Gargzdai and the Holocaust
by
John S. Jaffer
Table of Contents
I. Jewish Residents of Gargzdai killed in the Holocaust
II. Einsatzgruppe A
IV. Killing of the Jewish Men of Gargzdai
V. Killing of the Jewish Women and Children
VI. Orders to Einsatzkommando Tilsit
VIII. Discrepancy between German and Soviet Records as to Number of Victims at Men's Killing Site
IX. Did Jewish civilians take up arms against the invasion?
I. Jewish Residents of Gargzdai killed in the Holocaust
The total number of Jewish residents
killed in or near Gargzdai is at least 500: 200 men (and one woman)
killed on June 24, 1941, and 300 women and children killed on
September 14 and 16, 1941.
Yad
Vashem has posted online its Central
Database of Shoah Victims' Names. A search for the location Gargzdai
or Gorzd yields a list of 714 names as of April, 2017, but this
total includes instances of multiple entries for single individuals. A
search for the town name yields persons killed in Gorzd, and those born
in Gorzd who perished elsewhere. Each name is linked to further
information from the report in the Yad Vashem archives, as well as a
copy of the report. This site is an invaluable resource for anyone
researching Gorzd.
A list containing names of 78 victims was compiled by
the Gargzdai Town Secretary during the War: Jewish
residents of Gargzdai killed in June and September, 1941. The
original list is now kept at Gargzdai Area Museum.
The Court Judgment in Ulm (Vol XV, Case. No. 465,
summarized here),
1958, lists twelve Jews from
Memel killed in Gargzdai.
The figure of 200 men and one woman is set forth in
the German trial records, and is supported by written reports by the
perpetrators nearly contemporaneous with the killings. The figure
of 300 women and children is set forth in Pinkas
Hakehillot
Lita and on
the
monument at one of the two women's sites.
Soviet investigations before the end of the war
included exhumation of the killing sites: "Act about Slaughter of Civil
Soviet People by Fascist Aggressors on the Temporary Occupied Territory
of the Gargzedai [sic] Volost, the Kretinga Uyezd, the Lithuanian
SSR," The Tragedy of Lithuania: New Documents on Crimes of
Lithuanian Collaborators during the Second World War, ISBN
978-5-903588-01-5, pp. 205, 219, formerly online at
http://common.regnum.ru/documents/the-tragedy-of-lithuania.pdf. (cited
below as Tragedy).
According to the report dated February 11, 1945 the killing site within
the town of Gargzdai contained bodies of 396 men shot by firearms. At
the women's sites in the forest, the Soviet report states that one of
the mass graves contained 107 "girls," while the other contained 347
women and children. The report dated April 11, 1945 gives a total of 850
"innocent Soviet citizens - men, women and children" killed in Gargzdai,
a figure which the report says was confirmed by opening the graves and
through the testimony of three witnesses.
The events surrounding these killings are set
forth below.
translation of the inscription of the women's monument, referring to 300 victims, is found at the Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania.
There is an apparent discrepancy between the German records and the Soviet report as to the number of victims at the men's site. This discrepancy is discussed in Section VIII below.
The Tragedy of Lithuania: New Documents on Crimes of Lithuanian Collaborators during the Second World War was first noted at the Resources page of the KehilaLinks site for Trashkun (Troskunai), Lithuania.
Aus den Häusern von Garsden wurden
dann noch weitere männliche Juden sowie einige
kommunistenverdächtige Personen herausgeholt und ebenfalls
in Richtung Reichsgrenze abgeführt. (p. 95).
(Out of the Garsden houses
further male Jews as well as some suspected Communists
were taken and led in the direction of the border.)
Unter
den Gefangenen befand sich auch eine Frau, die
Ehefrau eines russischen Kommissars. Ob sie von
Anfang an unter den Gefangenen war oder ob sie erst
später zugeführt wurde, konnte nicht geklärt werden.
(p. 103).
(The
prisoners also included a woman, the wife of a
Russian commisar. Whether she was part of the
original prisioners, or was brought there later,
could not be clarified.)
.....
Bei
den Gefangenen handelte es sich mit Ausnahme
von wenigen litauischen Kommunisten nur um
Juden, vom Jugendlichen bis zum Greis. (p.
102).
(Among the
prisoners, with the exception of a few
Lithuanian Communists, were only Jews, from
youths to elderly.)
The Stahlecker Report contains separate subtotals for Jews and Communists killed in the Kovno district: " Jews 31,914 Communists 80 Total 31,994" (Enclosure 8).
Thus within the Kovno district, the reported victims separately categorized as Communists rather than Jews represented less than three tenths of a percent. Overall within the three Lithuanian districts, the reported Communist victims represented approximately one percent of the total.
II. Einsatzgruppe A
Germany invaded the
Soviet Union beginning
on June 22, 1941.
Mobile killing squads
known as
Einsatzgruppen
followed the German
Army into the occupied
areas. There were four
Einsatzgruppen (A, B,
C and D), which were
in turn divided into
smaller units called
Einsatzkommandos and
Sonderkommandos.
Einsatzgruppe A,
commanded by SS -
Brigadeführer Walter
Stahlecker, carried on
mass executions of the
Jewish population in
Lithuania and other
Baltic areas.
Einsatzkommando 3 (a
subunit of
Einsatzgruppe A)
operated in Lithuania.
The deeds of
Einsatzkommando 3 were
set forth in an
infamous document
known as the Jäger
report, which was
dated December 1,
1941. In
that document Karl
Jäger, commander of
Einsatzkommando 3, set
forth totals of
executions by location
in Lithuania. The
executions outlined in
the report began on
July 4, 1941, and
totaled over 137,000.
The Gargzdai killings
are not included in
the Jäger
report.
The execution of the
Jewish men in Gargzdai
took place on June 24,
1941, prior to the
first execution listed
in the Jäger report.
These killings in
Gargzdai were the
first mass execution
following Germany's
invasion of the Soviet
Union on June 22,
1941, and may be
regarded as the start
of the Holocaust.
The group which
perpetrated the
killings is sometimes
called Einsatzkommando
Tilsit. Tilsit
was in East Prussia,
close to the border
with the Soviet Union.
Einsatzkommando Tilsit
was not formally part
of Einsatzgruppe A,
but acted as an
adjunct to it.
The Tilsit unit was
commanded by SS-Major
Hans - Joachim Böhme,
and composed of
personnel from the
Gestapo and Security
Service in Tilsit, as
well as police from
Memel (led by
Oberführer Bernhard
Fischer-Schweder) and
Memel Border
Police. It
committed mass
executions in the area
of the Soviet Union
close to the border
with Germany.
The
killings by the Tilsit
unit were reported to
Berlin in the same
"Operational Situation
Reports" which
reported the killings
by Einsatzgruppe
A. Report No.
12, dated July 4,
1941, states that
Stapo Tilsit
had
so far carried out 200
shootings. These
are evidently the
shootings in
Gargzdai. Report
No. 14, dated July 6,
1941, lists the
killings in Garsden
(the German name for
Gargzdai), as well as
in Krottingen
(Kretinga) and
Polangen (Palanga).
