• Memorial Stone at Shiauliai Ghetto
The memorial stone is dedicated to the Jewish residents of the Shiauliai Ghetto (Lithuanian: Šiauliai). The ghetto was one of the three largest on Lithuanian territory under German occupation between 1941 and 1944. The city council set up this memorial stone in 1993 on the site which marks the former ghetto entrance.
Image: Shiauliai, around 1944, The burned site of the ghetto after the Soviet bombardment, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus
Shiauliai, around 1944, The burned site of the ghetto after the Soviet bombardment, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus

Image: Shiauliai, 2004, Memorial stone at the former ghetto entrance, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas
Shiauliai, 2004, Memorial stone at the former ghetto entrance, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas
In 1939, Jews accounted for almost a quarter of the 32,000 residents of Shiauliai, the largest city in the northwest of Lithuania. Until Lithuania's occupation by Soviet troops in 1940, the town boasted a wide array of Jewish institutions. On June 26, 1941, the city was occupied by German forces. On the order of Regional Commissar Hans Gewecke, all Jews from the town and surrounding areas had to relocate into a ghetto by August 15, 1941. The ghetto was established in the »Kaukazas« and »Trakai« quarters. A total of 5,500 people had to live on 8,000 square metres. Most of those imprisoned in the ghetto had to conduct forced labour in factories in the town and surrounding areas from September 1941 onwards. Already in the first weeks of the occupation, members of the SS-Einsatzgruppe A (mobile killing squad) and Lithuanian helpers carried out mass shooting operations. By mid-August 1941 over 2,000 Jews from Shiauliai had been murdered in the forest of Kužiai and in ditches close to Bubiai. In September 1943, the SS took over the administration of the ghetto and turned it into a satellite camp of the Kaunas concentration camp. With the Red Army advancing upon Lithuanian territory, the SS dissolved the satellite camp in 1944. The prisoners were transported to Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig. The ghetto area burned down completely during the Soviet bombardment that followed. Only 350 to 500 Jews survived to see the liberation of Shiauliai by the Red Army.
Image: Shiauliai, around 1944, The burned site of the ghetto after the Soviet bombardment, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus
Shiauliai, around 1944, The burned site of the ghetto after the Soviet bombardment, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus

Image: Shiauliai, 2004, Memorial stone at the former ghetto entrance, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas
Shiauliai, 2004, Memorial stone at the former ghetto entrance, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas
Up to 5,500 Jews lived in the Shiauliai Ghetto. Only few survived to see the liberation by the Red Army. Already in 1941, the SS ordered the murder of thousands of Jews from the area around Shiauliai.
Image: Shiauliai, 1942, The ghetto residents returning from work in the military uniform department in Shiauliai, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus
Shiauliai, 1942, The ghetto residents returning from work in the military uniform department in Shiauliai, Šiaulių »Aušros« Muziejus

Construction on the former ghetto area was limited after the war in order to keep the memory of it alive. Today, a landscaped park is located there. Additionally, a simple stone memorial located on the site of the former ghetto entrance was set up by the city council in 1993.

Image: Shiauliai, 2004, The park at the site of the former Ghetto »Kaukasus«, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas
Shiauliai, 2004, The park at the site of the former Ghetto »Kaukasus«, Stiftung Denkmal, Nerijus Grigas

Name
Šiaulių miesto zydų geto paminklas
Address
Traku g./ Ezero g.
76285 Šiauliai
Phone
+370 (8)41 523694
Fax
+370 (8)41 523696
E-Mail
sigitat@takas.lt
Open
The memorial stone is accessible at all times.