The Germans occupied Vilna on June 24. Within a few days, the Germans and the Lithuanians issued orders forcing Jews to wear the Jewish Badge, forbidding them to walk on sidewalks and enter certain locations, stipulating a nighttime curfew, and limiting their food purchases. On July 4, the Jews were ordered to establish a Judenrat. Concurrently, the Germans, assisted by Lithuanian volunteers, began to abduct JewsΓÇösome 5,000 in JulyΓÇöfrom the streets and their homes, to take them to Ponary, and to murder them. The Jews of Vilna and their relatives knew nothing whatsoever about the fate of their loved ones.
