewar Jewish community of Obeliai; the relocation of the Jewish population to the ghetto in Antanašė, Lithuania; the mass shooting of the Jews in 1942, and its temporary interruption by an attack by Jewish partisans; witnessing the transport of a group of Jewish women, children, and elderly to the shooting site; exploring the empty ghetto with other children; the collaborators who assisted in the mass shooting of Jews; the looting of Jewish owned homes and belongings; the destruction of the synagogue by German forces; the hiding of the mass graves; the fate of the man who owned the land on which the mass graves were located; and the uncovering of the mass graves after the war.

Oral history interview with Jonas Kriaučiūnas

Oral History

Jonas Kriaučiūnas, born near Želva, Lithuania in 1932, discusses prewar Jewish life in Želva; villagers being forced to take Jews to the killing site in wagons; the roundup of the Jewish population in the immediately following the German occupation; anti-Jewish violence by local Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); further roundups of Jewish women and children; hearing the gunfire from a mass shooting; hidden Jewish children; looting of Jewish goods by the white stripers; the postwar fate of collaborators; and the destruction of Jewish property after the war.

Oral history interview with Algirdas Raila

Oral History

Algirdas Raila, born in Kėdainiai, Lithuania in 1932, discusses prewar Jewish life in Kėdainiai; visiting the ghetto in his town to deliver milk to the prisoners; the roundup and mass shooting of the town’s Jewish community; recognizing the shooters; visiting empty Jewish houses after the shooting; looting by local townspeople; and the living and work conditions in two labor camps set up on his family’s property for Jewish and Lithuanian prisoners.

Oral history interview with Vladas Balsevičius

Oral History

Vladas Balsevičius, born in Kėdainiai, Lithuania in 1932, discusses his childhood in Kėdainiai; prewar Jewish life; prewar Christian Jewish relations; restrictions placed on the Jewish community at the beginning of the Nazi occupation; the Jewish community’s imprisonment in a ghetto; the ghetto’s German and Lithuanian security; living conditions in the ghetto; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; the looting of Jewish homes during the shooting; the municipal organized auction of Jewish property; Soviet forces uncovering the mass grave in 1944; and erecting a monument over the site in 1955.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Petkevičius

Oral History

Vytautas Petkevičius, born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1930, discusses his childhood in a multicultural suburb of Kaunas, Lithuania; anti-Jewish violence in the city when the German occupation began; witnessing the Lietukis Garage massacre; watching a group of Jewish people being marched to the Ninth Fort to be executed; deceptions used to cover the noise of shooting; knowing some of the local Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); hiding Jewish children in his family’s home; the efforts of German forces before their retreat to burn the bodies buried in mass graves; the nationalization of Jewish property after the war; memories of wartime propaganda; and misgivings about the way the Holocaust is remembered in Lithuania.

Oral history interview with Marytė Ambrizaitė

Oral History

Marytė Ambrizaitė, born in Žiežmariai, Lithuania in 1923, discusses prewar Jewish Christian relations; the creation of ghetto in her town; witnessing a mass shooting of Jewish townspeople; the killing process; and the respect locals have placed on the location of the killing site after the war.

Oral history interview with Jadvyga Ambrizienė

Oral History

Jadvyga Ambrizienė, born in Žiežmariai, Lithuania in 1930, discusses the creation of a ghetto in her town; living and working conditions in the ghetto; mass shootings, first of men and then of women and children by Germans and Lithuanians; looting of Jewish clothing by local villagers; the municipally organized auction of Jewish furniture; and changes in the town after its Jewish population had been killed.

Oral history interview with Genovaitė Kuodzevičienė

Oral History

Genovaitė Kuodzevičienė, born in Žiežmariai, Lithuania in 1929, discusses knowing that the German forces planned to kill the entire Jewish population; the creation of a ghetto; the ghetto’s German and Lithuanian guards; the killing process; and her family's decision not to hide a Jewish man.

Oral history interview with Alfredas Butkevičius

Oral History

Alfredas Butkevičius, born in Žiežmariai, Lithuania in 1923, discusses prewar Jewish life in his town; changes after the German occupation; hearing about a mass killing; the organized sale of Jewish goods and property; the process of the auction; and the pain of remembering what happened during the war.

Oral history interview with Veronika Ratkevič

Oral History

Veronika Ratkevič, born in Pikciuniskes, Lithuania in 1922, discusses hearing about a mass killing of Jews in Inturke, Lithuania; locals who were involved in the shooting; hearing stories about women resisting a roundup; hiding several Jewish people in her family’s barn; and looting of Jewish property by townspeople.

Oral history interview with Aldona Dranseikienė

Oral History

Aldona Dranseikienė, born in Šeduikiškis (Panemunėlio parish), Lithuania in 1932, discusses the beginning of the war; the prewar Jewish communities of Panemunėlis and Rokiškis; the creation of a ghetto in nearby Rokiškis; providing aid to ghetto prisoners; living conditions in the ghetto; anti-Jewish violence; witnessing mass shootings of Jews; details of the killings; local collaborators who assisted in the murder of the Jewish population; visiting the mass burial sites; the looting of Jewish belongings; the attitudes of local townspeople toward local collaborators; and the arrest of her uncle.

