Accessibility  Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum
Register of Legal Entities Code 190757374
Address:Naugarduko st 10/2, LT 01309 Vilnius, Lithuania
Tel: (00370) 5 231 2357
Faks: (00370)5 231 2358
Email: muziejus@jmuseum.lt
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EXPOSITION SITES :::
MUSEUM OF SAMUEL BAK
TOLERANCE CENTER
HOLOCAUST EXHIBITION (THE GREEN HOUSE)
MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF HOLOCAUST IN LITHUANIA AND VILNA GHETTO
MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF PANERIAI
UPCOMING CULTURE MUSEUM OF THE LITHUANIAN JEWS (LITVAK CENTER)
JACQUES LIPCHITZ MEMORIAL MUSEUM IN DRUSKININKAI
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History of the building

Before World War II, Paneriai Forest located in the vicinity of Vilnius was very popular among holidaymakers.

In 1939 Lithuania regained Vilnius and the Vilnius region and was forced to let units of the Red into the country. Almost right away the construction of Red Army aviation fuel depots and ammunition warehouses started in Aukštieji Paneriai. When on 24 June 1941 the Germans occupied Vilnius, they discovered the unfinished liquid fuel depot close to the Paneriai railway station. At that time there were seven pits made for that purpose, and the Nazis decided to use them for the planned mass extermination of people.

The persecution of the Jews in Vilnius began on the first days of the Nazi occupation. Jews were randomly arrested by local white stripes in the streets, in homes, and at work. More and more restrictions were forced upon the Jews by the new occupiers.

In response to Order No. 1 issued by the military commander of the city of Vilnius, von Ostman, 60 Jews and 20 Poles were arrested and sent to the hard labour prison in Vilnius “to ensure public order” on 26 June 1941. As hostages of the Nazis, employees of the State Security Department of Vilnius County and other Lithuanian state offices might have helped with the arrest of the Jews. On 21 July 1941, German officials took 60 Jews from the prison and killed them on Titnago Street not far from Paneriai Forest.

Ladder-ramp used to throw corpses onto the fire. 1940‘s.
 
The first execution of people in Paneriai took place on 11 July 1941. That day 348 people (Jews and Soviet prisoners of war) were taken from Lukiškės Prison to Paneriai and shot. The first reference to the Vilnius Special Squad is found in documents dated 15 July 1941. At that time the squad had about 100 members who dressed in civilian clothes. The first organisers of the squad were Junior Lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. Later Juozas Šidlauskas (from 23 July 1941) took command of the squad. Members of the squad were issued Russian guns and white armbands. In November 1941, Šidlauskas was relieved of command of the squad and Lieutenant Balys Norvaiša was appointed instead, with Lieutenant Balys Lukošius as his assistant. During this period the number of members of the squad was reduced to about forty or fifty. The majority of members were Lithuanians, although there were several Russians and Poles. The Special Squad was subordinate only to the German Security Police and carried out their orders. SS-Hauptscharführer Martin Weiß (Weiss) supervised the Special Squad the longest. He was not just in charge during the executions in Paneriai, but often finished off the wounded victims personally with a revolver. The largest number of people executed by the Special Squad was in 1941, when in July alone about 5,000 people were shot, with another 2,000 killed that August.
 
 
The pit in Paneriai. The begining of 1940‘s. 
 

According to the report of SS-Standartenführer Karl Jäger, by the end of 1941 at least 21,000 Jews were killed. In 1942 people were brought to Paneriai in smaller groups from the Vilnius ghetto. In 1943, during the course of the liquidation of the smaller ghettos in the Vilnius area, about 7,500 Jews were executed and later, on 23 September (the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto), a few hundred old and sick people were murdered in the pits of Paneriai. From the end of September to the beginning of November, about 1,000 Vilnius ghetto prisoners who tried to escape from the ghetto were killed.

 
 
Execution in Paneriai. The begining of 1940‘s.
 

After the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto, there were about 3,000 Jews left in the Kailis and HKP labour camps in Vilnius. On 27 March 1944, the Children’s Action took place (246 children and old women were seized by the Nazis). Few managed to survive. On 2–3 July 1944, both labour camps were surrounded by SS soldiers.

The Jews were forced into trucks and driven to Paneriai. About 2,000–2,300 Jews were shot there by the SS soldiers.

The pit in Paneriai. The begining of 1940‘s.
 

Just before they withdrew from Lithuania, the Nazis tried to hastily erase all the evidence of their crimes. A special brigade of inmates from HKP and Kailis and prisoners of war unearthed the corpses and burned them (the burner brigade). On 15 April 1944, twelve of the eighty prisoners escaped (in the course of 2.5 months they had dug a tunnel approximately 30 m long). Eleven managed to reach Soviet partisan units.

In August 1944 the Special Extraordinary Investigation Commission determined that more than 100,000 people had been killed in Paneriai. This number was considered accurate. The number of Jews murdered is estimated to be about 70,000. The other victims were Lithuanian soldiers, Roma, communists, Polish resistance fighters, and Soviet POWs.

 
Paneriai. The begining of 1940‘s.
 
Photos from the collection of VGSJM
Photos from the collection of Yad Vashem
 
Exposition

 

 

Modified: 6/5/2014 1
Information
2017.03.01

 

 If you want to order a guided tour or educational programme please contact us in advance:
tel. 
 +370 60163612, 
email:
 muziejus@jmuseum.lt

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If you want to order an educational programme, please contact us at:  +370 5 212 0112,
+370 6 8986 191 or via email
muziejus@jmuseum.lt

  ***

   Tolerance Center 
(Naugarduko St. 10/2) 
working hours:

Monday,Thursday: 10:00-18:00
Tuesday, Wednesday: 10:00-18:00
Friday: 10:00-16:00
Saturday-closed,
Sunday: 10:00-16:00

  ***

  Holocaust Exposition 
(Pamėnkalnio St. 12) 
working hours:

Monday-Thursday: 9:00-17:00
Friday: 9:00-16:00
Saturday-closed
Sunday: 10:00-16:00

 ***

  Memorial Museum of Paneriai
(Agrastų St. 15, Aukštieji Paneriai)
working hours:
Monday-closed
Tuesday–Sunday 9:00-17:00
From October until May the Memorial Museum is open by appointment only.

If you are interested in visiting the museum/the memorial with a tour guide, please contact us at least a day in advance at
+370 699 90 384  or via email mantas.siksnianas@jmuseum.lt

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© Penki Kontinentai 2006. All rights received.