The Report lists these
killings under the
heading of
Einsatzgruppe A, but
states that "Tilsit
was used as a base"
for these "major
cleansing operations."
The Report sets forth
that 201 persons were
executed in Garsden,
and gives a cover
story to explain the
Garsden shootings -
that the "Jewish
population had
supported the Russian
border guards."
Similar cover stories
were given with regard
to the other two
towns.
In
Report No. 19, dated
July 11, executions in
additional towns are
attributed to "Stapo
Tilsit," including
Tauroggen (Taurage),
Georgenburg
(Jurbarkas), and
Mariampol
(Marijampole). The
author no longer found
it necessary to give
any supposed excuse
for the executions.
In
Report 26, dated July
18, a total of 3302
executions are
attributed to "Police
Unit - Tilsit," and
these are set forth
separately from
Einsatzgruppe A.
Stahlecker later wrote
a document dated
October 15, 1941,
known as the
Stahlecker Report,
which referred to a
total of 5502 killed
by State Police
Security Service
Tilsit.
The
summary figures in
Report 26 and the
Stahlecker Report
presumably include the
201 persons previously
reported as killed in
Garsden.
Scholars have more
recently discovered in
the archives of the
former Soviet Union Report
from
Staatspolizei Tilsit to RSHA, July 1, 1941.
This document was evidently used as a source for
Operational Situation Report No. 14 (which was dated
five days later), and also contains additional
information.
Several members of Einsatzkommando Tilsit were prosecuted by the West German Government for War Crimes. These trials took place in Ulm and Dortmund, West Germany, for crimes including the killings at Gargzdai/Garsden. Summaries of War Crimes prosecutions related to Gargzdai (including the sentences) are located at the site for the University of Amsterdam.
IV. Killing of the Jewish Men of Gargzdai
The Court in Ulm
entered a lengthy
Judgment which is
a major source of
information about
the Gargzdai
killings.
This Judgment is
now available
online (Vol
XV, No. 465).
It was published
in Justiz und
NS-Verbrechen,
Vol. XV,
University Press
Amsterdam (1976),
and in KZ-Verbrechen
vor deutschen
Gerichten, Band
II:
Einsatzkommando
Tilsit - Der
Prozess zu Ulm,
(Frankfurt am
Mein: Europaïsche
Verlagsanstalt,
1966). The
judgment is
summarized in the
Gorzd
Yizkor
Book, pages 75-79 [Image 426]. Further
information about the killings is contained on
page 38 of the Gorzd
Yizkor Book [Image 463].
Two letters about the killings
are posted at the JewishGen Yizkor Book Project.
One is a letter in the Gorzd Yizkor Book from
Leyb Shoys (or Leibke
Shauss), dated February 5, 1945, page 342-344
[Yiddish section]. Shoys had returned to Gargzdai,
collected information from town residents, and
wrote this report to his brother in South Africa
about the killings. A similar letter from Shoys to
his uncle Khaim Shoys in America is set forth in
the book Lite, as the Chapter titled "The
Destruction
of Gorzd". Lite gives the name only
of the uncle who received the letter and not the
nephew who wrote it, but the Gorzd Yizkor Book,
page 38, identifies the author as Liebke Shauss.
Further details are contained
in the Gorzd Chapter in Pinkas Hakehillot Lita, also posted at the JewishGen Yizkor
Book Project.
In the Court Judgment, the
following facts are reported:
At the time of the attack,
Gargzdai had a population of around 3000, of which
600-700 were Jews. This included Jewish
refugees who had come from Klaipeda/Memel after
Germany annexed the Memel Territory in 1939.
Germany attacked at 3:05 AM on
June 22, 1941. There was heavy resistance by
the Soviet army, and the town was not secured
until the afternoon of June 22. During the
fighting, most of the civilians hid in a cellar,
and much of the town was burned.
The Gestapo and SD (Security
Service) from Tilsit began to round up the Jewish
men, as well as suspected Communists, for
execution. They were held overnight in the
park. The males were forced to work on
defense trenches, an old rabbi was abused, and a
Jewish boy was shot for allegedly not working hard
enough.
On June 24, the men were led to
a trench. They were shot by a firing squad
consisting of 20 persons, including the Tilsit
personnel as well as police from Memel. Some
of the victims who were refugees from Memel knew
their executioners among the Memel police. The
total number executed on that day was 201 persons.
The Shoys letters add some
additional details. The men were kept without food
or water until the 24th. The shootings took place
near a house belonging to David Wolfowitz, at
around 1:00 PM.
The Gorzd
Yizkor Book [Image 463] states that the
killings took place in a field at the end of
Tamozhne St. A town diagram in the book
[Image 13] shows this name for the main street
leading west to the old border and Laugallen.
("Tamozhnya" is the Russian word for "Customs.")
The Report of Staatspolizei Tilsit states that the
201 persons killed on June 24, 1941 included one
woman. The persons committing the shooting were
selected by the police director in Memel, and
consisted of 30 men with one police officer.
According to a Soviet report
dated February 11, 1945, exhumation of this site
revealed a total of 396 men, killed by firearms. "Act about Slaughter of Civil Soviet
People by Fascist Aggressors on the Temporary
Occupied Territory of the Gargzedai [sic]
Volost, the Kretinga Uyezd, the Lithuanian SSR," The
Tragedy of Lithuania: New Documents on Crimes of
Lithuanian Collaborators during the Second World
War, ISBN 978-5-903588-01-5, p. 219.
The oldest known photograph of
the men's killing site from ground level was taken
by George Birman when he visited Gargzdai in
April, 1945. This photo is posted online at the
collection of George
Birman papers at the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum, Album 2, 1944-1946, Item
9, top row, second photo from left.
V. Killing of the Jewish Women and Children
The
women and
children of
Gargzdai were
initially
rounded up at
the same time
as the men.
After the men
were killed,
the women and
children were
kept prisoner
for several
months.
The Gorzd
Memorial book
and the Shoys
letters say
they were kept
in the village
of Anelishke
and forced to
perform hard
labor.
Then, during
September of
1941, they
were taken to
the woods
northeast of
Vezaiciai, on
the road to
Kule (Kuliai).
The Gorzd Book
says the
children were
killed by the
Germans with
bayonets, and
their mothers
and
grandmothers
killed two
days later.
(Memorial
Book, p. 38).
The Court
Judgment
points to
statements
that women and
children from
Garsden were
killed by
"betrunkene
litauische
Hilfspolizisten"
(drunken
Lithuanian
auxiliary
police) in
August/September
1941, but
further states
the Court
could not
determine if
Gestapo
personnel were
involved.
The Court
concluded that
a minimum of
100 were
killed.
The monument
at one of the
women's
killing sites
states that
the killing
occurred in
October, 1941,
and 300 were
killed. Yosif
Levinson, Skausmo
Knyga - The
Book of Sorrow
(Vilnius: Vaga
Publishers,
1997), page
110. However,
the monuments
are not
necessarily
accurate
sources of
information as
to dates. The
monument at
the men's site
in Gargzdai
has a clearly
erroneous date
of July, 1941
despite the
known date of
June 24. Pinkas
Hakehillot
Lita
gives the
dates of the
women's
killings as
September 14
and 16, and
states that
about 300 were
killed. The
same dates of
September 14
and 16 are
given by Dr.