Oral history interview with Kazimieras Liubšys

Oral History

Kazimierz Liubšys, born in Akmenė, Lithuania in 1931, discusses the town’s pre-war Jewish community; the beginning of the German occupation; the roundup of the Jewish community; witnessing a mass shooting of Jews and Communists; details of the mass shooting; the local priest’s role in organizing the shooting; no longer attending church; and the organized looting and auction of Jewish property by local collaborators.

Oral history interview with Elena Braškienė

Oral History

Elena Braškienė, born in 1921 in Gižiai, Lithuania, discusses prewar relations between Jews and Christians in Giedraičiai; her family's move to Kopustiškės in 1925; hearing a mass shooting; Jewish prisoners attempting to escape to Poland; anti-Jewish violence; attempts by many in the village to hide a young Jewish boy; and the fate of Jewish property during the war and after the Soviet occupation.

Oral history interview with Janina Markevičienė

Oral History

Janina Markevičienė, born in Jonava, Lithuania in 1924, discusses living with a Jewish family after the beginning of German occupation; sharing food with the Jewish family; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community; Janova’s destruction by fire during the invasion of German forces; seeing convoys of Jews being taken to be executed by Lithuanian collaborators and German soldiers; corpses in the river; details of the mass shootings; anti-Jewish violence; and local villagers beating a German officer.

Oral history interview with Juozas Palšauskas

Oral History

Juozas Palšauskas, born in Ariogala, Lithuania in 1922, discusses prewar relations between Jews and Christians; the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population in a ghetto; seeing a mass shooting of Jews by local Lithuanians and one German; details of the mass killing; deceptions told to the Jewish prisoners; his emotional reaction to the killing; the organized auction of Jewish goods; and his decision to no longer attend church because of the priest’s involvement in the mass murder.

Oral history interview with Augustina Lekaitė

Oral History

Augustina Lekaitė, born in Klimienė, Lithuania near Ariogala in 1920, discusses the Jewish communities in Ariogala and Krakai near her village; working as a maid in Ariogala; hearing about the shooting of Jewish men in Ariogala and Krakės; seeing convoys of Jewish women and children being taken to killing sites; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; the methods German soldiers and Lithuanian collaborators used to search for hidden Jewish people; and hiding a Jewish child.

Oral history interview with Joana Endriukaitienė

Oral History

Joana Endriukaitienė, born in Antupyčiai village near Raseiniai, Lithuania in 1929, discusses the prewar Jewish community of the surrounding towns; seeing Jewish men, women and children being taken to a killing site; Lithuanian and German soldiers guarding the convoy of Jews; hearing gunfire from the mass murder; and the execution of a Lithuanian man who refused to cover the burial pit.

Oral history interview with Stefanija Šegždavičienė

Oral History

Stefanija Šegždavičienė, born in Kalnujai, Lithuania in 1933, discusses the prewar Jewish community that lived in surrounding villages; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto in Raseiniai, Lithuania; details of the mass shooting of the Jewish population; local villagers being forced to cover burial pits by German soldiers; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; and the punishment of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Vladas Šegždavičius

Oral History

Vladas Šegždavičius, born in Žibuliai, Lithuania in 1928, discusses the prewar Jewish community of Betygala, Lithuania; the massacre of Jews in Začišiai; hearing about mass killings from the men who participated in the shooting; accusations that his father participated in the killings; and his feelings about the postwar trials.

Oral history interview with Adelė Urbelienė

Oral History

Adelė Urbelienė, born in Veliuona, Lithuania in 1929, discusses the friendly prewar relations between Jews and Christians; the restrictions placed on Jews and the separation of Jewish men and women; the Lithuanian and German forces guarding the synagogue, where Jewish women and children were held prisoner; forced labor; watching as Jewish men were taken to a massacre site; the massacre of women and children in the Jaučikai pine forest; the organized looting and auction of Jewish goods; and the feelings of local townspeople and the collaborators after the event.

Oral history interview with Bronė Aputienė

Oral History

Bronė Aputienė, born in Raseiniai, Lithuania in 1926, discusses seeing Jewish men being taken to forced labor; seeing convoys of Jewish men, women, and children; a mass shooting carried out by Lithuanian collaborators; the burning of the village during the German retreat; and postwar stories about who was involved in the mass murders.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Kenstavičius

Oral History

Vytautas Kenstavičius, born in Vidulkė, Lithuania in 1930, discusses anti-Jewish violence; providing food to Jewish prisoners in the ghetto; Lithuanian guards intervening to make them stop; and watching a mass shooting by Lithuanian forces.

Oral history interview with Vincas Akstinas

Oral History

Vincas Akstinas, born in Betygala, Lithuania in 1916, discusses witnessing a mass killing of Jewish men, women, and children from nearby Ariogala; the ghetto created in the town’s synagogue; and the organized auction of Jewish belongings.

Oral history interview with Monika Lučinskienė

Oral History

Monika Lučinskienė, born in Plungė, Lithuania in 1927, discusses hearing a mass shooting; locals being forced to cover the burial pit; hiding two Jewish girls in her home for three months; and the girls' survival at a relative’s in the country.

