by Aušrinė Merkytė

Officials from the Subačius aldermanship and educational institutions as well as the public attended a commemoration September 23 to honor the memory of Holocaust victims buried in a mass grave on the hill called Lapakalnis in the Ilčiūnai Forest. According to the memorial monument which stands there, 80 people were killed there in July, 1941.

Inga Dovydėnienė, an employee at the Subačius section of the Kupiškis Cultural Center in charge of cultural activities, organized the event and began by reminding attendees that 80 years have passed since those terrific events and we no longer have among us many of the eye-witnesses, and are no longer able to hear the stories and testimonies of the families who died.

She said all who had gathered already feel the need to honor and remember their murdered countrymen. There were probably from 600 to 700 Jews living in the Subačius area who were murdered over the period of a few months. While some sources say 80 Jews were murdered on Lapakalnis, others put the number at closer to 300. Dovydėnienė read out the names of the known victims

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman said it’s important to know the names. He thanked historians working on the Holocaust and Jewish history and singled out Kupiškis Regional History Museum specialist Aušra Jonušytė, praising her dedication and work in the discipline of history.

Candles were lit and stones inscribed with Jewish names were placed on the monument. The alderwoman of the Subačius aldermanship laid a bouquet of autumn flowers there as well.

Aušra Jonušytė read her text “Signs of Memory” with photographs of residential and agricultural buildings as well as commemorative sites.

Local Milda Markauskaitė-Aižinienė recalled the neighborhood where she and Jewish families lived. As a small girl a merchant named Mendeliuk gave her candy on display in his shop. When she recalled the mass murder, she wept.