KGB Remnants in Vilnius, Lithuania
Visit the chilling former Lithuanian KGB headquarters and the Museum
Oct 1, 2006
The building that houses the Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius, Lithuania does not look imposing from the outside, but step inside and your impression soon changes. The Museum is in the Lithuanian capital city's former KGB building, complete with a prison and an execution room. Using graphic photos, personal narratives, diaries and artifacts, the museum is dedicated to the 60 years of recent Lithuanian history. The exhibits start with the Nazis, the Soviet invasion, the resistance movement against the Soviet Union, suppression of individual rights, and the arduous conditions endured by labor camp deportees. It is a gruesome reminder of the atrocities of this era and it gives visitors the Lithuanian perspective on the Soviet Union.
Main Exhibits of the Museum of Genocide Victims
The first floor gives insights to the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Lithuania during WWII. The second floor focuses on the end of World War II and the efforts of the men and women resistance fighters. Most gruesome are photos of murdered fighters. The Soviets would dump bodies in the main squares of Lithuanian towns to remind people of their fate if they were to support or join the movement. There are various personal mementos from the Soviet labor camps in Siberia and discussion about how difficult it was for people to re-integrate into Lithuanian society after being in the camps.
KGB Prison Basement
The basement is the home to the most chilling part of the museum because it was the KGB prison. Walk into coffin-sized metal holding cells, see the water torture chamber, the padded cell, and the interrogation room. At the end of the hallway you will come to the execution chamber. The wooden barrier that protected guards from ricocheting bullets is no longer there, but you can see how the floor is sloped towards a drain, to make it easier to clean the leftover blood.
A glaring omission in the museum is that it does not discuss the death of Jews at the hands of the Nazis. There is only one fleeting reference to the fact that over 200,000 Lithuanian Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Considering that Vilnius, once called the "Jerusalem of the North," was a center for Jewish life and culture, the omission of this subject is confusing at best.
Details: Open from Tuesday - Saturday from 10:00 - 5:00, Sunday from 10:00 - 3:00. Admission is 4 Litas for adults, 1 Lita for children. On Wednesdays from September through June admission is free.