Oral history interview with Ona Rimidienė

Oral History

Ona Rimidienė, born in Lithuania in 1928, discusses working as a maid in Betygala when the war broke out; hearing antisemitic rumors while growing up; anti-Jewish violence by local villagers; implications that a priest was involved in organizing the killing; and the escape of collaborators with the German retreat.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Gudaitis

Oral History

Vytautas Gudaitis, born in Klydžionys, Lithuania in 1931, discusses witnessing a mass killing on his property; the killing process; his father's objections to the violence and the subsequent threat of arrest; and the burial of the bodies by local villagers in pits.

Oral history interview with Domicele Kurlavičiene-Kirilova

Oral History

Domicele Kurlavičiene-Kirilova, born in Lithuania in 1916, discusses prewar Jewish Christian relations; witnessing transports of Jewish people being taken to the killing site; locals being summoned by the town leader to dig pits; hearing the gunfire carried out by one German commander and Lithuanian shooters; the fates of those who participated in the shooting; aiding two Jewish families who were in hiding; and the looting and appropriation of homes.

Oral history interview with Ona Barisaitė

Oral History

Ona Barisaitė, born in Nemunaitis, Lithuania in 1923, discusses growing up feeling Russian; her father's and brother's arrests and executions for their Soviet affiliations; regulations imposed on the Jewish community by German occupiers; hearing about a mass killing organized and carried out by Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); visiting the gravesite where her brother was shot; knowing of two Jewish work camps in town; the monument built on the mass grave and its eventual removal; and learning about the lives of the killers from books after the war.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Lankininkas

Oral History

Vytautas Lankinikas, born in 1930 in Nemunaitis, Lithuania, discusses the prewar Jewish community; attending school with both Jewish and Christian children; seeing anti-Jewish propaganda posters; witnessing the arrest of all Jewish men and subsequently Jewish women and children carried out by Lithuanians; his father's arrest for refusing to participate in the transport of prisoners to the killing site; men who escaped the killing site; their subsequent murders; the killing process; taking objects from the synagogue with other students on instruction; the destruction of the synagogue; the town priest hiding five Jewish people during the war; looting; his village's destruction during the German retreat; the monument built on the site of the mass grave; and joining the military during the war.

Oral history interview with Janina Miglinienė

Oral History

Janina Miglinienė (nee Paulavičiūtė), born in Alytus, Lithuania in 1924, discusses her town's prewar Jewish community; witnessing a truck deliver Jewish people to a killing site; private discussions with the town priest about how Jewish people were like all others; hiding a Jewish boy for two years; his arrest by Lithuanians; and her communication with Jewish families living in the United States.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Šiupienis

Oral History

Vytautas Šiupienis, born in Černiukiškės, Lithuania (now part of Ponkiškiai) in 1929, discusses prewar Jewish Christian relations; Jewish persecution and murder; the imprisonment of the town's Jewish population in a ghetto guarded by Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); his family's participation in hiding Aba Gefen (USHMM interview RG-50.120.0387) and other Jewish people; his father's arrest for hiding a Jewish girl; hearing about roundups and mass killings; the organized looting and auction of Jewish property; German forces documenting their actions through photographs; and his father's feelings that the Jewish people were good people.

Oral history interview with Domicelė Černiauskienė

Oral History

Domicelė Černiauskienė, born in 1925 in Vištytis, Lithuania, describes the arrival of German forces in Vištytis; the persecution of the Jewish community and local townspeople suspected of communist ties; local townsmen guarding the basements in which prisoners were locked; learning that Jews were going to be killed; watching the transportation of prisoners to the murder site; the mass murders of Jews and communists; her forced labor burying the corpses of Jewish men and suspected Soviet collaborators; the mass murder site; local collaborators who assisted in the persecutions of Jews and communists; and the looting and distribution of Jewish owned property by local policemen.

Oral history interview with Julija Steponavičienė

Oral History

Julija Steponavičienė, born in 1935 in Keturkaimis, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Kudirko; her father's farewell to their Jewish acquaintances; the mass shootings of Jews; soldiers borrowing her family's horse; local collaborators who assisted in the mass murder of Jews; the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local collaborators; and the excavation of the corpses after the war.

Oral history interview with Stasys Steponavičius

Oral History

Stasys Steponavičius, born in 1927 in Keturkaimis, Lithuania, describes the Jews in nearby Kudirkos Naumiestis; details of a mass murder of Jews near the Paražniai Forest; and his visit to the mass murder site.

Oral history interview with Birutė Žaganevičienė

Oral History

Birutė Žaganevičienė, born in 1931 in Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; witnessing the mass murder of the Jewish community; details of the mass murder by Lithuanian and German soldiers; and the distribution of stolen Jewish-owned clothing.

Oral history interview with Ona Diržinskienė

Oral History

Ona Diržinskienė, born in 1923 in Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of her hometown; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community during the German occupation; the mass murder of Jews and Communists by German soldiers; and the distribution of Jewish owned clothing to local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Juzefa Treiderienė

Oral History

Juzefa Treiderienė, born in 1927 in Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania, describes mass murders of local Jews and Communists by local Nazi collaborators, Lithuanian policemen, and German soldiers; the looting of Jewish owned homes and belongings; her mother forbidding her to take any Jewish owned items; and visiting the mass grave site.

