Vandžiogala

Jews began to settle in Vandžiogala in the mid-17th Century. In 1897, the town was home to 374 Jews, who made up 57 percent of its total population. The Jewish community of Vandžiogala shrank dramatically as a result of the emigration of Jews from Lithuania in those years and the 1915 deportation of Jews by the Russian authorities, who suspected them of aiding the German enemy. In 1940, the town had only about 70 Jewish families. Most of the town's Jews made their living from crafts and agriculture. Some Jews owned small factories. After World War I, a Tarbut-affiliated Hebrew-language school was opened in Vandžiogala, but some local Jewish children continued to study in the traditional heder. Following the annexation of Lithuania by the USSR in summer 1940, the businesses of Vandžiogala, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, were nationalized; Zionist activities were banned, and the Hebrew-language school was closed down. Vandžiogala was occupied by German troops on June 25, 1941. Prior to that, some local Jews had tried to escape into the Soviet interior via Latvia, but were caught and forced to return home. Others were murdered by local Lithuanian nationalists. On July 8, a ghetto was established in one of the village's streets. On the same day, 68 Jews were murdered by Lithuanians near the Jewish cemetery. Vandžiogala was liberated by the Red Army in August 1944.