The first shooting of Jews in Girkalnis took place on July 8, 1941. According to Eger’s report, 6 communist activists were shot. Around August 13, 1941, policemen and white-armbanded men from Girkalnis arrested 7 Jews from the town, took them to the village of Kurpiškės, and shot them.
Closer to noon on August 21, 1941, two trucks arrived in Girkalnis from Raseiniai. Local auxiliary policemen began rounding up Jews into the trucks. Some Jews refused to get into the trucks, so the policemen beat them with rifle butts and forced them inside. One hundred twenty-eight Jewish men, women, children, and elderly were taken to the killing site in the Kadaginė forest. The shooting was commanded by the head of the police station of the Girkalnis rural district, Stasys Lukminas. More than 30 policemen and white Banderites participated in the killing. The Jews were ordered to undress in the pit. They were shot in three groups. Their executioners loaded their clothes onto the trucks and took them back to Girkalnis. In the evening, Lukminas invited several of the killers to his home.
On August 23, 1941, Jews from Betigala were shot at the same location, and a few days later, Jews from the town of Raseiniai were killed there.
On August 24, 1941, Jews from Raseiniai were ordered to prepare to move to the Biliūnai estate. A few days later, they were forced to go there. From August 29 to September 6, 1941, the remaining Jews of Raseiniai were killed in the village of Kurpiškė. The Jews were driven out of the Biliūnai estate by white bandits and shot by the Germans. Within a week, 843 people were killed (16 men, 412 women, and 415 children).
Sources:
http://holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/8/item/147/
https://kvr.kpd.lt/#/static-heritage-detail/a8bb7025-7759-4cfa-aad5-4b22e9f9b2a5