Oral history interview with Natalija Manikienė

Oral History

Natalija Manikienė (nee Oržekauskaitė), born in 1922 in Alaučiai, Lithuania, describes living in Šakiai when the war began; the Jews in Šakiai; going to Raguva, where she lived with her aunt; the restrictions placed upon the Jewish community in Šakiai under German occupation; mass murders of the local Jews by local Nazi collaborators, local policemen, and German soldiers; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; and visiting the mass burial site.

Oral history interview with Elena Žvingilienė

Oral History

Elena Žvingilienė, born in 1919 in Puodžiškiai, Vilkaviškio rajonas, Lithuania, describes details of a mass shooting of Jews by Lithuanian guards and German soldiers and the sight of a cart full of looted Jewish-owned belongings.

Oral history interview with Valentina Staugaitienė

Oral History

Valentina Staugaitienė, born in 1932 in Vladiškiai, Lithuania, describes details of mass shootings of Jews near her family's home; sheltering a Jewish woman who was later murdered; the distribution of Jewish owned belongings; and her mother's destruction of the clothing she received.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Žemaitis

Oral History

Vytautas Žemaitis, born in 1926 in Šakiai, Lithuania, describes restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under German occupation; details of mass shootings of Jews by German soldiers and local collaborators; the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local townspeople; the escape of collaborators from Soviet forces; and visiting the mass gravesite.

Oral history interview with Elena Žemaitienė

Oral History

Elena Žemaitienė, born in 1917 in Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania, describes the mass murder of local Jews by German and Lithuanian guards and the sale of Jewish owned belongings by local collaborators.

Oral history interview with Julija Seliokaitė

Oral History

Julija Seliokaitė, born in 1922 in Marijampolė, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Marijampolė; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under the German occupaton; the roundup and mass shooting of local Jews; and the sale of Jewish owned clothing.

Oral history interview with Aldona Matulevičienė

Oral History

Aldona Matulevičienė, born in 1924 in Šeštokai, Lithuania, discusses life during the war in Marijampolė; the treatment of local Jews under German occupation, including the restrictions placed upon the community and their forced labor; the arrest of her father; and the mass shooting of Jews by German and Lithuanian soldiers.

Oral history interview with Antanas Vailionis

Oral History

Antanas Vailionis, born in 1908 in Ročkiai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Seirijai and the surrounding area; the persecution of the Jews under German occupation; the roundup and imprisonment of local Jews by German and Lithuanian soldiers; digging what became the mass grave in Baraučiškė for the Jews of Seirijai; the mass shooting of local Jews by German and Lithuanian soldiers; and the looting of Jewish owned belongings.

Oral history interview with Jonas Kvedaravičius

Oral History

Jonas Kvedaravičius, born in 1923 in Seirijai, Lithuania, describes the Jewish community of Seirijai; the Jewish refugees from Lazdijai who passed through Seirijai; the forced labor of the Jewish population; the roundups and mass murders of Jews in Baraučiškė; and the looting of Jewish owned homes.

Oral history interview with Angelė Kvedaravičienė

Oral History

Angelė Kvedaravičienė, born in 1919 in Seirijai, Lithuania, describes the Jews in Seirijai before the war; bringing food to local Jews who were not permitted to leave their homes; the roundup, torture, and mass murder of Jews by German and Lithuanian soliders; and the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Elena Purlienė

Oral History

Elena Purlienė (née Gurskytė), born in 1926 in Šakiai, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Šakiai, includuing her Jewish friends; the roundups and mass shootings of local Jews; the looting of Jewish owned belongings and burning of Jewish owned homes; her arrest by the Gestapo because she was a Communist; her torture and imprisonment; the mass shooting of certain Lithuanians, including many of her family members; her time in Pravieniškės work camp; her relase by the Gestapo; and her life after the war.

Oral history interview with Genė Miglinaitė

Oral History

Genė Miglinaitė, born in 1926 in Alytus, Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Lazdijai; the bombing of Lazdijai; the harsh treatment of local Jews by German soldiers; the roundup of Jews into a ghetto; the looting of Jewish property by German soldiers; and mass shootings of local Jews.

Oral history interview with Olga Račkauskienė

Oral History

Olga Račkauskienė, born in 1937 in Tauragė, Lithuania, describes living at the Pavenčiai sugar factory (located in Kuršėnai); the bombing of Kuršėnai; the retreat of the Soviet Army; mass murders of Jews by German soldiers and Nazi collaborators; and how her family hid a Jewish girl during the war.

Oral history interview with Aleksandras S. Minkevičius

Oral History

Aleksandras S. Minkevičius, born in 1936 in Šiauliai, Lithuania, describes living in the Pavenčiai sugar factory in an administrative building; a battle at Kuršėnai, including the retreat of the Soviet Army; the conversion of the Pavenčiai sugar factory into a concentration camp for Soviet and then Jewish prisoners; the cruel treatment of the prisoners by German guards; the Jewish ghetto Daugėliai; the mass murder of Jews; and local collaborators who aided in the persecution of Jews.

