Murder Story of Vandziogala Jews on the Bank of the Nevėžis River in Babtai

On August 16, 1941, all the Jewish men from Vandžiogala and Babtai were arrested and locked in the synagogue in Babtai. The men from the two villages were held there for two weeks. Every day, they would be taken out for forced labor (road construction). They were not given anything to eat. The women from the towns brought food to their imprisoned husbands. Ten days later, the Lithuanians demanded a ransom of 500 rubles for each Jew. The Jews of Vandžiogala chose three representatives who were sent to their village to collect the sum demanded. Two of the representatives were Ch. Labunowski and Jakow Reibsztein. The Lithuanians promised that all the Jews would be released when the ransom was paid. …Immediately after the Jewish women and children from Vandžiogala had been taken to Babtai, the men were led out of the synagogue, divided into groups, and marched under heavy guard into the forest 2 kilometers from Babtai and half a kilometer from the Babtai-Kedainiai road. Pits had been dug there in advance. After arriving at the site, the men were forced to strip naked and shot dead.