Ejszyszki

Jews were first mentioned as residing in Ejszyszki in the mid-18th century. By 1925 approximately 2,800 Jews lived in the town, comprising 70 percent of the total population. The Jews of Ejszyszki made their living from agricultural commerce, small business, and trade. The Zionist movement, as well as Jewish cultural and educational activities, flourished in Ejszyszki in the 1920s and 1930s. During the late 1930s the town’s Jews suffered violent attacks from their Polish neighbors. On September 17, 1939, following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and the German invasion of Poland, Ejszyszki was incorporated into Lithuania. In June 1940 Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union and private property, mostly owned by Jews, was nationalized. Jewish political, educational, and cultural activities in Ejszyszki were prohibited. With the German occupation of Ejszyszki on June 23, 1941 hundreds of local Jewish men were taken for forced labor, humiliated, and tortured. On September 24, 1941 the entire Jewish population of Ejszyszki, along with Jews from Olkieniki, Lejpuny, Desznia, and Salo, were shot in the Jewish cemetery of Ejszyszki. The Red Army liberated Ejszyszki on July 13, 1944.