Oral history interview with Jekaterina Minkevičienė

Oral History

Jekaterina Minkevičienė, born in 1912 in Viekšniai, Lithuania, describes her family; living at the Pavenčiai sugar factory in Kuršėnai; escaping deportation; a transfer station for Jews in Kuršėnai, which determined whether deportees were going to be sent to work or to be murdered; mass shootings of Jews; the treatment of the Jews by German guards; the Jewish ghetto in Daugėliai; hiding a Jewish girl for the duration of the war; the conditions in the Šiauliai ghetto; moving away from Pavenčiai; local collaborators who assisted in the mass murder of Jews; returning to Pavenčiai after the war and finding her home looted; and seeking the family of the Jewish girl she hid after the war.

Oral history interview with Chaja Goldenštein

Oral History

Chaja Goldenštein, born in 1927 in Varniai, Lithuania, describes the bombing of Varniai; being roundup by local Nazi collaborators; her forced labor looking for gold; stealing gold she found; being sent to Viešvėnai and then the Telsiai ghetto; being transported to the camp in Geruliai; the mass shooting of Jewish men, including her father; living in the Telsiai ghetto; escaping from the ghetto; being caught by the Baltaraiščiai (Lithuanian collaborators); escaping to the forest; surviving a mass shooting and climbing out of a mass grave; hiding on a farm near Telšiai; staying with a friend named Juozas Mikutis near Varniai for several months; staying for one night with her school teacher Mr. Liutkus in Žarėnai; going to Karkliškiai and staying with the Vasiliauskas family; the local priest Juozas Gasiūnas, who saved seven Jews during the war; meeting Father Gasiūnas; asking to be baptized and receiving the name Rozalija Teresė; living with her friend Danielius Radavičius; being captured by the local Nazi collaborators and imprisoned in the basement of the Varniai prison; being freed by the head of police, Chief Mečius; going to Father Gasiūnas in Tverai; and serving as a witness for Chief Mečius during a tribunal after the war.

Oral history interview with Danutė Savolskytė Mickevičienė

Oral History

Danutė Mickevičienė (née Savolskytė), born in 1928 in Alytus, Lithuania, describes growing up in Leipalingis; the prewar Jewish community of Leipalingis; the imprisonment and then mass shooting of Jews; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; the survival of four Jews who fled to the Soviet Union; and the burning of Jewish-owned homes in 1944.

Oral history interview with Anelė Delkienė

Oral History

Anelė Delkienė, born in 1928 in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Leipalingis; witnessing the arrests of suspected Communists; the treatment of the Jews under the German occupation; how her mother brought food to her imprisoned Jewish neighbors; the roundup and mass shooting of the Jewish populatin; visiting the mass burial site; the looting of Jewish owned belongings by German soldiers and local townspeople; and her father aiding the escape of two Jewish men.

Oral history interview with Lidija Titiškienė

Oral History

Lidija Titiškienė, born in 1929 in Druskininkai, Poland (present day Lithuania), describes the beginning of the war, including the drafting of the men in her family to the Polish Army; the invasion of German forces in 1941; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under German occupation, including the establishment of a ghetto; the mass murder of civilians loyal to the Soviet regime, including her father; and the deportation and mass murder of local Jews.

Oral history interview with Marija Kašėtienė

Oral History

Marija Kašėtienė, born in 1925 in Lithuania, describes the bombing of Merkinė; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under the German occupation; the arrest and mass shooting of the Jewish population; the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local townspeople; and local collaborators who assisted in the mass murder of Jews.

Oral history interview with Stasys Dženkaitis

Oral History

Stasys Dženkaitis, born in 1922 in Lithuania, describes the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; the beginning of the war; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under the German occupation; mass shootings of Jews; and anti-Jewish propaganda.

Oral history interview with Pranas Miškinis

Oral History

Pranas Miškinis, born in Marckinkonys, Lithuania in 1931, discusses anti-Jewish violence; hearing about a mass shooting committed by Germans and local Lithuanians; the organized auctioning of Jewish goods; and the burial of bodies.

Oral history interview with Jeva Počiauskienė

Oral History

Jeva Počiauskienė, born in Marcinkonys, Lithuania in 1912, discusses seeing a mass killing committed by Germans and Lithuanians; details of the killing process; Jewish people escaping the shooting into the forest; the burial of the bodies; the organized looting of Jewish property; and the monument erected on the mass grave after the war.

Oral history interview with Elžbieta Tamulevičienė

Oral History

Elžbieta Tamulevičienė, born in Marcinkonys, Lithuania in 1918, discusses prewar relations between Jews and Christians; regulations imposed on the Jewish community; a mass shooting; the execution of a Lithuanian guard who refused to particpate in the shooting; Jewish people escaping into the forest; providing aid to the Jewish people living in the forest; and the organized auction of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Stefanija Safronova

Oral History

Stefanija Safronova, born in Lazdijai, Lithuania in 1923, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish community; the bombing of the town during the German invasion; anti-Jewish violence committed by Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); the town’s Jewish community’s imprisonment in a ghetto; the living and working conditions in the ghetto; looting; collaboration; a mass killing; the killing process; aiding Jewish prisoners; a second mass shooting; her arrest by Lithuanian officials for aiding Jewis; interrogation techniques; her father’s arrest and execution on order of German forces; her brothers’ arrest and torture; and the roundup and forced relocation of the town’s Polish population by German and Lithuanian officials.

