Kaunas Ninth Fort

The Ninth Fort was built between 1902 and 1913 as the last of a ring of forts defending Kaunas, and it is the best preserved of them. During the 1940s it was used as a killing site, and it has been kept since as a memorial. The old brick casemates and cells are open, a museum building holds the documentation, and a concrete monument of 1984, thirty-two metres high, stands on the ridge above the fort.

History

By 1890 Kaunas was ringed by eight forts and nine gun batteries; the Ninth Fort, named after its number, was begun in 1902 and finished about a decade later, and from 1924 it was used as Kaunas Prison (Wikipedia, Ninth Fort).

What to look for

• The memorial - the vast concrete monument to the victims on the field above.
• The fort and cells - the tsarist fortress and the prison rooms.
• The museum - the exhibition on the killings and the occupations.
• The killing fields - the ground where the murders took place.

When to go

Year-round; it is a place for reflection rather than a season. Allow time and come in a frame of mind for a heavy, important visit.

Things to know

This is a Holocaust and occupation memorial, deeply sombre, and not a conventional sightseeing stop - go prepared for its weight. It sits on the edge of the city, a short trip out. Treat the whole site, especially the killing fields, with the gravity it demands.

Nearby

Central Kaunas and its modernist architecture are a short ride back; the Sugihara House tells a related story of rescue.

Key facts