Hershl
Meyer in the
Gorzd Memorial
Book, p. 38.
There was one
survivor of
the women's
shooting,
Rachel (or
Eyne) Yami,
who provided
chilling
detail to Leib
Shoys which is
set forth in
his
letters.
Because the
former
residents of
Gorzd would
want to know
the dates of
the killings,
it is
reasonable to
suppose that
Rachel Yami
was the source
for the dates
of September
14 and 16 set
forth in
Pinkas
Hakehillot
Lita and by
Dr. Meyer.
A Soviet
investigation
included an
exhumation of
the sites, "Act
about
Slaughter of
Civil Soviet
People by
Fascist
Aggressors on
the Temporary
Occupied
Territory of
the Gargzedai
[sic]
Volost, the
Kretinga
Uyezd, the
Lithuanian
SSR," The
Tragedy of
Lithuania: New
Documents on
Crimes of
Lithuanian
Collaborators
during the
Second World
War, ISBN
978-5-903588-01-5,
p. 219, and
also the
eyewitness
testimony of a
priest, Ionas
Aleksens,
identified in
Lithuanian
sources as
Jonas
Aleksiejus. He
was riding a
bicycle from
Gargzdai to
Vezaiciai when
he encountered
the women and
children being
conveyed to
the killing
place in the
forest. He
unsuccessfully
attempted to
dissuade the
perpetrators
from
committing the
killings.
"Transcript of
Interrogation
of Witness
Aleksens
I.A.," id.
at p.
221; Dr.
Arunas Bubnys,
Holocaust in
Lithuanian
Province in
1941 at
40-43.
According to
the
exhumation,
one of the
graves
contained 107
"girls" killed
by firearms
and blunt
objects.
The other
contained 347
women and
children, with
the women
having been
killed by
firearms and
the children
by blunt
objects.
Some of the
children had
no visible
injury,
indicating to
the
investigators
that they had
been buried
alive.
The Lithuanian
Special
Archives
contain
interrogation
records of
three
participants
in these
killings.
Interrogations
are translated
here.
The questions
do not deal
with motive or
mental state
of the
perpetrators,
but merely
attempt to
establish a
sequence of
events.
In
attempting to
reconcile the
bare outline
of facts from
various
sources, two
questions
arise: 1) what
age victims
were killed on
each of the
two days, and
2) which site
in the forest
contains the
victims killed
on the first
day, and which
contains the
victims killed
on the second
day. The
information is
not entirely
consistent.
Note: Anieliske, Ashmoniske and Perkunai
Anieliske
Anieliske was the location where the women and children were held captive between shortly after the invasion on June 22, 1941, and their killing in September, 1941. It was probably the area shown on older maps as Anielin.
The map is ambiguous as to whether the name "Asmoniske" applies to the forest ranger station, or instead a cluster of buildings above the capital A in Asmoniske, or both. It would seem more logical that references to the village of Asmoniske would apply to the cluster of buildings on the road, rather than a forest ranger station located away from the road.
The name Oszmianiszki is shown on the 1:300,000 Übersichtkarte map of Tilsit (1939) at www.mapywig.org.
An
earlier
depiction is
on a Russian
map, 1866 -
1872:
1:126,000
Russian Map X-1
(1866-1872) at maps4u.lt
Information
about the
1:126,000
(3-verst) map
series
For
animations
comparing maps of
the Vezaitine
Forest, see here.
Perkunai
The
Lithuanian Army
map shows the
village of
Perkunai,
northeast of
Vezaiciai and
just southwest
of the
forest.
The killing of
the women and
children is
stated to be
close to this
village in The
Tragedy of
Lithuania: New
Documents on
Crimes of
Lithuanian
Collaborators
during the
Second World War,
ISBN
978-5-903588-01-5,
p. 219, 221. The
latter reference
says the killing
site is 5 km from
Vezaiciai and 27
km from Perkunai,
but evidently "27
km" is a misprint
for 2.7 km.
Measuring
from Perkunai is
ambiguous. Even
today, maps differ
as to the exact
location of this
village, which
evidently has
changed over the
years. Also it is
unclear whether
the given
measurement from
Perkunai to the
killing site is
the straight line
aerial distance,
or instead follows
the angles of the
roads.
Identification of the Two Killing Sites
Kreiskarte (1941, but based on earlier maps) - added black dots show approximate location of killing sites
(See
Photo/Map
Comparisons of
Vezaitine
Forest)
Lithuanian
Army Topo
(1938) - added
black dots
show
approximate
location of
killing sites
On September 14, 1941 the "young women" from Gorzd were taken to the forest of Vezaiciai and killed. (Pinkas Hakehillot Lita). (Yahadut Lita).
About 100 young able
bodied women taken,
purportedly for
labor (Bubnys,
p. 42) (Gubistas
interrogation)
Exhumation of
site revealed
"107 corpses
of killed and
shot girls."
Site is 450 m.
from road. (Tragedy
p. 219).
The Second Killing
Interrogation of witness, Ionas Aleksens [sic], describes shooting of 300 women and children. (Tragedy p. 221-222).
Site is "about 27 km [sic]" from Perkunai. (Tragedy p. 221-222) (evidently a misprint for 2.7 km).
Killings were witnessed by Vezaiciai dean Jonas Aleksiejus. Bubnys, p.42.
Two
days after the
killing of the
young women,
"the rest of
the women and
children were
brought to the
same place,
and their fate
was similar."
(Pinkas
Hakehillot
Lita).
Exhumation of
site found 347
corpses of
women and
children (Tragedy
p. 219).
Identification
of the two
sites:
Co-ordinates
of SW site are
shown at Holocaust
Atlas of
Lithuania.
Google Earth
measurement
tool shows
that this site
is
approximately
440 m. from
the near edge
of Road 166,
when measured
by shortest
distance to
roadway, and
about 525 m
from road
along
north-south
direction.
Co-ordinates
of NE site are
shown at Holocaust
Atlas of
Lithuania.
Google Earth
shows that
this site is
about 2.5 km
from Perkunai
by air (i.e.
2.5 km from
wheres Google
Earth locates
Perkunai), and
about 350 m
from Road 166.
Memorial sign
at NE site
refers to the
killing of "about
300 Jewish
people of
Gargzdai."
Interrogation
of Defendant
Puzneckis,
describing
second day's
killing, says
the carts
carrying the
victims and
guards turned
into forest
about 1km
before
reaching
Ashmonishki,
and then drove
carts in
forest for
about half a
kilometer to
reach killing
site by forest
meadow.
Theory I: NE site is second day, and SW site is first day:
This is
the theory
adopted by Gedenkorte
Europa in
its section on
Gargzdai.
This German
language
website
describes the
southwest
memorial as
"Gedenkort
[Memorial
Site] II" for
the 100
selected
women, and the
northeast
memorial as
"Gedenkort
III" with its
sign (restored
in 2016)
referring to
approximately
300 victims.
Evidence supporting Theory I
Puzneckis participated in the killings on both days, and his memory may have confused the two sites.
