The Šiauliai Ghetto
ENBefore the war, the Šiauliai Jewish community was one of the largest in Lithuania. In 1902, there were 9,847 Jews living in the city (71 percent of the total population). As the Imperial German Army approached in 1915, most of the Jews in Šiauliai withdrew to Russia. Once the war was over, many of these people returned to their hometown. The Jews in Šiauliai enjoyed an active professional, cultural, and political life in independent Lithuania. They had their own trade union, banks, political party branches, houses of worship, religious schools, gymnasiums, libraries, kindergartens, hospitals, and other institutions. Before the Second World War began, there were 6,500–8,000 Jews living in Šiauliai. During the June 1941 deportation campaigns, the Soviets deported 202 Jews from Šiauliai. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, some of Šiauliai’s Jewish population attempted to retreat to Russia. The German Army occupied Šiauliai on June 26, 1941. The Soviets withdrew from the city without much resistance. Four German soldiers, 11 Lithuanian anti-Soviet partisans, and 51 civilians were killed during the occupation of Šiauliai. Close to a thousand Jews withdrew to the East during the first days of the war. Some of those who were unable to get out in time returned to Šiauliai.At the beginning of the war, members of the Lithuanian Activist Front (Lithuanian: Lietuvių aktyvistų frontas; LAF) and anti-Soviet rebels began to operate in Šiauliai, as they did in other Lithuanian cities and counties; though they considered themselves “partisans”, people usually called them “white armbands” (Lithuanian: baltaraiščiai). A few weeks into the war, these units were reorganized into auxiliary police squads. The Lithuanian partisans were after Red Army soldiers, communists, Komsomol members, Soviet officials, and supporters of the Soviet government who were still in Lithuania or on their way out. [p. 237].
