Paneriai Memorial Museum

The Paneriai memorial museum in Lithuania is devoted to Holocaust survivors. Prior to WWII, the lovely woodland region near Paneriai in Lithuania was a popular leisure place for citizens of Vilnius and its neighboring areas. Nonetheless, under Nazi control, the location saw mass executions, and as such, it now serves as a memorial to those slain there as part of the Vilna Gaon Museum.

Within days after being overrun by the Germans, the Soviet base at Paneriai was turned into an execution site. The Nazis oversaw the shootings, which were mostly carried out by the Special Squad, which consisted of 60-100 Lithuanian nationalist partisans. The location chosen enabled mass murder: those slaughtered could be transported from neighboring Vilnius by truck, train, or foot, while the forest hid the spot from prying eyes and masked the sound of gunfire. More than 100,000 persons were slaughtered at Paneriai between July 1941 and April 1944, the vast majority of them were Jews. There were also Poles, Roma, communists, and Russian prisoners of war slain there.

Visitors can visit the the Paneriai memorial museum in Lithuania is devoted to Holocaust survivors. at any time of day or night, and it features a memorial stone etched in Yiddish as well as markers at one of the slaughter sites. The Paneriai Memorial Museum display includes images of victims who were slain at Paneriai, orders and other papers issued by the occupying force and discovered in the region of the killings, as well as clothing, shoes, and prisoners' labor gear.

Location: Vilnius