Well in advance of the German invasion of Lithuania, various Lithuanian paramilitary groups were organized secretly in Lithuania to prepare for an “uprising” against the Soviet occupation administration and other “enemies,” including Lithuania’s Jewish civilian population.  When the German invasion began, on June 22, 1941, the leaders of the Lithuanian nationalist forces seized the Kaunas radio station.  They announced that a “Provisional Government” had been established and that Jewish lives and property were beyond legal protection.  With this cue, nationalist cells throughout the country began their “uprising.”  Violence against Jews and the looting of their property began before German troops arrived.  SS paramilitary units soon arrived who systematized and oversaw the arrest, concentration, and murder of Lithuania’s Jewish citizens.  On December 1, 1941, Karl Jäger, the commander of SS Einsatzkommando 3 (“EK3”), issued a secret report detailing, by date and location, and the number and classification of the people killed in the zone assigned to his unit.  
 

In the following English translation of the “Jäger Report,” the names of the towns in and near the geographical area covered by the 1952 Rokiskis and Environs yizkor book are indicated in bold type.

Note 2:  As noted by Lithuanian historian Dr. Arūnas Bubnys, the “participants” in northeastern Lithuania went into action once they received word of the German invasion. “The main organizers and future participants in the uprising were the šauliai, members of the Šaulių sąjunga (Riflemen’s Association), officers and non-commissioned officers of the Lithuanian army, policemen, local government officials, teachers and patriotically inclined farmers.  … An important impulse was given by the news broadcast by Kaunas radio that the Provisional Government of Lithuania was being formed and Lithuania’s independence was being restored.  … Before the arrival of the German army the uprising participants had essentially freed northeast Lithuania from the Soviet occupation and ruled the area for several days.”  “1941 m. Birželio Sukilimas Šiaurės Rytų Lietuvoje” (“The Uprising of June 1941 in Northeast Lithuania”), Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademijos metraštis. T. 29. Vilnius, 2006, ISSN 1392-0502, 140, 168-169.

Complete List Of Executions Carried Out In The Einsatzkommando 3 Zone Up To December 1, 1941

Security police duties in Lithuania taken over by Einsatzkommando 3 on 2 July 1941. (The Wilna [Vilnius] area was taken over by EK 3 on 9 Aug. 1941, the Schaulen [Šiauliai] area on 2 Oct. 1941. Up until these dates EK 9 operated in Wilna and EK 2 in Schaulen.)  On my instructions and orders the following executions were conducted by Lithuanian partisans:

Following the formation of a raiding squad under the command of SS-Obersturmfuhrer Hamman and 8-10 reliable men from the Einsatzkommando the following actions were conducted in cooperation with Lithuanian partisans:

Today I can confirm that our objective, to solve the Jewish problem for Lithuania, has been achieved by Einsatzkommando 3.  In Lithuania, there are no more Jews, other than the Work Jews, including their families. They are:

                               In Schaulen [Šiauliai]            around   4,500

                               In Kauen [Kaunas]                 “     15,000

                               In Wilna [Wilno / Vilnius]      “     15,000

I also wanted to kill these Work Jews, including their families, which however brought upon me acrimonious challenges from the civil administration (the Reichskommisar) and the army and caused the prohibition: the Work Jews and their families are not to be shot!

The goal of making Lithuania free of Jews could only be attained through the deployment of a raiding command with selected men under the leadership of SS First Lieutenant Hamann, who completely and entirely adopted my goals and understood the importance of ensuring the co-operation of the Lithuanian partisans and the competent civilian positions.

The implementation of such activities is primarily a question of organization.  The decision to systematically make every district free of Jews necessitated an exhaustive preparation of each individual operation and reconnaissance of the prevailing circumstances in the applicable district.  The Jews had to be assembled at one or several locations.  Depending on the number, a place for the required pits had to be found and the pits dug.  The marching route from the assembly place to the pits amounted on average to 4 to 5 kilometers.  The Jews were transported to the place of execution in detachments of 500, at intervals of at least 2 kilometers.  The attendant difficulties and nerve-wracking activity occasioned in doing this are shown in a randomly selected example:

In Rokiskis, 3,208 people had to be transported 4.5 kilometers before they could be liquidated.  To accomplish this task in 24 hours, more than 60 of the 80 available Lithuanian partisans had to be allocated for transportation and cordoning off duty.  The remainder of them, who had to be constantly replaced, carried out the work together with my men.  Motor vehicles are only occasionally available.  Attempts to escape, which took place every now and then, were prevented exclusively by my men at the risk of their lives.  Thus, for example, near Mariampole, three men of the commando shot down 38 escaping Jews and Communist functionaries on a woodland path without anyone escaping.  The marching route to and from the individual operations amounted to 160-200 kilometers.  Only by clever usage of the time was it possible to carry out up to five operations in a week and at the same time, to manage nonetheless the work in Kauen in such a way that no slow-down in the service work took place.

The operations in Kauen itself, where reasonably sufficient trained partisans were available, can be considered as parade shootings compared to the often enormous difficulties that had to be dealt with outside.

All the leaders and men of my commando in Kauen have taken part actively in the large-scale operations.  Only one official from the police records department was excused from participation due to illness.

I consider the Jewish operations for Einsatzkommando 3 as essentially completed.  The still available Work Jews and female Work Jews are urgently required and I can foresee that post-Winter, this manpower will still be most urgently required.  I am of the view that sterilization of the male Work Jews should begin immediately to prevent reproduction. Should a Jewess nonetheless become pregnant, she is to be liquidated.

            *          *          *

 (signed) Jager
SS-Standartenfuhrer [an SS rank that was equivalent to a full colonel]