The Holocaust began in Panevėžys and Lithuania on June 22, 1941. We must not forget how Litvaks lived before the tragedy and how their history ended in 1941.

There are still eye-witnesses to the mass murder of the Jews who lived in the Panevėžys district before World War II. The first mass shootings began in July in the Panevėžys district when ghettos were set up in every town and city, in Panevėžys, Biržai, Kupiškis, Pasvalys, Rokiškis and elsewhere.

The Panevėžys Jewish Community and the scouts of Panevėžys have undertaken a project conceived by Michailas Adomas and Elena Adelina to maintain the mass murder sites in the district.

This time the clean-up began June 9 in the Kurganova Forest in the Panevėžys region. Volunteers including Panevėžys scouts and the chairman of the Panevėžys Jewish Community participated. The scouts learned about the Holocaust in Panevėžys, the Panevėžys district and Lithuania.

In total around 200,000 Jews were murdered in Lithuania with about 13,500 Jews murdered almost immediately in the Panevėžys region.