For further
information
regarding the
route by which
the victims
were brought
to the
southwest
site, see the
notes
regarding the
Interrogations,
and the comparison
of maps and
photos of the
Vezaitine
Forest.
Another
possible
inconsistency,
set forth in Bubnys,
p. 42, is the
name of the
chief
Lithuanian
perpetrator at
the two
respective
sites. The
name set forth
in the
Aleksiejus
statement as
primarily
responsible
for the second
killings,
Idlefonsas
Lukauskas (Tragedy,
p. 222) is
named by other
sources as in
charge of the
first killings
but not the
second.
Defendant
Puzneckis
names
Lukauskas as
participating
in the second
killings,
although he
was not in
charge,
because he was
subordinate to
Police Chief
"Manchkus."
Aleksiejus
does not name
Gargzdai
Police Chief
Mockus as
present on the
second day.
Defendant
Gubistas
stated that
both Lukauskas
and Mackus
were present
the first day.
Defendant
Saliklas said
Ildefonsas was
in charge on
both days.
The account in the Ulm trial regarding the women and children ("Garsden II") is very brief in comparison to the men, comprising only three pages. (pp. 400-402). The judgment refers to only one shooting, not two. The judgment refers to "at least 100" being killed, which might suggest the account concerns the first killing per the Soviet account. However the Ulm judgment also refers to killing "women and children" which is more consistent with the second killing, per the Soviet investigation. The Court convicted Defendants Böhme and Behrendt of ordering these killings. Böhme gave the original order, which was then relayed by Behrendt.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The German
judgment also
reports a
secondhand
account, in
which a German
witness
testified as
to hearing a
comment from
the Mayor of
Gargzdai. The
Mayor had told
the witness (a
customs
official in
Memel) that
small children
from Gargzdai
were killed by
Lithuanians on
June 23, 1941
in a small
wooded area
close to
Gargzdai. pp.
401-402. The
source of the
Mayor's
information is
not provided
in the
judgment. The
passage starts
with "Es
sollen..."
which may be
translated as
"reportedly":
Es
sollen auch schon am 23.6.1941 jüdische
Kleinkinder von Garsden dadurch durch Litauer
getötet worden sein, dass sie mit den Köpfen
gegen Bäume geschlagen worden seien, wie der
Zeuge La., der frühere Leiter des
Zollkommissariats Memel-Ost, auf Grund einer
Mitteilung des Bürgermeisters von Garsden
ausgesagt hat....
Andererseits
ist als vermindernder Faktor berücksichtigt
worden, dass nach den obengenannten Aussagen des
Zeugen La. schon am 23.6.1941 jüdische
Kleinkinder aus diesen Familien in einem kleinen
Wäldchen bei Garsden ermordet worden sein
sollen.
In "Lithuania Crime and Punishment," # 6, Jan. 1999, Joseph A. Melamed, Ed., published under the auspices of the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel, there is an article by Joseph Zak (Zera Kodesh), London, entitled "Infanticide - the Cruel Murder of Jewish Enfants and Babies." The author states regarding Gargzdai, on p. 130, that after the women and children were separated from the men, they were led by Lithuanian guards beyond the river to a site west [sic] of town where they were to be imprisoned. On the way, many of the children were murdered with stones and clubs. The only source given regarding any of the towns set forth in the article, is that that all the accounts were in "volume 4 of the anthology of Lithuanian Jewry which provides details on the Holocaust." The reference is apparently to Yahadut Lita, published by the Association of The Lithuanian Jews in Israel, Tel Aviv 1967 (Vol. 3) and 1984 (Vol. 4).
Yahadut Lita states that many of the children were killed on the way to the imprisonment site beyond the Minija River, their heads being bashed into trees and rocks. At the end of the Yahadut Lita article, the sources are stated:
a) Lithuania anthology, volume A.
b) L. Shaus, letters to Y. Leshem, Yad Vashem archive.
c) Rachel Osher Testimony, Bnei-Brak (Herzog dist.).
d) Ulm Trial Report.
Inquiries are underway to
determine whether Yad Vashem has
letters from Shaus to Leshem (a
major contributor to the Gorsd
Memorial Book), aside from
letters from Shaus to other
parties (here,
here
and here)
set forth or referenced in the
Gorsd Memorial Book and in
Lite. Can any reader
clarify the reference to
"Testimony, Bnei - Brak"? Is
Bnei Brak listed merely as the
residence of Rachel Osher, or
instead as a source of written
materials in addition to those
by Osher
in the Gorsd Memorial Book?
The Museum
of the Jewish
People at Beit
Hatsufot
reports that
after the men
were killed,
and while the
women and
children were
being
transported to
their place of
imprisonment,
"Many
of the
children were
murdered on
the way."
No source is
given for this
information,
but presumably
is the article
in Lithuania
Crime and
Punishment, or
Yahadut Lita
as described
in that
article.
Although the dates and chronology differ, these reports of earlier killing of the small children are somewhat parallel to four other accounts of the first killings in September:
a) In the Gorzd
Memorial Book,
p. 38 (English
Section), Dr.
Hershel Meyer
states that in
September, all
the women and
children were
taken to the
woods, the
"Germans
seized the
children from
their mothers
and killed
them on the
spot," and
their mothers
and
grandmothers
were killed
two days
later.
b) An account similar to Dr. Meyer's is set forth in Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, The Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry, Y. Leiman, translator (Judaica Press, 1995), pp. 195-196. He writes that women and children were driven into the forest on September 14, the Germans separated the children from the women, and shot the children," and on September 16th they shot the women. Rabbi Oshry adds that the details were provided by "Mrs. Yami of Visatz" who had "escaped from the women's camp."
c) In Lita, a letter is quoted from a nephew of Khaym Shoys, stating: "One late-summer day everyone was once again driven to the Ashmonishke forest {Vezaitines forest}. Here they separated children and the young from the elders."
d) Saliklis
states that
the first
killing
involved 100
women, young
girls, and
children. This
included
approximately
20 children,
from a baby on
up. The second
group, a week
later, was
more than 100,
including
children of
various ages.
Dr. Meyer's and Rabbi Oshry's chronology for September, in which the victims were taken to the forest together, after which the children were separated from their mothers and killed in the first September killing, seems inconsistent with the physical evidence in the Soviet report (assuming that each grave contained victims from a single day). The bodies of women and children were found together in the second mass grave, while "girls" (presumably young women) were found in the first. The physical evidence also seems inconsistent with Saliklis' testimony that the first killing included approximately 20 children, from a baby on up.
Thus there are
several
sources,
attributable
to the
survivor of
the second
day, that set
forth an
alternate
version of the
first day's
killings.
Instead of the
"girls" found
in the
exhumation of
the first
site, the
victims
consisted of
"children"
separated from
their mothers.
The mothers
had been
brought to the
forest too,
but not killed
until two days
later. The
word "girls"
means
adolescent
girls or young
women, and is
different than
the word for
"children."
The Saliklis
interrogation,
though it must
be viewed with
caution,
offers
evidence
independent of
Ms. Yami that
children as
young as a
baby were
killed on the
first day.
Saliklis
placed the
number of
these children
at 20.
If each
exhumed grave
contained
victims from
only one day,
the
exhumations do
not seem to
support this
alternate
version of
children
killed on the
first day.
