Obj. ID: 58572 Holocaust memorial in Prienai, Lithuania
Memorial Name
Žydų žudynių vieta ir kapas - Mass Murder Site and Grave
Who/What is Commemorated?
Jews of Prienai, Birštonas, Jieznas, Stakliškės, Balbieriškis, Veiveriai, victims of the Holocaust
Description:
The territory is located on the outskirts of the city. It is enclosed by a brick fence around its entire perimeter. It is divided by brick columns. In the center, there is an entrance with metal double gates. From the gates to the monument, there is a paved square. There are scattered trees growing on the territory.
The monument is a large stone standing in the center of the territory. A metal plate with inscriptions in Yiddish and Lithuanian is attached to the stone. In the upper right corner is the Star of David.
Inscription:
In Yiddish:
אויף דעם ארט האבן די
היטלערישע רוצחים און
זייערע ארטיקע באהעלפער
דעם 1941.08.26 דערמארדעט
1100 יידן -
מענער, פרויען, קינדער
Translation: At this place, Hitler’s murderers and their local helpers, on August 26, 1941, murdered 144 Jews – men, women and children.
In Lithuanian:
Šioje vietoje 1941 m. 08.26. hitleriniai
žmogžudžiai ir jų vietiniai talkininkai
nužudė 1100 žydų vyrų, moterų, vaikų
Translation: At this place on August 26, 1941, Hitler’s murderers and their local helpers murdered 1,100 Jewish men, women and children.
Commissioned by
?
In mid-August, 1941, Prienai police and white armbanders began mass arrests of Jews. Jews from the surrounding regions – Birštonas, Jieznas, Stakliškės and other locations – were taken to Prienai and held at the Prienai military post. On August 25, Jewish prisoners were sent to dig ditches behind a pine grove at the military post. Two large ditches were dug. On August 27, 1941, troops from the 1st Battalion 3rd Unit (about 25–30 men) led by lieutenant Bronius Norkus arrived in Prienai. Local police and white armbanders began sending the Jews to the killing site. The Jäger Report contains an entry that on August 27, 1941, 1,078 Jews were killed in Prienai.
The monument was apparently erected in the early 1990s.
Unique Site Code 11091
Status Listed on register since 1992-02-19
Jakulytė-Vasil, Milda. Lithuanian Holocaust Atlas (Vilnius: VIlna Gaon State Jewish Museum, 2011), http://holocaustatlas.lt/LT/#a_atlas/search//page/17/item/36/.
Kultūros vertybių registras (Register of the Cultural Heritage), https://kvr.kpd.lt/#/heritage-detail/d140552b-d340-42d3-a716-1f0dfa59d176.
Levinson, Yosif, Skausmo knyga. The Book of Sorrow. Dos bukh fun veytik. Sefer ha-keev (Vilnius: VAGA Publishers, 1997)., p. 142.