Raseiniai ; Samogitian: Rasein?, Polish: Rosienie is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some 5 km (3.1 mi) north from the Kaunas–Klaip?da highway.Coordinates: 55°22′N 23°7′E. Raseiniai was mentioned for the first time in 1253.
The town was among the first Jewish communities established in Lithuania, and the city, which is known in Yiddish as Raseyn, became known as the "Jerusalem of Zamut." Jews continued to settle there in large numbers throughout the 17th century.
During most of the 19th century, the greater proportion of the town's population was Jewish and it was a center of the Jewish Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement. In 1842 the city had 7,455 inhabitants, the majority of whom were Jews. In 1866 the town had 10,579 inhabitants, of whom 8,290 were Jews. In 1897 the population of the district, excluding the town, was 221,731, of whom about 17,000 were Jews. After World War I, however, the Jewish community was smaller. By 1926 2,226 Jews lived in Raseiniai, and approximately 2,000 (40% of the general population) in 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raseiniai
https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Raseiniai/Jewish-Rassein.html

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International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
RASEINIAI: Raseiniai district , Kaunas [Rasayn,Rossieny, Raseinen, Rosienie, Rasei?i,l Rasein, Raseyn, Raseinai, Rasseyn, Raseyn, Resein, Rossein]

Alternate names: Raseiniai [Lith], Rasayn [Yid], Rossieny [Rus], Raseinen [Ger], Rosienie [Pol], Rasei?i [Latv], Rasein, Raseyn, Raseinai, Rasseyn, Resein, Rossein, Russian: ????????. ??????-Yiddish. 55°22' N, 23°07' E, 45 miles NW of Kaunas (Kovno), 40 miles SSW of Šiauliai (Shavl), in SE foothills of the Samogitians highland on the banks of the Dubiseh river, 3.1 mi N of the Kaunas-Klaip?da highway. Yizkor: Yahadut Lita (vol. 3) (Tel Aviv, 1967) and Lite (vol. 1) (New York, 1951). Dating from the 13th century and later with a population of 12,000 residents (second only to Kovno) but completion of the Libove-Romner railroad brought the new town of Shavl to prominence. The town was a Haskalah movement center. In 1842, the city had 7,455 inhabitants, the majority of whom were Jews. 1866 population was 10,579, of whom 8,290 were Jewish. 1897 district population (excluding the town) was 221,731, of whom about 17,000 were Jewish. Raseyn, lacking a railroad connection or highway, went downhill until just before WWI. During most of WWI, the German army occupied the town. Its mostly wooden houses, old and small, survived WWI battles fought eighty km from the town. After WWI, streets were paved and wide cement sidewalks and new houses were built. Although prior to 1914, two-thirds of the 6,000 residents were Jewish, afterward, the proportion reversed. The economy thrived during WWI, but returned to minimal afterward causing many to emigrate to America, Mexico, and South Africa. Shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and bricklayers from the Lithuanian villages settled in town leaving egg-exporters, lumber traders, and grain and flax merchants without income. An old-age home of the former Jewish community, a bikur kholim, and a library were created prior to WWI. In 1918, Raseiniai became a district capital of the Republic of Lithuania. By 1926, 2,226 Jews remained in Raseiniai and approximately 2,000 (40%) in 1939. During World War II, Raseiniai was ruined; about 90% of the buildings were destroyed. 254 Jews were murdered on July 29, 1941 in Raseiniai by a detachment of Einsatzkommando 3, assisted by a Lithuanian Kommando group. [March 2009]
CEMETERY:
I visited the site of the former Jewish cemetery of Raseiniai on August 3, 1997 with guide Regina Kopilevich. The site, in the yard of a modern apartment building, is marked by a stone tablet on a wall that reads: "On this spot was a Jewish cemetery" in Yiddish and Lithuanian. Source: Eric L. Goldstein, Brooklyn, NY 11201  [1997]
I was there in June 2007, took photographs, and saw a marker on a stone wall next to a apartment complex. Linda Morzillo [July 2007]
Giedrius Cyras Raseyn jewish cemetery and small sign via Lithuania Jewish Cemetery Project [Aug 2015] 
Last Updated on Saturday, 29 August 2015 09:38

 
Giedrius Cyras

#OnThisDay
Yahad - In Unum

July 29,  1941 in Raseiniai, Lithuania, the first shooting of Jews and several communists took place. Several hundred Jewish men were shot 5 km from town, in mass graves that had been dug by locals.
Arturas-Andrias, born in 1932, witnessed the shooting and recounted to our team, "Some villagers were ordered to broaden the gravel pits. They were 3 m wide and 50 m length. The group of Jews was stopped on the road, and then 20 persons were brought to the pit. They were beaten with sticks and told to lie down in the pit. Then they were shot. A layer of soil was spread on top and another small group of Jews was brought to the shooting."
Below, Arturas-Andrias visits this execution site with the Yahad team.