How would Yami
(age 33 and
without
children)
learn of the
children
separated from
their mothers
on the first
day? Perhaps
she could have
been part of a
larger group
of women and
children
brought to the
forest on the
first day.
From this
group, perhaps
only the
children were
killed, and
the remaining
adults sent
back to
Anieleske.
Alternatively,
she might not
have been in
the forest
herself on the
first day, but
could have
heard of the
events from
one or more
women who were
brought back
to Anieliske
following the
killings on
the first day.
Saliklis said
there were two
deep graves
prepared for
the first day.
It is unclear
whether these
were adjacent.
The sources
describe one
version or the
other of the
events of the
first day,
without
attempting to
harmonize
them. If both
accounts are
accurate, what
was the
connection
between
transport of
the women with
their children
into the
forest, with
the transport
of young women
purportedly
taken for
labor? Were
they all
transported as
part of the
same group, or
were there
separate
selections and
transports for
the young
women, and the
mothers
together with
their
children? Is
it possible
that they were
transported to
different
sites? Is it
possible that
more were
transported to
the site than
would fit in
the
pre-prepared
graves, so the
mothers were
taken back to
Anelishke to
be killed two
days later?
Is it
possible that
the children
separated from
their mothers
on the first
day, were
buried in the
same grave as
those killed
on the second
day?
The most likely source of additional evidence would be the interrogation of Puzneckis concerning the first day's killings. His interrogation on the present site concerns the second day. See Interrogation at n. 6. At the time these interrogations were obtained by a researcher for this website, the first day's interrogation could not be located. However another search should be made. In addition, perhaps another researcher has a copy outside the archives. Puzneckis' testimony is largely consistent with the physical evidence with only one simple change: assume his memory placed the second day's killings at the site of the first killings. Such a mistake would be understandable for someone who participated in both. His testimony is also largely consistent with that of the priest present on the second day. Therefore Puzneckis' unknown testimony as to the first day is critical.
Further sourcing is also desirable as to alleged killings of some of the young children on June 23. It seems likely that the Ulm judgment, and not information provided by Yami, Shaus or Osher, was the original source of this information as later related in Yahadut Lita. Yami, Shaus and Osher had all provided infomation for the Gorzd Memorial Book (Yami's information was supplied through others). If the alleged killing of the young children on June 23 had been known to any of them, this information would have been included in the Gorzd Memorial Book and in the other Jewish accounts. Dr. Meyer also reports that the Yami told Liebke Shauss that the women did not believe after June 24 their husbands had been killed. Such disbelief seems unlikely if their infants and young children had already been seized from them on June 23.
The
conflicting
accounts could
indicate that
there are
further
undiscovered
grave sites
for children.
If the
information
from the mayor
of Gargzdai is
accurate,
there could be
an
undiscovered
site for those
children
killed on June
23. If the
information
from Dr.
Meyer, Rabbi
Oshry and/or
Saliklis is
accurate, then
either the
young children
and infants
killed on
September 14
would have
been buried
with the
victims of
September 16,
or there would
be an
undiscovered
grave site for
those young
children or
infants killed
on September
14.
There is a difference between the Ulm judgment and Yahadut Lita as to the children supposedly killed on June 23. The Ulm judment specifically says the killing of the young children took place on June 23, but does not tie it into the relocation of the women and children across the river. Yahadut Lita does not give the date but states the killing took place during the journey to the imprisonment site for the women and children. The reason for this difference in the two accounts is unknown.
The name of the customs official who received the information from the Mayor of Gargzdai is spelled as "Lach" in the book "KZ-Verbrechen vor deutschen Gerichten, Band II: Einsatzkommando Tilsit - Der Prozess zu Ulm"(Frankfurt am Mein: Europaïsche Verlagsanstalt, 1966), pp. 401-402. Lach is cited eleven times in the Judgment as a credible witness. An individual with a slightly different spelling is listed with occupation Customs Inspector in the Memel City Directory, 1942. See note following Part III above.
The Ulm judgment does not state when the conversation took place between the customs official and the Mayor, the source of the Mayor's information, or the number of links between the Mayor and anyone with first hand knowledge. Because neither the Gargzdai mayor, nor those reporting the information to him, were present in court, the information was at least double hearsay. German courts do not have the same prohibitions against hearsay which generally apply in American courts. Jeremy A. Blumenthal, "Shedding some Light on Hearsay Reform: Civil Law Hearsay Rules in Historical and Modern Perspective," 13 Pace Int'l Law. Rev. 93, 99 (2001); Thompson Reuters Practical Law, Legal Systems in Germany - Overview, 26. Rather than prohibiting hearsay testimony, the German court assesses the reliability of the information.
Here, the reliability might well be regarded as questionable. The information could have passed through any number of persons before reaching the Mayor.
The Nuremburg Tribunal also permitted hearsay testimony. Michaela Halpern, "Trends in Admissability of Evidence in War Times Trials: Is Fairness Really Preserved?" 29 Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 103, 108-109 (2018).
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The first
known
photograph of
either of the
killing sites
of the women
and children
was taken by
George Birman
when he
visited
Gargzdai in
April, 1945.
The photo may
be viewed
online at the
collection of
George Birman
papers the
United States
Holocaust
Memorial
Museum, Item
8, bottom
row, second
photo from
left.
In recent
years, a
considerable
number of new
sources have
appeared
regarding the
killing of the
women and
children of
Gargzdai.
Hopefully
further
revelations
will continue
to clarify
these tragic
events.
VI. Orders to Einsatzkommando Tilsit
The men's killing in Gargzdai is particularly important to historians of the Holocaust because it was the first in the Soviet Union. The source, timing and content of orders to Böhme concerning the first killings are the subjects of controversy.
The Memorial
to the Men's
killing is on
the west end
of Klaipedos
gatve
(Klaipeda
Street),
between a
retail store
to the west
and an
apartment
complex to the
east. A
photo
of the Men's
Monument is
on this
website.
The monument
erroneously
dates the
killings in
July, 1941,
rather than on
June 24.
Also on this
website is a German
aerial
reconnaissance
photo,
taken in
January, 1945,
obtained from
the U.S.
National
Archives,
which shows
the area of
the killing
site.
There are two
Monuments to
the killing of
the women and
children.
Both are in
the Vezaitine
Forest,
northeast of
Vezaiciai, on
Road 166
leading to
Kuliai.
Locations of
the monuments
are set forth
in the
Holocaust
Atlas of
Lithuania, Item
171
(southwestern
site) and Item
158
(Northeastern
site). The
location of
Vezaiciai and
Road 166 to
Kuliai may be
seen at the openstreetmap.org. As
of 2009, there
were separate
marked
entrances off
the east side
of Road 166
leading to the
two
sites.
The more
northeasterly
site is more
easily
located,
because there
is a direct
road from 166
to the
site.
The more
southwesterly
site is more
difficult to
locate, and a
guide may be
desirable.
Photos
of the Women's
Monuments are
on this
website.
VIII.
