Pinkas Hakehillot Lita: Raudone

“Raudone” - Encyclopedia of Jewish
Communities in Lithuania
(Raudonė, Lithuania)
55° 10' / 23° 32'

Translation of the “Raudone” chapter from
Pinkas Hakehillot Lita

Written by Dov Levin

Published in Jerusalem, 1996

Acknowledgments
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This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot Lita: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Lithuania,
Editor: Prof. Dov Levin, Assistant Editor: Josef Rosin, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

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(Page 624)

Raudone

In Yiddish, Raudone
Written by Dov Levin
Translated by Shimon Joffe

A county town in the Raseiniai district in western Lithuania near the German border, 25 km east of Yurbarkas. It began as a village and an estate under the same name belonging to aristocratic families for many generations. This is witnessed by the grand palace still standing in the place. In the census conducted by the independent Lithuanian government in 1923, 80 Jews were counted in the town and county. Some of them made a living of petty trade and farming. In 1939, Raudone had 4 telephones; 2 of these held by Jews, one by the owner of a cheese making plant (V. Linder) and the other by a merchant (Yokel Zilberman).

After the annexation of Lithuania to the Soviet Union, in the autumn of 1940, a mere dozen Jewish families remained in the village. Most of these were murdered about a year later, after the German invasion of Lithuania. It would appear that the victims were buried in one of the mass graves in the Raseiniai or Yurbarkas areas. A handful of Raudone Jews were hidden by Jews of the vicinity and were thus saved. Some of the Raudome Jews escaped and hid in the nearby forests, as an organized group, and held out until autumn 1944, when the region was liberated by the Red Army. While they were in the Eleonorava forests, south of Raseiniai, they were suddenly surrounded and shot by armed forces under German orders. According to Soviet sources 50 persons perished then.

Bibliography:

Masines Zudynes Lietuvoje (Mass Murders in Lithuania), Vol. 2, p. 401.
Naujienos (Chicago), 11.6.1949.

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Raudone

In Yiddish, Raudone Written by Dov Levin Translated by Shimon Joffe

Bibliography:

In Yiddish, Raudone
Written by Dov Levin
Translated by Shimon Joffe