Oral history interview with Aloyzas Pikutis

Oral History

Aloyzas Pikutis, born in Lazdijai, Lithuania in 1926, discusses the German occupation; the destruction of the town during the German invasion; anti-Jewish violence; the forced relocation of the town’s Jewish population to a bunkhouse by Lithuanian forces; seeing convoys of Jewish men, women, and children being forced out of town; hearing a mass shooting; and the reburial of the bodies at a memorial service in 1957.

Oral history interview with Veronika Gruodytė

Oral History

Veronika Gruodytė, born in Alytus, Lithuania in 1926, discusses living in Leipalingis when the war broke out; attending school with both Jewish and Christian children; restrictions placed on the Jewish community when the Germans occupied the town; acts of resistance by local townspeople to the restrictions; and watching convoys of Jews being forced out of town.

Oral history interview with Ona Naujūnienė

Oral History

Ona Naujūnienė, born in Girežens village near Varėna, Lithuania in 1912, discusses prewar relations between Jews and Christians; conditions in the town during the Soviet occupation; and the roundup of the town’s Jewish community by Lithuanian forces.

Oral history interview with Stanislovas Janevičius

Oral History

Stanislovas Janevičius, born in Varenoj Raj, Poland (present day Varėna, Lithuania) in 1933, discusses Soviet and Jewish partisan activity in the woods; his family’s actions to hide a Jewish man in fall 1943; getting caught by German forces; the murder of his brothers and mother along with the burning of their farm in retaliation; living with neighbors; and seeing the grave of the Jewish man they had hidden.

Oral history interview with Viktoras Vaitelavičius

Oral History

Viktoras Vaitelavičius, born in Skuodas, Lithuania in 1927, discusses witnessing the deportation of his Jewish neighbors to a ghetto; seeing a mass shooting by German forces and Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); details of the killing process; and the organized looting and auctioning of Jewish goods.

Oral history interview with Zinaida Zubavičiūtė

Oral History

Zinda Zubavičiūtė, born in Ylakiai, Lithuania in 1926 discusses her family’s fate at the hands of Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers) including her father’s execution and her sister being taken for forced labor; anti-Jewish violence; the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population in the synagogue; and hearing a mass shooting.

Oral history interview with Leopoldas Gutautas

Oral History

Leopoldas Gutautas, born in Skuodas, Lithuania in 1925, discusses witnessing a mass shooting carried out by local Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); recognizing both the shooters and those being shot; and details of the killing process.

Oral history interview with Stasė Daukšienė

Oral History

Stasė Daukšienė, born in Ylakiai, Lithuania in 1930, discusses prewar Jewish Christian relations, including friendships and commerce; storing Jewish goods; rumors about impending persecution; anti-Jewish violence; her father’s refusal to join with local Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); providing aid to Jewish women and children; witnessing the roundup of Jewish men and then later Jewish women and children; witnessing a mass shooting in the Jewish cemetery; the burial process; looting at the gravesite and from Jewish homes; and acts of rescue by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Olga Ruikienė

Oral History

Olga Ruikienė, born in Girdiai village near Ylakiai, Lithuania in 1928, discusses the village’s prewar Jewish community; a mass killing of Jewish men and then women and children in the Jewish cemetery; details of the killing process; the burial pits; looting; and the fate of some of the Lithuanian collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Tadeušas Norvaišas

Oral History

Tadeušas Norvaišas born in Kadžiai village near Ylakiai, Lithuania in 1929, discusses the village’s Jewish community’s imprisonment in a ghetto created at the synagogue; a mass shooting at the Jewish cemetery; recognizing the victims and the Lithuanian shooters; the burial process; the organized looting and auction of Jewish property; and the fate of those who participated in the killing.

Oral history interview with Liuda Pargaliauskienė

Oral History

Liuda Pargaliauskienė, born in Skuodas, Lithuania in 1931, discusses living with a rabbi and other families before the war; the roundup of the town’s Jewish community by Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); seeing Jewish forced labor; and the looting of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Aldona Taurinskienė

Oral History

Aldona Taurinskienė, born in Plungė , Lithuania in 1920, discusses living in Ylakiai, Lithuania during the war; working at Jewish houses and farms; witnessing the roundup of Jewish men and then women and children; a mass killing; details of the killing process; looting; and implications that the local priest was involved in planning the killing.

Oral history interview with Danguolė Jonaitienė

Oral History

Danguolė Jonaitienė, born in Utena, Lithuania in 1925, discusses the roundup of the town’s Jewish population in the synagogue; witnessing convoys of Jewish prisoners being taken to the killing site; hearing a mass shooting; and seeing mass graves.