Discrepancy
between German
and Soviet
Records as to
Number of
Victims at
Men's Killing
Site
There is an apparent discrepancy between the German records and the Soviet report as to the number of victims at the men's site. This discrepancy was noted by Aleksandras Vitkus and Chaimas Bargmanas (Chaim Bargman), "1941 Secrets of the Massacre of Jews in Gargzdai Not Yet Fully Disclosed" (2016). (article in Lithuanian, .pdf format) (article in html format [access in google Chrome browser, right click for English translation]) (pictures and introduction to article in Genocide and Resistance). The Soviet report of the exhumation indicates there were 396 male victims. Vitkus and Bargman indicate that several Lithuanian witness statements in Lithuanian archives had estimated the number of male victims as 400, not 200 as stated in the Ulm trial records. They point to other discrepancies in the number of victims, both as to the men and as to the women and children. These discrepancies exist in comparing various sources with each other, and also in comparing with pre-war figures for the Jewish population.
The figure of
396 men may be
supported by
comments of
George Birman,
a former
resident of
Gargzdai, who
provided much
of the
material for
the present
site.
Mr. Birman
told the
author (long
before the
Soviet report
became
available)
that some
former
residents of
Gargzdai
believed the
German figures
were too low
in comparison
to the Jewish
population of
Gargzdai at
the time. He
did not
believe that
any men who
were in
Gargzdai at
the time of
the invasion
survived the
shootings.
The only
survivors were
those (like
Birman himelf)
who were not
in the town at
the time of
the
invasion.
On
the other
hand, the
figure of 200
men and one
woman adopted
at the Ulm
trial is set
forth in early
documents,
including the
Situation
Reports used
at the trial,
and the even
earlier
Report
from
Staatspolizei
Tilsit to
RSHA, July 1,
1941 (a
document which
was unknown at
the time of
the
trial).
The Ulm
judgment
points out
that the
figure of
approximately
200 victims at
the men's site
was supported
by seven
witnesses who
were not
defendants in
the case, as
well as the
written
Situation
Reports.
The judgment
states that
this number,
determined by
the Stapo and
the SD, was
confirmed by
Böhme to
Einsatzgruppe
A and to
Section IV of
the RSHA
(Reich
Security Main
Office), and
by Defendant
Hersmann
to Section III
of the RSHA.
The following
arguments may
support the
accuracy of
the figure:
While a few
defendants
contended the
number was
lower,
apparently no
one at the
trial
contended it
was higher.
Further,
although some
of the male
victims were
unmarried
adolescents or
had no family,
others had a
spouse and
several
children. For
example, an
account
submitted to
Yad Vashem
indicates one
family with a
husband, wife,
and five
children
who all
perished in
Gargzdai. It
would seem
that the
number of
women and
children would
be
substantially
higher than
the number of
males. The
ratio of men
to women and
children might
favor the
figure of 200
men, rather
than 396, in
relation to
the reported
number of
women and
children found
at the
exhumation of
the two sites
in the forest.
The
German
judgment
states the
Jewish
population at
the time of
the invasion
was between
600
and 700.
If the figure
of 200 men and
one woman
killed at the
men's site is
correct, then
adding the 454
women and
children found
at the two
women's sites
totals 655.
This figure is
within the
range of the
total Jewish
population set
forth in the
German
judgment, but
would leave
unexplained
the
discrepancy
between the
201 victims
stated in the
German
judgment, and
the 396 bodies
found in the
exhumation of
the men's
site.
It
is possible to
suggest highly
speculative
theories to
account for
the
conflicting
numbers.
Theory A: The
German figure
of 200 men was
only an
estimate, and
the actual
figure was 396.
Arguments in
favor:
Is
it numerically
unlikely that
shooting all
the men would
result in the
round number
of 200?
In light of
the
unprecedented
nature of this
first mass
shooting of
the war, is it
possible that
accidentally
or
deliberately,
no one kept an
exact count on
June 24?
During
the
trial, did
prosecution
testimony
naturally
converge on
the figures
set forth in
the written
Situation
Reports? No
one had an
incentive to
testify to a
higher figure.
Pretrial
interrogation
of witnesses
yielded
estimates of
between 50 and
300 victims. Tobin
(2013), p.
165.
Yidishe
Shtet
states
pre-holocaust
Jewish
population was
around 800,
which compares
with the
Soviet total
of 850 victims
found in
exhuming the
sites.
Lithuanian
witness
statements in
Lithuanian
archives,
noted by
Vitkus and
Bargman,
estimated the
number of
victims at
400.
Arguments
against:
Given the very
large number
of mass
shootings
throughout
Lithuania,
chance could
easily result
in an accurate
count at one
location being
an even
multiple of
100. It is
also possible
that the
perpetrators
decided in
advance to
kill 200
males. See
Jürgen
Matthäus,
"Operation
Barbarossa and
the Onset of
the
Holocaust," in
Christopher R.
Browning, "The
Origins of the
Final Solution
-The-Evolution
of Nazi Jewish
Policy,
September
1939-March
1942,"
University of
Nebraska Press
and Yad
Vashem, 2004,
p.254. Having
already
decided upon
this round
number, they
then included
among the
victims enough
younger
individuals to
reach it. The
victims
included a 12
year old boy.
Id. p.
254; J.
Matthaus,
"Controlled
Escalation: Himmler’s
Men in the
Summer of 1941
and the
Holocaust in
the Occupied
Soviet
Territories,"
Holocaust
and Genocide
Studies 21,
no. 2 (Fall
2007), 218,
223.
Failure to
keep exact
records would
be
uncharacteristic
of SS
personnel
involved, and
other conduct
of
perpetrators
during the
Holocaust.
In pretrial
interrogation,
driver Kersten
gave a figure
of 200. Tobin
(2013), p.
148. There is
no apparent
indication he
was influenced
by the written
documents.
The
discrepancy
between an
estimate of
200 and a true
figure of 396
is too large;
someone would
have realized
that the
estimate was
too low. In
his reports
Böhme had no
incentive to
underestimate
and could not
have done so
to this great
extent.
No
pretrial
estimate given
to German
investigators
was higher
than 300. Tobin
(2013), p.
165. If the
true figure
was 396,
someone would
have provided
an estimate
higher than
300.
Some of the
Jewish
population had
left Gargzdai
as a result of
the 1939 fire,
which could
account for a
discrepancy
between the
prewar Jewish
population and
the number of
victims.
__________________________________________________
[Note: Encyclopedia Britannica lists an even larger figure of 800 Jews killed in Gargzdai on June 23 and 24. The source of this figure is not given. As of April, 2017, approximately two dozen other webpages now cite this same figure of 800.
The first source of this number may be a Wikipedia article, The Holocaust in Lithuania, which as of April 2017 reads: "Approximately 800 Jews were shot that day in what is known as the Garsden Massacre. Approximately 100 non-Jewish Lithuanians were also executed, many for trying to aid their Jewish neighbors." Wikipedia's footnotes for this assertion cite Porat, Dina (2002), "The Holocaust in Lithuania: Some Unique Aspects, in David Cesarini, The Final Solution: Origins and Implementation, Routledge, pp. 161-162, ISBN 0-415-15232-1, and MacQueen, Michael (1998), "The Context of Mass Destruction: Agents and Prerequisites of the Holocaust in Lithuania," Holocaust and Genesis Studies 12(1): 27-48. Neither source appears to contain either the 800 or 100 figure.
