Kailis forced labor camp
Kailis forced labor camp | |
---|---|
Location | Ševčenkos street 16, Vilnius, Lithuania 54°40′35″N 25°15′59″E / 54.67639°N 25.26639°E |
Date | 5 October 1941 to 3 July 1944 |
Incident type | Forced labor, imprisonment, mass shootings |
Organizations | Nazi SS |
Ghetto | Vilna Ghetto |
Victims | About 1,000 Jews |
Kailis forced labor camp (kailis is Lithuanian for fur) was a Nazi labor camp for Jews in
Establishment
There were several fur and leather workshops and factories in Vilnius, most of them owned by Jews. After the
On 5 October 1941, the factory was moved to the larger premises of the evacuated radio receiver factory Elektrit.[c] The move was arranged by Oscar Glik, an Austrian Jew who managed to obtain Volksdeutsche papers and later, in effect, became director of the factory.[7] At the time, the factory had 448 workers. Together with family members (a total of about 800–1,000 people), they lived in two large buildings at the factory site.[d][5] It was a relatively safe place; the workers were one of the first to receive work permits (known as yellow Schein) that protected them from Aktions – round ups for executions at Ponary.[7] Ghetto inhabitants considered Kailis workers as "privileged" and resented them.[8]
The "quiet period"
On 18 January 1942, the factory suffered a major fire.
In May 1942, Germans conducted a census in the Generalbezirk Litauen of the Reichskommissariat Ostland. The census counted 1,016 people from 348 families at Kailis.[5] 1942 was the "quiet period" which provided an opportunity to establish some cultural life at the camp. The Jews established a school for children, a small library, sports competitions. The camp had its own Jewish police and clinic.[5]
Liquidation
In August–September 1943, Vilna Ghetto was liquidated and only the Kailis and HKP 562 forced labor camps and two other small groups[e] remained in the city.[5] The population of Kailis swelled up. Many Jews used the camp as a temporary refuge before finding a better hideout or joining the Jewish partisans in the forests. According to Yitzhak Arad, about 600 Jews passed through the camp.[8] On 15 October, Bruno Kittel conducted a thorough inspection of the camp and executed about 30 Jews who could not account for their presence at the camp. The inspections were carried out a few more times.[7] In November, Kailis received a new commander, SS-man Richter. He instituted a greater control of the camp and compiled a list of its residents. The list contained about 1,350 names, though another 100 or so were too afraid to register.[5]
On 27 March 1944, the camp's children under age 16 were rounded up in an operation commanded by
Notes
- ^ Nutria was located in Paupys district (present-day Paupio street 28).[1]
- ^ The building is located on the corner of Didžioji st. and Etmonų st. Before 2011, it had a dual address of Didžioji st. 29 and Etmonų st. 1.[3] In Polish, the street was known as ulica Hetmańska.[4]
- Mortos Mindaugienės street.[5] Before that it was named after General Stanisław Szeptycki (ulica Generała Szeptyckiego).[6]
- ^ The two blocks were at M. Mindaugienės st. 7/8 and M. Mindaugienės st. 15.[5]
- ^ The first was about 70 Jewish working at a military hospital in Antakalnis and the second was about 60 Jews working for the Gestapo.[5]
References
- ^ "Istorija" (in Lithuanian). AB "Vilniaus kailiai". 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2003.
- OCLC 551459086.
- ^ "Dėl adresų (Panevėžio g. 14/a. Jaroševičiaus g. 22 ir kt.) keitimo Vilniaus miesto savivaldybėje, Naujininkų seniūnijoje. Įsakymas Nr. A30-120" (in Lithuanian). Vilnius City Municipality. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ Shevelev, Igor (2007). Улицы Вильнюса. О Вильнюсе (in Russian). Archived from the original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guzenberg, Irina (2 July 2008). "Vilniaus geto darbo stovyklos ir 1942 m. gyventojų surašymas" (in Lithuanian). The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ Regelskis, Dalius (3 March 2015). "Slaptos T. Ševčenkos loftų istorijos" (in Lithuanian). Mano namai. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-609-8037-13-5.
- ^ OCLC 499443649.
- ISBN 978-0-7658-0543-0.