Kaušėnai Holocaust Memorial Memorial site

A memorial to the victims of the Kaušėnai Holocaust has been installed in the village of Kaušėnai (Plungė district) at the site of the Jewish massacre. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Jewish community of Plunge and surrounding villages destroyed during the Second World War.

The memorial was founded on the initiative of the last Jew of Plunge, Jakov Bunka. The first monument was erected in 1952 to the victims of the Second World War, and in 1986-1989 a memorial was built to honor the dead Jews. In 2011, the Memorial Wall was installed, which is made of 1,800 bricks from the demolished Plunge synagogue, each of which is dedicated to the memory of the murdered person, and plaques with the known names of 1,200 (out of 1,800) Jews are attached to the wall. Rescuers' Alley has been created next to the memorial, where individuals who saved condemned Jews in Plunge and its surroundings during the Nazi occupation are listed on separate name columns.

On July 12-13, 1941, about 1,800 Jews from the Plunge region were killed and buried in the Plunge synagogue in brutal conditions. On the day of the genocide, those who could walk were driven to walk 5 km to the place of execution, others were transported by trucks in separate groups. The victims were ordered to dig holes for themselves, after which they were shot. The other group had to bury the dead and dig a new hole for themselves.

The memorial is in the top ten of the most impressive memorials reflecting the tragedy of the European Jewish people.