Perhaps the
figure of 800
is
a mistake
based on one
estimate for
the total
Jewish
population of
Gargzdai,
including
women and
children. The
Wikipedia
author may not
have realized
that the women
and children
were killed
several months
later.
The German
judgment, pp.
401-402,
contains a
brief
secondhand
statement that
Lithuanians
killed some
small children
from Gargzdai,
in a small
wooded area
adjacent to
Gargzdai, on
June 23. See
discussion in
Part V above.
The accuracy
of this
information is
questionable.
The statement in Wikipedia regarding the killing of 100 non-Jewish Lithuanians may refer to the massacre in Ablinga, a tiny village about 12 miles east of Gargzdai. See Section XI below.]
___________________________________________________
Theory
B:
The grave also
contains
Soviet troops
or NKVD border
guards who
died in the
battle of June
22, 1941
Arguments
in favor:
Prior
to the
executions on
June 24, the
Jewish men
were forced to
bury Soviet
soldiers who
had died in
the battle on
June 22. Dr.
Arunas Bubnys, Holocaust
in
Lithuanian
Province in
1941, p.
41.
The number of
Soviet troops
who died in
the battle is
unknown (Gargzdai
Area
Museum).
The Ulm
judgment
reports that
approximately
100 German
troops died in
the
unexpectedly
difficult
attack. The
battle lasted
15 hours.
(Konrad Kwiet,
Rehearsing
for
Murder: The
Beginning of
the Final
Solution in
Lithuania,
p. 6).
Were 195 dead
Soviet
soldiers or
NKVD border
guards buried
in the same
ditch as the
mass grave of
the 201 Jewish
victims, or in
an immediately
adjacent ditch
which was not
recognized to
be separate at
the time of
the
exhumation?
If
the dead
Soviet
soldiers are
not in the
same ditch or
an immediately
adjacent one,
where were
they buried?
German
reconnaissance
photo from
January, 1945
may show
several
ditches end to
end within the
killing site,
although it is
unclear
whether this
photo predates
the
exhumation.
Arguments
against:
This theory apparently finds no support in the German trial records, and may be contradicted by the following passage in the judgment:
"Die gefangenen Juden wurden bis zur Exekution mit verschiedenen Aufgaben beschäftigt. Einige mussten die herumliegenden Leichen der gefallenen Russen beerdigen. Andere mussten einen von den russischen NKWD-Soldaten angelegten Verteidigungsgraben zum Exekutionsgraben vertiefen und erweitern." KZ-Verbrechen vor Deutschen Gerichten, Band II - Einsatzkommando Tilsit - Der Prozess zu Ulm (Europaische Verlaganstalt, 1966), p. 101.
(The
Jews held
prisoner were
employed in
different
tasks prior to
the
execution.
Some had to
bury the
corpses of the
fallen
Russians which
were lying
about. Others
had to deepen
and widen a
defensive
ditch built by
the Russian
NKVD soldiers
into an
execution
ditch.)
If
half of the
bodies wore
military
uniforms, one
might expect
at least some
durable
remnants such
as boots,
metal buttons
and buckles to
remain visible
upon
exhumation,
and this fact
to be noted in
the Soviet
report. The
border guards
were members
of the NKVD
(predecessor
to the KGB);
some uniforms
of NKVD
frontier
guards are
pictured at armchairgeneral.com.
In
response, a
reader of this
site has
suggested that
the SS may
have foreseen
a need for
Soviet
uniforms to
use in future
commando
operations.
For example,
the capture of
Maikop in
August, 1942
was
accomplished
through the
use of 62
members of the
Brandenburger
Regiment
disguised in
NKVD uniforms.
A few months
later, some
Germans in
Soviet
uniforms
fought in the
Battle of
Stalingrad.
Geoffrey
Jukes, Stalingrad:
The Turning
Point
(Ballantine
Books, 1968),
p. 94.
Approximately
25 SS troops
wore US
uniforms
during the
Battle of the
Bulge, in Operation
Greif
organized by
Otto Skorzeny.
(According to
German
accounts,
compiled by
the US Army,
Soviet
reconnaissance
patrols
sometimes wore
German
uniforms. Small
Unit Actions
During the
German
Campaign in
Russia
(Department of
Army Pamphlet
20-269, 1953),
p. 22-23.) At
Gargzdai,
uniforms could
have been
removed from
the Soviets
prior to
burial, which
would prevent
their
identification
as military
personnel at
the time of
exhumation.
Another possibility is that the investigators realized that some of the bodies were military, but thought it unwise to put that fact into the report, as it was not in accordance with the political purposes of the exhumation. See Mark Harrison, "Fact and Fantasy in Soviet Records: The Documentation of Soviet Party and Secret Police Investigations as Historical Evidence," Warwick Economics Research Paper Series ISSN 2059-4283 (February, 2016).
Theory C: Soviet records from the time of Stalin's rule are not reliable enough to be given any credence. The figure of 396 should be disregarded.
Arguments
in favor:
There
are notorious
examples of
Soviet
manipulation
of alleged
fact-finding
to serve the
ends of
propaganda.
Best known is
the
investigation
of the Katyn
massacre
of
approximately
22,000 Poles.
Although the
perpetrators
were Soviets,
the Soviets
planted
evidence to
implicate the
Nazis.
An official
Soviet
commission in
1944 issued a
false report
stating the
killers were
the Nazis.
Criticisms
of the Soviet
Commission
which resulted
in the reports
and trials
regarding the
killings in
Lithuania are
set
forth in Alfonsas
Eidintas,
Jews,
Lithuanians
and the
Holocaust,
Trans. Vijole
Arbas and
Advardas
Tuskenis,
Vilnius:
Versus Aureus,
2003. See unsigned
review at
shtetlshkud.com,
p. 15.
For example,
the Commission
did not
distinguish
between Jewish
and non-Jewish
victims, a
motive of the
Soviets was to
discredit
certain
Lithuanian
individuals
including
emigres, and
some of the
convicted
individuals
may have been
innocent.
Cautions on the use of such Soviet records are set forth in Mark Harrison, "Fact and Fantasy in Soviet Records: The Documentation of Soviet Party and Secret Police Investigations as Historical Evidence," Warwick Economics Research Paper Series ISSN 2059-4283 (February, 2016).
Arguments
against:
As
to Gargzdai,
while the
Soviet reports
contain
propagandistic
language, and
downplay or
omit the fact
that the
victims were
Jews, it is
difficult to
see any
propaganda
value in
inflating the
number of
victims in a
report which
was given
little if any
publicity at
the time.
As
to the
reliability of
the Soviet
investigations,
see N.
Terry,
The
Einsatzgruppen
Reports,
paragraphs 20
and 21.
_______________________________________________________
Perhaps the Soviet archives contain further information (such as notes or data forming the basis for the report) which will eventually cast further light on the matter. Further information could emerge from Lithuanian archives or other sources. In the meantime, any input from readers would be welcomed.
