The German army entered Varėna in June 1941. In the first days of the occupation, the town’s commandant issued an order imposing the death penalty for even the slightest disobedience to the German authorities. A curfew was introduced from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. All Jewish males aged 14 and older were required to report to the police station every morning at 8 a.m. for forced labor. Soon after, they were ordered to sew yellow six-pointed stars onto their shoulders. Supervised by local police and white armband collaborators, the Jews were forced to build roads, work on the railway, cut wood, and clean government buildings.

In 1941, 267 Jews lived in Senosios Varėna. It is believed that the lists compiled by police and municipal officials in August were part of the preparations for the mass executions.

On the morning of September 8, police and collaborators began rounding up Jews from Senosios Varėna and bringing them to a local school. Jews from Varėna II (present-day Varėna city) were also transported there. On September 10, a unit of Nazi executioners from the Alytus district arrived. Together with local collaborators, they forced the Jews to strip to their undergarments, pile their clothes in one place, cross their arms behind their backs, and line up in pairs with their heads down. They were then marched by the police and collaborators toward the Varėna military training ground (near Druckūnai village), where two mass graves had already been dug. The local population was ordered to stay indoors with their windows covered.

At the killing site, the Jews were murdered. According to a report by SS Commander Karl Jäger, 831 Jews were executed: 541 men, 141 women, and 149 children. Only 23 managed to escape. At the end of the war, 8 Jews from Varėna had survived, 5 of whom later settled in Munich.

Source: visitvarena.lt