The exact date of the execution of Jewish women and children in Gargždai is unknown. It occurred in August or September 1941. Jewish women and children were captured on the same day as the Jewish men of Gargždai, June 23, 1941, by the same Gestapo soldiers, members of the Memel GPK under the command of Dr. Erich Frohwan. The women and children were held in a barn on the opposite bank of the small Minija River (east of Gargždai). About 250-300 people were kept there. The general order for the executions of women and children came from the Gestapo commander in Tilsit, SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Joachim Böhme, and the actual order for these executions was given by SS-Oberscharführer Franz Berendt.

Approximately 100 Jewish women and children were brought to the barn near the Minija River, from where they were sent to work on farms for the summer. In mid-September, 90 women were driven into the forest near the village of Vežaiciai — two pits had been dug there. The shooting was commanded by the leader of the local white armbanders, Idelfonsas Laukauskas, formerly a member of an underground anti-Soviet group in Gargždai. The killings involved not only the Gargždai police and white armbanders but also white armbanders from Kuli.

Before the shooting, he ordered the girls to undress. They were shot in groups of eight to ten people. Later, the executioners themselves filled the pits with earth, took the belongings, and returned to the town. These episodes are described in detail in the monograph by historian and local lore expert Chaim Bargman. Priest Jonas Aleksejus, another witness to the tragic events, said he tried to prevent the killings, but the policemen did not listen to him. They only agreed that the women were not forced to strip completely naked as originally planned. They were allowed to meet death in their underwear. "Mothers with more children covered them, and infants were held in their arms. In total, about 300 people were shot," Bargman quotes the priest. Two days later, on September 18, the policemen brought the remaining people to the forest to finish them off. People were literally beaten to death. Later, when an exhumation was conducted, it was established that 82 people were killed with blunt objects, and 17 were buried alive. According to a witness of the tragedy (quoted by H. Bargman), the killings were led by the volost elder Pyatras Lyangwenas — during the years of independence, he was the head of the Vežaiciai platoon of the Riflemen’s Union.

Regarding the number of victims, Lithuanian policeman Pranas Jakis (Lukis) reported through the Memel GPK to the Tilsit Gestapo, and from there to the RSHA and the EGR to SS-Brigadeführer Franz Walter Stahlecker.

Sources:

Shklovsky Lev: The First Massacre of Jews in Gargždai

http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search/bendri=Garg.vietove=.aukos=.from_year=0.from_month=0.from_day=.to_year=0.to_month=0.to_day=.killers=/page/1/item/173/