Museum of Genocide Victims

Vilnius, Lithuania

The Museum of Genocide Victims, also known as KGB Museum, was established in 1992. In 1997 it was transferred to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. The museum is located in the former KGB headquarters across from the Lukiškės Square, therefore it is informally referred to as the KGB Museum. The museum is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting documents relating to the 50-year occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian resistance, and the victims of the arrests, deportations, and executions that took place during this period.

The museum building, completed in 1890, originally housed the court of the Vilna Governorate. The German Empire used it during its World War I occupation of the country. After independence was declared, it served as a conscription center for the newly formed Lithuanian army and as the Vilnius commander's headquarters. During theLithuanian Wars of Independence, the city was briefly taken by the Bolsheviks, and the building housed commissariats and a revolutionary tribunal. Following Żeligowski's Mutiny of 1920, Vilnius and its surroundings were incorporated into Poland, and the building housed the courts of justice for the Wilno Voivodship.

Lithuania was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, and following an ultimatum, became a Soviet Socialist Republic. Mass arrests and deportations followed, and the building's basement became a prison. In 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the country; the building then housed the Gestapo headquarters. Inscriptions on the cell walls from this era remain. The Soviets retook the country in 1944, and from then until independence was re-established in 1991, the building was used by the KGB, housing offices, a prison, and an interrogation center. Over 1,000 prisoners were executed in the basement between 1944 and the early 1960s, about one third for resisting the occupation. Most bodies were buried in the Tuskulėnai Manor, which underwent reconstruction and is selected to host the second Museum of Genocide Victims.

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Address

Aukų gatvė 2A, Vilnius, Lithuania
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Details

Founded: 1992
Category: Museums in Lithuania

More Information

www.muziejai.lt
en.wikipedia.org
www.genocid.lt

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Vilnius Cathedral (1,1 km)
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (1,2 km)
St. John's Church (1,3 km)
Gediminas' Tower (1,3 km)
Vilnius University (1,2 km)
National Museum of Lithuania (1,2 km)
Vilnius Town Hall (1,5 km)
St. Anne's Church (1,6 km)
St. Casimir's Church (1,6 km)


Trakai Island Castle (22,1 km)
Trakai Peninsula Castle (22 km)
St. Mary's Church (22,2 km)
Medininkai Castle (29,5 km)
Kernave (34,6 km)
Senieji Trakai Castle (20,6 km)
Karmazinai Mound (26,2 km)
Dubingiai Castle Ruins (42,7 km)

User Reviews

Johan Eng (5 months ago)
Very interesting! A lot to read and watch (or listen to if you get an audio guide) It's a must if you ever go to Vilnius! We spent hours there just soaking in the history
Chris Smith (5 months ago)
Very interesting museum, well put together. Lots of information and things to read and see, almost everything has an English-written version too so no problem if you don't understand Lithuanian. I didn't opt for the audio guide but it seems a good option if you want to. Well priced, easy to find, definitely worth a visit if you're in Vilnius.
Gosia M Kwiatkowska (5 months ago)
The Genocide Victims museum is probably the best I have seen for a long time. It is located close to the centre of town and it took me 3 hours to go through. It left a lasting expression on me. I think everyone should visit this museum.
Abi Carter (6 months ago)
Excellent museum. Excellent translations into English, really varied exhibitions and so thought provoking. Having been to many such museums in Eastern Europe, this has to rank as one of the best
Cedric QianYi Sun (7 months ago)
Very heavy history , not just for the locals but a forever warning light for human being in general. Peace is never cheap. KGB prison in the basement gives your the chill, especially the “execution chamber” that still has the actually bullet holes preserved on the wall. Make sure your are psychologically and emotionally ready before you go cos it’s not gonna be easy. But if you think you can handle it, this is a must go place . Note: cash only for the tickets.
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The Porta Nigra was built in grey sandstone between 186 and 200 AD. The original gate consisted of two four-storied towers, projecting as near semicircles on the outer side. A narrow courtyard separated the two gate openings on either side. For unknown reasons, however, the construction of the gate remained unfinished. For example, the stones at the northern (outer) side of the gate were never abraded, and the protruding stones would have made it impossible to install movable gates. Nonetheless, the gate was used for several centuries until the end of the Roman era in Trier.

In Roman times, the Porta Nigra was part of a system of four city gates, one of which stood at each side of the roughly rectangular Roman city. The Porta Nigra guarded the northern entry to the Roman city, while the Porta Alba (White Gate) was built in the east, the Porta Media (Middle Gate) in the south, and the Porta Inclyta (Famous Gate) in the west, next to the Roman bridge across the Moselle. The gates stood at the ends of the two main streets of the Roman Trier, one of which led north-south and the other east-west. Of these gates, only the Porta Nigra still exists today.

In the early Middle Ages the Roman city gates were no longer used for their original function and their stones were taken and reused for other buildings. Also iron and lead braces were broken out of the walls of the Porta Nigra for reuse. Traces of this destruction are still clearly visible on the north side of the gate.

After 1028, the Greek monk Simeon lived as a hermit in the ruins of the Porta Nigra. After his death (1035) and sanctification, the Simeonstift monastery was built next to the Porta Nigra to honor him. Saving it from further destruction, the Porta Nigra was transformed into a church: The inner court of the gate was roofed and intermediate ceilings were inserted. The two middle storeys of the former gate were converted into church naves: the upper storey being for the monks and the lower storey for the general public. The ground floor with the large gates was sealed, and a large outside staircase was constructed alongside the south side (the town side) of the gate, up to the lower storey of the church. A small staircase led further up to the upper storey. The church rooms were accessible through former windows of the western tower of the Porta Nigra that were enlarged to become entrance doors (still visible today). The top floor of the western tower was used as church tower, the eastern tower was leveled, and an apse added at its east side. An additional gate - the much smaller Simeon Gate - was built adjacent to the East side of the Porta Nigra and served as a city gate in medieval times.

In 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte dissolved the church in the Porta Nigra and the monastery beside it, along with the vast majority of Trier"s numerous churches and monasteries. On his visit to Trier in 1804, Napoleon ordered that the Porta Nigra be converted back to its Roman form. Only the apse was kept; but the eastern tower was not rebuilt to its original height. Local legend has it that Napoleon originally wanted to completely tear down the church, but locals convinced him that the church had actually been a Gaulish festival hall before being turned into a church. Another version of the story is that they told him about its Roman origins, persuading him to convert the gate back to its original form.

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