Oral history interview with Aldona Arbačiauskienė

Oral History

Aldona Arbačiauskienė, born in Rūkų (Rukai), Lithuania in 1923, discusses the prewar Jewish community in her town; joining komsomol, a communist youth organization, during the first Soviet occupation; falling ill with pneumonia; her arrest as a communist by Lithuanians who collaborated with German forces; being taken with Jewish prisoners to a makeshift prison in the national guard’s hall in Skuodas, Lithuania; living conditions in the prison; torture by Lithuanian collaborators; German anti-Jewish violence; her attempted execution; the outbreak of fighting between Russians and Germans; escaping the killing site; being recaptured and returned to the prison; reuniting with her aunt and uncle; sexual assault in the prison; being released with her aunt; walking home; the psychological effects of her imprisonment; participating in postwar trials against Lithuanian collaborators; and nearly being deported to Siberia after the war.

Oral history interview with Andrius A. Jonaitis

Oral History

Andrius Jonaitis, born in Kėdainiai, Lithuania in 1928, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish population; the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population in a synagogue; a mass shooting; seeing the mass grave; and hearing about Jewish resistance during the shooting.

Oral history interview with Ona Slavinskienė

Oral History

Ona Slavinskienė, born in Utena, Lithuania in 1929, discusses the outbreak of war between Nazi Germany and the Soviets; seeing mass graves; local Lithuanian involvement in the killing; and the organized auction of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Marcelė Pelakauskienė

Oral History

Marcelė Pelakauskienė, born in Antakalnis village near Saldutiškis, Lithuania in 1921, discusses watching a roundup of the village’s Jewish community; hearing the gunfilre from a mass shooting; local Lithuanian involvement; and the looting of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Vanda Ryliškienė

Oral History

Vanda Ryliškienė, born in Geniakalnis village near Saldutiškis, Lithuania in 1931, discusses the roundup of the village’s Jewish community; recognizing friends amongst the Jewish prisoners; and witnessing a shooting of a small group of Jewish people.

Oral history interview with Klimas Vaclovas

Oral History

Klimas Vaclovas, born in Saldutiškis, Lithuania in 1916, discusses the wartime destruction of his town’s Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Juozas Žernys

Oral History

Juozas Žernys, born in Saldutiškis, Lithuania in 1927, discusses living in Dagaičiai village near Telšiai, Lithuania during the war; rumors that war would come; conditions when the Germans arrived in the village in January 1941; witnessing a mass shooting of women and children; details of the killing process; and anti-Jewish violence.

Oral history interview with Bronius Vilutis

Oral History

Bronius Vilutis, born in Linkmenys, Lithuania in 1925, discusses the arrival of German forces; rumors the Jewish population would be killed; witnessing a roundup of Jewish men, women, and children; the drunken state of the Lithuanian guards and shooters; and the looting of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Regina Vojtechovič

Oral History

Regina Vojtecnovič, born in Švenčionėliai, Lithuania in 1932, discusses seeing her town’s priest involved in killing Soviet soldiers; Estonian forces wearing German uniforms and rounding up women for forced labor; her mother’s escape; the establishment of the town’s ghetto; the roundup and imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; the drunken state of the local Lithuanian shooters; and the burial of the bodies by local villagers.

Oral history interview with Petras Mažuika

Oral History

Petras Mažuika, born in Nemunėlio Radviliškis, Lithuania in 1929, discusses attempting to retreat eastward with the Russians; being turned back by German forces; his father’s arrest and execution; conditions in the ghetto; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; the violence of Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); a local priest’s involvement; the organized looting and auction of Jewish property; and the fate of the shooters after the war.

Oral history interview with Teodoras Valotka

Oral History

Teodoras Valotka, born in Birzai, Lithuania in 1929, discusses living in Nemunelio Radviliskis during the war; negative prewar relations between Jews and Christians; chaos at the outbreak of war between the Soviets and Nazi forces; regulations imposed on the Jewish community by German forces; witnessing a convoy of Jewish people being taken to a killing site; his father’s forced conscription to bury the bodies; the organized looting and auction of Jewish property; and implications that a local priest was involved in planning the killing.

Oral history interview with Jonas Kažemėkaitis

Oral History

Jonas Kažemėkaitis, born in Šakiai, Lithuania in 1926, discusses prewar antisemitic propaganda; building military bunkers for Soviet soldiers during the first Soviet occupation; the German occupation; anti-Jewish violence; teachings by a local priest that killing Jews and communists was not a sin; characteristics of local Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); the organized looting and auction of Jewish property; and the fate of the Lithuanian collaborators.

Oral history interview with Bronė Gudžiūnienė

Oral History

Bronė Gudžiūnienė, born in Smiltynė village near Jurbarkas, Lithuania in 1932, discusses hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; the murder of a young Jewish girl and her family; the organized looting and distribution of Jewish property; and arguments in her family about keeping Jewish belongings.

