When the Nazis occupied Kandava in July 1941, imposing restrictions on the Jews began – orders to do hard manual labour, to wear the yellow star, etc. Jews were driven out of the town to its outskirts. Mass scale murder action took place in August, when all Jews were rounded up in the Kandava Synagogue, from which they were taken to the Elki Forest (approximately 6 km from Kandava) and shot (approximately 68 Jews in total). The group of Jews from Kandava, who were used as agricultural labour (10–15 persons) until August, was shot separately. It is possible that they were shot in the Kandava Jewish Cemetery.