Memorials in Rainiai Forest - the place of the martyrs' murder
Memorial site

The Rainiai Passion Chapel is located in the village of Rainiai, 5 km from Telšiai, next to road 160 Telšiai-Varniai - Laukuva.

On June 25-26, 1941, one of the most horrific massacres in the history of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania took place in the Rainiai forest. At night, 75 political prisoners from Telšiai prison were brutally tortured by the Red Army and the repressive institutions of the USSR. The victims, buried in a common grave, were found a few days later by a random passerby.

To honor the victims of the massacre, the construction of the Chapel began in 1943, based on the idea of architect Jonas Virakas. The Soviet authorities, upon returning, demolished it in 1944. Later, in 1990, after Lithuania regained its independence, architect A. Žebrauskas, based on the drawings of the same author, began building another chapel. The chapel was consecrated on June 23, 1991, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Rainiai Massacre.

The Rainiai Suffering Chapel is not only dedicated to the memory of the Rainiai martyrs, but also perpetuates the memory of all victims of Soviet terror. In the forest next to the chapel, where political prisoners were tortured, a stone cross carved by sculptor R. Midvikis was erected. Three more wooden crosses, painted in the colors of the national flag, stand along the way. They were erected by local people shortly after the massacres, but the villagers drowned them in the Viešvėnai Pond. Only recently, after the pond was drained, were the crosses found, painted and restored.