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Monday, May 16, 2011

Ninth Fort


Originally the Ninth Fort was supposed to be a defensive fortress in one of the world wars (I think WWI sounds right), but once the soldiers saw the damage that "Big Bertha" (I'm not sure what the real name of this gun is, maybe a Howitzer?) could inflict, they promptly surrendered to the invading army. The fort was then used as a Lithuania prison, but during WWII its most grisly use came about, concentration camp. The Lithuanian Jewish population was the hardest hit percentage wise in Europe, yet that fact isn't well-publicized. The purpose of the Ninth Fort Museum was to rectify that.


A History of The Ninth Fort
The first area we went to was dedicated to the people who were victims of the Soviet reign of terror after WWII, but it also included some information of the Holocaust. It included exhibits of the personal effects found both at the Ninth Fort and at the labor camps in Siberia. It also outlined the history of the Lithuanian fight for independence.


 A Rosary made from bread by a prisoner of a labor camp


 A chapel commemorating the victims of the horrors that occurred at the Ninth Fort as well as those who were part of the forced deportations.
 A Breakdown of the Victims of the Ninth Fort by Nationality (There were 2 Americans)
  Americans protesting Russian Occupation of Lithuania and Advocating for Independence
A Ballot Concerning Lithuanian Independence (Voters were voting whether or not they wanted Lithuania to be a Democratic Republic)
The next area we visited was the holding cells of the prison. This is where the guards processed the prisoners before sending them to their cells.


We next went to the vaults and defensive walls. The actual fort was a network of tunnels under layers of cement and dirt. Above ground you didn't fully appreciate how large the fort was. We looked at the places where the guns could shoot out, as well as the cannon areas. They actually padded the ceiling with cork board around the cannon area to cut down on echoing.

 The long hallway
 A well
 The doors had huge metal rods locking them into place. I'm sure there was probably a lock too, but I didn't look that closely.
 The doors going into the defensive wall were thick metal. It was all our guide could do to open and close them.
 A Cannon (or probably more accurately, a machine gun on wheels). You could barely make out this whole when you were outside. I can't remember why there is an anchor in the front.
 Our Tour Guide. She spoke fairly good English, but she spoke so fast and with an accent that it was difficult to understand her. I also had a hard time not cracking up every time she said exposition instead of exhibit. I guess she spoke real English, not American English.
 Hole for Machine Gun
The Corkboard above the machine gun/cannon area
The next area was the actual jail where they kept the prisioners before shooting them. This area was almost solely dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. They had recreated some of the rooms to look like the concentration camp, while other rooms where dedicated the the ghettos where all of the Jews were forced to go after the Nazis overran Lithuania. I don't think I had heard about ghettos until I started researching for this trip, and I didn't truly understand what they were until we visited the Ninth Fort. In the ghetto of Kaunas, the Nazis actually set it on fire. The ghetto was a hastily thrown together community, so I am sure it burned quickly. The ghetto was also surrounded by barb wire, so when the Jews tried to escape from the fire, they were unable to because of the barb wire and guards. A large percentage of the people living in the ghetto died during the fire.

 I think it would be a bit hard to escape via the window.
 The prisoners created many hiding places for notes or other documents in their cells. This one was in the wall, but other hiding places included holes in the wooden benches and holes in the ventilation system
 One of the prison cells. The prisoners both ate and slept here.
 This is the room dedicated to the Kaunas Ghetto. I guess this was a typical room there.
 The other side of the Ghetto room/house
 The mastermind of the terror that was the Holocaust & WWII for that matter
Another Well
 The mass graves were located under this field
 This is where the Nazi guards murdered the prisioners
 A view of the fort from the outside
A monument to the victims of the Ninth Fort

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