Niemenczyn

Jews began to settle in Niemenczyn in the mid-19th century, and by the end of that century they made up the majority of the population of this village. In 1897, there were 639 Jews in Niemenczyn, or seventy-two percent of the total population. The community suffered in World War I and the ensuing military conflicts. In 1922, the village became part of Poland. In September 1939, World War II began, and Niemenczyn was occupied by the Soviets. At that time, there were some seventy Jewish families living in the village. The Soviets assigned Niemenczyn to Lithuania, but in 1940 Lithuania itself was annexed by the USSR, and the village came back under Soviet control. In June 1941, the Soviet-German War broke out. Only a handful of Jews were able to evacuate together with the retreating Red Army on June 23, the second day of the war. On June 25, German troops entered the town. Anti-Jewish decrees followed, along with the brutal abuse of religiously observant Jews. On June 27, the Lithuanian collaborationist police arrested eight Jews who had been denounced as communists, and, after holding them in the local prison for two weeks, they sent them to Vilnius. On September 20, all the remaining Jews of Niemenczyn were marched three kilometers southwest, along the Vilnius road, and shot in the nearby forest. Niemenczyn was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944.