And so we head off to Kaunas, a place which I’ll admit I had
never heard of before we embarked on the planning for this expedition but
which, it turns out, one of my forebears actually came from.
The place we are headed for first is called Fort Nine. This is actually a reference to one of a line of forts which were built by the Russians to repel the advancing Germans in the First World War. The Russians won on this occasion.
By the time of World War II. However, Fort Nine took on a more sinister role, as a place of extermination for Jews picked off the streets of Kaunas during the German occupation of 1941 – 1944.
What is perhaps remarkable is how close this place is to the centre of Kaunas and to the Jewish ghetto – perhaps 15 minutes’ drive, as we later realise when we then go and visit the ghetto. And yet the nazis clearly managed to keep the purpose of this place hidden.
We tour the Fort museum which details both its WWI and WWII histories and see graffiti scrawled in the wall on the holding cell where people were kept – not for very long – before their extermination.
Of particular note is the transportation of 900 Jews from Drancy, France who have etched their details as the ‘Drancy 900’ in French on the wall. And there is a room devoted to the ‘Righteous Among The Nations’, of whom there are many including the Japanese diplomat Sugihara (more about him later).
We go outside to pay our respects to what happened here, walking towards a huge memorial.
This striking obelisk is not in fact Lithuanian, but Russian, and its original purpose was to commemorate “the victims of fascism”. Our guide observes that for a Russian memorial, it is one of the better ones.
Subsequently, the Lithuanian Government has added large memorial stones and tablets to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust – at this place, some 25,000 - who were mostly shot in a ‘range’ which can be seen marked as such, as we walk towards the obelisk.
The memorial is nevertheless very evocative, and the very good weather and calm of the scene - which is atop a hill with absolutely no other buildings or activity for at least a mile radius - make it all the more so.
We want to get to the specific memorials to the Holocaust, which are placed in a marked and paved semicircle about 500 feet from the large memorial.
But we have picked the very day and time for commemoration of the anniversary of the ‘Drancy 900’ and a large gathering of French, including the ambassador to Lithuania, is holding a formal ceremony there, complete with PA and formal speeches.
Many of the houses in this area formed what was the huge Kaunas ghetto. Much of course has been demolished since - but some buildings, like this, remain.
We crawl all over the outside of this house, which is quite large and on a main street with quite busy traffic. Whether the occupant – a redoubtable middle aged woman – is used to parties of foreign Litvaks visiting upon her is not known. However, when we ask to look inside the house she politely but firmly explains this will not be possible, as the house is not clean.
We do not offer to rectify the cleanliness, nor ask whether this condition is a physical or spiritual one, but withdraw politely back to the coach having photographed every aspect of the house bar the satellite dish (which it is unlikely the Rabbi had in his day).
The place we are headed for first is called Fort Nine. This is actually a reference to one of a line of forts which were built by the Russians to repel the advancing Germans in the First World War. The Russians won on this occasion.
By the time of World War II. However, Fort Nine took on a more sinister role, as a place of extermination for Jews picked off the streets of Kaunas during the German occupation of 1941 – 1944.
What is perhaps remarkable is how close this place is to the centre of Kaunas and to the Jewish ghetto – perhaps 15 minutes’ drive, as we later realise when we then go and visit the ghetto. And yet the nazis clearly managed to keep the purpose of this place hidden.
We tour the Fort museum which details both its WWI and WWII histories and see graffiti scrawled in the wall on the holding cell where people were kept – not for very long – before their extermination.
Of particular note is the transportation of 900 Jews from Drancy, France who have etched their details as the ‘Drancy 900’ in French on the wall. And there is a room devoted to the ‘Righteous Among The Nations’, of whom there are many including the Japanese diplomat Sugihara (more about him later).
We go outside to pay our respects to what happened here, walking towards a huge memorial.
"victims of fascism"
This striking obelisk is not in fact Lithuanian, but Russian, and its original purpose was to commemorate “the victims of fascism”. Our guide observes that for a Russian memorial, it is one of the better ones.
Subsequently, the Lithuanian Government has added large memorial stones and tablets to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust – at this place, some 25,000 - who were mostly shot in a ‘range’ which can be seen marked as such, as we walk towards the obelisk.
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| The Memorial At Fort Nine |
The memorial is nevertheless very evocative, and the very good weather and calm of the scene - which is atop a hill with absolutely no other buildings or activity for at least a mile radius - make it all the more so.
We want to get to the specific memorials to the Holocaust, which are placed in a marked and paved semicircle about 500 feet from the large memorial.
But we have picked the very day and time for commemoration of the anniversary of the ‘Drancy 900’ and a large gathering of French, including the ambassador to Lithuania, is holding a formal ceremony there, complete with PA and formal speeches.
They seem to be going on for a long time. So we light our candle and say Psalms and
Kaddish at the general memorial stone instead.
Back on the coach, we stop off to visit the building formerly
housing a famous Yeshivah, and then descend on the unsuspecting current
occupant of the former house of the Rosh Yeshivah in Kaunas
before the War.Many of the houses in this area formed what was the huge Kaunas ghetto. Much of course has been demolished since - but some buildings, like this, remain.
We crawl all over the outside of this house, which is quite large and on a main street with quite busy traffic. Whether the occupant – a redoubtable middle aged woman – is used to parties of foreign Litvaks visiting upon her is not known. However, when we ask to look inside the house she politely but firmly explains this will not be possible, as the house is not clean.
We do not offer to rectify the cleanliness, nor ask whether this condition is a physical or spiritual one, but withdraw politely back to the coach having photographed every aspect of the house bar the satellite dish (which it is unlikely the Rabbi had in his day).
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