The Švenčionėliai massacre was the mass murder of Jews 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 ...

on October 8-10 1941, at the former Soviet military training ground in Žeimena forest, about 1.5km away from

Švenčionėliai Švenčionėliai () is a city in Švenčionys district municipality, in eastern Lithuania 10 km west of Švenčionys. The river Žeimena flows through Švenčionėliai. History On 10 July 1920, it was the site of a battle of the Polish– ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, then known as the ''

Generalbezirk Litauen ''Generalbezirk Litauen'' (, ) was an administrative subdivision of the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' of Nazi Germany that covered Lithuania from 1941 to 1944. It served as the Nazi civilian administration for the German occupation of Lithuania ...

'' in the ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...

''. The victims were from

Švenčionys Švenčionys (; ; known also by several Švenčionys#Etymology, alternative names) is a city in eastern Lithuania, and capital of the Švenčionys district municipality, located north of Vilnius. , it had a population of 4,065 of which about 17% ...

(estimated 2,000), Švenčionėliai, as well as from all places of the region:

Ignalina Ignalina (; ) is a city in eastern Lithuania. It is known as a tourist destination in the Aukštaitija National Park. Ignalina is also famous for the now decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in nearby Visaginas. Legend It is said that Ign ...

(about 400–700 Jews), (about 40–50 Jews), Kaltanėnai (about 80 Jews), Linkmenys,

Pabradė Pabradė (; ; ''Podbrodz'') is a city in eastern Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on the Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys. Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius–Daugavpils railway is close to the city. ...

, Adutiškis and Stajėtiškis (about 200 Jews), Saldutiškis and Labanoras (about 50–60 Jews), Mielagėnai (12 families), Salamianka village (2 families, about 30–40 Jews), Ceikiniai and others - the whole Jewish population of the region. According to German records, 3,726 Jews were murdered on October 9. The total estimated number of the murdered Jews was between 7,000 and 8,000. The murder was perpetrated 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 ...

authorities, officers of the Švenčionys county police and the local ''

Hilfspolizei The ''Hilfspolizei'' (''HiPo'' or ''Hipo''; meaning "auxiliary police") was a short-lived auxiliary police force in Nazi Germany in 1933. The term was later semi-officially used for various auxiliary organizations subordinated to the ''Ordnungsp ...

''"Mass Murder of the Jews in Švenčionéliai Training Ground"
with extensive quotes from: Arūnas Bubnys, "Švenčionių, Ašmenos ir Svierių apskričių žydų likimas (1941-1943)" In: ''Ašmenos, Svierių, Švenčionių apskričių getai: kalinių sąrašai, 1942'', 2009,
Table of contents
)"Execution of Jews in Švenčionėliai"
/ref>"Švenčionių apskrities žydų žudynių vieta ir kapas"
Register of Cultural Values In 1961 a monument to the victims was erected at the site, reconstructed in 1993. The site is protected by the state as a cultural monument of historical and memorial value.

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{{Massacres or pogroms against Jews 1941 in Lithuania Holocaust massacres and pogroms in Lithuania Massacres in 1941 October 1941 in Europe Švenčionys District Municipality

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