The building that currently houses the Museum of Occupations was opened in 1899. After becoming independent in 1918, Lithuania housed its conscription center here. During the Polish occupation, the building held the Courts of Justice. The Soviets occupied Lithuania in 1940 and began using the building as a prison as they began deportations and killings. The Soviet occupation was interrupted by World War II when the Nazis occupied the country and killed thousands of Jewish people. After the war ended the USSR assumed control and continued their crimes.
This was the name of the museum up until 2018. Critics rallied for the name change as it only focused on the crimes committed against Lithuanians by the Soviets, making the name inaccurate. There was little to no acknowledgement of the Nazi occupation and the Jews who were killed. Now there is one small room that highlights this history. Still, there are many Lithuanians who refuse to acknowledge what occurred and even the role that Lithuanians played in the Nazi occupation. For example, some served as building guards and were complicit in these crimes.
Ponary Forest is somewhat of a sister site to the Museum of Occupations. This forest was the location of over 100,000 executions performed by the Nazis. They killed primarily Jews, but also Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, Polish underground fighters, and soldiers of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force and buried them in mass graves. In fact, many of the artifacts that can be found in the Nazi occupation room in the museum were recovered from the graves of Ponary Forest.
Memorial at the entrance of Ponary Forest.
The exhibit that features artifacts from Ponary Forest. Bullets and other items can be seen in the bottom row.
Interested in seeing more pictures inside the museum?
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