Unit: Sonderkommando 1b / SK 7a? (Einsatzgruppe A). Place on map: Vilnius, Lithuania. Date on map: 2 July 1941.
Coordinates: 54.6872, 25.2797 (approximate modern locality centroid; verify before final publication).
On 2 July 1941, the map places SK 1b / SK 7a?, within Einsatzgruppe A in or near Vilnius, Lithuania. This record should be used first as a route/presence marker derived from the map, not as proof that a specific killing action took place on that exact date and in that exact locality. Einsatzgruppe A operated in the Baltic states and the area toward Leningrad. USHMM specifically names Kovno/Kaunas, Riga and Vilna/Vilnius among places where its members massacred Jews. The wider context is Operation Barbarossa and the rapid transition from persecution and occupation policy to mass murder by mobile SS and police killing units behind the German front. For publication, verify the locality and date against the Ereignismeldungen UdSSR, Yad Vashem's 'Untold Stories' locality project, USHMM locality articles/collections, and, where available, Yahad-In Unum material on killing sites and testimony. High-priority locality. USHMM identifies Vilna/Vilnius as a major location for Einsatzgruppe A activity; look for locality-specific sources before stating event details. Because the map confidence for this row is 'middel', keep the wording provisional until the unit label, locality spelling and coordinates have been checked. Map note: Datum leesbaar; meerdere routes nabij.
Further research search terms: Vilnius | SK 1b / SK 7a? | Einsatzgruppe A | 2 July 1941 | Ereignismeldungen UdSSR | Yad Vashem Untold Stories | USHMM
Sources and starting points for further research:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karte_-_Einsatzgruppen_in_der_Sowjetunion_1941.png
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/einsatzgruppen-and-other-ss-and-police-units-in-the-soviet-union
https://www.yadvashem.org/research/research-projects/untold-stories-intro.html
https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/archive/1-2-7-20_2273000
https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/final-solution-beginning/mass-murder-in-ussr.html
https://studyguide.yiu.ngo/en/holocaust-by-bullets
