Pirčiupiai

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Pirčiupiai is a village in Dzūkija, Lithuania with population of 103. The village is known since 16th century, when Grand Dukes of Lithuania used it as hunting grounds. On June 3, 1944, a group of Nazi Germans were attacked by pro-Soviet partisans in a nearby forest. The Germans sent a punishment squadron and burned alive almost all inhabitants of Pirčiupiai. On that day 119 people (including 49 children under age of 16) were killed and only 13 escaped from the Pirčiupiai massacre. The bodies were allowed to be buried only after a week on June 11, 1944. A monument, called "Mother of Pirčiupiai", was erected in 1960 and commemorates the event.

[edit] References

• (Lithuanian) Prisiminta Pirčiupių tragedija (Tragedy of Pirčiupiai remembered)

Coordinates: 54°24′N 24°57′E / 54.4, 24.95