Rainiai Memorial

The Rainiai Memorial commemorates one of the most horrific atrocities committed during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. On June 24-25, 1941, as the Soviet army retreated before the German advance, NKVD officers tortured and murdered 73 Lithuanian political prisoners in the Rainiai forest near Telšiai. The victims — mostly young men, including students, teachers, and professionals — were subjected to unspeakable cruelty. The memorial site, located in the forest where the massacre occurred, includes a chapel, individual grave markers, and a museum documenting the events and honoring the victims. The memorial is maintained with deep reverence, and the atmosphere is one of profound grief and remembrance. The Rainiai massacre remains one of the most painful events in Lithuanian collective memory.