IX. Did Jewish civilians take up arms against the invasion?
The supposed justification for the Gargzdai shootings, set forth in internal Nazi documents used in the Ulm trial, was that the Jewish population had resisted the German invasion. Operation Situation Report #14, dated July 6, 1941 stated: "In Garsden the Jewish population supported the Russian border guards in resisting the German offensive." The same language was set forth in the Report of Stapo Tilsit, July 1, 1941, a document unknown during the trial.
The Ulm judgment found that this resistance had never occurred:
Die Einwohner von Garsden einschliesslich der Juden beteiligten sich nicht am Kampf. Es wurden von der kämpfenden Truppe auch keine Zivilisten gefangengenommen. Auch lagen keine Leichen der Einwohner herum, aus deren Lage auf eine Beteiligung am Kampf hätte geschlossen werden können. Es wurde auch von den Kompanien dem II./IR 176 keine Meldung über eine Beteiligung der Zivilbevölkerung am Widerstand erstattet. Es war überhaupt an diesem Tag und später beim IR 176 und bei den ihm vorgesetzten Stellen nie von einer Beteiligung der Zivilbevölkerung, insbesondere der Juden, am Widerstand in Garsden die Rede.
KZ-Verbrechen vor Deutschen Gerichten, Band II - Einsatzkommando Tilsit - Der Prozess zu Ulm (Europaische Verlagsanstalt, 1966), p. 94 (italics in original).
"The inhabitants of Garsden including the Jews did not take part in the struggle. No civilians were taken prisoner by the fighting troops. Also no bodies of residents were found lying around, from whose position participation in the struggle could be determined. There were no reports from the companies of II [Battalion] / Infantry Regiment 176 of civilians participating in the resistance. Neither on the day of the invasion nor later was there any discussion in IR 176 or their forerunners regarding resistance by the civilians in Garsden, particularly Jews."
Contrary information appears in the Gorzd Memorial Book, translated on JewishGen:
Two young Jewish men, Mendl Man and Josef Osherovitz, who helped the small border garrison to resist the incoming German army were later found dead near a machine gun. The Hitlerists used the fact that young Jewish men fought against them; they staged a public trial against the men in the shtetl. They drove all of the Jewish men together on a side of the shtetl and told them to dig a grave for themselves. When the grave was finished, they carried out the sentence: for staging resistance to the German army, all of the men were sentenced to death by shooting…
The
Destruction of
Our Town
Gordz, by
Rashel Oysher,
translated by Gloria
Berkenstat
Freund, p. 325
(Hebrew-
Yiddish
section).
A similar
account
appears in Yahadut
Lita.
Pinkas
Hakehillot
Lita,
citing
testimony from
Ms. Osher as
one of its
sources,
states
"Several Jews
participated
in the
resistance."
Ms. Oysher does not state the source of her information regarding Mendl Man and Josef Osherovitz. Three pages later, Ms. Oysher states: "Ruchl Yami-Gritziana, who until the end was with all of the women at the grave and survived by chance, later spoke about the tragedy of our Gordz Jews." Id. at 328. This sole survivor may have been the source of Ms. Oysher's information about Mendl Man and Josef Osherovitz. Can any reader of this site provide further information regarding sources used by Ms. Oysher?
Rachel Osher is pictured with the Gorzd Esperanto club here.
Josef
Osherowitz is
mentioned in
the Gorzd
Memorial
Book as a
soccer player
and actor.
pp.
120;
122
(Hebrew-Yiddish
section). The
Yad
Vashem Central
Database of
Shoah Victims'
Names
contains pages
of testimony
regarding two
individuals
named Joseph
Osherowitz in
Gorzd.
The one who
could be
described as a
"young man" is
Osherowic or
Usherovitz,
Josef or
Yosef, a
butcher, age
30, husband of
Rivka.
Mendl Man is
mentioned in
the Gorzd
Memorial Book
as a member of
the synagogue
choir and an
actor. p.
108 and List
of
Names;
p.
124
(Hebrew -
Yiddish
section). He
is listed in
the
Central
Database
as age 20, a
worker,
single, son of
Yaakov and
Roza.
A history of
the 61
Infantry
Division
states there
were reports
that civilians
had taken part
in the
Gargzdai
fighting.
Walther
Hubatsch, "Die
61.
Infanterie-Division
1939-1945,"
Dorfler in
Nebel Verlag,
p. 18. The
author states
these reports
were followed
by the police
execution, in
which the
fighting
troops of the
Division did
not take part.
If Jewish civilians openly took up arms against the invaders at the time of the invasion, they were legal combatants. The Hague Convention of 1907 provided:
The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:
To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance;
To carry arms openly; and
To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army."
The inhabitants of a territory which has not been occupied, who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war.
Annex to the Convention Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Section I, Chapter I, The Qualifications of Belligerents.
These Articles were incorporated into the Geneva Convention of 1929. Article 2 quoted above also continues essentially unchanged in the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Article 4(A)(6).
A
number of
residents or
former
residents of
Gargzdai who
were elsewhere
in Lithuania
at the time of
the invasion
were
imprisoned in
the Kovno
Ghetto.
Many died
there due to
illness caused
by intolerable
living
conditions, or
were killed in
various
"Actions"
during which
residents were
selected for
execution.
Executions
took place at
the old forts
ringed around
Kovno: at
Fourth Fort,
Seventh Fort
and Ninth
Fort. The
ghetto was
liquidated in
1944, with the
males
transported to
Dachau and the
females
transported to
Stutthof.
Some in the
Ghetto tried
to hide in
underground
bunkers, but
most of the
hidden persons
died when the
Nazis set the
Ghetto on
fire.
Gorzd
Yizkor Book,
page 351
(Hebrew
Section),
posted at the
JewishGen
Yizkor Book
Project,
contains a
list of Gorzd
residents
killed in the
Kovno Ghetto
and in
concentration
camps, as well
as those who
fought in the
Lithuanian
Division or
fell in battle
at the front.
Maps showing Ablinga and Zvaginiai (Zwaginie) northwest of Endriejavas (Andrzejewo):
 |
 |
| Karte
des Deutschen
Reiches (1914) Sheet 4 - Paaschken Showing 14 dwellings in Ablinga and 15 in Zwaginie |
Lith.
Army ca.
1938 From Map 1301 at Lithuanianmaps.com |
Area
Between Memel
and
Endriejavas
Showing
villages of
Ablinga and
Zvaginiai
northwest of
Endriejavas
From R56 Tilsit, Ubersichtkarte von Mitteleuropa 1:300,000 (1939) at www.mapywig.org
While
the map below
appears to
show German
fortifications
near Ablinga
at the time of
the invasion,
it appears
that these
were in fact
Soviet
fortifications
under
construction.
See Rimantas
Zizas, Persecution
of non-Jewish
Citizens of
Lithuania,
pp.
24-25.
The blue color
is apparently
either an
error of the
map maker, or
a confident
prediction
that the
Germans would
quickly
capture them.
Gargzdai
main page
Aerial
Photo
of Gargzdai | Identification
of
Features on
Aerial Photo | Aerial
Photo of
Killing Site
Photos,
Page 2
(Women's
Memorials) | Photos,
Page 4 (Men's
Memorial)
This
page was
updated
September 3,
2021
Copyright © 2002-2021 John S. Jaffer
