| Pirčiupiai | |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Varėna District Municipality#Lithuania |
| Coordinates: | 54.4°N 81°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Ethnographic region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Dzūkija |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Alytus County |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Varėna district municipality |
| Subdivision Type4: | Eldership |
| Subdivision Name4: | (Valkininkai) |
| Population Total: | 75 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 Census |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
Pirčiupiai is a village in (Valkininkai) eldership, Varėna district municipality, Alytus County, Dzūkija region, Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, the village had a population of 103 people.[1] At the 2011 census, the population was 75.[2]
The village is known since 16th century, when the Grand Dukes of Lithuania used it as hunting grounds.
On the morning of June 3, 1944, near Pirčiupiai, Soviet partisans fired upon two trucks with SS men that drove over mines placed by the Soviets.[3] Most of the Germans were killed and only a few escaped.
The Germans sent a punishment squadron and burned alive almost all inhabitants of Pirčiupiai. On that day 119 people (including 49 children under age of 16) were killed and only 13 escaped from the Pirčiupiai massacre. The SS Commander Walter Titel of the 16th SS Police Regiment ordered that the civilians were burnt alive.[4] The bodies were allowed to be buried only after a week on June 11, 1944.
A monument, called "Mother of Pirčiupiai", was erected in 1960 and commemorates the event.