Obj. ID: 58573 Holocaust memorial in Ariogala, Lithuania
Memorial Name
Ariogalos žydų žudynių ir užkasimo vieta
Who/What is Commemorated?
Jews of Ariogala, Betygala, Josvainiai, victims of the Holocaust
Description:
The site of the massacre is located on a hillside leading down to the Dubysa Valley and is enclosed by a decorative metal fence made of segments. Perimeter planted with trees. An information stand with photographs and text in Lithuanian and English entitled "The Fate of the Jews of Ariogala in 1941" has been erected at the gate.
There are two monuments standing next to each other on the site. The first is a field stone standing on a low concrete foundation. A black granite plaque with text in Lithuanian is attached to the stone.
The second monument is a polished brown granite stele. It stands on a stepped cement base, on which a granite base identical to the monument is placed. The stele widens slightly towards the top, which slopes at an asymmetrical angle. In the upper right corner, near the tip, there is a Star of David, with text in Yiddish below it.
Inscription:
In Yiddish:
דא איז פארגאסן געווארן
דאס בלוט פון 662 יידן -
קינדער, פרויען, מענער,
וועלכע די נאצי-רוצחים און
זייערע מיטהעלפער
האבן גרויזאם דערמארדעט
דעם 1941.08-09
Translation: Here was spilt the blood of 662 Jews, children, women and men, whom Nazi murderers and their helpers brutally murdered in August- September 1941.
In Lithuanian:
Čia palaidota
750 žydų tautybės
piliečių, nužudytų
fašistinių okupantų
1941 m.
Translation: 750 citizens of Jewish origin lie buried here. They were murdered by fascist occupants in 1941.
Commissioned by
104x8x136 cm
Stone: 162x80x114 cm
plaque 55x63 cm
The Jews of Ariogala and Josvainiai were put in a ghetto at the end of July 1941. The victims included men, women, children and the elderly. Surviving documents show the ghetto existed for at least 18 days. The mass murder operation was carried out on September 1, 1941, on the bank of the Dubysa River near the town. Perpetrators said about 20 soldiers arrived from Kaunas (troops from the 1st Battalion) to help the white armbanders and police. All of the Jews were brought to the killing site at the same time by about 50 armed men and they shot them in groups of 50. The exact number of those murdered is unknown: official institutions provide figures ranging from 662 to 782, while the majority of perpetrators and witnesses cite the number 700.
The monument with the Yiddish inscription was erected in 1996.
Unique site code 2090
Status Protected by the state since 1992-07-02
Jakulytė-Vasil, Milda. Lithuanian Holocaust Atlas (Vilnius: VIlna Gaon State Jewish Museum, 2011), http://holocaustatlas.lt/LT/#a_atlas/search//page/18/item/55/.
Kultūros vertybių registras (Register of the Cultural Heritage), https://kvr.kpd.lt/#/heritage-detail/db7f958c-cdc0-47ec-bafe-cd57bea3b065.
Levinson, Yosif, Skausmo knyga. The Book of Sorrow. Dos bukh fun veytik. Sefer ha-keev (Vilnius: VAGA Publishers, 1997)., p. 147.