Šiauliai Ghetto
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The Šiauliai or Shavli Ghetto was a Jewish ghetto established in July 1941 by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in the city of
Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...
(, ''Shavl'') in Nazi-occupied Lithuania during
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. The ghetto comprised two areas – one in the Kaukazas suburb and one on Trakai Street. Both were liquidated by July 1944, and their inhabitants were killed or transferred to
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
. In 1939, one quarter of the population of Šiauliai was Jewish, about 8,000 persons. By the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, only about 500 Jews of the city had survived.


Before the war

Šiauliai was the second largest city in independent pre-war Lithuania, and its Jewish community, numbering 8,000 in 1939. The city had elected Rafal Riazanskis, a local Jewish businessman, as its deputy mayor. Jews were involved in the manufacture of leather products, and there was a Jewish-owned shoe factory. Jews were also involved in the iron and chemical industries, and many worked as clerks, laborers, and craftsmen. The Jewish community supported numerous cultural and social institutions and organizations. Among these were ''Yavneh'', a religious secondary school, a
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
secondary school, an elementary school, and a kindergarten, as well as several Yiddish schools. There were 15
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s, a
yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
, and two libraries.


Mass murders

After the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and before the arrival of the Germans in Lithuania, several hundred Jews from the city fled to Russia. German soldiers entered Šiauliai on 26 June 1941. Of the Jews who remained, several thousand were massacred by the Germans and their Lithuanian collaborators, both before the ghetto was established and thereafter. During the first weeks of the Nazi occupation, about 8000 people were shot in the nearby Lieponiai forest near Kužiai after being forced to dig their own graves. In July 1941, the Germans moved 732 Jews and communists from the Šiauliai jail to the vicinity of Pročiūnai village, about southeast from Šiauliai, and murdered them there. From 7–15 September 1941, about 1000 Jewish men, women and children from Šiauliai were killed in the Gubernija forest, about northwest of the city.


Establishment

The German occupation authorities began preparations for a ghetto in Šiauliai at the beginning of July 1941. The Šiauliai city military commandant gave instructions to the new deputy mayor, Antanas Stankus, who had been put in charge of "Jewish affairs". Stankus set up a committee of Jewish notables to liaise with the Lithuanian authorities to relocate Jews. The first step was the registration of all Jewish residents – all the Jews in the city were required to register at the city government's office from 19–22 July. At first, only one location, in the Kaukazas neighborhood, was selected for the ghetto. The area proved to be too small for the entire Jewish population, and additional Jews were transported to
Žagarė Žagarė (, see also #Etymology, other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lith ...
. After Jewish protests, a second location between Ežeras and Trakai streets was chosen. When both areas housed approximately 3000 Jews each, the Jews petitioned for a third ghetto. The authorities promised an area in the Kalniukas neighborhood and gathered more Jews in the Village Traders’ Synagogue, the Jewish Home for the Elderly, and the Central Choral Synagogue. However, instead of being relocated to the third ghetto, the Jews were taken in groups of 200–300 to Lieponiai forest and shot. The last 500 Jews were shot in Bubiai and were buried in pits dug from clay.


Life in the ghetto

The resettlement was completed by 15 August. Between 4,000 and 5,000 Jews, including 1,500 from areas surrounding Šiauliai, were forced into the ghettos and were interned there. The Jewish committee was recognized as the ''
Judenrat A ''Judenrat'' (, ) was an administrative body, established in any zone of German-occupied Europe during World War II, purporting to represent its Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form ''J ...
'' (Jewish Council) of the ghetto. The Germans conducted frequent ''Aktionen'' – massive killing sprees – to eliminate "useless" Jews. Gainful employment was perceived to provide security from these ''Aktionen''. Approximately 600 Jews were employed in a nearby shoe factory, and another 600 in construction projects at the Zokniai airport. Others were employed in workshops in the city tanning and processing leather, producing items such as gloves and brushes. Some Jews were transferred to labor camps in the surrounding areas to provide labor force for specific projects, mainly extracting
peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
from peat
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...
s. A group of 125 Jews was transferred to Linkaičiai, where they worked in a weapons and artillery workshop. The period from around January 1942 to September 1943, was a "quiet period" without major massacres. During that time the Jews in the ghetto established several cultural and educational organizations, including Hechalutz and
Beitar The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...
. On 26–27 May 1942, the Germans conducted a census within the Generalbezirk Litauen, including the Šiauliai Ghetto. The census counted at least 4,665 Jews in the ghetto, but many avoided the census as they believed it to be a ruse in preparation for another ''Aktion''. On 30 August 1942, several Jews were found smuggling food into the ghetto. The Germans told the ''Judenrat'' to select 50 Jews for execution. The members of the ''Judenrat'' refused and instead offered themselves. The sentence was commuted and one food smuggler was hanged.


Liquidation

On June 21, 1943,
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
issued an order to liquidate all ghettos and transfer remaining Jews to
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
s. The Šiauliai Ghetto was reorganized into a concentration camp, an exterior camp (''Außenlager'') of the Kaunas concentration camp (
Kaunas Ghetto The Kovno Ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas, Kaunas (Kovno) during the Holocaust. At its peak, the ghetto held 29,000 people, most of whom were later sent to Concentration camps, concentratio ...
) under jurisdiction of the SS. At the time, the ghetto had five work camps: Zokniai airport (500 Jews), Linkaičiai weapon workshop (250 Jews), Pavenčiai sugar factory (250 Jews), A.B.A. military clothing workshop (800 Jews), Akmenė brick factory (250 Jews) and Daugėliai brick factory (250 Jews). Territorial Commissioner (''Gebietskommissar'') Hans Gewecke was replaced by SS-
Oberscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberscharführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945. ''Oberscharführer'' was first used as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions ...
Hermann Schlöf on 1 October 1943 as commander of the ghetto. The original Kaukazas neighborhood ghetto site was liquidated in mid-October 1943. On November 5, 1943, SS troops and a company from the
Russian Liberation Army The Russian Liberation Army (; , ), also known as the Vlasov army () was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. From January 1945, the army was led by Andrey Vlasov, ...
seized and transported 574 children under the age of 13, 191 elderly, 26 disabled, and 4 women to
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
. Later, as Germany was losing the war, the Nazis started closing down work camps and transferring the Jews into the ghetto. In July 1944, the Germans, retreating from the advancing Russian army, transferred remaining ghetto residents to the concentration camps of Stutthof and Dachau in Germany. Of the total number of Jews interned, only a few hundred managed by various means to escape death. On 15 July 1944, the final liquidation of the Šiauliai ghetto began. Several thousand Jews were deported in four large groups to the
Stutthof concentration camp Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...
. No more than 500 people were identified as survivors of the Šiauliai Ghetto after the war.


Documentation

A diary kept by Eliezer Yerushalmi, a teacher and a member of the ghetto's ''Judenrat'', was published in Hebrew in 1950 by
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
. A portion of this diary was included in the '' Black Book''. Based on the May 1942 census, lists of the names of the Kaukazas and Ežero-Trakų ghetto prisoners, as well as Jews who stayed outside the ghetto, were published by the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum in 2002.


See also

* Lithuanian collaboration with Nazi Germany * Nesse Godin, Holocaust survivor from Šiauliai


References


External links


Full-text of Eliezer Yerushalmi's diary (in Hebrew)The Shavli Ghetto
in the ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Lithuania''

* {{Coord, 55.926567, 23.326, display=title, type:landmark_region:LT 1941 establishments in Lithuania 1944 disestablishments History of Šiauliai Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Lithuania