Paneriai Memorial Museum

Description

Between July 1941, and August 1944, approximately 100,000 people of whom over half were Jewish were murdered at this site by the Nazis and a hotpotch of willing Lithuanians from such sinister organisations as the Ypatingasis Būrys (Vilnius Special Squad). A traumatic but necessary part of any Jewish-related visit to Lithuania, find several monuments and the remains of the pits where the victims were burned.

The typical Soviet-era museum inside a small building on the murder site features exhibits explained in a baffling and irregular mix of languages including everything from stomach-churning photography to the clothing worn by a man whose job it was to sift the remains of the charred bodies for gold. Not recommended for children.