Kavarskas

Jews began to settle in Kavarskas in the 18th century. From the mid-19th century, the town had an organized Jewish community, whose members lived mainly from trade. The census of 1897 recorded the presence of 979 Jews in Kavarskas (sixty-three percent of the total population). World War I led to a wave of Jewish emigration from the town. In the aftermath of that war, Kavarskas became part of independent Lithuania. The establishment of Lithuanian independence in 1918-19 was accompanied by a pogrom in Kavarskas: In 1919, conscripts being mobilized into the new Lithuanian Army inflicted a great deal of damage on Jewish residences and shops; the Lithuanian officers were eventually able to put a stop to the riots. In 1923, the town was home to a mere 436 Jews (forty-two percent of the total). In June 1940, Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union. Jewish businesses were nationalized, and the standard of living dropped precipitously. In June 1941, the Soviet-German War broke out, and on June 26 the Germans occupied Kavarskas. Even before the arrival of German troops, anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisans took control of the town. They proceeded to arrest some 35-40 people, mostly Jews, as suspected Soviet collaborators. The arrestees were shot in late June-early July 1941 at the local Jewish cemetery and near the village of Pumpučiai, at the southern edge of the town. The rest of the Jews of Kavarskas, those who had survived the massacres near Pumpučiai and at the Jewish cemetery, were killed in the Pivonija Forest, together with the Jews of Ukmergė and the surrounding villages, on September 5, 1941. Kavarskas was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944.