Expulsion and extermination

A study based on accounts from Leyb Koniuchovsky's collection of Holocaust survivors' testimonies from Lithuania, now held at the Yad Vashem archives. The focus is on the Holocaust in the small towns, rather than in Vilnius and Kaunas. Pt. 1 (pp. 16-41), "Historical Background", describes Jewish life in provincial Lithuania before World War II, life under Soviet occupation in 1940-41, and under the German occupation in 1941-44. Popular antisemitism was based both on traditional dislike of Jews and on the prevalent perception of the Jews as a tool of Sovietization. Notes that the period 23 June - 5 August 1941 was formally a period of Lithuanian rule, when the anti-Jewish policies were carried out largely by Lithuanian authorities, and the mass murders by both the SS and Lithuanians. Pt. 2 (pp. 42-201), "Testimonies", describes various stages and aspects of the Holocaust in the towns, quoting from survivors' testimonies. Dwells on the early stage of the German occupation and the reaction of Lithuanians to it; forced labor for Jews; the expropriation of their property and goods; ghettoization, which usually lasted two-six weeks until the Jews were transferred or murdered; mass murders; and the attitudes and actions of Lithuanians vis-à-vis the Jews. Ther survivors' accounts show that the local population was an indispensable element in carrying out the Holocaust; the borderline between bystanders and perpetrators is often vague. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)