Murder Story of Lazdijai Jews at the Katkiškės Estate

… On October 26. 1941 the partisans [Lithuanian nationalists] sealed the ghetto and didn’t take Jews out any more to work. When the “partisan” guard around the ghetto was increased, the Jews clearly understood that they didn’t have long to live. Their shock was very great. However, even though the Jews already knew about the shooting of the Jews in Mariajampole, Alytus, and other villages, they still hoped for a miracle. On October 27 the “partisans” boarded up the windows of the barracks so that no one could even slip out of the barracks from cracks between the boards. That same day, when the Jews saw farmers passing with various tools for digging pits, they no longer had any doubts that their end was near. Some Jews in the barracks could see how pits were being dug for them all. At this point the youth began to organize themselves, thinking about a way to grab the guards’ weapons, cut the telephone wire around the ghetto, and escape with the weapons they had just gotten hold of. To the youth it was clear that that whoever could be saved should be saved. There was no question of saving the women and children, the infirm, and the elderly. However, some of the youth objected to the plan; they hoped that perhaps a mass shooting would not take place and, in the event of a revolt, [they believed that] no one would survive. The rabbi of Lazdijai and other rabbis pleaded that the youth not take any risky steps, asking them to have pity on the women and children. Zef and his friend Michnowski requested that they not obstruct efforts to save at least the youth. Ultimately, the opinion of the rabbi and his followers prevailed. Then each person began to think about himself. Parents gave many of the young people money that had been hidden, or gold and other valuables; then they parted forever. These youth bribed the Lithuanian guards to escape from the ghetto. The “partisans” shot many of the youths while they were fleeing the ghetto after they had accepted money or gold from them and had agreed to allow them to get away. That is how the Frydkowski brothers and their sister from the village of Veisiejai, the Lewkowicz brothers, and others were shot in a treacherous manner. The youth continued to flee even after the guards around the ghetto were reinforced and, even, doubled. The Jews [in the ghetto] did not receive any food, even there they were given only rye flour. On November 3, 1941 all the Jews – men, women, the elderly, and the sick – were taken out of the ghetto and shot. Their bodies were thrown into pits that had been dug ahead of time. From all around one could hear very clearly screams and the bitter crying of the Jews near the pits when they were being taken to be shot. It was impossible to drown out the sounds of the machine-guns or to silence the heart-rending shouts of the victims. Mass graves were located about 3 kilometers from the village of Lazdijai, 1 kilometer from the former Gorovitz estate, where the Jewish barracks were located, i.e., 1 kilometer from the ghetto. Nearby there were hills and a stream. Between them [the hills] and near the stream were two long trenches, each 55 meters long and 6 meters wide. Farmers said that the shooters stood around on the hills, with rifles and machine-guns. Not a single person could escape from there. The killers drove to the pits the men and women, both half naked, in only their underwear. First they shot the men, then the women and children. On November 3, 1941 there were only two Germans in the village and they did not take part in the killing. Only the Lithuanian “partisans” and Lithuanian policemen from the village shot the Jews.