Kražiai massacre

Kražiai massacre (Lithuanian: Kražių skerdynės) was an attack by a Russian Don Cossack regiment on Lithuanians protesting the planned closure of a Roman Catholic church in Kražiai, then part of the Russian Empire, on 22 November 1893.

As part of wider Russification efforts, the Tsarist government decided to close the women's Benedictine monastery in Kražiai. The locals petitioned to keep the monastery's Church of the Immaculate Conception open and transform it into a parish church. The Tsar ordered the monastery closed and demolished in June 1893. The locals started a constant vigil inside the church, protecting it from members of the clergy who tried to comply with the orders.

On 21 November, Governor of Kaunas Nikolay Klingenberg personally arrived to the town to supervise the closure. Lithuanians resisted and overpowered 70 policemen that Klingenberg brought with him. The next morning, about 300 Don Cossacks arrived from Varniai and were given a free rein to loot and brutalize. According to official data, nine people died and 54 were injured. At least 24 women were raped and 16 men flogged with nagaikas. 71 persons were put on trial for rioting and disobeying police orders, but the cruelty of the Cossacks caused a public outcry and the people received a pardon from the Tsar. The event became a rallying cry of the Lithuanian National Revival.