Oral history interview with Ona Kavaliauskienė

Oral History

Ona Kavaliauskienė, born in Seredžius, Lithuania in 1923, discusses the outbreak of war between the Soviets and the Nazis; her arrest as a result of her membership in the Komsomal (communist youth organization); the activities of communists; anti-communist and anti-Jewish violence; the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population by Germans and Lithuanians; Jewish men being forced to dig burial pits; seeing transports of Jewish people being forced out of the town; a mass killing; the seizing of Jewish houses by Lithuanian collaborators (Baltaraiščiai or White Stripers); being given a Jewish apartment because of her husband’s job as a tailor; and the organized looting and auction of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Teresė Gestautienė

Oral History

Teresė Gestautienė, born in Puželių (Puželiai) village near Skaudvilė, Lithuania in 1928, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish community; her arrest by the Germans during the occupation; the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish community; witnessing Jewish men being taken by German and Lithuanian guards to a forest; brutality during the forced march; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; and her father being forced to use his cart to transport Jewish women and children to the killing site.

Oral history interview with Bronė Urbutienė

Oral History

Bronė Urbutienė, born in Panerutis village near Šilalė, Lithuania in 1925, discusses hearing gunfire from a mass shooting; the murder of a Jewish woman who escaped a killing site; and seeing the burial pits.

Oral history interview with Pranas Kairys

Oral History

Pranas Kairys, born in Panerutis (Panerotis) village near Šilalė, Lithuania in 1924, discusses prewar relations between Jews and Christians; the two Jewish families who lived in the village; seeing burial pits in the forest; knowing locals who participated in the shooting; and witnessing transports of Jewish men, women, and children being taken out of town.

Oral history interview with Edvardas Cirtautas

Oral History

Edvards Citrautas, born in Gargždai, Lithuania in 1928, discusses the roundup and imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population; local villagers providing food to the prisoners; and witnessing transports Jewish men, women, and children being taken away to killing sites.

Oral history interview with Jonas Baravykas

Oral History

Jonas Baravykas, born in Vyžuonos, Lithuania in 1931, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish community; prewar relations between Jews and Christians; his Jewish nanny; witnessing young Jewish people being taken away; the roundup and shooting of the town’s older Jewish population; Lithuanian participation in the shooting; witnessing a mass shooting; and the looting and auction of Jewish goods organized by town elders.

Oral history interview with Juozas Gudelis

Oral History

Juozas Gudelis, born in Užpaliai, Lithuania in 1915, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish community; the arrest of Soviet sympathizers when German forces occupied the town; witnessing shootings of Jewish men and women by local villagers; seeing the burial pits; local Lithuanian collaborators sharing Jewish property; and villagers who boasted about the killings.

Oral history interview with Bronius Grižas

Oral History

Bronius Grižas, born in Svėdasai, Lithuania in 1918, discusses witnessing the imprisonment of the town’s Jewish population in the synagogue; witnessing German forces burning the town’s synagogue; sexual assault; the roundup and transport of the Jewish population to a killing site; seeing villagers stealing the clothes of the victims; a mass shooting in the Jewish cemetery; seeing the burial pits; and details of the burial process.

Oral history interview with Bronius Neniškis

Oral History

Bronius Neniškis, born in Svėdasai, Lithuania in 1925, discusses witnessing the roundup of the town’s Jewish community by Lithuanians; the characteristics of those who did the shooting; the drunken behavior of the killers; seeing the burial pits; hearing details of the killing process from his father who witnessed it; and German forces burning down the synagogue.

Oral history interview with Ona Kasikevičienė

Oral History

Ona Kasikevičienė, born in Petroskos near Veisiejai, Lithuania in 1925, discusses the village’s large prewar Jewish community; anti-Jewish violence; the imprisonment of the Jewish community in a ghetto; cooking for the Lithuanian collaborators at their headquarters; local villagers being forced to transport the Jewish community to the killing site in their carriages; and the looting and appropriation of Jewish property.

Oral history interview with Vytautas Uždavinys

Oral History

Vytautas Uždavinys, born in Pirčiupiai, Lithuania in 1931, discusses living in the village of Pasaltis at the beginning of the war; the burning down of his village by German forces; being outside of town and seeing the smoke; the deaths of his mother and brother in the fire; and the funeral of all those killed in town.

Oral history interview with Juozas Uždavinys

Oral History

Jouzas Uždavinys, born in Pirčiupiai, Lithuania in 1925, discusses studying in Vilnius, Lithuania at the outbreak of war; visiting Pirciupiai every Saturday; learning his village had been burned down by German forces; seeing the burned village; and learning of the deaths of most of his family.

Oral history interview with Jonas Barauskas

Oral History

Jonas Barauskas, born in Miškiniai near Lazdijai, Lithuania in 1933, discusses the burning down of his village by German forces; anti-Jewish violence in the streets organized by Lithuanian collaborators; the murder of a Jewish man in the streets; hearing gunfire from a shooting in the Bajorai forest carried out by local villagers; the organized looting and auction of Jewish victims' clothing; and his father’s refusal to buy looted goods.

Oral history interview with Fetinija Lapuchina

Oral History

Fetinija Lapuchina, born in Lazdijai, Lithuania in 1923, discusses the town’s large prewar Jewish community; anti-Jewish violence; the Jewish community’s imprisonment in barracks; the forced digging of burial pits by her brother at the behest of the town headman; a mass killing; details of the killing process; and the organized looting and auction of Jewish property.

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Oral history interview with Stanislava Gaučienė

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