Alytus, Lithuania

Jewish settlement in east Alytus (located on the east bank of the Nemunas river and belonged to Poland) traces back to the sixteenth century. Jewish presence in west Alytus (located on the west bank of the Nemunas river, and belonged to Russia) dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century. During the era of Lithuanian independence (1918-1940), both parts of the city were unified. In 1940, at the time of the Soviet annexation of Lithuania, Alytus had a combined Jewish population of 1,730 out of a total population of 9,900 residents. A majority of the Jews were engaged in trade, crafts, light industry, and agriculture. Following the annexation, factories and local businesses were nationalized, a measure that severely impacted the middle class, which was largely comprised of Jews. During this period, the Soviets began the construction of a military base an underground airfield. The German army occupied Alytus between June 22 and 24, 1941. Jews were murdered as of the beginning of July. Lithuanian nationalists, with the consent and participation of the German occupying forces, carried out the killings. Local Jews, along with Jews from the neighboring towns of Varėna, Butrimonys, and Merkinė, were forced in to a ghetto that was formed at the beginning of September 1941 {4431560}. Several days after the ghetto was established, its inhabitants were murdered.{ 3541849}. The Red Army liberated Alytus in the summer of 1944.